Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Animal dreams by Barbara Kingsolver

Animal dreams by Barbara Kingsolver She is dead. She does not appear physically but haunts mentally. She is Codi and Hallie's mother Alice, the late wife ofHomero Noline. Throughout the novel Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver Alice impacted the characters, action,and theme(s).When Alice passed away she took part of Homer with her. What she left was a misfit of time and circumstance;an emotionally distraught and distant man who attempted to resemble a father but veered more towards the tin man.Homero existed beyond his wife as only a page out of an instruction manual, the one with the caution statement.Homero's delicate heart decided that the only way to endure Alice's death was to flush any remembrance orresemblance of her out of his fortified technical realm which throughout the novel becomes increasingly skewed.Kingsolver pushes home this idea by omitting Alice from any of Homer's frequent flashbacks which are usually mishapsfrom the past involving his daughters.HomeroThese incidents are his only recollection of hi s daughters' estranged childhood inwhich he strained to create slippery and unmothered women.Homer's fear of becoming attached to anything which reminded him of Alice resulted in an unorthodox childhoodfor Hallie and Codi. Homero was more of a child mechanic than a father. Retaining only his technical aptitude afterAlice died all he could do was provide his kids with orthopedic shoes and the correct medicine. When not fixing Codior Hallie's present or future ailments Homero took photographs of natural objects and slyly transformed them into man-made devices by doing what he seemed to be best at, distorting images.Codi, similar to her father mentally blocked out her past. Her childhood remained within her as only a series ofstained and misplaced memories. Codi attempted to follow in her father's emulsion lined...

Saturday, November 23, 2019

How to get a job in medical billing

How to get a job in medical billing You’ve probably heard about how the healthcare job scene is growing by insane amount over the next 10 years. But if you’re not necessarily interested in the medical side of being an allied health professional, where does that leave you? The good news is that there are lots of administrative roles that are growing and opening right alongside the rest of the healthcare field. One such job is medical billing, because a fact of healthcare is that services need to be tracked and paid for accordingly. What does a medical biller do?Medical billers work behind the scenes in a medical office, hospital, or other healthcare facility. This is an administrative role, ensuring that patients (or their insurance companies) are accurately billed for the medical care they receive. Medical billing responsibilities may include:Tracking payment informationAssigning billing codes to a patient’s tests, procedures, and other healthcare servicesSubmitting and following up on invoices to patients and insurance companiesWorking with medical staff (like physicians and nurses) to ensure billing accuracyWorking with patients to set up payment plansMonitoring payment status and collectionsManaging patient records securely and accuratelyThis is typically a 9-to-5 kind of job, with a stable work week, since billers work primarily with data and patient information rather than in direct patient care.What skills do medical billers have?This is an entirely administrative role, so your skill set should be heavy on organization, attention to detail, and financial math.Organizational Skills:Â  Medical billers are responsible for ensuring that all medical procedures are billed accurately, whether to the patient or to the insurance company, so it’s important to have the ability to keep things moving cleanly and efficiently.Attention to Detail:Â  Errors in billing can lead to legal or financial problems, so it’s essential to be able to notice errors and confirm the a ccuracy of data before it goes out.Finance:Â  While this job typically doesn’t require advanced accounting, medical billers should have strong math skills and the ability to analyze billing and financial data.Discretion:Â  Healthcare information is usually highly confidential (and legally so), so medical billers need to be able to maintain that patient confidentiality at all times.What’s required to work in medical billing?Medical billing is a field you can enter without a college degree, though an associate’s degree in medical coding or health information technology can be an asset. Certification is not usually a requirement for medical billing clerks, but if you want to enhance your resume there is an optional certification by the AAPC (formerly known as the American Academy of Professional Coders).How much money do medical billers make?According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, medical billing professionals make a median annual salary of $38,040 (or $18.29 per hour).What’s the outlook for medical billers?Per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the demand for medical records and health information technicians (including billing professionals) will grow by 13% by 2024- faster than average for all jobs.If you want to work in the growing healthcare world, but find yourself drawn to the more administrative end of things, medical billing and coding can be a solid long-term choice for your health-related career path.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Ethics in the work place Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Ethics in the work place - Research Paper Example Kerns (2003) emphasizes on certain core values that give way to ethical behavior. Accordingly, integrity and courage; love and kindness; justice and fair guidance; wisdom and knowledge, and self control have universal appeal to influencing ethical behavior. The mentioned virtues are interlinked with each other. For example, self control is the ability to keep personal motivation in low ebb to act objectively based on the principle of justice and fairness. An ethical behavior at work place is not demonstrated just by personal integrity but it often requires courage – to do the right thing without bothering about personal consequences. Love and kindness always generate a positive feeling that not only recognize others but prevent them to do any unethical behavior. Just and fair attitude is a powerful driver for an ethical behavior. Wisdom comes through experience and when it combines with knowledge, an ethical behavior is likely to crop up by all means. These core values are necessary to promote ethical behavior at work places. Greer and Plunkett (2007) provide a basic guideline for ethical decision-making. According to them, a legally supported decision is not always an ethical decision. Firing a person due to personal grudge and for absolutely no fault of the person cannot be challenged legally; however, on ethical ground, the action is not palatable. At times, it may appear that adhering to ethical principles may lead to some negative personal consequences, even then that is the best way when seen from a long-term perspective. Russell (2014) argues that workplace ethics offer significant benefits to the organization. It helps in protecting assets of the firm. The companies such as WorldCom, Enron in the recent years are glaring examples of total annihilation due to unethical behavior by managers, top executives, accountants and auditors in large scale. Their entire assets wiped out within a few months and they had to go for bankruptcy under chapter 11

