Discuss the benefits and drawback of fair value accounting measurement Assignment

Discuss the benefits and drawback of fair value accounting measurement vis--vis other measurements with respect to enhancing the quality of financial information - Assignment Example The accounting system demands an estimation of fair market value in order to demonstrate the present value of future cash flows (Penman, 2007). Many financial analysts are of the opinion that the fair value accounting has significantly contributed to the reasons behind financial crisis of 2008 (IMF, 2009). In this paper the statement will be critically evaluated to justify such argument. The paper will also analyse the benefits and drawbacks of fair value accounting in comparison with other measurements in order to enhance quality of financial information. Many critiques have argued that apart from the reasons such as subprime mortgage, excessive debt and default credit swaps that had mainly caused for financial crisis of 2008, fair value accounting which is also known as mark to market accounting has significantly contributed towards the crisis through producing deceptive data and defective financial statements (Laeven and Huizinga, 2009). However, though there has been much substantiation regarding asset fire sales and downward spirals in financial markets, supporting evidences that may prove the accounting system’s function in igniting the crisis are negligible. Such discussion can be based on the following myths. Some critiques have argued in favour of FVA that the assets reported under historical cost in the company’s balance sheet have no relation to their current value. The values of most of such assets are documented at their purchasing price with adjustments for depreciation (for building, plant and machineries etc.) or appreciation (bonds and other fixed maturity investments) of those assets (Bonaci, Matis and Strouhal, 2010). However, such valuation may not be appropriate in current market scenario. For example, value of a company owned building may hold more value in present market than its depreciated book value as calculated under historical cost. Hence, even under historical accounting, importance of fair value has been established

Of Mice and Men is a novel about people Essay Example for Free

Of Mice and Men is a novel about people Essay Of Mice and Men is a novel about people. Are there too many cripples, misfits and unusual characters in the novel to consider Steinbecks portrayal as true life? Steinbecks novel is based on ordinary people during the American Depression. Steinbeck has an understanding of how migrant workers were and how it was as he had his childhood in California near Salinas Valley. During the period in which the novel was wrote was written migrant workers went from ranch to ranch working for money never really having a secure job as new technology in machinery made it cheaper to harvest crops. This introduces the two main characters George and Lennie, migrant workers, who do not fit into 1930s society. The novel based is on characters that represent different walks of life during the period illustrating the American culture. Steinbeck portrays the American culture in a condensed version occurring only on a ranch, showing the grim truces of the society, when the novel was written In Steinbecks novel the character Candy is a man who has gone past his prime of his life. He has a stumped hand and therefore he is too maimed to be working in the fields, he can be seen as a cripple in the novel. The result of this is that he has menial job as a swamper. To represent the fears of time Steinbeck writes about Candy being worried about getting the can as a result of his unimportance on the ranch, and this is shown when Steinbeck wrote I aint much good with ony hand. I lost my hand right here on this ranch. Thats why they give me a job swampin This suggests that the job was only given to Candy out of sympathy. Furthermore Candy saying I aint much good shows his awareness of his own situation, being worthless to the ranch. Candy represents the aged sector that exists in every society, at the time the novel was written work was very scarce and if people were employed they would have to work hard to say in work. Candy as an aged person is on his last job, because if he loses it no one else will take him on. This is his major fear throughout the novel and Steinbeck portrays the aged migrant worker as a pathetic man with only a dog to keep him company. Steinbeck writes Candy looked a long time at Slim to try and find some reversal The above statement suggests that Candy has no authority with the other workers on the ranch and needs Slim to assist him; this shows Candy, as a cripple, has no respect from the other characters, which is a portrayal of true life during the American Depression. With the dog eat dog world of the period skill, strength, intelligence, age and skin colour affected authority. Candy has a change of attitude after hearing about the dream soon after his dog was shot, Steinbeck choosing to write the dream being heard by Candy at this point in the novel when the character had lost everything that was important, gives the cripple hope for the future as his past (with his dog) is finished. Sadly the dog is a symbol of his possible future, the fate of the aged. In a time of mass unemployment and the fear of loneliness compels Candy to latch himself onto a belief to persevere in the harsh lonely world and this gives Candy the renewed confidence. Steinbeck shows the change of Candys attitude after he hears about the dream, Candy joined the attack with joy Glove fulla Vaseline, he said disgustedly. This quote enhances the change in the character of Candy, as before he did not say anything in general conversation between the workers and at this point he was important. The verb attack shows Candys aggression against Curley, who has a higher status than Candy and is more important to the running of the ranch and is the bosses son, not a cripple and stronger. The adjective disgustedly in the quote shows that Candy is sickened by Curley and Curleys attitude to others and Candy himself. This shows Candy is more than a cripple in the story, but a character who needs an image of a better future for himself with no worries. The dream of getting a ranch of their own is the need for some security can be compared as a pension in a modern view. Once Candy has