The critical thinking Essay Example for Free

The critical thinking Essay With the intention to test the critical thinking ability of the people, the focus will be to ensure that everybody who took part in the test understood it. This allows all respondents to answer the questions based on how they are able to interpret what they have read. Nelson’s use of a write up gives an opportunity for each respondent to analyze the passage, understand it and respond to it. This supports Facione, Facione and Giancarlo’s measurement of reliability by the use of paper and pencil method to conduct the test (2000). Also, the use of elementary vocabulary gives a large number of people the opportunity to participate in this test at the same time. A content-related validity clearly shows in its result. According to Facione et al, there are no restrictions to the content on which the test can be based, (2000), the focus therefore, will be on the items that are used in the test. In this test, Nelson was able to develop thirty two (32) items with which he conducted the test. Based on the fact that Nelson wanted a wide range of people to understand the test and also respond appropriately, he used basic vocabularies. This, in essence, made it possible for people to be tested, not according to their language skills but according to their critical thinking ability. Hence, the criterion-related validity is established. In the use of a 32 multi-choice questions wherein there are more than one correct answers, Nelson gave respondents the opportunity to think outside the norm. The implication of this is that each respondent has to be certain about the answers. The comparison of different tests does not have a direct correlation with the content of the test because the items in consideration were not detailed. Detailed information of the items in consideration could have given the test comparison a more valid result. REFERENCES Facione, Peter A. , Santa Clara University; Facione, Noreen C. , University of California San Francisco; Giancarlo, Carol A. , Santa Clara University. (2000). The Disposition Toward Critical Thinking: Its Character, Measurement, and Relationship to Critical Thinking Skill. Informal Logic, 20(1), 61-84

How Firms Become Multinational Enterprises

How Firms Become Multinational Enterprises A multinational enterprise according to Brooke and Remmers is a company that is present in more than one country, the home country and the host country and provides valuable activities in a service or manufacturing area (Dunning, 1993, p.3). Though Maurice Bye 1958 began to see and recognize multinational enterprises by the definition Multi-territorial firm indicating that a MNE was purely given the name by the amount of countries a company occupied(Maurice Bye 1958). Academics see the multinationals in great depth and definitions are slightly different, J.Dunning defines a Multinational enterprise as an enterprise that engages in foreign direct investment (FDI) and owns or controls value adding activities in more than one country (J.Dunning 1992). MNEs therefore, control a package of resources, which they move across national borders, and continue to control over those borders. This transfer is often conceived solely in financial terms, but in practical terms the role of MNEs in tra nsferring capital between countries is one of their less important functions. The critical resources, which multinationals transfer across borders, are the areas of technology and organisation, entrepreneurship and culture. MNEs are imperative because they have the capacity to move technologies and ideas around the world. This gives the firms the potential to serve as engines of growth. This essay will explain why and how firms become multinational enterprise. The subsistence of MNEs might seem apparent, in the sense that firms in the capitalist system exist to make profits, and investing in foreign countries could be seen as a coherent way of making more wealth than staying in one country. In spite of that not all firms in the world are multinational. In addition to this, according to Jack Behrman there are four main types of Multinational corporations motives (Jack Behrman 1972). The first motive, the resource seekers the enterprises, to obtain particular and specific resources at lower real cost that cannot be obtained in their home country aim to invest abroad. One kind of these is the physical resources like, raw materials, minerals, agricultural product and location advantage, which generally involves substantial capital expenditure. Another kind of resources is semi-skilled and unskilled labour that is available at lower costs, in countries developing in advanced industrialization like, Mexico, Taiwan, China and like Primark outsour cing from India. One more motive why firms seeking FDI in resources is to obtain technological skill, management and organizational skills already accessed there. The second motive the market seekers enterprises, aim to prolong or protect existing market or to promote in new markets. Thereby, there are four main reasons firstly, to cope-up with the suppliers and customers who have set up foreign producing facilities. Secondly, to hunt the market, the product needs to be modifying according to the local customers preferences. Thirdly, sometimes it is a lot cheaper to produce in the host country than to export from home country. This is becoming more necessary if there are trade barriers and restrictive government laws. Furthermore, the last reason for market seeking investment is that enterprise wants to have physical presence in the foremost markets served by its competitors. Therefore, companies like Nestle, Bayer and Ford expanded internationally in search of new markets. The third motive the efficiency seekers enterprises want to obtain from the common governance of geographically scattered activities and to have benefit of