Jon Lebed Essay Example for Free

Jon Lebed Essay Summary: In this case study we learn about Jonathan Lebed, at 15 years old, the youngest person during that time and the first minor to ever to face proceedings by the SEC for stock-market fraud. In 2000, Jonathan Lebed caused chaos in the stock trading industry and was accused of â€Å"pumping and dumping† stocks over the Internet. Between September 1999 and February 2000 Lebed made hundreds of thousands of dollars by posting in internet chat rooms and on message boards encouraging people to buy penny stocks he already owned, thus, according to the SEC, artificially raising the price of the stock. Lebed was found guilty by the SEC of wrong doing under Section 17(a) of the Securities Act and Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5 which addresses fraud in the use on interstate commerce. Under these acts it is unlawful for a person to intentionally provide false statements for the purposes of deceiving buyers. The SEC settled with him for a $285,000 of his earnings. His actions proved that the Internet could be a very powerful tool for fraud. The Context: The moral tone of the case study we were given to read, written by Michael Lewis, almost seemed to be a defense as to why what Jonathan had done should have been acceptable. Lewis seemed to portray Jonathan as just a kid doing what all financial analyst and stock gurus do daily, but since Jonathan was 15, and doing it well, then the Securities and Exchange Commission was â€Å"picking† on him. At times in the story their was a sense on emotional disarray, and no one wanting to be the blame or accept responsibility for the situation, especially between Jonathans, his mother, and father. Broader Ethical Perspective: In the case it was obvious that Jonathan did not have the best interest of all the parties involved in his best interest, which to me constitutes for one of the first red flags of the lack of ethical behavior. He also never showed care or any remorse of any potential wrong doing for anyone who may have been a victim to his gimmicks; he never took responsibility for his actions.

Vitamin D Deficiency Among Subfertile Women: Case Study

Vitamin D Deficiency Among Subfertile Women: Case Study Abstract Objective: To compare the dietary vitamin D and calcium intake among subfertile women (cases) versus pregnant women (controls) and to determine the vitamin D levels in the subfertile and pregnant women Study design was an observational case-control study where a total of 181 (83 previously diagnosed subfertile cases from various causes and 98 pregnant controls) women of reproductive age (20-40 years old) attending the reproductive endocrinology and infertility clinics were recruited. Ethical approval was granted from the Institutional Review Board at KFMC and written informed consent was obtained from each participant prior to inclusion. A validated questionnaire was used where it focused on key indicators evaluating vitamin D related factors. Blood was withdrawn for the measurement of serum calcium, albumin and phosphate to exclude secondary causes that might affect Vitamin D level. Data Analysis Data was analyzed using SPSS version 16.0 (SPSS, Chicago, IL, USA). Frequencies were presented as percentages (%) and continuous variables were presented as mean  ± standard deviation. Chi-square was done to elicit differences in frequencies between cases and controls. Independent T-test was done to compare differences among continuous variables. Significance was set at p < 0.05. Results: The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency was significantly higher in the subfertile group than controls (59.0% versus 40.4%; p < 0.01). Calcium supplements intake was significantly higher in controls than the subfertile group (64.6% versus 10.0%; p-value < 0.001). Total dietary vitamin D intake (> 400IU/day) was significantly higher in the controls than the subfertile group. Conclusions: Total dietary vitamin D intake (> 400IU/day) was found to be significantly higher in the controls than the subfertile group. Thus, dietary vitamin D intake greater than 400IU/day and calcium supplementation should be encouraged amongst subfertile women since it may improve their fertility, but this needs to be proven prospectively. Optimization of serum calcium and vitamin D levels are encouraged. Key Words: Vitamin D, infertility, calcium, supplementation, Middle Eastern Condensation Dietary vitamin D intake and calcium supplementation may improve fertility. Optimization of serum calcium and vitamin D levels are encouraged. Introduction Vitamin D deficiency phenomenon over the recent years has earned the notorious reputation of being significantly associated to a plethora of many diseases, making it a major global public health burden [1]. Evidence that vitamin D is also associated with the reproductive physiology is just recently accumulating yet limited to animal models and very few human studies [2]. Animal and human studies have suggested vitamin D role in the reproductive system where vitamin D has recently been described to modulate reproductive processes in women and men [3]. Studies have found the presence of vitamin D receptor (VDR) and vitamin D metabolizing enzymes in reproductive tissues