this security in the dream Steinbeck enhances the character making him bolder, and his character comes out from the shell of an old cripple. In chapter two Steinbeck introduces the reader to the character of Crooks. The name Crooks is not used for him at the start of the novel and it is only later on that he is called Crooks. The names used for him are derogatory labels including stable buck, nigger and Crooks. Throughout the whole novel the reader never finds out the characters real name, which adds to the effectiveness of the character being a misfit. Steinbeck enhances the idea of Crooks being a misfit when he writes They let the nigger come in. Little skinner name of Smitty took after the nigger. Done pretty good, too This depicts that the other characters do not see Crooks a real human being but as an object of entertainment. Steinbeck conveys how a black man fits into the society of the period through racism. Crooks is a misfit in the novel because of his skin colour and his physical appearance, because of this he is segregated from the other workers on the ranch. This can be shown by They let the nigger come in this implies that the others do not want to be around him and that it is an important event when he does. The above quote can also suggest that Crooks wants to be sociable with the others and the word let suggests that the character has tried before. His injury to his back illustrates to the reader that he can be put into a category with Candy, as a cripple. The connection between the two is deeper than them both have a disability. Steinbeck brings them both together in chapter 4 at the start of the novel when he writes Yeah. Nice fella, too. Candy is shown to have a high regards and respect for him; Steinbeck puts them in the same situation in the novel. Candy and Crooks as cripples both need to belong to something as there is always the threat of getting the can or a similar consequence to of Candys dog. One may think that Steinbeck was trying to portray a bridge across racism in the period with a white man and black man wanting the same dream. As Crooks changes his view in the novel from being a defensive one to felling some hope about the dream too. At first Crooks attitude to little piece of land in his head is an objectionable because society has made him pessimistic and spiteful to any sign of others having some dream of happiness knowing that he can not have any because of race. However when he hears about the money he is more open and suggests he wants to be apart of it, this can be shown when Steinbeck wrote If you guys would want a hand to work for nothing- just his keep This quotes conveys Crooks hope in the dream and he wants to be apart of it to be secure and treated as an equal. The reader learns a valuable lesson from Crooks and Steinbeck portrays it effectively that society is in the wrong not that the characters. Steinbeck illustrates Crooks as being a proud son of a bitch with his tidy room but this does not make just a misfit or a cripple but he has humanity with all other blacks. Thats why a lot of time is devoted to him in the novel, his role is equally important to the social statement made by Steinbeck. The end of this key chapter with Crooks in, chapter 4, unhappily ends how it began with Crooks rubbing medicine into his back, this is a powerful message put across to the audience which may evoke the reader to think that society will not change unless we change society. Crooks had briefly gained some respect from other white males and had hope for the future, but it is when this happens that a women shattered his hopes, this would be terrible to Crooks because women were thought to be lower and weaker than men, so being put down by Curleys wife made him worth nothing, just like during the beginning of this chapter. A character that is, in essence, unusual is Curleys Wife. She is unusual because she is the only female character who speaks in this novel. Steinbecks portrayal of women in this novel is not in a good light, given that the men go to a brothel. Women typically represented as objects of sexual nature not as partners or equals but as. Curleys Wife is unusual in a way that she is the only women on a ranch full of men going around dressed to seduce, this can be shown in She had full, rouged lips and wide-spaced eyes, heavily made up. Her fingernails were red. Steinbeck suggests that she is trouble by all the red in the description, with red bringing up connotations of danger. The red also can connote seduction. Steinbecks character has a habit of looking for her husband which can suggest that she is lonely and is constantly seeking attention from the other men, another reason for dressing up seductively is to conceal her loneliness, Steinbeck includes her in the novel to portray the American housewife, wanting to be something more than a housewife. This was typical during this period of social change with Hollywood and women becoming celebrities, which is exciting compared to a life on the ranch. Steinbeck effectively portrays this in He says he was gonna put me in the movies. Says I was a natural. This implies to the reader that she wanted something more to her life than to be stuck on a ranch. This however makes her a misfit on the ranch in the novel because of her wanting a different dream to come true, but during that period people were fascinated about celebrities so the character of Curleys Wife can represent the womens struggle during the American Depression. We learn from the novel that society during that period was male orientated and that women were beginning to have their own dreams other than finding a good man to marry. Throughout the whole novel the reader is aware of Lennie being a misfit in the novel. When the reader is first introduced to this character his physical description suggests that he is misfit large pale eyes can connote the lack of intelligence, giving the sense of subdued expression, the adjective large agrees with the stature of Lennie, though the adjective pale implies the mindlessness of him. The other characters in the novel who are misfits, unusual characters or cripples have a physical or emotional problem but Lennie as one of the lead characters is different with an intelligence problem; this engages the readers sympathy as Lennie is every childlike. Steinbeck writes about the childlike behaviour of Lennie in Lennie was still smiling with delight at the memory