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Essay

The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families - Essay Example The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program is a grant that aims to help move recipients into work, and therefore turn the welfare into a temporary assistance program. The report focuses on effecting changes in the social programs of the United States. It targets the branch of the government that deals with temporary assistance for families classified as needy (TANF). The recipients of this report are the various organizations, both governmental and Non-Government Organizations (NGOs), which deal with welfare funding. Following the continuous complaints from American citizens about the social welfare of the working class, the issue of primary concern is that the current program falls under the Social Security Act enacted on August 14th, 1935. The nation has formed welfare recipients under the renewed act. The renewed act is the Personal Responsibility Act of 1996 based on work opportunity reconciliation. Problem Statement According to government statistics, the TANF program is represented by 31% of white families, 33% black, and 29% Hispanic (Kearn, 2000). It is important to note that the aim of the program is to provide funds to needy families with a five-year limit on financial assistance. In fact, total welfare spending for the year ending 2010 reached an astounding $900 billion. The problem arises when, even with the large amounts spent on assisting poor families, more families keep being added to the system.

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Satyam Computer Services Essay Example for Free

Satyam Computer Services Essay In early 2009 the chairman of Satyam Computer Services admitted publicly to a fraud taking place in the company. Satyam reported in the financial statements billions of dollars in profits and cash assets that never existed. The public auditor’s responsible for auditing the financial statements of Satyam Computer Services at the time was PW India, an affiliate of Pricewaterhouse Coopers. The Securities and Exchange Commission determined that Satyam was able to commit the financial statement fraud due to the negligence of the audit team. The audit team tasked with auditing the records of Satyam failed to confirm cash balances in bank accounts which were grossly over represented. Later it was determined that the more than one billion dollars Satyam claimed to have was actually no more than sixty-six million. During the audits of Satyam Computer Services, the audit team at PW India never sought confirmations for the cash balances that management asserted which is a clear violation of auditing standards. The SEC, during the investigation, determined that many audit teams in PW India accepted cash confirmations directly from the management of their clients and almost never questioned the reliability of the confirmations received. It was also revealed that sometimes the banks would send statements directly to the auditors even though they weren’t directed to do so. Even though the bank statements showed different balances then those given to the auditors by management, the audit team never questioned the differences in amount. Procedures, for reviewing audits, were put into place to assure that all audits are completed with the highest degree of professional care. The Satyam audit team was warned by a partner from a different Pricewaterhouse Coopers firm that their cash confirmation procedures were deficient, but nothing was done to correct the deficiency. Due to this deficiency the Satyam fraud was not uncovered. As a result Satyam Computer Services was fined 10 million dollars by the SEC for fraud and PW India was fined 7. million dollars by the SEC and PCAOB. The critical issue in this case is that PWC India did not act in accordance with PCAOB or AICPA standards and codes of professional conduct. The critical factors are as follows: * The auditors did not act with due professional care. * The auditors did not appropriately assess the risks of material misstatements. * The audit team did not exercise professional skepticism. * The auditors did not act with integrity or in the best interest of the users of the financial statements. Due professional care, as required by the PCAOB, require the auditors to maintain professional knowledge and skill at the level required to ensure that clients receive competent professional service and to act in accordance with professional standards. This is the most vital part of the audit process to make certain that the audit will be handled with, ultimately, the users of the financial statements best interest in mind. PWC India, in their audit of Satyam, had completely disregarded this fundamental requirement of auditors. By relying on the confirmations given to them by management, the auditors did not provide the users of the financial statements with the skill and professionalism they are trusted with. As a result, they completely missed an obvious fraud taking place at Satyam and if the executive of Satyam hadn’t admitted to the fraud PWC India’s controls would have never caught the overstatement. Another relevant issue here is that the audit team did not appropriately assess the risks of material misstatements which resulted in the fraud. Before an audit, in the planning stage, the audit team should have identified accounts, transactions, and disclosures that could affect the financial statements significantly if they were materially misstated. The auditors at PWC India did not properly identify that the risk that the assertions of management about the cash accounts would result in a high risk of material misstatement. Cash accounts regardless of industry should require a special attention during an audit. The professional judgment of the auditors was lacking in the audit of Satyam’s cash balances. When evaluating the risks of certain accounts the auditors should have asked themselves whether there is a risk of fraud, whether there is subjectivity in measuring the financial information, and whether there is any unusual balances in the accounts. The answer to these questions should have all been yes in this case and there is no reason why they shouldn’t have properly confirmed the cash balances. One of the many requirements of an auditor is to exercise professional skepticism. The auditor must take what’s given to him with a ‘grain of salt’ and also question and confirm the existence, occurrence, and accuracy of account balances. In the audit of Satyam, the auditors acted with no professional skepticism whatsoever. If the auditors are not doing their due diligence, the audit risk will rise due to the increase in detection risk. Management took advantage of the fact that the auditors procedures of detecting material misstatements were lacking. This article’s relevance to the auditing profession is enormous. From here, auditors should learn to not take anything for granted and to always question what is put in front of you, unless it is from a completely objective source. The auditors at PWC India did not follow the basic requirements of an audit engagement which resulted in a major fraud. Even when the banks sent account confirmations directly to the auditors, despite not being requested to do so, the auditors still did not question the discrepancies. The gross negligence in this case should be an example to all auditors; do not take anything for granted. The quality control review also failed in this case. Auditors need to heed the advice of the review team. Here, the audit team ignored the recommendations of the review team to confirm cash balances with the banks. Quality control reviews are very significant to an engagement and auditors should not take recommendations without due consideration.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Can Computers Think? :: essays papers