of women [3]. Additionally, low 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) levels have been associated with obesity, metabolic, and endocrine disturbances in PCOS women and vitamin D supplementation has been suggested to improve menstrual frequency and metabolic disturbances in those women [3]. Moreover, vitamin D might influence ste roidogenesis of both estradiol and progesterone in healthy women where low levels of 25(OH)D levels might be associated with infertility and high levels might be associated with endometriosis [4]. The most up to date vitamin D studies outside its conventional role of calcium homeostasis in the Middle East so far have covered most of the obesity-related diseases including diabetes mellitus, hypothyroidism, and the full metabolic syndrome [5-9]. Despite the abundance and overflow of recent literature with respect to vitamin D role in health and disease, there are an equal overwhelming number of questions left unanswered and this probably explains the rationale to conduct more research on vitamin D, namely the reported association between vitamin D deficiency and infertility. In brief, the target effects of vitamin D on certain reproductive parameters including pregnancy, spermatogenesis, implantation and progeny have been studied in both animal and human studies [10,11,12,13], whereas folliculogenesis and steroidogenesis were only proven in animal models [11]. Studies involving humans have so far pointed the vitamin D role in the endometrial regulation [11, 12] rather than folliculogenesis [13, 14]. In the Middle East where most women of reproductive age are vitamin D deficient, follicular fluid has been observed to be reflective of vitamin D status, but does not have a role in assisted reproductive technology [15]. A recent large, prospective, cross-sectional study has shown that low serum levels of vitamin D may impair a woman's chances of conceiving through in vitro fertilization (IVF) [14]. The authors concluded that a serum vitamin D level of 20 ng/mL or more was associated with a significantly greater chance of obtaining 3 or more high-quality embryos and with successful embryo implantation and clinical pregnancy compared with lower levels [14,16]. Given the novel and emerging role of vitamin D in the field of reproductive biology, the present observational study aims to determine on a nutritional level, whether differences exist in the dietary intake of vitamin D among sub-fertile Middle-Eastern women attending in-vitro fertilization (IVF) clinics versus pregnant women which was assessed by 25 (OH) D serum level. Material and Methods A total of 181 (83 previously diagnosedsubfertile cases from various causes and 98 pregnant controls) Saudi women of reproductive age (20-40 years old) attendingthe reproductive endocrinology and infertility clinics at King Fahad Medical City (KFMC), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from August 2012 to January 2013 were recruited for this observational case-control study. Subjects requiring immediate medical attention and those with co-morbidities such as malignancies, chronic infection, chronic and cardiovascular-related diseases were excluded. Ethical approval was granted from the Institutional Review Board at KFMC and written informed consent was obtained from each participant prior to inclusion. Data Collection Variables include demographics (age and weight), subfertility types and causes. In addition, dichotomous variables (yes or no) on what type of vitamin D-rich food sources were also collected as well as data on other vitamin D related factors such as sunlight exposure for at least 10 minutes a day, use of Vitamin D supplement, and intake of Vitamin D rich food. A validated questionnaire was used to capture from recruited patients. It focused on key indicators evaluating vitamin D related factors. These indicators were adopted from pre-tested patient questionnaires used in various accredited hospitals. Our questionnaire was validated bybenchmarking against similar ones in the literature targeting diverse populations and using different approaches. Initially, the questionnaire was tested on 20 patients from KFMC to determinewhether the questions were clear, understandable, and in a logical order (face validity). Besides, 2 health professionalswho had experience in clinical research were asked to criticize the content of the questionnaire (content validity). Blood was withdrawn for the measurement of serum calcium, albumin and phosphate to exclude secondary causes that might affect Vitamin D level using routine laboratory methods. Serum 25(OH)vitamin D was also assessed using Cobas e411 (Roche Diagnostics, Mannheim, Germany). For the purpose of this study, vitamin D deficiency was defined as serum 25(OH)vitamin D level less than 20ng/ml [2]. Data Analysis Data was analyzed using SPSS version 16.0 (SPSS, Chicago, IL, USA). Frequencies were presented as percentages (%) and continuous variables were presented as mean  ± standard deviation. Chi-square was done to elicit differences in frequencies between cases and controls. Variables exhibiting non-Gaussian distribution were logarithmically transformed prior to analysis. Independent T-test was done to compare differences among continuous variables. