Sunday, November 17, 2019
Perception of Depression amongst North American and African Cultures Essay Example for Free
Perception of Depression amongst North American and African Cultures Essay Depression or â€Å"Unipolar depression is another name for Major Depressive disorder. It is a mood disorder characterized by depressed mood, it often manifests in lack of interest in family, school and social life, changes in eating and sleeping habits, emotional and medical disregard for the self, difficulty in concentrating, and loss of interest in life†(Rush, 2007). Just like any other pathological disease, it has risk factors, signs and symptoms, and a natural course. Like any other disease it can be treated with proper medical and psychological therapy. Yet it is not perceived as such by the community.            There is remarkable lack of awareness about depression in the communities, in spite of the staggering statistics about the disorder. Unipolar depression affects 7-18% of the American population at least once before the age of 40 (Kassler, McGonagle Zhao, 1994). In the United States alone, the number of females are reported to be suffering from clinical depression (Murray, 1997). It has also been observed that 2.5 percent of children and 8.3 percent of adolescents are depressed at any given time. These rates are considerably higher than the figure of the past decades (Depression Statistics Information, Internet). Yet, it has been found that only 20 percent of depressed people undergo medical treatment (Depression Statistics Information). This is caused by numerous reasons with ignorance or lack of concern and awareness about the disorder considered as the biggest suspect. In fact, a United States surgeon general report in the Hispanic community states that less than 10 percent of the mentally ill people will ever approach a mental clinic (U.S. Department of Health, 2000). This is possibly the result of lack of concern on their part, or due to the fact that in the Hispanic communitys, non-medical methods of treatment for the depressed. It is imperative that we find out whether other communities also show a similar of lack of awareness and concern about depression.            Social Science medicine attempts to find cultural differences in the conceptual models of depression by an interviewed with North American immigrants and African Americans (Karasz, 2005) . His study demonstrated that Americans were more of the view that depression was a pathological disease of the body just like any other disease and required medical therapy. According to the author, the people from the African community were more likely to explain depression in terms of a social and moral problems and conformed to the belief that self management was the right way to deal with the issue of depression.            Different communities have different perceptions about the disease, people of certain cultures prefer going to spiritual healers rather than seek medical attention (Nayem, 2005). Some cultures prefer to treat this ailment with alternative therapies to allopathic ones. Depression, though a serious and debilitating disease, does not command the same attention as other medical disorders like heart disease, Parkinson’s disease, or even obesity. According to Pasacreta (2008) there has been little attention given to depression and its consequences when we compare it with other diseases. For example obesity has been associated with diabetes many times. Even though depression also has a similar association with type II diabetes, not many people are aware of this fact. Since public concern is lacking in communities, many depressed people fail to come forward, and receive proper treatment. If this trend continues prevalence of depression will continue to rise.            Though the attitudes of different cultures may vary toward the disease, it does not change the fact that â€Å"depression poses enormous costs for individual, family, and the society†(Nayem F, 2005). Depression is a severe disease with far reaching effects, starting from the patient, who may inflict self harm, leading to a family life, which cannot function in the same way as before (Scott, 2003). There has been research demonstrating depression as a burrden to people, communities, and health services as the treatment is long term and the patient has little or no productivity to society (Nayem, 2005). This research further highlights the need to conduct a survey to assess the perception of depression across various cultures.            People are unaware of the magnitude of the problem and its economic implications. In certain cultures, inability to diagnose the disease or disregard of its seriousness lead to delayed medical opinion and treatment. Through this study, we will try to substantiate the various levels of awareness that different cultures have about the disease. The severity of depression usually gets aggravated if it is not treated promptly after diagnosis. This leads to a greater burden on the country. Scott (2003) echoed this sentiment when he stated â€Å"In the National Health Service the cost of treating depression ( £887 million) exceeds the cost of treating both hypertension ( £439 million) and diabetes ( £300 million). However, here, the direct health care costs are dwarfed by the indirect costs (i.e. days lost from work owing to depression exceed all other disorders and the economic burden on family members and society is considerable).                                                                                          North American and African cultures both differ in there perceptions about depression as a disease. Different cultures may feel that depression is a problem but western cultures are more likely to view it as a disease which needs medical therapy just like any other, whereas the people from the non western culture will perceive depression as more of a social and moral problem which requires self-management. There will generally be a lack of knowledge about depression as a disease in the non western community. The false beliefs and stigmas will be more present in non western cultures as compared to their western counterparts.            How widespread is serious depression? According to Dr. Nathan S. Kline of the New York State Department of Mental Hygiene, â€Å"it has been estimated that 15 per cent of the adult population of the United States has some degree of depression which is serious enough to be in need of treatment. This amounts to about 20 million people, which makes it not only the most frequent psychological disorder but also one of the most common of all serious medical conditions.†Depression is so widespread that it has been called â€Å"the common cold of mental disturbances.†           Studies report that women outstrip men in suffering from depression by a ratio of about 2 to 1, though some claim that this is because women are more willing to admit that they are depressed. Depression afflicts all races and every social and economic level. While the malady is most common between the ages of sixty and seventy, it strikes all age groups and has been rising among persons in their twenties. Why do so many millions of persons suffer from depression?            