Can Computers Think? In order to answer this question thinking must first be defined. Thinking is something that most scientists still don’t have a concrete definition of. The human brain is a very complex entity and we still don’t completely understand what happens when thoughts are processed. Scientists know that the brain is comprised of neurons that send signals to each other but the actual details are still not known. Bearing this in mind it is very hard to say whether or not something is thinking without a clear definition. The best I can do is to offer my own definition of thinking. I say thinking involves taking in information, making decisions, and being able to learn. Given this definition, it is my opinion that computers can think. Computers can take in information, make decisions, and they are beginning to learn. Comparing, ordering, remembering, storing, duplicating, choosing, These are all actions that require some thought process. Computers can do all these things, and while comparing a 1 against a 2 may not seem like a big deal, it does require a thought process. The computer must know the value of what is comparing, then use judgment to decide which one is bigger, and which one is smaller. And computers can do much more than compare two numbers. They can compare letters, words, phrases, and more. To see computers thinking you can simply go to an internet search engine, such as yahoo.com. Yahoo accepts information when you type in your search criteria. For example, lets say you want to search for information on artificial intelligence. You type in â€Å"artificial intelligence† into the text box and Yahoo takes that text and compares it to the text of millions of pages located in it’s database. It locates the pages that contain information that matches your search and displays those pages in order according to the closest match. Yahoo has just done many things that involve thinking. It has compared your search criteria with the contents of millions of web pages. Yahoo has ranked these comparisons according to the closest match, and it has ordered these pages according to rank. Comparing, ordering, and ranking all require thinking. And these are all tasks that the computer is able to do. This may not seem like very complex thinking, but never the less thes e simple tasks do require thinking.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Ib Biology Hl