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was done using the grouping variable (presence or absence of subfertility) as the dependent variable and dietary vitamin D intake > 400IU/day as independent variables with obesity, sunlight exposure and skin color as co-variates. Significance was set at p < 0.05. Results One hundred and eighty one patients were analyzed, 83 cases and 98 controls. There was no statistical difference between the mean age of cases ,29.5  ± 5.5 years, verses controls, 29.9  ± 5.2 (P=0.64).Vitamin D deficiency (< 20ng/ml) was observed in 48.9% of the entire cohort. Comparatively, the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency was significantly higher in the subfertile group than controls (59.0% versus 40.4%; p < 0.01). On the other hand, calcium supplements intake was significantly higher in controls than the subfertile group (64.6% versus 10.0%; p-value < 0.001). The controls significantly took more vitamin D supplements than the subfertile group (p < 0.05). The rest of the comparisons were unremarkable (Table 1). Table 2 shows the percentage differences in the vitamin D dietary intake of both controls and the subfertile group. The controls had significantly higher percentage consumption of food than the subfertile group in 9 out of 14 vitamin D dietary sources included in the study (wild salmon, farmed salmon, mushrooms, egg yolk, fortified milk, fo rtified orange juice, yogurts, butter and breakfast cereals; all p-values < 0.001). Consequently, total dietary vitamin D intake > 400IU/day was significantly higher in the controls than the subfertile group (p < 0.001) (Table 2). Table 3 shows the metabolic characteristics of subjects. There was a modest, borderline significance in BMI and vitamin D status between groups, with controls being higher than the subfertile group (p-values 0.051 and 0.08, respectively). The control group also had significantly higher levels of corrected calcium (p < 0.001) while the infertile group had significantly higher levels of circulating albumin (p < 0.001) (Table 3). Comments This study addresses the possible protective effects of increased dietary vitamin D intake and calcium supplementation among Middle Eastern women that harbor infertility conditions. Previous studies in Saudi Arabia considered obesity as a major risk factor for infertility [17]. Consequently, obesity is a major risk factor for vitamin D deficiency and both abnormal metabolic states can be manipulated through dietary interventions [18]. The issue of vitamin D status correction to improve fertility status among vitamin D deficient women of reproductive age may still require rigorous investigation since randomized trials are scarce. Nevertheless, several studies can already attest that micronutrient supplementation including vitamin D improves fertility outcomes [19,20]. Furthermore, available evidence confirms present findings in the beneficial effects of vitamin D in female infertility, with favorable outcomes among women with endometriosis and polycystic ovarian syndrome [4,22]. Calcium supplementation to improve female fertility is not a surprise since it is directly regulated by vitamin D, receptors of which are found in various reproduction tissues, and correction of levels confer positive effects in terms of follicle maturation, menstrual regularity and improvement of hyperandrogenism especially among women with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) [21,22]. The other equally important but less novel finding in the present study is the high vitamin D deficiency prevalent in both pregnant and sub fertile women. Vitamin D deficiency is relatively common in the Middle East in general, but more so for women because of cultural traditions and manner of clothing. Prevalence of hypovitaminosis D among this group ranges from 80-100% from the most recent local studies [23,24]. The modest but still insignificant difference in mean vitamin D status levels in both groups in our study could be attributed to a more vigilant behavior among pregnant women to ingest more food and vitamin supplements although comparison by prevalence clearly shows the high significant difference between the subfertile group and the control group. The authors acknowledge several limitations. Findings of the present study may only be true for women and as such a separate study should be done to reinforce if not negate the present results in non-pregnant women in comparison to subfertile women. Furthermore the case control nature of the study maybe subject to selection bias. Prospective studies are essential to determine whether vitamin D correction through dietary intervention and lifestyle modification can improve fertility among vitamin D deficient women. In conclusion, Middle-Eastern (Saudi) subfertile women have a higher prevalence of vitamin D deficiency as compared to apparently healthy controls, and this is aggravated by their lower intake of foodrich in vitamin D and lower calcium supplementation. Dietary vitamin D intake greater than 400IU/day and calcium supplementation may improve fertility in this population, but this needs to be proven prospectively. Optimization of vitamin D and calcium status among women of reproductive age are encouraged.

