Piece inspired by ‘Of Mice and Men’ Essay

The sun was blazing down on the yard outside the barn. The group of men were playing a horse shoe tournament. Lennie was still sitting down on a barrel, watching the other guys play. In the distance he saw a man walking towards them with a trail of dust bellowing from his feet. It was Curly. Everyone went silent as he swaggered up to Slim. â€Å"Av, you seen my wife! † â€Å"No, she’s probably bunking up with the Nigger! † muttered Carlson. Everyone began to chuckle, Lennie didn’t hear what Carlson had said but he started to laugh so he wouldn’t stand out. He laughed so loud that in the end he did stand out. Curly stormed over to him, he had a menacing look on his face. Lennie stopped laughing immediately and began to hide his face. â€Å"What the hell you laughing at? † Curly asks as he looks down on Lennie. â€Å"Nu.. Nu.. Nothing† Stuttered Lennie. Everyone fell silent as Curly started to crack his knuckles in a fighting fashion. â€Å"Come on, you big bastard. Get up on your feet. No big son-of-a-bitch is gonna laugh at me. I’ll show you who’s yellow. † Curly yanks Lennie up on his feet and starts pummelling into his stomach and face. As Lennie is taking this beating he looks up and looks into Georges eyes. Everything starts slowing down in Lennie’s brain and all he can hear is George’s voice repeating â€Å"Get him Lennie. Don’t let him do it! † Slim rushes to George and says† The dirty little rat. I’ll get him myself. † â€Å"Wait a minute. Get him Lennie! † George shouts. Then the tables turn. Lennie grabs Curly by the shirt and lifts him high above the ground. Lennie is a blur and begins to bear hug Curly. Curly is totally refrained from doing anything to Lennie. Then all the men hear groaning noises coming from Curly. A loud yell cry comes from the mouth of Curly as the men hear his back breaking. Each spinal column crunching into each other. Everyone realises that it’s time to get Lennie off of Curly before he kills him. â€Å"Let go of him Lennie. Let go! † George screams as he jumps onto Lennie’s arms. â€Å"Let go of him Lennie. Let go. Slim, come and help me while the guy got no back left. As the men prize Lennie ofF he is still in a blur, he suddenly just drops Curly and runs onto a haystack crying†. You told me to George! † â€Å"I know I did Lennie, I know I did†,George whispers to Lennie as he sits and comforts him. Slim walks over to Curly who was lying on the floor having lots of short spasms in his back. â€Å"Looks like every bone in his back is bust† Slim says as he analysed Curly’s injury.

Adult Education and Training Essay

Abstract This paper work presents the summary of the most well known adult learning theory – Andragogy, explains how it accounts for the characteristics, patterns of learning, and motivation adopted by adult learners. Moreover, reflects on my own qualities and circumstance as an adult learner; critique the strengths and weaknesses of Andragogy. Key Words Andragogy, pedagogy, adult learning, education, training, adult learner, characteristics, motivation Introduction All these years, the specialized field of education has generated a number of models and theories of adult learning, included transformation learning theory, experiential learning theory, informal learning theory†¦etc. And the most important one with which to be familiar is Malcolm Knowles’ Andragogy. Andragogy was described as the â€Å"art and science to teaching adults to learn† (Knowles, Holton, & Swanson, 2005). It also interpreted the foundation and structure of adult learning, the concept of andragogy has been worldwide used in different times with different connotations and seem as a bible of adult education. Andragogy The notion of andragogy has been around for nearby two centuries. It originally formulated by a German teacher, Alexander Kapp, in 1833 (Nottingham Andragogy Group 1983). He used â€Å"andragogy† to describe education theory. Andragogy literally means â€Å"man leading†, which contrasted with pedagogy (Since andr- is Latin for â€Å"man†, peda is Latin for â€Å"child† and agogus is Latin for â€Å"leading†). And later on, couple educators had used the term of â€Å"andragogy† in their article. It included Rosenstock in 1921; Lindeman wrote â€Å"The Meaning of Adult Education† in 1926. The notion of â€Å"Andragogy† was well developed, widely discussed and used in 1980 by Malcolm Shepherd Knowles, a champion of andragogy. Knowles first introduced the concept of in the US in 1968. With his previous work on informal adult education, Knowles used those elements of process and setting to construct the shape and direction of adult e ducation. The concept he used to explain the theory of adult education was the notion of andragogy. â€Å"Malcolm Knowles, Informal adult education, self-direction and andragogy† (Jay-D Man, 2009). Knowles applied the idea of andragogy as the foundation of adult learning, he marked it as a new born technology which moderates the development and performance of adult learning. He posited six assumptions related to the adult learners: 1) Need to know, 2) self-concept, 3) experience, 4) readiness to learn, 5) orientation to learning , and 6) motivation to learn  (Knowles, 1980) Need to know â€Å"Adults want to know why they need to learn something before undertaking to learn it† (Knowles, 2005). Adults are realist, they want to find out what is the advantage and the loss before they make decision to do something. The â€Å"why†, â€Å"what†, â€Å"how†, â€Å"when†, â€Å"where† will first came to their mind before they making choices. For example: A man find he needs to improve his academy standard to get a promotion at work, which is â€Å"why† he wants to continue learning; he will choices a subject related to his present career to learn, he knows â€Å"what† he needs to learn and â€Å"what† is expected of him; in order to achieve his goal, he knows â€Å"how† he going to do and plan; beside works and take care his family, he needs to know â€Å"when† he studies; after conducts research, he knows â€Å"where† is a best place for his continuing learning. Self-Concept â€Å"Adults have a self-concept of being responsible for their own decisions, for their own lives† (Knowles, 1998). Adult learners are autonomous, they expect and enjoy independence, like to take control in everything and see themselves as self-directed. They don’t want adult educators use a pedagogical model to teach them. They think learning is a process of sharing with the teacher and one another, for example, they prefer interaction rather than formal subject issue. So teacher has responsibility to encourage and promote the process of self-direction. That is why Knowles emphasizes that adult educators must â€Å"make efforts to create learning experiences in which adults are helped to make the transition from dependent to self-directing learners† (Knowles, 1998). Experience For those adult learners, they are individual differences in their background, occupation, education standard, learning style, interests, goals and motivation will cause different experiences than youth when come into an educational activity (Knowles, 2005). Upon the adult learners’ prior experience, Knowles (1998) point out four paths that adult experience  learning: A wider range of individual differences will be established. Offer a richest resource for learning. Create deviation that can restrain, or sculpt new learning. Provide area for adults’ self-identity. Since the adult learners have many experiences, teacher must draw on learner experiences. Everyone in class could share their experiences through experiential techniques (simulations, group discussions, or problem-solving activities, etc). Moreover, sometime the adult learners may have more experience than the educator in some area. The communication and knowledge sharing will not only limit between instructor and student, also lead to 2 and 3 way interactions: between instructor and learner, learner and learner as well. Readiness to Learn Adults learn in order to cope effectively with real-life tasks. They normally come to class motivated, and ready to learn things they need to know. Knowles observes that â€Å"adults generally become ready to learn when their life situation creates a need to know† (Knowles, 2005). Anticipate the adults’ readiness to learn is very important in adult education, it determine how to proceed the training, and what strategies and activities should apply to meet a learner’s readiness. Surveys of learners prior to beginning a course, or some introduction course before the advanced courses are the ways to retrieve the material and aware the learner’s readiness. Orientation to learning Learning is a process of increasing competence to achieve full potential in life. According to Knowles, adults are problem-centered in their orientation to learning (Knowles, 2005). They prefer a problem solving orientation to learning (problem centered), rather than content-oriented. This orientation relates to their experience, task or problems in everyday situations. The sense of adults is that learning will allow them to execute task or deal with problems faced in life. When they confront real-life situation, they want to learn what will help them to contribute their  effectiveness, and they learn best in this status. Motivation Motivation is the last core of Andragogy assumption, but not the least. Knowles emphasizes the adult learner’s motivation can be blocked by training and education if neglect of adult learning principles (Knowles, 2005). â€Å"Adults tend to be more motivated toward learning that helps them solve problems in their livers or results in internal payoffs† (Knowles, 1998). Adult learners are responsive to