Southern Colonies Religion Essay Example

Southern Colonies Religion Paper Religion in the Southern Colonies Southern Colonies claimed to have religious freedom but that tended to be a superficial idea. In these colonies Anglican faith was the most predominate. Anglican included Presbyterian and Baptist. While Protestants were somewhat tolerated most were Anglican. They didn’t really consider Native Americans and slaves religion to be an actual religion. Several people tried to convert slaves and Native Americans to their religion. When slaves began to give in they became predominately Baptist. Anglican churches spread along the length of the Atlantic seaboard, the largest concentration being in the coastal South. In these colonies, Anglicanism also enjoyed the advantage of being the established, state-supported church, as it had been in England since the sixteenth century. In Anglicanism great emphasis is placed on observing a formal ceremoniesthe celebration of saints days and other holy days. They had great performance of elaborate, dramatic ceremonies, the conduct of worship by reciting set prayersall accompanied by organ music and choral singing and led by priests wearing vestments. Much like Roman Catholics, Anglicans have always favored elegantly constructed churches with ornately decorated interiors. The purpose of all this outward show is to instill those attending worship with a sense of awe and piety. They were considered shallow. | Burton Parish Church in Virginia. Burton Parish Church in Virginia. | | 5a. Maryland — The Catholic Experiment James Barry, 1793 In this engraving, Cecil Calvert presents his 1649 Act Concerning Religion to the ancient Spartan lawgiver, Lycurgus, while libertarians throughout history, including Ben Franklin and William Penn, look on. We will write a custom essay sample on Southern Colonies Religion specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Southern Colonies Religion specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Southern Colonies Religion specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer New England was not the only destination sought by those fleeing religious persecution. In 1632, Cecelius Calvert, known as Lord Baltimore, was granted possession of all land lying between the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay. Lord Baltimore saw this as an opportunity to grant religious freedom to the Catholics who remained in Anglican England. Although outright violence was more a part of the 1500s than the 1600s, Catholics were still a persecuted minority in the seventeenth century. For example, Catholics were not even permitted to be legally married by a Catholic priest. Baltimore thought that his New World possession could serve as a refuge. At the same time, he hoped to turn a financial profit from the venture. Maryland, named after Englands Catholic queen Henrietta Maria, was first settled in 1634. Unlike the religious experiments to the North, economic opportunity was the draw for many Maryland colonists. Consequently, most immigrants did not cross the Atlantic in family units but as individuals. The first inhabitants were a mixture of country gentlemen (mostly Catholic) and workers and artisans (mostly Protestant). This mixture would surely doom the Catholic experiment. Invariably, there are more poor than aristocrats in any given society, and the Catholics soon found themselves in the minority. The geography of Maryland, like that of her Southern neighbor Virigina, was conducive to growing tobacco. The desire to make profits from tobacco soon led to the need for low-cost labor. As a result, the number of indentured servants greatly expanded and the social structure of Maryland reflected this change. But the influx in immigration was not reflected in larger population growth because, faced with frequent battles with malaria and typhoid, life expectancy in Maryland was about 10 years less than in New England. Fearful that the Protestant masses might restrict Catholic liberties, the House of Delegates passed the Maryland Act of Toleration in 1649. This act granted religious freedom to all Christians. Like Roger Williams in Rhode Island and William Penn in Pennsylvania, Maryland thus experimented with laws protecting religious liberty. Unfortunately, Protestants swept the Catholics out of the legislature within a decade, and religious strife ensued. Still, the Act of Toleration is an important part of the colonial legacy of religious freedom that will culminate in the First Amendment in the American Bill of Rights. Maryland At the time, Cecilius Calvert received a charter from the crown to found the colony of Maryland in 1632. Calvert came from a wealthy Catholic family, and he was the first single man to receive a grant from the crown, rather than a joint-stock company. He received a grant for a large track of land north of the Potomac river and east of the Chesapeake Bay. Calvert planned on creating a haven for English Catholics, most of which were well-to-do nobles such as himself, but were unable to worship in public. [7] He planned on making an agrarian manorial society where each noble would have a large manor and tenants would work on fields, chores, and other deeds. However, with extremely cheap land prices, many Protestants moved to Maryland and bought land for themselves anyway. Quickly the population became a Protestant majority, and in 1642 religious tension began to erupt. Calvert was forced to take control and pass the Act for Religious Tolerance in 1649, making Maryland the second colony to have freedom of worship, after Rhode Island. However, the act did little to help religious peace. In 1654, Protestants barred Catholics from voting, ousted a pro-tolerance Governor, and repealed the toleration act. [8] Maryland stayed Protestant until Calvert re-took control of the colony in 1658. In Virginia, which may be taken as the type of southern local government, the county, first called the shire, was the unit of representation. The large plantations rendered the compact settlement impossible. At first the parish was the local unit, but it soon gave way to the county. The chief county officer was the sheriff, appointed by the governor. Next to the sheriff stood the colonel, whose duties were largely military. The counties were divided into parishes which were governed by vestries, whose duties were largely ecclesiastical. Local government, judicial and administrative, was chiefly in the hands of a county court, whose members, usually prominent planters unlearned in the law, were appointed by the governor. This court gradually came to do the business formerly done by the parish. Instead of the town meeting, as in New England, the Virginians had their court days, on which the people of every rank would gather on the green about the courthouse to transact private business, to engage in sports, and to listen to stump speeches. In South Carolina there were parishes, but neither counties nor townships. In the Carolinas the governor and legislature found it almost impossible to govern the mountainous districts, and they were aided by bands of regulators organized or the purpose. In Maryland the hundred was the unit of representation till 1654, when it gave way to the county. The officers of the hundred, except the assessor, were appointed by the governor. Maryland discarded the term hundred in 1824, but Delaware, having adopted it, retains it to this day. In Delaware the levy court, composed of the assessors, justices, and grand jurors, met once a year to fix tax rates. The middle colonies b orrowed from both New England and the South; they adopted a mixed system of county and township government. In New York the township was the local unit, and not till after the English conquest was the county organized. Under English rule the town meeting was instituted, but with less power than in New England. They chose overseers, instead of selectmen, and other officers. After 1703 they chose a supervisor to manage the affairs of the township and he was also a county officer as a member of the county board of supervisors, which met once a year. In Pennsylvania the county was at first the only organization for local government. It had charge of the non-judicial, as well as the judicial, business. This was at first among the duties of the court, but at length it was placed in the hands of commissioners elected by the people. As the population increased the township was organized to aid the county in local matters, such as the care of highways, the assessing of property, and the like; but the county remained the administrative district and the unit of representation. Nearly all the states o rganized since the Revolution have adopted the mixed system of New York and Pennsylvania.

Use Common Sense for Commas

Use Common Sense for Commas Use Common Sense for Commas Use Common Sense for Commas By Mark Nichol Commas are such cute little things with curly tails that their strength is often overlooked. When used haphazardly, their power can be untapped or misused. Employed correctly, however, they do much to convey a sentence’s meaning. The rules may seem complex, but they are also commonsensical. Many writers believe that commas are necessary in the middle of a sentence only when they divide two independent clauses two parts of a sentence that could stand on their own as distinct statements. But commas also serve as comprehension aids: Note the difference between â€Å"Knights wore metal shoes and gloves called gauntlets† and â€Å"Knights wore metal shoes, and gloves called gauntlets.† The first version implies that both items were referred to as gauntlets, and the second version correctly distinguishes that only the second item was labeled as such. â€Å"Are they going to lock me up or shoot me?† looks like the writer is asking if one of these two outcomes will occur. â€Å"Are they going to lock me up, or shoot me?† correctly clarifies that the writer is asking which outcome will occur and that’s a big difference made clear by the mighty little comma. Traditionally, a comma was inserted after all introductory phrases, no matter how short: But the trend toward open punctuation and away from closed punctuation has relaxed this tradition. Unfortunately, though short introductory phrases may not look wrong in isolation, in text containing both short and long introductory phrases, when the latter cry out for a comma to give the reader a rest, inconsistency is awkward, so it’s best to always retain closed punctuation. Sometimes, misunderstandings may occur when you omit a comma, as when a reader reads, â€Å"When she returned Jim’s head was already lying back against the pillow† and thinks at first that Jim’s head is being handed back to him or its current owner. Comments actually or conjecturally directed toward readers or a third party are awkward without a comma following an imperative (a form of address that tells someone to do something). The warning statement â€Å"Move over RCA and Sony, computer firms are becoming TV makers† starts the reader off at a disadvantage; who, they may think, is steamrolling over the television manufacturers in question? A comma after â€Å"move over† solves that problem. Similarly, â€Å"Attention shoppers!† implies that attention is a commodity some store patrons are there to buy, and that the voice on the intercom is acoustically accosting just that class of consumer; â€Å"Attention, shoppers!† meanwhile, asks for something, then identifies who is being asked. These rules may seem complicated. But there’s a simple test that usually works: When in doubt about whether or where to place a comma, read aloud the sentence in question, and visualize the comma as a hook that briefly makes the sentence run in place. If you hesitate or pause, insert the hook in the sentence to mark that place. If you don’t, don’t. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Punctuation category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Inquire vs Enquire35 Genres and Other Varieties of FictionUsing "May" in a Question

