Othello :: essays research papers

(II, i, 176-178, p.71) IAGO (To himself) He takes her by the hand. Yes, very good, whisper to her! With This little web, I’ll catch a fly as big as Cassio. Yes, Smile at her, go ahead! I’ll catch you in your own flirtation. Character Intent: Iago is definitely speaking these lines for one clear reason. Iago wants to manipulate Cassio and get him close to Desdemona therefore Othello could see this occur and become angered. Iago knows that Cassio is a very flirtatious person and therefore, Iago’s evil deed might be a very easy task to accomplish. Iago uses the metaphor of the fly and the spider web to symbolize Cassio (fly) getting caught in the web (getting caught in Iago’s manipulation). Writer Intent: Shakespeare uses these lines in the dialogue to show Iago’s sarcasm about the situation occurring. Shakespeare also has Iago speak to himself in this part of the dialogue to show the insanity and sickness that Iago has built up inside, just aching to be released. Shakespeare also puts this dialogue into the story to show how courteous and respectful Cassio really is to Desdemona. And by seeing this, Shakespeare had the perfect opportunity to let Iago’s plans unfold. Behavior: The following lines should be said very dementedly by Iago. He should read the lines very slowly and creepy to show how passionate Iago is in wanting to achieve his goal of destroying Othello. (II, i, 197-201, p.73) OTHELLO If I were to die right now, I would die perfectly happy; for I’m afraid I am so splendidly content that I won’t have another joy like this one for the rest of my life. Character Intent: Othello spoke these lines in the dialogue to show the only thing he cares about. Othello shows that he cares about and loves Desdemona. He really puts his point across to everyone by saying that even if death struck him down at that very moment, he would die happy since he had the chance to see the love of his life, Desdemona. Othello makes it clear that even after his hellish fleet, the voyage would not be over until Othello saw his beautiful bride. Writer Intent: Shakespeare puts these lines in the story because they show a really strong meaning. This line reinforces everyone that Othello and Desdemona are in love with each other. Shakespeare shows the deep relationship between Othello and Desdemona to show how much they truly care and love each other.

Cuba :: essays research papers

The weeks that have elapsed since that fatal event of February 15th have been making history in a manner highly creditable to the American government and to our citizenship. Captain Sigsbee, the commander of the Maine, had promptly telegraphed his desire that judgment should be suspended until investigation had been made. The investigation was started at once, and 75 million Americans have accordingly suspended judgment in the face of a great provocation. For it must be remembered that to suppose the destruction of the Maine an ordinary accident and not due to any external agency or hostile intent was, under all the circumstances, to set completely at defiance the law of probabilities. It is not true that battleships are in the habit of blowing themselves up. When all the environing facts were taken into consideration, it was just about as probable that the Maine had been blown up by some accident where no hostile motive was involved, as that the reported assassination of President Barrios of Guatemala, a few days previously, had really been a suicide. . . . It has been known perfectly well that Spanish hatred might at any time manifest itself by attempts upon the life of the American representative at Havana, Consul General Fitzhugh Lee. This danger was felt especially at the time of the Havana riots in January, and it seems to have had something to do with the sending of the Maine to Havana Harbor. The Spaniards themselves, however, looked upon the sending of the Maine as a further aggravation of the long series of their just grievances against the United States. They regarded the presence of the Maine at Havana as a menace to Spanish sovereignty in the island and as an encouragement to the insurgents. A powerful American fleet lay at Key West and the Dry Tortugas, with steam up ready to follow the Maine to the harbor of Havana at a few hours' notice. All this was intensely hateful to the Spaniards, and particularly to the Army officers at Havana who had sympathized with General Weyler's policy and who justly regarded General Weyler's recall to Spain as due to the demand of President McKinley. The American pretense that the Maine was making a visit of courtesy seemed to these Spaniards a further example of Anglo-Saxon hypocrisy. That this intense bitterness against the presence of the Maine was felt among the military and official class in Havana was perfectly well known to Captain Sigsbee, his staff, and all his crew; and they were not unaware of the rumors and threats that means would be found to destroy the American ship. It was, furthermore, very generally supposed that the Spanish Cuba :: essays research papers The weeks that have elapsed since that fatal event of February 15th have been making history in a manner highly creditable to the American government and to our citizenship. Captain Sigsbee, the commander of the Maine, had promptly telegraphed his desire that judgment should be suspended until investigation had been made. The investigation was started at once, and 75 million Americans have accordingly suspended judgment in the face of a great provocation. For it must be remembered that to suppose the destruction of the Maine an ordinary accident and not due to any external agency or hostile intent was, under all the circumstances, to set completely at defiance the law of probabilities. It is not true that battleships are in the habit of blowing themselves up. When all the environing facts were taken into consideration, it was just about as probable that the Maine had been blown up by some accident where no hostile