Why Are Drugs Classified in the Categories They Are Essay Example for Free

Why Are Drugs Classified in the Categories They Are Essay 1.Why are drugs classified in the categories they are? The term drug class generally refers to the area affected by a drug or its effect on the body (BIO-316V Module 2 Lecture, 2012). Many drugs can fit into more than one category, but they are usually classified by their therapeutic action. A drug’s therapeutic category refers to its purpose—the diseases or conditions it treats (Drug Classifications, 2013). Drugs can also be classified by the chemical type of the active ingredient. 2.Give a description of the actions of drugs in each category. Central Nervous System: Anticonvulsants: These drugs are used to control/prevent seizures in patients who have epilepsy, seizure disorders, traumatic brain injuries, or other cerebral disorders ((BIO-316V Module 2 Lecture, 2012). Antidepressants: These drugs are used to treat neurotransmitter deficiencies (BIO-316V Module Lecture, 2012). It can take weeks for the drug to reach the appropriate blood level to have the desired effect. Antianxiety/sedative medications: These drugs are used to treat anxiety disorders and sleep disorders. Barbiturates and benzodiazepines enhance the actions of the inhibitory neurotransmitter, gammaaminobutyruc acid. Agents in both classes are effective sedative-hypnotics , antianxiety agents, and anticonvulsants. (Olson, J., 2012). Antipsychotics: These are medications that are used to treat psychotic episodes and serious mental disorders (BIO-316V Module Lecture, 2012). Schizophrenia is an example of a psychotic disorder that can be treated with an antipsychotic medication. Anti emetics: These drugs treat nausea and vomiting and help control motion sickness (Olson, J., 2012). Cardiovascular drugs: Antihypertensives: These include diuretics which reduce blood pressure and edema by increasing urine production. (Olson, J., 2012). Antiadrenergics: These medications increase blood pressure by stimulating the heart and/or constricting peripheral blood vessels. (Olson, J., 2012). Vasodilators: These drugs help lower one’s blood pressure by dilating the blood vessels (Olson, J., 2012). Vasoconstrictors: These help increase one’s blood pressure by constricting the blood vessels (Olson, J., 2012). Anti-anginals: Nitrates dilate large myocardial arteries to increase blood supply to the  heart. They also reduce cardiac preload by reducing venous tone which allows blood pooling in the periphery (Olson, J., 2012). Anti-arrhythmias: These drugs influence cardiac conduction properties and may revert an abnormal rhythm to sinus rhythm (Olson, J., 2012). Anticoagulants, antiplatelets, and thrombolytics: Anticoagulants inhibit coagulation, antiplatelets prevent platelet aggregation and thrombolytics degrade clots that have already formed (Olson, J., 2012). All of these drugs need to be given carefully to avoid causing excessive bleeding. They should not be given to patients with ulcers, patients who are pregnant, or those who are suffering from a hemorrhagic stroke (BIO-316V Module Lecture, 2012). Lipid Lowering Agents: These drugs help one reduce blood cholesterol when diet and exercise control fail (Olson, J., 2012). Analgesic medications: Analgesic medications are commonly known as pain relievers. Many are over-the-counter (OTC) drugs. Others are given to the patient by prescription for pain relief (BIO-316V Module Lecture, 2012). Narcotic medications stimulate central nervous system receptors known as opioid receptors and cause a decrease in the perception of pain. An overdose of narcotics can result in suppression of the respiratory system, leading to respiratory arrest (BIO-316V Module Lecture, 2012). Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) alleviate pain associated with inflammation (e.g., Aleve). They are used to relieve arthritis and other joint pain. Acetaminophen is a common pain reliever that does not cause bleeding. It is often given instead of NSAIDs (BIO-316V Module Lecture, 2012). Antihistamines and Endocrine medications: Antihistamine medications block the immune responses of itching, hives, and swelling caused by the release of histamines. These are available OTC (BIO-316V Module Lecture, 2012). Diabetes and hypothyroidism are two glandular conditions that are often observed by the health care professional. Antidiabetic medications are necessary for patients who cannot balance their blood sugar and tissue sugar. Insulin is the medication prescribed for insulin-dependent diabetes (type-1 diabetes) (BIO-316V Module  Lecture, 2012). Hypothyroidism is controlled by common hormone preparations designed to enhance thyroid function. The most common of these is thyroxin (BIO-316V Module Lecture, 2012). Hyperthyroidism is typically controlled by a medication called methimazole and it inhibits transformation of inorganic iodine to organic iodine (Olson, J., 2012). Bronchodilators help open constricted airways in patients who have respiratory constriction such as asthma and/or COPD (Olson, J., 2012). Vasopressin is a drug which promotes reabsorption of water in the distal tubules and collecting ducts of the kidneys and vasoconstricts blood vessels. Vasopressin and DDAVP are synthetic analogs of arginine vasopressin used to treat diabetes insipidus. (Olson, J., 2012). Desmopressin is used to treat acute epistaxis and GI hemorrhage and also used to maintain hemostasis during surgery in patients who have hemophilia A and Von Willebrand’s disease (Olson, J., 2012). Oxytocin induces contraction in the gravid uterus and promotes milk ejaculation from the post partum breast (Olson, J., 2012). Oral contraceptives hel p prevent pregnancy (Olson, J., 2012). Corticosteroids: These include Hydrocortisone, Prednisone, Prednisolone, Triamcinolone, Dexamethasone, and Fludrocortisone. These medications are typically used for respiratory issues such as asthma, and a few of them care also used as an anti-inflammatory agent to help reduce swelling and allow the patient to breathe better. Prednisone is the drug of choice for maintenance therapy of severe asthma. Prednisone doesn’t just help reduce swelling in the lungs; however, it can be used for other inflammatory issues all over the body (Olson, J., 2012). Anti infective agents: Antibiotics are drugs used to fight infections caused by bacteria. As their name implies, antibiotics are anti-life agents as far as bacteria are concerned (BIO-316V Module Lecture, 2012). Antifungal drugs are used to combat all sorts of fungal infections, from athletes foot to histoplasmosis. They are being used more often now in the combating of AIDS-related fungal infections (BIO-316V Module Lecture, 2012). Antiviral agents fight viral disease at the cellular level. Viruses enter into cells and propagate within them. Antibiotics have no effect on a virus once it has entered a cell. Antiviral agents are designed to interfere with the  replication of viruses (BIO-316V Module Lecture, 2012). Chemotherapy Agents: Chemotherapy is typically used to treat cancer. This is achieved by using a combination of drugs that are most toxic to the particular cancer cells of an individual patient. They are very potent and could be harmful to the caregiver (BIO-316V Module Lecture, 2012). GI Agents: Antidiarrheals: These drugs help control diarrhea amd most are sold OTC, although there are a few that can be prescribed and are more potent than the OTC drugs (Olson, J., 2012). Laxatives: These drugs are the opposite of antidiarrheals, as they help a patient who is unable to have a bowel movement (Olson, J., 2012). Antacids provide symptomatic relief of gastric acid irritation (Olson, J., 2012). Anti ulcer drugs help treat or prevent ulcers by either neutralizing gastric acid or preventing the production of acid (Olson, J., 2012). 3.What is chemotherapy and which diseases are treated this way? Chemotherapy by definition is the combination of two or more drugs used to treat a disease (BIO-316V Module Lecture, 2012). Most anticancer agents act by inhibiting cell proliferation by either damaging DNA or preventing DNA repair (Olson, J., 2012). Chemotherapeutic regimens often consist of several agents that have different mechanisms of action and minimize overlapping toxic effects (Olson, J., 2012). Most anticancer drugs cause bone marrow suppression which is why bone marrow sparing drugs are often included in combination regimens (OIson, J., 2012). Chemotherapy is used to treat cancer. 4.Give examples of how contrast media are used to produce an image. Contrast studies provide some information that standard x-rays cannot. During a contrast study, you get a dose of a contrast material that outlines, highlights, or fills in parts of the body so that they show up more clearly on an x-ray. The contrast material may be given by mouth, as an enema, as an injection,or through a catheter put into various tissues of the body. For most of these tests, the images can be captured either on x-ray film or by a computer (American Cancer Society, 2013). An image is produced on a radiograph when the content of iodine in the blood is sufficient to  prevent the penetration of the photons emitted by the X-ray tube (BIO 316V Module 2 Lecture, 2012). 5.Compare ionic and non-ionic contrast media. Ionic contrast media carry the iodine to the organ that is to be visualized. In the chemical attachment of the iodine to the water molecule, positive cations are produced as a side effect. Non-ionic does not mean that the contrast media contain no iodine; rather, it means that non-ionic contrast media contain no positive cations to disrupt the balance of the blood plasma. The immune system does not recognize it as foreign matter and is usually not aroused (BIO 316V Module 2 Lecture, 2012). References: American Cancer Society, 2013. Retrieved on September 6, 2013 from http://www.cancer.org/treatment/understandingyourdiagnosis/examsandtestdescriptions/i magingradiologytests/imaging-radiology-tests-xrays BIO-316V Module 2 Lecture, 2012. Grand Canyon University. Drug Classifications, 2013. Anthem Education. Retrieved on September 6, 2013 from http://www.anthem.edu/pharmacy-technician-school/drug-classifications/