economies of s cale and of risk diversification. Therefore, enterprises wants to compete on the basis of the product it offers and its ability to diversify its assets and capabilities by exploiting the benefits of producing in several countries. The fourth motive the strategic asset seeker enterprises to sustain their international competitiveness acquire the assets of foreign corporations. Like one company might acquire a business so as to thwart competitor from doing so or another might merge with its foreign rivals or one might acquire suppliers to corner the market for raw materials. Enterprises seeking strategic FDI are trying to protect or advance their long-term competitive position. Apart from these four motives other motives like escape investments, support investments, passive investments also play a big role why firms want to go international (Dunning 1992). Therefore, these motives were and will be the main driving force behind the expansion of MNCs. The ways in which these motives have mainly pushed firms from United States to become MNCs are based on product cycle theory developed by Professor Raymond Vernon. This theory suggests that the starting point for the internationalization process is typically an innovation that a company creates in its home country (Raymond Vernon 1966, p.190-207). Then after the product is launched it is gaining success in its domestic market and finally the product becomes highly standardized and company has gained recognition thereby, the competitors enter the same business. Market now focuses on price so the company has to move its production to low-wage developing countries so as to be above the competition and later has to develop market share in other countries, which they have lost in home country. For example Nokia started as domestic company in Finland but its success at home country led its produc tion and sale to foreign markets. This way firms should analyse their role of management, motives of the organisation and their success at home country and should think of entering foreign market but question here arises how will firms do that. This can be explained on the basis of theories of Internationalisation. The Eclectic paradigm sets out to explain the extent, form and pattern of international production and is founded on the juxtaposition of the ownership- specific advantages of firms contemplating foreign production, the propensity to internalize the cross-border markets for these, and the attractions of a foreign market for the production (Dunning, 1988). The eclectic paradigm, with its emphasis on TCA, i.e. Transaction cost analysis tells how firms and especially MNCs evaluate whether or not to establish a manufacturing subsidiary in a market abroad (Erramilli and Rao, 1993). This information is cost-based, requiring the costs of running a system to be calculated so that the firms can make any evaluation. Thereafter, industrial network approach (Johanson and Mattsson, 1986) and the business strategy approach (Welford and Prescott, 1994) present detailed models incorporating a number of factors which impact upon market entry and the selection of a market entry method. By doing so, it seems clear that information on these factors is a pre-requisite of a firms decision. However the Uppsala model is unique in seeing information about a market, specifically that based on experiential knowledge, as the crucial indicator of market entry and, particularly, market entry mode selection. (Jan Johanson et al. 1977) So, the firms should make an initial commitment of resources to the foreign market, and through this investment it gains local market knowledge. On the basis of this, the company will be able to evaluate its current activities and opportunities for additional investment. Thereby, companies should accumulate their time of entry on the basis of its level of commitment in the foreign market and level of control over foreign activities. This all depends on the nature, form of the firm whether the firm is going to only sell its product or the firm is producing and selling goods and services. At the first stage this can be done by the indirect exporting, licensing/ franchising and then at second stage by direct exporting, direct sales operations in host country, joint ventures and FDI. Firms can potentially enter into international business at any of these stages and decide to prolong at that stage but can go to other stage and choose another option in starting or later period of business. Like, some companies internationalize gradually by moving up the scale from exporting through joint venturing to direct foreign investment. With exceeding industrial period of globalisation firms have shown mounting interest in going abroad because of the increasing need to go international, pressure to procure cheapest inputs, efficiency seeking, the opening up of new markets, considerable changes in location costs and benefits and a strive to strike a balance between globalisation and localisation. Therefore, firms should choose appropriate business options to enter and service the host market on the basis of above discussed Multinational corporations motives and then decide which stages firm will go ahead so that firms corporate objectives are achieved efficiently and effectively. Then domestic firms can face challenge as cross border mergers and acquisitions, MNCs have been constantly increasing and MNCs account for over 40 percent of the worlds manufacturing output and almost a quarter of world trade. So firms should analyse their business prospective on the basis of above discussed Uppsala model, eclectic theory an d other theories and then go ahead. However, international business has taken a quantum leap and is now considered strategically important both by firms and governments. How Firms Become Multinational Enterprises How Firms Become Multinational Enterprises INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS ASSIGNMENT II Introduction A significant shift is taking place in the world economy today; previously each nation had different and relatively isolated economies from each other by different barriers to cross border trade. But now we are drastically moving towards an independent global economic system in which different national economies are blending together which is referred as globalization. Independent global economic system has brought effective involvement of numerous firms from various countries in the international market; the shift towards globalization has been accelerating currently, and it looks set to carry forward. Multinational Enterprise An enterprise that operates and has its assets and facilities in more than one country excluding its home country is called as multinational enterprise, such firms has have offices, factories, outlets and etc., in different countries and usually have centralised head office where they co-ordinate global management. The swiftly developing global economy creates many factors and opportunities for business worldwide. It creates opportunities for business to expand their resources, profit and market, this make many firms to become globalized for example Wal-mart , Coca-Cola, Exxon Mobil, Levi Strauss, and Royal Dutch Shell are some of the most successful multinational enterprise in the world. But still many significant differences exist between national markets along many relevant factors which need to be overcome to be successful globally. Why Firms become Multinational Enterprise? As an enterprise operating in an International Business environment provides many new openings to a firm than operating in a domestic environment. A worldwide operation provides an enterprise access to new markets, resources and many other benefits, mainly it also widens the options of strategic moves of the firm against its rivals. Lets discuss the reasons for the firms becoming a Multinational corporation elaborately. The Eclectic Paradigm An effective approach to the study of the internationalization of business was offered by John H. Dunning. The Eclectic paradigm was a dominant framework for explaining the reason for the existence of Multinational enterprises and the determinants of foreign direct investment. Dunning stated three factors to the eclectic paradigm: i. Ownership-specific advantages The enterprise which invests in a foreign country has a competitive advantage and out-competes the firms that operate in the country where the investment is done. The multinational enterprise has advantages of Intangible assets like trade name, brand, and patents. The firm has benefits of reputation, technology and skills of management. ii. Location-specific advantages This advantage is based on the geographical position of the firm; according to this many positive factors like resources, cheap labour, host countrys regulations and political stability are available for the multinational enterprises. iii. Internationalization-specific advantages When a firm enlarge its operations in another country, by acquiring the property of the assets that are abroad its get this internationalization benefit. The firm gets a new market, reduces the production cost and can keep its skills and capabilities internal to the firm. The Product life cycle theory The product life cycle theory was framed by Raymond Vernon, this illustrate that in the beginning stage of the product life cycle the production and the rest of the operations of the product takes place in the home country. First the product will be serving the local market and then world market, when the product gains reputation the production gets relocated abroad to gain from lower labour cost and the other benefits available in host nation. At a point of time the country which invented the product becomes an importer of that product. The best example for this is the invention and production of personal computers by IBM. This is also an essential cause for firms to become a multinational enterprise. The Internationalization theory The market imperfections approach to Foergin direct Investment is typically referred to as internalization theory. The Internationalization theory was developed by Buckley and Casson. This theory states the main reasons for which the firms become a multinational enterprise due to market imperfection. Due to market imperfections, the monopolistic advantage of the firm can be used to widen worldwide to again competitive advantage. A firm overcomes market imperfections by creating its own market by the means of internalisation through this the firms become a multinational enterprises. Resource seeking The firms develop into a multinational enterprise to seek and secure natural resources like raw materials, minerals and human resource. This helps the firms to reduce the labor cost and production cost. Market seeking The multinational enterprises emerge to identify and exploit new markets for their products. This approach is followed by the firms to overcome trade barrier and to reduce high transport cost. Efficiency seeking The firms try to enlarge globally to obtain the efficiency benefits they obtain from the host country like cheap labour force, for example multinational enterprise obtain low cost but labour intensive manufacturing in many Asian countries. Capabilities seeking The firms follow strategic operations by buying existing firms or assets abroad, this is an approach by the firm to seek adequacy in order to sustain and advance its competitive position globally.These are the major reasons for a firm to become a multinational enterprise. How firms become multinational enterprise? Once a firm take on Foregin Direct Investment(FDI) it become a multinational enterprise, a multinational enterprises have substantial direct investment in foreign countries. FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) refers