motive was involved, as that the reported assassination of President Barrios of Guatemala, a few days previously, had really been a suicide. . . . It has been known perfectly well that Spanish hatred might at any time manifest itself by attempts upon the life of the American representative at Havana, Consul General Fitzhugh Lee. This danger was felt especially at the time of the Havana riots in January, and it seems to have had something to do with the sending of the Maine to Havana Harbor. The Spaniards themselves, however, looked upon the sending of the Maine as a further aggravation of the long series of their just grievances against the United States. They regarded the presence of the Maine at Havana as a menace to Spanish sovereignty in the island and as an encouragement to the insurgents. A powerful American fleet lay at Key West and the Dry Tortugas, with steam up ready to follow the Maine to the harbor of Havana at a few hours' notice. All this was intensely hateful to the Spaniards, and particularly to the Army officers at Havana who had sympathized with General Weyler's policy and who justly regarded General Weyler's recall to Spain as due to the demand of President McKinley. The American pretense that the Maine was making a visit of courtesy seemed to these Spaniards a further example of Anglo-Saxon hypocrisy. That this intense bitterness against the presence of the Maine was felt among the military and official class in Havana was perfectly well known to Captain Sigsbee, his staff, and all his crew; and they were not unaware of the rumors and threats that means would be found to destroy the American ship. It was, furthermore, very generally supposed that the Spanish

Cost, Access, and Quality Essay

*Access to care may be defined as the timely use of needed, affordable, convenient, acceptable, and effective personal health services. Accessibility refers to the fit between the location of a provider and the location of patients. *Administrative costs are costs associated with the management of the financing, insurance, delivery, and payment functions. These costs include management of the enrollment process, setting up contracts with providers, claims processing, utilization monitoring, denials and appeals, and marketing and promotional expenses. *An all-payer system requires the participation of all major health care payers in a nationwide cost-containment program. APG stands for ambulatory patient groups, which are based on a patient classification and payment system designed to identify and explain the amount and type of resources used in an ambulatory visit. Patients in an APG have similar clinical characteristics, similar resource use, and similar cost. *Clinical practice guidelines (also called â€Å"medical practice guidelines†) are explicit descriptions representing preferred clinical processes. They are standardized guidelines in the form of scientifically established protocols designed to guide physicians’ clinical decisions. *Competition refers to rivalry among sellers for customers. In health care delivery, it means that providers of health care services would try to attract patients who have the ability to choose from several different providers. Although competition more commonly refers to price competition, it may also be based on technical quality, amenities, access, or other factors. *Cost-efficiency evaluates the relationship between increasing medical expenditures/risks and improvements in health levels. A service is cost-efficient when the benefit received is greater than the cost incurred in providing the service or the potential health risks from additional services. *Cost shifting refers to the ability of providers to make up for lost revenues in one area by increasing utilization or charging higher prices in other areas. *Critical pathways are case specific plans of medical care that identify along a time line w ho will provide what interventions and what the expected outcomes would be. *Demand-side incentives refer to the cost-sharing mechanisms that place a larger cost burden on consumers, thus encouraging consumers to be more cost conscious in selecting the insurance plan that best serves their needs and more judicious in their utilization. *Defensive medicine is the practice of medicine that involves prescribing tests and services that are not medically justified but are likely to protect physicians against possible malpractice lawsuits. *Fraud involves a knowing disregard for the truth. It generally occurs when billing claims or cost reports are intentionally falsified. It includes pro vision of ser vices that are not medically necessary and billing for ser vices that were not provided. *Outcome is the end result obtained from utilizing the structure and processes of health care delivery. Outcomes are often viewed as the bottom-line measure of the effectiveness of the health care delivery system. *Overutilization occurs when the costs or risks of treatment outweigh the benefits and yet additional care is delivered. *The term peer review refers to the general process of medical review of utilization and quality w hen it is carried out directly or under the supervision of physicians. *PRO stands for peer review organization. PROs are state-wide private organizations composed of practicing physicians and other health care professionals who are paid by the federal government to review the care provided to Medicare beneficiaries to determine whether care is reasonable, necessary, and provided in the most appropriate setting. *Quality has been defined as the degree to which health services for individuals and populations increase the likelihood of desired health outcomes and are consistent with current professional knowledge. *Quality assessment refers to the measurement of quality against an established standard. *Quality assurance is a step beyond quality assessment and is synonymous with quality improvement. It is the process of institutionalizing quality through ongoing assessment