Tuesday, August 25, 2020

Salinity Lab Report Essay Example

Saltiness Lab Report Paper On the off chance that you put these living beings in a jug and turn on the lights, you get photosynthesis. On the off chance that you turn off the lights, you turn off the essential creation. Murkiness has no impact on breath. This is on the grounds that cell breath is really the converse procedure of photosynthesis. Oxygen is a need of life necessities for essentially all living beings. * In this lab we are trying how various degrees of saltiness in the water in a roundabout way influences the gross essential profitability in oceanic plants. To quantify this you would utilize the light ND dim jug technique. Just breath (R) can happen in the container put away in obscurity. The lessening in broke up oxygen in obscurity bottle after some time is a proportion of the pace of breath. Both photosynthesis and breath can happen in the container presented to light, anyway the distinction between the measure of oxygen created through photosynthesis and that devoured through breath is the net essential efficiency (NAP). The distinction in broke up oxygen after some time between the jugs put away in the light and in obscurity is a proportion of the aggregate sum of oxygen delivered by photosynthesis. The aggregate sum of oxygen delivered is known as the gross essential efficiency (GAP). The condition for this strategy is as followed: GAP= NAP + R NAP= light jug starting DO R= beginning DO-dull container Materials: 18 moll flagons 2-1000 ml measuring utencils Stirrers salt Weigh vessel Scale Distilled water Tap water Tape Sharpie Tin foil Dissolved oxygen test Compact plant leaves Dissolve oxygen test Plastic film Procedure: 1. Plug in and set up broke up oxygen test 2. Assemble 18 flagons 3. Separate the carafes into 3 gatherings (0. 25 g/ml, 0. 02 g/ml, and zero MGM/l) 4. We will compose a custom exposition test on Salinity Lab Report explicitly for you for just $16.38 $13.9/page Request now We will compose a custom paper test on Salinity Lab Report explicitly for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Recruit Writer We will compose a custom paper test on Salinity Lab Report explicitly for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Recruit Writer Name he initial 6 carafes zero for zero salt. 5. Mark the following 6 flagons 0. 25 g/ml in light of the fact that those cups will have saltiness substance of 0. 25 g/ml. 6. Name the last 6 flagons 0. Egg/ml which will have saltiness substance of 0. 02 g/ml 7. Utilizing the scale and a gauge vessel, weigh out 0. 25 grams of salt. 8. Fill the 1 liter measuring utencil with faucet water and pour the 0. 25 grams of salt. 9. Blend and convey the water to the 60. 25 g/ml flagons. 10. Rehash stages 6 through 9 utilizing the necessary estimations. 11. Utilizing the broke up oxygen test measure and record the information for every one of the 18 flagons. This quantitative information will be your underlying broken down oxygen. 12. Spot one reduced plant leaf into each flagon and water/air proof seal every cup utilizing the plastic film. 13. Inside the 3 separate gatherings, split the jars into two gatherings. Envelop half of the gathering jars by tin foil and the other half spot under lights. (I. E. : The 6 zero saltiness carafes will transform into two gatherings of 3. ) 14. Hold up 3 days and afterward record discoveries. Utilize this information to ascertain NAP, R, and GAP. Conversation: From the information gathered, I got negative GAP and R esteems which shows a mistake in the lab/information assortment. The gathering that wound up with a positive gross essential efficiency was the 0. 02 MGM/l gathering. Every one of the 3 saltiness varieties had generally a similar net essential profitability, with 4 MGM/l being the least and 4. 8 MGM/l being the most noteworthy. The measure of saltiness in the water likewise indicated no distinction in the plants breath. The least was - 4. 7 MGM/l in both 0. MGM/l and the zero saltiness gatherings. The gathering with the most noteworthy measure of salt in the water had the most elevated breath, which isnt something that would occur, all things considered. Assessment: A primary wellspring of blunder in this lab was the kind of Lana we utilized. Either the salt didnt influence it much or it didnt photosynthesis just as we arranged. There was a blunder in the information assortment on the grounds that the breath esteems and gross efficiency esteems were negative which would not occur, all things considered. Another issue with this lab is that it requires a significant stretch of time to get everything set up on the main day and can nearly take two days which would not work since you have to gather the underlying DO and taking over one day would not make the DO understanding starting. End: My theory was not bolstered.

Saturday, August 22, 2020

Free Will Essays - Philosophy, Metaphysics, Free Will, Determinism

Unrestrained choice Do I have Free Will? In the wake of considering the proof for the three perspectives I have reasoned that delicate determinism is best bolstered. I will be contending for delicate determinism with proof introduced in the class readings. I will begin with the proof of oblivious inspiration. The oblivious powers us to carry on things we believe are legitimate yet can really be destructive. With the three elements of our oblivious express, the ID, super-self image and the oblivious conscience, we will in general be in a back-and-forth with our brain over who has control. With the psyche being in the oblivious state we will in general make bargains in our activities. With the oblivious working, we have the opportunity of unrestrained choice. When the ID is in real life it places its requests in the table and needs fulfillment while the super-self image denies the desire. We need our oblivious to intervene between the two powers in any case our brain would be in a steady fight. Another contention for the point would be of good duty. As indicated by Hospers we have none. We are molded from birth with characteristics of our character, social standing and mentalities. A great many people are so determined to their ways that unknowingly they shut out normal idea and follow up on what they have been customized to do. In the oblivious state we are only spectators to our hypochondria which is consistently in charge and has just been unwittingly decided. In the event that a large portion of our demonstrations are constrained, at that point we have no methods for genuine opportunity. Presently let us see free acts versus unfree acts. To start with, we ought to have a meaning of both: free acts are caused at that point by inward states while unfree acts happen due to outside powers. A genuine Libertarian accepts that there is no reason for anything, that everything occurs as oneself chooses while a Determinist thinks everything occurs because of some outside power. The delicate determinist has the correct thought, that all demonstrations are required by past causes. There are some free demonstrations and there are some unfree demonstrations. We need both of these powers to manage us through life. On the off chance that we experience existence without agonizing over a solitary thing, at that point I accept that this life has been squandered, that we have quite recently been experiencing some routine just to get by and afterward proceed onward to something better which has been resolved for us by one way or another. We need free acts tossed in with the general mish- mash so we have some purpose behind living. At the present time I am carrying on of through and through freedom as it were, I am composing this paper. You may state it is an unfree demonstration since it is a task yet I can decide not to do it. My free demonstration is that I need to learn more by investigating this subject so I can put forth a concentrated effort to better things. In delicate determinism we additionally need some unfree demonstrations. Only this previous end of the week after the blizzard I was maneuvering into the parking garage and maneuvered into the space, knowing very well that I covered my vehicle in 8 creeps of new day off. This occasion was brought about by the enormous measure of snow we got and that the part wasn't furrowed. Since it was not my decision to stall out in the day off, is a case of an unfee demonstration. While most things are resolved for us it is that little free operator that props us up. The proof for Libertarianism is less influential than Determinism and Soft Determinism. Above all else the contention for the inward point of view is unpersuasive. This is attempting to show that determinism is bogus, which is completely outlandish. The contention is that you can't take a gander at things from an external stance, that a determinist takes a stab at taking a gander at it as through an alternate, or wrong, perspective and when they find that it isn't there then they their convictions don't exist any longer. Additionally, that ethical opportunity is an inward demonstration is difficult to fathom. It is said that the demonstration must be one of which the individual judged can be viewed as the sole creator. He can be considered ethically liable for