Much study has gone into uncovering the root causes of mental depression. Flaws in human society constitute one main source of the problem. Illustrating an aspect of this are comments by Dr. John Schwab, of the University of Florida College of Medicine: â€Å"We’re in an era of change right now. Old values such as the old work ethic are being rejected and people are caught in an ideological vacuum. Kids see that the fruits of four hundred years of scientific progress may be more bitter than sweetâ€â€but they don’t know what to put in its place, and consequently there is a sense of futility.†Because of this, many disillusioned youngsters seek â€Å"escape†through drugs and other means. â€Å"The search for highs among the young,†observes Dr. Schwab, â€Å"is often only a flight from the lows.†           Also contributing to the rise in depression is â€Å"supermobility.†Families that keep changing their places of residence, hopping about from house to house and city to city, do not stay in one place long enough to build solid relationships with other people. A psychiatrist at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center wrote: â€Å"Psychiatrists around Boston have been aware for some time of what is called ‘the Route 128 syndrome’ or in Florida ‘the Cape Kennedy syndrome.’ It is found in young families who have moved too much, and its components are a husband too centered in his career, a depressed wife and troubled children.†           Sometimes depression results when a person reaches a â€Å"plateau†in his life after many years of painstaking labor. A hard-driving business executive may finally achieve the top position in his company, only to realize that he no longer has a goal in life. Housewives in their forties and fifties often suffer from what psychiatrists call â€Å"empty nest syndrome.†By this time their children usually have grown up, their husbands are at work for most of each day and they must face lonely hours in houses devoid of people.            What about the feelings of inferiority that often accompany depression? Here too the responsibility may rest with human society. How so? Because it is often at a tender age that children are made to feel unattractive. Their peers may ridicule them if they are unable to do what the majority consider the â€Å"in†thing. If a youngster tends to be clumsy and uncoordinated, schoolmates and playmates can influence the child to believe that he â€Å"can’t do anything right.†Children of this type often combine the generalization: â€Å"I am weak,†with the value judgment: â€Å"It’s disgusting to be weak.†Such youths are likely candidates for depression. Method  Participants        Approximately 40 students (20 western, 20 international) students from a Midwest liberal arts college will participate in this study. All of them would be selected using randomized sampling. Participants will be offered candy for the completion of the survey. Materials  The survey questionnaire will consist of questions related to assessment of knowledge and attitudes towards depression and a demographic data form. The survey forms will contain closed ended questions only. It will consist of 3 parts. The first section will consist of demographic questions to gather information about the participants: How long have they lived here. Have they adopted the western culture of living or not. The second part will consist of closed questions. The participants will have to choose from the given options in the questionnaires. There will be questions that ask whether they consider depression to be a serious disease. Whether they believe it is a disease of the mind, body, or mind and body. Questions related to stigma would also be included for example do they believe mentally ill people are more aggressive than others? Do they believe mental illnesses are not as severe as physical ones? Do they believe depressed people can be cured with drugs only, or do they require social and community help? Moreover, to support the validation of the results of the survey, the review of literature to be utilized within the research shall show a specific scale of measure that is used by psychologists to identify the behavior of humans with regards to depression from different cultures all over the world. Procedure            It is imperative to find out exactly how different cultures perceive depression as a disease. The researcher plans on conducting this research. This research will deal with the perception of depression as a disease amongst western and non western cultures. The research will also look into the level of awareness in different cultures about the prevalence of disease in their societies. This research will try to substantiate if the perception of depression varies with different cultures. To complete the said aim, the research will be conducted on campus. Participants will be debriefed on the study being researched. The researcher would then have the participants sign a consent form before they participate in the study. After which, a survey kit would then be handed out to them and they would be given three days to return them back. Data analysis A one way ANOVA would be conducted to analyze the data. Since we have two independent sample populations and more than two variables. This will allow for the comparison of attitudes about depression for members of Western and non-Western cultures. Using the ANOVA we can calculate whether the stated answers have associations with either the western or non western societies.                                                  References Depression Information and Fact Statistics (2008), Depression statistics and information, retrieved on February 13, 2008, from http://www.add-adhd-help-center.com/Depression/statistics.htm Haasen C, Levit O, Gelbert A, Foroutan N, Norovjav A, Sinaa M, et.al, (2007), Relationship between mental distress and acculturation among migrants, psychrische praxis,  retrieved on February 13, 2008, from the NCBI database on    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez Karasz, A. (2005), Cultural differences in conceptual models of depression, Social Science medicine, 60, 1625-35, retrieved on February 13, 2008, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15652693?dopt=Abstractholding=f1000,f1000m,isrctn Kessler, R., McGonagle K,, Zhao S, et al. (1994) Lifetime and 12-month prevalence of DSM-III-R psychiatric disorders in the United States: results from the National Comorbidity Survey. Arch Gen Psychiatry;51:8-19. Murray, C., Lopez, A.D. (1997). Alternative projections of mortality and disability by cause 1990-2020: Global Burden of Disease Study. Lancet 349 Neem F, Ayub M., Izhar N, Javed Z, et al (2005). Stigma and knowledge of depression, Pakistan journal of medical sciences, 21(2) 155-158. Pasacreta. J, (2008), Depression: Is society taking the wrong approach? , retrieved on February 13, 2008, from http://www.helium.com/tm/646939/novel-approach-managing-depression Scott, J. (2003), Global burden of depression: the intersection of culture and medicine, The British Journal of Psychiatry, 183: 92-94, retrieved on February 13, 2008, from http://bjp.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/183/2/92 U.S. Department of Health Human Services, Office of the Surgeon General. Mental Health: Culture, Race, Ethnicity Supplement, A Report of the Surgeon General 1999.from: http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/cre/default.asp.