Examining Perfectly Competitive And Monopoly And Oligopoly

Examining Perfectly Competitive And Monopoly And Oligopoly For the cause of enlarging our knowledge of Economics, we did this assignment. There are three main parts in it. They are Perfectly competitive, Monopoly and Oligopoly, which are really important in Economics. But not simple to learn in Economics study. The questions need us to draw graphs and use calculations for them. These questions would help us have a better understanding of them. Finding: 1.A number of markets are developing on the Internet. One of those market is eBay. Check out eBay at www.eBay.com and explain whether you believe that the eBay Internet auction market is perfectly competitive. Be sure to explain which of the six conditions of a perfectly competitive market are met and how. A: eBay is an online auction Website. Consumers use the Internet to research the goods they desire, then they look for bargains of the same products on eBay. If the products are available, a bid is entered and the winner of the auction eventually pays with her credit card. In addition to regular mail, vendors also use express-mail service to send the purchases to buyers if they choose that option. eBay is different from Amazon.com, another popular e-commerce Website, in that prices on eBay are set by the negotiation between bidders and sellers, whereas Amazon.coms prices are mostly determined by sellers. It is likely to Taobao, which is a well-known shopping website in China. ( http://baike.baidu.com/view/7777.html?wtp=tt, 2010) I believe that the eBay Internet auction market is perfectly competitive. Because it possess these four characteristics: There must be many and sellers in the market, none of whom is large enough to influence price. eBay have kinds of sellers to satisfied distinct demands in goods of consumers. No big firms control small firms. There is freedom of entry to and exit from the industry. Firms must be able to establish themselves in the industry easily and quickly. eBay sellers can entry and exit the business depend on their wishes. Buyers and sellers posses perfect knowledge of prices. They know the market and price well. They gain lots of information about that. All firms produce a homogeneous product. For example, there are many sellers in eBay have the same product, you can choose one base on service or else.  ¼Ã‹â€ Marcouse, 2008) Perfect competition requires that the following six conditions be fulfilled. In such a market, prices would normally move instantaneously to economic equilibrium. Atomicity An atomistic market have small producers and consumers on a given market, so that its actions have no important impact on others. Firms are price takers, which means that the market decide the price that they must choose. Homogeneity Goods and services can substitute perfectly, so all firms sell the same product. There is no difference. Perfect and complete information All firms and consumers understand the prices decide by the whole firms. Equal access All firms have entryed to production technology. If they wanted, they could free to entry or leave. Individual buyers and sellers act independently The market cannot have scope for buyers or sellers get together to have a overall view about the market price. (http://www.statemaster.com/encyclopedia/Perfect-competition#Requirements, 2010) Draw marginal revenue ¼Ã…’marginal cost and average total cost curves for a typical perfectly competitive firm and indicate the profit-maximising level of output and total profit or loss for that firm. Is the firm in long-run equilibrium? Why or why not? Figure1 This is a typical perfectly competitive firm firm graph. It is loss. Figure 2 Yes. It is long-run equilibrium. Because there is a point that LRAC line, ATC line, MC line and MR line intersect. The United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulates interstate and international communications, including merger activity within industry. Go to the FCC website at www.fcc.gov and search communication companies and answer the following questions: What reasons do consumers and producers have for opposing the merger? What reasons do consumers and producers have for supporting the merger? Does the theory of a monopolist discussed in class and the textbook support the reasons stated in your answers to a and b? A: a). 1.A monopolist charges a higher price and produces less output than a perfectly competitive firm. 2.Consumers have less choice, because one product only be produced bu one firm. 3.High barriers to entry means other firms cannot enter the market. 4.Governments can earn heavily tax through monopolies. 5.Governments can nationalise the monopoly (make it public) and therefore can keep prices too high. 6.Government can decline entry barriers (which is not good for the monopolistic firm). 7.The economy may suffer as less consumer spending may happen because of high prices charged by monopolistic firms. 8.Exploitation of consumer price discrimination 9.Potential for inefficiency complacency over controls on production 10.costs because there is no competition 11.May lack motivation and innovation because there is no competition To sum up, these 11 disadvantages of monopoly. Consumers and producers have for opposing the merger for their own profit. (Marcouse, 2008) b). 