Saturday, August 8, 2020

BandPage

BandPage INTRODUCTIONMartin: Hi, today we are in San Francisco in the BandPage office or almost. Hi J, who are you and what do you do?J: I am J Sider and I am the CEO and founder of BandPage.Martin: Awesome. When did you come up with the business idea?J: It is a bit of a long story. I grew up as a musician and I was playing and singing music when I was a kid and that kind of led me into wanting to have a career into the music business. And so I started managing bands and venues around the country and then after many years of doing that I just realized that there is a lack of efficiency in the business model in the music industry as well as the technology that was being used and so I moved out here in San Francisco to solve these problems in 2009 and then launched the company in 2010.Martin: OK, cool. So when you came here to San Francisco what happened to be your first steps so that you just build a website or did you drop to investors. What did you do?J: The first step for meâ€" I didn’t k now anybody around here. I just knew that if I wanted to build an app or a platform that this was the best city in the worlds to be in and it has the highest population density of engineers and designers and entrepreneurs and investors, and so as they say fish where the fish are.I came out here for the sole purpose of just getting involved in the community. I think there are a lot of ways that you can start a business. There is a lot of ways of getting it started, but the way I started it and I think the way you have a lot of leverage as an entrepreneur is if you start with a small team.So I came out here late 2009 and started searching, every night I went out and every night at San Francisco there are conferences and tech and startup meetups. Every night you can go out and meet people so I did that for a couple of months and I talk to, I am sure, over a thousand people to try to get introduced to the right people that will be interested in the idea. And so my first step was to find one engineer and one designer that would work with me out of my living room to get the idea, build it and put it online.Martin: How did you convince them?J: It is not an easy thing. I think the most important thing when you are starting. There are lots of many important things but one of the most important things for me was simply being resourceful and driven. Finally, when I did find the right people to join me I realistically and probably talked to close to a 1000 people about it and some of those people were interested and started working with me and stopped and others worked a little bit longer and then it didn’t quite work out and then finally I found these individuals. And the way we did it was set up in a structure similar to some other startups around this area which is it is a small team that starts and we all work with equity and you believe in the division and all get behind it. And if you are lined on what you want to build you believe you are joining a team that can build it and incentivized through equity. That is how we did it and I think it aligns everybody on the early team to be able to have a go at it.Martin: So once you have developed your MVP of the BandPage what type of traction did you gain in order to find some investors?J: When I first moved here I talked to everybody, yes designers and engineers and folks but also investors and other entrepreneurs to really try to get to know a lot of people. And so after we had launched the product, if you can get a team, a small team and start building something and launch it you have far more leverage than you do if you go to investors before that point. If you go with a wire frame and idea versus you already have a product and traction you have more leverage and you could give up less of the company for more funding.We launched the product, we had really strong market fit so it took off pretty quickly. When we had a couple hundred bands sign up and then a couple of thousand artist sign up and s o at that point investors saw that we had created product that was creating a lot of value for our customers and so they are interested in being involved in this. So one of the things I did to really help us is I got to know this guy Larry Marcus and he is a managing director of Walden Venture Capital and just a brilliant guy, especially he has a lot of connections in the music industry. His name is in Billboards’ 100 most powerful people as well as in general Walden tech investor. And so I worked very, very hard to get him involved. Once I did that, he helped introduce us to other people.So one of the first things I tell entrepreneurs is when you land in a city and you start to build your startup make sure as quickly as possible to find advisors that you can put around the company. As powerful as you can find at different levels as you are building the company, you will be able to get more and more powerful and you need people around your company. You just kind of look out whenev er can you find the most influential or powerful person that you can and try to get them involved. As you continue to build the company you find even more powerful and influential people that can help because it really makes a difference and in this case with Larry Marcus it was probably the sole reason we put together a seed ground funding. And then he has continued to be just incredibly powerful and helpful and just build this business.Martin: Good.BUSINESS MODEL OF BANDPAGEMartin: J, let’s talk about the business model of BandPage. What is it all about? What type of value proposition do you deliver to what type of customer segment?J: Our main goal as a business is we help musicians reach and monetize their customers in the most cost effective way you could reach revenue. We look at musicians, their business and they have a product to sell to their customer. The clear service that we provide is helping that business sell their products â€" tickets, merchandise, VIP offers and di stribute those up to their customers where the customers are most likely to buy those products. And when the customers buy one of those products we take a 10 percent cut of that sale and so we have half a million musicians on the platform now. We distribute and display those musicians’ content and commerce to hundreds and millions of fans across most of the major streaming platforms today.Martin: Does this also mean that you only display the content on your platform or website but also on other media like YouTube and so on?J: Yes. Actually the whole point of what we do is to help the business musicians reach their customers wherever they are. If you think about yourself as a fan where you are spending your time these days with musicians, it is probably not on their website of Facebook page anymore. You are probably spending a lot more time on streaming services listening to music and interacting with them there. And so instead of us being a destination to tell you have another pla ce for bands to tell their fans to go we are truly a B2B, B2B2C if you will where we help the businesses reach their customers on the streaming services. There is now one billion a day active users across streaming services and we are just about the only way for every musician in the world to reach the customers on those platforms.Martin: And do you also have a way, unless you are in the Silicon Valley so many big data machinery startups. Are you also offering a way of matching the supply and demand in the meaning of the musicians and the customers in a more efficient way based on pattern recognition or something like that?J: Yes, absolutely so especially in the music business we really have this incredible opportunity that is happening right now where for the first time ever as a musician as a business you can truly segment and understand your customer based on their listening behavior or behavioral data. If you would listen to an artist 157 times versus listen to another artist 7 times there is a clear statisticly significance percentage likelihood that you would buy a ticket or a piece of merchandise or something to the artist, you listen to 157 times versus 7.And so we start to understand that data, the behavioral data and apply a kind of qualify and quantify the percentage likelihood that you would buy something from this artist versus another one and then match it up in that way. And so today we are now sending over 1.5 million fans to musician source every month and that is growing rapidly. We are the first company in the music industry to take listening data where we apply very large data machine learning algorithm to it to understand the likelihood that this individual is going to be interested in x type of content and or commerce from that artist.Martin: And every customer needs to be logged in before looking at the content or is It anybody can look at the website and maybe you don’t even know who he is because you only got some browser fingerprint ?J: We are distributing that to the streaming services, and we are partnering with the streaming services to analyze the data on their platform. So we do that as a service for the streaming services and then crunch the data, attach the offer from one of the 500,000 artists send it back and display it on the streaming service.The future of the music business is truly going to be just an amazing experience for the fans where everything you are interested in will basically just be delivered to you. As we see you start to listen to more and more artists or more and more of this particular artist and we can personalize the experience to you, you will automatically be notified of your favorite artist or the type of things you like to buy or the ways you like to interact with the artist. And it really shouldn’t be spending at all because we should be able to see and understand, “Hey, you like buying tickets, but every time we have displayed a t-shirt to you, you never buy that so we st op”. We pull back on that substituting those things for you.Martin: And when you look at the revenue streams for the musician, can you provide us a little bit of insight of the revenue split so for example digital goods or offline stuff that is merchandising, tickets, events whatever?J: Yes, absolutely. Over the years there has been a major shift in the music business where the main product that musicians as a business sold was music, was records, CDs and downloads. But that has dropped by billions and billions of dollars in our industry. So it has shifted heavily over to tickets and merchandise and VIP experiences and the bulk of the musicians’ career now is coming from touring and merchandising and VIP experiences.Martin: Are you organizing or have you ever had the thought of organizing some kind of collaborative concerts and because if you know what type of individuals are loving what type of music then maybe you can even combine some kind of 5 to 10 musicians where have some kind of overlap for maximizing of the people that show up and are willing to pay?J: Absolutely. We are at the very beginning of what using this data and what this data can mean for our industry. Just like that there are going to be incredible new innovations that come from this including that where you wouldn’t normally see a country artist open for a hip-hop artist but there is a ninety percent overlap for people in Dayton, Ohio that are happy to love these two artists and you can sell out a bigger show if you book both of them than separately. So that is a great example of things to come and it will definitely be happening in the future.Martin: What other cool stuff can you imagine just based on the really understanding the music preferences?J: Frankly, I believe the entire industry should run on this infrastructure and I mean with any industry. The more data and better understanding you have about your customers the more you can personalize the experience, the better products you can deliver to them and the more insight you have from your customers the better you can run your business.Understanding the likelihood that certain fans are going to like an artist coming to this town versus that town, you will be able to do these collaborative shows. You will be able to, if you are one of the biggest fans of a particular artist, the artist could happen to show up at your screen and do a private show for you and a couple of others. On the industry side the more you can understand the trends â€" what genre is being listened to, how is an artist rising and breaking, it is incredibly powerful and useful tool for managers to find new talent. If I am a manager and I like hip-hop I can use this to understand who are the up and coming artists instead of trying to just take it from a gut level, that is what a lot of managers and labels have done in the past. They just hear it and they believe it is good and they will use Facebook likes or they will use these different things to show, the blogs, to show that things are happening but there is no true source than people actually using a product and the musicians’ music listening to whatever trend is based on people actually consuming that.So, I think it is going to be not just on the consumer side having you two favorite artists, two completely different genres play together but also the tools /the data that will direct our entire industry to improve our business.Martin: I think the really interesting point for you will be to really focus and not be too diluted because there are so many opportunities that you could do and deliver some sort of service. For example if I am just thinking about helping or doing some crowd financing of artist just based on pattern analysis. You can do this, but you can also do perhaps finding some sponsors. Ok you can do that. There are so many different things that you could do, but keeping really focus seems to be an issue.J: Yes, that is the number one, actually not number one but it is a very well-known reason why companies fail. It is because they try to do too much. So we focus very clearly on one thing which is helping this business take their products and reach and sell to their customers in the most cost effective way and increase revenue. That’s it.Now, as the industry grows and as our platform continues to grow we can open up into some select new opportunities but like you say focus is one of the things that we are best at doing.Martin: J, before you said that you are taking 10 percent off the revenue that you are helping the artist with. Is there any other type of revenue source involved or is this independent if it is merchandise, soundtracks, tickets, whatever, everybody is 10 percent?J: Everything is 10 present. It is a 36 billion-dollar industry right now for those things: tickets, merchant and VIP experiences.Martin: Worldwide or US?J: Worldwide. And that is going to grow in an incredible amount because of some of the things we have been talking about, because we are able to reach a much bigger audience in a much more customized, personalized way. And if you think about doing a different model like charging musicians service fee to use the platform, if you calculate that you try to charge people who don’t have money. You can’t become a very large business. But on the flip side musicians have the biggest brands in the world. If collectively musicians are the most engaged category on every social network â€" Facebook, YouTube or etc., Instagram. And if you can help those businesses you have the biggest, most accessible brands in the world. If you can help those businesses run their business better, then ultimately it can tap into a multibillion dollar opportunity.So again, in the effort to stay focused that is what we are doing and sticking to itMartin: J, you said that you have a roundabout about a half a million band members. Is it band members or bands?J: Bands. MusiciansMartin: Ok, and can you give us some kind of split of the average number of people per band so just understanding this are there so many solo artist or really some 10 people bands and also understanding of whether some people are just having fun and just starting off in the beginning or some really like well known.J: In the beginning it was just a platform, open to any artist and we were just opening up to the world. Now, the last two years we focused heavily on the biggest artists in the world. So if you study the economics of the music industry you see that it is about 2,500 artists generate most of the traffic, most of the listening and most tour income and music sales. We are focused heavily ensuring that they have a BandPage profiles up and going. So we now keep a constant list and updating the list of those 2,500 artists based on our partners who use trending on these major streaming services. We partner with YouTube and Spotify and Vevo and Groove Music ,Microsoft service and Google etc., etc. So we can see when artists are popping up and when they pop into the 2,500 we make sure if they don’t have a BandPage profile to reach out. At this point almost every artist in the top 2,500 have a BandPage profile so everyone from Beyoncé to Arcade fire to Jay Z, on and on have a BandPage profile.We build a large platform so that any artist can log in and update their profile. So sure we also have up and coming artists around the world. We are a worldwide platform that allows musicians to get set up and start making money.Martin: When you just said Beyoncé and Jay Z I was just thinking why are you not organizing the music awards?J: Well, again, focus. One step at a time.Martin: Good.ADVICE TO ENTREPRENEURS FROM J SIDER In San Francisco (CA), we meet CEO Founder of BandPage, J (James) Sider. J talks about his story how he came up with the idea and founded BandPage, how the current business model works, as well as he provides some advice for young entrepreneurs.INTRODUCTIONMartin: Hi, today we are in San Francisco in the BandPage office or almost. Hi J, who are you and what do you do?J: I am J Sider and I am the CEO and founder of BandPage.Martin: Awesome. When did you come up with the business idea?J: It is a bit of a long story. I grew up as a musician and I was playing and singing music when I was a kid and that kind of led me into wanting to have a career into the music business. And so I started managing bands and venues around the country and then after many years of doing that I just realized that there is a lack of efficiency in the business model in the music industry as well as the technology that was being used and so I moved out here in San Francisco to solve these problems in 2009 and t hen launched the company in 2010.Martin: OK, cool. So when you came here to San Francisco what happened to be your first steps so that you just build a website or did you drop to investors. What did you do?J: The first step for meâ€" I didn’t know anybody around here. I just knew that if I wanted to build an app or a platform that this was the best city in the worlds to be in and it has the highest population density of engineers and designers and entrepreneurs and investors, and so as they say fish where the fish are.I came out here for the sole purpose of just getting involved in the community. I think there are a lot of ways that you can start a business. There is a lot of ways of getting it started, but the way I started it and I think the way you have a lot of leverage as an entrepreneur is if you start with a small team.So I came out here late 2009 and started searching, every night I went out and every night at San Francisco there are conferences and tech and startup meetup s. Every night you can go out and meet people so