and using the results of assessment for continuous quality improvement (CQI). *Reliability reflects the extent to which the same results occur from repeated applications of a measure. *Risk management consists of proactive efforts to prevent adverse events related to clinical care and facilities operations and is especially focused on avoiding medical malpractice. *Small area variations refer to the unexplained variations in the treatment patterns for similar patients and health conditions in different parts of the country. *Supply-side regulation typically refers to antitrust laws in the U.S., which  prohibit business practices that stifle competition among providers, such as price fixing, price discrimination, exclusive contracting arrangements, and mergers deemed anticompetitive by the Department of Justice. *A top-down control over total health expenditures establishes budgets for entire sectors of the health care delivery system. Funds are distributed to providers in accordance with these global budgets. Thus, total spending remains within pre-established budget limits. The downside to this approach is that, under fixed budgets, providers are not as responsive to patient needs, and the system provides little incentive to be efficient in the delivery of services. Once budgets are expended, providers are forced to cut back services, particularly for illnesses that are not life-threatening or do not represent an emergency. *TQM stands for total quality management and is synonymous with continuous quality improvement (CQI). It is an integrative management concept of continuously improving the quality of delivered goods and services through the participation of all levels and functions of the organization to meet the needs and expectations of the customer. *Underutilization occurs when the benefits of an intervention outweigh the risks or costs, yet the intervention is not used. *The validity of a scale is the extent to which it actually assesses what it purports to measure. REVIEW QUESTIONS 1. What are the two main objectives of this chapter? 2. What are the three major cornerstones of health care delivery? 3. What is meant by the term â€Å"health care costs†? Describe the three different meanings of the term ‘cost.’ 4. Why should the United States control the rising costs of health care? 5. Name and describe the 9 major factors contributing to the high costs of health care. 6. What is a third-party payment/reimbursement? 7. Explain how, under imperfect market conditions, both prices and quantity of health care are higher than they would be in a highly competitive market. 8. Discuss price controls and their effectiveness in controlling health care expenditures. 9. Discuss the role of PROs (peer review organizations) in cost containment. 10. What are the two competition-based cost-containment strategies? 11. What does access to care mean? 12. What are the implications of access for health and healthcare delivery? 13. What is the role of enabling and predisposing factors in access to care? 14. What are some of the implications of the definition of quality proposed by the Institute of Medicine? In what way is the definition incomplete? 15. Discuss the dimensions of quality from the micro- and macro-perspectives. 16. Discuss the main developments in process improvement that have occurred in recent years.

Commercially Available Testing Tools

Once an application has been developed, the developers must demonstrate that it performs the tasks for which it was designed accurately, reliably and with adequate performance. For this to be fulfilled extensive testing must be carried out and tools have been built to assist with this process. Developers have built different types of tool for addressing different aspects of the same general problem. The importance of proper testing to detect as many errors as feasibly possible has been driven by the increase of malicious or criminal intent on the part of developers that produce applications with functions that facilitate fraud or other criminal activity (an especial risk to the financial industry). This problem has been addressed by European Community Legislation, increasing the onus on software developers to show that they took all reasonable steps to ensure an application was free of defects and suitable for the purpose for which it was developed. Failure to do so could leave the developer liable to be sued by anyone have has incurred a loss in any business as a result of software collapse. The main types of tool that have resulted as a partial result of this are described below. There are a large number of testing tools that are available, but they all work in very different ways. The main types of testing categories are described below. Tools that analyse source code without executing test cases, but in deriving test cases for the software to be tested. There are three different types used in industry that are described below: Code based testing tools accept source code as input and perform a number of analyses that result in the generation of test cases. This type of automated tool can broken down in to four further categories. The first are Code analysers that evaluate test modules automatically for proper syntax; statements are then highlighted where the syntax is wrong, if construction is error prone or if an item is undefined. The second category is Structure checkers where modules are submitted as input and a graph generated, depicting the hierarchy of modules and tools check for structural flaws, for example, determining the location of loops and branches and how they are used within the system. The third type are Data analysers which review data structures, data declarations and module interfaces, and notes improper linkage between modules, conflicting data definitions and illegal data usage. The final type are Sequence checkers where sequences of events are checked and marked if coded in wrong sequence. Specialised testing languages enable a software engineer to write