Automation in insurance underwriting processes

Automation in insurance underwriting processes Abstract Underwriting is one of the important processes in insurance operations. The applicants information, including various kinds of medical information, must be evaluated before the insurance company can decide to accept the application. These activities are usually supported by process automation facility. However, the support of exception handling mechanism and the monitoring of turnaround time in those process automation solutions are usually inadequate. This results in a low efficiency of the underwriting operations or even loss of business opportunities. To address the problem, this paper presents an Alert-enhanced Underwriting System (AUS), which handles the exception events and monitors the turnaround time with the concept of alerts. We further illustrate how Web services facilitate workflow integration and process communications. 1. Introduction Life insurance provides protection against the economic loss caused by the death of the person whose life is insured [1]. Because of its popularity, it is a business where many insurance companies allocate many resources in order to gain more market share. A life insurance policy defines the terms and conditions for the prospective client, particularly the situations under which the insurance company promises to pay a benefit upon death [2]. Since life insurance products can provide a stable cash inflow for an insurance company, there is a trend that insurance companies market various life products, such as investment-linked life products, savings life products and critical illness protection, in order to attract more customers with different needs. Although life insurance business can generate financial benefits to the insurance company, the company still needs to bear financial responsibility to pay the insured under some agreed conditions, e.g., the insured dies during a specified period. The insurance will face the consequence of financial loss if the company accepts prospective clients, who present extremely high risks and when some of these insured persons die soon after policy issuance. High quality processes are necessary to assess the degree of risks associated with each application of life insurance. Underwriting (which is also known as new business) is a process of assessing and classifying the degree of risk represented by a prospective client and making a decision to accept or decline the insured. The world of electronic collaboration is developing rapidly, introducing new technology and new ways of collaboration. The success of collaboration often depends on the ability of a corporation not only to make sure that their applications are dynamic, but also to maintain a high degree of interoperability with collaboration partners. In this paper, we present an Alert-enhanced Underwriting System (AUS) as a collaboration platform for streamlining the workflow of insurance underwriting processes. AUS makes use of an Event-Condition-Action (ECA) collaboration model [13] to manage event handling, process integration, and alert/exception management for the process flow of the underwriting operations. The rest of the paper is organized as follows. Section 2 discusses some related work and background requirements. Section 3 describes system design and implementation for our AUS. Section 4 concludes our paper with our continue research work that look forwards to possible enhancements. 2. Background and Related Work Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) essentially defined the technology of electronic collaboration in the past. However, EDI is an expensive solution, due to its high cost of network infrastructure and system integration. In addition, security issues of EDI also limited corporations from directly accessing the computing resources of its trading partners, which used firewall-unfriendly protocols. Therefore, developers start to find other technologies which have a low cost, flexible software solution that allows corporations to build new applications in response to changing business needs while adhering to a defined electronic business standard [10]. Recently, numerous vendors have offered solutions to support both XML (eXtensible Markup Language) and EDI formats for collaboration. One of the solutions is the transformation of information between companies: XML-to-EDI. Transformation is critical to an edge integration strategy that brings together B2B collaboration and enterprise application at the boundary of an enterprise in order to enable the back-end connectivity and workflow required to support a complete business process [11]. In the XML world, e-Business XML (ebXML) [12] is a modular suite of specifications which are initiatively designed for electronic interoperability. The strength of the ebXML architecture is that it provides a framework for electronic business collaboration. The architecture enables businesses to work together to specify business process, discover one another, negotiate collaboration agreements, and execute business processes. However, although ebXML implementations are already being announced, the rate of deployment of ebXML is not quickly accelerated. Many companies are taking a wait-and-see approach until ebXML becomes a mainstream in the market. 2.1. Key Processes and Integration Figure 1 illustrates a typical underwriting process, which usually consists of the following four key activities: Performing field underwriting, Reviewing the application for insurance, Gathering additional information to make a sound decision, and Making an underwriting decision on the case [3] However, before a new case is sent to an underwriter for processing, there are other activities involved: Packing application forms and other documents from the agent Initial premium payment through the cashier entry system Data entry of new application in a branch or zone office Scanning documents into images for workflow processing Quality Check (QC) and Indexing on the scanned documents Release of the validated and scanned documents images into workflow engine for further processing In the traditional way of performing the activities 1 to 5 without any automation processes, it incurs high cost in human resource, storage cost, and paper work, together with a high turnaround time. That means it causes the underwriter to spend a long time to handle a new application. This affects the insurance companys reputation and may further induces financial losses or even legal penalties. With the advent of information technology, most of the above activities are linked together to streamline the workflow for processing a new business, starting from receiving documents from an agent, ending at the underwriter getting the case from workflow system and issuing new policy if approved. Some benefits accrued to the business for automating the entire underwriting processes: Improvement of the service quality (such as turnaround time) Reduce of the risk of losing submitted documents during delivery Transfer of applications to the next step of the process immediately Better control of risk management such that some cases (i.e., excess of coverage limit) can only be approved by senior underwriters The key integration of the processes between the agents and the underwriters are as follows. Images and Data Transfer Process This activity is an automated process and does not involve any manual operation unless the sub-system is down or errors / inconsistency occurred during the transfer. The purpose of this process is to transfer the scanned images and indexed data from a branch or zone office to the central office for importing into the workflow system. If the network linkage between a branch or zone office and the central office is a private connection (i.e., leased line), the operation is just a simple transfer of document images into the file server in the central office with an XML file including all the indexed data. If the network connection between both sides is public (i.e., the Internet) and it is not a Virtual Private Network (VPN) connection, then the interactions require other security measures as described in later sections. Import Robot and Workflow Engine They are located at the central office of an insurance company. The engine waits for the image files and XML data to be uploaded from the branch or zone office and verify the XML data integrity with the appropriate XML Schema. The imported document images and indexed data are installed into the existing workflow routing engine for case assignment to appropriate underwriters for further case approval. 