Appendix A †Questionnaire Essay

Conclusion (300) The current study found that there are significant differences in terms of both nutrition knowledge and health behaviours between normal weight and obese individuals. In particular, they drink more glasses of water and engage more frequently in exercise sessions. It has also noted that the obese group also has more frequent intake of meals; crisps; sweets, chocolate or desert; sweetie beverages; low calorie drinks; instant noodles; and deep fried food. They also read labels more frequently and are aware of the recommended intake for various sources. While not all factors have yielded significant differences, the fact that there are differences in some of the factors compared suggest that being aware of proper nutrition and the risks of obesity may be beneficial for Hong Kong residents so that they make take the apt means for preventing these risks. *Please underline your answer where appropriate 1. Please specify your height, weight and gender Height: (m) Weight: (kg) Gender: 2. What is your age group? ? 18 to 23 ? 30 to 35 ? 24 to 29 ? 36 to 40 3. What is your occupation? ? Student ? Housewife/husband? Clerk or officer ? Technical worker ? Other please specify 4. What is your education level? ? Up to primary school ? Up to F. 3 (secondary) ? Up to A-level ? University or above ————————————————————————————————————– 5. Do you know what is BMI stand for? ? Yes, please state it: ? No 6. What kinds of food are rich in fibre? ? Vegetables ? Meat ? Fish ? No idea 7. What is the recommended daily intake for fruits and vegetables? ? 3 portion a day ? 7 a day ? 5 portion a day ? No idea 8. Do you know the recommended daily intake for the food group of â€Å"bread, cereal, rice & noodles†? e. g. 1 to 2 servings per day ? Yes ? No If yes, please state it: 9. Carbohydrates, protein and fats are the main sources of energy from the diet. Do you know the recommended daily % for each source? e. g. 30% carbohydrates, 40% protein, and 30% fat ? Yes ? No If yes, please state it: 10. How many glass of water do you drink everyday? ? Less than 2 or 2 ? 3-4 ? 5-6 ? 7 or above 11. Do you read the nutritional labeling of food that you take daily? ? Yes ? No If yes, do you read all of the food that you eat or only read for a certain food items? ? All ? Read some only 12. Do you consider your health before choosing what to eat? ? Always ? Sometimes ? Never 13. What time do you usually have your supper? ? 6 to 7 pm ? 7 to 8 pm ? 8 to 9 pm 14. What time do you normally go to sleep? ? Before 10 pm ? 10- 11 pm ? 11- 12 pm ? After 12 pm For how long? 15. How often do you do exercise? ? Rarely/ Never ? 1 to 2 times a week ? 3 to 4 times a week ? More than 5 times a week If yes, for how long each time? ? 4 times a day 3 to 4 times a day 2 to 3 times a day 3 -4 times a week 1 -2 times a week Rarely/ never E. g. Crisps x Sweets, chocolate or Dessert Sweetie Beverages Low calorie drinks (e. g. diet coke) Instant noodles/ cup noodles Any deep fried food (fried meatball, fried tofu etc) 19. How often did you eat out or order a takeaway/delivery last week? Please cross(x) 1 option below ? 3 times a day ? 2 times a day ? 1 times a day ? More than 5 times a week ? 2 to 5 times a week ? Rarely /Never Is it almost the same every week or just happened in last week? 20. Do you usually eat more food in the restaurant than at home? ? Yes ? No 21. Do you think food given in restaurants in less healthy than home- made food? ? Yes ? No Why? 22. What kind of restaurant/ cafe do you visit the most? Please list 3 of them. Starting from the 1st most, 2 and 3. For example: 1st: McDonalds 2nd Japanese restaurant 3rd Hot pot restaurant 1. 2. 3. 23. How often did you visit the following food service last month? Please cross(x) your option. Everyday Most days 2 to 3 time a week Once a week Rarely/ never e. g. Local cuisine x Local cuisine(e. g. Dim sum) Japanese food Fast food (KFC, McDonalds) Dessert shop Other Please specify _________________. 24. Are you happy with your weight? ? I am happy with my weight. ? I would like to lose weight ? I would like to put on weight. References Karelis, A. D. , St-Pierre, D. H. , Conus, F, Rabasa-Lhoret, R. , & Poehlman, E. T. , (2004). metabolic and body composition factors in subgroups of obesity: what do we know? The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 89(6), 2569–2575. Lau, D. (2006). A pilot study on the attitudes and practice relating to the management of overweight and obese patients among primary health care professionals in four primary care clinics in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Practitioner, 28. Lin, B. H. , Guthrie, J. & Frazao, E. (1999). Nutrient contribution of food away from home. Frazao, E. (eds). America’s eating habits: Changes and consequences, 213-242 U. S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service Washington, D. C. Agriculture Information Bulletin No. 750. Obesity and overweight. Retrieved on September 30, 2006 from http://www. who. int/dietphysicalactivity/media/en/gsfs_obesity. pdf Obesity Research. (undated). Retrieved on September 20, 2006 from http://www. obesityresearch. org/cgi/reprint/12/6/889. pdf Popkin B. N. , Lu B.    International Journal Obesity Related Metabolic Disorder, 28, 282 –289. Woo, J, Leung, S. S. F. , Ho, S. C, Lam, T. H, Janus, E. D (1998). Dietary Intake and Practices in Hong Kong Chinese Population† J. Epidemiol. Community Health, 52, 631-637. Woo, J. (2000). Diet, nutrition, and health in older China adults. Retrieved on September 30, 2006 from http://www. unsystem. org/SCN/archives/scnnews19/ch17. htm Woo, J. (2000). Nutrition and health issues in the general Hong Kong population. Retrieved on September 20, 2006 from http://www. hkmj. org. hk/hkmj/abstracts/v4n4/383. htm.