1.A monopoly may produce at a lower cost than a competitive industry. This is due to economies of scale, which a monopoly is able to exploit more than a competitive firm, as the monopoly is the sole provider of that good. The ability to set prices at a higher level in order to gain an abnormal profit. However, monopolistic firms are not simply able to charge a price they deem fit for the product, since it is constrained by its demand curve. A higher price will result in a fall in demand, and that may subsequently lead to a fall in revenue (depending on elasticity). The majority of monopolies are belonging to government, so tax will be higher. It can give more money to perfect public goods. Consumers may like price discrimination as it could be in their favour. There can be more control and stability in an industry if a monopoly is present. If it is a natural monopoly, it would be suitable an necessary. Encourages spending on RD which may create better products. Some products and services are not likely to be produced without some guarantee of monopoly protection. Economies of scale can be gained consumer may benefit from a lower cost In conclusion, consumers and producers supporting it, because of these several advantages. c). In general, I think monopolist discussed in class and textbook support the reasons stated in my answers to a. Because from a and b we can know disadvantages of monopoly are greater than advantages. It harms consumers through charging a higher price and producing a lower quantity than would be the case in a perfectly competitive situation.And a monopolist is inefficient because resources are under distributed to the production of its product. ( Smith, 2010 ¼Ã¢â‚¬ ° Draw demand, marginal revenue, marginal cost and average total cost curves for a typical monopolistic firm and indicate the profit-maximising level of output and total profit or loss for that firm. Is the firm in long-run equilibrium? Why or why not? How does the profit-maximising position differ from that of a perfectly competitive firm? A: This is a typical monolistic graph. It is a loss. Monopolist can make a profit in the long-run. If the position of a monopolists demand and cost curves give it a profit and nothing disturbs these curves, it can make a profit in long-run. But there is no need to distinguish between the short run and long run for a monopolist. - a monopolist can make a profit in the short run and long run. - it can make a loss in the short run and long run.  ¼Ã‹â€ Smith, 2010 ¼Ã¢â‚¬ ° From these two graphs we can see, the Demand and Marginal cost curves of the monopolist are downward sloping. In perfect competition they are horizontal. But the maximizes profits point are the same, when MC=MR.(graphs from Smiths PPT, 2010) Oligopoly The organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is an international cartel. Go to its home page at www.opec.org to answer the following questions: What are OPECs objectives of OPFC? How does it meet those objectives? What countries are members of OPEC? What percentage of world oil production comes from these nations? In what way is OPEC a cartel? What significant oil-exporting countries are not members? What has OPEC done to limit the effect of nonmember production on its own pricing decisions? A:a)1.In accordance with its Statute, the mission of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is to coordinate and unify the petroleum policies of its Member Countries and ensure the stabilization of oil markets in order to secure an efficient, economic and regular supply of petroleum to consumers, a steady income to producers and a fair return on capital for those investing in the petroleum industry.OPECs objective is to co-ordinate and unify petroleum policies among Member Countries, in order to secure fair and stable prices for petroleum producers; an efficient, economic and regular supply of petroleum to consuming nations; and a fair return on capital to those investing in the industry. In a word, OPEC organization is assorting with members oil policy, and unify them. Then decide to use the most suitable way to protect their own or personally benefit. (http://www.opec.org/opec_web/en/about_us/23.htm, http://www.opec.org/opec_web/en/about_us/24.htm, http://baike.baidu.com/view/24477.htm?fr=ala0_1, 2010) (1)The member countries delegates of OPEC in the OPEC meeting seek unity of oil policy. And contribute to prosper the oil market. These countries aim at the international situation and marketing trends of oil. They have a discussion and analysis to decide the increasing rate of economics. And also control the demand and supply of oil. (http://baike.baidu.com/view/24477.htm?fr=ala0_1, 2010) b) 1. Angola, Algeria, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and the United Arab Emirates. OPEC nations still have 2/3 of the worlds oil reserves. In April 2009, 33.3% of the worlds oil production, affording them lots of controlling in the global market. The next largest group of producers, members of the OECD and the Post-Soviet states produced only 23.8% and 14.8%, respectively, of the worlds total oil production.Since 2009, OPEC has ordered a production ceiling of 24.84 million barrels per day. At the end of 2008, OPEC had twice reduced the output quota by a total of 4.2 million barrels to 24.8 million barrels per day. In 1996, the members countries have 76.6% of oil, 69.7% in 2007. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OPEC, http://www.hxen.com/englishnews/world/2010-03-18/103865.html, http://www.qqkqw.com/html/cyclopedia/ziyuanzhanlve/ziyuanxingshi/2010/02/23/152105199.html, 2010) Definition:1Cartel is a group of firms formally agreeing to control the price and output of a product.