I did that for a couple of months and I talk to, I am sure, over a thousand people to try to get introduced to the right people that will be interested in the idea. And so my first step was to find one engineer and one designer that would work with me out of my living room to get the idea, build it and put it online.Martin: How did you convince them?J: It is not an easy thing. I think the most important thing when you are starting. There are lots of many important things but one of the most important things for me was simply being resourceful and driven. Finally, when I did find the right people to join me I realistically and probably talked to close to a 1000 people about it and some of those people were interested and started working with me and stopped and others worked a little bit longer and then it didn’t quite work out and then finally I found these individuals. And the way we did it was set up in a structure similar to some other startups around this area which is it is a small team that starts and we all work with equity and you believe in the division and all get behind it. And if you are lined on what you want to build you believe you are joining a team that can build it and incentivized through equity. That is how we did it and I think it aligns everybody on the early team to be able to have a go at it.Martin: So once you have developed your MVP of the BandPage what type of traction did you gain in order to find some investors?J: When I first moved here I talked to everybody, yes designers and engineers and folks but also investors and other entrepreneurs to really try to get to know a lot of people. And so after we had launched the product, if you can get a team, a small team and start building something and launch it you have far more leverage than you do if you go to investors before that point. If you go with a wire frame and idea versus you already have a product and traction you have more lev erage and you could give up less of the company for more funding.We launched the product, we had really strong market fit so it took off pretty quickly. When we had a couple hundred bands sign up and then a couple of thousand artist sign up and so at that point investors saw that we had created product that was creating a lot of value for our customers and so they are interested in being involved in this. So one of the things I did to really help us is I got to know this guy Larry Marcus and he is a managing director of Walden Venture Capital and just a brilliant guy, especially he has a lot of connections in the music industry. His name is in Billboards’ 100 most powerful people as well as in general Walden tech investor. And so I worked very, very hard to get him involved. Once I did that, he helped introduce us to other people.So one of the first things I tell entrepreneurs is when you land in a city and you start to build your startup make sure as quickly as possible to find a dvisors that you can put around the company. As powerful as you can find at different levels as you are building the company, you will be able to get more and more powerful and you need people around your company. You just kind of look out whenever can you find the most influential or powerful person that you can and try to get them involved. As you continue to build the company you find even more powerful and influential people that can help because it really makes a difference and in this case with Larry Marcus it was probably the sole reason we put together a seed ground funding. And then he has continued to be just incredibly powerful and helpful and just build this business.Martin: Good.BUSINESS MODEL OF BANDPAGEMartin: J, let’s talk about the business model of BandPage. What is it all about? What type of value proposition do you deliver to what type of customer segment?J: Our main goal as a business is we help musicians reach and monetize their customers in the most cost eff ective way you could reach revenue. We look at musicians, their business and they have a product to sell to their customer. The clear service that we provide is helping that business sell their products â€" tickets, merchandise, VIP offers and distribute those up to their customers where the customers are most likely to buy those products. And when the customers buy one of those products we take a 10 percent cut of that sale and so we have half a million musicians on the platform now. We distribute and display those musicians’ content and commerce to hundreds and millions of fans across most of the major streaming platforms today.Martin: Does this also mean that you only display the content on your platform or website but also on other media like YouTube and so on?J: Yes. Actually the whole point of what we do is to help the business musicians reach their customers wherever they are. If you think about yourself as a fan where you are spending your time these days with musicians, i t is probably not on their website of Facebook page anymore. You are probably spending a lot more time on streaming services listening to music and interacting with them there. And so instead of us being a destination to tell you have another place for bands to tell their fans to go we are truly a B2B, B2B2C if you will where we help the businesses reach their customers on the streaming services. There is now one billion a day active users across streaming services and we are just about the only way for every musician in the world to reach the customers on those platforms.Martin: And do you also have a way, unless you are in the Silicon Valley so many big data machinery startups. Are you also offering a way of matching the supply and demand in the meaning of the musicians and the customers in a more efficient way based on pattern recognition or something like that?J: Yes, absolutely so especially in the music business we really have this incredible opportunity that is happening righ t now where for the first time ever as a musician as a business you can truly segment and understand your customer based on their listening behavior or behavioral data. If you would listen to an artist 157 times versus listen to another artist 7 times there is a clear statisticly significance percentage likelihood that you would buy a ticket or a piece of merchandise or something to the artist, you listen to 157 times versus 7.And so we start to understand that data, the behavioral data and apply a kind of qualify and quantify the percentage likelihood that you would buy something from this artist versus another one and then match it up in that way. And so today we are now sending over 1.5 million fans to musician source every month and that is growing rapidly. We are the first company in the music industry to take listening data where we apply very large data machine learning algorithm to it to understand the likelihood that this individual is going to be interested in x type of co ntent and or commerce from that artist.Martin: And every customer needs to be logged in before looking at the content or is It anybody can look at the website and maybe you don’t even know who he is because you only got some browser fingerprint?J: We are distributing that to the streaming services, and we are partnering with the streaming services to analyze the data on their platform. So we do that as a service for the streaming services and then crunch the data, attach the offer from one of the 500,000 artists send it back and display it on the streaming service.The future of the music business is truly going to be just an amazing experience for the fans where everything you are interested in will basically just be delivered to you. As we see you start to listen to more and more artists or more and more of this particular artist and we can personalize the experience to you, you will automatically be notified of your favorite artist or the type of things you like to buy or the wa ys you like to interact with the artist. And it really shouldn’t be spending at all because we should be able to see and understand, “Hey, you like buying tickets, but every time we have displayed a t-shirt to you, you never buy that so we stop”. We pull back on that substituting those things for you.Martin: And when you look at the revenue streams for the musician, can you provide us a little bit of insight of the revenue split so for example digital goods or offline stuff that is merchandising, tickets, events whatever?J: Yes, absolutely. Over the years there has been a major shift in the music business where the main product that musicians as a business sold was music, was records, CDs and downloads. But that has dropped by billions and billions of dollars in our industry. So it has shifted heavily over to tickets and merchandise and VIP experiences and the bulk of the musicians’ career now is coming from touring and merchandising and VIP experiences.Martin: Are you organ izing or have you ever had the thought of organizing some kind of collaborative concerts and because if you know what type of individuals are loving what type of music then maybe you can even combine some kind of 5 to 10 musicians where have some kind of overlap for maximizing of the people that show up and are willing to pay?J: Absolutely. We are at the very beginning of what using this data and what this data can mean for our industry. Just like that there are going to be incredible new innovations that come from this including that where you wouldn’t normally see a country artist open for a hip-hop artist but there is a ninety percent overlap for people in Dayton, Ohio that are happy to love these two artists and you can sell out a bigger show if you book both of them than separately. So that is a great example of things to come and it will definitely be happening in the future.Martin: What other cool stuff can you imagine just based on the really understanding the music prefer ences?J: Frankly, I believe the entire industry should run on this infrastructure and I mean with any industry. The more data and better understanding you have about your customers the more you can personalize the experience, the better products you can deliver to them and the more insight you have from your customers the better you can run your business.Understanding the likelihood that certain fans are going to like an artist coming to this town versus that town, you will be able to do these collaborative shows. You will be able to, if you are one of the biggest fans of a particular artist, the artist could happen to show up at your screen and do a private show for you and a couple of others. On the industry side the more you can understand the trends â€" what genre is being listened to, how is an artist rising and breaking, it is incredibly powerful and useful tool for managers to find new talent. If I am a manager and I like hip-hop I can use this to understand who are the up an d coming artists instead of trying to just take it from a gut level, that is what a lot of managers and labels have done in the past. They just hear it and they believe it is good and they will use Facebook likes or they will use these different things to show, the blogs, to show that things are happening but there is no true source than people actually using a product and the musicians’ music listening to whatever trend is based on people actually consuming that.So, I think it is going to be not just on the consumer side having you two favorite artists, two completely different genres play together but also the tools /the data that will direct our entire industry to improve our business.Martin: I think the really interesting point for you will be to really focus and not be too diluted because there are so many opportunities that you could do and deliver some sort of service. For example if I am just thinking about helping or doing some crowd financing of artist just based on patt ern analysis. You can do this, but you can also do perhaps finding some sponsors. Ok you can do that. There are so many different things that you could do, but keeping really focus seems to be an issue.J: Yes, that is the number one, actually not number one but it is a very well-known reason why companies fail. It is because they try to do too much. So we focus very clearly on one thing which is helping this business take their products and reach and sell to their customers in the most cost effective way and increase revenue. That’s it.Now, as the industry grows and as our platform continues to grow we can open up into some select new opportunities but like you say focus is one of the things that we are best at doing.Martin: J, before you said that you are taking 10 percent off the revenue that you are helping the artist with. Is there any other type of revenue source involved or is this independent if it is merchandise, soundtracks, tickets, whatever, everybody is 10 percent?J: E verything is 10 present. It is a 36 billion-dollar industry right now for those things: tickets, merchant and VIP experiences.Martin: Worldwide or US?J: Worldwide. And that is going to grow in an incredible amount because of some of the things we have been talking about, because we are able to reach a much bigger audience in a much more customized, personalized way. And if you think about doing a different model like charging musicians service fee to use the platform, if you calculate that you try to charge people who don’t have money. You can’t become a very large business. But on the flip side musicians have the biggest brands in the world. If collectively musicians are the most engaged category on every social network â€" Facebook, YouTube or etc., Instagram. And if you can help those businesses you have the biggest, most accessible brands in the world. If you can help those businesses run their business better, then ultimately it can tap into a multibillion dollar opportunit y.So again, in the effort to stay focused that is what we are doing and sticking to itMartin: J, you said that you have a roundabout about a half a million band members. Is it band members or bands?J: Bands. MusiciansMartin: Ok, and can you give us some kind of split of the average number of people per band so just understanding this are there so many solo artist or really some 10 people bands and also understanding of whether some people are just having fun and just starting off in the beginning or some really like well known.J: In the beginning it was just a platform, open to any artist and we were just opening up to the world. Now, the last two years we focused heavily on the biggest artists in the world. So if you study the economics of the music industry you see that it is about 2,500 artists generate most of the traffic, most of the listening and most tour income and music sales. We are focused heavily ensuring that they have a BandPage profiles up and going. So we now keep a constant list and updating the list of those 2,500 artists based on our partners who use trending on these major streaming services. We partner with YouTube and Spotify and Vevo and Groove Music ,Microsoft service and Google etc., etc. So we can see when artists are popping up and when they pop into the 2,500 we make sure if they don’t have a BandPage profile to reach out. At this point almost every artist in the top 2,500 have a BandPage profile so everyone from Beyoncé to Arcade fire to Jay Z, on and on have a BandPage profile.We build a large platform so that any artist can log in and update their profile. So sure we also have up and coming artists around the world. We are a worldwide platform that allows musicians to get set up and start making money.Martin: When you just said Beyoncé and Jay Z I was just thinking why are you not organizing the music awards?J: Well, again, focus. One step at a time.Martin: Good.ADVICE TO ENTREPRENEURS FROM J SIDERMartin: Let’s talk about a dvice for first time entrepreneurs. So you definitely have learned stuff along the way. What of those learning can you share with our audience?J: This has been the best experience of my life. I just learned so much and there is so much I would love to share across a spectrum of building a company.But I think at the core of it first time entrepreneurs or people that are thinking about doing it. I think the most interesting thing I found stop entrepreneurs from going after their dream is just they don’t start. A lot of people feel like they need to have: ”Oh, I need to have an engineer and investor line up. I don’t know how to do marketing. I am not sure how to manage people or do PR.” They think about all these things before they have even started and so even just thinking about this big task stops them from starting. So I think the most important advice to folks that think about starting a business is just getting started, know that it is ok that you don’t know everything and know that you are going to make a lot of mistakes but you are going to learn from it. And frankly that is in my opinion the point of life, It is a great experience of life that we get to learn and try things. You are not necessarily failing if you don’t achieve some goal. You are learning and it is going to make you stronger and stronger and stronger.The thing I really want to say is worst case scenario you try, you take six months to a year to try to do this and you just learn an incredible amount, you get to know the feel that you are really interested in a lot better. Worst case scenario doesn’t work out you go back to the exact same job and position that you are in right now. Worst case â€" you are going right back where you are. So I like to tell folks don’t think about “I am starting a company and this is going to be my life forever.” Think of it like, “I am going to take a six month sabbatical and I am going to save enough money â€" a couple of thousand dollar s working in whatever job”. I slept of the floor and ate rice and beans I had about 3,000 bucks when I moved to San Francisco. A lot of people are like, “It is too expensive, whatever”. Well you know there are ways to do it. If you want to do it, you can find rent for four hundred bucks here.Martin: Really?J: Absolutely. I know a few places right now. 400-500 bucks, eat affordably, eat a lot of greens and rice and beans and you can get by for a six months or nine months. And if every day you are going out there, trying to make this happen, the cool thing is you will create some sort of progress. You will get to know people in that industry and maybe you don’t end up having a successful business but you end up getting to know a number of other folks in your industry and you are better off in the job that you had before. Finding ways to take the things that are normally scary for people, you know starting a business and venturing in this and making it more of an adventure and an opportunity to learn six months from what you are doing and knowing that you are probably going to end up doing something you enjoy more than you are today because you have spent that time. If not, getting funded and building a company and growing it more and becoming, you know, building a successful business.Martin: Cool. Thank you so much for your time and your insights!J: Absolutely.Martin: So next time you are thinking about starting a company and you are totally afraid of starting because of all the unknowns just keep starting, hustling your way around, living off in a very cheap apartment, meeting lots of people, working on your idea and if it doesn’t work out that is fine. You learned a lot and you met some cool people and you can go back to your old job. I mean everybody can do a normal job but maybe you are fulfilling your dream and starting a great company. Thanks.