some motivators. And normally those motivators can be divided into external (e.g., better job, higher salaries) and internal (e.g., desire of job satisfaction, self-esteem). And the andragogical model assumes adult learners tend to be more motived by the internal motivators than the external one. Implement Base on the six assumptions of Andragogy, let’s see how adult learners and educators began to implement the practical applications: Assumption Adult learner Educator Need to know Have a need to know what they expect to learn before investing time in a learning event Make sure that the learners know the aim, goal and purpose of training as early as they can. Self-concept Must uphold the concept of self-directing, responsible their own growing. Coach learners to find their needs and guide their own learning experience. Experience Come to a learning occasion with richest of experience and trade-off to contribute. Create and maintain a learning environment to build on and make use of learner’s experience. Readiness to learn Uphold a strong readiness to learn those things that they undertaking to learn. Ensure training relates directly to situations adult face in real-life task Orientation Dedicate their energy to learning things that help them cope with daily life  or solve a problem. Identify learner’s needs and interests, develop content based on the their needs. Motivation More responsive to internal motivators than external motivators. Create a safe learning environment and make sure the internal motivation will not blocked. Characteristics of Adult learners According to the Andragogy, Malcolm Knowles practiced a characterization of the defining features for adult learners, and shown as following: Adults have identifiable goal – they clearly understand what they need and know how to achieve their goal; Adults are independent – they are expect and enjoy independence, like to take control, and should allowed to express themselves freely; Adults have wealth of experience – need others to recognize their previous experience, including both positive and negative; Adults want immediate usefulness of their learning – they want to apply what they learn to solve and handle problems faced in their daily life; Adults fear to the educational process – normally graduated from school years and do not familiar with those process; Adults are hard to change – with their prior experience, their conducts become a habit, and some even though became their character already. Andragogy vs Pedagogy Since the Andragogy is a learning theory for adult learners, and which is contrast to Pedagogy. The following table summarizes the assumptions and processes of andragogy and pedagogy: Assumption / Processes Andragogy Pedagogy Need to know Clearly understand why they need to know before choose to learn. Only need to know what the teacher teaches. Self-concept Raise of self-directedness Dependency Experience Learners are a wealth resource for learning Tiny worth Readiness to learn Developed from life’s experience Directly related to age level and curriculum Orientation Problem centered Self centered Motivation Motivated by internal payoffs and curiosity Motivated by external incentives and punishment Time perspective Immediacy of application Postponed application Learning climate Interaction Respectful Informal Authority Competitive Formal Planning Mutual self-diagnosis By educator / instructor Formulation of objectives Mutual negotiation By educator / instructor Teaching strategies Experiential techniques Transmittal techniques Evaluation Mutual measurement of program By educator / instructor Barriers of learning Compare with children and teenagers, adult learners have different roles and many responsibilities in their daily life, they must balance against the demands of learning. Those responsibilities will cause barriers against their choice to return to school or participate in workplace training. Normally, those barriers can separated into three categories: 1) Attitudinal barriers; 2) Time and financial barriers; and 3) Education barriers. We need to identify those barriers and overcome them and take control of our own learning. Attitudinal barriers Knew already – People with â€Å"I already know† attitude to reject learning. He think it does not require training in that area, because he may already trained or thought himself had enough knowledge in that aspect. And properly people has this attitude are come with good education level; Previous experience – Generally people are used to learn in a traditional style, instructor teach with transmittal techniques. With this experience, they may feel the learning is irrelevant or boring, so they reject. Lacks of trust – Students attend a class with different backgrounds and goals. Do not trust the other participants will cause some of them do not participate actively in class for nervous and shy. Problems of motivation – people come to learn without initiative, they were forced to learn. Hard to motivate people if they don’t have own motivation. Time and financial barriers Lack of time – No matter the duration of a course, adults need to invest time to join it. They need to â€Å"sacrifice† from other activities and concern of its existence. Lack of money – Free training is minority. Therefore, money always is a main barrier to access adult education services. Family responsibilities – Caring for children, the obligation of accompany spouse, will cause shortage of study time. Organizing schedule – You need to change or sacrifice the study timetable because of the family and work responsibilities. Education barriers Too old to learn – Generally can be find in older and low education level people. The behaviour of reject learning is because they don’t familiar with the new technology or specialized languages, and their reaction time is often slow. Lack of confidence – Low self-esteem, past failures experience mark the adults, preventing them to overcome frustrations and fears. Reflection First of all, I would like to introduce myself, and the brief of my background are shown as below: Male, 42 years old, married with 2 children (12 Yrs & 7 Yrs). I’ve been serving the Hong Kong Police Force for 22 years, working in operational field but non-frontline. Besides operation planning, I’m also involved in a â€Å"Diploma in Police Search & Venue Security Programme†, which was held by Hong Kong Police and granted accreditation from HKCAAVQ, I’m one of the instructors of this programme. I am F.5 graduated, then granted a diploma of Police Policing on 2002, and that was my last academic certificate. According to my profile, I am a typical adult learner and faced most of the barriers that I had mentioned previously. I would like to critique the strengths and weaknesses of andragogy with my own circumstance. Strengths As an adult learner, the motivation of learning is very important, is core factor of adult education. Adults have different tasks and needs in their daily life; they will put their needs in orderly with the seniority. If the need is related to learning, they will have a great motivation, and learning become the priority in their life, so no any barriers can block them, and they study best in this situation. However, the concept of â€Å"motivation† is not the strength of andragogy in my view. Upon my opinion, I will choose the concept of â€Å"need to know†, because it’s the factor that cause â€Å"motivation†. With the â€Å"why†, â€Å"what† and â€Å"how†, I will explain the principle of â€Å"need to know† on my circumstance. At the beginning, I come to class for my own promotion and seem as career  investment. I like my current career, and seem to be my life occupation. In order to enhance my competitive advantage and help myself excel in my working place, I choose to continue learning. That will offer opportunities for further development and lead promotion. My view have change during this training, I find out I know more about the adult training theory, which help me to teach the trainee in my programme; enhance the communication skill with my children and people around me. The most important is I know myself more, I am shortage not only in academic standard but also in daily knowledge. I enjoy study and hunger for the knowledge. My motivation of learning becomes stronger and stronger, because I clearly understand why I need to learn, what I need to learn and how I need to learn. Weaknesses During this moment, I will say the concept of â€Å"Orientation† is the weakness of my own learning. Since I come for learning is not for a problem solve purpose, and the subject I study also not relate to my daily task. Conclusion Knowles introduced and develop the andragogy as core principles of adult learning. It help the educator designing and conducting adult learning, and build more effective learning processes for adults. Andragogy works prefect in practice when it is adapted to fit the special character of the learners and the learning organizations. References Adams, N. B. (n.d.). Andragogy. Andragogy. Retrieved March 1, 2014, from http://www2.southeastern.edu/Academics/Faculty/nadams/etec630%26665/Knowles.html Ana, B. (2013, October/November). Characteristics of adult learning. Characteristics of Adult Learning. Retrieved March 1, 2014, from http://www.slideshare.net/aliceproject/39-ana-badea Andragogy how adults learn. (2013, October/November). Andragogy How Adults Learn. Retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/xilo24/andragogy-how-adults-learn Aspell, D. D. (n.d.). Retrieved August, 2003, from http://www.umsl.edu/~henschkej/andragogy_articles_added_04_06/aspell_Andragogy%20-%20Adult%20Learning.pdf Crawford, S. R. (n.d.). Retrieved March 1,