Is the neural pathway significantly longer for a visual stimulus or a sound stimulus (or a pressure stimulus) Data collection and processing Table 1a: Data collected by John Rha and Arthur Hamilton by dropping ruler for calculation of length of the neural pathways (Visual, Auditory and Sensual) Trial#| Visual| Auditory(Sound)| Sensual(Pressure)| | (cm ±0. 1cm)| (cm ±0. 1cm)| (cm ±0. 1cm)| | John| Arthur| John| Arthur| John| Arthur| 1| 43. 9| 24. 1| 33. 1| 34. 6| 50. 1| 50. 5| 2| 73. 7| 45. 6| 66. 1| 49. 2| 29. 2| 75. 2| 3| 47. 4| 31| 80. 2| 25. 3| 54. 4| 41| 4| 32| 24. 7| 23. 1| 39. 6| 25. 6| 47. 4| 5| 23. 5| 29. | 32. 9| 35. 1| 26. 2| 30. 8| 6| 38. 6| 27. 6| 47. 6| 34. 7| 40. 6| 49. 5| 7| 37. 9| 20. 9| 56| 21. 7| 41. 5| 40. 2| 8| 28. 2| 22. 7| 24| 57| 29. 1| 62| 9| 39. 9| 62| 43. 6| 87. 2| 30. 6| 35. 4| 10| 23. 6| 30. 5| 49. 3| 44. 4| 44. 2| 78. 2| 11| 58. 4| 26. 2| 66. 8| 24. 2| 41. 9| 84. 3| 12| 40| 32. 7| 21. 1| 36. 1| 14. 2| 21| 13| 55. 5| 20. 2| 61. 7| 15. 1| 61| 41. 3| 1 4| 39. 6| 32. 2| 46. 9| 28. 58| 65| 24. 8| 15| 46. 1| 18. 1| 61. 7| 55| 45. 9| 22. 3| Table 1b: Calculations of the reaction times the meter stick fell Trial#| Visual| Auditory(Sound)| Sensual(Pressure)| | John| Arthur| John| Arthur| John| Arthur| | 0. 299319| 0. 221774| 0. 259906| 0. 26573| 0. 319758| 0. 321032| 2| 0. 387825| 0. 305059| 0. 367285| 0. 316872| 0. 244114| 0. 391752| 3| 0. 311022| 0. 251526| 0. 404566| 0. 227228| 0. 333197| 0. 289264| 4| 0. 255551| 0. 224518| 0. 217124| 0. 284282| 0. 228571| 0. 311022| 5| 0. 218996| 0. 243696| 0. 259119| 0. 267643| 0. 231234| 0. 250713| 6| 0. 28067| 0. 237332| 0. 311677| 0. 266113| 0. 287849| 0. 317837| 7| 0. 278113| 0. 206526| 0. 338062| 0. 210442| 0. 291022| 0. 286428| 8| 0. 239898| 0. 215236| 0. 221313| 0. 341067| 0. 243696| 0. 355711| 9| 0. 285357| 0. 355711| 0. 298294| 0. 421852| 0. 249898| 0. 68784| 10| 0. 219461| 0. 249489| 0. 317194| 0. 301019| 0. 30034| 0. 399489| 11| 0. 34523| 0. 231234| 0. 369224| 0. 222234| 0. 292421| 0. 41 4778| 12| 0. 285714| 0. 258331| 0. 207512| 0. 271429| 0. 170234| 0. 20702| 13| 0. 336549| 0. 203038| 0. 35485| 0. 175546| 0. 352831| 0. 29032| 14| 0. 284282| 0. 256348| 0. 309377| 0. 241509| 0. 364216| 0. 224972| 15| 0. 306727| 0. 192195| 0. 35485| 0. 33503| 0. 306061| 0. 213331| Table 1c: Calculations of the length (distance) of neural pathway Trial#| Visual| Auditory(Sound)| Sensual(Pressure)| | John| Arthur| John| Arthur| John| Arthur| 1| 2993. 19| 2217. 739| 2599. 58| 2657. 296| 3197. 576| 3210. 315| 2| 3878. 249| 3050. 594| 3672. 846| 3168. 725| 2441. 144| 3917. 517| 3| 3110. 22| 2515. 26| 4045. 658| 2272. 282| 3331. 973| 2892. 637| 4| 2555. 506| 2245. 176| 2171. 241| 2842. 821| 2285. 714| 3110. 22| 5| 2189. 959| 2436. 96| 2591. 194| 2676. 428| 2312. 345| 2507. 133| 6| 2806. 698| 2373. 321| 3116. 775| 2661. 134| 2878. 492| 3178. 371| 7| 2781. 132| 2065. 262| 3380. 617| 2104. 417| 2910. 221| 2864. 277| 8| 2398. 979| 2152. 36| 2213. 133| 3410. 668| 2436. 96| 3557. 114| 9| 2853. 5 69| 3557. 114| 2982. 945| 4218. 521| 2498. 979| 2687. 841| 10| 2194. 613| 2494. 93| 3171. 943| 3010. 187| 3003. 399| 3994. 895| 11| 3452. 299| 2312. 345| 3692. 242| 2222. 336| 2924. 213| 4147. 78| 12| 2857. 143| 2583. 306| 2075. 12| 2714. 286| 1702. 339| 2070. 197| 13| 3365. 491| 2030. 381| 3548. 498| 1755. 458| 3528. 311| 2903. 2| 14| 2842. 821| 2563. 48| 3093. 773| 2415. 089| 3642. 157| 2249. 717| 15| 3067. 