Tuesday, May 12, 2020

Essay about The Beauty Myth - 616 Words

By: Kelly Winch The Beauty Myth, published by Doubleday in New York City, hit the shelves in 1992. Naomi Wolf wrote this 348-page book. Wolf attended Yale University and New College, Oxford University, where she was a Rhodes Scholar. Her essays have been printed in many well-known magazines and newspapers, including Esquire and the New York Times. The Beauty Myth was Wolfs first book. She has also written two other books, Fire With Fire and Promiscuities. Wolf is a recognized feminist. She has done a lot of writing and has spoken to many audiences about issues involving feminism. In The Beauty Myth, Wolfs basic thesis states that there is a connection between female liberation and female beauty. She writes: The more legal and†¦show more content†¦Flaws, wrinkles and other problems are airbrushed out of the picture. Wolf discusses the effect that these standards are having on women in the workplace. A womans beauty, or lack of it, can be used against her. In 1986, Mechelle Vinson lost a sexu al harassment case. Vinson was young and ‘beautiful and carefully dressed. The district court ruled that her appearance counted against her. (Wolf 38) In Hopkins v. Price-Waterhouse, Ms. Hopkins was denied a partnership because she needed to learn to ‘walk more femininely, talk more femininely, dress more femininely, and ‘wear makeup. She brought in more business than any other employee. (Wolf 39) I believe that this book has value and people from all walks of life should read it. We all need to become much more aware of how strong and how damaging this kind of media influence is. Women and men need to realize that there are companies in our culture that thrive on making us feel bad about ourselves, such as cosmetic companies, health clubs, clothing designers; anyone that is trying to change us. The book was well written and extremely interesting. The reviews on the back cover say it all; that this book is essential reading. I will recommend it to all of my friends. Hope fully those who are very self-doubting and considering cosmetic surgery will realize they are trying to fit into an abnormal standard of beauty. Word Count:Show MoreRelatedThe Beauty Myth Essay1960 Words   |  8 Pagesponder some part (or all) of their body. In other words, this months column is for 99.9% of the women reading it! Why is it that so many women feel they just dont measure up when it comes to their looks? A new book entitled The Beauty Myth--How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women, provides some answers. If you are a woman who recognized herself in the above paragraph, or if you are a man who wants to understand more about the dynamics of media vs. self-worth, then run, do not walk, to theRead MoreThe Beauty Myth By Naomi Wolf1435 Words   |  6 PagesThe novel The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf focuses highly on feminism in today’s times. Throughout the novel the author describes different situations in which women are stereotypically viewed. So many women believe that the real meaning of beauty is what is shown on the television. Many end up disregarding their opinions and instead molding it into the views of their peers. The author argues that some women are being victims by; work, media, religion, sex, violence, and hunger. Beauty was once seenRead MoreThe Beauty Myth By Naomi Wolf1861 Words   |  8 PagesThe Beauty Myth, written by Naomi Wolf, is a study of how ideas of beauty oppress and restrict women from fully realising their potential. Published in 1990, many of the battles of second wave feminism had been won, which left many women in Wolf’s position confused as to why women were still struggling. Wolf argues that as women have shed traditional values of purity and submission, they have instead become obsessed with the beauty myth. â€Å"The more legal and material hindrances which women have brokenRead More Analysis of The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf Essay590 Words   |  3 PagesAnalysis of The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf The Beauty Myth, published by Doubleday in New York City, hit the shelves in 1992. Naomi Wolf wrote this 348-page book. Wolf attended Yale University and New College, Oxford University, where she was a Rhodes Scholar. Her essays have been printed in many well-known magazines and newspapers, including Esquire and the New York Times. The Beauty Myth was Wolf’s first book. She has also written two other books, Fire With Fire and PromiscuitiesRead MoreThe Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women by Naomi Wolf1669 Words   |  7 Pageswell? What does beauty is only skin deep really mean? I always thought what made a person truly and genuinely beautiful, is whats on the inside. So often, we judge women on their appearance first, then their abilities. Did you ever wonder how this came about and why we all do this today? dont try to deny it, were all shallow and addicted to entertainment, its simply our culture, our way of life. Naomi wolf tries to explain the reasoning and ideas behind the beauty myth. She defines it andRead MoreFeminism And Popular Culture : Gender Relations And Feminist Issues1336 Words   |  6 Pagesand lives outside of the home. In fact, Naomi Wolf’s idea of these themes, as described in The Beauty Myth, can be perceived in popular portrayals of women, as their appearances are considered central to their role in the plot. Examples of this include the reality television show, The Bachelor, and the science fiction film, The Stepford Wives. Naomi Wolf’s popular discussion in her book, The Beauty Myth, was influential for its perspective on the pressures on women to conform to a standardized ideaRead MoreWomen s Beauty : A Woman s Worth With Her Beauty1487 Words   |  6 Pagesthere is nothing worse for a female character than being ugly and this is reflected in the beauty myth that women face outside fairy tales as well. Fairy tales equate a woman’s worth with her beauty. Americans do this as well by pitting beauty against internal traits and individuality. In doing this, women continue to receive their beauty myths from men, compete with other women and pass these unreachable beauty standards onto the next generation of women. With fairytales, it is what’s on the outsideRead MoreIs Beauty a Social Construct? Essay1240 Words   |  5 Pagesepidemic of eating disorders†. In 1991, Naomi wolf’s bestseller the beauty myth claimed the obsession with beauty was the result of a cultural conspiracy seeking to undo psychologically and covertly all the good things that feminism did for women. She argues that ideology of beauty is the last, best belief system that keeps male dominance intact and that womens magazines have played a pivotal role in the selling of the beauty myth. If, as Jean Kilbourne suggests, the media and advertising teach usRead MorePersonal Statement : Personal Media1730 Words   |  7 Pageslook that way as well. I try to remind myself that I am fine just the way that I am, but it tends to slip my mind when I look at those pictures. The Beauty Myth written by Naomi Wolf states, â€Å"We are in the midst of a violent backlash against feminism that uses images of female beauty as a political weapon against women’s advancement: the beauty myth† (Wolf). This explains one of the dangers that the media reinforces and wires into young women’s minds. And it is harmful to not only young women, butRead MoreAnalysis Of Being A Man 888 Words   |  4 Pages Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, or so it seems. Society implements the standard of beauty in our everyday lives. It controls what roles women are expected to perform. A similar anticipation goes for men, but for â€Å"masculinity’. Every individual man is supposed to be masculine and have some sort of manly quality. Paul Theroux in â€Å"Being a Man† discusses how as a male, one is expected to meet society’s standards of masculinity. He as well mentions his reasoning on why that principle of behavior

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Why You Shouldn’t Use Credit Cards Free Essays