to the long term participation like management, partnership, technology transfer and etc., between a foreign country and a host country. FDI has become a vital accept of global economy, many nations liberalized the regulations for FDI and numerous host economies has have reduced trade barriers for foreign nations to do business in their nation. When a firm decides to enter foreign market and expand to become a multinational enterprise then mainly there are six different modes to enter. Joint venture Establishing a joint venture with a foreign firm has been a feasible mode of enter to the world market. Setting up a firm that is jointly owned and operated by two or more firms is called as joint venture. A firm can gain advantage from a local partners knowledge of the host countrys competitive conditions, culture and political system. Through this joint venture a firm can gain by sharing development cost and high risk of entering a foreign market with the local partner. Wholly Owned Subsidiaries When firm owns 100 percent of the stock then it is termed as wholly owned subsidiary. If a firm wants to compete based on its technology then this will be the most preferred entry mode. Many high-tech firms prefer this mode of entry for overseas expansion. Establishing a wholly owned subsidiary in a foreign market can be done by setting up a new operation in that country or by acquiring an established firm and using that firm to operate. Licensing Licensing is very attractive approach for the firms which lack capital to develop overseas operation. Licensing is an arrangement by a firm to grant the rights to intangible property to another entity for a period of time and in return a fee is charged by the licensor. The advantage of licensing is that the firm does not need to bear the set up cost and risk involved in opening a foreign market. Franchising Franchising is basically a specialized form of licensing in which franchiser sells the intangible property and provide business assistance to the franchisee. The best example for a firm using franchising strategy is McDonalds.   By using this a firm can build up a global operation quickly at a low cost and risk.  Ã‚   Exporting Most of the firms begin their internationalization as an exporter. Exporting reduces the costs of establishing manufacturing operation in the host country. By manufacturing the product in a centralised location and exporting it to world market; the firm may get the picture of substantial scale economies from its global sales volume. Turnkey Projects This is a means of exporting process technology to foreign countries. Under turnkey project, for a foreign client the contractor designs, construct the whole manufacturing unit and also train the operating personnel. After completing the contract, the contractor hands over the key to a plant that is ready for full operation hence this approach is called turnkey. Turnkey projects are common in chemical, petroleum refining and metal refining industries, all of which require costly, complex production techniques. Conclusion Abstaining national trade barriers and advancement in communication, information, and transportation technologies are the main factors which influence the trend towards internationalization. These changes have enabled firms to operate worldwide and emerged different nations market into a single global market. The advantages of the growing global economy should be utilised for the welfare of the people all over the world. BIBLIOGRAPHY Buckley, P.J. and Ghauri, P. 1993. A Theory of International operations: The Internationalization of the firm-A Reader, pp 45-50. Elkahal, S. 1994. The Internationalization of trade: Introduction to International Business, pp. 65-70. Hill, C.W.L. 2000. Entry strategy and strategic alliance: International business-competing in the Global Marketplace, pp. 426-448.

Waves On Pregnant Women Health And Social Care Essay

Waves On Pregnant Women Health And Social Care Essay Waves have been applied to many important procedures nowadays. In this article I am going to investigate the application of waves on pregnant women. One of the very important topics is the application of ultrasonography in prenatal checkup; therefore I would focus on this topic and discuss its principle and advantages among other different methods of prenatal checkup. Nonetheless waves do not only bring benefits to pregnant women, but also harm. There are some electromagnetic waves (or EM waves) which may be harmful to both the mothers and the fetuses, such as X-ray. Yet, will pregnant women really have an increased risk of miscarriage after having an X-ray? Recently there are also concerns about the effect of radio waves and microwaves on pregnancy. In this article I am going to investigate them one by one. Obstetric Ultrasonography Ultrasonography refers to the use of ultrasound. Ultrasound is longitudinal wave, it has the same speed as audible sound wave in air, which is 340ms-1. The main difference between audible sound wave and ultrasound is that ultrasound has a frequency beyond audible range of human, which is around 20 Hertz (20 Hz) to 20 kilohertz (20 kHz or 20,000 Hz). Normally the frequency of ultrasound used in prenatal checkup is ranged from 1.6 to 10 megahertz (MHz), depending on what structures of the fetuses are being examined. Ultrasound with lower frequency can penetrate deeper into body tissues, because the higher the frequency, the more ultrasonic waves are being absorbed instead of reflected, thus while examining deeper tissues like the liver and kidney, ultrasound with lower frequency (around 1.6-6MHz) is used. In the ultrasonography, ultrasound waves are emitted by a device called transducer. Actually the term transducer refers to a device which converts one form of energy into another, so there are lots of types of transducer. In the ultrasonography, an electroacoustic transducer is used to convert electricity to emit and receive ultrasound; therefore to be more exact, the device used is also called an ultrasound transceiver. The transducer is placed on the abdomen of the pregnant woman, the ultrasound emitted penetrates the skin and then reaches the foetus and other internal organs of the mother. The waves are then reflected back to the transceiver, the transceiver senses the waves and converts them into images. An ultrasound transceiver: http://l.b5z.net/i/u/6062479/i/transducer_tn.jpg source: http://www.chesapeakeultrasound.com/ultrasound_products An ultrasonography: http://gulfcoastmri.