Thursday, November 14, 2019
Exploring Schizophrenia Essay -- Psychology Mental Disorders Neurology
Exploring Schizophrenia Schizophrenia which affects approximately 1 percent of the population, usually begins before age 25 and persists throughout life. The illness is a life long debilitating condition for about 40% of patients and is enormously costly in both social and economic terms. Despite the presence of delusions, hallucinations and cognitive impairment which characterize the illness, overall life expectancy is not altered (although there is a significantly increased risk-of suicide in the early years). Schizophrenia is usually viewed as a functional psychosis, a label which implies that the symptoms arise from the disorderly activity of neurons without accompanying anatomical and pathological alterations of brain structure. This view is due to the failure of pathologists to find convincing pathological changes associated with the disease in the first seven decades of the century. Over the last ten years things have changed considerably. Recent CT and MRI scan, and also postmortem studies show that various brain areas of schizophrenic patients are altered. HISTORY The two key people in the history of Schizophrenia were Emil Kraepelin and Eugene Blealer. Kraepelin organized the seriously mentally ill patients by three diagnostic groups: dementia praecox, manic depressive psychosis, and paranoia. Kraeplin?s description of dementia praecox emphasize a chronic deteriorating course, in addition to including such clinical phenomena as hallucinations and delusions. Kraepelin reported that approximately 4% of his patients had complete recoveries and 13% had significant remissions. The term "manic depressive psychosis" identified patients who experienced episodes of illness separated by virtually complete remissio... .... C., Caroff, S.. Dann, R., Silver, F. L., Saykin. A/ J., Chawluk, J. B., Kushner, M., Reivich, M. Regional brain function in schizophrenia. Arch. Gen. Psychiatry, 44:119, 1987- Grebb, J. A., Weinberger, D. R. and Wyatt, R. J. Schizophrenia. In Diseases of the nervous system, A. K. Asbury, G. M. McKhann, W. I. Mcdonald, editors, Vol. 2. W. B. Saunders, Philadelphia, 1986. Hamilton, M. Fish?s Clinical Psvchopathology, ed. 2, Wright, Bristol, 1985. Henn, F. A., Naerallah, H. A,, editors: Schizophrenia as a Brain Disease. Oxford, New York, 1982. Naerallah, H. A., Weinberger, D. R. The Neurology of Schizophrenia, In Handbook of Schizophrenia, H. A. Nasrallah, editor, Vol. 1., Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1986. Roberts, G. W. and Bruton, C. J. Notes from the graveyard: neuropathology and schizophrenia. Neuropathology and Applied Neurobiology, 16: 3-16, 1990.
Tuesday, November 12, 2019
Final Exam: Corporations Essay
Question 1: Buttercup Corporation issued 250 shares of $11 par value common stock for $4,125. Prepare Buttercup’ journal entry. Question 2: Wilco Corporation has the following account balances at December 31, 2012. Common stock, $5 par value $511,670 Treasury stock 95,260 Retained earnings 2,400,840 Paid-in capital in excess of par 1,320,150 Prepare Wilco’s December 31, 2012, stockholders’ equity section Question 3: Woolford Inc. declared a cash dividend of $1.38 per share on its 2.22 million outstanding shares. The dividend was declared on August 1, payable on September 9 to all stockholders of record on August 15. Prepare the journal entries necessary on those three dates. Question 4: The outstanding capital stock of Pennington Corporation consists of 3,100 shares of $109 par value, 6% preferred, and 5,700 shares of $52 par value common. Assuming that the company has retained earnings of $83,000, all of which is to be paid out in dividends, and that preferred dividends were not paid during the 2 years preceding the current year, state how much each class of stock should receive under each of the following conditions. Question 5: Martinez Company’s ledger shows the following balances on December 31, 2012. 5% Preferred stock-$10 par value, outstanding 22,480 shares $224,800 Common stock-$100 par value, outstanding 33,720 shares 3,372,000 Retained earnings 708,120 Assuming that the directors decide to declare total dividends in the amount of $298,984, determine how much each class of stock should receive under each of the conditions stated below. One year’s dividends are in arrears on the preferred stock. Question 6: On January 1, 2012, Barwood Corporation granted 5,040 options to executives. Each option entitles the holder to purchase one share of Barwood’s $5 par value common stock at $50 per share at any time during the next 5 years. The market price of the stock is $72 per share on the date of grant. The fair value of the options at the grant date is $154,000. The period of benefit is 2 years. Prepare Barwood’s journal entries for January 1, 2012, and December 31, 2012 and 2013. Question 7: Rockland Corporation earned net income of $340,800 in 2012 and had 100,000 shares of common stock outstanding throughout the year. Also outstanding all year was $908,800 of 10% bonds, which are convertible into 18,176 shares of common. Rockland’s tax rate is 40 percent. Compute Rockland’s 2012 diluted earnings per share. Question 8: DiCenta Corporation reported net income of $250,000 in 2012 and had 50,000 shares of common stock outstanding throughout the year. Also outstanding all year were 5,410 shares of cumulative preferred stock, each convertible into 2 shares of common. The preferred stock pays an annual dividend of $5 per share. DiCenta’ tax rate is 40%. Compute DiCenta’ 2012 diluted earnings per share. Question 9: Ferraro, Inc. established a stock appreciation rights (SAR) program on January 1, 2012, which entitles executives to receive cash at the date of exercise for the difference between the market price of the stock and the pre-established price of $24 on 5,050 SARs. The required service period is 2 years. The fair value of the SAR’s are determined to be $6 on December 31, 2012, and $13 on December 31, 2013. Question 10: Hillsborough Co. has an available-for-sale investment in the bonds of Schuyler with a carrying (and fair) value of $88,020. Hillsborough determined that due to poor economic prospects for Schuyler, the bonds have decreased in value to $57,020. It is determined that this loss in value is other-than temporary. Prepare the journal entry, if any, to record the reduction in value. Question 11: Capriati Corporation made the following cash purchases of securities during 2012, which is the first year in which Arantxa invested in securities. 1. On January 15, purchased 11,700 shares of Gonzalez Company’s common stock at $43.55 per share plus commission $2,574. 2. On April 1, purchased 6,500 shares of Belmont Co.’s common stock at $67.60 per share plus commission $4,381. 