Pericles and Julius Caesar Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Pericles and Julius Caesar - Essay Example As two of the preeminent civilizations of antiquity, the inclination to compare the cultures of Greece and Rome is inevitable. While both civilizations exhibited tremendous advancements in politics and culture, they also exhibit distinct differences that attest to the varying nature of their worlds. An interesting feature of investigation concerning ancient Greece and ancient Rome concerns the degrees to which their geography is similar, as this feature affects later political and economic development. While both countries are Mediterranean, the relative features of their terrain vary greatly. The Greek cities had the advantage of being separated by large hills, which protected them against invading tribes. They also bordered a relied heavily on their contiguity to the ocean. While Rome was mountainous – it famously was found by settlers who naturally habituated on the city’s largest hills – the hills weren’t as strategically positioned to prevent invading barbarian tribes as their Greek counterparts. This essay considers the lives of two of these two men – Pericles and Julius Caesar -- that greatly shaped Greek and Roman culture through their military conquests and subsequent political rule; it argues that the subtle differences in their lives are a testament to the divergent nature of ancient Greek and Roman cultures.... When considering the development and early lives of both individuals it’s clear they shared a number of similar elements. Both men were descendants of nobility, and while Pericles father had been outcast for a period, it is clear they had significant advantages in youth. In terms of vision Caesar and Pericles demonstrated a number of divergent opinions. While Caesar was a progressive thinker who embraced education and intellectual virtues, historians recognize that Pericles contribution to this field of thought was outstanding as he greatly embraced Greek art and culture. This distinction is highly relevant as it underlines what many believe to be one of the crucial divisive elements in terms of these two countries of antiquity. When considering the differing art of the two cultures, history has been more favorable to the Greek work of antiquity than the Roman. While Roman art tended towards imitation and decoration, Greek art – influenced by the philosophical writings of Plato – attempted to capture ideal artistic forms. Art historians have documented distinct phases of Greek artistry, including the Mycenaean and Hellenistic periods; conversely Roman art of antiquity is generally characterized through generic conventions, notably the fresco and mosaic formats (Canfora 1996). Within this art one may further contend that there are deeper elements or conventions of these rulers and the way these perspectives took hold in the societies they so profoundly impacted. In these regards, it appears that while Greek culture through Pericles embraced the concept of intellectual knowledge and the examined life, the Caesarian vision was one of instinctual and emotional

Health Promotion as a Part of McDonald's Business Strategy Essay

Health Promotion as a Part of McDonald's Business Strategy - Essay Example McDonald's began in 1940 as a Barbecue restaurant being operated by Maurice and Richard McDonalds (M. Official Restaurant website). The upgrading of the company to Hamburger restaurant was started in 1948 through the change in the production line principles. The chain was subsequently purchased by businessman Ray Kroc in 1955 who oversaw its global expansion. The restaurants are operated by Franchisee, an affiliate or the corporation itself. In 1960, McDonald improved its advertisement momentum that boosted the sales for its products. This led to the introduction of the current world-famous Golden Arches logo which enabled it to sell more that a Billion Hamburgers in 1963. This initiated the consistent profit that the company has registered overtime leading to an increase in its share value. According to the McDonald’s Publication of 2007, the company became a partner in Dow Jones Industrial Average after transforming into a public corporation. The company opened its 1000th re staurant in 1968 with Fred Turner becoming the President. Amid being involved in a number of legal suits and controversies related to brand and workers, the company has maintained a suitable business niche overtime that has ensured its progressive maintenance of competitive advantage in the market. McDonald’s Historical Involvement in Olympic Games. The company has been the main sponsor of the Olympic Games for more than 35 years and applies the Olympic values of excellence, personal efficiency and teamwork. The idea behind sponsorship of the Olympic Games is related to the Company’s goal of reinforcing excellence, unity and achievement among the athletes and spectators from the world over. According to M.OFFICIAL Restaurant Website, McDonald’s association with the Olympic movement commenced in 1968 when the company provided Hamburgers to the US athletes competing in France. The company went ahead to become the main sponsor of Olympic Games held in Montreal in 1 976 which was followed by the provision of funds for the construction of Olympic swimming stadium in Los Angeles (Wally and Hurley 350). In 1996, the Company established itself as the Centennial Olympic Games partner of the Atlanta games (M.OFFICIAL Restaurant Website). This made the company be crowned as the official restaurant for the Olympic Games for the first time. The management went ahead and participated in the Olympic Winter Games in Nagano, Japan, marking their debut as the World Wide partner and sponsor of the Olympic Games. After honoring the Olympic champion crew that had gathered in Athens by feeding and taking care of them in 2004, the company announced its participation in the subsequent years, 2006 to 2012. In collaboration with the Olympic committee, the company launched a global physical fitness awareness campaign that was intended to call for the attention of the public on healthy eating habits (Lang et al. 45). The launching of the upgraded version of the above campaign was carried out in Torino 2006 Olympic Winter Games. The Olympic athletes also contributed in providing information for the unveiling of the grassroots health program for children. The company continued with its commitment towards children welfare through the launch of the McDonald’s Champion Children.  

Open Japan to the World Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Open Japan to the World - Essay Example Japan opened its ports and the Western countries slowly expanded their influence to trade and settlement in the treaty ports, The Japanese government underlines that the opening of the country did not mean any change in its policy and strategic goals. Japan was opened for contact with the rest of the world, including Christianity; missionary work was started in the open ports; but Christianity was still proscribed as an evil religion. As Japan emerged from more than two centuries of seclusion, feelings of past interactions with the West mingled with new information and feelings (Konishi 2007). For Japan, the past proposed a unique model for interpreting what was happening with the nation, and new developments to a certain extent changed traditional values. In 1856 Consul-General Townsend Harris was sent to Japan to negotiate a treaty of commerce, which was signed two years later (Miyoshi 82). In 1860 a Bakufu envoy was despatched to America to exchange ratifications of the treaty. It was the first time that a Japanese ship crossed the Pacific. At the same time with the conclusion of a treaty with the United States, Japan negotiated commercial treaties of commerce with Holland, Russia, England and France. Japan's trade with the West was officially started. It is possible to sayt hat the Bakufu was forced to open the state to foreign intercourse signified, in the eyes of the people in general, a lowering of its prestige. As a result anti-foreign movements were launched here and there, movements which finally came to be seen on as a means of attacking the Bakufu. The Bakufu was no longer powerful enough to rise the state out of the collapse into which it had fallen; all it could do was to make the best of the bad bargain by taking makeshift measures. This helped to speed up the downfall of the Bakufu. "To return to the initial question, the Embassy men were all too eager to accept the American welcome as genuine. As they once wanted to believe that Japan was China 's equal, so they now wanted to regard Japan and the United States as on a similar footing" (Miyoshi 64). For more than two decades the centralized power of the Tokugawa shogunate tied to establish and maintain an unprecedented political and social stability in the country. In order to maintain political stability a policy of social stability was introduced. All aspects of social life were managed, even minute details concerning food and clothing. As the Western countries began to search for new contact with Japan in the early nineteenth century, the great danger of trade and Christian propagation was again used as a powerful tool against such transformations. Considering that the Western nations in the mid- nineteenth century were quickly expanding their impact in the Far East through military force, trade, colonization, and Christian propagation, the Japanese doubt was reasonable. For instance, the Opium War in 1842 and the forced opening of China especially alarmed the shogunate and stimulated the improvement of military defense in Japan (Murase 273). In spite of this basic principle of noninterference, which was officially adopted in the following period if time, the presence of the Western countries in Japan was accompanied by consistent and even embarrassing demonstrations of their concern for the cause of Christianity (Konishi 2007). The following description of