2.2. Requirements Overview of Stakeholders In automated underwriting processes architecture, a workflow engine (e.g., eistream [9]) is deployed at the central office. This engine can efficiently route job assignments to appropriate underwriters. The processing performed with the workflow engine is usually referred to as post-processing of the workflow. There are many pre-processing activities, which must be completed before those new insurance applications can be imported into the workflow engine for further underwriting. Figure 2 depicts a use case diagram of the underwriting process. The key stakeholders involved are discussed as follows. Agent He/she is an authorized representative to sell insurance products on behalf of an insurance company. The agents have the responsibilities to perform a simple check first by gathering initial information about prospective clients and screening applications who have requested coverage [4]. They have to gather required documents (such as health certificate) from the prospective client in order to speed up the underwriting process. Email access or Internet portal are the prompt means for agents to communicate with an insurance company. Cashier Entry For a new application of life insurance, the prospect client is required to pay the initial premium in the form of cash or check. The amount of premium is also dependent on the payment mode of the proposed policy. The agent has to submit the initial premium with the application. The cashier entry will collect the initial premium and put a premium receipt record in a Premium Collection System. The Cashier Entry also files the application forms and documents for data entry. Data Entry A user in branch/zone office enters the information recorded on the application form, such as the policy owner information, proposed insured information or medical information, etc., into the underwriting front-end input system. Scanning Officer When a scanning officer receives the documents, including application form, from an agent, he/she will try to sort and classify the documents into different document types (such as health certificates, identity proofs), and then scan them into images for auditable backup as well as indexing and quality check (QC). The application form is scanned just for auditable backup because the data has already been entered. Index and QC Officer After the submitted documents have been scanned into images, the index and QC officers (it may involve two individuals) will try to index the fields on several regions of a scanned image and save the indexed data into the database, so that the indexed data can be adhered with the corresponding images and imported into the workflow system. If the index officer discovers that the image quality of scanned document is not good, the document must be rescanned until the image quality of the document is acceptable for indexing. Underwriter An underwriter is assigned with a case (new or pending case) by the workflow engine. The underwriter carries out an assessment process by considering the submitted documentations, medical information, other personal factors like age, driving history, tobacco use, career nature, and financial factors of the potential client, etc. Then, the underwriter will determine whether the application is approved, pended for additional proofs or documentation, counter-offered to the applicant, or rejected. 2.3. Alert and Exception Handling Although most of the activities starting from submitting documents in branch or zone office to the back-end underwriting processes are automated, there are still many events, both business-oriented and technology-oriented, must be handled in order to streamline and speed up the entire underwriting process. Exceptions are events that can drive not only reactions performed by business parties [6], but also information exchanged within an organization, across physical boundaries (e.g., departments located in different geographical areas) or within (e.g., underwriting department and printing service department located in the same building) individual organizational boundary. In order to handle the exceptions and monitor the exception handling process, (especially those important and / or with urgency requirements), Chiu et al. [6] proposed the use of alerts to model and implement this. The key differences between alerts and exceptions are that alerts represents messages sent to a target, usually with time and urgency constraints, and that alerts are monitored and tracked. That means, to handle an exception, an Alert Management System (AMS) sends an alert message to a handler (human or system) and keeps track of the process until the handling job is finished. In this application, the main objective of applying alerts is the concern about the turnaround time in the insurance application process. Some key exceptions and alerts generated by the main stakeholders are listed as follows. Agent Cancellation of an insurance application can trigger an alert to the central office so that the workflow system can change the application status (if it has been imported into workflow engine) into pending status and no more human resource will be wasted on this application. The application will ultimately be cancelled after the cancellation form is scanned and imported into the workflow system. The AMS can therefore make sure that the case is closed within a reasonable time limit. Cashier Entry An alert can be generated when the agent submits an initial premium payment for the new applicant but only part of initial premium has been settled. The alert can notify the central office underwriter to solve the application case if the case has been pended for the reason of insufficient premium. Scanning Officer Exceptions can be generated if the agent submits unknown type of documents or forms. If the workflow automation system does not know how to handle the unknown type documents or forms, then unknown document alert can notify the corresponding agent about this issue and urge him/her to fix this within a certain period. Index and QC Officer A Document Rescan alert can be generated to the scanning officer if the index officer finds the document image quality is too poor to be indexed. A QC officer can also generate a Reindex alert if he/she found that an index officer did not correctly index the fields on document images. QC officer can also trigger Document Rescan alert if he/she found the quality of document image is unacceptable even the index officer has accepted the quality of document image. Underwriter An Insufficient Initial Premium alert can be generated so that the agent can be notified that the initial premium must be settled before the policy can be issued even all the underwriting checks are passed for the case. This situation may occur when the client paid the initial premium with check but the check could not be cleared. On the other hand, exceptions and alerts can be generated by automated processes, such as the following: Images and Data Transfer Process A Transfer exception can be triggered if the transfer process of images and XML data to the central office file server is not completed or failed/aborted at some points (because of the stability of network connection). An alert can then notify the MIS staff in the branch or zone office to investigate the root cause of transfer failure and resume the transfer process as soon as possible. An alert can be triggered after the transfer process of the branch or zone office is completed successfully, so that the import robot resided on the workflow engine can start the data verification process and import the images and data into workflow system. This helps to shorten the total time for processing of new applications and monitor pending cases. Import Robot and Workflow Engine A Data Inconsistency alert is sent to the agent if the import robot checks that the XML data uploaded from the branch or zone office contains inconsistency after validating with XML schema. This alert urges the agent to repeat or fix the images and data upload process. Workflow Engine An Application Pending alert is triggered to the agent who submitted an application for his/her client when the underwriter changes the new application status to pending because additional documentation is required. This alert urges the agent to contact its customer for the relevant documents before he receives an official document request letter from the insurance company, as applicants may need time to present documents, like health certificates or financial statements issued by banks. 2.4. Relationship management requirements Alerts and exceptions are not only dedicated to handling abnormal or unexpected events. These can be used to enhance the relationship between insurance company and potential customers (B2C). For example: Applicants can be notified by email with the progress of its life insurance application. On the other hand, the agent can contact his applicants promptly after he receives an acknowledgement email. Reminder alerts can be sent to the agent in the form of SMS to remind him/her to contact his/her applicant to collect required additional documents to process a pending application. This helps reduce the risk of insurance application being cancelled after an application has been pending for some time. This is because the customer may not know that insurance company requests more additional documents from him in case the agent does not contact him. This also reduces the chance of giving a negative image to the potential customers of poor services. 3. System Design and Implementation In this section, we present the system design and implementation for our AUS, which includes the system architecture, various system components, Web services security, and an example scenario. 