Sexual abuse

Sexual abuse is a term used to describe one individual forcing another to commit a sexual act. Around the globe sexual abuse is much more common than people would like to think. In most cases, when we hear of sexual abuse we think about women or children. However, there are some instances where men are also sexual abused. For instance, there is a significant percentage of men incarcerated that experience sexual abuse at one point or another in their adult lives.Many factors play into these abuse cases such as; gang relations, sexual desires and/or the desire to control and take away the manhood of another. Women on the other hand, experience rape, in most cases, by someone they know; someone whom they would call a friend or maybe even a family member. Women by nature are physically weaker than men and some men take full advantage of this fact. Some men feel hatred toward women which fuels their desire to cause them pain. Others feel that women want to be rape.A simple gesture of invi ting them in for a drink can be misconstrued as an invitation for a sexual assault. On the contrary, children, in my opinion, are the most vulnerable. They can be misled by their parents, parents of friends, and/or relatives. They are the most vulnerable due to their age and lack of experience. Most children after experiencing sexual abuse find it hard to cope with their abuse and commit suicide. Others tend to have an extremely hard time trusting others, and use sex as a way to deal with their pain.In addition, when they have children of their own they tend to be over protective. The mental abuser is someone that beats another’s conscious mind into submission in order to control their situation. The controller is trying to discourage the other from saying what they think by giving them all kind of negativity. The abuser is making the controlled person low-self esteemed. People like to get certain things into people’s heads by either making them believe whatever it is that they want the other person to believe.The mental abuser will brainwash whomever they feel can trust them the most and will not give them any doubt. Mental abuse can cause progressive, long-term harm. All the person has to be told is that they are stupid, ugly, fat or worthless and it will go further than what it is supposed to. Physical abuse is act of another person intending to cause physical harm on another person. Physical abuse is common in relationships and child abuse. Abuse in a relationship an be he or she hitting, slapping, throwing, punching, and kicking. Any of those can be consider physical abuse. Physical abuse is very dangerous in relationships because it could lead to having someone in the hospital or worst death. Physical abuse with a child is when a parent or role model is physical hurting a little girl or boy. There is some case where parents have burn the child with an iron or a cigarette. In either situation physical abuse can cause symptom such as depressi on, emotional problems, and suicide.

