Policies Related To Trade Credit Finance Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 15 Words: 4492 Downloads: 9 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Analytical essay Did you like this example? Trade credit is very informal and is hard to monitor and therefore are often overlooked in policy and research (Paul and Boden, 2011). The common setback of trade credit management is late payment, which may arise from abusive power behavior by large companies towards small suppliers. The UK government authorities have created numerous policies that tackle the late payment. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Policies Related To Trade Credit Finance Essay" essay for you Create order Many of existing reports have recommended the government intervention in tackling late payment problem but many of these policies were created based on empirical evidence and statistics few of small businesses which are used to represent the whole population (Auboin, 2010, Grave, 2011, Paul and Boden, 2011, ACCA, 2012, Pike and Cheng, 2002, Wilson, 2008). However, many still believe that the subject matter of late payment cannot be tackled through large sums of quantitative evidence only but through proper engagement with small business and SMEs, collecting enriching information into late payment and trade credit related issues. This chapter will examine the current policy stance of the UK government and the EU and will evaluate the proposals that are under consideration. Based on the theoretical understanding of trade credit developed in Chapter 3, this Chapter will seek to identify any theoretically sound policies that could be taken by government / the EU in order to improve the in addressing trade credit environment for SMEs. 5.2 Trade Credit Insurance Top-Up Scheme 2009 On 1st May 2009, the UK government had initiated the Trade Credit Insurance policy Top-Up Scheme (TCI) that ran from 1st April 2009 to the 31st December 2009  [1]  . The scheme is designed to tackle the sudden reduction in private sector insurance cover against customer non-payment and bad debts. The trade Credit Insurance Top-Up Scheme (TCI) was a  £5 billion initiative derived out of the UK government 2009 budget which allowed the businesses with trade credit insurance policies to buy an additional cover on top of their present policy cover. Under the TCI business with existing trade credit insurance policy may purchase additional insurance. The top-up Scheme was for eligible UK businesses that already have insurance cover after the 1st April 2009. The government scheme also involved various top trade credit insurance providers in such as; Euler Hermes, Atradius, and Coface e.t.c. Although, the legal relationship will be between the insurance holder and the credit insurance provider, the credit insurance provider will have a separate legal relationship with government in respect to the top-up scheme. Therefore businesses will not interact directly with the government in order to participate in the scheme. All applications, payments, claims and queries should be directed to the selected credit insurance provider and not the government. The scheme will top-up the insurance cover with a minimum credit limit of  £20,000 up to  £2 million as the maximum amount on any increase cover. For instance, if an insured cover of supplier has reduced from  £200,000 to  £100,000, the supplier can opt to buy a top -up cover from  £20, 000 to  £ 100,000 to restore its original value of the insurance cover. In other cases, if the cover is reduced from  £50,000 to  £20,000, then the level of cover provided by top-up policy will fall, since the minimum coverage limit is  £20,000. Instead of having  £50,000 the credit policy will be placed at  £40,0 00 to match the amount provided in the policy. The scheme does not guarantee top-up to those suppliers or businesses that have insurance cover that is below the minimum credit limit of  £ 20,000 (balance zero)  [2]  . Consequently many SME and business have expressed disappointment in the way the scheme has been operated, saying that the scheme only guarantees insurance cover that reduced after 1st April 2009. Many critiques the scheme as being a failure, as the scheme does not address the needs of businesses whose credit insurance limits have already been withdrawn as opposed to reduced. In addition, some companies could not benefit from the scheme because their insurance cover was reduced before 1 April 2009. A news report indicated that only  £18 million out of the  £5 billion have been claimed from inception in 2009, Euler Hermes also reported that 2 out of 3 clients have submitted claims to the scheme (AccountancyAge, 2012)  [3]  . It is therefore assumed th at the negative reaction of businesses towards the scheme is as a result of the financial crisis which saw a reduction in wholesale transaction with little or no accesses to finance. However the scheme needs to widen further to address the pressing needs of even more companies were not able benefit from the cover from when the beginning of the stipulated period. 5.3 Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 The center piece of the statutory interest is that small business can charge a compulsory interest on any late payment of commercial transaction. The legislation was created in 1997 by the Labor government, after the Department of Trade and Industry published a Green Paper, entitled Improving the Payment Culture: A Statutory Right to Claim Interest on Late Payment of Commercial Debt. The publication outlined the best way to implement such legislation enabled the government to provide legislation that was aimed to improve the payment culture amongst UK business (Group, 2002). In the Green Paper, the Government proposed to test for smallness on the two out of three criteria test stated in section 247 of the Companies Act. However, it became apparent that to take that test out of its context (i.e. Filing accounts in respect of a completed year by companies incorporated in the United Kingdom) and use it in another context would lead to difficulties of proof (Wilson, 2008). It was, ther efore, proposed that the legislation should define what a small business will be (with no more than 50 full-time employees). The legislation would apply to commercial contract across the UK including foreign transaction with the UK and foreign party. Where there is no significant connection between the contract and that part of the UK, and, but for the choice of law, the applicable law would be a foreign law. Where the choice of law is a foreign law, the Bill would apply if, but for that choice of law, the applicable law would have been a law of part of the UK and there was no significant connection between the contract and any country other than that part of the UK (Wilson, 2008). Consequently there were no minimum level set for which a claim for interest could not be made. The intention of the government was to increase formal contractual agreement credit period in accordance with trade custom and practice. The rate of interest has been prescribed at 8% which was above the bank of England official base rate of 5%. The act was broken down into three distinct phases. The main provisions of the bill are summarized in the table below  [4]  ; Main provisions of the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 PHASE 1 Statutory Interest on Late Payment will depend on the form of a contract term and the kind of debts the parties have right to claim over. Secretary of state has the power to determine the provisions of a contract and the interest rate charge on late payment that could be claimed (8% over the base rate) PHASE 2 This states the provisions made over late payment with the claims that will be made once a payment is deemed late. They also restrict the freedom of the contracting parties to make any other provisions that have the effect of varying the right to statutory interest. PHASE 3 This section deals with the payment of the contract price which is due before the supplier has fully performed his obligation under the c ontract. This bill also covers the factoring and debt collection services that the parties to assign the statutory rights on late payment to a third party. 5.3.1 Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Provision) Act 2002 An amendment was made to the late payment of commercial debt of 1998 on the 22nd June 2002 and was enforced on 7th August 2002. Under the rule, all business owners and manager are responsible for claiming reasonable interest on late payment on any transactions. This legislation came as a result of the UK obligation to fulfil the European Directive 2000/35/EC on combating late payment in commercial transaction (Group, 2002). Changes made to the provision to the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 are as follows; Under this provision, the power of the Secretary of State to determine the provisions of a contract was removed especially the power to define statutory interest on late payment. This removed the excessive power of the government to dictate how business is to be run in the country. The parties can agree a different rate of interest or an alternative remedy for late payment. In the case of interest, this is usually then termed as Contractual Interest. H owever, the Act requires that the agreement must provide for a substantial remedy to commercial debts. Purchasers are not allowed to force suppliers to accept a low or nominal rate of interest, as a way of getting round the Act. Any such clause is likely to be struck out, in which case interest can be claimed at the rate described. The right for an appropriate representative body to change grossly unfair contractual terms on behalf of SME. The high court may grant an injunction to restrain the use of contract if the contract is deemed void under the 1998 interest Act. This suggests that both legislations are provisions made to help lift the burden of late payment by enforcing prompt payment culture through their trade credit practice. Unfortunately, the reality is far from the expectations, as businesses and MPs like the Minster of Enterprise, Mark Prisk, have admitted that the legislation was an ineffective tool for combat late payment. In a transaction circumstance between a small supplier and large customer, the legislation is less effective when the power asymmetry is present in that transaction. In theory, a customer may have a bargaining advantage over the supplier in cases where the credit policies are properly laid out. In that instance, the small supplier may find it difficult to take legal action on large customer because it may have serious transaction cost to the small business (Paul and Boden, 2011, Summers and Wilson, 2000, Wilson and Summers, 2002). When it comes down to promoting business and building customer relationships, the small business is sometimes reluctant to speak out against the large customer because they fear of order cancelling reprisal. Furthermore, an issue with the interest rate of 8%+base that this was set with a view to compensating small businesses based on their average cost of capital. However the same rate also applies to large businesses and public liability companies; which generally have a much lower cost of cap ital. This is assumed that large businesses are more compensated and in fact have an incentive to enforce interest penalties. This is particularly the case if they are less fearful of losing business by applying penalties. Other likely users of the Acts are debt collection agents and factoring companies. Commercial debt collection agents can use the act to guarantee that interest is collected on the overdue debts of their clients along with some collection costs and can pass this benefit onto their clients in the form of lower commission rates. Insolvency practitioners can apply interest charges on the trade debts of insolvent companies and collect the interest going back up to 6 years on late payments. Finally, suppliers are advised to plan the period of collecting the payment using a combination of formal and informal practice of calling the customer before due date. 5.4 Project Merlin, UK (2011) This is an agreement between the present conservative government and the four major high street banks in the UK. The bank has agreed to make lending to SME under the program the bank will lend  £190bn to business during 2011 out of which  £ 76bn of the loan will be available to the small business (Treasury, 2011). The program will be monitored by the bank of England to check the influence of impact on business. The bank that was involved in the deal include; HSBC, Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds Banking Group, Santander bank; which had agreed with the lend parts of the deal (Treasury, 2011). Although there were some positive results, various reports show that the lending program did not go that far enough. Bank of England Trends in Lending figure of 2011 showed that bank loans to small business was totalled to about 74.9 which is about  £1.1bn short of the proposed  £76bn in 2011. The assumption is that many SME ignored the use of bank finance and lending becaus e of the interest charged on bank loans. However, the number could also be interpreted to show those banks are actually committed to lending as they came close to their target. However the results show that banks failed to meet their lending targets for the smallest of UK businesses a particular cause for concern since these are the companies that usually exhibit the most growth and innovation and employ the biggest percentage of UK workers. The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) survey 2011 did not reflect the banks claims that demand for bank loans have been reduced. The results of their June survey found just 20 percent of small firms had applied for a bank loan in the previous 12 months, and the December results showed that this figure was even lower at 19 percent (FSB, 2011). In June, 12 percent of those who did not apply for a loan said it was to avoid the unsuitable terms and conditions surrounding the process, a further 12 percent did not try because they believed their a pplication would be refused and 7 percent said previous negative experiences with bank loans put them off. Whilst this is merely a reflection of business owners perception of bank lending and not necessarily accurate, the statistics did show that of the companies that did apply for a loan, 33 percent was turned down and only 43 percent received the full amount they requested (FSB, 2011). The FSB surveys have also shown the consequences of businesses not getting enough financial support. Of the businesses whose loan requests were turned down (whether wholly or partially) only 16 percent avoided a negative business impact by securing finances elsewhere whereas 46 percent said they had to delay, scale down or abandon their investment plans, 40 percent said they had continued financial concerns, 31 percent missed a growth opportunity and 18 percent believed they were put at a competitive disadvantage (FSB, 2011). Long term effects were also evident, with 13 percent reporting they end ed up having to make staff redundant to survive without the extra support. The Bank of England report reveals that many SME are not satisfied with the lending condition of the bank set and is particularly frustrating when banks have exceeded their overall gross lending targets of  £190 billion by nearly  £25 billion increase. It can be deduced that a large part of the loan was used by medium to large firms, with enough cash flow have the ability to repay the loan. In terms of trade, the program shows to that more SME are refusing to take lending because to for the transaction cost compared to transaction in supplier credit. 