3.1. System Architecture Figure 3 shows the overall system architecture for our AUS. We add on top of the existing enterprise information systems four main components in the backend AUS: Web Services Agent, Message Server, Alert Management System (AMS), and Event-Condition-Action (ECA) rules database that defines the actions to be triggered under some predefined conditions. We discuss the functionalities of these components in the following subsections. One of the main problems in the current process automation is the effectiveness of communication among different stakeholders and systems involved in the entire process of underwriting. Based on the above discussions, we design an AUS based on exceptions and alerts as the unifying communication platform within the entire underwriting processes. On this platform, we choose to use Web Services with SOAP protocol for the communication and Message Server (such as Microsoft MSMQ [8]) for the underlying message (exceptions and alerts) processing. The reasons why we choose Web services with SOAP protocol in our platform are as follows: Web services can be invoked over the Internet or intranet, within or outside the firewall. For example, some processes like document scanning or image indexing may be located in the central office or outsourced to other service providers. Less development time is required to deploy Web service features from existing application, especially with the tools and libraries provided. It supports synchronous (RPC) and asynchronous messaging. SOAP has been implemented on many different hardware and software platforms. SOAP can be protected under the Web Service security [7] standard. 3.2. Web Services Agent In our system, Web services technology is chosen to support the communication between the AUS backend systems and other front-end, sub-systems in branches and zone offices, as well as external agents and clients. The Web Services Agent transforms the incoming messages, which are in the form of XML data embedded in SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) [14], into native message formats that can be sent into the queues of the central message server. The Web Services Agent also transforms the alerts and exceptions from the form of native message format into the XML/SOAP format and uses HTTP protocol to send the XML message to the branch/zone offices systems through respective Web services. A sample SOAP messages from a client system is shown in Figure 4. This message describes the indexed data and images to be uploaded to the file server in the insurance headquarter after scanning operations have been performed on the submitted documents in branch and zone offices. Figure 5 shows a response message from the AUS that describes an alert from the Transfer Module in a branch or zone office and notifies the MIS staff to handle the exception. 3.3. Message Server The message server comprises of application queues and system queues and the server manages the received data (i.e., incoming XML/SOAP messages, internal MSMQ messages from other enterprise systems, and alert messages from the AMS and routes the messages to the target (subscribed) parties. For example, when the Transfer Module sends a Web service message to the AUS, the message is put into two waiting queues: one for the Import Robot and another for the AMS (so that the AMS can monitor the progress of the Import Robot). When the Import Robot has verified the integrity of uploaded data and images, it sends a message to inform the AMS of job completion, or a Data Inconsistency alert in case of data inconsistency. These messages triggers events so that the AMS issues new alert/exception messages upon on the conditions in the event repository database to related parties for further actions (as discussed in Section 2.3) based on the ECA rules defined by the administrators. The reasons why we choose the Message Server as a core component in managing data communication are as follows: Most of the message servers support Web service functionality. Message servers support guaranteed message delivery. Asynchronous message communication as well as publish-and-subscribe can be supported. 3.4. Alert Management System (AMS) The main role of the AMS is to manage the alerts. It also captures the events and exceptions (i.e., MSMQ native message format) submitted by other parties. Alerts are generated based on the ECA rules specified in database to the appropriate parties. It further transforms the alerts into a MSMQ message and put it on the waiting queue for Web Services Agent for the delivery. Further details of the mechanism of the AMS, including descriptions of the ECA rules, can be found in our earlier paper [6]. We apply the same AMS module except that we include a message server component to further increase the messaging reliability. 3.5. Example Scenario In this subsection, we use a scenario to illustrate the system flow in our AUS. Figure 6 depicts the process flow for this scenario. First, a Scan Station prepares a XML data file which contains the policy number and other indexed data for the scanned documents. When the XML file is ready, the Transfer Module uploads the XML file and document image files into the central file server. Upon completion, the Transfer Module generates a SOAP message, which details the uploaded data to Web Services Agent in order to notify the Import Robot to verify the integrity of uploaded data and images. After the verification, the Import Robot generates the verification result event and the AMS captures the data uploaded event from the Transfer Module together with the event generated by the Import Robot, and returns the appropriate events back to the Scan Station and Scan Officer based on ECA rules processing. 3.6. Web Service Security Web services integrate applications inside and outside the organization. However, distributed computing always has a challenging set of security issues. Identities and messages are two of the greatest security challenges brought on by Web services. Web services transport potential unknown entities into your organization and messages are transported from one place to another place through an unsecured channel, the Internet. Therefore, actions must be taken to safeguard the information exchanged among the authenticated parties. XML Encryption and XML Signature are used to address the protection of sensitive data and the identification of identity of data sender respectively [15]. Figure 7 shows an unprotected SOAP message that contains payment information for an insurance policy. Figure 8 shows how encrypted messages and signature are put in a SOAP envelop. The element block contains the encrypted form of payment information. The element contains the XML signature for payment data. In general, a shared key must be provided so that receiver of the messages can decrypt the protected data. However, it is a bad idea to include the key in the SOAP message (i.e., the element block) because unauthorized parties could just get the key and decrypt the protected data. AgreementMethod is a protocol for safely communicating a secret key. This key agreement protocol, like the SSL secret key agreement protocol, is used to generate the encryption key along with the key material necessary to repeat the encryption key generation on the recipients side [15]. 4. Discussion and Summary Process automation by integrating existing enterprise information systems with workflow software has proved to increase the staff productivity, thus turns out to generate more business values in terms of more revenue and less expenditure. However, if the process flow within a business workflow from one step to next step is not smoothly executed (e.g., failure of transferring complete XML data to workflow engine and servers but no further resend action is done), then the next step may not be able to proceed until the problem is detected and fixed. This kind of situations significantly wastes human resource and time and should are not expected to occur in automated processes. Therefore, by integrating the AUS with the existing workflow infra-structures can bring the workflow automation into full play because the errors or unexpected events can be detected and relevant parties or processes are notified with alerts to rectify the problems. The following tangible benefits can be achieved with the AUS, mainly through the enhanced monitoring and tracking through the AMS with a service-oriented architecture. For example, the turnaround time taken to rescan documents, which have been identified as poorly scanned, is shortened. If the scanning officer is not notified properly, the poorly scanned document will probably be rescanned after the scanning officer triggers to print out a report on listing those document rescan requests, thus resulting in longer processing time in some cases. This benefit is also applicable to the process of Document Reindex for the index officers. Moreover, the AUS helps maintain data integrity in uploading data into the centralized file server. If the XML data is inconsistent and the import robot still proceeds to import the inconsistent data into workflow engine, it will result in unexpected or serious consequences. The consequences may be a delay in processing applications or even a wrongly underwritten insurance application that could put financial risk to insurance company. On the other hand, more attributes can be added to measure staff performance. Since the alerts generated to officers and agents are monitored by the AMS, the time spent on handling the exceptions and alerts can be calculated based on the time recorded in database. For example, if a scanning officer receives a document rescan alert, then he must rescan the requested documents and relevant records within the document update time. The performance is logged into database and reports for staff can include this kind of attributes to measure the staff performance. So, the workload on investigating problems related to the entire operation flow can be reduced as detailed information about the problems can be found from the exceptions and alerts well managed by the AMS of the AUS. In addition, the following intangible benefit can be achieved with the AUS. Customer satisfaction can be improved. The document processing and flow are smoothly controlled and executed. This can shorten the entire processing time for new case applications and thus result in issuing and sending policy to policy owner within a shorter period of