273| 1921. 946| 3548. 498| 3350. 297| 3060. 612| 2133. 312| Table 2a: Average distance of neural pathway Trial#| Visual| Auditory(Sound)| Sensual(Pressure)| | John| Arthur| John| Arthur| John| Arthur| | 2889. 8| 2434. 7| 3060. 2| 2765. 3| 2810. 3| 3028. 3| Conclusion and evaluationThe objective of this experiment was to determine the distances of neural pathways and to discover if there are any significant differences between Visual, Auditory and Sensual neural pathway distances. The distance of each neural pathway includes and displays the following procedures. Ex) Visual stim ulus: First, your eye sees the ruler. Then, your eye sends a message to the visual, stimulus cortex, which sends a message to the motor cortex. The motor cortex sends a message to the spinal cord. The spinal cord sends a message to the muscles in your hand and fingers. Finally, your muscles contract to allow you to catch the ruler.John’s data shows that there were no significant differences. However, Arthur’s data shows that the neural pathway for pressure stimulus is significantly longer than the pathway for visual stimulus. This is shown by the calculated pathway length and the t-test performed. Calculation: The algorithm to calculate the reaction speed is  d = vt + ? at? where d = distance in meters v = initial velocity = 0 a = acceleration due to gravity = 9. 81m/s? t = time in seconds We need to manipulate  d = vt + ? at? to give us an algorithm for  t As  v  = 0 then  vt  = 0 therefore the algorithm is  t = sqrt(2d/a) Example d = 43. 9cm = sqrt((2 ? 43. 9 ? 9. 8)) t = 0. 299 seconds (sigfig) 0. 299319*10000(m to cm)=2993. 2cm or 29. 932m The calculated distance for Arthur’s Visual stimulus was 2434. 7cm, which was much shorter than the pressure stimulus length of 3028. 3cm or the auditory stimulus length of 2765. 3cm. The t-tests performed showed that there were no significant differences for John’s data, but Arthur’s data showed that the three sets of data were all significantly different. One huge weakness of this lab was that John and Arthur’s hands were not the same distance away from the ruler for every trial. This could have led to incorrect data ollection. There was another weakness when we were collecting the pressure stimulus, because the ruler fell more slowly due to the friction between the palm and the ruler, giving the appearance of a faster reaction time. Also, the auditory reaction time was higher than the visual reaction time because the voice of the other person was not perfectly in time. Another reason for this is that it had lots of variability when the person commanded the other person to â€Å"Go! † Our group could have attached another ruler on the sidewall to ensure a constant distance between the hand and the dropping point.Therefore, to improve this lab, we have to keep the distance between the hand and ruler constant for all trials. Also, when the person says â€Å"Go! † it also takes reaction time from his brain to his fingers to drop the ruler and from his brain to his oral muscles to speak â€Å"Go! † Therefore, to improve this lab, we need to use an electronic device that can automatically drop the ruler with a short â€Å"beep† sound. To decrease friction, we need to use a simple grabbing tool like tweezers instead of just grabbing with our hand, which creates sliding or friction depending on the hand’s condition (wet or dry).