5.5 National Loan Guarantee Scheme This is another initiative that was created by the government on the 20th March 2012. The scheme allowed the high street banks to provide up to loan of up to  £20 billion to small businesses and will be guaranteed by the government. . The scheme was designed to reduce borrowing costs for small and medium-sized companies (SMEs), and in doing so the interest rate charged on the guaranteed loan was one percentage point lower than those outside the initiative. For instance the business can receive a discount of  £10,000 for a  £1million loan from the bank. Banks apply for Government guarantees against the borrowing within a 2 year window for a fee. They can use the guarantee to raise funds at a lower cost. The fees received from banks will reduce borrowing and debt. If a bank were to default, the Government would have to meet obligations arising from the guaranteed debt, but as a general creditor would have some claim on the banks assets. Any losses resulting from the guarantee w ould increase borrowing and debt. The common characteristics of the National Loan Guarantee Scheme were seen on the participating banks are; Available to new and existing customers Loan amounts from  £25,001 to  £5million Terms from 1-25 years (discounted for the first 5 years) Interest only and repayment terms available Fixed or variable rate To ensure that the businesses benefited from the scheme, the HM Treasury had put in place strong scheme rules for participating banks in passing on the guaranteed loan. The bank will have to demonstrate that the rate charged on the loans covered by the scheme will be expected to be lower than rates charged on the loan not covered by the scheme. The scheme was unsuccessful as nearly  £3 billion out of the 20 billion was given to businesses. In an assessment of the scheme carried out by Syscap limited. They reported that the scheme has had no impact on small business lending. According to the analysis the interest r ate on the loan was the same with the normal interest rate charged by the bank. Syscap indicated that the scheme did not assist small business at the bank provides loans to a few businesses based on the collateral that the business possess (Syscap, 2012). It is assumed that the bank were only lending to business that can afford to provide high security for an average loan and small businesses are considered not to have high collateral to back up their loans. The interest rate on the business loan under  £1 million fell only by a 0.08% difference than the 1% difference. In other words, the average rate on loans below  £ 1 million still remained at 3.8% even in the month the scheme was launched in March 2012 (Syscap, 2012). Difficult economic conditions in the UK and Euro zone have also led banks to dramatically tighten lending criteria as borrowing costs increase (Dun Bradstreet, 2010). Banks have had to protect themselves and as a result lending has been restricted in many inst ances to established and well-run businesses. It is therefore suggested that the government should consider giving guarantees for alternative sources of finance like asset finance. 5.6 Better Payment Practice Group (BPPG) The Better Payment Practice Group (BPPG) was formed in 1997 as a partnership between the public and private sectors. The original Payment Practice Group included: British Bankers Association, Association of British Insurers, British Chambers of Commerce, CBI, SME Council, Factors and Discounters Association, Federation of Small Businesses, Forum of Private Business, Institute of Credit Management, Institute of Directors, National Farmers Union, The Union of Independent Companies, Department of Trade and Industry and CMRC (Wilson, 2008). Its aim was to improve the payment culture of the UK business community and reduce the incidence of late payment of commercial debt  [5]  . Their research on late payment was incorporated into a guide to effective credit management Better Payment Practice: a guide to credit management published by the Department of Trade and Investment on behalf of the Better Payment Practice Group. It provided straightforward guidance and advice on how to g et paid on time (Wilson, 2008). The Better Payment Practice Group was a consortium of small business support and representative organizations, Government and other interested bodies. It formed an integral part of the Governments commitment to work in partnership with the business community to bring about a better payment culture in the UK. 5.7 Prompt payment Code UK It is a joint initiative that involves the public authority and the specialized organization like the institute of credit management and the department of the business , innovation and skills seeking to identify business that are prompt payers (ICM, 2008). Prompt payment Code is about promoting best payment practice between organizations and their suppliers. Mark Prisk, MP, Minister of State for Business and Enterprise, has stressed the impact of paying on time to smaller businesses within the supply chain (ICM, 2008). He also stated that what is important in payment practice is not only the speed at which payment is made but the certainty of getting paid that is important. This initiative encourages businesses to adopt the payment code by signing up to the code, committing them to paying supplier on time and to provide clear guidance on payment procedures. The code had been endorsed by several high street banks and professional organizations. The provisions of the Prompt Paymen t Code stipulated the that signatories must pledge to the following  [6]  ; To always pay their supplier within the agreed credit term. The customer must ensure not to change payment terms within giving reasons to the supplier promptly. The code also stipulates to their signatures to make payment procedures clear to the supplier, ensuring that disputes and complains about the payments are dealt with before goods are delivered. The customer must also ensure to contact the supplier on time in case payment cannot be made on time. Our normal payment terms for an approved invoice are 30 days from invoice date. Exceptions to this may arise where there is disagreement over the invoice or it is received with insufficient time for processing. In the exception cases payment is made as soon as possible after agreement or receipt of the invoice as relevant. 5.8 EU Directive on Late Payment (2002) This directive enforced on 8th August 2002 for official member of the European Union. The directive was designed to bring member state (which were 18 member states) into line with all payments made as remuneration for commercial transactions. The Directive was designed to remedy this situation and to ensure that the sellers of goods and the providers of services would have a number of instruments at their disposal which permit them to obtain payment on time. Due to the close link with the free circulation of goods and services, the Directive is based on Article 95 (ex-100a) of the EC Treaty (Europa, 2000). The EU legislation does not apply to contracts made before 7 August 2002, claims for interest of less than ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¬5 ( £3.95)  [7]  , transactions with consumers or debts that are subject to other laws, e.g. Insolvency proceedings (Wilson, 2008). Only if the payment period and interest rate on late payment have not been fixed in the contract, the statutory interest automatically becomes payable within 30 days after the goods have been received by the customer. The legislation provides the statutory rate of interest on late payment when payment is not made within the contract period, but also allows parties to agree to their own terms as well.  [8]  . The general principles of this directive are; The directive only reacts to transaction between private business and top public sector business. The directive stipulates that 30 days as the credit term after which interest will be charged, unless another payment period has been agreed upon by the parties. The interest rate was set the same as the rate for European Central Bank of its main refinancing operations. 5.8.1 EU Directive on Late Payment (2011) The directive 2011/7/EU on combating late payment in commercial transaction was published on 23rd February 2011 and came into force on 15th March 2011 (Europa, 2011). This new directive attempts to modernized the previous directive (2000/35/EU)  [9]  . Changes made to the provisions are summarized below; Commercial transaction between commercial parties The new provision states that the standard deadline for a payment period of commercial transaction between businesses should be a 30 day period, if the payment period is not set out in the contract. If a payment period is not set out in the contract the debtor must make payment within 30 calendar days as the latest alters: Receiving the creditors invoice; Receiving the goods or services; and Completion of acceptance procedures which commence on the date of receipt of those goods or services. Such procedures shall not last more than 30 calendar days but this period can be varied by express Any payment period that exceeds more than the stipulated period will be considered grossly unfair. This same principle stated above can also be applied to transactions between businesses with a 60 day payment period. Any payment period that exceeds more than stipulated period will be considered grossly unfair. Commercial transaction between commercial entity and public authorities The new directive can also be applied to transaction between private or public business and public authorities or central government. This is likely due to the general scope of the European Union, which is characterized by 27 member states transacting with each other. The payment period is put at 30 days on contract on the debtor public authority unless payment period is not stated in the contract within 60 days or in very exceptional circumstances. Interest Public authorities are not allowed to fix any interest for late payment. The relevant interest rate applicable will be increased to 8% above the European central bank reference rate. In retrospect, a creditor may charge interest on the amount due directly from the first day after the term of payment has expired. The debtor no longer needs to be in default, which means that he need not be reminded of his payment obligation, for example by sending him a reminder. Claims/ recovery cost All creditors to a contract are entitled to a 40 Euros ( £ 31.5p) minimum cost by the debtor. This sum is payable without the need for a reminder and as compensation for the creditor own recovery costs. Unfair contractual terms The provision specifies several clauses that will determine whether a contract possesses grossly unfair terms. A contract can be considered unfair when; There is a change from good commercial practice, and fair dealing; The nature of the product or service; and The debtor had any reason to deviate from paying the statutory rate of interest for late payment. If the statutory rate of interest is excluded in the contract term. Conclusion Despite the fact that various existing studies have pointed out the shortcoming on the government policy, one cannot dispute the positive impact of legalization have on business activities in certain power, with relative satisfaction from individual business (Project Merlin, 2011 and Prompt Payment Code). In particular the government needs to promote the culture of lending to small business at favorable rates and open up alternative routes apart from bank lending. The FSB survey 2012 shows that, 22% of small businesses use own saving and 20% use retained earnings as a major finance source apart from the bank overdraft (FSB, 2012). In addition the government ensures to promote the guarantee schemes for alternative sources of finances for businesses like trade credit and asset financing. Many of business and industry participant are advocating for more attention by government personnel into many business practices. Ultimately, businesses cannot expect that every policy or action t aken by the government will completely eradicate late payment. This is because government their policy based are supported by various statistics and research papers. Moreover trade credit relationship is heterogeneous in nature, there cannot be single solutions to trade credit issues because business are different. There are general obligation expectations that are expected of the next government in tackling late payment. Since the previous governments have tried at one time or the others have failed to meet the general expectation of businesses and SME and the general public. Policies should also help to monitor the administrative practices of small businesses, whereby various regulations are to set the standard for the micro and small businesses trading practices.