detailed test specifications that describe each test case and the logistics for its execution. An example of one of these languages is Prolog, that is specifically used for test case generation. Requirements based testing tools isolate specific user requirements and suggest test cases (or classes of tests) that will exercise the requirements. Tools that analyse source code during execution of test cases by interacting with a program as it is executing and checking the path coverage, test assertions about the value of specific variables and otherwise instrumenting the execution flow of the program. They can be either intrusive or non-intrusive. An intrusive tool changes the software to be tested by inserting extra instructions or ‘probes† that perform the activities mentioned above. A non-intrusive tool uses a separate hardware processor that runs in parallel with the processor containing the program that is being tested. Systems can be difficult to test because several parallel operations are being carried out concurrently, which is especially true for real-time systems. Therefore it is difficult to anticipate the conditions and generate representative test conditions. However, dynamic test tools can capture a state of events during the execution of a program and so are often called program monitors, because they watch and report the behaviour of the program. The functions of the monitor are to list the number of times a submodule is called or a line of code is executed. These statistics tell testers if the test cases have statement coverage. Another function is to report on whether a decision point has branched in all directions, providing information about branch coverage. System performance information is also provided, including statistics about particular variables e. g. their first value, last value, minimum and maximum values. Breakpoints can be defined for the system, so when a variable attains or exceeds a specific value, the test tool reports the occurrence. Some tools will stop when breakpoints are reached so that the tester can examine the contents of memory or specific data items, as it is possible to change values as the test progresses. Any information captured during the test can be used to provide information about control flow. Another automated tool, analysers, are similar to monitors, except that they can also evaluate captured data to prescribed criteria. A test coverage analyser records the number of each statement executed during a test step and notifies us if certain routines or statements are not executed. A timing analyser works with predefined areas or memory or code and tracks the amount of time spent in each area as system functions are performed. This type of tracking can be useful during performance testing when timing requirements are checked. Tools that simulate functions of hardware or other externals by presenting to a system all characteristics of a system or device without actually having the system/device available. This is particularly useful if another company is developing part of a system; this part can be simulated to allow you to test your own part. The simulator can sometimes be more useful than the device itself as all data regarding the devices' state throughout the test can be stored, aiding in error location. Simulators also help with stress and volume testing, since it can be programmed to load the system with substantial amounts of data, requests or users. Generally, simulators give control over the test conditions, allowing you to perform tests that may otherwise be dangerous or impossible. Test management tools are used to control and co-ordinate testing for each of the major testing steps. Tools in this category manage and co-ordinate regression testing, perform comparisons that ascertain differences between actual and expected output and conduct batch testing of programs with interactive human-computer interfaces. In addition to the functions noted above, many test management tools also serve as generic test drivers. A test driver reads one or more test cases from a testing file, formats the test data to conform to the needs of the software under test, and then invokes the software to be tested. The C/S environment demands specialised testing tools that exercise the graphical user interface and the network communications requirements for client and server. This category can be sub-divided into the following functions: Reverse engineering to specification tools which take source code as input and generate graphical structured analysis and design models, ‘where-used' lists and other design information. Code restructuring and analysis tools that analyse program syntax, generate a control flow graph and automatically generate a structured program. On-line system reengineering tools which are used to modify on-line database systems. Many of the above tools are limited to specific programming languages, although most major languages are addressed and require some degree of interaction with the software engineer. Next generation reverse and forward engineering tools will make much stronger use of artificial intelligence techniques, applying a knowledge base that is application domain specific, i. e. a set of decomposition rules that would apply to all programs in a particular application area. The AI component will assist in system decomposition and reconstruction, but will still require interaction with a software engineer throughout the reengineering cycle. Several testing aids can be combined into one automated tool; a test harness is a monitoring system that tracks test input data, passes it to the program or system being tested and records the resulting output. A test harness can also compare actual with expected output and report any discrepancies. Most test harness tools are environment specific by the nature of the process. Test data set generators can generate test data sets derived from the requirements modelling process. Used in conjunction with test