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Final Reflection Paper

Some pointers on the final reflection paper Your final paper, the reflection paper, is a kind of a follow-up paper to the short statement that you handed in at the beginning of the course. To that extent, you can write the paper holding on to the same types of questions that suggested for that first short statement. To repeat, these questions were the following: 1 . What do you think of when you think of ethics or morality? 2. Can you define the concept of ethics? 3. Does being ethical mean being happy? 4.What does being moral consist of according to you? Doing the right thing? Living a fulfilling life? 5. Can one ‘learn' to be ethical? Or, what are the sources of ethics? 6. Can you give an example of an ethical person / a moral action? And if yes, why do you consider this person/action to be a ‘good' one? However, I am not asking you at this point to simply answer these questions. What I am most interested in is a reflection on your part on what you thought of ethics/mor ality at the beginning of our class and how you think of it now.Do you have new answer to the above questions? Or, have new questions come to mind? Are the doubts you had before answered? Or are there nagging questions left? (Why morality? What can I take from the theories we studied? ). The paper thus does not have to be your final reflection on all things moral. It has to be a reflection on where you stand today with regards to where you stood at the start of class. Concretely, in terms of how the paper will be judged. A) You need to provide an informed account of your position concerning morality.Informed' means that you discuss relevant bits and pieces of the main theories and arguments we have discussed throughout our class- meetings and how they got you thinking about morality as well as how they changed your mind or left you with nagging questions. B) You need to provide well-argued claims. In other words, if you make a claim or posit a question want you to tell ‘the re ader' why your claim or question is interesting and important Are you convinced that there is no such thing as morality†¦? Well, tell me why.And let me know why that is a convincing and orient position to take! This should help you on your way. + The paper will have to be 3-4 pages long (1 h line-spacing, font 12). + For advice on how to write, turn once again to the file on philosophical writing I uploaded under Course Materials. + The paper counts for 20% to your final grade. Take the assignment seriously and challenge yourself to think for a moment about what you actually learned from those last few months spent reading and discussing ethics. Good luck and I am looking forward to read your reflections!