(Smith ,2010) In some markets, producing firms or producing countries band together, usually to restrict supply; this allows them to raise prices and increase their profits or revenues; the best known cartel is OPEC which restricts the supply of oil onto world world markets. OPEC countries, with less than half of current world output but with most of the worlds oil reserves, manipulate the price of oil by restricting supply. Overall, these evidence proves that OPEC did act as a cartel.(Marcouse, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OPEC#Economics,2010) c). 1. The oil-exporting countries which are not memebers also produced great amount. For example, Russia have the second oil produced in barrels per day, just less than Saudi Arabia, 9,810,000 bbl a day in 2009. United States are the third, 8,514,00 bbl a day in 2008. China is the fourth, which is 3,795,000 per day in 2008. ( https://www.cia.gov/liabrary/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2173rank.html, 2008) 2.OPEC cannot control the international oil market. Draw demand,marginal revenue, marginal cost and average total cost curves for a typical oligopolistic firm and indicate the profit-maximising level of output and total profit or loss for that firm. Explain why prices are stable or sticky in this model. What are the characteristics of oligopoly? This is a typical oligopolistic firm. The graph shows total profit. A: 1.No incentive for price increases; Total Revenue will fall No incentive for price decreases; Total Revenue will fall 2.Mutual interdependence is a main characteristic of oligopoly and it may cause prices to be sticky. The market price incline to remain stable, or rigid, at the kink in the demand curve. 3.To maximize profits, oligopolistic firms operate where MR = MC. Because of the kinked demand curve, there is a range of MC curves which equal MR at the same price: price rigidity.( Smith, 2010) 1.Industry dominated by small number of large firms, but many firms may make up the industry; mutual interdependence among the large firms High barriers to entry Products could be highly differentiated each large firm producing a branded product Non-price competition(e.g 4 Ps) Price stability within the market-kinked demand curve Knowledge of market is not perfect,but there is potential for collusion among firms ( Smith, 2010)

Hand-grip :: essays research papers

Hand- Grip Dynamometer   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hand-Grip dynamometer are used to measure the strength and endurance of the muscles in your forearm, and to a lesser extent your hand. Using a handgrip dynamometer will increase your performance at work, improve posture, decrease chances for injury, and prevent low back pain. Endurance is the ability of a muscle to work for long periods of time without extreme fatigue. It prevents unwanted fatigue from daily activities, sport and recreation. For the elderly person, good hand grip strength may prevent a fall down stairs or in bathtubs and may help people from dropping jars. It could help the elderly with opening jars as well.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Three area’s of rationale are used to measure strength-anatomical, physiological, and biochemical. These are all interrelated. The first area Anatomical Rationale-Hand grip strength is mainly a function of the muscles in the forearm, and hand. Eight muscles serve as the prime movers and stabilizers in hand grip strength. Eleven other muscles assist in contraction of the hand.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The second is physiological Rationale which has six categories. Six of the most common measurement terms in physiology are mass, force, work, velocity, power and energy.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The third area is biochemical rationale exercise may be divided into three categories based upon the predominant metabolic pathway. The primary biochemical reaction for strength, or any muscle contraction is ATP ( Adenosine Triphosophate).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The muscular strength is highly affected by the nervous system. Emotional and mental factors play important part in strength testing. If a subject is consistent with motivation strength variability should be minimized. In women a daily variation in strength range is between 2 and 12% and 5 to 9% in men.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Instruments used to measure muscle strength are cable tensiometer, dymameter, free weights, barbells, isokinetics devices and load cells or elechromechanical devices. Strength is usually measured in units of force or torque. Kilogram (kg), and pounds (lb), is the force unit. The torque unit may be expressed as a foot-pounds (fl-lb) or Newton meters (nm).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The procedures for handgrip strength testing are: 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The subject should be in the standing position. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The subject’s head should be in the midposition (facing straight ahead). 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The grip size should be adjusted so that the middle finger’s midportion is approximatrely at a right angle. 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The subject’s forearm may be placed at any angle between 90 degrees and 180 degrees of the upper arm; the upper arm is in a vertical position. 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The subject’s wrist and forearm should be at the midprone position.