harnesses they will provide a formal documented test environment. In most cases a combination of the above tools will improve chances that a delivered application performs the tasks expected correctly and reliably. All testing tools generate large amounts of information about an applications structure. This information must be interpreted and used to detect and rectify subtle logic and structure error. There is a large amount of interest in producing automated support for this interpretation process; to pinpoint possible problem areas and suggest further lines of investigation. With the exception of Interpreters, that are still in development, the above categories of testing tools are available commercially. There are a large number of products available produced by many different companies, so two case studies have been selected to give an impression of the testing tools commercially available. Where possible, the category of testing tools as described above that each product fits into has been added in brackets after the product name. The current products available from this French company are aimed at user interface testing and there are three product lines. The first, UniTest, is designed to perform unit testing of embedded systems. It can develop test scripts that can run on native, simulator, emulator or target platforms. ATTOL's second product, SystemTest, automates the production and exploitation of integration and validation tests for systems. Both of these two products can be integrated with ATTOL's final product, Coverage (test coverage analyser), which is a code coverage tool that is designed to obtain the level of code coverage during the unit or integration testing. TestStudio is one of four products that make up the software development product, Rational Suite. The TestStudio product is itself made up of other Rational Products. Rational Robot provides thorough testing of an entire application, Rational TestFactory automatically detects run-time errors without user assistance and generates optimal scripts for regression testing. Rational Purify locates hard-to-find run-time errors that cause program crashes. Rational Quantify pinpoints performance ‘bottlenecks' in applications and Rational PureCoverage (test coverage analyser) identifies untested code and provides code-coverage analysis. The nature of many products available is that they perform testing to meet user requirements. To do this they are often a combination of several types of testing tool, which makes it difficult to identify specific categories of testing. However, many of the products available did require the system or application being tested to actually be run, whether on a simulator or real-time, suggesting dynamic testing is used more than static testing. There are however, a huge range of testing tools commercially available, combining many different testing methods.

Food Globalization in China Essay

In most Chinese traditional families, family members would sit around the dining table and dine together. Everyone would talk about the day and bond as a family. Usually, it would be the mother who would buy groceries after work and return home to cook for the family. Sometimes, the father, the children or even the grandparents would help out in the kitchen. The mother of the family would always consider the nutrition, thus for every dish, it would be well-prepared, making sure that every family member would not have any health problems, such as getting sick or malnutrition. This was what a Chinese traditional family would be like in the past where fast food restaurants and â€Å"instant† food were scarce. Today’s Chinese family has altered tremendously. Purchasing meals at fast food restaurants is such an easy task compared to the loads of work and preparation for cooking at home. As a result, a mother has lost her chance to increase her energy expenditure that she would have spent on traveling to the grocery store, choosing and purchasing items, and returning home to cook. In addition, the bonding time for the family has decreased due to lack of interactions such as cooking and dining together. Instead, a mother has found other ways to provide food for the family. She would often go straight to a nearby fast food chain, make a take-away order or purchase instant French fries or noodles from a nearby supermarket. Likewise, compared to the traditional way of Chinese dinners, where families sit around a table of different dishes, fast food menus are mostly set for individuals, the amount of time that a family spends together is again decreased, and this unhealthy diet may slowly lead to unpredicted illnesses. In a matter of time, whether you are sitting in a restaurant or walking along the shopping districts of Shanghai, you look around and you could see humongous people with waist like pillars, arms that looks like thighs and thighs that rub against each other when they walk, one hand holding a cup of Pepsi and the other feeding themselves with McDonald’s cheese burger. There will be no more people with wrinkles and white hair. The life expectancy has dropped to fifty. This is not an illusion but an anticipated look of the future: The Fat China. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, globalization is the development of an increasingly integrated global economy, which is marked by the increase in cross-border flows of goods, services, money, people, information and culture. It brings the world together by spreading different ideas, making foreign products easier to access, speeding up the pace of life, and increasing the understanding around us. Most countries welcome the rush of globalization, which symbolizes advancements. However, the negative consequences on Chinese culture are deniable and are not worth the consequences. Food globalization is spreading through the world’s diverse cultures in the form of fast food restaurants, high-caloric beverages, supermarkets supplying instant food and high-caloric imported products, and culture changes that affect family bonding time. These changes have resulted in unhealthy diets, a decrease of energy expenditure, and illnesses such as obesity. Food globalization is causing a negative effect in China. Since the 1980s, China’s openness has led to the growth of foreign fast food chains in China. Coca-cola, Starbucks, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Hà ¤agen-Daz, Dunkin’ Donuts, Baskin-Robbins, Pepsi, DQ, Pizzahut, Papa John’s and Mcdonald’s can be found almost everywhere in China (Popkin). According to Wen Dale, a member of the International Forum on Globalization, McDonald’s alone has opened up to at least 235 restaurants in China, excluding 158 Mcdonald’s franchises in Hong Kong. Every time when I go by McDonald’s in China, I can see the long lines of people, waiting for their turn to purchase the high-caloric food. When I visited Hangzhou (a city next to Shanghai) at the age of six, I already saw many KFCs around Hangzhou. Today’s Hangzhou is way different compared to twelve years ago, it is more modernized, and at the same time, it is crowded with fast food restaurants. In the shopping district of Hangzhou, there are not only Chanel, Gucci, Louis Vuitton but also McDonald’s, Pizzahut, Hà ¤agen-Dazs, Dunkin’ Donuts, Baskin-Robbins, Papa John’s, Starbucks and many other fast food chains. Globalization brought westernization, prosperity into China as well as fast food chains. According to A.Michelle Mendez, a nutritional epidemiologist who received her master’s in epidemiology at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, supermarkets, for example, have â€Å"accounted for 48 percent of the urban food markets in China, an increase beyond the 30 percent level in 1999†. With this increase of urban food markets in China, the traditional markets that provide fresh and unprocessed products has started to decline, leading to a higher consumption of processed food. Furthermore, these urban food markets are not only found in large cities but also in poorer areas. (Mendez) The growing presence of Carrefour and Metro that imports foreign products brought giant stores that offer a wide variety of high caloric snacks and soft drinks, increasing the availability of unhealthy products. For example, the direct imports of French fries from the United States has increased tenfold between 1995 and 1999 (Mendez). Food globalization that increased the number of foreign investments produces negative changes to the Chinese Cultures (Dale). Globalization has brought large foreign supermarket firms and fast food chains into China. All of these has resulted in lifestyle changes which include a shift from natural-homemade food and beverages consumed to processed ones, a higher consumption of foreign food, a driving dietary change, an increase intake of caloric sweeteners, a reduced food preparation time and an increase in intake of pre-cooked foods. These led to an increase in obesity rate in China. For foreign food chains to produce large amount of ingredients and products and ship them all the way across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, unhealthy chemicals are often added during production. The contemporary world is characterized by â€Å"an intense, continuous, comprehensive interplay between the indigenous and the imported†. (Jackson) This is demonstrated through the importing and exporting of fast food ingredients. According to John Andrew, a citizen journalist, these chemicals are sometimes known as â€Å"food additives† and not all food additives used are foods. Instead, they are â€Å"chemical that are generally recognized as safe† (Andrew). Almost all of these additives are nowhere to be found in a local supermarket, instead, some are found in â€Å"inedible products like tox antifreeze, silicone caulk, soap, sunscreen and play sand† (Andrew). As reported by Riddhi Shah, a writer for the website Salon, Sally Davies, a New York photographer started a â€Å"part-art, part-food† science experiment. Davies documented a McDonald’s Happy Meal every few days until it spoiled. Even at day 137, â€Å"the meal still looks pretty great† (Shah). After reading this experiment, how would people still feel safe and happy consuming these â€Å"Happy Meals†? Consuming foods with chemicals or food additives may damage long-term health. Globalization brought changes that I have personally encountered. In 2007, the number of foreign franchises in China could be counted with ten fingers. There were only a few Starbucks and McDonald’s opened their first outlet near the downtown Wulin Square, the shopping district in Hangzhou. However, after only three years, the number of Starbucks has quadrupled. Today, there are at least eight Starbucks in Hangzhou compared to the only one less than five years ago. Because Starbucks is present everywhere, it is easy for individuals to grab a cup of Caramel Frappuccino (which is about 430 calories) whenever passing by. This availability has brought about a rush of coffee addicts in China as well as weight gains. Likewise, the newly opened Starbucks near Hangzhou International School where I attended high school attracts many students and faculty daily. This situation also happens to the McDonald’s near the school. The increase in availability has caused a tremendous increase in junk food consumption among the staff and students. It is easy for students and faculty to grab a coffee, or a muffin before or after school. In most countries, especially the United States, Asians are often stereotyped as skinny. However, this perception will have to be altered in the coming decade. In the past, malnutrition has been the main health problem in China. According to James. A Levine, a professor of Medicine at Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, more than 60 million people have become obese in China (Levine). The data presents 23 percent of Chinese population is overweight. 