Green IT Literature review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Green IT - Literature review Example Secondly a brief history on the progress of green IT and where it was first implemented, how it affects the environment and general policies about green Information Technology. Green IT starts from the designing, disposing, and manufacturing and also during usage of a computer, it is expected that during all these processes the concept of green information technology policy is applied or used (Friedman and Thomas, 2008). The main goals of green information technology is to reduce usage of harmful or hazardous material while manufacturing computers, maximize on the energy used during products lifetime and most importantly promote recycling of defunct products and waste from factories. Most of today’s corporate world and industries have encouraged green computing in their respective Information Technology department; through this they minimize the negative impact on the environment in their Information Technology operations (Webber, Larry and Wallace, 2009). To promote green com puting some basic approaches are employed to make it easier to understand. These approaches include; green use, green disposal, green design and green manufacturing. Green use concept is using minimal electricity consumption in computers and its devices in an environmental friendly manner. Likewise, green disposal is the re-making or recycling of computers and its devices, and if not possible, disposing them appropriately (Wilcox and Charlotte, 2009). Green design is encouraged in computer designing where it is necessary to design an energy efficient computer or other peripherals. Lastly green manufacturing is employed during manufacturing of computer to reduce the negative impact of these activities. Some of the features that have been programmed into computers that impose Green Information Technology is like the hibernate mode when one is not using the computer for a period of time, using of liquid crystal display (LCD) monitors instead of cathode ray tube (CRT) monitors because C RT monitors uses more power then LCD monitors or using power management features to minimize the amount of power. The Green Information Technology computing initiative is designed to cater for all areas; this is because modern Information Technology system relies on different type of people who operate in different ways. A computer contains different kinds of chemical toxins that are harmful to the environment. A single computer can contain up to 1 kilogram of lead that is combine with other chemicals like boron, phosphor and hydrofluoric acid just to mention a few (Maus and Rex, 2010). Due to this it was necessary to come up with a system that would ensure these harmful materials don’t negatively affect the environment or at the least minimize the negative effect. However, careless disposal of these electronics is not the only way that it affects the environment negatively; lack of using energy efficient methods while using computers or generally electronic affects the envir onment. This is done by ensuring that a computer used or a related technology reduce the amount of electricity that it uses but instead use it more efficiently. Through this the amount of carbon (IV) oxide produced during energy production is reduced hence environment degradation is minimized. It was first

Audi A6 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Audi A6 - Essay Example It’s available in the saloon and wagon configurations, providing an appealing combination of luxury, technology and responsive handling dynamics. Exterior Outside, the  A6  resembles a downsized version of  Audi's full-size  A8  sedan. The exteriors features more extensive use of aluminum components, with day time running lights, body color front and rear bumpers, halogen headlight with projector beam lenses and remote sun proof tinted glass. Its external dimensions include 73.8 inches width, overall length of 193.9 inches, 3,682 lbs weight, and overall height of 57.8 inches, 114.7 inches wheelbase, a front track 64.1 inches, rear track (63.7 inches) and curb to curb turning circle 39.0ft. Other notable features include a paneled under floor to direct airflow under the vehicle, and the use of striking matte-finish wood inlays. A wraparound dashboard and the most recent generation of  Audi's instinctive MMI system are built-in as standard. Performance The A6 is avai lable in five different flavors: the A6 Premium 2.0, the A6 Premium Plus 2.0, the A6 Premium 3.0, the A6 Premium Plus 3.0 and the A6 Prestige 3.0. â€Å"The engine transmits power to the front wheels via a constantly variable transmission† (audi.com) returning fuel economy records of 25 mpg and 33 mpg in the city and on the highway respectively. To ensure traction for all weather conditions, the A6 comes exclusively with Audi's valued Quattro all-wheel-drive system which makes use of an eight-speed automatic gearbox. It’s fitted with standard equipment that include eight-way power adjustable leather seats with memory functionality, Bluetooth  Smartphone integration, triple-zone automatic climate control, keyless start, a four-spoke multifunction steering wheel and a premium audio system with an iPod input jack. The 17-inch alloy wheels and Audi drive select enables drivers to set vehicle steering configurations, select transmission shift characteristics and customize engine response. Drivers have the choice of Auto, Comfort, Dynamic or Individual settings. The A6 Premium Plus also has a 40-GB hard drive voice-activated navigation system, Audi MMI touch handwriting recognition to interpret handwritten inputs, Audi connect which turns the car into a portable Wi-Fi hotspot and a parking assistance system with front and rear sensors. Optional Features The A6 Cold Weather Package comprises heated steering wheel as well as front and rear seats. The optional sport package incorporates a lower and firmer suspension, a three-spoke steering wheel with flappy paddle shifters and, depending on the trim level, special 18-, 19- or 20-inch wheels. The Driver Assistance Package integrates Audi pre sense plus, adaptive cruise control, and power folding, heated exterior side mirrors. Side Assist Package includes a blind spot monitoring system, power-folding mirrors and a pre safe system for altering the front and rear head commands to achieve maximum support inc ase an impending collision is identified. The Innovation Package also has a heads-up display, night vision assistance and LED headlights. Safety features All A6 models are equipped with dual front airbags, driver and front passenger knee air bags and optional Rear-passenger thorax side airbags. Other safety features include tire-monitoring system, traction and stability control systems and ABS with electronic brake-pressure distribution. Conclusion The Audi A6 model is near the top of the line for Audi products suitable