Albert Einstein :: essays research papers

Albert Einstein Einstein was born on March 14, 1879, in Ulm Germany. He lived there with his parents, Herman and Pauline. Einstein attended a Catholic School near his home. But, at age 10, Einstein was transferred to the "Luitpold Gymnasium", where he learned Latin, Greek, History, and Geography. Einstein's father wanted him to attend a university but he could not because he did not have a diploma from the Gymnasium. But there was a solution to this problem over the Alps, in Zurich. There was The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology which did not require a diploma to attend. The one thing it did require was applicant to pass an entrance exam. But then yet another problem arose most scholars were 18 when they entered the institute, and Einstein was only 16. In Berne, on January 6, 1903; Einstein married Mileva Maric. The twowitnesses at the small, quiet wedding, were Maurice Solovine and Conard Habicht. After the wedding, there was a meal to celebrate at a local restaurant. But no honeymoon. After the meal, the newlyweds returned to their new home. It was a small flat, about 100 yards away from Bere's famous clock tower. Upon returning home, a small incident occured, that was to occur many times throughout Einstern's life; he had forgotten his key. A year later, in 1904 they had a child, Hans Albert. In that same year, he recieved a job at the swiss patent office. In 1905, three of Einstein's 4 famous papers; "about a 'heuristical' perspective about the creation and modulation of light, about the movement of in still liquids mixed objects supported by the molecularkinetical theory of heat and about the electrodynamics of moving objects". In autumn of 1922 Einstein received the Nobel Prize for Physics, for his work on the photoelectric effect. He did not receive the prize for his "theory of relativity" because it was thought that at the time it did not meet the criteria of something that a Nobel Prize is awarded for. So when the prize was awarded to him, they said it was awared to him for his work on the photoelectric effect, if his theory of relativity is proven false, and if his theory of relativitywas proven correct, the prize was for that. Einstein died on April 18, 1955. He died of "leakage of blood from a hardened aorta". And he refused the surgery that could have saved his life.

Financial Modelling

Financial Modeling Discipline – Guiding Principles A good financial analyst has the discipline of adhering to a list of guiding principles to help ensure that the development of the financial model achieves the desired results. By following these simple steps, a financial  analyst should be able to build a financial model that is simple, accurate and most importantly consistent, to help build confidence in a financial decision making process. Financial Modeling Discipline can be acquired in all 3 stages of the financial modeling process: †¢ Specification Stage Design Stage †¢ Build Stage Specification Stage 1. Be very clear on the effort involved and the dependencies before committing to deadlines –  the financial modeling exercise is usually on the critical path! 2. Get the algebra right — make sure all revenues, cash flow inwards and assets are positive while expenses, cash outflows and liabilities are negative. This will ensure that we rarely use the minus sign in formulae and can use the sum() function. 3. Avoid all calculations that will cause circular references. Design Stage 1.Ensure that each assumption is input only once in a financial model. 2. Define scenario variables clearly in a separate â€Å"Scenario manager† section or worksheet in the financial model. 3. Define the time unit that is to be used consistently throughout the financial model. 4. Group all assumptions and inputs into one sheet and state units clearly in the financial model. 5. Avoid executing complex calculations in the â€Å"Output section† of the financial model. 6. Build an Interface sheet if you are working with a financial model with multiple workbooks.Build Stage 1. Always note all assumptions, sources and calculation methods in the financial model for future reference. 2. Avoid complicated macros in the financial model if possible – macros make it difficult to follow logic, spot errors or amend the financial model, besid es bloating the file size. 3. Lay all financial model calculations in chronological order – Avoid having calculations in one row refer to calculations in lower rows. 4. Do not try to do too much in one cell with a large complex calculation formula. Break the calculation into blocks.Lay the financial model calculations out in blocks, to enable copying formulae across columns or down rows saving time in developing and reviewing financial models. 5. All financial model calculation and output sections should be locked to avoid inadvertent data entry therein. 6. Include charts in the output section for easy understanding, analysis and auditing of the financial model. 7. Always keep back-ups preferably on separate disks and leave the ‘autosave’ option on for your financial model workbook. 8. Stick to a consistent version labelling system eg â€Å"company xyz_2/2/09_V02_DC†.Save several versions of your financial model each day and retain old versions. 9. Avoid j umping to conclusions / sharing results based on preliminary financial model results. Common Mistakes in Financial Modeling While reviewing and auditing financial models, a good financial analyst should be alert to the common types of errors that often plague financial models. These are often less due to errors in Excel or other financial model applications you may be using, and more because of human error in formulating calculations or conversions in a financial model. Common Errors in Financial Modeling: 1.Conversion factors (kilobytes to megabytes, monthly to annual, millions  to thousands, etc). 2. Range included in totals (certain rows not included). 3. Calculation formula not replicated  across columns. 4. Wrong row references in calculation formula. 