12 percent adults and 8 percent children have obesity (Levine). The more serious problem is that Levine has predicted by 2020, the obesity population in China will exceed that of the United States. The Chinese population is one of the largest in the world and if as predicted by Levine, the Chinese obesity rate rises, the whole world will be affected by this change. Misra points out â€Å"that the obesity and the metabolic syndrome are immediate cursors of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease†, thus as China’s obesity rate increases, the well being of the Chinese population is evidently threatened. The increase in obesity rate will lead to maladaptive consequences such as an increase in other illnesses, and these studies provide a strong correlation with the growing of foreign fast food chains. Consequently, the increase of foreign fast food chains has affected everyone living in China. Easy accessibility to these restaurants and supermarkets reduces Chinese’s physical activity and labor intensity in both the urban and rural areas (Jackson). This increase number of foreign supermarkets has also resulted in a rise in the average intake of vegetable oil from â€Å"14.8 grams per person in 1989 to 35.1 grams per person in 2004, adding an extra 183 kcal to the population’s daily diet† (Popkin) (see table 1). In table 1, the availability for consumption of total calories has been going upslope since the 1961 and has no inclination of slowing down. Thus, these changes result in an increase in Chinese adults’ consumption on high-fat which rose from 33 percent to 60.8 percent in urban areas and 13.5 percent to 29.3 percent in rural areas (Mendez). Table 1 Regional Trends in Availability for Consumption of Total Calories, 1961-2000†¨Source: Misra, Anoop and Lokesh Khurana. â€Å"Obesity and the Metabolic Syndrome in Developing Countries†. J Clin Endocrinol Metab, 2008. Web. 8 November 2011. By switching from Chinese traditional diet to a Western diet, Chinese are consuming goods that are much higher in calories. In a Chinese traditional family, a dinner often included a few dishes of vegetables, a few dishes of meat (normally less than the number of vegetable dishes), a soup, and lastly a bowl of rice for each family member. One or two of the family members freshly cooked all of the food. This kind of traditional dinner included all components of a healthy meal for a well-balanced diet. For centuries, the only beverages Chinese consumed were tea, water, and breast milk after birth. â€Å"Because water has no calories, the human body did not evolve to reduce food intake to compensate for beverage consumption†, thus, adding sugar into new beverages will increase the caloric intake of an individual. (Popkin) Table 2 displays the short history of caloric beverage for humans. From breast milk, water consumption, the human as evolved to consume soda, coffee, juice, liquor and other beverages that contain sugar. Thereby, when people consume any beverage other than water, their total calorie consumption increase (Popkin). Table 2 Remarkably Short History for Caloric Beverages: Might the Absence of Compensation Relate to This Historical Revolution? Source: Popkin, Barry M. â€Å"The World is Fat.† The World is Fat (2008): n. pag. Web. 8 December 2011. The increase in availability of foreign food restaurants has led to a significant decrease of home-prepared food according to Popkin, an â€Å"obvious shift in home-prepared food and home-based meals to ready-to eat meals, often consumed away from home. With this consumption, Chinese are spending less time with their family members and more time outside of their homes. Even though families may eat out at a fast food restaurant together, as the food is served â€Å"fast†,, the social time that an individual spend with his family is still decreased. It is true that food globalization has presented positive effects on Chinese culture, such as the bringing a diverse of cuisines into China, satisfying the Chinese’s curiosity, the increase in their pace of life and the step of taking Chinese a leap forward into the understanding of the outside world. However, the negative consequences, such as the increase in health risks, and the diminishment of traditional culture that come together with food globalization are inevitable and are worth much more of the attention. These negative consequences may not seem worthwhile at this moment but when they do become serious problems, it will be too late to ameliorate. The question that is left for everyone to ponder is that do a higher standard of living, a higher pace of life worth the sacrifice? Work Cited Dale, Wen. â€Å"The Fast Food Invasion†. China Copes with Globalization: (2005): n. pag. Web 14 November 2011. Jackson, Peter. â€Å"Local Consumption Cultures in a Globalizing World†. Royal Geographical Society (2004): n. pag. Web. 13 November 2011.Levine, James A. â€Å"Obesity in China: Causes and Solutions†. Chinese Medical Journal (2007): n. pag. Web. 13 November 2011. Mendez, A. Michelle and M. Popkin. â€Å"Globalization, Urbanization and Nutritional Change In the Developing World†. Globalization of Food Systems in Developing Countries: Impact on Food Security and Nutrition (2004): n. pag. Web. 13 November2011. Popkin, Barry M. â€Å"The World is Fat.† The World is Fat (2008): n. pag. Web. 13 November 2011.Watson, L. James. â€Å"China’s Big Mac Attack†. Foreign Affairs (2000): n. pag. Web. 12 November 2011. Wong, Seanon. â€Å"What’s In A Dumpling†. University of Chicago (2006): n. pag. Web. 13 November 2011 Wu, Yangfeng. â€Å"Overweight and obesity in China†. BMJ (2006): n. pag. Web. 13 November 2011. Tan, Cheryn. â€Å"Curry – Origins and History†. Suite101, 2009. Web. 13 November 2011. Shah, Riddhi. â€Å"The Secret to the Immortality of McDonald’s Food†. Salon, 2010. Web. 13 November 2011. Andrew, John. â€Å"Surprise Ingredients in Fast Food†. Natural New, 2010. Web. 13 November 2011. Misra, Anoop and Lokesh Khurana. â€Å"Obesity and the Metabolic Syndrome in Developing Countries†. J Clin Endocrinol Metab, 2008. Web. 13 November 2011.