3. On September 10, purchased 9,100 shares of Thep Co.’s preferred stock at $34.45 per share plus commission $6,383. On May 20, 2012, Capriati sold 3,900 shares of Gonzalez Company’s common stock at a market price of $45.50 per share less brokerage commissions, taxes, and fees of $3,705. The year-end fair values per share were: Gonzalez $39.00, Belmont $71.50, and Thep $36.40. In addition, the chief accountant of Capriati told you that Capriati Corporation plans to hold these securities for the long term but may sell them in order to earn profits from appreciation in pri ces. Question 12: (Journal Entries for Fair Value and Equity Methods) Presented below are two independent situations. Prepare all necessary journal entries in 2012 for each situation. Situation 1 Hatcher Cosmetics acquired 10% of the 207,400 shares of common stock of Ramirez Fashion at a total cost of $15 per share on March 18, 2012. On June 30, Ramirez declared and paid a $80,200 cash dividend. On December 31, Ramirez reported net income of $123,500 for the year. At December 31, the market price of Ramirez Fashion was $18 per share. The securities are classified as available-for-sale. Situation 2 Holmes, Inc. obtained significant influence over Nadal Corporation by buying 25% of Nadal’s 30,800 outstanding shares of common stock at a total cost of $9 per share on January 1, 2012. On June 15, Nadal declared and paid a cash dividend of $43,800. On December 31, Nadal reported a net income of $90,500 for the year. Question 13: (Equity Method) Gator Co. invested $1,380,000 in Demo Co. for 25% of its outstanding stock. Demo Co. pays out 40% of net income in dividends each year. Use the information in the following T-account for the investment in Demo to answer the following questions. Question 14: (Fair Value and Equity Method Compared). Gregory Inc. acquired 20% of the outstanding common stock of Handerson Inc. on December 31, 2012. The purchase price was $1,320,000 for 50,000 shares. Handerson Inc. declared and paid an $0.87 per share cash dividend on June 30 and on December 31, 2013. Handerson reported net income of $741,000 for 2013. The fair value of Handerson’s stock was $32 per share at December 31, 2013. Question 15: (Call Option). On January 2, 2012, Jones Company purchases a call option for $450 on Merchant common stock. The call option gives Jones the option to buy 1,000 shares of Merchant at a strike price of $50 per share. The market price of a Merchant share is $50 on January 2, 2012 (the intrinsic value is therefore $0). On March 31, 2012, the market price for Merchant stock is $60 per share, and the time value of the option is $200. Question 16: In 2012, Amirante Corporation had pretax financial income of $207,000 and taxable income of $166,400. The difference is due to the use of different depreciation methods for tax and accounting purposes. The effective tax rate is 40%. Compute the amount to be reported as income taxes payable at December 31, 2012. Question 17: At December 31, 2012, Fell Corporation had a deferred tax liability of $732,802, resulting from future taxable amounts of $2,155,300 and an enacted tax rate of 34%. In May 2013, a new income tax act is signed into law that raises the tax rate to 42% for 2013 and future years. Prepare the journal entry for Fell to adjust the deferred tax liability. Question 18: AMR Corporation (parent company of American Airlines) reported the following for 2009 (in millions). Service cost $405 Interest cost on P.B.O 736 Return on plan assets 825 Amortization of service cost 29 Amortization of loss 66 Compute AMR Corporation’s 2009 pension expense (in millions). Question 19: For Warren Corporation, year-end plan assets were $2,094,700. At the beginning of the year, plan assets were $1,762,400. During the year, contributions to the pension fund were $120,000, and benefits paid were $200,000. Compute Warren’s actual return on plan assets. Question 20: For 2010, Campbell Soup Company had pension expense of $48 million and contributed $296 million to the pension fund. Prepare Campbell Soup Company’s journal entry to record pension expense and funding. Question 21: Lahey Corp. has three defined-benefit pension plans as follows. Pension Assets (at Fair Value) Projected Benefit Obligation Plan X $637,500 $504,000 Plan Y 902,200 739,900 Plan Z 584,600 713,200 How will Lahey report these multiple plans in its financial statements? Question 22: For 2012, Sampsell Inc. computed its annual postretirement expense as $278,680. Sampsell’s contribution to the plan during 2012 was $185,750. Prepare Sampsell’s 2012 entry to record postretirement expense. Question 23: Wertz Corporation decided at the beginning of 2012 to change from the completed-contract method to the percentage-of-completion method for financial reporting purposes. The company will continue to use completed-contract method for tax purposes. For years prior to 2012, pre-tax income under the two methods was as follows: percentage-of-completion $143,000, and completed-contract $65,800. The tax rate is 32%. Prepare Wertz’s 2012 journal entry to record the change in accounting principle. Question 24: In 2012, Bailey Corporation discovered that equipment purchased on January 1, 2010, for $50,000 was expensed at that time. The equipment should have been depreciated over 5 years, with no salvage value. The effective tax rate is 29%. Prepare Hiatt’s 2012 journal entry to correct the error. Question 25: At January 1, 2012, Beilder Company reported retained earnings of $2,027,300. In 2012, Beilder discovered that 2011 depreciation expense was understated by $442,300. In 2012, net income was $931,270 and dividends declared were $204,310. The tax rate is 38%. Complete the 2012 retained earnings statement for Beilder Company. Question 26: Simmons Corporation owns stock of Armstrong, Inc. Prior to 2012, the investment was accounted for using the equity method. In early 2012, Simmons sold part of its investment in Armstrong, and began using the fair value method. In 2012, Armstrong earned net income of $81,100 and paid dividends of $90,400. Prepare Simmons’s entries related to Armstrong’s net income and dividends, assuming Simmons now owns 11% of Armstrong’s stock. Question 27: Manno Corporation has the following information available concerning its postretirement benefit plan for 2012. Service cost $53,750 Interest cost 58,360 Actual return on plan assets 40,190 Compute Manno’s 2012 postretirement expense Question 28: Ravonette Corporation issued 310 shares of $13 par value common stock and 130 shares of $47 par value preferred stock for a lump sum of $17,500. The common stock has a market price of $22 per share, and the preferred stock has a market price of $98 per share. Prepare the journal entry to record the issuance Question 29: Garfield Company purchased, as a held-to-maturity investment, $82,400 of the 9%, 8-year bonds of Chester Corporation for $73,919, which provides an 11% return. Prepare Garfield’s journal entries for (a) the purchase of the investment and (b) the receipt of annual interest and discount amortization. Assume effective interest amortization is used. Question 30: Clydesdale Corporation has a cumulative temporary difference related to depreciation of $606,600 at December 31, 2012. This difference will reverse as follows: 2013, $43,100; 2014, $264,300; and 2015, $299,200. Enacted tax rates are 34% for 2013 and 2014, and 40% for 2015. Compute the amount Clydesdale should report as a deferred tax liability at December 31, 2012