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Padini Free Essays

Name of the company : Padini Holding Berhad 1. Picture 1 – Padini Outlet Padini Holding Berhad engage with one of the most profitable businesses activities which is investing in shopping mall and retail industry and brand outlet especially in garments and fashion accessories. Padini Holding Berhad already create their market share in domestic and international level and some of the brand under Padini Group is well known in fashion industry. We will write a custom essay sample on Padini or any similar topic only for you Order Now Padini Holding Berhad put a label of various brand in its product and distributed to all outlet under its name locally and even in foreign market. There is many brand under Padini Group such as Vincci, Seed, Padini Authentics, PDI, Padini, P Co, Miki Kids, Miki Mom and also many multi – brands and some of the brand is already breach the foreign market such as Vincci/VNC, Seed and Padini Authentics. Picture 2 – Padini’s Product Padini Group usually involve in providing and production of management service, dealers of garments, ladie’s shoes, children garments, maternity wear, bags and fashion accessories. All of this product being marketed under popular brand. 2. Brands-Foreign Only| Location| 2008| 2009| Vincci/VNC Franchise StoreDealer Stores| ASEANSaudi ArabiaUAE AustraliaOmanIndiaSyriaThailand| 15184-14-11| 19207-1-112| SEEDFranchise StoreDealer Stores| Saudi ArabiaThailand| 519| 721| Padini AithenticsFranchise Store| Saudi arabia| 5| 8| TOTAL| | 82| 96| Table 1 The tables above provide a snapshot of the Group’s retail network, broken down according to their brands and market in 2008 and 2009. Chart 1 Chart 1 represents the percentage of income from two different market which is the domestic market and foreign market. For the financial year 2009, recorded Group’s domestic operations accounted for 89% or nearly RM 425. 4 million and the rest represent foreign market which is 11% and nearly RM 52. 5 million and both market contribute up to RM 477. 9 million. Exports for the year by the Group increase by some 31% or RM11. 9 million compared to 2008 and the total export value for year 2009 is up to RM50. 1 million. The entire positive outcome is due to strong marketing strategy such as: 1. The opening of new outlet 2. Improving existing outlet 3. Extension of management 4. Adapt with consumers culture Picture 3 – internationalization By using the foreign or international model to represent their product, Padini Group manage to breach the foreign market and catch a market share among the foreign nation and 11% of income from abroad can be considered as a positive outcome. 3. One of the main reasons why Padini Group is being accepted in the foreign market because of their observations through research and development to produce products based on consumers demand. Consumers demand usually being influence by their culture and comprise of lifestyle, income, weather and geographic somehow. For example for domestic market, Padini Group produce T-Shirt based on local normal size whereby not too large and maybe a bit smaller compared to the foreign size of T-Shirt that produce by Padini Group. Due to hot weather in Malaysia, the material also a dry-fit material whereby can absorb liquid and allow air to flow through the material and make user feel more comfortable. The sense of acquiring brand also influences a person to buy product from Padini Group due to highly known branded garments retailer. By knowing that most of the consumers is from middle income category and their adapt by offering an affordable price for a branded products. (example; discounts) Picture 4 – Strategy to and adapt with local market Padini Group also done the similar approach to the foreign market by considering the size, lifestyle, weather, geographic and four season (summer, winter, autumn, spring) . Most of their foreign outlet is located in the Arabian nations which is highly known a hot weather country and in order to adapt with the local need and culture, Padini Group did produce product that make the Arabian consumers feel comfortable and stylish. How to cite Padini, Papers