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/sonogram-human-foetal-fetal-ultrasound-scan-at-22-weeks-mono-1-anon.jpg Source: http://gulfcoastmri.wordpress.com/2010/06/07/obstetric-ultrasonography/ In case that the pregnant woman is in early pregnancy or obese, she can undergo transvaginal sonography, which a probe is placed in the womans vagina. Sometimes the test is also carried out if the pregnant woman has got abnormal vaginal bleeding or pelvic pain. This type of sonography has the similar principle as the ultrasonography mentioned above. Some mothers may want to see the heartbeat of their babies, they can carry out the Doppler sonography. It has basically the same principle as the ultrasonography except the ultrasound is further enhanced by Doppler Effect. Generally the fetuss heartbeat can be detected after 7 weeks of gestation, thus the blood flow of the fetus can be detected as well. The blood flows in a circulation in the body of the fetus, the Doppler sonography can thus detect the change in directions of blood flow by Doppler effect and see if the circulation is normal or not. This can be done by measuring the change in the frequency received in the transceiver. In fact there are a few more types of prenatal checkup, such as amniocentesis and chronic villus sampling. Nonetheless, the ultrasonography is the safest way for diagnosis. The ultrasonography only involves a transducer placing outside the mothers abdomen, while amniocentesis and chronic villus sampling require mechanical penetration and sampling inside the mothers uterus or abdomen, this increases the risk of miscarriage during the tests. Despite this fact, ultrasonography can only give an early diagnosis of the mothers and fetuses, it cannot treat anomalies or genetic diseases. According to the test conducted by RADIUS study group in 1993, researchers found that obtaining sonography has no significantly negative effect on reducing perinatal morbidity or mortality among the fetuses or the mothers. Moreover, the detection of anomalies actually did not alter the outcome of newborn babies. Therefore it is important to acknowledge that ultrasonography is just a test whether the fetuses are healthy, but not a treatment to anomalies. Harmful effect of X-ray X-ray is an electromagnetic wave with a wavelength ranged from 0.01 to 10 nanometers (0.01-10 x10-9m). It has a speed of 3108 ms-1 in vacuum. In fact, X-ray is commonly used in medical treatments, such as radiation therapy of cancer and medical imaging technology. X-ray is produced in an X-ray tube. In the X-ray tube, electrons are accelerated by applying a high voltage. Electrons then collide with a metal, and the sudden deceleration of electrons results in the emission of X-ray. An X-ray tube: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/quantum/imgqua/xtube.gif Source: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/quantum/xtube.html X-ray has high ionizing power, thus there are many people worrying about the harmful effects of having an X-ray diagnosis, especially pregnant women. It is true that a very high dose of radiation from X-ray may result in radiation sickness. Prolonged and continuous exposure to X-ray also increases the risk of cancer development, and in pregnant women, there may also be a risk for the fetus to develop childhood cancer or even miscarriage. Nevertheless, it seems that the harmful effects of exposing to X-ray are exaggerated. The serious harmful effects mentioned above are just the results of high dosage in a short period of time. There are different kinds of X-rays, one type is used in scanning or diagnosis, one type is used in treating cancer. The energy stored in different types of X-rays is different. For normal X-ray scanning, the dosage is extremely small. The absorbed dose of X-ray is measured in rad, which 1 rad = 1010-3 J kg-1 = 10-2 J kg-1. If a pregnant woman is having a chest X-ray, the estimated fetal dose is around 60 millirads, the dose is around 290 millirads for an abdominal X-ray. This is quite a low value, as the dose from the radiation from outer space is around 90-100 millirads. In fact, the risk of the fetus having eye abnormalities or mental retardation increases only when the dosage exceeds 10 rads, therefore it is very rare that pregnant women suffer from harmful effects by the X-ray radiation. According to the  American Academy of Family Physicians, generally X-rays are safe even for pregnant women, and according to radiologists, no single diagnostic x-ray has a radiation dose signi ficant enough to cause adverse effects in a developing embryo or fetus. Normally doctors will not ask pregnant women to undergo an X-ray scanning, unless when it is urgent and necessary. It is also suggested that pregnant women should tell the radiologists about the pregnancy, so that radiologists can adjust the radiation level to better protect the mothers and the fetuses. To conclude, many people are afraid of having X-ray scanning when they are pregnant, but in fact the risk is not that high if we compare the dosage to the exposure to outer space radiation. An X-ray film showing pregnancy: http://www.neurobodyfit.