Saturday, November 9, 2019
LEDC and MEDC Economic and Social Issues
The population in the UK is forever ageing, with people living until a much older age today. One economic effect of this is that pensioners will, in time, outnumber children. This will mean that there will be a generation between certain ages that has a very low population and once this age band becomes part of the working population, there will be significantly less tax revenues for the government. This will indirectly affect the economy. In addition, there may be a large deficit, where the about being paid into the economy is less than the amount being paid out. Because pensioners require healthcare, disability benefits and state pensions, there may be a lot of money going out to the high number of pensioners and because there are much more older dependant people the working population cannot produce enough make sure there is stability. This could also mean there is a great burden on the health service. When people are older, they require much more healthcare, and so the health services in the UK will have more pressure as there are so many older people. There are also many social costs. One is that with more people becoming older, the death rate will be high, but the birth rate remains low as there are so many older people and very few people are young enough to give birth. This will mean the population could decrease. Additionally, when there are more elderly people, the healthcare system cannot cope, there will be a sudden need for more old people's homes and this will put pressure on the NHS. However, there are some positive economic impacts. There will be a growing market for products such as stair lifts and wheel chairs. Also, companies like hotels will have a wider spread of profits throughout the year because pensioners. There may also be an increase in private healthcare profits because many elderly people who are rich can afford to have private healthcare. There is also an increased life expectancy and lower death rates in the country as more people are living and for a long time. Caatinga in north Brazil is a rural area that is home to mostly poor people. The people living in Caatinga are moving to much more industrialized cities like Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro to the south of Brazil. The main reasons people are leaving the rural areas are the lack of employment opportunities, the main source of income in Caatinga is farming jobs and other agricultural jobs. This is then made worse by the frequent droughts in the area and other natural disasters. Another reason people are moving is because of large families that have very little land to share amongst the sons. This is caused by a high birth rate in rural areas like Caatinga. Overgrazing of the land will lead to bad crops being produced and soil that is useless. This then leads to starvation, resulting from either too little output for the people of the area or crop failure. This has then lead to more families selling land off and moving away. The land that they sell off may be to richer farmers that have tractors and other mechanized equipment. This then causes a reduction in the number of jobs available in the area. Farming is also hard work with long hours and little pay. In LEDC's lack of money will mean a lack of farming equipment. Caatinga also experiences many droughts and so the hard physical condition of the area will cause a loss of jobs or food in the area. Caatinga also has a lack of services like schools and hospitals; this will be hard for families to cope with because of young children. Finally, the government are more likely to invest in urban areas rather than rural areas like Caatinga. The reasons that people move to the city and urban areas are because, they seek better jobs that pay much more money, jobs in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro are much better paid than in Caatinga. They are housed better and have a better quality of life, they have a better medical treatment and more services like schools and they have enough food. The UK, which is in Western Europe, is an MEDC. The average life expectancy in the UK is 77 years. Burkina Faso is in Central Africa and is an LEDC. The life expectancy there is 48 years. Firstly the infant mortality rate in Burkina Faso is 170 per 1000. This means out of every 1000 babies born, 170 of them are likely to die. This proves that there is a problem in Burkina Faso because in the UK the Infant mortality rate is only 6 per 1000. This clearly shows how the healthcare in Burkina Faso is poor and so they are more likely to die younger. Another factor is the Average calorie intake per day. In Burkina faso it is 2387 calories, whereas in the UK it is 3317 calories. Burkina Faso's figure is lower than what is needed to live. This shows how more people are starving and dieing younger. Similarly, the amount of the population that is malnourished in Burkina Faso is 30%, whereas in the UK it is 2%. This illustrates a growing problem of food in Burkina Faso. The lack of available food will mean more people are dieing and many more young people are struggling to survive. The number of years for the UK's population to double is 433 years, in contrast to Burkina Faso who's population is said to double in 23 years! This will cause large problems with resources and may start off a large phase of famine and disease. This will keep the Life expectancy low. The access to healthcare in Burkina Faso is less than 50% this clearly indicates a problem in health with many people and the majority of the population not being able to have healthcare. This will keep the life expectancy low, compared to the UK which has 100% access to healthcare for everyone. With an average income of only $230 per person, Burkina faso is likely to have problems of poverty and lack of food and clean water. This means most families are likely to die young because no money will eventually be the cause of deaths, against the UK, with an average income of i18,000. These factors clearly show that Burkina faso has a very low life expectancy, many people are dieing as a result of these poor living standards. Whereas the UK has a high life expectancy because the overall quality of life is better.