Dbq the Black Death free essay sample

While the Christians thought of it as a punishment from the Holy God, the Muslims found it as a gift from God himself. On the other hand, the causes of the plague involved none of that, just the simple spreading by miasma, insanitation and of course the rat infestation. The Christians believed that the plague was sent to them as a punishment from God. They assumed it was a way for them to pay for their sins and their wrong doing. According to the information given in Document 4, the plague was received to them from God as a punishment for their sins. So and so stated that, â€Å"†¦ When the Lord is enraged, embrace acts of penance, so that you do not stray away from the right path and perish. † Also mentioned in Documents 7, 8, and 9 it is assumed that the Christians also had the Jews to blame for this raging epidemic that struck. We will write a custom essay sample on Dbq: the Black Death or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Document 7 implied that the Jews had been blamed for poisoning the wells, causing the Christians to die not only from the plague, but also the water they had been drinking. This incident led to the burning and banning of the Jew community(s). The responses of the Muslim community differentiated from the Christians in which the Muslims actually believed that the plague was sent to them as a worthy gift from God. They took the Black Death in a more positive approach. Muhammad al-Manbiji expresses in Document 4 that the plague that â€Å"†¦ the epidemic is abhorrent because the plague is a blessing from God; at the least, a Muslim should devoutly accept the divine act. † Approaching Document 10, The bubonic plague wasn’t just a gift or a punishment from the Holy God, but also just a severe disease spread by rats, insanitation and miasma, or impure winds. The facts in Document 5 show that the main non-religious causes of the Black Death involve impure air, the conjunction of Saturn, Jupiter and Mars (March 20, 1345) and excessive clothing in Europe; along with an excessive amount of shooting stars, miasma and sins in the East. There were ways to prevent the disease from spreading by building fires, shielding houses from the outside and basically just isolating yourself from the contaminated world. In Document 6, it is implied that the priests were a bit selfish when it came to helping the affected. They seemed to not want to sacrifice their life for the sake of someone else’s, so as it says in the document, â€Å"†¦many benefices remained unserved. † The plague was reaching out to others quickly, and snatching away innocent lives even quicker. Documents 1 and 2 are just the results and the routes of the Black Death and where it attacked. There was barely any way to escape it because it was everywhere. Death rates are shown to be over 30%, which counts as 1/3 of the population. The bubonic plague struck everywhere possible, and it was seen in many different perspectives. While the Christians approached it as a punishment from sins and what they did wrong, the Muslims saw it as a gift or a blessing from God. It was seen as a negative and positive way. Looking at it from a factual perspective though, it also could’ve started from the impure winds and infestation of rats and very filthy ways of life. The Christian responses, Muslim responses and non-religious responses all contrasted in their own ways. Looking back on what documents were available for my use, I feel as if another article explaining why they didn’t stick to the preventions of the Black Death to stay alive.

If Every Person in the World Understood Basic Principles of Psychology, the World Would Be A Better Place