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/xray-pregnancy.jpg Source: http://www.neurobodyfit.com/x-rays-are-safe-during-pregnancy/ Concerns of radio waves and microwaves Besides X-ray, some people are concerning about the effect of radio waves and microwaves on pregnancy. In fact the effect of these two types of EM waves is even less than X-ray. There has been a study investigating the relationship between exposure of radio waves and microwaves of female physiotherapists, and the ratio of miscarriage. Due to occupational use, physiotherapists are very often exposed to medical equipment emitting microwaves diathermy and radio waves. According to the study, investigators compared the odd ratios between those pregnant physiotherapists and other pregnant women. The results showed that the risk of miscarriage was not associated with reported use of diathermy equipment, thus people need not worry too much about this issue. A microwave diathermy: http://image.ec21.com/image/medicm/oimg_GC04993002_CA04993086/Microwave_Diathermy_HM-801C.jpg Source: http://medicm.en.ec21.com/Microwave_Diathermy_HM_801C4993002_4993086.html Conclusion Waves have been widely used in medical equipment, and there are several applications of waves on pregnancy. Ultrasonography is the most common and the safest method of prenatal checkup. Though it can be used in diagnosis, it is unable to treat diseases in fetus. Many people concern about the side effects of using X-ray, microwaves and radio waves, however it is in fact very safe because the dosage of radiation is extremely small. Therefore people need not worry too much about the risk of miscarriage caused by exposure to these waves.

innate human violence Essays -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Phillip Zimbardo, Solomon Asch, Stanley Milgram, and Howard Zinn were/are all gifted psychologists that strived to understand the simple complexities of conformity within an individual’s specific societal structure. Within their own specific areas of psychology, every single one of them came to one simple conclusion that allowed each of them to become the quality of psychologist that they are today, and that is the understanding that the power of the situation can be stronger than the individual. So much so, that the events which occurred in the Abu Gharib prison, were just a matter of time.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dr. Phillip Zimbardo, world renowned psychologist, current professor at Stanford University, and leader of the 1971 study of the ‘Stanford Prison Experiment’ said â€Å"When you put that set of horrendous work conditions and external factors together, it creates an evil barrel†¦You could put virtually anybody in it [evil barrel] and you’re going to get this kind of behavior† (Edge). Thirty years ago, Zimbardo began a study which demonstrated the power of a certain social situation that distorted the participants’ personal identities and morality in order to understand what specifically made those personalities conform the kind of behavior that most of them, swore they could never be. quote of individual who said that he could not be mean to any living thing.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another p...

Codeine :: essays research papers

Codeine: Codeine is readily absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract. It is rapidly distributed from the intravascular spaces to the various body tissues, with preferential uptake by parenchymatous organs such as the liver, spleen and kidney. Codeine crosses the blood-brain barrier, and is found in fetal tissue and breast milk. The plasma concentration does not correlate with brain concentration or relief of pain; however, codeine is not bound to plasma proteins and does not accumulate in body tissues. Treatment: A single or multiple overdose with acetaminophen and codeine is a potentially lethal polydrug overdose, and consultation with a regional poison control center is recommended. Signs and Symptoms: Codeine: Toxicity from codeine poisoning includes the opioid triad of: pinpoint pupils, depression of respiration, and loss of consciousness. Convulsions may occur. WHY is this drug prescribed? Codeine is used, usually in combination with other medications, to reduce coughing that does not produce sputum or mucus. It is also used for relief of mild to moderate pain. When used for pain, codeine is usually used with aspirin and sometimes caffeine. WHEN should it be used? Codeine is usually taken every four to six hours as needed. Follow the directions on your prescription label carefully, and ask your pharmacist or doctor to explain any part that you do not understand. HOW should it be used? Codeine is available, alone or with other medications, in tablets, capsules, and liquid to be taken by mouth. Your prescription label tells you how much to take at each dose. The liquid should be shaken well before each use to mix the medicine evenly. Ask your pharmacist for a specially marked measuring spoon to be sure of an accurate dose. Do not take more of this drug than prescribed by your doctor. Serious side effects can occur, especially in children who take too much. Adults giving this medication to a child should be careful to give the correct dose and not to give it more often than prescribed by the doctor. For a cough, patients older than 12 years should not take more than 120 mg of codeine a day. Children six to 12 years old should not take more than 60 mg a day. A doctor should decide how much codeine can be taken by a child two to five years old. This drug should not be given to children younger than two years. Abuse and Dependence: Codeine can produce drug dependence of the morphine type and, therefore, has the potential for being abused. Psychological dependence, physical dependence, and tolerance may develop upon repeated administration and it should be prescribed and administered with the same degree of caution appropriate to the use of other oral narcotic medications.