Literature Review On Defining Employee Engagement

Literature Review On Defining Employee Engagement The purpose of this review is to present the definitions of engagement found in the literature and list the drivers of engagement that have been identified by many authors. The Sunday Times 100 Best companies to Work For surveys eight engagement factors will also be explained in detail along with their link to engagement. Subsequently, authors views on the factors that turned out to be more sensitive for Addleshaw Goddard will be reported along with authors recommendations on how to leverage them in order to boost employee engagement. Introduction In the midst of economic crisis and with its unavoidable negative effect on employee morale and motivation, it is important that organisations take steps to maintain, if not increase, employee engagement [IDS report, April 2009, Vol. 892, pp2] Most studies conducted around the topic shows its link to company performance and sustainability, as Bates et al. claimed that employee engagement predicts employee outcome, organisational success and financial performance [Bates, 2004; Baumruk, 2004; Harter et al, 2002; Richman, 2006]. Lockwood [2007], in her report pointed out that it is a key business driver for organisational success and that high levels of engagement in firms promote retention of talent, foster customer loyalty and improve organisational performance and stakeholder value. The importance of engagement is that it has an effect of what people do and how they behave in their jobs and what makes them act in ways that further both, the organisational objectives and their personal goals. Defining Employee Engagement Employee engagement is growing as a concept within the business world due to evidence and research that points out that an engaged workforce performs better and hence creates a strong employer brand [Leigh and Roper, 2009]. This promotes organisations as good employers hence recruiting and retaining key talent becomes less problematic, as evident from the IDS report [2009], where they state, effective employer branding captures the essence of an organisation and sells it to the labour market and employees. A strong employer brand embraces an organisations vision, values and working culture. [IDS Report, April 2009] On the subject of engagement, the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD) says that Employee Engagement, or passion for work, involves employees feeling positive about their job, as well as being prepared to go the extra mile [CIPD, 2010]. Macey et al. [2008] argues that engagement has been used to refer to a psychological state (e.g., involvement, commitment, attachment), performance (e.g., either effort or observable behaviour), character (e.g., positive affect), or a combination of the above. For example, Wellins and Concelman [2005] suggested that engagement is an amalgamation of commitment, loyalty, productivity and ownership. It is personified by the passion and energy employees have to give to the organisation. It is all about the willingness and ability of the employees to give constant discretionary effort to help their organisation succeed [Cook, 2008]. Furthermore, Towers Perrin Talent Report [2003] which is a study that tracks views and attitudes of employees to understand the elements of the work experience that drive attraction, retention and engagement has defined engagement as a factor that involves both emotional and rational factors relating to work and overall work experience, where the emotional factors are linked to peoples personal satisfaction and the sense of inspiration and affirmation they get from their work and from being part of their organisation. Engagement can be seen as a combination of commitment to the organisation and its values plus a willingness to help out and support colleagues (i.e. team work) Improvements in engagement can be made in many areas and the key concepts are trust, listening, flexible working and the avoidance of the long hour culture. However, this is not in itself a new concept, and highlighting this, Rankin [2008] refers to engagement as: embracing the older concepts of job satisfaction, motivation and attachment that describes individual employees attitudes to their employer, but goes beyond them to provide a complete model of the psychological relationship between individuals and organisations. Rankin [2008] This suggests that employee engagement is inextricably linked to the Psychological, or unwritten contract which exists and concerns discretionary effort, having many positive effects. For example Leigh and Roper [2010] highlighted that psychological contract is a subjective behaviour where employers and employees have their own perception of what is expected of each other. Hence, it is obvious that engagement is something that employees have to offer and that it is impossible to require engagement as part of the employment contract. It is rather an emotional link to the organisation, its purpose and its people. When an organisation delivers on its commitments (when by their actions they fulfil employees expectations), this reinforces employees sense of fairness and trust in the organisation and generates a positive psychological contract between employers and employee. There are many reported examples of employers who have executed strategies to improve employee engagement through business transformation, which in turn improved employee morale, retention and ultimately business performance. Rankin [2008] suggests that management are more likely to embrace initiatives to drive employee engagement, rather than simple retention strategies, owing to the extra benefits of such strategies, such as improved business performance, profitability, focus on customer service and organisational efficiency, of which retention is a positive by-product. What are the Key Levers of Employee Engagement? Defining engagement is crucial but the real value is in determining what creates engagement. Therefore, where studies have been conducted on engagement, there has also be reports on the key enablers of engagement. There is a range of opinions on what the key drivers or enablers are, for example the findings of the UK Governments MacLeod Review into employee engagement have underlined the critical role played by an engaged workforce [MacLeod and Clarke 2009] in both organisational success and individual well-being. As an example, ibid. [2009] suggested in their study that Leadership, Employee Voice, Engaging Managers and Integrity were strong levers in engaging workforce. In other words, without these factors, organisations would have disengaged staff which would lead to poor performance. Furthermore, Lockwood [2007] also underlines that engagement is influenced by many factors, from workplace culture, organisational communication and managerial styles to trust and respect, leadership and company reputation. For todays different generations, access to training and career opportunities, work-life balance and empowerment to make decisions have also become imperative. According to Towers Perrin report [2003] the factors that drive engagement are a combination of Macleod et al. [2008] and Lockwoods [2007] study such as, (a) Senior managements interest in employees well-being (b) Challenging work, (c) Decision-making authority (d) Career-development opportunities (e) The companys reputation as a good employer (f) Collaborative work environment and (g) Clear vision from senior management about future success, to name a few.  [1]   There is no definitive list of engagement drivers. However, CIPDs [2010] research into employee attitudes found that the main drivers of employee engagement were communication and leadership, along with pay and benefits, learning and development, line management and work-life balance as key factors of measuring employee attitudes which can determine how engaged a workforce is. An alternative model of engagement comes from the burnout literature, which describes job engagement as the positive contrast of burnout, underlining that burnout involves the erosion of engagement with ones job [Maslach et al 2001]. According to Maslach et al, six areas of work-life lead to engagement: workload, control, rewards and recognition, community and social support, perceived fairness and values. They argue that job engagement is associated with a sustainable workload, feelings of choice and control, appropriate recognition and reward, a supportive work community, fairness and justice, and meaningful and valued work. Like burnout, engagement is expected to intercede the link between these six work-life factors and various work outcomes. May et als [2004] findings support Maslach et als [2001] notion of meaningful and valued work being associated with engagement, and therefore it is important to consider the concept of meaning. The development of survey tools and questionnaires such as Gallups Q12  [2]  and The Best Company Survey allow levels of engagement within an organisation to be measured. Most of the studies mentioned above have some common theme. Similarly, while Purcell et al [2003] found a number of factors to be strongly associated with high levels of employee engagement, the one thing all of these factors had in common was that they were connected with an employees involvement in a practice related to their work. The Best Companies Survey has also done their share of research linking it to some of the existing researches and categorised the measurements of engagement into eight factors as mentioned earlier in Chapter 1. Critics of Employee Engagement Even though Employee Engagement has become such a commonly used term within the organisational scene, as it is seen as a lever for business success [Wiley, 2010] some studies have shown that organisations fail to understand the true meaning of engagement as quoted by Macey et al.[2008] numerous definitions of engagement can be derived from practice and research driven literatures but the literal meaning is still not clear among practitioners and academics [Macey and Schneider, 2008: pp4] An example of this could be seen from the study Cunningham et al. [1996] did on Empowerment. After the 1990s when empowerment was introduced in the business world, there was a hype about it for years where organisations wanted to Empower their people, without considering the true meaning of the word. While empowerment only represented the most recent manifestation of employee involvement practice [Cunnigham et al., 1996: pp143]. Also argued by Wilkinson [1997] that the term empowerment when first introduced was very loosely used [Wilkinson, 1998: p40]. Likewise, engagement is seen and known widely as beneficial for organisations yet engagement in the UK is said to be critically low as employers are said to be barking up the wrong tree, as Holmes [2010] reports on personnel today. Also as witnessed in Wileys [2010] report he found that UK engagement results lag behind compared to the global results. This is mainly because of the lack of understanding the term as a whole. Hence the concept of employee engagement could be viewed as being faddish and might fade away in a few years when another concept is introduced in the business world. Employee Involvement versus Employee Participation According to CIPD [2010X]: Employee involvement is a range of processes designed to engage the support, understanding and optimum contribution of all employees in an organisation and their commitment to its objectives. Whereas. Employee participation is defined as a process of employee involvement designed to provide employees with the opportunity to influence and where appropriate, take part in decision making on matters which affect them. Farnham [1997] defines Employee Participation as one of four choices for managing the employment relationship. Cited in Rose [2008, p335] Farnham states: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦an employee has the right to question and influence organization decision makingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. this may involve representative workplace democracy. The other policy choices Farnham identifies are worker subordination via managerial prerogative, union incorporation via collective bargaining and employee commitment via employee involvement. It is clear then that there are differences between employee participation and employee involvement. The literature suggests that employee participation is a pluralist/collective approach with a range for employees from no involvement to full control [Blyton Turnbull, 1998]. Hence, it may involve processes and mechanisms such as: Collective bargaining Employee share schemes Works councils Worker directors Joint Consultative Committees European Works Councils Whereas, Employee involvement, is more of an individualistic and unitarist approach which aims to harness commitment to organisational objectives. Defining Leadership Leadership is about the ability to influence people by personal attributes and behaviours [CIPD, 2010a]. Leaders need to act out and communicate organisational values otherwise this endangers trust in organisations leading to poor performance. Hence, the Best Company measures how people feel about the head of the organisation, the senior management team, and organisational values. Rayner and Adam-Smith [2007] have pointed out that leaders are key players in devising and implementing organisational strategies. And high level of engagement depends in the way employees are led and managed, as quoted by Armstrong [2009]: degree to which jobs encourage engagement and positive discretionary behaviour depends upon the ways in which job holders are led and managed on any formal process of job design. [Armstrong, 2009:140] There is considerable evidence from prior research that perceptions of managerial processes impact on engagement [Wildermuth and Pauken, 2008]. Evidence suggests that employees level of engagement and other work responses are affected by their perceptions of management or leadership style. For example, opportunities for upward feedback increase engagement through greater participation, which, in turn, relates to better understanding of broader organisational issues as well as personal involvement [Robinson et al 2004]. 3.4.1 Role of leaders in engagement In Macleods engagement report [2009] he stressed that leadership provides a strong strategic narrative which has widespread ownership and commitment from managers and employees at all levels. However, it has been proven through Hays Group research findings [2010] that 56 per cent of leaders were disengaging the staff that they led; and only 26 per cent of the leaders achieved in creating an engaging environment that encouraged high performance. In order for employees to be engaged, it is crucial that leaders themselves be engaged; they need to work and succeed in both their core and non-core job roles [reference] Management from the top to the bottom of the organisation should be committed leaders and key role of the immediate line manager/supervisor is recognised as one of the most important channel to achieving effective employee engagement. Leadership plays a vital role in influencing levels of employee engagement. Goal clarity and direction are identified as factors that can influence an employees level of engagement [Rayner and Adam-Smith, 2007]. Staff perform well when they are clear about their goals and objectives, and know how to go about achieving them, an example could be Latham and Lockes Goal-Setting Theory [1979] where they suggest that by establishing goals individuals are motivated to take action to achieve those goals. As a result, employees tend to be motivated and committed to it. Hence, communication of clear goals and direction from the leader becomes crucial. Leaders also help employees develop personal accountability for their goals and help achieve them. Setting performance expectations and instilling personal responsibility among employees are critical for getting results. The biggest challenges which leaders face is how to effectively motivate, initiate change, and sustain improved performance amo ng employees i.e. Employee engagement has emerged as a critical leadership challenge [Molinari and Weiss, 2005]. Leaders should provide challenging work with opportunities for career growth. Good leaders challenge employees but at the same time they should create confidence that the challenges can be met [Seijts and Crim, 2006]. 