Introduction Psychology is a broad aspect that entails the study of the soul, mind and behavior of organisms especially in human beings. Psychology helps in describing an individual’s behavior and also explaining the reasons why he or she behaves in a specified manner.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on If Every Person in the World Understood Basic Principles of Psychology, the World Would Be A Better Place specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More ‘‘Psychology studies the various activities of man, both bodily and mental that he performs while dealing with the environment of objects and persons’’ (Mohsin 3). It also allows for prediction of how a certain behavior could be affected by some changes as well as controlling and improving behavior through the application of the changes in an appropriate manner. The word psychology comes from Greek roots, psyche and logos meaning mind and study res pectively hence it’s the study of the mind[1] (Nevid 4). There are many principles that make up the psychology field some of which are general while others are specific to the particular branches of psychology. This piece of work gives an insight of the importance of the principles of psychology in our day to day life and how they can help make the world a better place giving much emphasis on the areas of focus and schools of thought in psychology, the basic principles of psychology and their importance, the branches of psychology, how knowledge on psychology may be attained and their importance in enhancing people’s lives. Areas of focus and schools of thought in psychology ‘‘Psychology as a science has two major areas of focus’’ (Tsivkin 1)[2]. The two major areas are academic psychology and applied psychology. Academic psychology[3] is involved with the study of the various divisions or subtopics in the field of psychology. The subtopics ma y include personality psychology, developmental psychology, biological psychology, industrial psychology, health psychology, educational psychology and social psychology all aiming at broadening the theoretical understanding and knowledge of psychology among the learners. Applied psychology[4] on the other hand is broad and aims at solving the problems and challenges encountered by individuals in their day to day activities and practices. This is usually through the application of the various psychological principles and it is utilized in various careers for instance medicine, ergonomics, and forensics and industrial areas among others (Tsivkin 2)[5]. The are a variety of schools of thoughts in psychology some of which are; behaviorism psychology which focuses on behavior and learning and how they are affected by the environment, and psychodynamic psychology which studies the unconscious mental processes and explains the psychological behavior in human individuals in regard to the i nteraction of the conscious and unconscious processes.Advertising Looking for essay on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More There is also the post-structuralism psychology also known as post-modernism, critical or socio- constructionism psychology. This focuses on the compound nature of subjectivity where there is dependence of knowledge and reality on the social relations and practices of human beings. Phenomenological or humanistic psychology on the other hand deals with the subjective and unique nature of events showing the meaning and importance of existence while cognitive psychology focuses on the processing, storage and retrieval of information processes in the human brain for instance perception and decision making( James 224). Physiological psychology focuses on the neurobiological processes and explains how they affect behavior and the processes of the brain. These are some of the existing schools of thoughts and others are yet to emerge as the field of psychology continues to grow (Tredoux, Foster and Allan 3). Basic principles of psychology and their importance The field of psychology is very wide and it has been faced with a lot of controversies due to the existence of a variety of schools of thoughts in it. There are however major similarities and differences among the different schools of thoughts. A school of thought entails an entity whose principles ought to be carefully studied, understood and related. The individual psychology entails the study of unique and undivided personality. Person uniqueness should be understood in relation to the others. This is a very important principle as it can help people to understand one another having in mind that we are all unique. It helps in tolerance and perseverance of one another’s behavior and also learning how to accommodate different personalities. There is also the principle of affinity which is expressed in the aspect of need f or achievement or attainment of some goals in human nature. An individual at any stage of life is always in motion, trying to meet a certain goal in life. The understanding of this concept helps us to understand the behavior of an individual and hence relate well as we get to know the reasons for a person’s behavior. â€Å"If we know where a person is going, we can understand why he is moving the way he is moving. In other words: we understand his behavior.† (Sophia 1). Creative ability in an individual is also very important and starts from childhood where a child looks for ways of survival and development and protection.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on If Every Person in the World Understood Basic Principles of Psychology, the World Would Be A Better Place specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This goal determines ones feelings, actions and thoughts. A human being is a social being that is expected to cooperate with others but some people have some limitations and prefer living by their own and the understanding of this will help us deal with all kinds of people who behave in different manner. Reasoning is a crucial aspect of an individual as in allows one to turn negative into positive through reasoning and making choices. The choices we make out of possibilities lead us to different situations. Reasoning makes things easy. It is important to understand that being a social being, an individual can not live by his or her own but have to borrow some issues and values. This is a very encouraging aspect that ensures respect and appreciation for others and allows one to be responsible for him or herself and also for the sake of the others. The nature of man to strive towards perfection is also a concern. An individual should try to perfect his or her behavior and also accept his or her imperfection where changes cannot work. It is through the act of looking forward towards perfectio n and the acceptance of our imperfects that we improve our behavior and life in general. Branches of psychology and the importance of their basic principles There are various branches of psychology each having some basic principles. The branches include abnormal psychology, child psychology, physiological psychology, animal psychology and social psychology among others. Abnormal psychology is the study of the behavioral abnormalities that are experienced in the human mind. ‘‘It is not an accurate title. It should be termed psychopathology’’ (Dandapani 7). It involves aspects like mental retardation, depression, sexual deviation and neuroses. It helps identify the sources of the abnormalities and hence deal with the conditions appropriately. Some of the people involved with this work are the psychotherapists and psychiatrists, counselors and clinical psychologists. Child psychology also known as developmental psychology entails the factors that govern the de velopment of an individual through out the lifespan from the infant stage to adulthood. It emphasizes aspects like growth, development (mental, social, emotional, and physical) maturation and learning all which are the steps that a human being goes through in life explaining how and why people change their behavior over time. The principles in child psychology are useful in understanding human beings and most specifically to parents and teachers through the norms and tasks that are learnt for the various stages of development.Advertising Looking for essay on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Animal psychology on the other hand, also regarded as comparative psychology is a branch of psychology that is involved with the study of animal behavior with an aim of having a comprehensive understanding of human psychology. It works under the principle that there some common factors in regard to human behavior and animal behavior although the aspect of thinking, speaking and imagining only apply to human beings and not to animals. The animals are used as subjects in experiments and the results compared to what could happen in human beings especially where persons cannot be used as specimen. Physiological psychology is the study of the physiological aspects that entail how we think showing the relationship between the operations of the brain and what an individual actually say or how he or she behaves. It tries to connect the brain with action and speech and other common senses. ‘‘Mind and body cannot be separated. Hence psychology and physiology are inter-related†™â€™ (Dandapani 8). Educational psychology is a branch of psychology that is concerned with educational issues, students concerns, schools and teaching psychology. The educational psychologists are concerned with the performances of the students and so they work closely with the people concerned for instance the students, parents, administrators and teachers to monitor and improve their situations (Cherry 1). All these branches of psychology are very essential and are applied in various fields of life to help solve problems that would otherwise seem difficult without the understanding of the basic principles contained in the different branches. Means of getting the knowledge of psychology and its help in personal lives People can attain knowledge on psychology through various means for instance through attending classes for example taking psychology courses in grade school, high school and even at colleges and university levels. The psychology knowledge can also be attained o utside class where the people with vast knowledge in psychology can educate the rest on the various aspects and principles of psychology that are relevant in our day to day activities and practices. Written documents on psychology would also offer a good base on psychology knowledge that could be applicable in human beings life for example in problem solving. The internet has also a wide range of information on the different perspectives in the field of psychology and could therefore be used as a tool through which information and knowledge on psychology could be attained. Irrespective of the means through which the knowledge is attained, the important thing is the utilization of the knowledge in our lives as we are in a better position to understand human nature and behavior and hence live positively with each other despite our differences. Psychology is very essential in our daily life irrespective of our careers or fields of specialization and its existence can not be ignored or under emphasized. The following are the ways through which the knowledge of psychology can be applied to enhance our personal lives. Psychology keeps us motivated in our understanding as it offers tips of motivation for instance from the cognitive and also the educational psychology. ‘’Whether your goal is to quit smoking, lose weight or learn a new language, some lessons from psychology offer tips for getting motivated’’ (Cherry 1). It advocates for application of new elements in our activities to boost our interest, vary the sequence to avoid boredom, learning new aspects to boost knowledge on an issue, establish clear and achievable goals in regard to the specific task, and rewarding one self for any achievement. Motivation is very important as it helps keep human beings on the move and not to despair. Psychology also enhances an individual’s leadership skills which are very essential in every one’s life. ‘‘It doesn’t ma tter if you’re an office manager or a volunteer at a local youth group, having good leadership skills will probably be essential at some points.’’ (Cherry 1). Though not all people could be leaders naturally, skills and knowledge learnt from psychology could promote leadership abilities in individuals. Some of the tips could be offering guidance and listening to others, and being positive and creative. Psychology also helps individuals to understand each other through the understanding of ones emotions and those of others which in return strengths relationships between people. This is because the emotional intelligence quotient of a person who has some knowledge on psychology is higher as compared to that of a person who has less or no knowledge in psychology. Psychology also enhances the process of decision making. The principles in cognitive psychology allows for better decision making through consideration of aspects like application of various perspectives o r points of view for instance the positive and negative sides of the issue, consideration of the benefits and challenges associated with the decision and finally gauging the results that could be attained after making the decision. Psychology is also a tool that enhances personal communication especially nonverbal communication. ‘‘Communication involves much more than how you speak or write’’ (Cherry 1). This is because psychology helps us to express ourselves through non verbal signals and most importantly to read and understand the non verbal signals of others hence know how to behave or act on different situations. It for example teaches on the importance of good eye contact that allows identification of nonverbal signals of those around us and also the importance of tone of voice in delivering message. Knowledge on psychology is also essential in ones health. ‘‘Psychology can also be a useful tool for improving your overall health’â⠂¬â„¢ (Cherry 1). Health psychology in particular advocates exercises and proper nutrition to avoid health issues like depression. It is also through the study of psychology that we are able to understand the working of an individual’s body and mind and hence understand various behaviors exhibited by different individuals in different situations. People avoid complication of issues which could otherwise affect ones health negatively for example through depression. ‘‘They are going to avoid things that can cause stress, they are able to manage time very well, and more effectively with their studies or chosen career.’’ (Phillippe 1) Importance of the knowledge of basic principles of psychology in work places and the economy at large From the above discussion we can conclude that psychology is very important and can be applied in almost all aspects of life including the work places and also in the activities that are geared towards improving or developi ng the economy. The ways in which the knowledge of psychology can be utilized in enhancing personal lives as discussed above can also be carried on to the workplaces. This is for instance in critical and informed decision making, proper interaction with workmates and clients, proper or effective communication, being motivated to work hard and never to give up, and also being good leaders. Psychology also assist in wiser financial decisions in the work place as it teaches on financial management tips such as investing in savings, and avoiding poor choices in regard to money spending. It also promotes individual and group productivity through instilling tips like avoidance of multitasking especially when handling complex or involving tasks, and being focused towards a particular task and doing away with distractions under all circumstances. It is also through the study of psychology that we are able to have a better understanding of the functioning of the body and mind of a person hen ce deal with different behaviors exhibited by different people at different situations better and also build proper and working personal and work related relationships through enhancing self knowledge and understanding on others and in the long run, making ones personal and working life better. Psychology has also proved to be a significant tool towards enriching careers. This is achievable since when an individual knows and understand the other workers well including their uniqueness and personality, he or she is able to interact and get along well and most importantly know how to behave knowing what experiences they are going through and being careful not to make their situations worse through their behavior. Conclusion From the research, it is evident that the study of psychology is very essential in our understanding of human behavior through things like feelings, emotions and thoughts and in a way the understanding assists us in our day to day interaction with different people. Psychology is however very broad making it difficult for one to comprehend all the aspects but specialization and understanding of some basic principles is very essential. There have been a lot of changes and developments in psychology as psychologists engage in advanced and objective approaches in the search of knowledge with an aim of getting full understanding of the human behavior. New ideas and theories are also emerging as the psychologists combine the various aspects and beliefs in the different schools of thoughts in making their conclusions on various aspects that entail human behavior. All in all the importance of the knowledge of psychology is very useful in our day to day activities due to the positive impacts it has on both personal life and also in regard to integration with others for example family members or even co-workers and clients in the working place. Works Cited Cherry, Kendra. â€Å"Branches of Psychology: Overview of the Major Branches of Psychology.†™ About.com, 2011.  Web. Cherry, Kendra .†10 Ways Psychology Can Improve Your Life.† About.com, 2011. Web. Dandapani, Sami. A Textbook of Advanced Educational Psychology. USA: Anmol Publications PVT. LTD., 2005. James, William. The Principles of Psychology, Volume 1. USA: Cosimo, Inc., 2007. Mohsin, S.M. Elementary Psychology. UK: Motilal Banarsidass Publ., 2002. Phillippe, Raymond. â€Å"Psychology and Its Importance: Why Psychology Is Important.’ Hubpages, 2011. Web. Nevis, S. Jeffrey. Psychology: Concepts and Applications.2ed,. USA: Cengage Learning, 2007. Sophia J. De Vries. â€Å"Some Basic Principles of Individual Psychology.† Pws, 2011. Web. Tredoux, Colin, Foster Don and Allan Alfred. Psychology and Law. USA: Juta and Company Ltd, 2006. Tsivkin, Roman. â€Å"Principles of Psychology.† EHow. Web. End notes Nevid 4 Tsivkin 1 Academic psychology is a area of psychology in which the research undertaken by psychologist improves on the critic al information required in academic instruction. Applied psychology entails the application of strategies and findings of scientific psychology to problems faced by human beings and animals Ibid., 2 This essay on If Every Person in the World Understood Basic Principles of Psychology, the World Would Be A Better Place was written and submitted by user Skyler Rutledge to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