of the ranch This quote depicts Lennies lack of social skills, like a child, which gets the character into a trouble that wouldnt have really happened in the novel if the character was not a misfit, such as what happened in Weed where he stroked the womens dress not knowing that he was doing something wrong and ended up being outcast and hunted. Steinbecks 1930s society is not tolerant of Lennie and his disability to handle a difficult social problem. Society when this novel was written is not an understanding one and Steinbeck dramatically portrays this by the fight in the novel. Steinbeck shows the reader during that period people acted too rash and unsympathetic, and Steinbeck with this novel wants people to take notice of society and for it to be more tolerant to misfits, cripples and in a sense unusual characters. Steinbeck leaves the ending of Lennie at a moderately neutral point of view; this lets one make up ones mind to know that its a tragedy. On one side that it is a tragedy that Steinbecks characters have no acknowledgment of Lennie killing Curleys Wife by accident and that he has no understanding of death and his own strength. On the other side some readers may believe that Lennie should be shot because he killed a human, even with his lack of intelligence it still make him a danger to society. Steinbeck writes his death in the place where Lennie suits best throughout the whole novel, in nature Suddenly Lennie appeared out of the brush, and he came as silently as a creeping bear moves. This quote implies that Lennie suited the environment that he was in, and the metaphor a creeping bear moves is a powerful one. In addition, it conveys the character to be almost part of nature and if he was never meant for society. As a result of this, the reader may think it is less of a tragedy as Lennie dies where he belongs. Steinbeck portrays the purpose of Lennies character of being the character that allows people to have a dream. Lennie is the one to console in and not to put down people, because he has no real understanding of how the world works. Candy and Crooks benefit from having time with Lennie as Candy has someone to talk too furthermore ensuring Candy a no opposition to joining the dream, which may not have occurred if Lennie was not a misfit to society. Crooks has someone to talk to without no prejudice as it because of Lennie being unintelligent, he did not understand the concept of racism. Lastly, Lennie ensured Curleys Wife finally got someone to talk to in the novel. Steinbecks misfit Lennie shows the flaws in society that needs to be exposed in true life. If there were more people like Lennie on the ranch (society) there would be more empathy towards others and their feelings and there wouldnt be feelings of superiority other one another. George and Lennie have a friendship that is not typical of the period in which the novel was set. Two men travelling around together and working together was unheard of, the American Depression saw people distant themselves from each other. With no security, men chose not to trust each other. Steinbeck depicts this effectively throughout the whole novel. This relationship is not typical of the era, Steinbeck shows this when he writes Guys like us, that work on the ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They dont belong no place. This illustrates the stereotype of the migrant worker making this unusual relationship out of place in the novel and Steinbeck wanted to show this by the effects of their relationship upon the characters. The relationship being not of true life has a sense of inevitable doom to it. Steinbeck depicts the relationship to draw other characters to it so that they can belong even though the friendship creates suspicion in; He hooked his thumbs in his belt and squinted one eye nearly closed This expresses to the reader the Boss had never seen it before and that thinks it trouble, with squinted one eye the verb creates suspicion. This clearly emphasis the idea, that the relationship sparks the plot with eventually, Lennie killing Curleys Wife. Perhaps Steinbeck shows this because he is making a social statement on the period where people just can not trust in one another or be emotionally close to each other, with out anything going wrong. George and Lennies relationship shows one how much empathy and understanding one man can have in another. Against everyone being antagonistic to the relationship George stuck by Lennie until he could no more. Steinbecks characters have a friendship that is destroyed by the attitudes in society of the period. In conclusion to this essay, Steinbeck has wrote misfits, unusual characters and cripples in Of Mice and Men to show the faults and prejudices during the 1930s American depression, in which the novel was written. Steinbecks characters portray different aspects to the life in the period. Crooks represents the life of a black man having to struggle through life being worth nothing because of skin colour, whilst Curleys Wife represents how a women struggles in a male dominant society, the male dominant society being the ranch itself. Candy symbolises the aged in the period, being old is being useless and unwanted. Though the novel has misfits, unusual characters and cripples they would not have as much affect if they were not contrast to the more stereotypical characters of the period. Curley and Carlson show the reader the bleak and lonely lives migrant workers had. The contrast has a bigger and more meaningful social statement made by Steinbeck. The writer effectively shows this at the end of the novel. Now what the hell ya suppose is eatin them two guys? This enhances the social statement made by Steinbeck, with Slim consoling George but the other more usual characters, Curley and Carlson, not coming together after the whole plot Steinbeck keeps them apart and socially distant, unaware of the situation George is in. the novel is also concluded within the novel where the image of the water snake an the heron. The whole novel is summarised, with the calmness to the heron snatching the water snake. Steinbeck implies this animal image that humans in a society live like animals and how that we have not evolved to be more tolerable of peoples differences; the consequence of this is Lennies death. Steinbeck conveys marvellously that this will keep transpiring as the heron returns to the pool to catch another water snake.