3.4.2 Dealing with Professionals/Leaders reluctance from leaders to learn As mentioned above, leaders play a vital role in communicating the firms strategy, values and culture. Leadership style and support are also said to be crucial for encouraging employee engagement. Years of occupational health psychology research have revealed that a transformational leadership style is effective for this task [Barling, 2007], where leaders lead to positive changes in those who follow. However, Leadership development proves to be a big challenge for HR professionals. HR professionals continue to wrestle with understanding the best ways to retain talent and develop leaders for future succession planning. Increasingly recognised as becoming strategic business partners within their organizations, HR professionals are expected to provide the essential frameworks, processes, tools, and points of view needed for the selection and development of future leaders. Across the globe leadership development has been identified as a critical strategic initiative in ensuring that the right employees are retained, that the culture of the organization supports performance from within to gain market position, and that managers are equipped to take on leadership roles of the future so that the organisation is feasible in the long term. Even though they play such an important role in engagement and instilling HR policies, research has shown that senior managers can be a challenge and be reluctant to their responsibilities as HR mediators. As Pech [2009] quoted in his research that what may be good for the organisation may not be perceived to be quite as good to the organisations senior managers. Research in Europe emphasises the negative impact these defensive managerial behaviours have on organisations and performance in general. The Towers Perrin consulting groups survey showed that 42 percent of employees felt that their senior managers dont have a sincere interest in their well-being and another 37 per cent believed that their senior managers fail to lead by example in demonstrating company values [Towers Perrin Report, 2004]. My Manager Engaged managers are at the heart of this organisational culture as Macleod [2009] said: they facilitate and empower rather than control or restrict their staff; they treat their staff with appreciation and respect and show commitment to developing, increasing and rewarding the capabilities of those they manage. Role of Managers in engagement As Lowe [1992, cited in Blyton and Turnbull:148], highlighted that a consistent theme of the HRM literature is about the responsibility given to line managers for the management of the human resource. While Poole [1990] emphasises that HRM involves all managerial personnel especially general managers. All the studies on motivation and retention of talent identify the critical role of line managers and the quality of the relationship with the boss as a key factor. According to Gallup Management Journal study, line-managers play a critical role in employees well-being and engagement. Macleod [2010] also points out that having able managers is critical as engaged managers lead to an engaged workforce [Macleod, 2010] as there is a positive impact on managers treating people as individuals. Managers are critical of the quality of management training they receive from their company. Senior management need to have a sincere interest in employees well being [Towers and Perrin, 2006] whereas line managers play the vital roles in terms of employee engagement as they are responsible for the most of the front line employees and the day-to-day activities [Cook, 2008]. Line managers are also responsible for bringing reward policies to life, organisational commitment and job satisfaction [Purcell, CIPD, 2007]. The line manager clearly has a very important role in fostering employees sense of involvement and value [Robinson et al. 2004]. Employee engagement is seen as a direct reflection of how employees feel about their relationship with the boss [Seijts and Crim, 2006]. One of the biggest challenges for HR is to support line managers in their role of managing and developing people. A majority of line managers seem to be failing in many or most of the basic elements of good management including providing regular feedback or offering to help improve individuals employment [CIPD, 2010]. Importance of Internal Communication True Communication builds a bridge between two people or within a group via which real understanding and contact occur. [Leary-Joyce 2004:pp53]. Internal communication is known as the most obvious method of generating and maintaining engaged employees. Punjaisri et al. [2008], in his research identified that employees mentioned training and internal communications as the major methods of internal branding. The authors also quoted: although training and internal communication can help employees to fulfil brand promise, the strength of their relationship with the brand is predominantly down to employee attitude. The discovered that brand identification, commitment and loyalty were all partial indicators between internal communication and employee brand performance. [ibid., 2008] Whenever there has been research on engagement, communication has always been a big part of it. It has been long-established that communicating with employees effectively is important in making them feel valued and this is particularly the case in the current economic climate when staff may feel more uncertain and require some additional reassurance [IDS, April 2009]. It is also said to be a mechnism for enabling every aspect of a great company culture [Leary-joyce, 2004] What is Employee Voice? The concept of employee voice focuses on opportunities for employees to be involved in decisions collectively, whether through trade unions or by other means. Gradually this process of two-way communication became known as employee voice. It appeals both to those seeking greater business efficiency and to those looking for employee rights. CIPD research suggests that organisations that seek to promote voice are those that believe that employees want to contribute to the business and that for employees to have an effective voice, the important part of the communication process is not what the employer puts out but what it gets back. Good managers recognise that much of the knowledge required for businesses to be competitive is actually in employees heads. Voice is defined most typically in terms of two-way communications, an exchange of information between managers and employees or having a say about what goes on in the organisation. However, there are differences in interpretation. Some managers see voice as enabling all employees to represent their views to managers, and for those views to be taken into account. Other managers take the more limited view that voice is not so much a dialogue or two-way exchange of ideas as a mechanism for employees to transmit ideas to managers in order to improve organisational performance. Mechanisms for employee voice There is a range of different and often complementary mechanisms for employee voice. The CIPD research referred to above put them into two broad categories: upward problem-solving and representative participation. Upward problem-solving which refers to any technique that managers use to tap into employee ideas and opinions, either through two-way communications channels or through specific systems that are set up for employees to express their voiceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the structures are management-initiated and operate directly between managers and employees rather than through employee representatives. Techniques include Electronic media, Two-way communications, Suggestion schemes, Attitude surveys, etc. Representative participation refers to schemes under which employee representatives meet managers on a regular basis in the case of scheduled committees, or through more ad hoc arrangements. The essential characteristicà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦is that participation is not direct between individual employees and their managers but is mediated through representatives. Partnership schemes, Joint consultation, Collective representation are known as a few techniques All these mechanisms are formal. But informal mechanisms in effect, simply having a word about a problem to a manager who listens and takes action if necessary can be a very effective form of voice. Informal mechanisms may be relatively more important in smaller organisations where fewer formal structures are needed. 2.5.3.1 Two-way communications IDS Report, [2009] has highlighted the fact that while it is important to keep employees well-informed, an organisation seeking to engage employees should also encourage upward communication. For example, carrying out surveys or holding discussion groups as a way of encouraging employees to provide feedback which would involve employees in a dialogue with the company. The very act of carrying out research on engagement within the organisation can be engaging particularly where employees are directly involved in discussions. [IDS, Apr 2009] Encouraging people to have their say and this emphasised as a core value of the organisation that management at all levels must be prepared to listen and respond to any contributions their people make. Employee involvement and participation are (EIP) are regarded by Marchington and Wilkinson [2008] as a key feature of high-commitment HRM. Excellent leadership and management are built of effective communication and is a source of creativity and innovation. 2.5.4 Trust Important determinants for achieving trust are demonstrations of managerial passion for the work and managerial concern for employee welfare, hiring the right employees in the first instance, and then providing them with a sense of control over their lives. Employees will ask for trust and a sense of control in order to be engaged in their work [Pech 2009] (See Figure 2). Managerial passion for the work Employee sense of trust and control = Employee Engagement Managerial concern for employee welfare Effective recruitment Source: Pech, J. [2009] Fig. 2 Determinants for establishing and sustaining employee engagement Well-Being In the Best company survey well-being is used to measure stress, pressure, the balance between work and home life and the impact of these factors on personal health and performance. It has been reported that employee engagement is more likely to be sustainable when employee well-being is also high [Robertson and Cooper, 2009]. CIPD Flexible working perceived flexibility and supportive work-life policies were related to greater employee engagement and longer than expected retention. [Richman, et al., 2008] Guest[1987], in his model of flexibility, underlined that the three components of flexibility are: (a) related to the organisational design, (b) job design and (c) employee attitudes and motivations. [cited in Legge, 2005]. Flexible work practices have been viewed by employees as valuable workplace tools to facilitate work-life management. Employees report that workplace flexibility influences decisions to join an employer, satisfaction with their jobs, and plans to stay with their employers. Recently, some employers have come to recognise that workplace flexibility positively influences valued business outcomes such as attracting, motivating, and retaining key talent in competitive labour markets, increasing employee satisfaction and engagement, as well as improving efficiency and effectiveness. However, although several studies have examined the role of organizational characteristics and work experiences as antecedents of engagement and retention [Burud Tumolo, 2004; Gibbons, 2006; Meyer, Stanley, Herscovitch, Topolnytsky, 2002], few have investigated the influence of workplace flexibility in particular. Work Life Balance Employee-focused initiatives such as implementing work-life balance initiatives are important in order to connect with employees [Seijts and Crim, 2006]. Employers seek to promote work-life balance by introducing policies that fall within three broad categories: flexible working, including reduced and compressed hours; time off and special leave; and staff support, such as employee well-being programmes and childcare provision [IDS, April 2009]. The mere existence of work-life policies and is associated with positive outcomes for the individual and the organisation. Employees who worked for organisations that had family-friendly policies in place, had higher levels of commitment towards the organisation and lower intentions to leave [Richman et al. 2008] Organisations are better able to portray an image of being a caring employer if they show an obligation and importance to work-life balance. Work-life balance initiatives should seek to improve employees working lives together with their personal lives to the mutual benefit of both employees and employers. Employees should have greater flexibility to pursue their interests outside work and to fulfil any caring responsibilities at home. In the workplace, they are likely to be more in control of their workload and, as a result, feel a greater sense of well-being. In turn, employers may benefit from greater employee engagement. [IDS, Apr 2009] Stress at work Stress has been moving steadily up the workplace agenda in recent years. Any stress can reduce employee well-being and excessive or sustained work pressure can lead to stress [CIPD, 2010]. Hence, it is important to develop a culture that encourages positive attitudes to work, reducing stress and promoting interest and excitement in their jobs (role of top and line managers and leaders). Also communication, involvement, work-life balance are key feature of high-commitment HRM [Marchington and Wilkinson 2008]. Personal Growth Learning is a satisfying and rewarding experience that makes a significant contribution to intrinsic motivation. Alderfer [1972] as cited in Armstrong [2008] emphasised the importance of giving employees the opportunity to grow and develop as it is said to be a motivating factor that directly impacts on engagement when it is an intrinsic element of the work [Armstrong, 2008]. IDS report points out that designing roles that are challenging and giving employees varied responsibilities can help make work more intrinsically engaging [IDS, 2009]. 3.7.1 Career Progression Providing clear and transparent career paths can be vital to engaging em