The Great Gatsby Essays

The Great Gatsby Essays The Great Gatsby Essay The Great Gatsby Essay The Great Gatsby as a description of the failure of the American dream. The Great Gatsby is a concentrated meditation on the American dream, understood as the faith that anyone, even of the most humble origins, can attain wealth and social standing in the United States through talent and individual initiative. Fitzgerald explores the compelling appeal of this dream, and the circumstances that render it as deceptive as it is enduring. Fitzgeralds protagonist is a young man from North Dakota, James Gatz, who changes his name to Jay Gatsby and manufactures a persona out of his own Platonic self-conception. While in his soldiers uniform just prior to service in World War I, Gatsby falls in love with Daisy, a beautiful, rich young woman whose voice has the sound of money. After the war, Gatsby pursues Daisy, even though she has by then married a gruff and tasteless man of her own class. Gatsby buys a huge, garish mansion on Long Island near Daisys home and tries t o impress her and her social set with lavish parties financed, as some of his guests rightly suspect, by the illegal sale of alcoholic beverages. But Daisy rejects Gatsbys suit, as her feelings and behavior are controlled by the conventions of her class in ways that the innocent American dreamer does not understand. In the end, it is inherited wealth and social standing that determine much more of ones destiny than is determined by talent and individual initiative, readers of The Great Gatsby are led to conclude. Much of the power of The Great Gatsby derives from Fitzgeralds having provided readers with an opportunity to simultaneously see through the pretenders illusions and identify deeply with his aspirations and even love him for having made the effort. Nelly, on the other hand, is considered to be far more worthy narrator because of her close association with Heathcliff having grown up with him and her honest, occasionally blunt opinion. An example is where Nelly asks Catherine Why do you love him? (referring to Edgar Linton) and then proceeding to say Bad! to her replies. This could be construed as a breach of etiquette in the nineteen hundreds for a servant to speak so to a lady of higher station and demonstrates Nellys ability to speak her mind which endears her to the reader. As a result of this fact it is Nelly who undertakes the conveying of the tale of Wuthering Heights and to whom we look for our opinions in other characters. She is, in fact, a narrator within a narrator due to her recounting of the tale of Wuthering Heights to Lockwood for entertainment and both tells the story and yet features heavily in its events. Fitzgeralds narrator, Nick Carraway is young, thoughtful and intelligent. He has moved from the West in favour of the fake and unproductive society of New York which he ultimately rejects. The landscape to which he moves is unproductive due to the fact that it grows or produces nothing dealing only in stocks and shares a world that Nick unsuccessfully immerses himself in. The world into which Nick ventures could be accurately captured by Fitzgeralds description of Daisys voice being full of money . He is also considered to be truthful in regard to his views on other characters. This impression is given to us by the words: I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known. A self-confession giving vital information to us this being that what Nick says can be taken as an objective view or judgement. His actions throughout the novel, including his contempt towards Tom Buchanan and Daisy following their response to Gatsbys death, and his noble attempts to gather supposed friends and relatives to Gatsbys funeral, when they flocked to his parties, also add to Nicks honest nature and therefore Fitzgeralds presentation through him. Both Bronte and Fitzgerald share in the creation of their narrators as forming them as strangers discovering new and unfamiliar places; taking the reader with them as their knowledge and relationships develop. Both authors use the narrator in their novels for a variety of similar reasons. A narrator gives an added element of realism to the story, as if someone is actually telling something that happened. The use of precise dates and setting also add to this feeling of the novels being real. West Egg in Gatsby and 1801- in Wuthering Heights elucidating this point. The narrator also allows a detached character development that one is unable to achieve if the novels were written in the first person. Opinions can be posited and actions can be viewed externally to the actual character, making judgements more objective.

Assignment4 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Assignment4 - Assignment Example Saxophones are a common instrument in the contemporary society. Thus, the instrument can be found in musical classes or other Jazz sessions. The shiny nature of the instrument portrays it as an artistic masterpiece that arouses varied feelings on musical players. The instrument was originally intended for military and classical musical purposes. Owing to the versatility of the instrument, musicians in other genres around the globe are now playing the saxophone. Consequently, musicians in the avant-garde, classical, jazz, and pop and rock are playing the saxophone. The instrument can sound wild and poignant or smooth and stifling (Stewart et al., 5). The instrument can seamlessly blend into any joint, be it jazz big bands or orchestras. Moreover, the saxophone blends into the ensemble rock band solos or jazz quartets. Musicians in the contemporary world are trying to stretch the instruments into accommodating virtually every genre of music. Thus, the saxophone is steadily finding novel purpose in many genres of music. The design features of the saxophone depict an exceptional work of art. The design features appear attractive from the outward look to the inner features that create sound. The saxophone is a wind instrument of the nature of a conical bore. The instrument has a varying that increases from one end to the other (Hippe, 40). Thus, the instrument begins with a single diameter in one end that expands proportionately to the lowermost end of the instrument. By contrast, cylindrical instruments such as the clarinet, maintain uniform diameters in the whole length of the instrument. The varied design features of the saxophone have inner functionalities besides the outward looks. Conical bore instruments characteristically produce mellower and warmer qualities of tone compared to cylindrical instruments. Although saxophones are typically constructed using brass, plastic, gold and silver can also be utilized in the construction (Hippe,