Thursday, November 7, 2019

tattooingbody piercing essays

tattooingbody piercing essays There are various aspects through which people, especially youth, identify themselves. People are always sending some sort of communication out at all times, whether it is subconscious or not. Images and styles are adopted which communicate meanings about the individual to his/her peers and to society. Styles of dress, language, music, and dance are some of the ways that portray one's own unique symbols, values, and meanings. One other such signifier of identity is through body modification, particularly tattooing and body piercing. In today's society people have adopted the new style or trend of body modification. There are many reasons in which people obtain piercings and tattoos. Those who modify, manipulate and mutilate their bodies do so for many reasons. Some say it's simply exciting and pleasurable, or part of the latest fad. Others place it in the context of art, ritual or self-expression-they say it's an act with cultural and social significance. In contrast, many peo ple can't understand why someone would choose to put so many holes in their body or cut their skin. They see body modification as self-destructive, much like anorexia or bulimia. Below I will talk about why, what, where, and how people modify their body and how people look upon them. Youth and adolescence is one of, if not the most, significant and influential moments in one's life, when youth are seeking their identity of who they are. Tattooing and piercing are one of the many ways through which youth may express their identity, for they are symbolic representations of how the self is conceived or understood. People may also want themselves to be portrayed as someone who they are not. For example, someone gets a tattoo or earrings just to look "tough" or "cool". Getting a piercing or tattoo symbolises a certain change in ones life. These changes, no matter how minuscule they may seem, have a huge impact on a person's identity. Usually when a youth g...

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

An Overview of the Motorcycles History

An Overview of the Motorcycles History Like many inventions, the motorcycle  evolved in gradual stages, without a single inventor who can lay sole claim to being the inventor. Early versions of the motorcycle were introduced by numerous inventors, mostly in Europe,  in the 19th century. Steam-Powered Bicycles American Sylvester Howard Roper (1823-1896) invented a two-cylinder, steam-powered velocipede in 1867. A velocipede is an early form of a bicycle in which the pedals are attached to the front wheel. Ropers invention can be considered the first motorcycle if you allow your definition of a motorcycle to include a coal-fired steam engine. Roper, who also invented the steam-engine car, was killed in 1896 while riding his steam velocipede.   Around the same time that Roper introduced his steam-powered velocipede, Frenchman Ernest Michaux attached a steam engine to a velocipede invented by his father, blacksmith Pierre Michaux. His version was fired by alcohol and twin belt drives that powered the front wheel.   A few years later, in 1881, an inventor named Lucius Copeland of Phoenix, Arizona developed a smaller steam boiler that could drive the rear wheel of a bicycle at the amazing speed of 12 mph. In 1887, Copeland formed a manufacturing company  to produce the first so-called Moto-Cycle, though it was actually a three-wheeled contraption.   The First Gas-Engined Motorcycle Over the next 10 years, dozens of different designs for self-propelled bicycles appeared, but its widely acknowledged that the first to use a gasoline-powered internal combustion engine was the creation of German Gottlieb Daimler and his partner Wilhelm Maybach, who developed the Petroleum Reitwagon in 1885. This marked  the moment in history when the dual development of a viable gas-powered engine and the modern bicycle collided. Gottlieb Daimler used a new engine invented by engineer  Nicolaus Otto. Otto had invented the first Four-Stroke Internal-Combustion Engine in 1876, dubbing it the Otto Cycle Engine As soon as he completed his engine, Daimler (a former Otto employee) built it into a motorcycle. Oddly,  Daimlers Reitwagon did not have a maneuverable front wheel, but instead relied on a pair of outrigger wheels, similar to training wheels, to keep the bike upright during turns.   Daimler was a prodigious innovator and went on to experiment with gasoline motors for boats, and he also became a pioneer in the commercial car manufacturing arena. The company bearing his name eventually became Daimler Benz- the company  that evolved in the corporation we now know as Mercedes-Benz. Continued Development From the late 1880s onward, dozens of additional companies sprang up to produce self-propelled bicycles, first in Germany and Britain but quickly spreading to the U.S.   In 1894, the German company,  Hildebrand Wolfmà ¼ller, became the first to establish a production line factory to manufacture the vehicles, which now for the first time were called motorcycles.  In the U.S., the first production motorcycle was built by the factory of Charles Metz, in Waltham, Massachusetts.   The Harley Davidson Motorcycle No discussion of the history of motorcycles can end without some mention of the most famous U.S. manufacturer, Harley Davidson.   Many of the 19th-century inventors who worked on early motorcycles often moved on to other inventions. Daimler and Roper, for example, both went on to develop automobiles and other vehicles. However, some  inventors,  including William Harley and the Davidsons brothers, continued to exclusively develop motorcycles. Among their business competitors were other new start-up companies, such as Excelsior, Indian, Pierce, Merkel, Schickel, and Thor. In 1903, William Harley and his friends Arthur and Walter Davidson launched the Harley-Davidson Motor Company. The bike had a quality engine, so it could prove itself in races, even though the company initially planned to manufacture and market it as a transport vehicle. Merchant C. H. Lange  sold the first officially distributed Harley-Davidson in Chicago.