Ethics Final Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Ethics Final - Essay Example When considering how we â€Å"value† life, and how that valuation affects the moral implications of the issues of abortion and euthanasia, we must also consider the quality and stage of life. And with animal rights, while they are inarguably alive, we must define what â€Å"types† of life should deserve specific rights, even if they cannot perceive them. There is an obvious and inherent difference, for most people, in how they value the life of an ant and a human, yet both are alive. So the difficulty, in general, comes in being able to define the concomitant facets of life which â€Å"deserve† rights. Opposite the spectrum of humans might be bacteria. We have living bacteria covering our body, most of which mind their own business and cause us no harm. Yet, we often wash our bodies and are hands in a veritable genocide of these innocent microbes without a second thought. Self-awareness, foresight and planning, the ability to feel pain, the potential of that life to survive and other advanced cognitive and physiological capacities are often important deciding factors in the moral implications of abortion, euthanasia and animal rights. A important knowledge of biology is required to detect, understand, and analyze these aspects. In both abortion and euthanasia, human lives are taken. However, euthanasia in humans is often voluntary, though it may not always be. In the case the voluntary euthanasia, the patient usually has a terminal illness and stands no obvious chances of survival. Their potential for further life is minimal and ultimately they often seek to end chronic pain and suffering. In abortion, however, the human life does not make the sovereign decision of its own life, and it would not be able to. In early abortions, the â€Å"fetus† may only be a number of cells clustered together, not so different from small cellular organisms we à ¢â‚¬Å"kill† everyday. However, these

What you think about tattoos and piercings Essay

What you think about tattoos and piercings - Essay Example There are different reasons why I consider tattoos and piercings as undesirable. First, these are costly. In order to get yourself tattoos and piercings from qualified professionals, it will cost a considerable amount of money. If there are other more important things to do with one’s money, an individual would reconsider spending money on getting a tattoo or body piercing. Tattoos are also undesirable since they are permanent. When one gets the first tattoo or body piercing, they will be motivated to get some more. This has resulted to some people having their bodies covered by tattoos. Since these are permanent, removing them is quite challenging. If one wants them to be removed, he or she will equally spend more money paying specialists to remove the tattoos. Furthermore, tattoos and piercings are painful. This is mainly during the process of tattooing and piercing. No one wants to feel pain. Therefore, I do not consider the pain of getting a tattoo or piercing to be worthwhile. Equally, the process of removing a tattoo is also more painful. Finally, tattoos and piercings might expose an individual to the risk of diseases, such as HIV/AIDS. However, this depends on who performed the tattooing and where it was performed. This is because; needles or sharp instruments are used on an individual during piercing and tattooing. Therefore, failure to clean and sterilize needles, might lead to the infection with diseases such as HIV/AIDS. Nonetheless, each person has their likes and dislikes; and this is to some extent influenced by their culture. Therefore, even though I dislike tattoos and piercings, I understand and appreciate those people that adore them, hence this is not a major issue to

U.S. Consumer Wages, Income, Wealth and Savings Research Paper

U.S. Consumer Wages, Income, Wealth and Savings - Research Paper Example Wealth is the value of all assets owned by a person, household or nation net of all liabilities owed at a given point. Wealth can be in the form of real estate, businesses, liquid assets, money market funds, stocks, bonds and other securities. However, having great wealth is not an indication of great intelligence. A person, community or country is said to be wealthy if they posses more assets than liabilities (Wolff2 34). People often believe that it is not possible to accumulate wealth unless your earning is high. But in fact it is possible to create wealth on low income and not to have wealth despite a high income. The following are key ways of accumulating wealth (Marquis 14): Avoiding Debts In order to create more wealth one needs to have a net surplus each month. But when one borrows, he or she essentially uses his or her next month’s income to pay for this month’s expenses. Therefore, in order to get wealthy you must first clear your debts because once you are debt free, you can accumulate wealth. Diversification By putting all your shares in one company or even a single sector, you are likely to lose everything you have accumulated incase something goes wrong in that sector. Diversification makes it possible for individuals to have more than one source of income, and so they can have more wealth. Therefore to become wealthy, one must diversify across all categories of investment. Retirement funds It is very hard to work at an older age and make more wealth. Therefore to continue accumulating more wealth, one can save for his or her old age. Another ways of saving for pension is to open an individual retirement or a personal pension account. These may vary in rule but may come in tax breaks which will be a valuable boost for the funds. Emergency saving One should build up emergency savings to cover for any emergencies that may crop up in future. Even th e most prosperous people can hit a bad spell of bad luck such as illness or loss of a job and become in need of money. Therefore, to prepare for these cases one should aside some money that he or she can easily access. Monitoring your investments By monitoring your investments you are in a better place to recognize any losses that are likely to arise from the business you are engaged in. People who lose money that they have invested are those who do not monitor their investments but instead adopt an unthinkingly attitude to their portfolios. Consumer Wages and Income Income is the term that is used to describe the flow of money over a specific period and it is in the form of rates. Income is what people get through work, social welfare and retirement benefits. The United States Bureau of Census defines income as what an individual receives â€Å"on a regular basis before payments for personal income taxes, social security, union dues and medicare deductions†. Some of the fact ors affecting income levels in the US include: profession, education, wealth and race (Ryu and Slottje 67). Most Americans derive their incomes from their jobs. Professional earnings are normally determined by the law of supply and demand. Some professional specialties are normally in high demand but in low supply, thus making their income levels to be high. The complexity of a certain profession also determines the income for an individual. For instance, people who are involved in high-level complex Over the last three years, consumer price wages have had to deal with the issue of inflation, which