Counter Terrorism Measures For Global Safety

Counter Terrorism Measures For Global Safety Terrorism has inflicted fear and panic on almost every corner of the globe. Due to the pain that it inflicts on people indiscriminately, the United Nations has taken the threat of terrorism seriously and is actively engaging all member nations to participate in counterterrorism efforts (United Nations [UN], 2008). The counterterrorism agenda is a priority one for the UN for many years now. Countering terrorism has been a difficult pursuit because it is immediately laden with ethical and moral issues. Due to terrorism targeting even innocent women and children and random civilians located at the wrong place and at the wrong time, many are tempted to pursue counterterrorism through the eye for an eye approach. However, doing this would make the counterterrorism efforts no less evil than the terrorists, so engaging in acts to combat terrorism must adhere to democratic principles (Steven Gunaratna, 2007). While terrorism has been a scourge for many decades now, the United States was for ced to combat terror more aggressively in the advent of the September 11 attacks which claimed the lives of thousands. Measures have been promulgated using various anti-terror approaches in order to protect civilians and to defend the world against terrorism (Bater, 2010). However, combating terrorism has become more difficult because the US is forced to deal not only with terrorists from overseas but even homegrown terrorists such as 19-year old Osban Muhamud who allegedly planted a bomb in a Christmas tree (Thomas, Goldman Ryan, 2010). Nine years after 9/11, the terror threat has not waned and resolving the threat of terror at home and abroad is far from over. Models and Measures of Counterterrorism There are three general models to combat terrorism. The first model, the criminal justice model (CJM), aims to combat terrorism while at the same time preserving fundamental human rights and democratic principles. The second model, the war model (WM), emphasizes on restraining terrorism itself than preserving democratic rights and places the state in a war-fighting mode to counter terrorism effectively. The third model integrates the previous two, called the expanded criminal justice model to provide greater flexibility in counterterrorism efforts (Steven Gunaratna, 2004). These models also reflect current counterterrorism measures recommended by the UN and its member nations, chiefly the United States (Department of Homeland Security [DHS], 2008). Due to the fact that terrorists operate at various levels, whether political, legal, economic, military, and through the media, efforts to combat terrorism also encompass these areas (UN, 2008). Political Measures: Political strategies in combating terrorism require that states address the root causes of terrorism in their respective countries. Terrorists legitimize their violent acts as a response to poverty, unemployment, and other socio-political programs. Political measures to counter terror require that states negotiate with terror groups and making small concessions with them. The danger with this strategy is that it gives terrorist groups legitimacy and may even encourage other groups to resort to terrorism in order to achieve their political goals and demands. Nonetheless, some governments have addressed terrorism by using poverty-reduction programs, employment and livelihood activities, land redistribution, and offering amnesties (UN, 2008). Punitive Measures: Punitive measures are aimed at severing a terrorist groups lifeline by cutting off its finances and other resource-generating capabilities (DHS, 2008). This involves banning fund-raising initiatives of known front organizations of terrorist groups. Other punitive measures that are used in many include freezing assets of known front organizations or of key leaders, boycotting countries found to harbor terrorists, and placing economic sanctions, as in the case of Iran and Iraq. Judicial Measures: Judicial measures consider international human rights law and enact legal measures to prevent terrorism. This includes ratification of international conventions or regional agreements relating to the extradition, prosecution, and mutual legal assistance to facilitate the capture of terrorists. Although this measure is the most democratic form of counterterrorism, it presents many problems such as the possibility of nations refusing to cooperate where the legal systems are not compatible and the refusal to prosecute suspected terrorists out of fear of retaliation. Legally, prosecuting terrorists is a challenge given the non-uniform definition of terrorism among countries (Steven Gunaratna, 2004). Intelligence gathering: The lapses of 9/11 brought several measures to strengthen intelligence in the United States. One of the earliest measures undertaken was the passage of the controversial Patriot Act which reduced the limitations that law enforcement agencies were subject to in terms of searching email, telephone, medical, financial, and professional records (The Investigative Project on Terrorism, 2008). The Act also reduced the restrictions of the US when gathering information on other countries. The law also amended the definition of terrorism to encompass domestic terrorism, thus, expanding the powers of law enforcement agencies to combat terrorism. The law came under fire from civil rights groups and enhanced fears regarding breach of privacy and increasing surveillance powers of the government (Bater, 2010). Military Response: The use of military for retaliatory response is an application of the war model whereby civilian legal systems are temporarily suspended in favor of martial law (UN, 2008). The military response is a controversial measure in terms of international law. It poses the likelihood of alienating the public and giving the terrorists hero status; moreover, military response can be interpreted acts of aggression and heighten anti-US sentiment, making the capture of terrorists more difficult (The Investigative Project on Terrorism, 2008). Conclusion Different models and approaches to counterterrorism have been applied by the United States and members of the United Nations. While each have its advantages in zeroing in on terrorists and preventing the further loss of life, certain democratic rights and ethical issues make such measures precarious and difficult. This is because any effort to weed out terrorism must be balanced against international norms on human rights and democratic freedoms.

Diet Pills Essay -- Health, Appetite Control

Science and technology have revolutionized the lifestyle of man. The modern man is submerged by a world of hectic life. Everything is done very fast due to time constrain which unconsciously affected our health and fitness. On top of that, excessive workloads have reduced our time for exercises and health maintenance. Besides all these modern life’s things, millions of Americans claim that winter is the most common season for people to gain weight as the cold weather discourages outside exercise (Richards 2008). As a result, studies have depicted that more people are getting overweight every year and it has become a constant issue for millions of people. If decades ago, a person who is thin could be considered as ill but now everybody wants to be slim just like the magazine cover girls. Since diet pills seemed to be a quick fix to this problem, (Richards 2008) it becomes very important for everyone to know the side effects of taking diet pills. To begin with, diet pills are more than an appetite suppressant. Appetite control would make weight loss goals easier to achieve. Unfortunately, appetite control is easier said than done as it is not something that everyone is capable of (Thadani 2009). That is why most people tend to seek help from the magic diet pills. It is because, appetite suppressant diet pills help to kill an individual’s appetite and hunger which can make the person goes on for a long period without feeling the needs to consume food (Thadani 2009). However, it is worth to bear in mind that our body need adequate amount of food for growth, nourishment and producing energy (Thadani 2009). This is the dangerous part of appetite suppressant diet pills where they give false instruction to the body that it does not req... ...). On top of that, if obese people use diet pills to help control their weight have already stressed hearts and elevated blood pressure due to their weight, and if diet pills are added, this only exacerbates the problem and can cause permanent heart damage (Richards 2008). As a conclusion, ingredients that present in diet pills can cause harmful effects to our body. All in all, most diet pills bring more negative effects for they only act as appetite suppressant, give only a temporary fix and contains harmful substances to our body. Unfortunately, the best way to shed those pounds is nothing new. Physician, dietitians and nutritionists unanimously agree that eating a moderate and balanced diet along with regular exercise is the best way to maintain a healthy weight. Being healthy does not mean to have a slimmer body, but to have an ideal shape and staying fit.