Financial Analysis on Coles Myer & Woolworths Essay

Introduction Coles Myer Limited (CML) and Woolworths Limited (WOW) are two major Australian companies with extensive retail interest and listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. They are Australian public companies which operate a number of retail chains. CML is Australia’s second largest retailer, behind WOW. It operates a number of chains of retail outlets which are including Coles Supermarkets, Bi-Lo, Liquorland, Pick ‘n Pay Hypermarket, Kmart, Officeworks, Target, Harris Technology and Coles Express (Wikipedia, 2006) . WOW is currently the largest retail company in Australia and New Zealand by market capitalisation and sales. WOW operates in Australia through several retail banners such as Woolworths and Safeway Supermarkets, BWS, Dan Murphy’s, BIG W, Dick Smith Power House and Dick Smith Electronics (Wikipedia, 2006) . The purpose of this report is to analyse financial performances of the two publicly listed companies in last 5 years by using series of calculation tools include horizontal analysis and financial ratios. Also as a recommendation, we will advise investors to buy or not buy the two companies’ shares according to the results of the performance analysis. Financial Condition (See Appendix 1 & 2 for ratio details) 1. Overview The WOW’s revenue has increased every year, one year as great as 149.90 % in 2005 (see appendix 11 for details). In 2001, revenues were 20915.1 million while in 2005 revenue has increased to 31352.5 million. Since revenue increased, the net profit obviously has increased as well. Net profit rose 84.70% from 2001 to 2005. The Horizontal Analysis (Appendix 11 &; 14) indicates WOW is a very successful company and earning money. CML’s revenue has increased 52% and the net profit rose 314% from 2001 to 2005, the growth was tremendous because it occurred in typical connection with the restructuring of the method of financing a foreign operation (Financial Report, 2005). 2. Liquidity Current ratio This ratio represents the financial liquidity of the company. ‘The current  ratio compares the assets a company can quickly convert to cash to the liabilities it must pay in the near term’ (Vance, D. E. 2003). The higher the ratio, the more liquid the company is. For CML, there was a slight increase of 0.04 from 2001 to 2002. Then it followed by an obvious fall from 1.37 to 1.09 during period from 2002 to 2005. This represents that one-unit current liabilities is secured by 1.37 units of current assets in 2002 and 1.09 units, nearly one current asset for one current liability, in 2005. From the perspective of WOW, the ratio starts from 0.81 up to 0.84 then declined to 0.81 and finally dropped to 0.82 during this period of time. The current ratios are all less than one, indicating that one current asset will prepare for the payment of more than one unit current liability. That leads to high liquidity risk in the business operation. If there is an emergency to WOW, it wi ll encounter the problem of repayment. Quick ratio Quick ratio is similar with current ratio, but more conservative than current ratio, because in numerator, inventory is excluded from current assets, and in dominator, bank overdraft is excluded from current liabilities. ‘The quick ratio addresses the issue of whether current assets could cover current liabilities if inventory were found to be worthless’ (Vance, D. E. 2003). WOW experienced a slight increase from 0.2 to 0.26 in this period of time. In contrast, CML experienced a modest fluctuation and end up with 0.28 in 2005, the lowest one in 5-year time and the highest one is 0.41 in 2003. Generally, the quick ratios of CML exceed the ones of WOW. Cash flow ratio Cash flow ratio will analyse the ability of repayment on current liabilities from the perspective of the operating cash flows. Vance, D. E. (2003) states that it is another way to think about the risk of leading to, or investing in a company. These two companies both experienced a drop on this ratio from 2004 to 2005, 0.35 for WOW and 0.3 for CML in 2005. 3. Financial leverage Equity ratio & debt ratio Equity ratio and debt ratio are both designing for capital structure and they are negatively related with each other. The cost of equity is higher than the cost of debt, but shareholders will not require companies to repay them dividends and principals any time. However, companies must pay the debt holders interests and principals each year. And increasing leverage ratio will result in increasing the return to shareholders, yet at the same time, it will increase the repayment commitments and then raise the risk to company and shareholders. CML’s equity ratio increased to 0.4 and correspondingly debt ratio decreased to 0.15 from 2001 to 2005. Generally it is a good trend, even though there has been a decrease in equity ratio in 2005 from 0.45 to 0.40 and an increase in debt ratio from 2004 to 2005, it may be due to the acquisition from US group KKR. However, in 2005, equity is almost three times debt, which means the capital structure is still in good condition. On the other hand, WOW experienced a different trend that its equity ratio has decreased from 0.30 to 0.25, and debt ratio has significantly increased from 0.13 to 0.32 between 2001 and 2005. WOW raised funds heavily on interest-bearing liabilities and consequently takes higher risk than CML due to higher leverage ratio. Times interest earned & fixed charges coverage ‘Times interest earned ratio examines the ability of the business to meet its regular financial commitments’ (Harvey, McLaney and Atrill 2001). Fixed charges coverage ratio is very similar to Times interest earned ratio. These two ratios assess the profitability of company and the ability of interests and principal repayment. CML experienced a significant increase on these two ratios from 3.48 to 12.04 and from 6.81 to 16.64, even though there was a slight drop between 2004 and 2005. However, WOW experienced an obvious fall to 11.82 and 12.25 on times interest earned and fixed charges coverage  respectively. In 2005, compared with WOW, CML showed a better financial performance on the ability to repay the interests and principal. Average payment period CML experienced a decreasing trend on average payment period from 45.29 to 38.69. In contrast, WOW experienced an increase from 19.41 in 2001 to 37.78 in 2003, and a decrease to 34.77 in 2005. Compared with WOW, CML has a longer payment period. It means CML can hold its money more time and do some investments. 4. Assets management Sales turnover This ratio indicates assets management efficiency that one unit asset can generate how much sales. From the perspective of CML, the sales turnover gradually increased from 2.9 in 2001 to 3.94 in 2005. On the other hand, WOW maintained stable on about 4.5 sales turnovers. We can see that WOW managed its assets more efficiently than CML did. Average inventory turnover period This ratio assesses the efficiency of inventory management whether company reduce the inventories as fewer as possible. The fewer inventories, the more free cash flow company has to invest on other assets. Both WOW and CML experienced a decrease on inventory turnover period from 39.64 to 29.64 and from 59.45 to 41.38 respectively. It indicates that CML managed its inventories less efficiently than WOW did. 5. Profitability Return on sales WOW return on sales remained constant, 4% of sales. For CML, it maintained  stable, nearly 2% of sales. Obviously, WOW has a higher operating profit margin, and then a better profitability performance maybe due to the more efficient costs control. Return on assets ‘It is used to measure whether assets are being productively employed’ (Vance, D. E. 2003). This ratio indicates how much profit one unit asset can generate and how profitable company is as a whole. WOW and CML are both in the increasing trend, 0.17 and 0.1 respectively in 2005. In term of this ratio, it showed that WOW is more profitable than CML Return on equity & earning per share These two ratios reflect the return to the shareholders and the value increase for the shareholders. WOW and CML both experienced an increase on the return to the shareholders, yet the WOW’s increase of the return is more stable than CML’s. In 2005, in term of return on equity, WOW stayed with 37% of the equity, yet CML just 16%. Conclusion The two companies have been doing quite well in recent years as can be seen from the increasing profitability. The table in Appendix 15 indicates a comparison of the two companies according to the above discussion. CML has a better performance on liquidity and financial leverage but WOW managed Assets and Profitability better than CML. Recommendations On 8th September 2006, WOW’s closing share price is $20.80 and CML is $13.70. Based on the financial analysis above, we can conclude that WOW has maintained a constant financial performance in last 5 years, but their growth is not rapid. However, Simpson (2006) states that ‘At present Coles Myer is earning a 13 per cent return on capital invested in stores, compared  with 24 percent by Woolworths.’ Therefore, I recommend potential investors buy shares from WOW for a short-term. According to CML news released in March and June, CML had acquired Sydney drug stores Pty Ltd (CML News Release, 2006) and Hedley Hotel Group (CML News Release, 2006). CML will expand the pharmacy business further more and have a different strategy than WOW if the regulations change in the future becomes true. CML also will expand their liquor business to compete WOW as well. Thus, I believe that the potential financial growth of CML will be a lot higher than what it is right now and I su ggest investors put their money on CML for a long-term investment. References 1.Wikipedia 2006, Coles Myer Ltd, Wikipedia Free Source Organization, viewed 10 September 2006 2.Wikipedia 2006, Woolworths Ltd, Wikipedia Free Source Organization, viewed 10 September 2006 3.Financial Report, 2005, Coles Myer Ltd., pp 19 4.Vance, D.E. 2003, Financial Analysis and Decision Making, McGraw-Hill, United States of America 5.Harvey, D, McLaney, E and Atrill P 2001, Accounting for business, Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford 6.Simpson, K. 2006, Market waits for higher Coles bit, The Age, 8 September 2006, front page of Business Section 7.News Release 2006, ‘Coles Myer Acquires Pharmacy Direct’, Coles Myer Ltd., 31 March 2006 8.News Release 2006, ‘Hedley Hotel Acquisition Complete’, Coles Myer Ltd., 14 June 2006

Discussion 1 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Discussion 1 - Assignment Example Personally, I find it amusing how people then had to use art as a way of communication, while not everybody has the talent of drawing. Some people cannot even draw a tree leave alone a smiling face. Although the discovery of art must have made life easy and simpler, the fact that most of the people could not take part in the emotional communication, as they did not have the skills to draw and express themselves just like their counterparts. Culture, as I would define it in relation to the world cultures cyber journeys is the differences in the way of people’s lives, and their believes on the various things that they practice in their daily lives. Through the daily practices and people’s interactions, a group of people unknowingly expresses their cultural practices. Thus, the normal things people either express subconsciously or consciously in writing or in other ways such as define the culture of that particular group. Cultures can either differ or compare with one another. Despite people having different cultural background, they exhibit some of similarities in their cultural practices. The differences and similarities of the western and eastern culture revel this. Both the western and the eastern people share in a number of ways. Their religious beliefs, share a common direction. Both the western and the eastern people believe in a supernatural figure. The two cultures believe in the existence of some form of power beyond their ability. However, the dwelling places of their supernatural powers differ. On the other hand, they believe in leaders, chosen among them. The main difference however is that while in the west the leader has an equal status with the people, in east, the leader is supreme and has overwhelming power. Culture regards the west as more advanced than the east. Especially in the manner through which

Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) are seen as the key new players Essay - 1

Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) are seen as the key new players in the global economy - Essay Example The economic potential of BRIC countries is such that they could exceed the combined economies of the richest countries and become among the four most dominant countries in the world by 2050. The combined GDP of the BRIC countries of 18,486 trillion dollars make them the fastest growing emerging markets in the world (Murray, 2006). Among the BRIC countries China proved to be the most dominant and progressing, which is considered by others either as a threat or an opportunity. The current paper will briefly discuss the influence of BRIC countries on the global economic development with special emphasis on China as one of the largest and most promising markets (Rao, 1998). Despite the BRIC countries are not a political alliance as the European Union or formal trading association as ASEAN, their cooperation and combined actions are directed toward improving the political cooperation to confront the increasing influence of the United States in the major trade accords. It is expected that in the near future Brazil and Russia will become the dominant suppliers of raw materials for India and China that in their turn will become the dominant suppliers of manufactured goods and services (Goodman, 2005). In such a way, these four countries shown below might form the ideal combination of suppliers and manufacturers to provide the rest of the world with necessary goods and services. Table 1 in the Appendix shows the comparison between BRIC countries and G7 countries in terms of GDP. While in 2015 BRIC countries will have much less combined GDP of 13,653 US$ billions than G7 countries (GDP of 33,414 US$ billions), then by 2050 BRIC countries will be twice more p owerful in economic terms expecting 128,324 US$ billions in comparison to G7 GDP of 66,039 US$ billions. By entering the world economy and introducing changes and innovations in such fields as education, foreign investments, domestic

The impact of Southwest Airlines on Commercial Aviation Research Paper

The impact of Southwest Airlines on Commercial Aviation - Research Paper Example 311). Along the way, it refined its low price strategy by cutting down on food and beverage offerings, mandating open seating which increases capacity, flying only one type of plane, locking in low fuel prices when the fuel prices spiked in 2008, and favoring secondary markets such as Chicago Midway over congested markets, such as Chicago O’Hare. These strategies helped Southwest cut prices, and the result of Southwest’s ability to slash prices has been nothing short of astounding on the entire airline industry, resulting in fare cuts across the board, and substantially increasing airport traffic for the airports that serve Southwest in relation to airports that do not. The result of the impact of Southwest Airlines on the airline industry has been so significant that it was given a name – the â€Å"Southwest Effect†. Different studies have done different analyses on the Southwest Effect. Morrison (2001) performed a study on the aggregate effect of Southwest on Southwest’s competition, then compared the aggregate estimate with fare reductions that were the result of deregulation, as a way to quantify Southwest’s effect on the success of deregulation (Morrison, 2001, p. 241). Morrison stated that the airfares on a given route are influenced by another airline in three ways. First, is when the other airline serve a given route; second, when the other airline serves an adjacent route that is seen by consumers to be a reasonable alternative to the first route; and third, the other airline affects fares if the existing airlines on a route lower their fares in order to keep out potential competitors (Morrison, 2001, p. 241). Morrison quantified Southwest’s impact on each of these categories, stating that there was a potential for Southwest to impact 94% of domestic passenger miles (Morrison, 2001, p. 243). His unit of measurement for this impact was an equation