Jade Peony

Belonging When someone is said to be Canadian, it does not just mean being one who lives on this land, or has lived on this land long enough to obtain this citizenship, it means living the Canadian life, it means waking up in the morning wearing a ton of layers and going outside in the freezing cold to do whatever a person needs to do during the day, to be Canadian it also means to belong. Canada is known for the diversity of culture, religion, color, and beliefs, as well as our ability to be able to create a status acceptable to everyone, making Canada, despite our individual diversity and differences, to be united as one. However, what we don’t realize is that Canada has not always been this way; this is the perspective that Wayson Choy expresses through his novel â€Å"The Jade Peony†. His text and word play emphasizes on a world so unknown, yet so important to not only our history, but to our understanding of what our ancestors of our various ethnic origins fought through every day of their lives to create the world in which every day we take for granted. Where he lays his emphasis on our history is not from the point of view of the adult, but through the eyes of the children who, today, are our fathers and grandfathers. Divided into three major chapters, Wayson Choy begins the narration of his history through the eyes of Jook-Laing, a five year old beautiful girl of Chinese origin born in Canada after her family immigrated to Canada. Isolation is slowly starting to become a major theme in the novel, not only created by the Canadian Government, but by her very own family. The Canadian Government in the 1940's, the time period the novel takes place, created harsh laws against immigrants, making it near impossible to live happily: one was never to leave the household, as immigrants must live within the same household even when one becomes married, as well as harsh laws on illness, where, if one were to become sick with any illness- even as innocent as a cold- if the government found out, â€Å"The Vancouver Health Inspection Board†¦ posted on our front door, a sign boldly visible from the street: condemned† (p. 32). However, Jook-Laing's family's old heritage and Chinese beliefs create the deepest isolation as they shun the idea of traditional Canadian society, where Poh-Poh, elder and Jook-Laing's Grandmother, describes this life as â€Å"poison to young China girl-child† (p. 17). Jook-Laing's young and highly dream-filled spirit inspires her to dream of the perfect world- a perfect world she never gives up on as play and her â€Å"movie-star daydreams† (p. 37) have caused her heart to grow and know that, deep, inside, Canada is a better place than China, no matter what Poh-Poh says to her about her heritage. However, despite her strong instinct, conflict arises as person versus person/society is introduced when her powerful instinct and her Grandmother's words â€Å"You not Canada. You never Canada. You China. Always war in China† (p. 37) make her isolated from becoming her own person and trapping her in a world she knows is not true to her heart. As a major authority figure of the household, Poh-Poh is never corrected or disagreed with, causing Jook-Laing to feel alone in her internal battle between what she is told and her faith in Canada. Further, Jook-Laing, along with her other two step-brothers, are strongly looked down upon by their strict, old heritage grandmother, who constantly reminds them of her feelings towards them: â€Å"This useless only-granddaughter wants to be Shirlee Tem-po-lah; the useless Second Grandson wants to be cow-boy-lah. The First Grandson wants to be Charlie Chan. All stupid foolish! † (p. 40). With Poh-Poh's interrogance towards her grandchildren's play, it creates further isolation from the norm of society and themselves, along with isolation from their desire to be a child. Despite her Grandmother beginning to shape the role of the antagonist of the story, Jook-Laing makes a deep connection with an old family friend, Mau-lauh Bak, who not only understands the importance of play, but embraces and cherishes Jook-Laing for her ability to be free in a world so sour towards them. that connects Jook-Laing to the theme of belonging. The second part of the story speaks about Jung-Sum, the kid who was adopted due to the fact that his parents have died from a young age â€Å"I TAKE CARE OF MY SELF’ (p. 2). Jung also starts off in the novel isolation for as he doesn’t want his new family to take care of him. But Jung started to box and that is where he found a sense of belonging. Sek- Lung also fell into the same isolation theme from Canada and as well from his family, he was in belief that Poh-Poh was still coming to visit after she had died, and the whole family did not believe the fact, that’s when Sekky fell into the same pattern of isola tion. But it was Sekky that had the most sense of belonging to Canada towards the end of the book, because Canada is a multicultural community there is all kinds of races that live in this great country, and Sekky was a big hater of the Japanese â€Å"I have to remember they are the enemy† (p. 189) but when he meets Meiying, and she introduces him to Kaz her Japanese boyfriend, he gets to like him. This shows that the world revolves around hate but once you get to know people, a person’s perspective might change. Sekky finally found his belonging in Canada.