Frida Kahlo HSC

Friday Kohl â€Å"Art can be an expression of personal experience† Discuss this statement in reference to the life of Friday Kohl. Friday Kohl was described as â€Å"the first woman in the history of art to address with absolute and uncompromising honesty, general and specific themes which exclusively affect women† by life-long lover, Diego Riviera. As a Mexican female artist in the 20th century, Friday's themes expressed in her artworks were considered highly explicit at the time.She was fine artist who used autobiographical through her extensive output f self-portraits. They are evidence of her need for self-expression and her exploration of identity. She overcame many difficult events including polio, long recovery from a serious car accident, two failed marriages, and several miscarriages some having a direct influence on her art. She used these experiences, combined with Mexican and Native American cultural and stylistic influences, to create highly personal painti ngs.Kohl used personal symbolism mixed with Surrealism to express her suffering and anguish through her work. A viewer might classify her paintings as Surrealism, but she considered her art to be realistic. In reference to the statement â€Å"art can be an expression of personal experience†, Kohl has produced a plethora of artworks which express her personal experience. Kohl's many works from 1926 until her death in 1954 were each a response to an event, personal experience or the result of her own personal exploration into her heritage or identity.On September 17th, 1925 one single event changed Kohl's entire future. She was injured in a collision of a tram and a bus in which she suffered serious injuries in the accident, including a broken spinal column, a broken collarbone, broken ribs, a broken pelvis, eleven fractures in her right leg, a crushed and dislocated right foot, and a dislocated shoulder. An iron handrail pierced her abdomen and her uterus, which seriously dama ged her reproductive ability. After this she was bedridden for months and as she states â€Å"Without giving it any particular thought, I started painting†.This accident also provide many direct influence to her artworks including a small drawing â€Å"Accident† (1925), which portrays a scene with no consideration to the rules of respective and the images of the collision, her broken body lying on the road and her own face looking down upon her can be seen. Also in her later work â€Å"The Broken Column† (1944), this painting is a direct response to her body health slowly deteriorating to the point where she had to wear a metal corset. In the painting Friday is the centre image, with an Ionic column broken in several places as a symbol of her spine.All over her body sharp nails are embedded in her skin which expresses the immense pain which is also highlighted by the desolate, fissured landscape which ads a feel of loneliness. Friday is well known for her unique ness, this developed early in her life with the help of her loving father, Wilhelm Kohl (1872-1941), he provided her with a passion for art as he was a photographer she describes him as an â€Å"immense example to me of tenderness, of work and above all of understanding†.Her affection towards her father is expressed in the painting â€Å"Portrait of my Father† (1951), where she clearly expresses with the bannered across the bottom of the painting his accomplishments ND by positioning him with the tool of his trade a plate-back camera, her respect for him. As a young child Friday suffered from polio, which stunted the growth of her right foot, during her convalescence she spent a lot of time with her father learning how to use a camera and color photographs – experiences which were useful for her later painting.Friday Kohl's self-portraits carried highly personal messages and helped her to shaped her idea of her own self; by creating herself anew in her art, she could find her way to her identity. Such is expressed in â€Å"The Two Friday's† (1939) is a double elf-portrait, which is a complex image, filled with symbolism. This revealing, if enigmatic, work is a direct response to Kohl's divorce from her life-long lover Diego Riviera, and expresses her personal feeling towards the situation. The duality Kohl feels is revealed by contrasting costumes, Mexican and European.The painting is filled with the pain she felt at the separation from Riviera. Kohl has painted two versions of herself – one Friday, wears a Victorian dress, is the one Riviera loved and the other, on the right, dressed in simple Athena dress, is the Friday he no longer eves. The two Friday's hold hands and are also connected by an artery that flows between their two hearts. The Friday on the left-hand side controls the blood flow with surgical clamps and the open artery on her lap may refer to the end of her marriage with Riviera.The Friday on the right-hand s ide holds a small portrait of Riviera as a child. Friday on the right can also symbolism Catholic representations of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Friday on the left has her chest ripped open which could be in reference to the Aztec sacrificial practices. A turbulent sky fills the background, and focus is on inner identity and the desiring body. The doubling or split self and the contradictory pairing of an inner and outer reality being played out in the body suggest a surreal vision.Her many self-portraits show an indication of how her style developed over her career, when comparing her earliest self-portrait â€Å"Self-portrait in a velvet dress† (1926) to her later â€Å"Self-portrait time flies† (1929) there is a clear indication of development in style and attention to symbolism. Details like her simple looting, colonial earring, pre-colonial necklace, indicating pre-Columbian and colonial cultural influences, are an obvious progression from her earlier work.A nother example is in the two portraits â€Å"Portrait of Alicia Gallant† (1927) and â€Å"Portrait of my sister Christina† (1928), in these early portraits her style still orientated towards European-influenced Mexican portrait painting of the 19th-century, differ from the later portraits, which reveal a clear trend towards Mexicans, Mexican national consciousness. Her many personal influences are also expressed within many of her arks, she had a love of Chinese poetry which is represented in the subject for the painting â€Å"Portrait of Miguel N.Lira† (1927), her interest in Aztec rituals is represented in the composition of the painting â€Å"My birth† (1932) where the position of the woman giving birth is a direct reference to the goddess Tolerated and her passion for nature and life is represented as a motif in several paintings, including â€Å"portrait of Luther Burbank† (1931) a famed horticulturalist for his unusual passion for vegetable a nd fruit hybrid. In this paint he is depicted as half tree, half human.Her work for he first time turning away from straightforward reality into external reality. Skeleton at bottom relates to her favorite subject – birth of life through death which reflects on her personal experience in the car crash she suffered. The Mexican Revolution which began in 1910 had an effective influence upon the young Friday (only 3 at the time), who would later claim to be born in 1910 as to state she and the new Mexico were born at the same time.Though there are no artworks dedicated solely to the revolution and its effect upon her, it is clear in some