Thursday, November 7, 2019
4 Reasons Why Trees Drop Nuts Early
4 Reasons Why Trees Drop Nuts Early Sometimes nut-bearing trees, such as hickory, walnut, and pecan, drop their fruit before full maturity. At times, it can be a natural shedding of a portion of the nut crop. Other causes can be more problematic, including adverse weather conditions, poor tree health, inadequate pollination, insects, and disease. How Nut Trees Set Fruit Most nut-bearing trees have male pollinators and female flowers, both called catkins. Female flowers produce nuts during the current seasons growth and have to survive through that years growth before the crop of nuts is set. Not all flowers on a tree will produce a nut each year; in fact, they may alternate years. There can be several natural nut drops between mid-Mays pollination through the end of Augusts fruit set, and they can be minimized by proper tree fertilization. For example, if a tree wasnt adequately pollinated or didnt have enough potassium to set good fruit, there will be nuts that may be malformed with few seeds inside (fruits on the tree grow but embryos inside dont develop). The tree will drop this fruit early because its not biologically sufficient for the trees reproduction. The tree will concentrate its energy on growing fruits that are going to set good seeds. A Trees Physical Condition Poor tree health can cause premature dropping of nuts. A trees health is often compromised because of inadequate nutrient uptake, which is most evident during drought. Insect and disease infestations increase during these times of tree stress and can further degrade a trees condition, especially if trees are growing in poor soil. Any early defoliation will cause nut drop and low-quality fruit. Water and fertilize your tree adequately to make sure it has the proper nutrients to set and grow its fruits. Weather Influence on a Trees Nut Crop Excessive rain or frost during late spring/early summer pollination will cause inadequate pollination of female flowers. Those poorly-pollinated flowers may produce a nut that will drop early or produce no nut at all. Sometimes, male pollen can mature either before or after the female flower is receptive, and this condition is usually weather-related. An extended drought during nut growth may also result in the dropping of tree nuts, particularly if the plant is in sandy soil that dries out quickly. Thats a resource competition drop, or a so-called June drop, as the tree is concentrating its energy on the number of nuts it can support. Mechanical injury to leaves, flowers, and nuts from hail and wind may cause premature dropping as well. Insects and Diseases of Nut Trees Early pecan scab infection of young nuts will cause nuts to drop and is a major cause of pecan crop failure. Black walnut is highly vulnerable to anthracnose, and the disease is of much concern in commercial orchards. Leaf diseases in nut trees such as scab, scorch, mildew, blotch, brown spot, and downy or vein spot may also cause nut shedding. The pecan nut casebearer probably causes more nut shedding than all other insects combined in pecan orchards. Codling moth causes significant premature nut drop in black walnut groves. Other insects, such as black aphids, walnut caterpillar, shuckworms, stink bugs, and pecan weevils may cause early nut dropping. Avoid using pesticides during flowering, as chemicals can kill beneficial insects and result in inadequate pollination.