Why there may be greater potential for FDI activity in China rether Essay

Why there may be greater potential for FDI activity in China rether than India under the present economic climate - Essay Example However, when it comes to economic development both India and China have lot of similarities. These two countries are the most rapidly developing nations in the world at present. It is often said that global wealth is currently shifting from less heavily populated regions to the most heavily populated regions because of the developments in these two countries. India and China have shown the world that how the big curse (Population growth) can be turned to big blessing with the help of suitable economic policies. While most of the other developing nations such as America and European countries are struggling to find enough manpower, India and China have surplus manpower which they are utilizing cleverly for economic development. Even though a developing country may have many other sources of external finance, FDI seems to be the largest among all those sources. According to Malik et al.( 2012), â€Å"FDI is not only considered as a healthy sign for the overall national economy but al so a positive indication for the local industry considering its positive spill over effects† (p.230). FDI is bringing dividends in the progress of India and China in recent times. Majority of the prominent companies have invested heavily in India and China in recent times to capitalise the cheap manpower and other resources. . It should be noted that America and European region are not much promising for the multinational companies at present because of the ongoing recession problems and the ill-health of the economies there. On the other hand, India and China offer fertile soil for such companies and they work on their expansion plans based on the prospects in these two emerging economies. Some people believe that the investment climate in China is better than that in India. On the other hand, many others are of the view that India provides better climate than China for FDI. However, considering the recent performances of India and China in economic development, once can defi nitely say that China has slight edge over India in attracting FDI. This paper analyses why there may be greater potential for FDI activity in China rather than India under the present economic climate. What is FDI? According to Dicken (2007), Direct investment is a kind of investment intended to gain control over the activities of another firm. Moreover, FDI is the investment across nations (p.36). Ietto-Giles (2002) pointed out that â€Å"The flow of FDI and portfolio investments across countries generates a very large amount of investment incomes going in the opposite direction† (p.27). In short, the economic progress of a country in the modern era heavily depends on its ability to attract FDI. It should be noted that foreign direct investment is the investment of foreign capital in domestic goods and services. Since the internal resources of a country are limited, the ability to attract FDI determines which way the country is progressing. Adina (2011) mentioned about the training effect of FDI. In her opinion, FDI may help a country to modernize techniques and technologies, increase production and supply of goods, improve quality and competitiveness, create new jobs and grow the quality of life (p. 148). There is a limit for many countries to invest in infrastructure development projects because of various reasons such as budgetary constraints. FDI helps such countries to develop infrastructure with the help of foreign capital even though foreign companies, which bring capital, may exploit some internal resources. While balancing the profit and loss of FDI, profit will exceed the loss and hence most countries try to attract as much as FDI possible. In fact, competition for attracting FDI is huge among

The Scottish Enlightenment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Scottish Enlightenment - Essay Example This paper is therefore divided into two parts. The first part of this paper analyses and explains the philosophical explanations of human nature and the development of the mental process and how those ideas reflected concepts and ideas during the Scottish Enlightenment. The second part of this paper analyses how the decision in Knight v Wedderburn reflects an expression of these philosophical underpinnings. I. The Scottish Enlightenment Moral philosophers of the Scottish Enlightenment were strong advocates of natural law and morality. Lord Kames in particular expressed the view that man was governed not only by the laws of the land but also by the â€Å"laws of nature† both morally and physically.6 Essentially it was predicted that the natural progression of man was based on an empirical analysis of the mental processes which was developed over time. This natural progression was predicated on the belief that man was by nature a rational being with the ability to pursue what h e or she desired in a moral way.7 By taking this approach to nature and morality, moral philosophers of the Scottish Enlightenment