Select an organization that has a web presence and analyze the Article

Select an organization that has a web presence and analyze the organization using elements listed below from Chapter 3 - Article Example It is a company based in US but it enjoys a large market share in all continents. The organization has branches in various countries to ensure that there is a continuous supply of products to their customers. The company has laid strategies that are responsible for the large market share that they have. Gillette enjoyed monopoly of the market until 1962 when other companies producing similar products emerged to compete for market. Despite of competition from other companies, Gillette has maintained a higher number of customers across the globe. Gillette has 70% of the market share with its competitors sharing a 30% share. The company started with men’s razor and blade products, after a proper market research, they started to manufacture women shaving products too. Men had complains when they shave with ordinary razors. They developed complications like rushes and pain after shaving. Due to this, they needed shaving products that are safe. Gillette produces a variety of shaving products that completely satisfies their customers’ shaving needs. Their razor products include Atra, Trac-II, and Sensor for women. They also produce Mach3 that has three thin blades designed to shave closely with less strokes and no irritation. Customers as well need products that are less expensive. To satisfy this need, Gillette has applied technology to produce shaving products that can be used more than once; hence, their products are economically friendly to customers. Gillette has several competitors that threaten their large market share. Key competitors include Schick and the Quattro. They produced the first four bladed razors to the market. They also produced shaving products for women for instance, Intuition for women invaded Gillette’s hold of market for women shaving products. Gillette has also faced serious competition from online competitors for example the dollar-shaving club. They try to win customers using their low shaving prices as compared to Gillette

Management Accounting - Total Quality Management Essay

Management Accounting - Total Quality Management - Essay Example As the managerial accounting is a phase of accounting that is concerned with the information provided to managers, the planning and controlling operations will be effective. The information will be regarding the feedbacks of operations, activities and finances of the company. These activities require efficient monitoring. The provision of good information for the implementation of managerial accounting will result in coming out of finished products in time. The non value added activities are also taken into account to provide the required information. The further information provided by the company is regarding organizational charts, performance reports, cross check art cycle, planning methods, control cycle, processing and engineering, raw materials, segments, setup , staff. These are provided by taking into consideration the put time and total quality management. ( Department of Defence, 2007) 1 1.1 Breakeven Chart: In preparing a chart the breakeven point for the activities company that creates profit is important. This involves the fixed costs and variable costs. These values for the product cetnrex are as follows. It was estimated that the variable cost per unit is 10 GBP. The fixed cost is estimated at 25,000GBP. The variable cost of 10,000 units as mentioned will be 10x10,000 = 1,00,000GBP. The following graph shows number of units in X axis and cost in thousands of pounds on Y - axis. The fixed cost is shown as 25,000 GBP. 2 The revenue line is plotted after plotting the breakeven chart. The sales price is multiplied by number of units and this amount is considered as output. The sales price for the product of Derailler gears is given as 14 GBP, the total revenue can be calculated as 14x10,000= 140000. The total revenue line and variable cost lines are in different colors. The point where the two lines will intersect denotes the breakeven point. The breakeven point indicated in the following graph is 1, 25,000 GBP. The profit will be 1, 40,000-1, 25,000 = 15,000GBP on the Centrex product. 3 2.2 Breakeven Level of Output: The fixed costs of the products are estimated at 25,000 GBP. The variable costs will not be more than 1,00,000 GBP. This plugs the maximum costs at 1,25,000 GBP. As the company has planned to sell the units at 14 GBP per unit, the minimum revenues accrued due to the sales will be 1,40,000 GBP and this ensures a minimum profit of 15,000 GBP. This means that the marketing and sales targets reach the breakeven when the total sales revenue is 1,40,000 GBP. The extra revenue accrued after that point will be the extra profit and the 15,000 GBP mentioned above can be considered as the minimum profit by selling the 10,000 units of Centrex. The total portion encompassed by the graph is divided into two portions. The top potion denotes the profit and the lower represents the probability of loss. Though the probability of loss is more in this venture, the possibility of gaining can be termed as more as the analysis is breakeven as fixed and variable costs prevail over the aspects considered in the analysis and the reason is explained in the next subsection (2.3) 2.3 Percentage Margin Safety: The outcome obtained by subtracting the breakeven sales from the forecasted sales is termed as percentage margin safety. It can also calculated by dividing the operating income by net sales. As we considered the breakeven

Enterprise entrepreneurial management Assignment

Enterprise entrepreneurial management - Assignment Example The business planning process – a critical appraisal The typical business planning process may be actually helpful as it aims to convey objectives and missions of the organization to its employees. But, there are several researchers who argue that the entrepreneur should rely on his experience and intuitions rather than waste time on the business planning process. This is because researchers argue that planning may not be successful in the uncertain conditions surrounding the formation of business (Delmar & Shane 2003). Moreover, each component of the business planning process has its own setbacks. Let us analyze each component and find out in what way a business plan can pose as a hindrance. Generating an idea The basic step of a business planning process is to generate an idea. A new venture has to first ascertain the product or the service which it will provide. Most organizations come out with new ideas for a product or a service depending on the data collected from potent ial and current customers. This kind of customer focused process is solely dependent on the information given by customers. However the response given by these people has limitation with reference to the environment and current experience. Hence there may be a discrepancy in the idea generated (Lilien et al. 2002). This may pose as a severe hindrance for the business plan. Moreover, there are other constraints like generation of funds for the new venture. Many business plans may never be formulated due to limitations in the form of competition, technology, lack of funds etc. Strategic goals and objectives The second step in a business plan is to formulate the strategies or tactics which are to be used in order to attain goals and objectives. Strategies may be short term and long term. These are plans which must be followed in order to attain final objectives. However, the very purpose of strategic planning is defeated in today’s changing environment. Due to the uncertainties in market conditions, entrepreneurs may be more successful if they go by their intuitions and experience, rather than going by previously formulated strategic objectives (Mintzberg 1994). Another problem which is ensued in setting objectives is that most plans are formulated outside the business planning process. Also entrepreneurs need to set realistic and achievable goals. It may be very easy to set strategic objectives but very difficult to implement these objectives to the middle and lower management. Most entrepreneurs do not give attention to the fact that the pre determined goals they are setting may be rigid, extremely rational, bureaucratic and dysfunctional at times. Hence, the formulation of potential strategic objectives may not hold true during the implementation process (Shrader, Taylor & Dalton 1984). This is one reason why the strategic objectives should be flexible and top executives need to change it depending on the changing market situations. Market research and analysis The third step in a business plan is to formulate a market plan which takes into account the market promotion and advertisement

Othello Race Journal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Othello Race Journal - Essay Example This can be seen in the language which is used to describe the character. For instance, throughout the play he is refereed to as â€Å"this Moor†, â€Å"the thick lips†, or more pejorative as â€Å"Barbary horse†, and â€Å"Devil†. ("Elizabethan Thater: Skakespeare in Context" ) Moreover, characters in the play are more prone to believe that Desdemona was poisoned or somehow bewitched and in this way, forced to love Othello than to believe that their relationships are natural. â€Å"Did you by forced courses subdue and poison this young maids affections?† ("Elizabethan Thater: Skakespeare in Context") Obviously, race becomes the crucial feature that sets him apart. Throughout the play, the attitudes towards Othello are much influenced by that fact that he is racially different from the majority in the society. The following creates the tension between the characters and drives the development of the conflict. As a whole, the play reflects the existing at those time anxieties and prejudices relating to interracial marriages and the belief in the white superiority that define the place of Othello among others. In this context, Othello fulfill the role of an outsider in the society which is guided by racial stereotypes and

History of Islamic banking Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

History of Islamic banking - Term Paper Example One of the major functions of commercial banks is to mobilize savings and offer loans to the potential investors in the economy (Saeed, 1996). The system of regular banking asks for a certain price known as interest on the loans being given to the investors (USAID, 2005). The rate of interest charged on loans becomes directly proportional to the time period for which the loan is offered. The system is not the same for all the banks following Islamic banking system. This process of banking donnot involve in offering loans that are interest free. It is believed that ‘riba’ or ‘usury’ which is known as interest is firmly forbidden under the regulations of Muslim law. Islamic banks are rapidly growing all over the world both in Muslim as well as non Muslim nations. So apart from Islamic nations like Egypt, Sudan etc; Philippines, U.K., Denmark are also widely establishing Islamic banks in their economies although they comprise Muslim population as minorities. Is lamic banking theory thinks that it is incorrect to take benefits from borrowers. Unlike the commercial theories of regular banking, Islamic banking follows ‘riba’ which is actually based on concepts like ‘mudaraba’ and ‘musharake’ (Hamza, 2013). Thus by this process the creditors cannot raise the nominal value of loans offered. The board of Islamic banks are formed with Shariah scholars who would see that the interest of the laws is duly considered by almost all the banks following Islamic laws. The principles of Islamic banking explains paying as later after buying is ‘halal’ but if someone charges on the credited money even that is also punishable (Hosein, 2011). The regular banks deny loans without collaterals or interests. Flexible verses Fixed Return on Deposits The commercial regular banking system offers fixed rates of return on the deposits made by the depositors. The rate of fixed return varies according to the time perio d for which the deposits are made. In general there are three types of deposits or accounts that can be opened in regular banks which are savings, current and fixed deposits. As estimated the highest return is received from the fixed deposits, then savings and finally current account deposits. The system is not the same with Islamic banks, the depositors depositing money in such banks get variable returns. This is because the returns are given from the profits made by the Islamic banks. So the depositors may land up with either profit or loss. These banks follow a strict rule of investing in the poverty alleviation and rural development programs. Often due to the greater importance given in the welfare aspects potential deposits face losses kept in these banks. It is found that the lack of interests in depositors is becoming problematic in the expansions of such banks. It is stated despite of all the problems faced by the depositors no one has actually faced problems of making a los s in an Islamic Bank. The command deposits kept in the Islamic banks are under the contract of ‘Wadiah’. The fund deposited in the Islamic banks is not used for investments in the market. The fund can only be invested if it is authorised by the depositors. The different current, savings, or other deposit plans offered by an Islamic bank are always made very attractive to the depositors. The contract of ‘Mudharaba’ often set the demand deposits in the Islamic banks. Sometimes the rate of interests that the depositors receive is directly proportional to