time. This can enhance the insurance companys professional image as well because the short processing time of new insurance application can impress its customers and improve the customers confidence in insurance company. This might led to more business opportunities in the future. This paper has presented an overview of underwriting process in an insurance company and the automated facilities incorporated into the underwriting process to drive the entire underwriting. A Web-service based alert-enhanced underwriting system has been presented in this paper to overcome most of the existing problems of the underwriting process workflow implementation. We expect this approach is suitable to other business processes that involve human approval together with the need for maintaining documents for auditing and legal purposes, such as loan and credit card approval. After finishing the AUS platform prototype, we shall then proceed to study the benefits of adopting the platform in existing workflow infra-structures in the insurance companys perspective through questionnaires to collect user feedback. Although the proposed platform obviously facilitates the handling of most problems or events in the process flow of underwriting, there are still some unexpected events that are hardly to be detected or tracked. Further studies should be carried out on this topic. Future works include the extension of AUS platform to support artificial intelligence in handling the exception events as well as agent-based assistance to internal staff and external users. We are also interested in empirical measurements of the improvement of staff performance and customer satisfaction. References Miriam Orsina, Gene Stone, Insurance Company Operations (2nd Ed), pp.3, LOMA, 1999 Harriett E. Jones, Dani L. Long, Principles of Insurance: Life, Health and Annuities (2nd Ed), pp. 8, LOMA, 1999 Jane Lightcap Brown, Kristen L. Falk, Insurance Administration, (2nd Ed), pp. 22, LOMA, 2002 Jane Lightcap Brown, Kristen L. Falk, Insurance Administration, (2nd Ed), pp. 67, LOMA, 2002 Miriam Orsina, Gene Stone, Insurance Company Operations (2nd Ed), pp.243

Factors That Influence Household And Individual Food Consumption Economics Essay

Factors That Influence Household And Individual Food Consumption Economics Essay This paper identifies the factors that influence the household and individual food consumption. Since food is the most important item of the consumption basket, an analysis of the changes in food consumption pattern over time has a special significance which is the most important component for low and middle income groups. Food expenditure pattern is an excellent indicator of economic well being of people. Economic Development is not only brings about significant changes in the socio-economic and cultural life of a habitant population but it also influences the levels of living in the long run. India, a rapid developing and agrarian dominant economy has been bringing many changes in the socio economic life of her population since independence. Keyword -Expenditure, Consumption Patterns, Food Consumption and Household Consumer Expenditure, Factors affecting food consumption pattern. Introduction: The analysis of changing food consumption pattern over time would help in designing appropriate policies related to food production and distribution .Increasing number of working women, rise in per capita income, changing lifestyles and increasing level of affluence in the middle income group have also brought about changes in food habits. Rapid urbanization and sociological changes like the desire on the part of the housewives to spend less time in kitchen, the increased value for leisure, weakening of family ties, increased impact of television and its advertisement as well as changing life styles of the families, have brought about the changes in food consumption pattern. Since food is the most important item of the consumption basket, an analysis of the changes in food consumption pattern over time has a special significance which is the most important component for low and middle income groups. Food expenditure pattern is an excellent indicator of economic well being of people. If the society is wealthy proportionately high expenditure will be made on secondary necessities, comfort, luxury products and conspicuous consumption. On the other, if the society is at subsistence level, people will spend proportionately more on food. Engels law also states that the poorer the family, the greater is the proportion of its total income devoted to provision of food. Economic Development is not only brings about significant changes in the socio-economic and cultural life of a habitant population but it also influences the levels of living in the long run. India, a rapid developing and agrarian dominant economy has been bringing many changes in the socio economic life of her population since independence. Due to variations in natural resources endowments; physical and climatic conditions; economic factors like income, prices and the extent of magnetization; demographic factors like household size and degree of urbanization and cultural factors are likely to influence consumption expenditure pattern. Such diverse socio-economic, demographic and cultural factors are reflected in the inequality in the distribution of consumption expenditure as it is revealed by the national sample survey organization data on consumption expenditure in India. Food consumption has been a subject of research all over the world. It is especially meaningful in developing countries where food expenditure accounts for a relatively large share of household income. Studies on food consumption shed light on food related nutritional policies. They provide estimates of how food consumption is affected by change in prices, income and taxation policies ( Dune and Edkins 2005) The studies on food consumption pattern or expenditure pattern are very important as it is related to poverty and standard of our society. Food being the foremost basic need gets the priority in the expenditure of people, especially the poor classes. It is necessary to study the change in food consumption pattern under the changing situation of liberalization, privatization and globalization. After liberalization began in 1991, though much attention has been paid to the reduction in head count ratio, less priority have been accorded to the magnitude and pattern of food consumption. Ray and Lancaster (2005) have recently shown that the link had weakened to the extent that the official poverty line in India today is quite out of step with that based on the household minimum calorie requirements. This necessitates an analysis on the magnitude and trend in food consumption, especially cereals, over the reform period in India, in view of their strong implications for food and nutrition securities. This study provides evidence on the magnitude and patterns in food consumption status of both rural and urban population. There is a strong indication that improvement in the levels of living might not have been distributed well and certain pockets of the states might have remained impoverished in spite of their overall growth. While studies abound on the consumption expenditure among rural and urban households for various expenditure classes at macro level, very few studies have been done at micro level to explain the rural urban differences in the consumption pattern. Per capita income and food consumption both are the indicators of human development but food consumption is a better indicator of human welfare. Indias faster economic growth over 1990s has raised per capita income (expenditure) and has significantly impacted its food consumption patterns by causing a change in the structure of food consumption patterns observed earlier during pre-reforms period. This raises the relevance of looking at the composition of Indias food consumption basket. Changes in the composition of food consumption expenditure during the 1990s, including the shift from cereals to non-cereal items against the background of a decline in food expenditure share, occurred right across the growth spectrum and raise the issue of the nutritional implications of food items particularly during post-reforms period. Purpose: The purpose of this study of the literature was to determine which factors influence household and individual food consumption. Literature Review: Numerous studies have been made in recent years on the trends of poverty, inequality and level of living in Indian states during the 1990s. Some have highlighted the reduction in poverty (Sundaram and Tendulkar 2003; Bhanumurthy and Mitra 2004), while some others have expressed anguish over the rising economic inequality (Deaton and Dreze, 2002; Sen and Himanshu, 2004; Krishna, 2004).There is a common feeling that although there has been some overall improvement in the average levels of living of people across the majority of states, those who were already on a better footing could reap the advantages of the economic reforms in the 90à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸s and experience faster growth, while there was no tangible improvement for the poorest few. Again, the rural -urban expenditure gap, believed to have widened overtime, needs meticulous scrutiny. Campbell (1960) conducted a survey and had given a comparison between older persons and younger persons at identical income level. Younger people, at all income level, spend more on clothing, furniture and miscellaneous items than older people but less on medical care. David (1962) studies revealed that the size of the family and frequency of purchasing durables, kinds of durable purchased and the substitution of durables for commercial services hampers the consumption