The credit card companies and banks are getting richer, while most Americans are getting more in debt. The economy is in trouble, therefore, more and more people are relying on credit cards. In today’s society we are constantly trying to get out of debt, but in the process of trying to get ourselves out of debt, we create more debt. We will write a custom essay sample on Why You Shouldn’t Use Credit Cards or any similar topic only for you Order Now One of the major problems that most of us are dealing with is credit card debt. Most credit card companies are not looking out for your best interest. They are constantly raising interest rates. Minimum payments are just enough to cover the finance charges. Most Americans should not use credit cards for the following reasons: it will create bad spending habits; you will incur more debt affecting credit score rating; and possibly make you a victim of identity theft. In my opinion, a credit card should be used for purchases that you are able to pay off in full upon receiving your statement, but most of us don’t. Most people lack self control and tend to misuse the credit card. Credit cards should mainly be used for emergencies, but we tend to use them for everyday purchases such as: food, gas, clothing, etc. Some people are living in a borrowed lifestyle, because they purchase things they can’t afford. People will spend more on a purchasing using a credit card than they would with cash. â€Å"People that use credit cards tend to spend 12%-18% more on transactions than those who use cash (faithfitnessfinance. com). † For example, if you are going to pay with a credit card in a fast food establishment, it is easier to get the large drink instead of the medium drink. When the statement arrives, most people will make the minimum payment on his/her credit card. The minimum payment only covers the finance charges, which will increase the amount of time it will take to pay the debt off. â€Å"It will also increase the amount of interest you end up paying (about. com. )† Possessing these bad habits will lead to more debt. A credit card bill is an additional monthly expense. If you are already struggling with paying basic monthly bills, than creating a credit card bill will only add an additional financial burden. Unlike a checkbook ledger, credit card balances are harder to keep track of, because you mostly rely on the monthly statement. If not properly monitored, this will cause your credit card to reach its maximum limit or over the limit. If you are over the limit or at maximum limit, you will incur over the limit fees or higher monthly payments. When faced with additional charges or higher monthly payments, individuals sometimes put themselves in a bind. They are forced to make a decision whether to pay the bill or not. Most of us will opt not to pay, because we can’t afford it. Once you opt not to pay, you set the wheels in motion for your credit score to decline. If your card is at its maximum limit or close to the limit and you decide only to pay the minimum, you are still compromising your credit score. Credit rating is very important, because it is a deciding factor in majority of major purchases such as: car, house, utilities and etc. â€Å"A large part of your credit score considers the amount of debt you have (about. com). If your credit score is low, most likely you wouldn’t be approved for whatever you are trying to purchase or your interest rate will be ridiculously high. Credit card use can also lead to identity theft. We see on television almost on a regular basis that they have arrested someone for identity theft. Everyday people are falling victim to identity theft. Anytime you book a trip, pay a bill or make a purchase online or in person, you are risking someone stealing your identity. We live in a world that is filled with criminals and con artists. They are always larking to find their next victim. This is an easy way for them to obtain sensitive information, make money and purchases that will benefit them while making your life complicated. From a personal experience, someone stole my credit card information and personal information. This person rented a U-Haul truck and kept it for months and decided to make purchases at Home Depot. I was stuck with the task of contacting the credit card companies and the authorities. You are forced to prove that you are not the person that authorized payments and purchases. You are subject to denial while trying to obtain credit from other companies. Sometimes it isn’t always a cut and dry situation to get through, but can be a very time consuming and expensive process. Credit cards aren’t bad when used properly, but could be if used improperly. We should make sure we know the difference between what we need and want. We sometimes justify a purchase by saying ‘I really need it†, but we should ask ourselves â€Å"what will happen if I don’t get it? † Once you ask yourself that question, then at that point is when you determine whether or not it is orth using. Improper use of a credit card will lead you quickly into debt. It is better to make a purchase with cash or debit card than with a credit card. If you are unable to afford something you really want, it is best to save and buy it at a later time. Most of us aren’t equipped to know how to use a credit card properly; therefore, it is in our best interest to keep it in our wallets. When thinking about getting that credit and using it, ask yourself, â€Å"Do I know the rules of the credit card game? † How to cite Why You Shouldn’t Use Credit Cards, Essay examples

Friday, May 1, 2020

Texas Governmental Policy

Question: Discuss about the Texas Governmental Policy. Answer: Texas Health care policy Texas is regarded as a very competitive state when it comes to economy as a result of which many businessmen and other people consider this state as a land of opportunities. With economic growth and prosperity, the state faces several public policy related challenges. The major challenges relating to the public policies include water policy, healthcare policies, educational policies, immigration policies, electricity policies and more. One of the most significant public policy issues is related to the health care policy of Texas (Morrisey and Michael). Historical perspective of the healthcare policy During the mid 20th century, the Federal government played a significant role in establishing the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Health and Human Services and Centres for Disease Control. It played an important role in regulating the healthcare industry. The Federal Government enacted various legislations such as the Health Maintenance Organisations Act, 1973, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, 1996; Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, 2010. Today, the healthcare industry forms a major part of the nations economy and the policies are complex. These policies are implemented by the Federal, local and state governments and even by the private organizations. In 2010, the Obamacare or the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was passed and implemented in the US which purported to those people who were not covered by any health insurance through their work as the law of the country required all its citizens to be covered by a health insurance or any health care plan. Health policy in Texas Health care plans include three forms of plans, namely, HMOs, exclusive provider benefit plans (EPOs) and the preferred provider benefit plans (PPOs). An HMO shall pay for the health care only if a person sees a doctor or uses a hospital within the HMO network. PPO health care plan is offered by an insurance company but if one sees a doctor out of its network, he or she has to pay out of their pockets (Swartz et al.). EPOs is regarded as negotiable agreements with the hospitals and the doctors to provide health care to its members with a discount. However, in order to enjoy this health care coverage one is required to pay some costs for the health care themselves and the amount of cost shall depend on the type of healthcare plan adopted by an individual (Barr and Donald). The state laws in the US require Texas to provide certain benefits along with the health care plans or policies and these benefits are termed as state-mandated benefits. These benefits include emergency services, ma ternity and newborn care, prescription drugs, hospitalisation including surgery and more. However, regarding the ACA, if an individual has a health insurance or Medicare, there is no need a health care coverage under the ACA, only when one does not have a health insurance one may need a healthcare insurance under the ACA. Moreover, it is only important to have a health care plan; it does not have to be through the ACA. Pros and Cons of the policies Texas is on the states in the United States that depends on the Federal health exchange (the Marketplace) for the purpose of its health care coverage (Morrisey, Michael and Radcliff). Although the ACA and the other state health care policies have a significant impact and are indeed changing the way, the doctors and the hospitals are delivering care (Polsky, Daniel and Janet). However, taking into consideration the healthcare policy under the ACA, these health care policies have their own pros and cons which are discussed below: Pros Efficiency- the healthcare policies have made the hospitals improve the infrastructure in order to provide better and improved facilities to the patients and exercise standard of care towards them. Improved care model- Earlier, the hospitals charged more money for performing more services. Now, the treatment result is compared with the expenses charged and hospitals complying with the requisites become entitled to a raise in federal payments. Cons Healthcare Expenses- both the private and the public payers are gradually experiencing an increase in the health care costs. One of the important factors responsible for such an increase is that the purchasers and the consumers in a health care market are hardly the same entity (Friedberg et al.). Administrative expenses- the hospitals attend bulk of new patients everyday as a result of which there is an increase in the paper work, care management and extra time is devoted while dealing with Medicare with billions of patients who have become newly insured (Dafny et al.). Coverage- the act of providing coverage to more people shall increase the level of challenges. The Medicare patients are already facing problems relating to the unavailability of the medical practitioners. Decrease in payments- in order to enable the hospitals to meet their expenses, the government shall apply various methods one of which may include a steep downfall in the Medicare reimbursements. Recommendations Texas is regarded as one of the biggest single payer of the health care services and has a major impact on the health care service related provisions (Jacobs, Lawrence and Theda Skocpol). Therefore, it is highly recommended that Texas should enable the Texans to have an easy access to the expense and quality related information regarding the health care services. However, taking into consideration that it is difficult to provide the Texans with such information, therefore, the state should maintain an internet portal which may act as a one-stop access point of all the information related to the price and quality of the health care goods and services provided by the hospitals of the Federal, national and state organisations. The Texas Health Care Information Collection Centre (THCIC) must be authorised in a manner which enables the patients to have access to the hospital data review process in order to avert any kind of unnecessary delays. Further, the government officials are required to take into consideration the several factors that are fundamental while developing sound and healthy policies. The policymakers must consider the public health interest; the efficacy of the policies must be evaluated. Thereafter, the policy makers must ensure that the policy focuses on the health related issues and whether it is capable of achieving the objective. Finally, the policy must be implemented effectively for providing health care benefits to the people. References Barr, Donald A.Introduction to US Health Policy: the organization, financing, and delivery of health care in America. JHU Press, 2016. Dafny, Leemore, Igal Hendel, and Nathan Wilson. "Narrow networks on the health insurance exchanges: What do they look like and how do they affect pricing? a case study of texas."The American Economic Review105.5 (2015): 110-114. Friedberg, Mark W., et al. "Factors affecting physician professional satisfaction and their implications for patient care, health systems, and health policy."RAND Health Quarterly3.4 (2014). Jacobs, Lawrence, and Theda Skocpol.Health care reform and American politics: what everyone needs to know. Oxford University Press, 2015. Morrisey, Michael A., and Tiffany A. Radcliff. "A STUDY OF AFFORDABLE CARE ACT COMPETITIVENESS IN TEXAS." (2017). Morrisey, Michael. "Price Searching in the Health Insurance Exchanges."6th Biennial Conference of the American Society of Health Economists. Ashecon, 2016. Polsky, Daniel, and Janet Weiner. "State Variation in Narrow Networks on the ACA Marketplaces." (2015). Swartz, Katherine, Mark A. Hall, and Timothy S. Jost. "Realizing Health Reforms Potential." (2015).