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Dear Sir/Madame, It is with much pleasure that I submit my application for a Master’s Degree Programme in â€Å"Healh and Business† starting in September 2014 at University of Eastern Finland. As for my educational background, I obtained from Highest Medical School â€Å"Aieti† on a faculty of medicine where I completed all courses in English. Currently I work as an interpreter/translator at United Water Supply Company of Georgia. I have also taught Histology to first-year international students at Petre Shotadze Medical Academy. Medicine is a tradition in my family. My great grandparents, grandparents, parents, even godfather and godmother are doctors. This is a path that I am passionate about and while being part of it, I am surrounded by amicable environment. I decided to follow the footsteps but accomplish the goal in a different manner. I would like to engage myself in activity where I would have a chance to combine and link medicine to business - the mix that explores the framework for medical management systems. While doing internship in Chemotherapy department of Klaipeda Medical Center in Lithuania, each day proposed challenging but fascinating discovery. Themes connected to organization of the hospital and service delivered to patients was especially engaging. I had read and learnt about various methods about organizing and providing service to patients but I was still thrilled as it was my first time when I actually had to perform everything myself. At the start, I encountered a lot of failures but thanks to persistence and determination I grasped the procedure and became one of best students. As a result, having participated in diverse conferences and congresses related to medicine, health management and development, I would l... ...n insurance, health and government regulations and parallel its model to ones of developed countries, propose/suggest solutions to abate the adversity of medical system. As for my financing plan for studies, I have savings specially designed for my further studies. Since the University of Eastern Finland is tuition-free, with the help of my savings from work remuneration, family and a sponsor I will be able to cover all living costs. I am interested to live in a shared apartment first of all it is more affordable and it will be easier to live with other students as it helps to overcome cultural shock while living in a foreign country. Sharing a roof with other students is also beneficial to learn more about the hosting or other countries and their culture. Thank you for considering my application, and I look forward to your acceptance. Sincerely, Nino Tevzadze