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Price different depend on brand Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Price different depend on brand - Research Paper Example A brand refers to a name, sign, symbol, term, or design, or a combination of them, which identifies and differentiates products of one firm from those of others (Breward, 2003). Branding refers to the marketing practice involving creation of names, symbols and designs that identify and differentiate an organization and its products from others. Price differences in the fashion industry depend on the value attached to brands by consumers. This paper aims at studying the impact that brands have on prices in the fashion industry. Prices of various fashion products in the industry often tend to depend on the type of brands themselves. Valuable brand often have the highest prices while less valuable brands often cost cheap. This essay therefore aims at studying the impact of branding in the fashion industry on prices of commodities and services in fashion. Research question how do brands contribute to the differences in prices of products in the fashion industry? Industry overview The fas hion industry is one of the largest industries in the global economy. The industry mostly depends on the availability of disposable incomes among individuals, since most fashion items are considered luxuries. Fashion is part of the popular culture and the latest and best fashion trends are often portrayed in movies and film, music, fashion show and concerts as well as in advertisements in the media. The latest fashion trends and designs are often promoted by respected celebrities and public figures, who often influence peoples buying decisions in the fashion industry. Some of the popular fashion brands in the US and across the world include; Louis Vuitton, H&M, Dolce and Gabana, Kelvin Klein, Christian Dior, Levi Strauss, and Richemont among others. The impact of brands on product prices Branding is very important in the fashion industry since people like to be associated with valuable brands. Fashion brands give consumers certain social classes and they would want to be seen wearin g clothes and other accessories with notable and valuable brands. Prices of brands in the fashion industry will therefore vary according to the value that consumers attach to the particular brand. Most fashion companies therefore endeavor to push their brands to the level that they can attract more consumers who can be loyal to them (Breward, 2003). Demand for most fashion products is different from that of other goods and services because for most fashion products, an increase in price does not lead to a decrease in demand, as it is the case with products in other industries. With a loyal base of consumers, the companies can always manipulate the prices and still manage to attract more consumers(Steele, 2000). ABranding process involving research, defining and establishing brands that consumers can relate, associate and identify with. Brand identity is a very important element of branding and marketing in general. It refers to the ability of target consumers to identify with and re late with a particular brand. Brand identity has to do with the ability of a particular brand to get noticed among the targeted consumers. This therefore includes the packaging process and publicity accorded to the brand through advertising, CSR and sponsorship (Steele, 2000). Fashion brands can increase their brand identity through advertising, engaging with the community through CSR activities, sponsoring various events and having a great presence