of her works the effect the evolution and its figures had upon her like â€Å"Nucleus of Creation† (1945) and â€Å"Self- Portrait dedicated to Leon Trotsky' (1937), the prominent figure and Kohl shared a brief affair and she presented to him on his birthday November 7th, the anniversary of the Russian Revolution.Her idea of creation in relation to sexuality and birth is a recurring theme in many of her later paintings including â€Å"Flower of Life† (1943), depicting a pollinating flower as a powerful representation of sexuality, also in â€Å"Sun and Life† (1947), where the amorphous plant forms are symbols of female and male initial alongside the life-giving sun in the centre and especially in the painting â€Å"Nucleus of Creation† (1945), this painting was directly inspired by the book â€Å"Moses the Man and Monotheistic Religion† by Sigmund Freud, the central figure is the abandoned baby Moses which resembles Diego Riviera surrounded by a fetus, a large sun, an egg being fertilized by sperm and also many influential figures of time including Stalin, Ghanaian and Jesus. Friday was influenced by her inability to have a child and this is a topic she explores through many of her works, in 1932 while in Detroit, United States Kohl suffered a miscarriage which is represented in the pain ting â€Å"Henry Ford Hospital† (1932), where the artist is shown as a small, naked, vulnerable figure in an enormous bed in the front of a vast plain with an industrious, cityscape on the horizon. The bed is stained with blood and flowing from her hand are images of a fetus, flower and other images linked to her miscarriage.Her miscarriage is also depicted in â€Å"My Birth† (1932), where Friday illustrates her own birth where she appears lifeless. Friday's work as a female artist in the 20th century has ad a profound impact on successive female artists. She suffered an early death at the age of 47, and like many artists since her death her work has achieved more popularity than during her life. In the sass Friday Kohl achieved a cult figure status; she is well-known for her adjoining eyebrows and explicitly, yet heavily personal work. Therefore in reference to the statement â€Å"art can be an expression of personal experience†, Friday Kohl's work would suppor t this as many events in her life led to the creation of many artworks. (1620 words)

Establishing a connection between knowledge transfer and innovation diffusion Essay

Advanced Information Management (AIM) is a technology as well as a business consulting firm which focuses greatly or rather it is focused on advancing business efficiency (Forsgren & Johanson, 2014). The advanced information management helps in designing, implementation and supports the user centric applications of businesses and the various systems that provide the various clients with competitive edges as a means towards the achievement the highest returns from one of their most assets that are deemed valuable. In health, the advanced information management and its intelligence, bridges various clinical documentations, compliance coding and the overall quality. On the other hand, it also provides full compliments of the healthcare information management, which provide solutions for the various clinical needed transcriptions. It also combines various technologies, which entail speech recognition with the labor considered superior and management of accounts towards the simplification of the various documentations of clinics while maintaining the quality at higher levels. In addition, the speech recognition feature leads to the reduction of turnarounds and hence lead to the cutting down of cost as well as not disrupting workflow. Application of technology             Technology refers to the collection of different tools which include machinery, arrangements and the modifications and the different procedures that are used by people, human beings in this case (DeGarmo et al, 2011). On the other hand it can also be said to be the application of knowledge to the various practical goals of human life towards the manipulation or rather the changing of the human environment. Information management             About health, it refers to the practice or rather the activity of acquiring the analyzing and the protection of the digital as well as the traditional medical information that is seen to be very vital in the provision of high quality patient care. The widespread of the computerization, the health records have also been computerized largely. The paper based traditional way of keeping records has been largely replaced by the electronic health records. This transition has helped largely towards the timely provision of the health services. The electronic health records take very less time when it comes to the cases of retrieving the details of a patient as compared to the old paper based way, which was used in keeping of records which at times could be faced with loss a patient’s data. This time saving feature has greatly helped towards the timely provision of health care to the patients. Taking too much time in records before attending to the patients could le ad to death at times. The various tools of health of health informatics as well as the health information technology have been on the increase as their use has proved to increase the efficiency in the information management practice that have been put in practice in the various health care sectors. The information management has also played a major role in provision of the quality health care. For instance, the information management in Nuance, bridges the clinical documentation improvements, the coding, compliance as well as quality. It has on the other hand provided a full complement of the healthcare solutions, which are very necessary for the clinical transcriptions. The information management has also led to its simplification of the clinical documentation and the quality maintenance through the combination of the superior labor and the account management with the advanced technology of speech recognition. On the time saving factor, the platforms of speech recognition lads to the reduction of the times of turn around which save time and cut costs as they maintain the workflows of the various clinics in which they are incorporated. In the offering of the broad arrays of improvements in the clinical documentations and the provision of solutions in the record management, lead s to the provision of powerful links between the care and the patient revenue, which enables the health systems to better, manage the information, which is critical across the continued health care. This leads to the provision of a technology that is powerful as well as services that ensure the quality of service provision to be high. The quality indicators that are largely associated with the nursing profession have evolved largely from the nursing sensitive to the adverse event sensitive (Hockenberry & Wilson, 2013). Quality indicators are used to improve patient care in various ways. The quality indicators are the measure of the health care quality, which on their side is able in the putting in to use the various available administrative data. The quality indicators can largely be used in the highlighting of the various the quality concerns that are potential. It also leads to the identification of areas that are in need of further investigations as well as study and lead to the noticing of the changes that take place overtime. This helps in the