Improved Fast Decoupled Power Flow

The power flow analysis is a very important and tundamental tool in power system analysis. Its results play the major role during the operational stages of any system for its control and economic schedule, as well as during expansion and design stages The purpose of any load flow analysis is to compute precise steady-state voltages and voltage angles of all buses in the network, the real and reactive power flows into every line and transformer, under the assumption of known generation and load.During the second half of the twentieth century, and after the large technological evelopments in the fields of digital computers and high-level programming languages, many methods for solving the load flow problem have been developed, such as indirect Gauss-Siedel (bus admittance matrix). direct Gauss-Siedel (bus impedance matrix).Newton-Raphson (NR) and its decoupled versions Nowadays, many Improvements have been added to all these methods involving assumptions and approximations of the trans mission lines and bus data, based on real systems conditions The Fast Decoupled Power Flow Method (FDPFM) is one of these improved methods, which was based on a simplification of the Newton-Raphson method and reported by Stott and Alsac in 1974[4]. This method and due to its calculations simplifications, fast convergence and reliable results became the most widely used method in load flow analysis.However, FDPFM for some cases, where high RA ratios or heavy loading (Low Voltage) at some buses are present, does not converge well. For these cases, many efforts and developments have been made to overcome these convergence obstacles. some of them targeted the convergence of systems with hgh RIX ratios, others those with low voltage buses However, one of the most recent developments is a Robust Fast Decoupled Power Flow developed by Wang and u; it Is ased on heuristic justification and general voltage normalization methods [171 and solves both high RIX ratios and low bus voltages problem s simultaneously.Though many efforts and elaborations have been achieved in order to improve the and simulations are becoming more developed and are now able to handle and analyze large size system. Today, and after reaching processor's speeds higher than 3 GHz, any improvement in the speed of convergence of the power flow method, provided it leads to reliable results, is of great value. This speed improvement is very important when involved in operational stages of power distribution, where any illisecond saving can hugely increase the probability of the right decision, of the control and dispatch computerized system.This paper works on providing computing savings (in flops) and thus higher speed of convergence of the FDPFM based on the initial approximation in which real power changes are considered to be most sensitive to variations in voltage angle and much less to those of voltage magnitude, as well as on the high sensitivity of reactive power changes to variations in voltage m agnitude and much less to those of voltage angle. In this paper, the attention was focused on the update of the voltage angle (6) and oltage magnitude (V) in each iteration, based on the improvement of flops achieved, and obviously on the results obtained.The results of these improvements and the comparative analysis with the Newton-Raphson and classical FDPFM will be presented using the three IEEE bus systems of 14, 30 and 57-bus, although the IFDPFM can be applied to any size bus system. II. Fast Decoupled Power Flow Method As the FDPFM is derived from the Newton-Raphson we will start from the matrix representation of NR, apply some simplifications and approximations, to reach the equations of the FDPFM.The matrix representation of the N-R method [17] is: O APOOH Where I IVJI IYiJl +6]) And -2 cos Bit +2 cos -6i +6]) Nii – = I VI II YiJ I cos (B iJ- 6i + 6]) Nil (7) -2 IYiil stn +2 IVJI IYiJl cos -6i +6]) Now, for typical power system branches: XIR and ; 200 (10) between AQ and A6, hence N and J entries of the initial matrix of (1) can be ignored leading to the following decoupled equations: (12) Now, the diagonal elements of H according to Stott and Alsac [4] can be written as: IVi12Bii (13) Where Bii = I Yill sin Bii is the imaginary part of the diagonal elements of the bus admittance matrix Ybus.Further simplifications can be applied to equation (12), by considering Bii Qi and I Vil 2 z I Vil yielding to the following simplified Hit: Hii=- (14) Also, as under normal operating conditions 6] – 6i is quite small, thus Bii – 6i + 6] Bit, and IVJI 1, the off-diagonal elements of the matrix H can be written as: HIJ I Vil (15) Similarly, the diagonal elements of the L matrix can be written as: Lil † (16) And its off- diagonal elements as: LiJ=-lVll (17) Applying these assumptions to equations (11) and (12) we get: =-B'A6 I vil (18) (19) where B' and B† are the imaginary part of the bus admittance matrix Ybus , such thatB' contain s all buses admittances except those related to the slack bus, and B† is B' deprived from all voltage-controlled buses related admittances. Finally, all these approximations and simplifications lead to the following successive voltage magnitude and voltage angle updating equations: (20) IVI (21) These equations formed the basis of the iteration scheme upon which the Matlab software written and then updated. Ill.Updated Algorithm The algorithm written according to the equations derived in the previous section is as follows: Step 1: Creation of the bus admittance Ybus according to the lines data given y the IEEE standard bus test systems. Step 2: Detection of all kinds and numbers of buses according to the bus data given by the IEEE standard bus test systems, setting all bus voltages to an initial value of 1 pu, all voltage angles to O, and the iteration counter iter to O.Step 3: Creation of the matrices B' and B† according to equations (18) and (19). Step 4: If max (AP, A Q) accuracy then Go to Step 6 else 1. Calculation of the H and L elements of equations (14), (1 5), (16), (17). 2. Calculation of the real and reactive power at each bus, and checking if Mvar of generator buses re within the limits, otherwise update the voltage magnitude at these buses by ? ±2 3. Calculation of the power residuals, AP and AQ. 4.Calculation of the bus voltage and voltage angle updates AV and A6 according to equations (19) and (20). 5. Update of the voltage magnitude V and the voltage angle 6 at each bus. 6. Increment of the iteration counter iter = iter + 1 then Go to Step 4 Print out ‘Solution did not converge' and go to Step 6 Step 6: Print out of the power flow solution, computation and display of the line flow and losses. The update of this algorithm was based on the weak coupling between AP and AV, nd between AQ and A6, explained in the previous section.Specifically, in the fourth subroutine of Step 4 of the initial algorithm, and instead of updating the voltage magnitude and the voltage angle once and simultaneously in each iteration, the improved algorithm updated either the voltage angle or the voltage magnitude at each bus, Jumped to subroutine 1 to recalculate the real and reactive power and then updated the second variable based on what was updated first.Moreover, and for more speed improvements and convergence reliability, the update of one of the two variables was repeated several times, holding the other ariable at its last calculated value, which reduced the number of floating point operations of the algorithm and thus lead to the faster convergence of the IFDPFM. IV. Numerical Analysis The performance of the IFDPFM was tested on IEEE 14, 30 and 57-bus systems with a convergence accuracy of 10-3 on a MVA base of 100 or equivalently 10-1 MVA for both power residuals AP and AQ.This numerical analysis involved a speed comparison between the NR method, the FDPFM and the IFDPFM based on the number of flops (floating point oper ations) of each algorithm implementing each method, rather than on any other basis, because he flops count is independent from the CPU speed or the specific programming language used. In addition, as mentioned in the previous part, the algorithm of this paper updated the voltage angle several times before updating the voltage magnitude or vice versa which resulted in a different flops count for each combination used for the same IEEE bus system.These combinations will be noted according to the number of loops of update of each variable. For instance, updating twice the voltage angle (6) and then once the voltage magnitude (V) in the same iteration will be written as (2;1). Note that any flops number without the previous notation will be the one of the best case of the updated algorithm. Moreover, for any combination to be listed in this paper it should have satisfied the condition of no more than 3 % deviation of its results from that of the NR method.The bar graph in Figure 1 shows a comparison based on the number of flops between the NR, FDPFM and the best case of IFDPFM for the three IEEE standard bus systems used in this paper. Number of flops per method per system 934. 573 305. 126 314. 925 157. 310 System 57 4,421. 752 2,841. 646 14 30. 823 56. 829 24. 574 1 ,ooo ,500 2,000 2,500 3,000 Flops IFDPFM FDPFM 4,000 4,500 (Thousands) Fig. 1: Flops Comparison between the 3 methods. It is clearly seen that the IFDPFM requires much less flops to converge as compared to FDPFM or NR.This flops saving is proportional to the system size and as shown, increases with the increase of the number of buses. Obviously, this improvement in the number of flops will make the IFDPFM converge much faster than the two other methods whatever CPU used. Numerically, and for the biggest system involved in this paper (IEEE 57-Bus System), the IFDPFM revealed a flops saving of about 67 % when ompared with the FDPFM and about 78 % when compared with the NR.Normally, and as mentioned bef ore, this saving goes down to the order of 50 % for the two smaller bus systems. In addition, and in order to reach the best case presented above, different strategies of updating the voltage angle (6) and the voltage magnitude (V) were tested and compared first with the FDPFM then with the NR. Figure 2 below the percentage of flops of IFDPFM versus that of the FDPFM, for 10 different updating strategies and for the three IEEE systems.Percentage Flops IFDPFM vs FDPFM 75 50 25 Delta;Voltage Loops IFDPFM14 IFDPFM30 IFDPFM57 Fig. 2: % of flops of IFDPFM vs. FDPFM for different voltage angle and voltage magnitude updating strategies. At the first look, it is seen that for the three systems, three parallel curves are sketched with most values less then 75 % of the FDPFM. This parallel property of this graph shows the consistency of the algorithm in its number of flops variation for each strategy for each system studied.Also, it is seen that for low number of voltage magnitude and voltage angle loops the IFDPFM can't be more efficient than FDPFM, but for a slightly higher number the IFDPFM shows great improvement in flops saving nd reaches the highest improvement at the point (4;3), where in each iteration, the voltage angle was updated four times while the voltage was kept at its initial value and then 6 was kept at its last value and V updated three times.Numerically, and for the best case of IFDPFM (4;3), the new algorithm showed a flops saving of 57 % for the 14-bus system, 50% for the 30-bus system, and 68% for the 57-bus system. Figure 3 below shows the percentage of flops of IFDPFM versus that of the NR, for 10 different updating strategies and for the three IEEE systems. IFDPFM vs NR 175 150 25 Fig. 3: % of flops of IFDPFM vs. NR for different voltage angle and voltage magnitude updating strategies.Basically, the same comments of the comparison of IFDPFM with FDPFM apply in this comparison. However, here the flops saving is much more significant and is propo rtional to the system size. Numerically, we have a 21 % flops saving for the 14-bus system, 49 % for the 30-bus system and 78% for the 57-bus system. Finally, it is remarked that when compared with NR, IFDPFM savings showed a high variation in their percentage, mainly because they are highly proportional to the