Tuesday, November 5, 2019
The Distance Between Me And My Readers - A Bob Mayer Interview
The Distance Between Me And My Readers - A Bob Mayer Interview â€Å"The distance between me and my readers is the internet†An interview with Bob Mayer How can indie authors use eBooks to their full advantage, creatively exploiting their potential to be adapted over time and linked to an author’s whole output?Bob Mayer is a New York Times Bestselling Author who is not afraid to explore the incredible new opportunities available to authors. With 60 books published - both traditionally published and indie-published - Bob has sold over four million books. He and is also a leadership speaker and consultant, coaching authors on many aspects of writing and publishing. He is also CEO of Cool Gus Publishing and his latest book Time Patrol has just come out. On top of all that, he is the only West Point Graduate and Former Green Beret we’ve ever had the pleasure of interviewing! We talk about his work as a hybrid author, his marketing techniques, and Italian book covers†¦ It’s really great to be interviewing Bob this afternoon - a New York Times bestselling author, writing coach, who also writes a lot about publishing and self-publishing. Firstly Bob, it’d be great to start with your writing course Write on the River, how is it going?I’ve been doing writing workshops for a number of years - I used to hold small intimate workshops and various bed and breakfasts. After my wife and I moved to the Tennessee River, we got a nice big house, so a couple of times a year we bring four writers into the weekend, working with them on their books. The weekend after this I’ve got four people coming down.So you work with them on all sorts of things, structure and character development, that type of thing?I change it for every group because every group is a little different. I’ve had number one New York Times bestsellers here - usually it’s published authors with some experience, but occasionally I’ve had a new auth or. We usually spend a lot of time on the ‘idea and conflict lock’ and a lot of time talking about the business, because so many things are up in flux right now.Many authors - even established authors - are wondering right now, â€Å"should I become a hybrid author?†, â€Å"should I keep traditionally publishing?†, â€Å"should I self-publish?†One of our authors came down here for the weekend and she’s publishing with Cool Gus, so she’s become a hybrid author.You are a hybrid author who has published a number of different ways, could you tell us a bit more about that?I was published in New York for 42 books - Random House, St Martins - many big houses. Then I went self-publishing as I had a huge backlist to which I owned the rights and formed my own publishing company Cool Gus.I knew from the very beginning what I wanted was to sign with 47 North, Amazon’s Science Fiction imprint. The main reason I did that was because of their marketing capabilities. They have tremendous power to market you on their site. So I’ve got a book we’re going to publish May 5th. I’ve got a book coming back from 47 North that’s due out in August, so I alternate writing science-fiction for amazon and thrillers for my own company.What is it specifically about their marketing that interested you?They have reach: they call it ‘merchandising’. They really know who the readers are and have huge databases. They know everyone who has bought one of their previous books and send them an email. They also do pricing - in the UK they have a ‘book for a pound’ - they pick a number of titles and promote those. There is a huge difference sales-wise when you use any of these platforms - whether Amazon, Apple or Audible ACX - they give you some ‘merchandising’ and your sales can skyrocket.Yes, we’ve found with many authors that email lists are really helpful, because you ar e talking to an engaged audience, and that it’s worth slowly building them upYes, we don’t send many newsletters out because we feel many people are bombarded by them, but we are focusing on building our list this year. The other thing we have is a private Facebook group called ‘The A-team’: we’ve got about 30 people in there. These are people who really like my books. It’s a small intimate group where we chat about what I’m writing. If you can get a core of about 40-50 readers who talk about you and promote you, that’s huge. The book - Time Patrol (Area 51: The Nightstalkers Book 4) - just came out yesterday and I’ve already got a handful of reviews, mainly because of those types of people.I like the idea of nurturing a small but dedicated small fan group. They are the one’s you can have a personal connection to.The most important thing is readers. I’ve got a huge Twitter following, but I don’t reall y think it sells books; I don’t think a huge Facebook following sells books - although these things aren’t bad of course. The distance between me and my readers is the internet. I can communicate with them and respond to every email I get or every mention on Twitter. I think that’s key.There’s lot of resistance in the publishing industry to change - I think that’s because so much of it doesn’t change: it’s always going to be about great content and writing. But, of course, things are changing: are there any new developments that are interesting to you?Subscription is big. A lot of people are complaining about Kindle Unlimited for sales dropping, but Kindle Unlimited occurred at the same time as the content flood hit the eBook market - there’s just so much content out there and that’s not going away.We don’t fight those things. Yesterday we got a cheque from Draft2Digital and the Scribd subscription service. We use those things; we use Kindle Unlimited. I broke one of my non-fiction books into 15 shorts, dedicated totally to Kindle Unlimited. I think writers waste a lot of time tilting at windmills they can’t change. They need to look at the publishing landscape and use everything out there to the best of their abilities.Yes, and I think they could anticipate change a lot more than they actually do.Ha! Yea, although I don’t think anyone could tell you where we’re going to be a year from now. It does always come back to good content though. The good thing is that I think if you write a good book, that’s a big part of it and then you do have to get out there and reach the readers. The readers have to know the book exists.You’ve said in the past that this is the moment in publishing you are most excited to be a part of because the author has control.Absolutely! What I’m doing right now didn’t exist ten years ago. Ten years ago I would hold the rig ht to 50 books and be able to do absolutely nothing with them. I wouldn’t be able to sell them to anybody - I couldn’t get them in the bookstore. Now, they are in virtual bookstores, I can sell them to readers. One of our saying is â€Å"If you haven’t read it, it’s not backlist†. I was reading my first book from 1991 and I realised to someone reading it now, it’s a brand new book.One of the interesting things right now is how publishing is relating to other media. People talk about how it is conflicting of complementing other media - cable TV, movies, games, etc - but do you think also that a lot of writers could learn about how they market these media?I see writers say â€Å"go kill your TV†, but my wife and I watch a lot of TV and the writing is fantastic. Marketing-wise, if you look at what Netflix did with the Kevin Spacey show, where they released it all on the same day, I think that’s something to think about.People want instant gratification now. It used to be that in traditional publishing, I have to give a book a year, but I had to write under three pen names because they would not allow me to publish more than a book a year. Now, you cannot publish fast enough, or write fast enough to keep up with demand from readers!Yes, maybe you could experiment publishing lots at once, gaining a core reader group, then change your strategy, slow down or create anticipation.Yes one thing we’re doing is we’re putting out a book every three months this year and what I’m doing personally is I’m racking my books together. I just had a book come out yesterday that loops back to my early Atlantic series, so what I’m doing is connecting the dots over 25 years of books.At the end of the book, I say â€Å"if you want to know more about this character, go to this series†, â€Å"if you want to know more about this world, go to this series†. I think that gives readers mor e options to go through the back story.Now your books are always out there - they don’t grow old, so you can create these links in ways which weren’t previously possible.One thing I often talk about in my business is that an eBook is not like a print book: it’s very, very different. It’s organic. It’s changing. We have so many titles that when we bring out a new one, we have to go into the back and change all the links in it, we have to change the metadata.Yesterday my new book came out and is called Time Patrol and I asked my business partner, â€Å"by the way, do these books have another subgenre on Amazon of ‘time travel’, because this is actually another best seller list!