pattern of households. Chatterjee (1962) on the basis on NSS consumption expenditure data for rural and urban areas and six zones has been estimated for elasticities on expenditures on food. Gupta(1968) has compared the differences in overall consumption patterns in the state of UP and Tamil Nadu for the reason of their known and distinct economic , social and cultural differences .The study has concluded that there exist significant differences in consumer expenditure on various categories of item in those states in general as well as also between rural and urban regions in each of two states. Kwang (1972) had analyzed the effect of income as well as other economic and social demographic characteristics on households consumption expenditure significantly among different groups. Chatterjee Bhattacharya(1972) have constructed indices of consumer price differential between the rural areas of different states of India with NSS 18th round data. Rao(1977), in her study has tried to identify some measures at development in order to identify backward regions and subsequently to examine the trends in inter regional and inter sectoral disparities in India. The study by Sarkar(1983) based on NSS consumer expenditure data for 13,16,21 28 rounds supports the hypothesis that level of living and expenditure pattern differs over the states. Kumar and Aggarwal (2004) determined the extent of poverty in Delhi slums through consumption patterns, employment and educational status of the slum population. FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE FOOD CONSUMPTION: Income: Income is an important means of widening the range of consumption options, especially as economies around the world become increasingly monetized. Income gives people the ability to buy diverse, nutritious foods instead of eating only their own crops, to pay for motorized transport instead of walking, to pay for health care and education for their families, to pay for water from a tap instead of walking for many hours to collect it from a well. The increasing dependence of much consumption on private income means that changes in income have a dominant influence on changes · in consumption. When incomes rise steadily consumption rises for most of the population. But for the same reason, when incomes decline, consumption also falls sharply, with devastating consequences for human well being. Demographic Characteristics: The demographic characteristics have an important bearing on the level of income, consumption expenditure and saving of the society. Features like rate of growth of population, educational level of the head of the household and other members, the age of the members of the household, the size of the family are some of the factors which have a direct effect on the saving of the community, especially in the rural areas. According to Leff (1969) this factor as a determinant of saving had been left out because, this hypothesis had not been validated by extensive empirical testing Level of Education: The level of education of the head of the household and that of other members of the family determines the nature of occupation they are involved in, the level of income that they get and the motivations for saving. Also the level of education of the female members of the community is likely to have a positive influence on the saving rate Size and Pattern of Assets: For any economic unit wealth reflects the net result of accumulated saving, revaluation of assgets and capital transfers ever since the unit came into existence. The size and pattern of assets held by the households determine the income enjoyed by the household as also the amount of income saved and the pattern of investment of saving. Time use: Opportunities to consume can be severely limited by lack of time. Women, spend many hours a day meeting the households needs and have no time left for education, better health care or community activities. Similarly, overworked labourers may receive an adequate wage. but they often work long hours and are denied the opportunity of regular leave. Information: Information is the key to raising awareness of the range of consumption options available and enabling the consumer to decide which choices are best. Without information. there is no way of knowing what goods and services are available in the market. and what services are being provided by the state and are. By right, available to all. Advertising and public information campaigns play an important role in this respect. Social barriers: Income cannot always remove barriers to access to opportunities. This is particularly so when considerations of gender, class or ethnicity limit peoples freedom to consume the goods and services they want. For example, people belonging to certain ethnic groups might be denied equal access to education, employment and other basic social services by the state, regardless of how much they earn. The household- decision-making and upbringing: Much analysis of consumer decision-making assumes that the person making the decision is the one who will directly benefit from the consumption. This is far from the truth in many cases. A great deal of household consumption decision making is in the hands of one person-often the mother or the father of the family. Although this may lead to good outcomes, it can also be a source of inequity within the family- Household values has a wider effect on the consumption options of individual members. The education and upbringing given to children early in life play a critical part in establishing their ability to make good use of the options available for living a full and fulfilling life. The remarkable expansion and diversification in consumption options have made it more difficult for consumers to make informed choices. Globalization and Consumption: As a result of increased purchasing power and opportunity to purchase, a change was manifest in the activity of consumption. The definition of what constitutes a necessity is changing, and the distinctions between luxuries and necessities are blurring. Globalization is integrating not just trade, investment and financial markets; it is also integrating consumer markets around the world and opening opportunities. This has two effects i.e. economic and social. Economic integration has accelerated the opening of consumer markets with a constant flow of new products. There is fierce competition to sell to consumers worldwide, with increasingly aggressive advertising. On the social side local and national boundaries are breaking down in the setting of social standards and aspirations in consumption. Technological Advancement: Another important factor that has changed the rural consumption pattern in recent years is the technological advancement in agriculture which has in turn raised the income of the rural population. The increased income is likely to be used for consuming more of the items which are already in their commodity basket. This may increase their choices of falling on goods with sensory appeal such as sweets, tobacco, drugs and intoxicants and also those goods and services associated with prestige and status. Summary and Conclusion: This study shows that food plays a central part in the culture, traditions . Important events such as weddings, funerals, and religious celebrations are all accompanied by food specifically prepared for the occasion. Consumption of traditional food is largely associated with poverty and consequently, as people move to the city, they change their diet to a typical westernised diet with a high fat content and low carbohydrate intake (Bourne et al., 1996). Our study found that this population associated meat with high socio-economic standing and therefore tried to consume it on daily basis. Our findings are confirmed by those of Wong et al. (1984) who examined a relationship between household income, level and expense and consumption of food in urban marginal areas of Mexico. The authors found a marked tendency to increase consumption of high protein foods as family income increased. It emphasizes the critical importance of taking these factors into consideration in developing strategie s for modifying eating practices.

Grapes of Wrath - biblica comparison Essay -- essays research papers

Many novels written contain parallels to the Bible. This couldn’t be truer in the case John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath. Steinbeck alludes to Biblical characters and events with the use of Rose of Sharon, Jim Casy, and also the Joad’s journey to California. There are other events in the book that parallel the Bible, although the portrayal of Rose of Sharon and Jim Casy are the most obvious.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The novel is broken into 3 different parts, the time spent in Oklahoma, the journey on the road, and the time spent in California. Each section is closely related to the three stages of the Biblical Exodus: the Israelites' time in bondage when God sent plagues to free them (chapters 1-11), the forty years of wandering in the desert (chapters 12-18), and the arrival in Canaan, the Promised Land (chapters 19-30). The plagues sent by God are paralleled by the drought in Oklahoma, the Egyptian oppressors by the bank officials, and the hostile Canaanites by the Californians (Monkeynotes , The Grapes...).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Rose of Sharon is a character that is most directly related to the Bible. Her name in found in the Song of Solomon, â€Å"I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys† (Ganticles, 7:7). Most of Rose of Sharon’s parallels to the Bible take place in the last chapter of the novel. After the birth of her stillborn baby she nourishes a starving man with her milk. This is symbol...