Definition and Examples of Vocal Fry (or Creaky Voice)

Definition and Examples of Vocal Fry (or Creaky Voice) In speech, the term vocal fry refers to  a low, scratchy sound that occupies the vocal range below modal voice (the most commonly used vocal register in speech and singing). Also known as vocal fry register, creaky voice, pulse register, laryngealization, glottal rattle, and glottal fry.   Linguist Susan J. Behrens describes vocal fry as a type of phonation (vocal fold vibration) whereby the vocal folds start to slow down and beat irregularly before closing, toward the end of an utterance. This behavior causes a  rough voice quality, a lowered  voice pitch, and sometimes a slower rate of speech. All contribute to make a speakers voice sound creaky or raspy (Understanding Language Use in the Classroom,  2014). Examples and Observations Creaky voice involves a raspy quality of voice produced by reducing the amount of air passing through the vocal cords, which results in a non-pure or non-clear tone. It . . . carries a pragmatic meaning, often signalling the end of a turn, and is associated with younger female speech . . ..(Sandra Clarke, Newfoundland and Labrador English. Edinburgh University Press, 2010)Is your little princess sounding more like a frog? Speaking in a croaky voice, officially called vocal fry, has become normal among young women, new research published in the Journal of Voice finds. (Say Whaaat as if youre suffering from a very sore throat and youve got the sound.) But regularly talking this way could cause long-term vocal cord damage. Which means these women could end up not saying much at all.  (Leslie Quander Wooldridge, Croak Addicts. AARP Magazine, April/May 2012) Vocal Wrongness? The most recent trend in vocal wrongness is called vocal fry. Vocal fry is created when someone slips into a lower tone, usually at the end of a sentence, and this tone has a fried or creaky quality. Britney Spears and Kim Kardashian are infamous for this way of speaking, but research indicates men tend to speak with this raspy flaw as well. And vocal fry is on the rise, with two-thirds of college students in one study displaying it. The problem with using it is it conveys a sense that youre not confident, or in some cases, sure of what you are saying.  (Lee Thornton, Youre Doing It Wrong!. Adams Media, 2012) Young Women and Vocal Fry A classic example of vocal fry, best described as a raspy or croaking sound injected (usually) at the end of a sentence, can be heard when Mae West says, Why don’t you come up sometime and see me, or, more recently on television, when Maya Rudolph mimics Maya Angelou on Saturday Night Live.[L]inguists ... cautioned against forming negative judgments.If women do something like uptalk or vocal fry, it’s immediately interpreted as insecure, emotional or even stupid, said Carmen Fought, a professor of linguistics at Pitzer College in Claremont, Calif. The truth is this: Young women take linguistic features and use them as power tools for building relationships. ... It’s generally pretty well known that if you identify a sound change in progress, then young people will be leading old people, said Mark Liberman, a linguist at the University of Pennsylvania, and women tend to be maybe half a generation ahead of males on average. ... So what does the use of vocal fry denote? Like uptalk, women use it for a variety of purposes. Ikuko Patricia Yuasa, a lecturer in linguistics at the University of California, Berkeley, called it a natural result of women’s lowering their voices to sound more authoritative.It can also be used to communicate disinterest, something teenage girls are notoriously fond of doing.(Douglas Quenqua, They’re, Like, Way Ahead of the Linguistic Currrrve. The New York Times, February 27, 2012) Vocal Fry and Meaning [V]oice quality changes contribute to meaning at many ... linguistic levels. Creaky voice (or vocal fry) often signals prominence within a sentence, the presence of linguistic boundaries like ends of sentences, or major changes of topic...  (Jody Kreiman and Diana Sidtis, Foundations of Voice Studies: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Voice Production and Perception. Wiley-Blackwell, 2011) Creaky Voice Like breathy voice, creaky voice is also used as both a tool for age, gender, and social distinction, and for phonological contrast with some of the worlds languages.There is a minimum fundamental frequency below which modal voicing can no longer continueusually about a quarter of a persons average speaking fundamental. At this point the nature of phonation changes and the speaker begins to use creaky voice, also known as laryngealization or vocal fry. The term stiff voice has also been applied to a variety of phenomena that partially resemble creaky voice. In creaky voice, the vocal folds are very shortened and slackened to maximize their mass per unit length, and the IA muscles are contracted to draw the arytenoid cartilages together. This action allows the vocal folds to stay together for a much longer part of the phonation cycle than in modal voicing . . ., only allowing a tiny burst of air to escape between long closure periods.  (Bryan Gick, Ian Wilson, and Donald Derrick, Ar ticulatory Phonetics. Wiley-Blackwell, 2012) The Great Unnamed [W]e have no shared public language through which to speak about the voice or sound, in contrast to the wide vocabulary that weve developed for visual images. Sounds are still part of the great unnamed. Back in 1833 the American physician, James Rush, tried to identify different kinds of voiceswhispering, natural, falsetto, orotund, harsh, rough, smooth, full, thin, slender. By the 1970s phoneticians hadnt moved much beyond Rush in naming different types of voice. The terms they had come up withlike whispery voice, harsh voice, creaky voice, tense or lax voicewere never taken up by the public. Neither was more specialist terminology, like vocal fry, jitter, or shimmer, words which anyway have no agreed definition. Were in a state of terminological disarray, and few of us are able to describe the voice in words that arent either impressionistic or ambiguous.  (Anne Karpf, The Human Voice: The Story of a Remarkable Talent. Bloomsbury, 2006)