5. Wrong column references in starting  time period  (each column should typically contain references only from that column). 6. Change in cell references in formulae referring to other workbooks. 7. Algebraic errors (wron g use of brackets, plus/minus errors). 8. Range limits not set (eg, having negative  number of customers or negative distributor commission payments). . Hard coded dummy numbers / assumptions perpetuating in the financial model due to oversight. 3 Golden rules for Financial Analysts to Avoid Errors in Financial Models: 1. Be diligent when building the financial model, a little concentration and attention to detail early on will save you a lot of time and work later.2. Ask another person not in the financial modeling team to conduct a detailed audit, very often a fresh pair of eyes may spot errors then are’nt obvious to someone who’s been looking at the same spreadsheet for days or weeks on end. . Perform sanity checks on outputs through benchmarking exercises, always use your common sense and business knowledge to ensure that the results of your financial model (e. g. individual product revenues or cost items, etc) are realistic and aligned with what you may expect t hem to be. Designing a Financial Model – Making it Idiot Proof Always design a financial model for people who did not build it and for people with limited understanding of financial modeling and analysis techniques.This will help you ensure the usefulness and relevance of the financial model, and preserve its longevity long after you have completed the financial modeling exercise. In each financial model workbook, you will typically need some or all of the following worksheets: 1. Administration and documentation 2. Assumptions 3. Major blocks such as marketing or capital expenditure (CAPEX) 4. Calculation of revenues, costs, balance sheets, ratios, cashflows 5. Scenario managers and displaysTo enable modular team working, clarity in use and easy auditing, use a standard financial model design template and color codes developed specifically for your company, and ensure that everyone gets familiar with the standardized format. In that way, the entire company will have a single approach to formatting financial models. All users, be they senior executives or junior financial analysts, will then be able to differentiate between cells in the financial model that are hard coded, calculations or outputs, and intepret different financial models from different teams without ambiguity.

Beautiful Boy by David Shelf

Beautiful Boy by David Sheff 1. Sheff intrigued me with his story just by the back of the book. The entire story is about his eldest son, Nic, who is an amazing student as a child; however, his childhood begins to fade when he gets into the life of drugs and alcohol. The experiences and hardships that the author goes through is very emotional which really kept me reading. 2. The setting affects the author and his story. The book takes place in modern day times as in 2008.This impacts the author and his experiences because this is the time where drugs became more known and they were easy to get which made it harder for Nic, David Sheff’s son, to stop the drug abuse. 3. The themes in this book are patience and faith. David must be patient towards the recovery of his son’s drug addiction. He knows that this process cannot happen over-night no matter how hard he wishes it could be that easy. He waits patiently for Nic to get better. Nic, however, goes through rough patches while on this journey to succession, but his father always has faith in him.I think that David and Nic’s experiences were incredibly traumatic. Sheff felt the pain that his son went through while being an addict and felt the need to share it with others. Another reason Sheff might have wanted to share this experience is because he wanted to show the difficulty and how bad it is to take drugs. 4. â€Å"When Nic was growing up, I thought I would be content with whatever choices he made in his life†¦ Now I live with the knowledge that, never mind the most modest definition of a normal or healthy life, my son may not make it to twenty-one†(195-196).This proves the understanding that David has over his son’s life and that even though he believed at one point that Nic’s decisions will be made by himself, Nic has not made all the right decisions. This proved to David that his son needs guidance through out his whole life because once you are a father you ar e always a father. I chose this passage because this to me is David Sheff’s entire understanding of his son and this memoir. It shows that he understands what it means to be a father and what his role is 5.If I could meet the author I would feel a little nervous. I would feel uncomfortable asking him any questions because I wouldn’t know how he would react: would he get emotional? Would he get annoyed? Would he act fine because he gets questions all the time. A hypothetical meeting with David Sheff is if he came to my school to talk about drug and alcohol addiction and how it impacted his life and others around him. A question I might ask is when did you realize that your son was not a casual user, but was an addict?What was your immediate reaction? I would talk about the impact on his family, siblings and friends. I would ask about whom his friends were and if they were older because of the drug use. I would ask how he had the money for the drugs. A story of my own th at I would share with the author is about a kid that I know that ended up not being able to go to college. All of a sudden he began going to rehab and no one knew why. As time went on people began to realize that he did drugs and drank a lot.He became banned form school grounds for a certain amount of time. He was supposed to go off to college, but ended up not because he got in trouble with the law and had separation anxiety. His younger sister had to deal with the fights at home and her brother that she loved very much. I would share this story with Sheff to show that even though this story is not about my family or me, my family was one of the people impacted by this child’s actions.