improvement of the healthcare programs in a way that, the quality indicator would establish an area that is not performing well or on the other hand it’s in a poor state that limits it from providing a better health care service. Through quality indicators it cou ld be established rather that the paper based entry takes too much time in retrieving of a patients data and hence patients in critical conditions may die due to this delay and hence these would necessitate transition to electronic data entry which would be faster and improve health care. The quality indicator modules help in the representation of various aspects of quality, which are inclusive of patient safety indicators, inpatient quality indicators, the prevention quality indicators and finally the pediatric quality indicators. The prevention quality indicators are the various sets of measures that could be of great use to the inpatient discharge within a hospital to identify the quality of care in conditions such as the ambulatory care. These are various conditions in an outpatient care, which is good, is capable of preventing the hospitalization need or on the other hand, an intervention, which is early, can prevent a disease complication or its development to a more severe state. On the patient’s safety quality indicators, they provide information based on the potential in the complications of the hospital and the adverse effects that follow the different surgeries that take place as well as the complications, which come after childbirth. Hence, after th eir identification the various preventive measures are taken which lead to their prevention and hence overall improvements in health care. The difference between informatics and information technology is that, informatics includes the science of information, engineering of information systems as well as the practice of processing of information. The informatics in addition studied the behavior, structures as well as the interactions of the manufactured or rather artificial and the natural systems that do various duties such as the storage, processing and the communication of information. The informatics also develop and their own concept foundation as well as the foundations of theory or rather the theory foundations. The information technology on the other hand is the development study, design, implementation, support as well as the management of the information systems that are computer based which in particular were application of software and the computer technology at large. The available information technology systems in the health care environment include the electronic health records. These information systems enable the electronic storage of data and information pertaining patients and the assist its easy retrieval of the data. It can also be said to be the system of collection of the electronic information of health about a population or an individual patients records. It records the data and information in digital format which is capable of being shared across the different units of the health care organizations. Human Resource for Health Information System is also another system available which generally is the system used for collecting, disseminating, managing as well as the processing of data and information which regard the human resource for health. However, depending on the level of a countries development, the Human Resource for Health Information System could be paper based or computerized. Thirdly there is the Health information technolog y which is also an information technology that has been incorporated in health which on its hand it provides a frame work towards the description of the comprehensive management of the information of health that is across the systems which are highly computerized and in addition it provides a secure exchange of the information between the providers, the entities of quality as well as the insurers. The health information technology has been seen greatly as a technique or rather tool that would lead to the provision of an overall quality and safe health care to the various kinds of patients. Potential barriers to patient-centered care created by the use of various information technologies include aspects such as the misuse of this technology and the data collected. The misuse of the data collected leads to the mixing up of the information concerning patients hence leading to a reduction in the quality of patient care and the health care unit at large. Secondly, poor health electronic records system designation and its improper use would lead to adverse effects, which include the errors in the electronic health records which would jeopardize at a large extent the integrity of the various information that is encompassed in the electronic health records. These consequences which are as a result of the misuse, would be unintended are seen to be able to cause many cases of fraud as well as other abuse that could have very serious legal implications when the culprit is caught. According to a research that was done, it was suggested that since the introduction of the health inf ormation technology instead of leading to the various improvements in the health sectors which included the improvement in the quality of the data that is being recorded, it has greatly led to the recording of large amounts of data that has largely been regarded as bad. With this, it has led to further deterioration in the quality of patient centered care. The patient care technologies and the information management systems have greatly impacted the quality and the standards of the nursing processes in the different health units that have encompassed the use of these technologies. Through the use of information from these technologies nursing processes have been able to safely and orderly store and record a patients or rather patients data in a way that facilitate improved health care. The nursing process also in other hands adopts the communication techniques as well as the various techniques from the technologies used which enables them in reduction or rather the cutting down of costs and also increase in the effectiveness in the carrying out of their various nursing duties. Health Information Systems             The health information systems refers to the system that manages, captures or rather deals with the transmission of information which is related to the health individuals or the organizational activities that work within that sector that regards health. It incorporates aspects such as the disease surveillance systems as well as the laboratory information systems, the patient systems of administration and finally the management systems of human resource. The overall well-functioning of the health information systems is the effort which is integrated in the collection, procession and the reporting as well as using the information of health and the knowledge from it in the influencing of the decisions that are made, the policies, program action as well as the research. A decision making process that would be deemed sound or rather regarded safe at the various levels of health information systems would require the health statistics which are very much reliable. Decisi ons made based on evidence lead to the resource allocation processes that are more efficient at the levels of delivery and also the information concerning the effectiveness and the quality of the various offered services also contribute to the better out comes