Sunday, March 22, 2020

Anabundant source of concentrated energy Essay Example

Anabundant source of concentrated energy Essay Example Anabundant source of concentrated energy Essay Anabundant source of concentrated energy Essay Uranium is a really heavy, metallic and chemical metal which can be used as anabundant beginning of concentrated energy. The most common isotopes are Uranium-235 ( U-235 ) and Uranium-238 ( U-238 ) and U is non a renewable energy. It was discovered in 1789 by Martin Klaproth, a German chemist, from minerals called uraninite. It s found within low degrees of dirt and more frequently than other minerals. Nuclear energy is the energy stored in the bonds between the atoms in the karyon of an atom. In theory, atomic energy can be obtained from uranium utilizing two different methods, either fission or merger. In atomic fission, the atoms of an element split into smaller atoms. This action gives off tonss of energy which can be used to boil H2O into steam which is subsequently used to drive generators bring forthing electricity. Nuclear fission is possible because, unlike most other elements, U s karyon is really big to get down with. Fission is a concatenation reaction. When one karyon interruptions apart after being hit by a neutron, these little pieces hit other nuclei and do them to interrupt excessively. These consequences in a immense sum of energy from a little sum of U, therefore it is a really efficient beginning. Nuclear merger is the edifice of a larger or heavier nucleus. This reaction gives off more energy than fission but due to proficient complexnesss and the absurdly high sum of money required, merger is seldom used to obtain energy. Nuclear energy is really efficient. A smattering of U can bring forth as much electricity as 70 metric tons of coal. Furthermore, fission does non let go of nursery gases hence planetary heating will be less of a menace. The greatest job with atomic energy is radioactive waste. The waste from fission procedures could stay radioactive for centuries. However, methods do be to cut down this consequence. Radioactive waste can be cooled and so buried deep resistance. The other job is that it is really unsafe. In the event of an accident, the effects would be lay waste toing. A big radius of land around the accident would stay unserviceable due to high degrees of radiation and may people could be killed. The effects are long-run besides, for case babes born for the following decennaries in such an country could hold several familial mutants and other wellness jobs. Uranium would be a really good option as an energy beginning for several states. Particularly, since Canada has one of the largest supplies of U this could be really easy transformed into atomic energy. Unfortunately, non many states choose it aside from some noteworthy exclusions like France. A big portion of France s energy demands are met by atomic energy. In Quebec, there is merely one atomic works, the Gentilly-2 Nuclear Generating Station. Questions If atomic energy is so efficient, so why do many states do non utilize it? Unfortunately, like all energy beginnings, atomic energy has its drawbacks. Uranium is really accessible but the building of the power workss imposes several jobs. They have to be really unafraid in the instance of an accident and besides it has to be earthquake-resistant. This makes it complex and expensive. Furthermore, the workss have to be isolated every bit far as possible from dumbly populated countries for safety grounds. The copiousness of waste ensuing from atomic fission is really difficult to pull off, dispose safely and proctor. This leads many states to waver and take other options like coal even if it is harmful for the environment. Was there any big graduated table atomic accident in the yesteryear? The ill-famed atomic accident in Chernobyl, Pripyat, USSR ( now known as Russia ) on 26 April 1986 is doubtless the worst accident of all time. Hundreds of people died and the part has been closed off of all time since. Many of the kids born around that country suffer from familial mutants. The authorities had airdrop bags of lead, sand and boracic acid as a signifier of immediate crisis direction. Then they spent eight months constructing a immense concrete sarcophagus around the reactor. If atomic merger is more efficient than fission, so why is nt it normally used? Presently scientists ca nt truly make any merger reactions to do utile power. There are a few bureaus working on merger devices, but the high temperatures required to achieve merger necessitate really particular stuffs and controls. The lone province of the art merger installation is the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor Fusion. Nuclear merger is improbable to go a utile beginning of power for many old ages. Bibliography hypertext transfer protocol: //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_fusion hypertext transfer protocol: //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_fission hypertext transfer protocol: //nuclearinfo.net/Nuclearpower/WebHomeCostOfNuclearPower Observatory Second Year of Secondary Cycle Two Textbook, ( ERPI ) , Marie-Danielle Cyr, Dominique Forget, Jean-Sebastien Verreault.

Thursday, March 5, 2020

Description of a Person Yao Ming, Indomitable Energy of Life

Description of a Person Yao Ming, Indomitable Energy of Life There are so many people to talk about and present my own admiration about them, this is why it is not that easy to choose one person only and describe his/her best and remarkable qualities. However, there is one person, who inspires me all the time and helps to pick out the best ideas and follow my dreams even without a direct participation in my life; this person has lots of own interests and desires and does not afraid to share his ideas with people. Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Description of a Person: Yao Ming, Indomitable Energy of Life specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More His interviews and autobiography, his participation in numerous competitions and behavior during the games, his personal appearance and style – all this causes so much respect from my side; and if I could get a chance to meet any famous person, talk to him/her, or have a dinner, I would choose this very celebrity without any doubts. T his indomitable person in my life, who inspires me to take significant steps and never regret about them, is Yao Ming, a Chinese basketball player from the National Basketball Association. My admiration of Yao Ming has lots of reasons, and one of them is his indomitability in games and in his life. It is not that easy to live this life without making mistakes and analyze them. However, all those steps, Ming takes in his life and career, have reasons and cause certain respect. First of all, his pleasant appearance during all the games deserves attention. He always has well-groomed air: his short-cut hair does not disturb him during the game and allows noticing the moves of his opponents. Telling the truth, good looking and proper behavior help to build a good career and have proper conditions for living, and all this is not easy for a foreign basketball player. It is necessary to improve your abilities and your personality day by day, think about the consequences and about the new ways to achieve the desirable goals. To my mind, each person should remember about his/her responsibility and weigh own abilities to succeed. This is the major principle of Yao Ming’s life, and it deserves attention. Yao’s personal life is also one more example of how indomitable Yao Ming is. His wife Ye Li, a great basketball player as well, did not want to pay her attention to this young man for a certain period of time, and Yao decided to win her with the help of some not ordinary ideas: he presented his favorite collection of pins, which he gathered during the 2000 Summer Olympics. Advertising Looking for essay on biography? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Li was impressed, and Yao demonstrated his imagination and desire to win. His kind attitude to each member of his family, his attention, and his love help to realize how a real son and husband should look like. Sometimes, it is enough to look in h is kind eyes and see unbelievable understanding and support. His sensitivity and availability to help make him a real supported in his family. One more point that proves his indomitability is his personality and attitude to the things going around. It touches about each thing in this man: his smell gives no sign of fear or doubt, his look is always sure and reliable, and his smile always promotes support and understanding. Talks with this person may be of different kinds: educative, when he uses all his skills to prove something and explain; flirting, when he wants to attract people’s attention, using his charms and appearance; helpful, when his hands touch the body and make any person be in safe. His words cannot leave indifferent any person: â€Å"this is who I am. If I succeed, I feel that saying what I wanted to do helped me. And if I fail, I will feel that it brought me down† (Ming Bucher, 16). These words help us comprehend the true nature of this person: he i s not afraid of mistakes; he realizes that, one day, he may fail, and it will be his fault, but still, he is ready for it. If I got a chance to ask him a question, I would like to wonder how he finds more powers to become more and more famous in many countries and still be a good person, a kind husband, and a caring son. I hope to hear really worthy words to improve my own life, to see his smile and realize that he knows me and knows what is want, and to shake his hand in order to feel that power. Yao’s movements during the games, his respectful attitude to each player on the field, his attention to his family, and his participation in the cultural life of his country – all this evoke only pleasant emotions. Fire and ice, black and white, hot and cold – all these words about Yao; his prudence in work and care in family, his desire to help and desire to win – they are gathered in one person and make him really noticeable in this word. He achieves the desir able goals by means of fair competitions and notable actions. To my mind, this personality may be compared to a strong tree that is able to use the sun ray in order to live and be helpful for other people to shelter from rain or sun. Yao Ming is a kind traffic sign that may show the necessary way in the most unpredictable difficulties. This is why Yao Ming and his attitude to this life, his career, and other people may serve as a good example to follow and not to regret about everything.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Description of a Person: Yao Ming, Indomitable Energy of Life specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Ming, Yao and Bucher, Ric. YAO: A Life in Two Worlds. Miramax, 2004.

Tuesday, February 18, 2020

Men on the Down Low and The Impact it has on Others Research Paper

Men on the Down Low and The Impact it has on Others - Research Paper Example Now the paper has taken up a particular target segment which has been the victims of such concern as down low. The African American men make up this category and this problem of down low prevails amongst them through the medium of media attention, social identity and health concerns. Introduction The term â€Å"down low† has been defined in general terms as something to keep secret which might include either information or some actions. More specifically the term incorporates men who are bisexual and might call themselves â€Å"on the down low†. This involves therefore a self perception which is associated mostly with the African American men who is often accused to have inflicted AIDS amongst the female members of their community owing to the double lives they lead. The identification of men with down low therefore depends on the health factors, social identification indicators and the media attention. If the men are directly gay then they can come out in the open and admit their orientation in order to lead a desirable life but instead everything seems to be carried out in secret. The black men are almost unanimously identified with down low. Lynn Harris, in his work Invisible Life focuses on the bisexual behavior of the black people at a time when the media did not give attention to the issue and therefore the people of all races gradually became aware of this. For instance, some men who were engaged in association with women or sexually tied up with men often are worried about contracting HIV and even getting it passed on to their spouses. The â€Å"down low† issue has taken up spaces in New York Times and other print media of the nation. Boykin’s work Beyond the Down Low focuses on aspects which point out that the down low is not a phenomenon but is something about psychological perception. He quotes some statistics from a story â€Å"Of the 7,000 black female AIDS cases in 2003, only 118 reported sex with a bisexual male as th e method of exposure† (Boykin & Harris, 2006, p. vii) and also says that around 1.6 percent of the women who were reported to have been inflicted with AIDS had relationships with bisexual male despite the fact that more than 100 percent of the public opinion centering on AIDS amongst the blacks were concerned with down low. Boykin also points out that the rate of AIDS amongst the black female had come down by 6 percent over the previous four years (Boykin and Harris, 2006, p. 107). The tragic stories on black men were ignored though the American women’s cases of AIDS were reported without cross checking the evidence found. Even men were diagnosed with AIDS and reportedly had the highest cases amongst the black community. The media tries to avoid these reports until the case involves a black man who is responsible for infection in a black woman. This highlights the bias of media with respect to racial difference. The media is selective about reporting the health cases su ch that the finger is pointed towards black men on the down low. Often black men experience a risk of getting accused of crimes not committed and even has to bear the consequence of the same simply for the color of his skin. Hence in this circumstance perception is treated as a practicality. Authors like Boykin rightly suggests that instead of avoiding the truth and telling lies to the media it is important to solve the

Monday, February 3, 2020

UK REMEDIES AND RESTITUTION Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

UK REMEDIES AND RESTITUTION - Essay Example serious litigants and habitual litigants would be discouraged and only genuine grievance would be catered to by the judiciary and in the process saving a lot of public money and precious judicial time that could be used somewhere else. Under Civil Law and specifically under the Tort of Negligence people rush to courts to sue the other party and seek compensation and off lately even the system has been encouraging it in a tacit manner. According to David Hooker, director of Claims at Norwich Union quoting the Institute of Actuaries (December 2002) figures said that every year  £10 billion in compensation claims is paid out. This ends up costing the average household  £500 per year. Bogus or excessive claims cost local authorities as much as  £117 million a year, according to the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment. There has also been a 48% increase in the number of claims being handled by the NHSLA (National Health Service Litigation Authority). He further said that as of 31st March 2003 there were 19,580 live claims against trusts. There is inevitably also a corresponding increase in the estimated value of claims against trusts, which in the year to 31st March 2003 rose 12%.( http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/cgi/news/release?id=123184 ) The rough estimated cost that the NHS paid as compensation amount in 2001 was near about  £900m, to LEAs it was around  £200m, and to the Police Deptt /MoD around  £800m (Source: Actuarial Report - The Cost of Compensation). The compensation claims in the cases of medical negligence have especially seen a phenomenal rise over a number of years. There have been genuine claims too but a significant number of preposterous claims have landed a number of medical professionals in soup over things that could have been explained in medical terms. Under the head of negligence in Law of Torts, compensation awarded due to the negligence of the defendant is the most effective remedy. The case is different if it is a case of