Drinks that Influenced History and Civilization Essay Example for Free

Drinks that Influenced History and Civilization Essay The author describes the origin of six drinks that greatly influenced history and civilization around the world: beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and cola. He explains how each drink was the defining drink during a historical period from antiquity to present day. The fluids are vital because each had a role of shaping the modern world. They have been used as currencies, in religious rites, as a political symbol, sources of philosophical and artistic inspiration. Some have served to highlight the power of the elite, and appease the downtrodden. They connected world cultures by impacting trade, economy, religion, and politics. Beer was discovered through different methods of cooking and storing cereal grains. When the ice age ended, lands such as the Fertile Crescent provided abundant cereal grains. Such grains provided a reliable source of food, and the ability to store cereal grains began to encourage people to stay in one place. This resulted in permanent settlements as societies transitioned from hunting and gathering to farming. Although the residents of such villages continued to hunt, skeletal evidence suggests that they subsisted mostly on plant-based diets. Beer was shared, and it was symbol of hospitality and friendship. To Neolithic drinkers, beer’s ability to intoxicate and ferment seemed magical, and it was concluded that it was a gift from the gods. Beer-drinking cultures tell stories and myths of how it was discovered. Mesopotamians and Egyptians saw beer as an ancient, god-given drink that supported their existence, formed part of their cultural and religious identity, and had great social importance. It was consumed by anyone regardless of status, age, or gender. Beer impacted the growth and diffusion of the earliest civilizations greatly. The emergence of complex societies, the need to keep written records, and the popularity of beer all followed from the surplus of grain. It was also used as a form of currency and payment. Beer also had a direct link to health. Mesopotamians and Egyptians used it medicinally. The Egyptians used bread and beer in funerals. Without the discovery of beer, the earliest civilizations of Southwest Asia and Egypt would not have been as prosperous.