Discrimination and Retaliation

Betty Dukes was a cashier who used to work at Wal-Mart. For nine years Ms. Dukes worked hard and aspired to move up the ranks in the company. She thought that if she became loyal and dedicated to her job she will one day move to a higher position in the company. The time came that she felt that she was ready for the next challenge. She came up to her immediate supervisor and asked to be trained for the higher job (Daniels, 2004). Unfortunately she was denied being given the training needed to move up the order.This incident triggered what now is the biggest class action sex discrimination lawsuit in the United States. Widely known as the Dukes vs. Wal-Mart Inc, this lawsuit charges Wal-Mart of committing sex-discriminatory practice against their employees especially women. Upheld in June 2004 to be a class action lawsuit, this case covers over 1. 5 million current and former employees at Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart appealed the district court’s decision but on February 2007, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the court’s class certification.The U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or EEOC helped in this case. The commission is the federal arm of the government with the sole agenda of ensuring that equal employment opportunity is given to every individual. The EEOC has the power of prosecuting work related discriminatory cases against companies or employers who have been accused of doing such a thing. They enforce the laws that protect employees from discriminatory practices. Dukes vs. Wal-Mart Inc. is basically a sex-discrimination case.This lawsuit accuses Wal-Mart of choosing which employee will be given the chance to move up the corporate ladder. Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, it is prohibited to give employment discrimination based on race, color, sex, religion, or national origin (U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 2004). Any person who has the ability and capability of advancing in the company should be treated fairly. This sense of fairness is what Ms. Dukes did not felt while working at Wal-Mart. Another act which Wal-Mart violated is the Equal Pay Act of 1963.Under this law, women and even men are protected from sex-based wage discrimination. Men and women who basically do the same job should also have the exact same amount of wage. Wal-Mart is being criticized for violation this act. The company clearly showed its bias towards its male employees by giving them higher wage against their female counterparts. Ask Ms. Stephanie Odle about this since she experienced this discrimination first hand. Ms. Odle accidentally found a W-2 form lying around the office which belongs to her male officemate, an assistant manager just like her.They have basically the same job but the wage of the male assistant manager was significantly higher than her wage (Daniels, 2004). There are many other discriminatory practices that Wal-Mart exercises, but based on the two above examples, EEOC has every right to prosecut e Wal-Mart. On my opinion a fair settlement on a case like this is give the victims what they are really due. Wal-Mart must pay each individual who have been victim of its bias towards its male and white workers. No ifs or buts for Wal-Mart because the money really belongs to their underpaid workers.Since we are talking about multi billions of dollars, it is also fair to give Wal-Mart a feasible amount of time to pay. I think it is fine to let Wal-Mart pay in installments. Another option for Wal-Mart is to give their victims a few thousands of dollars worth of gift certificates every month which can be used at Wal-Mart and all of its other subsidiaries. Lastly I think Wal-Mart also owes all its victims an apology for all the wrongdoings and hurt that they have caused. Discrimination should not be happening in the first place but since we are not living in a perfect world, discrimination will always be there.In an organization, the best way to battle discrimination is prevention. If an organization prevents it from happening then class action lawsuits like the one discussed above may never happen again. Organizations can fight discrimination by having a stronger policy against it. Companies should setup its own committee which will look for the welfare of their employees. This committee will also be responsible for hiring and promoting employees instead of giving this task to a single person which is the complete opposite at the scenario at Wal-Mart.At Wal-Mart, managers have the sole power of hiring and promoting. With this privilege, a manager can be bias consciously or unconsciously on making decisions based on his or her preferences (Parloff, 2007). It’s hard to fight discrimination but it is not an unbeatable foe. Every person must just have an open mind, a mind that will look beyond color, race, sex or religion. Discrimination has no place in the school, community, work place or wherever. Discrimination should just cease to exist and let no one fel l prey to it ever again.