Sunday, January 26, 2020

Family Planning Program In Ethiopia Health And Social Care Essay

Family Planning Program In Ethiopia Health And Social Care Essay Access to basic services such as water and sanitation is limited and its distribution is biased towards urban areas. Thirty percent of Ethiopians (80.5% urban and 21.5% rural) have access to improved sanitation, while access to clean drinking water is slightly higher at 35 percent (90% urban and 25% rural). Sixty four percent of the adult population is illiterate; with higher rate of illiteracy among women than men. The overall current contraceptives prevalence rate among married women in Ethiopia is 14.7%, and among all women of reproductive age group is 10.3%. Thirty four percent of currently married women of reproductive age group have an unmet need for family planning (WHO, 2010). Family planning (FP) services are delivered through facility-based reproductive health (RH) services including government health facilities and health services run by NGOs and private for profit organizations including pharmacies selling socially marketed pills, condoms and Depo-Provera; and by community based reproductive health (CBRH) agents supported by a variety of international and national NGOs. Family planning services can significantly contribute to limiting the family size efforts. Strengthening contraceptive services has been shown to be effective in reducing maternal mortality. Specifically there is a role for increased access to long term and permanent contraceptive methods. Although 60% of the methods used in Ethiopia are injectables, 32% of users of injectables discontinue in the first year of use, usually because of health concerns or other issues with the method. Also 42% of women want to limit childbearing, thus they are potential clients for LTPMs. Efforts are needed to increase access to LTPM for women who do not want any more children (DHS, 2005). The Ethiopian government has been undertaking various policy reform measures and making substantial progresses towards achieving the millennium development goals. Improved policy environment and shift in government priorities towards the social sector have significantly improved access to and quality of health services. Potential health service coverage has increased from 45% in 1997 to 90 percent in 2010 (FMOH, 2010). The health policy gives primary focus on preventive and promotive health care to address the major health problems and to provide access to health services for the majority of Ethiopians. In this regard, the health service extension program (HEP) is the biggest venture of the government and flagship program of the ministry by which two female health extension workers who are government paid are being assigned at kebele level ( the lowest administrative level with 5000 population). The government has been engaged into improving health service delivery through enhancing coverage, quality and equity aiming at improving the overall health status of citizens. The various studies and routine information sources showed that the health outcomes are exhibiting encouraging results in terms of reducing child and maternal mortality. Background Increasingly, the government of Ethiopia is giving greater attention to address the issue of rapid population growth and associated demographic factors in designing and implementing different development strategies, and has recognised the rapid population growth and high fertility rate as one of the main challenges to poverty reduction. different strategic documents were formulated and being implemented like accelerated and sustained development to end poverty (PASDEP), which includes reducing the total fertility rate (TFR) and closing the gap between boys and girls education and also the health sector development program. Overview of the health sector Health status and access The government with continues support and collaboration from the development partners as well as the effort of the general public on its health has achieved a lot towards improving the health status of its citizens. However the health status of Ethiopians still remains low compared to worldwide benchmarks. In 2010, life expectancy was 58 years, maternal mortality ratio was 673 per 100, 000 live births, infant mortality rate was 69 per 1000 live births and the under-five mortality rate was 109 per 1000 live births (WHO, 2010). Ethiopias health problems are largely attributed to preventable infections ailments and nutritional deficiencies (FMOH, 2010). Health Service delivery The public sector is the major health service provider for Ethiopians. As a result of significant decentralization reforms, Ethiopias federal structure is comprised of nine regional states and two city administrations, each responsible for managing its own public health sector services. To promote decentralization and meaningful participation of the population in local development activities, decision making process in the development and implementation of the health system are shared between the federal ministry of health (FMOH) (policy guidance), the regional health bureau (RHB) policy and technical support, and the woreda or district health services (coordination of primary health care services). In order to realize the goals of the health sector strategic plan, the health service delivery was introduced in a four-tier referral system, characterised by a first line primary health care unit (PHCU), comprised of one health centre and five satellite health posts, and then the second line district hospital and specialised hospital. A PHCU is designed to serve 25, 000 people, while a district and a zonal hospital are each expected to serve 250, 000 and 1, 000, 000 people respectively. The public sector remains the major provider of health services accounting for about 67% of total health services, followed by the private sector which provides 31% of the services, and facilities owned by business enterprises accounts for the remaining 2%. The increasing number of private for profit health sector and not-for-profit, offers an opportunity to enhance health service coverage (FMOH, 2010). The policy framework Global reproductive health policy context In 1994 the world came together to create a consensus on what had previously been a deeply divisive issue: the relationship between population growth and other areas of development and was considered a groundbreaking effort for shifting population policy discussions away from simply slowing population growth to enhancing individual health and rights while focusing on social development (ICPD 1994). Since then remarkable achievements has been registered. To move the sexual and reproductive agenda forward, progressive international and regional instruments has been developed among which the most important one include the 1995 Beijing declaration and platform of action, the 2004 ICPD ten review, the 2006 Maputo plan of action on sexual and reproductive health and rights (AU, 2006), and the 2009 UN convection for elimination of all form of discrimination against women. The 2000 millennium summit adopted the United Nations millennium declaration committing their nations to a new global pa rtnership to reduce extreme poverty and setting out a serious of time bound targets with a deadline of 2015-the millennium development goals. To achieve this, UN organizations, governments, associations, private foundations, and other non governmental organizations expressed their commitments (Farina et al. 2008). National Health policy The health policy of the country was formulated in 1993 after careful assessment of the nature, magnitude and root causes of the existing health problem of Ethiopia and awareness of newly emerging health problems. Democratization and decentralization of the existing health service system were emphasised stressing on development and prioritization of the preventive and promotive components of health care, development of an equitable and acceptable standard of health service system that will reach all segments of the population maximizing the effective and efficient utilization of existing internal and external resources, promoting and strengthening of multi-sectoral and intersectoral activities, promotion of attitudes and practices conducive to the strengthening of health system development, ascertaining the accessibility of health care for all segments of the population, enriching the concept and intensifying the practice of family planning for optimal family health and planned popul ation dynamics, and intensifying family planning for the optimal health of the mother, child and family (TGE, 1993). National Population policy (1993) This major goal of the policy is harmonization of the rate of population growth and the capacity of the country for the development and rational utilization of natural resources thereby creating conditions conducive to the improvement of the level of welfare of the population. The general objective of the policy include: closing the gap between high population growth and low economic productivity through planned reduction of population growth and increasing economic returns; expediting economic and social development process through holistic integrated development programmes designed to expedite the structural differentiation of the economy and employment; reducing the rate to urban migration; maintaining/improving the carrying capacity of the environment by taking appropriate environmental protection/conservation measures; raising the economic and social status of women by freeing them from the restrictions and drudgeries of traditional life and making it possible for them to partic ipate productively in the larger community; and significantly improving the social and economic status of vulnerable groups (women, youth, children and the elderly). The specific objectives include: reducing the total fertility rate to 4.0 children per women by the year 2015; reducing maternal, infant and child morbidity and mortality rates as well as promoting the level of general welfare of the population; significantly increasing female participation at all levels of the education system; removing all legal customary practices militating against the full enjoyment of economic and social rights by women including the full enjoyment of property rights and access to gainful employment; ensuring spatially balanced population distribution patterns with a view to maintaining environmental productivity in agriculture and introducing off-farm non agricultural activities for the purpose of employment diversification; and mounting an effective country wide population information and educat ion program addressing issues pertaining to family size and its relationship with human welfare and environmental security. Some of the major areas requiring priority attentions were improving the quality and scope of service delivery: expanding the diversity and coverage of family planning service delivery through clinical and community based outreach services; encouraging and supporting the participation of non-governmental organizations in the delivery of population and family planning and related services; and creating conditions that will permit users the widest possible choice of contraceptives by diversifying the method mix available in the country (TGE, 1993). Health sector development plan Ethiopia has been health sector development (HSDP) plan since 1997, every five years it has been evaluated and revised until now. The current HSDP IV is the extension of the previous plans and aims to improve the health status of Ethiopians people through provision of adequate and optimum quality promotive, preventive, basic curative and rehabilitative health services to all segments of the population. The major goals include improving the health of mothers and children by reducing maternal mortality ratio, reducing child mortality rate and reduction of total fertility rate. (FMOH, HSDP III, 2005). National reproductive health strategy, 2006-2015 The national reproductive health strategy was developed in 2006 after comprehensive consultation process with all relevant stakeholders including various government agencies, at federal and regional level, local and international partners, and community representatives. The strategy reaffirms the commitment of the government by setting forth a targeted and measurable agenda for the coming decade. It builds upon notable initiatives undertaken like the population policy, followed by the formulation of comprehensive health sector development program (HSDP) in 1998 and the recent health extension program and the current plan for accelerated and sustainable development to end poverty which gives priority to reproductive health and family planning. The goal of the strategy is built on the momentum occasioned by the millennium development goals to garner the multicultural support needed to support the reproductive and sexual health needs of the culturally diverse population (FMOH, 2006). Adolescent and youth reproductive health strategy (AYRH) In Ethiopia people less than 15 year age group constitute about 40 percent of the general population. Most of these adolescents are less informed, less experienced and less comfortable to seek access for sexual and reproductive health information and services. Access of reproductive health care information and services targeted for young people contributes to prevent and improve many of their reproductive health problems. To address this issue Ethiopia has launched a national strategy on adolescent and reproductive health that aims to tackle the problems of early marriages and pregnancies, female circumcision, abduction and rape, and poor access to health care for 10 to 24 year olds that will be implemented for eight years (FMOH, 2007). The health extension program Health Extension Program Packages Family health Maternal and child health Family planning Immunization Nutrition Adolescent RH health Disease prevention and control HIV/AIDS TB prevention and control Malaria prevention and control First aid Hygiene and Environmental health Excreta disposal Solid and liquid waste management Water supply and safety measures Food hygiene and safety measures Healthy home environment Control of insects and rodents Personal hygiene Health Education and communication In order to expand health service coverage and improve the delivery of primary health care services to the rural population, the government has introduced an innovative health service delivery system through the implementation of the health extension program (HEP) as part of the 2002-2005 health sector development program II. The HEP moves services out of facilities to the household and village level, and involves 16 packages to be provided at grass roots level focusing on sustained prevention actions and increased awareness. Accelerated expansion of primary health services coverage has also been endorsed as part of facilitating the implementation of the HEP. The HEP empowers communities to collaborate with the government health sector at the kebele level (the lowest administrate level in a woreda [district]), to identify health problems and root causes, seek solutions, set priorities and formulate local plans of action at the