Inflation Rate and GDP Growth of Pakistan

Inflation Rate and GDP Growth of Pakistan CHAPTER 1: The topic of this research is relationship between inflation rate and GDP growth of Pakistan. Nowadays in Pakistan inflation rate is high, when inflation crosses logical limits, it has negative effects on GDP growth. It drops the value of money, resulting in uncertainty of the value of profit loss of borrowers, lenders, buyers and sellers. The rising the uncertainty in saving and investment. In Feb 2009 CPI Inflation rate of Pakistan was 22.97% and GDP was 5.8%. GDP and inflation rate negative correlation present even when other factors are included to the study and the investment rate, population of growth, and the constant advances in technology and still when the factor in the effects of supply shocks features of a part of the observed period 1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT: In this research determine how much rate of inflation affect the GDP growth of Pakistan. In this research also determine inflation rate significantly affect the GDP growth of Pakistan. GDP shows the economic performance of a country so it is of most importance for concerned departments and economists of that country. On the other hand rising inflation can impact negatively on GDP and the objectives that a country achieves can be demolished by rising inflation. 1.3 SIGNIFICANCE OF RESEARCH: If GDP growing fast and rate of inflation is falling down, it is good for the economy. More money comes in Pakistan and financer invests more and more capital. GDP indicates all sectors such as agriculture, telecommunication, services, manufacturing and Per Capita Income. These all indicators represent the countryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s economy. If these sectors were growing fast, countryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s economy also grows faster. Foreign investors observe the market condition of Pakistan and foreign investors must see the GDP Inflation Rate of Pakistan. If the GDP growing faster and inflation going down, foreign investors invest more money into Pakistan. If GDP is growing faster, the investor earns more money and achieves good profit and aspires to keep doing business for long term and expects less risk for the loss. Investors also expect for greater dividend in real terms, if rate of inflation is dropping down. This research is also significant for foreign investor and domestic investor of stock market. If inflation is increasing, investors invest less in market because investors do not expect good profit and dividend for the shares and also expect huge risk in market for long term. If any countryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s inflation rate is increasing, it is very difficult for financial institution to maintain the trust of investors because there is a chance of loss for the investors. This research is also significant for exporters. Exporters must see the inflation and GDP of Pakistan. If inflation is increasing, exporters export fewer goods because goods are expensive for exporters due to high inflation. Exporters export more goods, when inflation is low because goods are affordable for exporters and easy to export goods. This research is also significant for fresh graduate students. If inflation is high, there is less chance of jobs because the rate of unemployment is also high due to inflation rate. Fresh graduate also do not start business because it is carries more risk and there is chance waste of capital. 1.4 HYPOTHESES: H1: There is a negatively relationship between the Inflation rate and economic growth of Pakistan. H2: Inflation rate significantly effect on economic growth rate of Pakistan. 1.5 SUMMARY OF RESEARCH: The overall summary of this research defined in the following parts: First chapter is Introduction. In this part describe overview of all research, research problem, hypotheses of this research and definitions used in this research. Literature Review is second chapter. Describe summary of all articles, which related to this research. Third Chapter is Research Method. In this part describe data collection method, how sample size of this research and also describe technique of this research. Fourth Chapter is Results. In this part includes interpretations and findings in relevance to the hypotheses test. In this part also describe hypotheses assessment summary in table form. Fifth and last Chapter is Conclusion. In this part includes discussion based on this research finding in setting with the past research findings. In this part also describe some recommendations and implications of this research and also describe future research possibilities. Ending this part with conclusion. 1.6 DEFINITIONS: GDP and Inflation are the key macroeconomic indicators of the economic performance of any country. The relationship and cause affects are very important for any economic performance of the country. GDP Economic Growth: GDP indicates only currently produced goods and services. It is a flow measure of output per time period. For Example, per quarter or per year and indicates only goods and services produced during this interval. Such market transactions as exchange of previously produced houses, cars or factories do not enter into GDP. However, two types of goods used in the production process are counted in GDP. The first is Capital Goods and other type of goods is Intermediate Goods (Froyen, 2005). Components of GDP: GDP is broken down into the components. The first component is Consumption component of GDP. Consumption consists of the household sectors. Consumption can be further broken down into consumer durable goods (e.g., automobiles, television), nondurable consumption goods (e.g., foods, beverage, and clothing) and consumer services (e.g., medical services, haircuts) (Froyen, 2005). The second component of GDP is Investment. Investment is part of GNP (Gross National Product) purchased by the business sector in addition residential construction. Investment divided into three sub components. First is business fixed investment, second is residential construction investment and final id inventory investment (Froyen, 2005). The third component of GDP is government purchases. It is goods and services that are the parts of recent output that goes to the government sector such as federal government, state and local government (Froyen, 2005). The final component of GDP is Net exports. Net Exports equal total (gross) export minus imports. Gross exports are currently produced services goods and sold to foreign buyers, should be counted in GDP. Imports are purchases by domestic buyers of goods and services produced abroad and should not be counted in GDP. Imported goods and services are, however, included in the consumption, investment and government spending totals in GDP. Therefore, need to subtract the value of imports to arrive at the total of domestically produced goods and services (Froyen, 2005). Inflation: Inflation is when prices continue to keep rising, typically as a result of overheated economic growth or extra capital in the market search for too few opportunities. Wages usually creep upwards, so that companies can retain good workers (Amadeo, 2008). How Protection Inflation: If person are locking inflation protect alone, one best way to protect. Person purchase treasury bills and bonds; there pay fixed rates of interest. However, twice a year the governments readjust the principle in response to changes in the CPI, published monthly by the Statistics Bureau. Ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s mean, as inflation increases, the value of bonds increases. This is best way for protect inflation, when inflation increases (Amadeo, 2008). Aggregate Demand Theory: Aggregate Demand Theory shows that the negatively relationship between Inflation rate (price Level) and output/income (National Product). Aggregate Demand theory was developed by the English economist John Maynard Keyness (1883-1946). Term of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Aggregateà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ was also used as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"aggregate spendingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"aggregate expenditureà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (Case and Fair, 1992). How Aggregate Demand (AD) Curve deriving: The aggregate demand (AD) curve shows that the negative/inversely relationship between the aggregate output/income and the Inflation/price level and the aggregate demand (AD) curve is showing downward sloping (Case and Fair, 1992). Figure 1.1 INFL2 INFL1 Inflation Rate AD y2 y1Real Output/Income (National Product) (Source: Case and Fair, 1992) Reason for downward-slopping Aggregate Demand Curve: The increase price level/inflation causes the demand for money to increase, which cause the interest rate to increase and then the higher interest rate causes aggregation out to down (Case and Fair, 1992). The decrease in consumption brought about by a rises in the interest rate contributes to the generally fall in output. (Case and Fair, 1992). CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW Metin (1998) analyzed the empirical relationship between inflation and growth for the Turkish economy by a multivariate co-integration analysis. Metin (1998) developed model shows that the scaled income growth significantly affects inflation in Turkey. The qualified model of inflation was constant and it estimated a model previously. In this paper developed model because if inflation change one percent so it significantly affect to Growth Rate. An extensive literature had examined the relationship between the budget deficit/Income growth and inflation. At a theoretical level, Sargent and Wallace (1981) showed that under certain conditions, if the times paths of government spending and taxes were exogenous, bond-financed deficits were non-sustainable, and the central bank should eventually monetize the deficit. Money supply and inflation was rising in the long run. These findings had subsequently been generalized for the open economy case and for alternative forms of financing. Increase money supply and inflation in the long run due to the government spending and economical condition were not sustainable (Scarth, 1987; Langdana, 1990). Metin (1995) analyzed inflation for Turkey using a general framework of sector relationships and found that fiscal expansion was a determining factor for inflation. The excess demand for money affected inflation positively, but only in the short run. On the other hand, imported inflation, the excess demand for goods, and the excess demand for assets in the capital markets had little or no effect on inflation. A key policy implication of was that Turkish inflation could be reduced rapidly by eliminating the budget deficit. The demand for money, assets and goods impact on inflation (Metin, 1995). The losses were automatically financed by the credits extended by the Central Bank to the SEEs, resulting in high money growth. For 1950 period in Turkish inflation rising and balance of Payment had difficulties. Most the private firm purchase commodities at official price and reached experienced losses (Aktan, 1964; Okyar, 1965; Fry, 1972; Krueger, 1974, Onis and Riedel, 1993). Metin (1958) implemented a fairly typical International Monetary Fund (IMF)-supported stabilization program, which improved the foreign-exchange situation and drastically reduced inflation. The most important component of the program was an increase in the prices of SEE goods, a component that was featured prominently in the 1970 and 1980 reforms as well. Raising those prices in 1958 resulted in an immediate and once-and-for-all increase in the price level, after which the reduced rate of expansion of Central Bank credits reduced inflation. Metin (1958) analyzed inflation dropped from 25% in 1958 to less than 5% in 1959, real gross domestic product (which had been declining) started growing immediately due to the greater availability of imports. Metin (1998) analyzed that Turkey was among the more rapidly growing developing countries during most of the 1960s, with an annual inflation rate of 5%-10%. The nominal exchange rate was kept constant after the 1958 devaluation. Investment spending increased and was financed mainly by foreign aid. In the late 1960s, foreign id did not increase, but the rate of investment spending was maintained. In addition, some difficulties appeared in obtaining imports, creating visible restraints on economic activity and growth. Turkeyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Economic volatility in deferent sectors such as in the late 1960s, foreign aid did not increase, but the rate of investment spending was maintained. In addition, some difficulties appeared in obtaining imports, creating visible restraints on economic activity and growth Barro (1995) studied that If a number of countries characteristics were held constant, in that case regression results shows that an raise in average inflation of ten proportion points per year reduces the growth rate of real per capita income GDP by 0.2 to 0.3 proportion points per year and lowers the proportion of investment to GDP by 0.4 to 0.6 proportion points. Over here come to know that some characteristics were stay constant but some of effected due to increase of inflation rate result reduce the growth rate of real per capita. Barro (1995) analyzed the result that inflation control on growth looks little; the long term inflation effects on standards of living were considerable. such as, a shift in monetary policy that increase the long-term average of inflation rate increase by ten percentage points per year was projected to down the level of real GDP after 30 years by 4% to 7%, more than enough to justify a strong interest in price constancy. The inflation rateà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s influence intensively effected lives standard which identifies by the Monitory Policy, average inflation rate and GDP. To evaluate the effects of inflation on economic growth, Barro (1995) Regression Equation method used to which many other determinants of growth were held constant. The framework was one that in this paper had developed and applied previously. Barro (1995) identified that tool through in this paper assessed influence of inflation on the development of economy and to evaluate the effects of inflation on economic growth. Fama (1981) explained these anomalous stock return-inflation relations. The data were consistent with the hypothesis that the negative relations between stock returns and inflation positive relations between actual variables and stock returns, which were more fundamental determinants of equity values. The inflation had negative influence on stock return and also real variable Metin (1995) examined the relationship between the public- sector deficit and inflation. System co-integration analysis suggests three stationary relationships. Although weak relation does not hold for variables concerned (except Ay), one was still able to develop a conditional model for inflation. In that model, an increase in the scaled budget deficit immediately increases inflation. Real income growth had a negative immediate effect and positive second-lag effect on inflation. The shortfall affected inflation at a second lag. These dynamics were consistent with institutional and general knowledge of the economy. The conditional model of inflation was constant over the sample period, even though several significant structural breaks occurred during the period. Breaks included three devaluations, structural stabilization, and economic liberalization programs. The major finding from the new equation was that budget deficits (as well as real income growth) significantly affect inflati on in Turkey. Braun and Tella (2000) studied that there was a positive partial correlation between inflation and corruption for several countries for which data was available. Furthermore, argue that causality was from inflation variability to corruption. There was a positive relationship between