Business Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Business Management - Assignment Example An internal customer could be anyone within the organization. For e.g. Jessica and her team is an internal customer for the accounts department of that company because Jessica's team can not serve the suppliers and customers well until they have proper information from accounts and they are dependent on accounts. The suppliers were unhappy because they were given incorrect information at one instance and they rejected the products because some inputs were not of quality. This caused embarrassment and could have been prevented by close internal coordination. Another way of coaching employees, so that they can effectively fulfill customer needs, is to hire external consultant or auditor who periodically monitors their performance and can guide and train them. The customer service department at medical company was not in close communication with top management and their complaints and advice were not given due importance. Thus it will result in low motivation, poor customer service and people may tend to leave as their suggestions were not considered important in the organization. I have selected State library as the service provider organization as I have been interacting with this library for quite some time. The library provides a great environment to study with latest books on all subjects; magazines, periodicals, newspaper plus internet facility. The library is famous because it has taken in to accounts the needs and wants of their target customers who are between age 18 to 50. They conduct surveys to know about the preferences of the subjects of various age groups and keep the books according to it. The customer service policy of the library is attached at the end in appendix. ENSURING QUALITY CUSTOMER SERVICE The library through feedback process keeps themselves aware of the changing needs of the customer. Their staff go for unofficial visits to other libraries to observe what other best services are being offered there. This helps to improve themselves. Moreover they also take help of the best librarians of the country who guide them as to how they can improve their services. RESPONDING TO FEEDBACK The feedback from the customer is taken through the feedback forms placed at the entrance. Moreover a monthly feedback is taken from the permanent members of the library. Most of the customer's requests are regarding a new book or magazine to be kept in the library. They try to arrange that book and then personally inform the customer about the status of his request. The employee base of the

Different types of camps that the Nazi used and their purposes Essay

Different types of camps that the Nazi used and their purposes - Essay Example Thus, the Nazi’s established concentration camps in 1933 for terrorizing the Jewish communities1. During the period of 1933 and 1945, nearly 20,000 camps were built for the purpose of serving various functions. In order to effectively identify them, different names were given, such as labor camps or Arbeitslager, prison-of-war camps or Kriegsgefangenlager, transit camps or Durchgangslager, concentration camps or Konzentrationslager along with killing and death camps often referred as extermination or Vernichutungslager2. Initially the camps were built to hold political prisoners but following the World War II, the concentration camps were expanded and transformed with the intention to capture nonpolitical prisoners who were exploited by the Nazi’s through forced labor. The prisoners were literally ill treated and left to die because of the terrible living conditions. The use of concentration camps can be distinctly divided into three different periods, namely, 1933-1936 , 1936-1942 and 1942-1945. The first period saw the emergence of Adolf Hitler when the camps were primarily used for detaining political adversaries who opposed the Nazi government. Within a span of few months approximately 27,000 people were detained citing the reason of ‘protective custody’. The second period marked the emergence of World War II and the Nazi’s used these camps for forced labor. Throughout the entire period the inmates were treated as labors and were forcefully made to work for the Nazi’s. The last period i.e. during the late period of 1941 these camps were transformed into death camps where innumerable people belonging to the Soviet Union were tortured and murdered brutally3. Different Types and Purposes of the Camps Forced Labor Camps In September 1939, German’s invaded Poland following which numerous prisoners of war were confined and detained in these camps. The extreme living conditions forced these prisoners to die out of exh austion, starvation and torturous treatment. The prisoners were provided with improper facilities and during the winters they were compelled to stay without any clothes, proper nourishment and food. In these tough conditions the prisoners were forcefully required to perform various labor related works for the government agencies. The sophisticated males of Jewish were forced to live in ‘Ghetos’ and work in the plants that manufactured weapons used in wars. The Jews had no other choice than to work as it was the only possible way to survive in the shackles of the Nazi’s. The physically unfit Jews who were unable to work were shot and killed. In addition, the Nazis introduced a policy named ‘annihilation’ in which few types of prisoners were made to work, till death. They were purposely assigned works, the circumstances of which were bound to make them sick and die due to illness. For instance, at the Mauthausen concentration camp, the prisoners were a sked to carry boulders and run 186 steps which were made up of stone extracts every day until they fell sick and died4. In the year 1941, the Germans invaded Soviet Union and captured millions of people generally termed as Prisoners of War (POWs). These POWs were intentionally left to die by denying them the basic