buy custom Feline Behavior Problems essay

buy custom Feline Behavior Problems essay Introduction: According to the Chicago Veterinary Behavior Consultants (2008), there are numerous behavior issues of cats that can interfere with the special bond that exists between animal and human. Cats have been one of the oldest and the most trusted pets after dogs. The adorability, cuddliness and the warmth of cats often relates to infants, as the infants are being loved and cared the most by the pet cats. The main objective of this topic is to describe the common and some uncommon cat behavior issues, the research conducted and its analysis, with the hypothesis of receiving a positive response to appropriately train and tame the cat behavior problems. The research comprises of five to six scenarios which will initiate the problem, describing its practical evidence and provide proper remedies to overcome those issues. The entire research material is taken from the journal articles of the famous veterinary resources such as American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior (2008), Pet Education by Foster Smith (1997-2011), some insights by DVM, Wayne Hunthausen (n.d.) of the Westwood Hospital, Cats International (2007), and the Chicago Veterinary Behavior Consultants (2008), and Fanciers (1991) as already mentioned before. The reason behind choosing this topic is to spread awareness amongst the pet owners, SPCA society, animal beaters and kids who have pet cats with behavioral issues, and working on this topic might give the pet owners some insights which not only will improve the pet/owner relationship, as well will create a healthy and happy lifestyle for the suffering cats. The society needs to beware of the dangers of neglecting or ignoring the cat behavior issues as it could be very destructive for the entire family, especially for the kids in the family who become attached to the cuddly queen of her territory. Therefore, certain methods are being presented to teach people and family on disciplining and taming the strays and untamed cats. Overview of Cat Behavior Problems: Cindy Tittle Moore (1991-1997) has covered the cat behavior issues in a sophisticated and precise manner. The basic principle that lies with any animal as Cindy (1991-1997) stated that no animal should be beaten or abused as it will never teach the poor animal the correct ways of life, and can only lead to timidity and fear for you. Some of the tactics that has been described by Cindy Tittle Moore (1991-1997) have been applied in real life in order to see the difference of theory and practice. Training an untrained cat could be a hassle, but with proper understanding and following the methods described in the research, pet owners might be able to restore the pleasant and adorable cat behavior. Here are listed some of the common behavior problems in outdoor as well as indoor cats. Aggression (Play aggression, fear aggression, redirected aggression, petting-induced aggression) DVM Wayne Hunthausen (n.d.) Cat Spraying (Foster Smith, 1997-2011). Fear/Anxiety (Foster Smith, 1997-2011) Change in Activity Patters (Foster Smith, 1997-2011) Scratching and Declawing (Cats International, 2007) Litter box problems (Cindy Tittle Moore, 1991-1997) Psychological stress (Cindy Tittle Moore, 1991-1997) Escaping (Cindy Tittle Moore, 1991-1997) Tree and Curtain Climbing(Cindy Tittle Moore, 1991-1997) Biting and Chewing(Cindy Tittle Moore, 1991-1997) Noise cats make when mating(Cindy Tittle Moore, 1991-197) Description of the Cat Behavior Issues: Aggression: Redirected aggression is the most common of all the four kinds of aggressions. The Chicago Veterinary Behavior Consultants (2008) states that this is the aggression by a cat towards another person or another cat as a result of the inability of the attacker to get at another object of their aggression; An example would be a cat at the patio window watching a stray cat. Eventually, the patio cat would like to be possessive and get aggressive towards the stray cat and might hiss or purr in a menacing tone to scare the stray cat away. Play aggression is merely the normal activity that occurs with kittens, like hissing, spitting and pouncing at each other, and their posture is different than real fighting as stated by the Chicago Veterinary Behavior Consultants (2008) and is also called interact aggression. The fear-based aggression is the presence of strangers in a room, and the reality is that cats do show fear, and due to this trait, their eyes get dilated, tucked tail, hair gets flared up and signs of resentment are being observed as being researched by Chicago Veterinary Behavior Consultants (2008). Cat Spraying: Drs. Foster and Smith (1997-2011) mentions that an inappropriate elimination is the most common behavior issue for older cats, and there are various causes for this behavior, many of them medical; medical conditions which may result in an increased frequency of urination may be the mere cause for this problem, which include: colitis, inflammatory bowel disease, diabetes mellitus, hyperthyroidism, kidney or liver disease, and feline lower urinary tract disease (FLUTD). Fear /Anxiety: This factor is determined by the increased risk of losing vision; hearing, having pain and neurologic disease which can trigger fear or anxiety in cats; therapies and proper medication should be provided to the designated cat (Dr. Foster Smith, 1997-2011). Change in Activity Patterns: Studies show that some cats tend to be active at night, despite the routine change, and keep wondering in search of food or insects at home. Practically, this habit is observed in older cats as Foster and Smith (1997-2011) describes it. The best solution for this is to engage the kitty in playing or grooming before the bedtime, in order to overcome the loss of sleep and turning the sleep routine around. Scratching and Declawing Scratching is the way of filing the growing nails for the kitties. Cats International (2007) has found most feline behaviorist gone blank when inquired about cat training in saving the couch. Here, if people think about declawing, it would be one of the most inhumane act done to the speechless pets and most people discourage it. The solution does not lie performing this inhumane act, but to train the kitties, with trimming the nails with a scratch post. Cindy Tittle Moore (1991-1997) also states that for an unwanted scratching, provide a scratch post and issue firm no!s on other items, and might want to spray some bitter orange spray in order to resent their behavior. Litter Box Problems: The issues with the litter box might be unhygienic litter boxes, uneasy access to litter box, using a different litter box, noise within the area, or an unwanted chemical used to wash the litter box are some concerns mentioned by Cindy Tittle Moore (1991-1997). Psychological Stress: Cats are posseessive in nature and they might like or dislike the arrival of new pets, new baby or just someone new in the house. As stated by Cindy Tittle Moore(1991-1997), the stress aroused by this can also trigger improper urination . Escaping : Most cats will try to adopt this technique as an easy getaway from training. Cindy Tittle Moore (1991-1997) states a remedy for this is to discourage running to the door is never to let the cat succeed, by always being the first one to block or enter the door. Tree and Curtain Climbing Cats are natural tree climbers as they tend to do that more often since childhood. This is the last thing any pet owner would like to experience and call the fire department to rescue the cat. For the drapes, the cat might fall over it with the rod and might injure herself, thus try to prevent the cat by unhooking the drapes just in case someone not home as Cindy Tittle Moore (1991-1997) advises. Biting and Chewing Biting is a common issue with cats as they play and this make it a habit. It might get very painful for the person interacting with cat in order to show his/her love and friendliness. Try to make a hurt cat sound as to discourage cats, turn around and wait for a few seconds, as a remedy stated by Cindy Tittle Moore(1991-1997). This will train the cat to be gentle and care for people in future play. Noise Cats make when mating Cindy Tittle Moore(1991-1997) has noticed that mating cats make an unbelievable amount of noise. If the cats are strayed, check with a veterinary clinic, and try to get them neutered. But if they belong to someone, let the cat owner beware of this. Methodology: The assessment of the feline behavior problems have been described as a tool in determining the respective solutions for it. The methodology used here is to address each of the issues mentioned above, and analyze their situation and coming up with an appropriate solution for it. Aggression was the first challenging situation in which was redirected, play and fear. Imagine a scenario observed by the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior (2008) in which two older cats, having gotten along quite well for many years, were now fighting, and the womans husband was not willing to keep the cats separated any longer, as it was too inconvenient. Since in this care, the owners wanted an immediate assessment of the problems and to know if something could be done to resolve this issue, which involved high risk of injury to people, the researchers told the pet owners that if they were to keep their pets, they must be willing and able to manage the environment so that risks were minimized. AVSAB(2008) came up with a solution to keep the aggressing pets and their targets separated and the pets should be introduced some behavior modification exercises like training, talking, and teaching signs. The second issue was the cat spraying. Stress can play a major role in an inappropriate elimination in cats of all ages, such as moving, changes in routine etc, loud noise and aggressive behavior of kids (Drs. Foster Smith, 1997-2011).Reducing the stressors can help cats grow out of the trouble, such as placing the cat in a quiet place when guests arrive, and placing her food and water at the same spot will make her feel relaxed in the midst of loud noise. This is the best remedy for the cat spraying problem. Fearful and anxious cats need to be tamed and trained with love. Cindy Tittle Moore (1991-1997) has come up with a solution of training your cat to perform alternate behavior with the inappropriate behavior. Buy custom Feline Behavior Problems essay

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