corruption and inflation. Dornbusch and Frenkel (1973) had developed alternative approaches to be analysis of growth and inflation. found that the effect of inflation on per capita real balance, consumption and the capital-labor ratio remain ambiguous if the yield on capital was a function of per capita real balance or if consumption was an increasing function of the rate of inflation. That ambiguity was in general not entirely removed by consideration of maximization and a specification of the nature of the service of real balance. The alternative effects inflation on per capital real balance, consumption and the capital labor ratio. Fama (1981) tested out the hypothesis that the negative relations between real stock returns and inflation observed during the post-1953 period were the consequence of proxy effects. Stock returns were determined by forecasts of more relevant real variables, and negative stock return-inflation relations were induced by negative relations between inflation and real activity. This relation inflation, real activity and stock returns define through the money demand and the quantity theory of money. Barro (1995) evaluated the effect on investment shows up clearly only for inflation rates above 10%à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"20% per year. For lower inflation rates, the estimated effect of inflation on the investment ratio tends not pointedly different from zero. The investment effects positively when inflation above 10% to 20% per year but lower inflation effect on investment negatively and zero inflation not significantly effect on investment. Barro (1995) analyzed that the Inflation effects on growth and investment were significantly negative and long term Inflation to reduce the value of growth and investment. The analysis was that the effects of inflation on growth were significantly negative relation and also the effects of inflation on investment were significantly negative relation. Barro (1995) the values of inflation for three periods (i.e. 1965-75, 1975-85 and 1985-90) were not differing significantly from one to another. If different coefficient of inflation test for each period, then resulting values was not significantly from one to another period. If the inflation rise 10% year, growth rate of real per Capita income of GDP by 0.2% to 0.3% point per year. Khan and Senhadji (2001) located that under floating exchange rates, growing domestic inflation can move up long-run output if credit was rationed (inflation was low). However, there exist inflation thresholds as were observed empirically inflation and output were positively (negatively) correlated below (above) the threshold. With fixed exchange rates, the scope for credit to be rationed depends in a relatively complicated way on the rate of foreign and domestic inflation, and increasing foreign inflation always reduces long-run output. Barro (1995) calculated the standard deviation and analyzed the result was that if the standard deviation of inflation was included in the regressions, then the estimated coefficient on average inflation changes little, and the estimated effect of the standard deviation of inflation was still around zero. Standard deviation of inflation included in the regression, result of estimated coefficient on average inflation was little and standard deviation was around zero. Results were directly related to the literature on the costs of inflation. Despite a long tradition of research on the subject, empirical estimates were scant. Following Bailey (1956) estimating the area under the money demand curve, Fischer and Lucas (1981) found that for the US, an inflation rate of 10-percent per annum would cost 0.3- 0.9 percent of national income each year. More recently, Fischer (1993) estimated in a cross-section of countries that an increase in the inflation rate of 100 percentage points would lead to a reduction in the annual growth rate of 3.9 percentage points. Barro (1997) found that the negative relation between inflation and growth was stronger for low levels of inflation, and that inflation variance was also negatively correlated with growth. The estimated in a cross section of countries that an increase in the average inflation rate of 10 percentage points per year leads to a reduction in the growth rate of GDP of 0.3 to 0.4 percentage points per year. Braun and Tella (2000) presented the cross section estimates of the correlation between inflation variability and corruption. Average the data for 1982-1994 to obtain a maximum sample. Document a positive and significant correlation between measure of noise in the price system (Inflation Variance) and corruption. The Positive and significant correlation between the inflation and corruption Barro (1995) analyzed that it was also possible that the inflation produce a positive and significant relationship between inflation and growth. This thing happen, when demand of goods increase. Braun and Tella (2000) analyzed the result was that the increase in the cost of audit leads to an increase in corruption and in the extant fixed cost of investing. This in turn leads to a decline in aggregate investment and growth. Using the evidence that relative price oscillations increase with inflation variability, assume that the cost of audit was an increasing function of inflation variability. If corruption was increasing, Growth and Investment was decrease because negatively impact on growth and investment. Inflation was increasing due to corruption was rising. Barro (1995) evaluated that in recent years, many central banks, including the Bank of England, more emphasis on price stability. One indicator concern, the Bank of England began in February 1993 to issue the Inflation Report. Central bank gave more importance on price stability and monetary policy defines in term of interest rate or growth with stable and low inflation. In this paper contributes to closing this perception gap. Find a theoretical and empirical link between inflation variability and corruption. Since corruption had been found to had a negative/inversely impact on growth and investment. There was an indirect, corruption affected cost of inflation. Estimate that a one standard deviation raise in inflation variability from the median can lead to a reduction in the annual growth rate of one third of a percentage point and a reduction in the investment rate of 1-percent. Corruption was negative impact on growth and investment. Corruption affected cost of inflation (Mauro, 1995; Knack and Keefer, 1995; Kaufmann and Wei, 1999). Fama (1981) found the result was that the negative relations between inflation and real activity predicted by the money demand-quantity theory model and observed consistently in the regressions were negative partial correlations. The relations between inflation and real activity predicted by the money demand quantity theory model Braun and Tella (2000) calculated that increase in inflation variability of one standard deviation from the median leads to an increase in corruption of 0.12 of a standard deviation. Repeating the above calculations obtain that an increase in inflation variance of one standard deviation leads to a decline in investment of 1.02 percent of GDP, and a decline in growth of 0.33 percentage points. Braun and Tella (2000) estimated for the impact of an increase in inflation variability of one standard deviation range from 1.02 percent to 2.72 percent of GDP for investment, and from 0.33 to 0.88 percentage points for growth. Increase in inflation of one standard deviation leads to decline in investment of 1.02 % of GDP and decline in growth 0.33 % points. Braun and Tella (2000) estimated the effects were also economically significant. Researcher basic cross section approximate suggests that a one standard deviation increase in the variance of inflation associated with an increase in corruption of up to 0.47 points, or 32-percent of the standard deviation of corruption. Braun and Tella (2000) estimated can be used to calculate an indirect cost of variable inflation that operates through corruption. Researcher find that an increase in inflation variability of one standard deviation from the median can lead to a decline in investment of 2.7-percent of GDP, and to a decline in the annual growth rate of 0.9 percentage points. Increase in inflation of one standard deviation leads to decline in investment of 2.7 % of GDP and decline in growth 0.9 % points. Braun and Tella (2000) calculated that increase in inflation variability of one standard deviation from the median leads to an increase in corruption of 0.12 of a standard deviation. Braun and Tella (2000) analyzed the result was that an increase in inflation variance of one standard deviation leads to a decline in investment of 1.02 percent of GDP, and a decline in growth of 0.33 percentage points. Braun and Tella (2000) estimated for the impact of an increase in inflation variability of one standard deviation range from 1.02 percent to 2.72 percent of GDP for investment, and from 0.33 to 0.88 percentage points for growth. Increase in inflation of one standard deviation leads to decline in investment of 1.02 % of GDP and decline in growth 0.33 % points. Fama (1981) analyzed two types of models for expected inflation were estimated and compared. One approach was interest rates into expected inflation rates and expected real returns. Since the interest rates were observed at the beginning of the time intervals of interest, this approach estimates the ex ante expected inflation rates which eventually allow to document the negative relations between ex ante expected stock returns and expected inflation rates. The negative relation between the expected stock returns and expected inflation rates Fama (1981) analyzed second approach, based on money demand and quantity theory of money, estimates conditional expected inflation rates as functions of money and real activity growth rates. Since measures of current money and current and future real activity growth rates were major explanatory variables, these conditional expected inflation rates were not ex ante measures. Fama (1981) also analyzed the money demand-quantity theory models of inflation provide the empirical economic story which explains why the ex ante expected inflation rates extracted from interest rates were also strongly related to current and future real activity. Inflation rate were strongly related to interest rate because of money demand theory and quantity theory of money. Fisher (1911) observed the relations between inflation and the measures of current and future real activity which this model presumes were important in the determination of stock market returns. The theoretical basis for the study of inflation-real activity relations was a rational expectations combination of money demand theory. The theory and empirical results were abstracted from my 1980 paper. In this paper presented just enough of the theory and evidence to document the inflation-real activity relations of interest. Verme (2004) was study the Walrasian equilibrium; changes in either the domestic inflation rate or in the world inflation rate had qualitatively similar effects. When credit was rationed, changes in the domestic inflation rate and the world inflation rate always affect the domestic capital stock differently. This occurs because credit rationing breaks the link between the marginal product of capital and the rate of interest on loans: what matters was how the domestic and foreign rates of inflation affect the self-selection constraint and researcher affect this differently. Whenever there were restrictions on capital availability, the domestic and foreign inflation rates react differently on the economy. Verme (2004) analyzed theory of Walrasian equilibrium was that changes in the domestic rate of inflation can had very different effects under credit rationing. Again, this happens because what matters was how the domestic inflation rate affects the self-selection constraint. Higher domestic inflation can actually relax this constraint by increasing the rate of interest on loans, and hence attenuating the incentives of agents to misrepresent the type. The domestic inflation can also cause dearth of capital if the interest rate rises for the reason of inflation. Verme (2004) presented a model of a small open economy where financial intermediaries make a real allocate function then consider the relative merits of different exchange regimes, focusing my attention on policies that had been implemented in Latin America and, particularly, in Argentina and Peru. This document puts forward an example of an open economy where financial intermediaries may cause situations where credit may not always be restricted. Verme (2004) observed that the inflation thresholds as were observed empirically: increasing inflation beyond the threshold level reduces domestic growth output. However in economies with fixed exchange rates, increases in the foreign (and domestic) rate of inflation always had adverse consequences for real activity. In case of variable exchange rates, inflation can encourage production if credit was limited, however if the inflation exceeds beyond a certain limit then it reduce the output. Mauro (1995) estimates may be used to derive an indirect, corruption-induced, cost of inflation variability. This cost can be calculated by multiplying estimated of the impact of inflation variability on corruption by exogenous estimates of the impact of corruption on investment and growth. Given that Mauro (1995) presented such estimates, this calculation was relatively straightforward. The cost of inflation can also increase if corruption impacts investment and growth. Fama (1981) explanation of the absence of positive simple relations between money supply and real activity growth rates during the post- 1953 period was an interesting topic for future research. This was especially so since the monetary measure used, the growth rate of the base, was the one most under the control of the monetary authorities. Studying the relationship between money supply and growth rate reveals that the said rate was under most control of the controlling authorities. Braun and Tella (2000) estimated that an increase in corruption of one standard deviation leads to a decline in the average investment rate of 8.5 percent of GDP. In this paper also estimates that GDP growth would decline by 2.76 percentage points per year. It was estimated that a slight increase in the corruption can greatly decline the investment. Fama (1981) tested that the effect hypothesis implies that actions of real activity should dominate dealings of inflation when both were used as explanatory variables in real stock return regressions. In monthly, quarterly, and annual data, growth rates of money and real activity eliminate the negative relations between real stock returns and expected inflation rates. In the annual stock return regressions unexpected inflation also loses its explanatory power when located in competition with future real activity. Sometimes inflation loses its quality of increasing growth rates when there was real economic growth in the future. Fama (1981) analyzed the hypothesis for both common stocks and bonds were that expected real returns were determined in the real sector. Spurious negative relations between inflation and expected real returns were then induced by a somewhat unexpected characteristic of the money supply process during the post- 1953 period, in particular, the fact that most of the variation in real money demanded in response to variation in real activity had been accommodated through offsetting variation in inflation rather than through nominal money growth. After the analysis of securities, it was accomplished that there exists a negative/inversely relationship between inflation and expected real returns. The severe drought in India during the current cropping season may put more pressures on international prices of a number of commodities i.e. international sugar prices had already risen substantially, which had also impacted domestic prices, which sufficient domestic availability, Increasing the int