Algorithm to Prevent Obstacle Collision

Algorithm to Prevent Obstacle Collision Description: In this paper, we develop an algorithm to prevent collision with obstacles autonomous mobile robot based on visual observation of obstacles. The input to the algorithm is fed a sequence of images recorded by a camera on the robot B21R in motion. The information is then extracted from the optical flow image sequence to be used in the navigation algorithm. Optical flow provides important information about the state of the environment around the robot, such as the disposition of the obstacles, the place of the robot, the time to collision and depth. The strategy is to estimate the number of points of the obstacles on the left and right side of the frame, this method allows the robot to move without colliding with obstacles. The reliability of the algorithm is confirmed by some examples. Keywords: optical flow, the strategy of balance, focus of expansion, the time for communication, avoiding obstacles. 1. Introduction The term is used for visual navigation of robot motion control based on analysis of data collected by visual sensors. Golf visual navigation is of particular importance is mainly due to the vast amount of recorded video sensor materials. The aim of our work is to develop algorithms that will be used for the visual navigation of autonomous mobile robot. The input consists of a sequence of images that are constantly available navigation system while driving the robot. This sequence of images is provided by monocular vision system. Then, the robot tries to understand their environment to extract data from a sequence of image data, in this case, optical, and then uses this information as a guide for the movement. The strategy adopted to avoid collisions with obstacles during movement a balance between the right and left optical flow vectors. The test mobile robot models RWI-B21R. The robot is equipped with WATEC LCL-902 camera (see. Fig. 1). Visuals caught using Matrox Imaging cards at a rate of 30 frames per second. Fig. 1 The robot and the camera. Fig. 2 shows a flowchart of navigation. Fig. 2 Algorithm for prevention of obstacles. The first optical flow vectors are computed from image sequences. To make a decision about the orientation of the robot, the calculation of the position of the image plane in the DMZ is necessary because the control is transferred to the law with respect to the focus of expansion. Then, the depth map calculates the distance to an obstacle, to provide an immediate response to a short distance from the obstacle, or to give a signal to the robot to ignore obstacles. 2. Otsenka movement Movement in the sequence of images obtained by camera induced movement of objects in 3-D scene and / or camera motion. 3-D objects and the camera motion is a 2-D motion image plane via the projection system. It is a 2-D movements, also called apparent motion or optical flow, and should be the starting point of the intensity and color information of the video. Most of the existing methods of valuation movements are divided into four categories: basic techniques of correlation, the basic methods of energy, basic methods of parametric model and the basic methods of differentiation. We chose the technique of differentiation, based on the intensity of the preservation of a moving point for the calculation of the optical flow, for this purpose, the standard method of Horn and Schunck (Horn and Schunck manual, B., 1981). After calculating the optical flow, we use it for navigation solutions, such as trying to balance the number of left and right sides of the flow to avoid obstacles. 3. The laws of optical flow and management As well as the observation point moves through the environment, and the sample beam, reflecting this point varies continuously generates an optical flow. . One way in which the robot may use this information to a movement to achieve a certain type of flow. For example, to maintain the orientation of the environment, the type of optical flow does not flow at all requests. If some flow is detected, the robot should change their strength by producing their effectors (whether wings, wheels or legs). so as to minimize this flow, in accordance with the control law (Andrea, PD; William H. Lelise PK, 1998) .. Thus, the change of the internal forces of the robot (as against external forces such as wind) is a function of changes in the optical flow (here from a lack of flow to the minimum flow) .. The optical flow contains information about the location of the surface and the direction of the observation point called the focus of expansion (CLE), the time to contact (TTC), and depth. 3.1. The focus of expansion (RF) For the translational movement of the camera, the motion picture is always directed away from the only point of the corresponding projection of the vector transmission to the image plane. This point is called Focus Expansion (DF), it is calculated on the basis of the principle that the flux vectors are oriented in certain directions with respect to the focus of expansion. At full optical flow is the horizontal part of the DF horizontally located, in accordance with the situation in which the majority of the horizontal components of variance (Negahdaripour, S. Horn, CP 1989). It can be estimated using a simple counting method, which counts the horizontal components of the signs, which focus on each point of the image. At the point where the maximum divergence, the difference between the number of RF components on the left of the right and the number of components must be minimized. Similarly, we can appreciate the vertical position of the FF by identifying the positions of most of the vertical components. Fig. 3 Calculation of the DF. Fig. 4 shows the result of calculating the risk factors in indoor RF is shown as a red square in the image. Fig. 4 The result of the calculation of risk factors. We also use optical flow to estimate the remaining time of contact with the surface. 3.2. Contact time The contact time (VC) can be calculated from the optical flow, which is extracted from monocular image sequences acquired during the movement. Speed Image can be described as a function of the camera parameters and is divided into two periods depending on the rotation (Vt) and the translational components (Vr) at the camera speed (V), respectively. The rotational part of the flow field can be calculated from the proprioceptive data (for example, the rotation of the camera) and the focal length. After global variable optical flow is calculated, (Vt) is determined by subtracting (Vr) from (V). From translational optical flow contact time may be calculated by the formula (Tresilian, J., 1990): Here? is the distance from the point in question (xi yi) on the image plane, the focus of expansion (FR). Note how the flow rate indicating the length of vector lines increases as the distance from the focus of the image expansion. In fact, this distance is divided at a constant speed, and is a relative rate used to estimate the time of contact. In Fig. 5 we show the VC assessment transfer sequence. (A). The corresponding graph of VC (b) consistent with the theory. Fig. 5 Evaluation of the VC. 3.3. Calculating the depth (intensity) Using the optical flow field is calculated from two successive images, we can find information about the depth of each flow vector calculation by combining VC and speed of the robot while taking pictures. where X depth, V is the speed of the robot, and T VC (calculated for each optical flow vector). Fig. 6 Calculation of depth. Fig. 6 shows an image depth, which is calculated by the VC. The darkest point is near, while the brightest point is the farthest from the scene, so the brightest point is the navigation area of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹the robot. 3.4. Balance strategy for obstacle avoidance The basic idea behind this strategy is offset (parallax) movement, the robot translates nearest objects rise to more rapid movement on the retina than more distant objects. He also takes advantage of the prospects that closer objects also occupy a larger field of view, rejecting the average with respect to the associative flow. The robot turns away from the stronger flow. This control law is formulated: Here the difference in the strength of the two sides of the body of the robot, and Is the sum of the magnitude of the optical flow in the visual field of the hemispheres on one side of the header robot. We have implemented a strategy to balance our mobile robot. As we have shown in Fig. 7, the left optical beam (699, 24) is greater than the right (372, 03), so the solution is to turn to the right to avoid obstacles. (A chair to the left of the robot). Fig. 7 The result of the strategy of balance. 4. Experiments The robot has been tested in our laboratory robotics, robot containing, office chairs, office furniture and computer equipment. In the next experiment, we test the ability of the robot to detect obstacles using only the strategy of balance. Fig. 8 Robot vision. Fig. 8 shows a view from a camera robot initial snapshot. Fig. 9 The first decision. Fig. 9 (a) shows the result of a strategy of balance in which robots have to turn right to avoid the nearest obstacle (the board), and Fig. 9 (b) shows the corresponding depth image, which is calculated from the vector of the optical flow. We see that the brightest point is localized to the right of the image, which determines the navigation area of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹the robot. Fig. 10 shows a robot when it turns to the right. Fig. 10 Robot vision. Fig. 11 (a) shows the result of a balance strategy in which the robot must rotate to the left to avoid the walls, and Fig. 9 (b) shows the corresponding depth of the image in which the brightest point located on the left side of the image. Fig. 11 The second solution. Fig. 12 The robot is in motion. Figure 12 (a) pokazyvet picture robot in motion in our laboratory, and Figure 12 (b) shows the path that passes by the movement of the robot. We notice that the robot found two principal positions, in which it changes the orientation, position (1) fit into the image and the position of the board (2) corresponds to the wall. Fig. 13 Schedule contact time. Figure 13 shows a graph of left and right optical flow. At the beginning of the stream picture left more than the right, so the robot turns to the right, which corresponds to Figure 12 (d), then right flow increases until it is larger than the left, because the robot is approaching closer to the wall than to the board and we see an increase in the two columns (left and right flow) through the structure 13 in Figure 5, and then the robot turns left, to prevent the wall, it corresponds to position 2 in Fig. 12 (g). It can be seen that the robot successfully wandering around the lab, avoiding obstacles; however, we found that the lighting conditions critically important to detect obstacles, because the image produced by the camera is more noisy in low light and makes the optical flow estimation more wrong. 5. Conclusions The article describes how the optical flow which provides the ability of the robot to avoid obstacles, use control laws, called strategy of balance, whose main purpose is to detect the presence of objects close to the robot on the basis of information on the movement of image brightness. The main difficulty in the use of optic flow to navigate, is that it is unclear what is causing the change of gray values à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹(motion vector or changing the lighting). Further improvement of the developed method is possible by connecting other sensors (sonar, infrared ), in cooperation with the sensor chamber. 6. Links Andrew, PD; William, H. Lelise, PK (1998). Environmental Robotics. Adaptive behavior, Volume 6, No. 3/4, 1998 Bergholm, F. Argyros, A. (1999). The combination of central and peripheral vision to navigate reactive robot, in the basis of IEEE Computer Society Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition, Vol. 2, October 1999, pp. 356-362. Horn, KP Schunck, BG (1981). Determining optical flow. Artificial intelligence, à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾- 7, pp. 185-203, 1981. Negahdaripour, S. Horn, KP (1989). The direct method is to place the focus of expansion, comp. Visible Graph. Strongly Protsess.46 (3), 303-326, 1989. Sandidni, G.; Santos-victor, J .; Curotto, F. Gabribaldi, S. (1993). Divergent stereo navigation: learning in bees, in the proceedings of the Company IEEE Computer. Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition, June 1993, pp. 434-439. Santos-victor, J. Bernardino, A. (1988). Visual behavior for binocular tracking, robotics and autonomous systems, with 137-148, 1998 Tresilian, J. (1990). Perception information Timing of capturing action, Perception 19: 223-239, 1990

Argument for Legalization of Marijuana Essay -- Argumentative Persuas

Marijuana has become one of the most controversial drugs in America. Ever since its cultivation began around 1611, marijuana has puzzled people with its effects. Many question marijuana?s classification as a schedule one drug. A schedule one drug is one that has a high potential for abuse and no medicinal value. Some argue that the war on drugs, in particular marijuana, has cost taxpayers billions and is wasting funds that could be used on more important tasks such as improving transportation or education. As drug arrests rise, so do the populations in state prisons. This has become an immediate problem with no real solution. The legalization of possessing small amounts of marijuana can contribute positively to the medical and economic world as well as cut down on the prison population. Many people today use marijuana for multiple reasons. There will always be the teenager who tries it for the first time and enjoys the ?high? that comes along with smoking it. Besides those who smoke it for recreational purposes, there are those who need the plant as a form of medication. People suffering from a wide range of diseases and sicknesses such as AIDS and Glaucoma have claimed that it has benefited them. Numerous medical associations in the U.S. and abroad have done many tests to find the benefits and harms of marijuana. These tests come up with the same conclusion that marijuana is just as much if not more helpful than harmful. Approximately 400, 000 Americans die every year from a smoking related illness. In 5000 years of recorded use, marijuana has never been linked to a single death, overdose, or acute toxicity (Schlosser 48). Many cancer patients have used marijuana to combat nausea and pain. AIDS patients hav... ...wo percent of drug cases so the influence could not be measured accurately. In 1997, only 15 percent of state and federal inmates received substance-abuse treatment during their current terms. That number is down from 1991. There will always be a group of people that find some concepts as preposterous. There were those who believed that watching a talking box would never be entertaining. There were those that laughed in the Wright brother?s face when they proposed the idea of a flying machine. The idea of legalizing marijuana may seem absurd to those who do not use it but for those whose life it will improve, it seems like a grand idea. There are products on the market that can compare to marijuana?s negative effects yet those products are legal. When will America wake up and realize the cry for the legalization of marijuana is growing louder than ever?