which in this case is the better health care. The information systems also help in tracking overtime performance, increase transparency a well as strengthening of transparency. Various nursing terminologies have been used and are still in use. The standardization of nursing languages is tools which are regarded as essential in the communications or rather the exchange of information for the professional nurses who are registered to offer hands in the planning and also the evaluation of the quality of the nursing care. Issues associated or rather with this standardization of the nursing terminologies could be seen in a case whereby in the using of the standardized nursing language in the documentation of school nursing was seen to provide a language which is common for the school nurses in the description of the interventions and the various responses of their staffs and students towards those interventions. Without the standardized nursing language the documentations of the nursing procedures could be persona or rather only activity descriptions that are locally understood because the words would have different meanings for the different classes or groups o f readers. Therefore the big issue that arose was that the information could not be translated or rather transformed in order to also fit in the other settings. Data standards lead to the provision of a meaning that is consistentto the data that is shared or rather data that is to be shared among the different information systems as well as the agencies that are found throughout the lifecycle of a product. These are inclusive of the representation, transmission, structuring, as well as data management or in other words the management of data. Some of the standardized data formats include the Clinical Data Acquisition Standards Harmonization (CDASH) which provides the standardized fields which greatly aid in the collection at clinical investigative sites. Secondly another format is the Study Data Tabulation Model (SDTM) which on its side aid in the provision of models that are standardized for the clinical study of the tabulations of the different data collected. Thirdly there is the Analysis Dataset Model (ADaM) which like the previous forms, aids in the provision of a model that is standardized for the analysis of different sets of data. In the reporting of the events that are deemed adverse, the formats such standard data set formats such as Individual Case Safety Report (ICSR) are used which in its side leads to the capturing of information that concerns the adverse events and the problems associated with a product that is reported to the public health as well as the organizations that are concerned with the improvement of the quality and finally the agencies concerned with regulation. The various types of Health Information System include the electronic medical reports (EMR) which is also known as the Electronic Health record. This system captures and provides storage of details concerning a patient. This system may also display information on the basis of the name of the physician. The master patient index is also a health information system that aids in the listing of all the patients who have ever been through the system or rather all the patients that have ever been treated in that particular health institution. The Master Patient Index typically serves as the foundational base of data for all the other systems that are patient related, which encompasses the administrative and the clinical aspects such as the scheduling of patients. The comparison between the two health information systems is that both of them are subject based systems that entail the storage ad recording of data. The other set of systems are the systems which are task based. These systems are responsible for the capturing and reporting of the information that relate to a specific task in relation to health care tasks such as the laboratory systems. This system are driven and directed by the Master Patient Index that also enable them capture information and paste it to the health record system. Healthcare information systems meet health care needs in various ways. For instance, in order for to effectively diagnose and give best treatment to the various patients, there is the arising of the need to atleast have access to the types of clinical information that include the health record of the patient. Additionally there is also the need for the important administrative information such as the availability of the resources that would offer support. The health care systems play a major role in such a case such that they would facilitate easy access to the patient’s records and the various clinical information that is needed. Hence with this it is greatly evident on how the health care information systems meet the health care delivery needs. Information Security             The health information security refers to the protection that is given to information and the systems of information from the accesses, which are unauthorized as well as unauthorized disclosure and modification. It’s an iterative process that has been in full driven by the technological enhancements as well as the various changes that have been evident in the health care environment. The security of information is achieved through ensuring of confidentiality, integrity and the information availability. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) are responsible for the regulation of the availability and the various breadths of group health plans as well as the certain health care insurance policies that are of the individuals. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy rule leads to the regulation of the disclosure and the use of the health information that is protected and also that is held with covered titl es. The same act also provides the guidelines and the procedures that are to be used in the maintenance of security and privacy of the identifiable health information as well as outlining the various penalties that could be because of the violation of the laws. The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, addressed the various concerns of privacy and security that are in association with the transmission of the information of about health in an electronic form, in part, and through the ways of the various provisions that lead to the strengthening of the criminal and the civil enforcement of the rules that are laid down by The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The interim final law of The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) conforms to The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulations that are used in its enforcement. Conclusion             In conclusion, we can simply state that the advanced information in management in the health sector has really played a major role towards the improvement of the quality of the health services that are being provided by the different health care units. They have also largely reduced the high costs of operations that had been earlier experienced in the use of the olden ways or rather the traditional based ways of data entry, retrieval among others. The advanced information management has also been seen to play a major role in the increasing of the accuracy in the diagnosis through its provisions of simpler and easier plat forms in which the required information could be extracted with much ease. 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