Alzheimers Disease: Biology, Etiology and Solutions

Alzheimers Disease: Biology, Etiology and Solutions Introduction Alzheimers disease (AD) is a type of dementia characterized by the progressive loss in cognitive function due to neurodegeneration that results in gradual memory loss and eventually the inability to carry out tasks of daily living. The two types of AD are distinguished by age of onset and etiologies; early-onset AD develops prior to age 65 and has strong genetic associations while late-onset AD develops after age 65 with a more complex etiology. Late-onset AD accounts for 90-95% of AD cases (Harman 2002). Aging is a strong risk factor for developing late-onset AD. Given that the global population of people ages 65 and up is expected to increase from 26.6 million in 2006 to 106.8 million by 2050 (Brookmeyer et al. 2007) AD is a growing public health concern in regards to disease management and development of innovative treatments. The prevalence of AD globally is 4.4%, with 1 in 10 people over age 65 and nearly one-third of people over age 85 affected by dementia in developed countries (Qiu et al. 2009). AD prevalence is the greatest in East Asia, followed by Western Europe, South Asia, and North America (Prince et al. 2015). Disease burden is anticipated to be the greatest in low and middle-income countries with the fastest growth in the elderly population and limited access to care (Prince et al. 2015). By 2050, the U.S. population of adults with AD is projected to increase to 13.2 million. With 43% of AD patients requiring a high level of care, the financial and healthcare burden of AD is expected to rise (Qiu et al. 2009). Given that the burden of AD will increase over the coming decades with costly impacts on health care and social services, it is necessary to continue AD research to identify a cause and develop novel therapies. Etiology Alzheimer’s disease is a multifactorial disease with several genetic, person, and lifestyle risk factors that contribute to development of disease. Although many risk factors for AD have been identified a cause has not yet been found. Of the genetic risk factors identified, apolipoprotein E alleles, with ethnic and sex variability in risk of developing AD, and TREM2 gene mutations have the strongest associations with AD. Lifestyle risk factors include hypertension, obesity, diabetes, and education. The development of AD requires a combination of these risk factors that induce the production of neurotoxic amyloid beta (Aß) and neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs), the agents of AD. Apolipoprotein E (apoE) has been identified as playing a role in AD pathology. ApoE is naturally produced and is involved in lipid transport (Ridge et al. 2013; 2018 Feb 27).   In AD it is thought that apoE regulation of Aß is altered (Kanekiyo et al. 2014). There are three apoE alleles that differ in the risk they confer to AD; the ÃŽ µ2 and ÃŽ µ3 alleles are protective but the ÃŽ µ4 allele increases risk for AD (Ridge et al. 2013). Additionally, it appears that ethnicity modulates the risk of AD conferred by the apoE ÃŽ µ4 allele, conferring greater risk among Caucasians and Japanese than African Americans and Hispanics (Ridge et al., 2013). The apoE ÃŽ µ4 allele is an established risk factor for the development of AD however it is not causative and the risk that carrying this gene confers is likely modulated by other factors such as ethnicity and lifestyle.   Mutations in the TREM2 gene have also been implicated in AD pathology. The TREM2 gene codes for a receptor expressed in myeloid cells, the principal innate immune cell in the brain (Hickman and El Khoury 2014) and in greater abundance in the hippocampus and neocortex, brain structures affected by neurodegeneration in AD (Guerreiro et al. 2013 Jan 9). A rare missense mutation in the TREM2 gene was identified in Islanders that confers significant risk of AD (Jonsson et al. 2013 Jan 9) and a loss of function mutation increases the risk of late-onset AD in heterozygous carriers (Hickman and El Khoury 2014). This loss of function mutation promotes the production of Aß and reduces Aß phagocytosis and degradation (Hickman and El Khoury 2014). In addition to the genetic risk factors discussed above, several lifestyle risk factors for AD have been identified including cardiovascular risk factors and obesity. Cardiovascular risk factors (smoking, hypertension, high cholesterol, and diabetes) in mid-life are associated with a 20-40% increased risk of AD in a dose-dependent fashion (Whitmer et al. 2005). Hypertension that develops in mid-life and persists into late-life is associated with a greater risk of dementia (McGrath et al. 2017). Furthermore, the risk of hypertension for AD in late-life might be influenced by sex, with females having a 65% increased risk of developing dementia if hypertensive in mid-life but no such association among males (Gilsanz et al. 2017). Midlife insulin resistance is also a risk factor for Aß accumulation (Ekblad et al. 2018 Feb 23) and patients with diabetes and the apoE ÃŽ µ4 allele have more Aß plaques and NFTs in the brain (Peila et al. 2002). Obesity is linked to AD via several singl e-nucleotide polymorphisms (Hinney et al. 2014). In people who are obese, leptin and adiponectin lose their neuroprotective role as the brain becomes resistant to leptin and the levels of adiponectin decrease (Letra et al. 2014). Research conducted by Nuzzo et al. (2015) further supports this association, finding that obese mice fed a high-fat diet had elevated Aß accumulation. Addressing these modifiable risk factors in mid-life may help reduce the risk of developing AD in late-life. Higher educational attainment and continued cognitive stimulation in later life are protective against AD. Amieva et al. (2014) found that individuals with AD who had education beyond 6 years of primary school showed delayed cognitive decline before diagnosis compared to individuals with less education. Participating in cognitive leisure activities in late-life, like reading books, newspapers, and magazines, solving crossword puzzles, and attending courses and professional training, has a protective effect as well (Sattler et al. 2012). Higher educational attainment may be associated with reduced risk of AD and delayed cognitive decline if AD develops because of its association with increased hippocampi and amygdalae size. In individuals with AD, the hippocampi are larger in those who had 20 years of formal education compared to those with 6 years (Shpanskaya et al. 2014). The role of education in hippocampal size is further implicated by Tang, Varma, Miller, and Carlson (2017) who f ound that the left hippocampus is larger than the right, possibly due to education honing retrieval of verbal memory by the left hippocampus through increasing intellectual ability and literacy skills.   Biology   Alzheimer’s disease results in the progressive loss of neurons in the cerebrum. The first structures affected are the hippocampi followed by the amygdala (Pini et al. 2016). As the disease progresses so does neuronal loss throughout the cerebrum. In AD, Aß peptides and neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) formed by tau protein cause synaptic damage that leads to apoptosis. Additionally, the innate immune system in the brain does not function properly in AD and therefore does not remove Aß peptides before they aggregate to form plaques.   Amyloid beta is naturally produced in the brain by the cleavage of amyloid precursor protein (APP), but when APP is cleaved by ß-secretase Aß peptides are formed that can cause synaptic and mitochondrial damage and aggregate to form plaques (Querfurth and LaFerla 2010). In healthy individuals, Aß peptides are cleared by microglia and enzymes but these mechanisms deteriorate in individuals with AD and the Aß peptides accumulate and result in neurodegeneration (Sarlus and Heneka 2017). Aß plaques cause neuronal cell death by accumulating around neurons, impairing normal function and inducing an inflammatory response. More attention recently has been given to Aß peptides, which lead to apoptosis in neurons through synaptic damage and inhibition of mitochondrial function. Aß peptides cause synaptic damage in the hippocampus by aggregating and creating pores in the cell membranes that allows calcium ion entry into the cell. Over time, these pores become non-selective and allow flux of large molecules like ATP and glucose that alters cell metabolism and disrupts homeostasis resulting in apoptosis (Sepà ºlveda et al. 2014). Aß also produces reactive oxygen species that initiate oxidative stress which leads to mitochondria in the cell releasing cytochrome C and inducing apoptosis (Querfurth and LaFerla 2010). Both Aß peptides and APP can enter the mitochondria where they disrupt the electron transport chain and ATP production (Caspersen et al. 2005; Reddy and Beal 2008). Synapses are sites of high mitochondrial activity because ATP is needed for neurotransmitter release (Reddy and Beal 2008), so inhibition of mitochondrial activity by Aß also results in synaptic damage. NFTs are intracellular aggregations of hyperphosphorylated tau protein and also cause neurodegeneration. Tau protein is a component of the cytoskeleton of neural cells but when hyperphosphorylated tau proteins have an affinity for themselves and destabilize the cytoskeleton (Iqbal et al. 2005; Spillantini and Goedert 2013). Tau protein is phosphorylated by glycogen synthase kinase -3ß (GSK-3ß) (Rankin et al. 2007) which can be activated by Aß peptides (Takashima 2006). Tau protein mediates synaptic damage by inhibiting extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) signaling that is key in cell survival (Sun et al. 2016). Approaches Current treatment of AD relies on two types of medications: acetylcholine esterase inhibitors (AChEIs) and N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonists. AChEIs work by slowing the degradation of acetylcholine (ACh) by inhibiting acetylcholine esterase which allows more ACh action at the synapses (Nelson and Tabet 2015). When cholinergic neurons are lost during the course of AD, ACh synthesis and receptor signaling are reduced (Auld et al. 2002). AChEIs are most effective in slowing progression of cognitive decline in mild to moderate cases and less effective in severe AD (Gillette-Guyonnet et al. 2011). Memantine is an NMDA receptor antagonist (Tariot et al. 2004) that helps mitigate the loss of NMDA receptor function due to Aß peptides (Snyder et al. 2005). Memantine is not effective for mild cases of AD (Nelson and Tabet 2015) but it is effective in moderate to severe cases, especially when used in combination with AChEIs (Tariot et al. 2004). Although AChEIs and NMDA receptor antagonists are the current pharmacological treatments available for AD, they are only able to slow the progression of the disease and lose effectiveness as AD progresses. The challenge in designing a drug to prevent or cure AD is the multifactorial nature of the disease with genetic and lifestyle risk factors. Even when non-pharmacologic interventions (controlling blood pressure, cognitive stimulation therapy, healthy diet and exercise, and maintaining social networks) (Nelson and Tabet 2015) are used as part of a comprehensive treatment plan and initiated early in disease progression, the best that current treatments can offer is to slow the natural progression of the disease With AD prevalence expected to increase worldwide across all races and ethnicities, the culture of different populations is an important consideration when designing intervention strategies. Social and economic barriers that prevent access to health care and social services among different populations need to be understood to identify and implement the best treatment specific to that population. Cultures also differ in how they view AD-related cognitive decline and may consider the memory loss a part of normal aging and therefore delay seeking treatment. An awareness of how cognitive decline in older age is defined culturally, how cultures differ in caring for the elderly, and how barriers to AD care services impacts each culture’s choice of treatment is key to developing successful interventions. Proposed Solutions The greatest challenge in developing treatment for AD that can prevent AD development or progression is that a specific cause has not yet been identified. However, recent research has identified new pharmacologic targets involved in the production of Aß and new therapies to reduce Aß and tau pathology. Research by Hu, Das, Hou, He, and Yan (2018) identified the ß-secretase BACE1 as a potential pharmacological target for the treatment of AD. In a mouse model of AD in adults with BACE1 inhibition, it was observed that synaptic function improved and Aß plaque formation was prevented. Although some clinical trials of BACE1 inhibitors have stalled, with Merck stopping its clinical trial of verubecestat in February 2018 (Merck 2018), there is still hope of developing pharmacologic treatments targeting Aß and tau proteins (Amgen 2017). A novel therapeutic approach being researched is the use of optogenetic stimulation to reduce Aß and tau phosphorylation. Using a light flickering at 40 hertz, (Iaccarino et al. 2016) found they could stimulate brain waves called gamma oscillations in a mouse model of AD and observed reduced Aß plaque formation and tau phosphorylation. This may lead to new non-invasive AD therapies, but more research is needed to investigate its effectiveness in humans. With treatment approaches that target the production of toxic Aß and abnormal tau phosphorylation, it is conceivable that in the future we may be better able to prevent and stop the progression of AD. References Amgen. 2017 Nov 2. 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