†and she’d already taken care of that. So it’s just constant change, and I think it’s caught traditional publishers a little by surprise, because they are used to the ‘fire and forget’ method. They published a book and itâ €™s out there, it’s never going to change. An eBook changes constantly. I’m not talking the content - although you can do that - I’m talking all the things around it: the cover the endman, the metadata, so it’s a constant churning of things.Have you experimented with changing covers?Oh yea! We’ve changed covers. Actually, you often have to change covers, like on Amazon, where there are certain promotional things you can’t get into if you have things like a gun on the cover. I totally understand, because people complain, but you have to change the image and remove the gun, simply to get in these marketing programs!I think it’s endlessly fascinating how in different countries, different covers just work and different ones just don’t work. I think you can learn a lot about individual countries by the book covers they like!I was in a book store in Italy where it was always a scantily-clad woman on the cover with an atomic blast in the background and there was no woman in a bikini in the book! They just stick it there because that’s what sells.So much of indie publishing seems to require a certain kind of author: entrepreneurial and someone who can effectively manage their own business. Do you think that may change? Do you think it could incorporate other types of writers who are perhaps not entrepreneurial, but who still want control and the best of indie-publishing?Well, that’s a little what we do at Cool Gus. A handful of authors we work with just want to write, yet they want the freedom, so we take care of all the things for them, but we give them final say. So they don’t have to get caught up in the actual doing of it, but we’ll say, â€Å"What do you want on your cover?†- and they get the final say on that, cover copy, everything! So I think that’s a different business model.And so that they have a team to help themYes, I think it’s really hard to do it all well. There are people that do it, but it’s much easier to send someone an email and say â€Å"Please take care of this†.Where do you think agents may fit in the future?I think agents are evolving. Kristen Nelson who works with Hugh Howey is an example of an agent that’s really changed the way she looks at things. And I actually think traditional publishing is not going to die: it’s evolving and they are learning, changing and adapting. I’m querying agents right now because I need help with foreign rights. I can’t really travel to the London Book Fair, for example, so I need an agent to take care of those things for me.I think the reason publishing is so interesting is because it is a very complex industry and there are so many different things to be doing. What are you thinking about experimenting with in the next couple of years?It’s more about the creative part. I’ve been doing it so long, that what I realise is that I can produce better books faster and the market is there for it. I have so many series going, and at the same time I put a few experimental things out there. And I don’t have to sit there and worry, will my agent like it, will my editor like it, will my publisher like it, will the sales force think they can sell it? All I’ve got to care about is ‘will the readers like it?’ I don’t think that’s going to change: that I like. I can directly reach my readers and either they can hit that buy button or not, and that tells me if it’s working or not.That’s a really great message to send to our readers. Thanks so much for your time Bob!Follow @Bob_Mayer and @ReedsyHQ on TwitterDo you think too many authors waste time fighting things they can’t change? Where do you see agents fitting in in the future? Leave us your thoughts, or any question you have for Bob, in the comments below!
Sunday, November 3, 2019
Interest Rates Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words
Interest Rates - Essay Example All the monotheistic religions i.e. Judaism, Christianity and Islam looked interest with contempt; where the Judaism and Christianity compromised with its significance as stimulating force for economic prosperity, Islam still treats it as a ' war against God' and practicing Muslims dislike the lending and receiving of interest . In our early history the Greeks were considered as highly civilized nation. Lending money at interest was forbidden by the Greeks. Aristotle whose powerful indictment greatly influenced the later nations condemned the taking of interest in very strong words. He compared money to a barren hen which laid no eggs. According to Aristotle, the object of the use of money was to facilitate exchange, and the fuller satisfactions of human wants. According to him this was the most natural purpose of money; money could not be used as the source of accumulation i.e. to increase at interest. So accumulating money at interest was the most unnatural of all ways of making mo ney. A piece of money cannot beget another piece, and hence it was unjust. Plato too condemned interest. Similarly Roman Empire prohibited the charging of interest, and they were first nation to enact laws for the protection of debtors. Gradually prohibitions against usury began to be renewed in Europe. In England the ban was renewed in 1545, during the reign of Henry VIII. It was only during this period the word usury began to be replaced 'interest'. (Homer 1996) The Prerequisites to the Rise of Interest Rate: In the underdeveloped economies the demand for capital is great while the supply is very limited as compared with developed economies. Marginal productivity of capital is very high in developing countries and hence the rate of interest is also high. Some political factors also contribute to high rate of interest in poor countries. As a high risk of bankruptcy is involved the higher rates of interest are claimed by the lending agencies.Where there are possibilities that capital would earn greater reward for the investor, he will be willing to pay higher rate of interest keeping in view the higher degree of capital productivity and better power of payment of interest. In such situation the rate of interest will rise. When a loan is required for a longer period the money lender would prefer to advance loans to debtors at higher rate of interest as the money lender/creditor have to part with their cash assets for a long period which involves greater risks than the short term loans. Increase in trade and business activities creates healthy atmosphere and it also creates demand for capital to greater extent and in such circumstances the expectation of higher rate of interest can not be ignored. The rate of interest will rise due to excessive demand of cash resources. When the economy is under inflationary pressure, it is indicative of the fact that the higher rate of interest prevails in the economic activities of a country. In such situation the interest rates will also rise The Nature and Necessity of Interest Rates: Why should interest be paid at all In the Middle Ages Money
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