Shirley Jacksons The Lottery and Albert Camus The Guest :: essays research papers

Two great works known for irony, in one a great author, Albert Camus, creates a masterpiece and in the other, a masterpiece creates a great author, Shirley Jackson. Camus had been known to the world and his works had been studied even without the presence of â€Å"l’hote† or known as The Guest, but Shirley Jackson was a nobody till she wrote The Lottery and stunned the world. Both works are studied as pieces of irony but I believe both to be great works in other, with a twist of irony in the conclusion, although, worth mentioning, the ironies both serve to the other purpose rather than the plane simple sake of irony. The Guest, a pen and paper advert for Paul Sartre’s Existentialism, carries traces of this thought throughout, while, The Lottery, being a symbolic society questioner, with its many symbols undermines the American society. But both short stories carry within them even more, they talk of breaking the norms, they speak of minorities, giving up, and waste of life. The Existentialists say man is free to choose yet the choice and having to choose is inevitable and this is seen in The Guest where the Arab is forced into Daru’s life so thrusting upon him the crossroad of what to do with the Arab, either turn him in or let him go. In Existentialist belief due to the exact same choice man is always anxious and hesitant, not knowing whether his choice is proper or not, is it accepted by others or not, and this is seen so clearly again by the simple repetition of the word â€Å"hesitation† and its other forms in the story: 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"The orders? I’m not†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Daru hesitated†¦ {A choice forced upon him} 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  He served Balducci more tea, hesitated, the†¦ {Hesitation before the person forcing the situation upon him} 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The old gendarme hesitated. â€Å"It’s up to you†¦ {Hesitation while expressing choice} 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Arab hesitated, then bit into†¦ {Hesitation before even life’s inevitables such as eating} 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the classroom, before going out, he hesitated a second†¦ {Hesitation before making a choice} 6.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Looked hesitantly at the motionless Arab†¦ {Hesitation before the source of choice} 7.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Daru hesitated. The sun rather high†¦ {Hesitant look at life} In the end Daru tries to get out of choosing by putting responsibility of the choice on the Arab but this in itself is again choosing. Existentialist beliefs express the dilemma in life and again is shown by Daru not being able to decide what to do with the Arab, whether to go against his country, and let the Arab free to choose, or go against his morals, and turn him in, and all life comes to the crossroad dilemma between freedom and prison for the Arab.

The Soldier by Rupert Brooke

â€Å"The Soldier† A Detailed Look at a Criticized Poem Grief, death, devastation: with the strong exception of Rupert Brooke, these were the themes reflected in most war poetry during WWI. Brooke laced his poetry with sentimentality and nationalism, which was very different from the themes of other works during the time. Many people love and admire his poems, but despite his poetry being criticized by the public, Rupert Brooke was a talented young poet throughout World War I. This poem was first published in Brooke’s book of sonnets, 1914 rightly named for the year they were authored. WWI was an influential time for poetry and a catalyst for an important movement in poetry; war poetry. The poetry of this time reflected the feelings of the general public at the commencement of WWI. Brooke’s â€Å"The Soldier,† though seen as a hymn to the great nation of England during WWI, is today seen as overly sentimental and as romanticizing the horrors of the war through strong figurative language and symbols (â€Å"The Soldier†). The theme reflected most prominently in â€Å"The Soldier,† patriotism, is seen again in many of Brooke’s war sonnets, but not commonly in the poetry of emerging poets during the war. Brooke is notorious for his use of sentimentality and nationalism in his war poetry. The voice in â€Å"The Soldier† talks about his untimely death in a fiercely patriotic manner, undaunted by his likely demise. When referring to the foreign field in which he will be buried, he describes it with â€Å"†¦there’s some corner of a foreign field that is forever England. There shall be in that rich earth a richer dust concealed† (Brooke). In these lines Brooke is saying that the dust, the earth, in which he is buried in will be richer because an English soldier lies in it; because a piece of England lies beneath the earth. Through this statement, Brooke is associating the soldier in the poem with England, making him not just English, but England. Patriotism shines through again in the next lines, â€Å"A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,/ Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,/ A body of England’s, breathing English air†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Brooke). â€Å"A body of England’s† supports Brooke’s embodiment of soldiers as not only English, but England. It is these examples of Brooke’s strong patriotism reflected in his poetry that created the riticism for its maudlin nature (â€Å"The Soldier†). In continuation, the second most prominent theme employed by Brooke is the notion of transformation, which is distinguished clearly throughout â€Å"The Soldier. † The second stanza was a prime example of the conversion displayed in the poem. The line in the second stanza, â€Å"And think, this heart, all evil shed away† (Brooke) implies a tr ansformation from a soldier, ordinary and human, to a cleansed soul who will live forever through England. The second stanza is saying that with death for your country comes great honor and transformation into a pure soul, forever remembered for fighting to the end for their country. By making yourself a martyr, you have â€Å"cleansed your soul† and this is a great transformation. This idea is what inspired soldiers to be willing to die for their country, and to want to fight for England. Brooke is saying that there is a larger purpose that can be achieved through death, which is another example of Brooke romanticizing the war and death. To soldiers, the thought of being transformed into a great soul, forever linked to your nation because of your connection with England, is consistent throughout, which is why transformation is a prominent theme of the poem (â€Å"The Soldier†). The figurative language in â€Å"The Soldier† defines the poem and displays the message, but also supports the fact that Brooke’s poem approaches the horrors of war in an indirect and romantic manner. When Brooke refers to â€Å"some corner of a foreign field† he is using the field as a symbol for the simple graveyards soldiers were buried in. Here, Brooke is addressing the war in a lighter tone, which critic Chris Semansky criticized Brooke for. The line in â€Å"The Soldier† addressing how the earth in which an English soldier is richer again uses a light symbol for a serious subject of war. Brooke refers to dust as a body in the line, â€Å"In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;† (Brooke). Dust is used again in the next line, â€Å"A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Brooke). In both lines â€Å"dust† is a symbol for a dead soldier. Another example of Brooke’s figurative language is his repetition of England in his poem. This is another prime example of the theme of patriotism that is presented throughout in â€Å"The Soldier. † Critic Bruce Meyer calls attention to more use of symbols in the poem, including the line, â€Å"And think, this heart, all evil shed away† (Brooke) which is symbolizing a man being purified before offering himself as a lamb to the slaughter (Meyer). The poem also uses an Petrarchan and Shakespearean rhyme scheme, using an alternating rhyme scheme of ABABCDCD rhyme scheme in the first stanza, which is Shakespearean, and then in the second stanza, a EFGEFG rhyme scheme, which is Petrarchan. Many of Brooke’s poems use a Shakespearean alternation rhyme scheme consistently. The entire style of the poem remains â€Å"English,† polite and â€Å"gentlemanly,† and the style matches the figurative language and poetry techniques used: symbols to lighten the poetry’s subject and a Shakespearean rhyme scheme (â€Å"The Soldier†). Furthermore, the time in which Brooke’s â€Å"The Soldier† was written is crucial to understanding not only the poem, but why â€Å"The Soldier† has slipped from a famous to infamous piece of literature. The poem was written in 1914, at the beginning of WWI, during which Brooke had enlisted in the Royal Naval Division. Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Sarajevo, his wife, were murdered by Serbian nationalists, which had catapulted England into WWI (â€Å"The Soldier†). This was a time when England was sending their young men off to fight, without the assurance that they would return home. The public was coping with the deaths of their sons and husbands, and Brooke’s poem was playing to the times. It was a reassurance to the general public about the war and the death occurring, and its strong level of patriotism was met with the public’s own patriotism, as critic Semansky reiterates (â€Å"Semansky†). Brooke had war experience himself, through the Royal Naval Division, but was not fighting on the front lines or having any major experiences in war. He spent his first assignment assisting civilians in the evacuation of Antwerp, though he was originally assigned to help hold down the Channel ports with the navy. He did not complete his next assignment, to take back Constantinople from the Turks, because of his death, of fever, on the way to Gallipoli. Brooke did not have the immense war experience many other poets of the war had, and it influenced the demeanor of his poetry. Other war poets, Sassoon, Owens and Rosenburg did not adopt Brooke’s heavily patriotic views, but rather questioned his attitude towards the war. By the public, â€Å"The Soldier† was revered, but as the war continued, and eventually ended and the horrors of the war made themselves more evident, â€Å"The Soldier† was thought of as sentimental literature, and not as a personification of the war (â€Å"The Soldier†). In conclusion, Rupert Brooke’s â€Å"The Soldier† reflected the attitude of England during the start of WWI, a comparison which has made it both famous and infamous. The historical context of the poem, the background being WWI, is a key to complete understanding the poem and the reason for its notoriousness. â€Å"The Soldier† gives you a small insight into the ideology of soldiers and the public, who were looking for a deeper meaning for the death and destruction occurring. Through this, the poem informs your understanding of Rupert Brooke’s reactions to England, the war, and the mayhem of the beginning of the war. His general attitude towards the war was strongly patriotic, and criticized for being as sentimental as it was. Brooke, as you can determine through the poem, felt that death during the war was a sacrifice for England that would ultimately be rewarded in the afterlife, and that it was the greatest show of devotion that one could show for their country. He felt strongly for England, and appealed to the people, but his poetry lost its appeal as the war progressed and the lightness in which Brooke regarded the war was recognized (Semansky). Through the fact that â€Å"The Soldier† was accepted during 1914, you can make the connection that the public shared Brooke’s view of hope for a deeper meaning to the war and death. â€Å"The Soldier† meshes with Rupert Brooke’s ideology, experiences and style, as well as with the time period. Though Brooke’s fiercely patriotic and light take on WWI in â€Å"The Soldier† strongly appealed to the public as they coped with loss during the commencement of WWI, its sentimentality has been criticized for romanticizing the war and masking the true horrors England was experiencing. If I should die, think only this of me: That there's some corner of a foreign field That is for ever England. There shall be In that rich earth a richer dust concealed; A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware, Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam, A body of England's, breathing English air, Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home. And think, this heart, all evil shed away, A pulse in the eternal mind, no less Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given; Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day; And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness, In hearts at peace, under an English heaven. WORKS CITED: Brooke, Rupert. â€Å"The Soldier. † Poet’s Corner. 1914. http://www. theotherpages. org/poems/brooke01. html. Meyer, Bruce. â€Å"The Soldier. † Poetry for Students. Ed. Mary Ruby and Ira Milne. Vol. 7. Detroit: Thomson Gale, 2000. 217-227. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Gale. Springfield Township High School. 9 Nov. 2008 . Semansky, Chris. The Soldier. † Poetry for Students. Ed. Mary Ruby and Ira Milne. Vol. 7. Detroit: Thomson Gale, 2000. 217-227. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Gale. Springfield Township High School. 9 Nov. 2008 . â€Å"The Soldier. † Poetry for Students. Ed. Mary Ruby and Ira Milne. Vol. 7. Detroit: Thomson Gale, 2000. 217-227. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Gale. Springfield Township High School. 9 Nov. 2008 .

Submission of summary

First introduces the concepts and tools of strategy analysis. Here we can see some of the basic economic and positioning concepts and models of strategy analysis but we can not see how to use it. The overriding concern of each chapter is help to see how to apply the various models introduced (e. g. micro – and the macro economic characteristics). Part One also emphasises that one of the key differences between strategy and results is perfect knowledges of management and having to deal with often very imperfect knowledge in the domain of the strategist.However, it is ossible using advantage and gaining position are key for organizations to become and remain successful. All world recognise, however, that many educational institutions have similar courses of strategy (such as economics and business). Finally, strategies and organizations need to put decisions into practise. Part One have not only to introduce the many models of strategy analysis so that students can become famili ar with them and their use, but also to highlight the limitations of such models and thus avoid unnecessary thinking. Chapter Second comprises chapters which focus on strategy implementation and practice.From this perspective, questions (what, where, how) of organizational structures, cultures and processes become the focus of attention. This section also retains first chapters about strategy but this chapter put the basics for strategy. In particular, the chapter describes the key levels and the debates each has engendered. Also, this chapter Interpreting how micro – and macro level are associated. Chapter Third and Four analyzing about the micro – and macro economics of strategy. This chapters are very Importance for strategy development. Chapter three Is described about micro theory.It researches ow to effectively affect the organization with a certain strategy. Big attention Is placed on the market, supply and demand. Discussions give explanations for this chapter how the supply and demand Intervening In the market. Examples of strategies let to understand and analyze mistakes which can Interfere for company to develop hereafter. Macro theory Is described In the Chapter Fourth where Is discussing about the maln factors. These factors can play a role for company In the future. In this Chapter Is Interpreted how managers have to use the strategy effectively from the economic failures.So, manager may lay out plans for the future and the smoothly conduct the planned strategy. Do not forget about that macroeconomic analyzed economy as a whole functioning. In this Chapter Is seeking to Identify strategic factors which are determined GDP, Inflation and unemployment. Data obtained on the basis Is calculating and analyzing various statistical Indicators who say about micro – and macro – state of the economy. So, how are accepted economic decisions. In the Chapter Fifth Is wrlttlng about very Important topic for strategy – Industry analysis and competltlve strategy.How Is wrlttlng, strategy can not exlct without the concept of competltlve strategy. The successful firm has to analyze the competltlon and need to know how It can help for strategy. It Is possible to achieve success with the common market segments, quality Improvement and practice are starting to show in Chapter Three and Four. And in this chapter further explores not only the competitive strategy, but also to the importance of the strategy. Using The Porter's five forces industry analysis framework is not difficult to manage further industrial activity and make it more attractive.It is easier to attract company profits. Also in this Chapter The value chain and the balanced scorecard has big value for strategy. We can easily analyze the company's financial performance. In general, this Chapter can not to be separated from basics of economy because it helps successful development of the company's internal and external activities, evaluate the compa ny's progress and determine the strategy thinking. If we want to understand competitive strategy we have to analyze its position using the economy. The Chapter Sixth is illustrated very specifically using economic factors.This is continuetion of micro – and macro – basics of theories and most important factors about competitive strategy. This Chapter shows how companies, employees and customers have to understand their position of the demand and supply side. All of this leads to the development of the company's business model which perfectly answers the question: â€Å"where money comes from? † A business model defines how the company develops, provides and maintains the value. One more Chapter is about competitive strategy which analyzing the strategic capacity.This is Chapter Seventh hich is seeking to understand more about strategy and favorable factors for it. The whole bases are of resource-based and competences which helps to know how to manage the busines s value and development. From the beginning of Chapter Seventh main topics are resource-based and competences. A clear and rigorous analysis of resource-based and the relevant competences concepts provides with the theoretical grounding and depth of analysis vital to understanding business and corporate level strategy. Everything is continuing in next Chapter where is talking how to movie from theory to practice.In this Chapter strong emphasis on strategy in practice but it is not enough. It helps to place only strategy into the broader context of organization and management. Chapter Eight present the total life cycle model which is analyzing three main themes. It is the theme of start-ups and the role of entrepreneurs, concerned with issues of corporate failure and turnarounds and how entry strategies are conceived to organized resistance. These themes perfectly reflect the benefits of providing a system we Just have to use it very sensibly. Each of these practical examples brings out its own lesson.It requires a lot of due diligence and flexibility. That is, each strategy can make the new developments. Also we can use the life cycle model to develop the perfect market but everything is changing, nothing on the move, changing and strategy management. This cycle can be used anyway and go purposefully toward a goal, not to include everything, but the most effective use of assertions. Thus, the strategy may have a lot of options. It needs to adapt and everything to calculate and see every detail. After all, every detail can be expensive the entire company.