grass roots level. The HEP consists of promotive and preventive health care services made accessible to all rural kebeles at a kebele health post, the lowest level of the FMOHs health system. The program includes a cadre of health extension workers (HEW), with each health post staffed by two female health extension workers. Each health post serves a catchment area of approximately 5, 000 people and refers clients to the health centre. The health extension workers have completed schooling to grade ten or higher and originally come from the communities in which they work and live. Recruiting HEWs from their community ensures a more rapid acceptance of the HEW: she speaks the local language, is respected by the community and in turn respects the local traditions and culture of the community. All HEWs receive training in the essential health promotive and preventive health care services that make up 16 health care packages identified in the HSDP. HEWs work closely with and supervise the efforts of volunteer community health workers (VCHWs), including community based reproductive health agents (CBRHAs) and community health promoters. VCHWs conduct house to house visits to provide information on family planning, exclusive breast feeding, nutrition and immunization, and refer individuals to the health post. This coordination between the HEWs and VCHWs maximizes the opportunity to obtain the desired outcomes of the HEP, as well as of the HSDP and the millennium development goals (FMOH, 2003). Problem Statement Population growth The World Bank (WBG 2004) has benchmarked a population growth rate of 2 percent per year as a level beyond which it is difficult for a countries institutions and technologies to keep up with expanding population pressures on all sectors, from water, sanitation, and agriculture to health, housing, and education. Ethiopia adds 2 million people every year, and it is the pace and imbalanced distribution of this population growth, rather than the ultimate size of the population, that most give rise to concerns. These concerns are aggravated by degradation of the environment and natural resources, increased climate variability, and market vulnerability. With 83% rural population, population growth in the rural areas adds to the growing number of rural residents who are land-short and landless. In 2009, 4.9 million beneficiaries were identified as requiring emergency food and non food assistance; another 7.5 million with chronic food insecurity receive assistance (DMFSS/MoARD, 2009). The population trends reported in the nationally representative National NFFS (1990) and Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) 2000 and 2005 reveal a dynamic society in the early stages of demographic transitions, in which mortality has fallen but fertility remains high (DHS, 2005). With the present imbalance in births and deaths, Ethiopias population could double in size in less than 30 years. Figure 1, Population Growth in Ethiopia, 1990 to 2020, Past, Present Future Demographic Dividend When there are more working-age adults relative to children under age 15 and the elderly, those in the working ages (generally ages 15-59) have a lower dependency burden- fewer people to support with the same income and assets. Under the right conditions, this can lead to a short term but substantial economic bonus. This demographic bonus is a window of opportunity to increase economic output because of the larger workforce; save money on health care and other social services; improve the quality of education; invest more in technology and skills to strengthen the economy; and create the wealth needed to cope with the future aging of the population. As much as one-third of the rapid economic growth among the East Asian tigers can be explained by the growth in the labour force as fertility declined and by the increase in savings and accumulation that accompanied this growth. A demographic dividend will not be realised without prior investment. An educated and unskilled youth populatio n can threaten rather than enhance national stability and economic security (Ringheim et al. 2009). Ethiopia has a great likelihood of capturing a demographic bonus or dividend if manage to slow population growth, if women have fewer children, the altered age structure of the population produces a more favourable ratio of adults in their economically productive years to dependent children and the elderly. With fewer children requiring education and health services, the government has great discretion to invest resources in other critical areas. Greater investment and increased savings create a one time, age structure-related economic growth spurt that is either captured or forever lost. Fertility Determinants In Ethiopia, the proportion of all women who are married has declined as a result of a rising age of marriage and an increase in the proportion of women remaining single. This change is responsible for most of the modest decline in fertility in the last decade. While contraceptive use has not yet played a major role, Ethiopia has among highest levels of unmet need for contraception in Africa (Ahmed J and Mengistu G, 2002). Patterns of family formation are intricately related to the social and cultural norms and practices of society. Marriage is the result of an often extended social process involving the couples, their families and the wider community. The right to found a family is paralleled by the right not to be coerced in marriage. Although information is not readily available about the degree to which this rights are realised in Ethiopia, questions arise in relation to early marriage and limiting number of children a family should have. In Ethiopia, marriage is the destiny of nearly all people. 97% of women in Ethiopia are married at least once in their life (DHS 2000/05). The social pressure to have large families is very strong. The reproductive carrier of women starts early, and one pregnancy follows another with little thought of child spacing. The male oriented structure of the family and the expectation that the women is in charge of all household chores, absorbs her energy, and limits her participation in economic and political activities in the country. Figure 2, Determinants of High Fertility in Ethiopia Family planning CPR 15% Age of Marriage 16.5 years Education of Women 30.9% Tradition Family Structure Womens Role Empowerment Employment 45% Economy BPL 40% Infant mortality 77/1000 LB High fertility rate 5.4 Education discourages high fertility through economic factors in ways that it reduces the economic utility of children. It creates aspirations for upward social mobility and the accumulation of wealth. It also increases the opportunity cost of womens time and enhances the likelihood of their employment outside home. However the education level women particularly girls education is low (40%) in Ethiopia. Another strong factor underlying large family size preference in Ethiopia is parents dependence on children for social security. Children provide economic support in old age and help in emergencies or time of adversity, and take care of their parents by taking them to their homes. This expectation declines with level of increasing education (UNFPA 2008, Desta K and Seyoum G, 1998) According to the in-depth analysis of the DHS 2005 data, low lifetime fertility is observed among urban residents, those achieving secondary and above education, women who have frequent access to media, employed in the modern sector of the economy, and are getting married after the age of 18. High fertility on the other hand prevailed among those experiencing child loss, and women residing in the regions where values of children are supposed to be high. High fertility is also observed among women experiencing child mortality. Death of a child tends to increase lifetime fertility by 25 percent while the death of two or more children increases it by 45 percent among all women of reproductive age. Getting married at age 18 and later is also demonstrated to reduce fertility by 24 percent when compared to those entered marital life early. In countries like Ethiopia where contraceptive prevalence rate is low, increasing age at first marriage could reduce lifetime fertility by minimizing the exposure time to the risks of pregnancy (UNFPA 2008). A survey done in southern Ethiopia also showed important socio demographic determinants of fertility like poor educational status, absence of income, rural place of birth, early marriage, history of child death to be significantly associated with high fertility rate (Geberemdhin and Betre 2009). Low coverage of family planning service The service coverage and uptake of modern contraceptives is very low in Ethiopia. The majority of Ethiopian women (78 %) and men (76%) prefer to space or limit the number of their children they have. and have a potential need for family planning, 34% of currently married women have an unmet need for family planning (DHS 2005). If all currently married women who say they want to space or limit the number of children were to use family planning, the contraceptives prevalence rate of Ethiopia would increase from the current 15 to 49 percent. The family planning service was limited to urban facilities for a long time with limited access and coverage. It was practiced as a vertical program and mainly supported by external funding. Long term and permanent methods were limited to hospitals and health centres where trained and skilled health workers are practicing. Currently the contraceptive prevalence rate is 15 percent. Figure 2, Trend in CPR modern methods, married women: 1990-2005-Ethiopia Most methods used are injectables (61%) followed by the pill (25%). The use of long term and permanent methods is nearly absent: use of Implant among married women is 0.2 % while IUCD use with same group is 0.1% (DHS, 2005). Causes of low coverage of family planning service The causes for the low coverage of the service can be seen from two directions: organizational/institutional and community level causes. From the health service organizations the major factors include limited service outlets (failure to expand), lack of skilled human resources in the facilities which is due to shortage, lack of training, lack of motivation. Erratic supply of contraceptive due to inadequate and inefficient procurement and poor distribution system also needs attention. With respect to service delivery organization causes include lack of integration of family planning service, permanent assignment of staffs, poor coordination between public and private for profit and for non profit including lack of referral mechanism and inefficient use of available resources. From the community side, the diversified cultural and traditional practices in the different segments of the population plays role in hindering the use of contraceptives. Cultural barriers, partners and peer influence lack of adequate knowledge of the contraceptives, accessibility and acceptability, affordability, and perceived attitudes of service providers and rumours about contraceptives also important factors to be addressed for successful program implementation. Figure 5, Causes of low coverage and uptake of FP depicted in systems framework Consequences of high fertility The consequences of high fertility include unwanted pregnancy often leads to unsafe abortion attributable to contraceptive non-use, incorrect use, or method failure. High fertility also affects the well-being of mothers and their children. Maternal mortality and morbidity are strongly associated with high parity and early childbearing. High population growth will lead to increasing number of children who need schooling which the education sector cant satisfy. High parity restricts womens educational and economical opportunities, thereby limiting their potential for empowerment broadly, as well as their ability to safeguard the health and economic well-being of the family and community at large. Low educational attainment further perpetuates high fertility, as these women tend to have less knowledge of and access to family planning options. Environmental degradation and impact on health is also one of the long term effects of rapid population growth. It is also seen to strain the capacity of the government and non-governmental organizations to provide important social services such as schools, health care, clean water and sanitation. The growing population demand for land redistribution cant be satisfied and there will be rural urban migration, household food insecurity, high unemployment rate and other associated problems. Rapid and unhindered population growth is a significant factor in exacerbating food shortages in Ethiopia. Of the total population an estimated 12 million are facing serious threats from food insecurity and famine. More than the half of the countries under five children are stunted and some 45 percent are underweight (PAI 2005). Role of health extension workers in family planning service scale up Analysis of the DHS data Knowledge of family planning Adequate Knowledge about contraception among women and men is a major determinant of the use of contraceptive methods. The analysis of the data from the two demographic and health surveys shows that the percentage of women with knowledge of any family planning method showed an increased by 39 percent during the last 15 years, from 62 to 86 percent in 1990 and in 2005 consecutively. As shown in table 1, although knowledge of modern methods of contraceptives increased from 2000 to 2005, knowledge about injectables and condom has increased substantially among both women and men over the same period (MII 2007). As one of the important task of the health extension workers, they are playing a major role in transmitting knowledge in their specific community abut the different contraceptive methods use, side effect, and other important information. Even though there is no data currently on contraceptive knowledge, in the last five years between 2005 and 2010, there is much progress and increase through the expansion of primary health care coverage and access through health extension workers. Table 1, Knowledge of specific contraceptive methods among women age 15-49 and men age 15-59 Method Percentage of Women Percentage of Men 2000 2005 2000 2005 Any method 81.5 86.1 86.1 91.0 Any modern method 80.8 86.0 84.7 90.7 Female sterilization 23.1 18.4 32.6 26.4 Male sterilization 4.8 6.6 12.6 15.3 Pill 77.5 82.6 78.1 81.2 IUD 11.1 14.8 11.7 14.3 Injectables 65.3 80.9 62.2 79.0 Implants 13.6 22.4 13.9 23.0 Condom 33.0 46.1 64.7 84.2 Diaphragm 4.4 5.9 7.5 8.8 Any traditional method 24.3 20.6 48.0 39.2 Source: DHS data, Ethiopia trend report Current use of family planning Trend analysis of current use of contraceptive, provide insight into measuring determinants of fertility and helps to assess the success of family planning program. As shown in figure 6, current use of contraceptive methods among currently married women tripled in the 15 years between 1990 and 2005 from 5 percent to 15 percent. The increase is especially marked for modern methods. Current use of modern methods doubled during the first 10-year period and more than doubled during the last five years from 6 percent in 2000 to