Enterprise Resource Planning (EPR) application assignment

Enterprise Resource Planning (EPR) application - Assignment Example The fascinating feature of an ERP system is that it will support a variety of hardware and network configurations by employing a database for effectively accessing information. This paper will analyze what an ERP system does and how such a system can help an organization to become more profitable. Since an ERP system can have a great influence on automating every business process, it can be effectively applied to accomplish a variety of business tasks. According to Adolphs and Schubert (2008), ERP system works on the basis of ‘input-process-output’ rules and, hence, it can also be used as management information system. Since information has become an ingredient part of management operations, ERP systems specifically focus on the information needs of different organizational sectors. The ERP software system provides timely, accurate, and most relevant information to different departments of the organization, using a single software system. This system keeps information updated so as to assist managements to effectively deal with decision making. Rothlin (2010) says that the filtering facility of an ERP system timely provides the organization with answers for various queries (p.204). Modern ERP systems are capable of providing improved facilities for the company to manage its export, import, and tax activities and to fulfill other legal requirements. ERP software supports computer aided designs; therefore, it is assistable for the company to demonstrate products designs on real time according to customer requirements. This system also facilitates all financial services and it complies with international accounting standards. Moreover, an ERP system has the ability to effectively meet the needs of government, healthcare, retail, and other service sectors. Sales forecasting is another attractive feature of ERP software applications since this process assists firms to optimize their inventory levels. According

Internal Audit of Fuller Smith & Turner plc Essay

Internal Audit of Fuller Smith & Turner plc - Essay Example The aim of the audit is to see the need for corrective action by top-level management on its policies. The idea is to stimulate mutual discussion between outside auditors and insiders (management and employees) who implement goals and find ways of improving the present situation. Its objective is therefore not only to correct the present way things are done, but probably more important is the good that the process can do to everyone involved, like the conduct of surveys of the present situation and the roundtable discussions that would be based on facts instead of opinions (Kondo, 1988, p. 15-16). An internal audit serves an educational purpose and offers management a chance to review those facts of the firm's strategies and operations that may reflect on management, employees, and other stakeholders. One positive effect of an audit is contributing to the way employees improve relationships with each other and understanding the work they do. There are different ways of doing an internal audit. ... The simplest is to gather data from periodic strategic and operational reviews, but the firm can also commission the use of other tools such as employee and customer satisfaction surveys, performance excellence models, and benchmarking (Witcher, 2003). Three highly popular techniques we can use audit the firm and the business environment where it operates are the SWOT analysis (Andrews, 1987; Ansoff, 1965; Chandler, 1962), the PESTEL analysis (Steiner, 1979; Andrews, 1987), and Porter's Five Forces model and Generic Strategy (Porter, 1980 and 1985). SWOT/PESTEL Analysis For this first part, we combine the SWOT/PESTEL approach. The SWOT analysis is so-called because of the acronym of the four factors required for assessing the organization's internal (Strengths and Weaknesses) and external (Opportunities and Threats) environments. The PESTEL analysis considers six environmental factors that affect the enterprise and its business: Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental, and Legal. We will combine the PESTEL factors with the SWOT analysis factors to audit Fuller's. Porter's Models Porter (1980, 1985) proposed the Five Forces model that helps a firm analyse its environment and design its competitive strategy by choosing one of three generic strategies. The five forces are bargaining power of suppliers, bargaining power of buyers, threat of substitutes, the intensity of rivalry, and the threat of new entrants. The three generic strategies are over-all cost leadership that allow the firm to compete on the basis of price by achieving efficiencies by minimising costs and attaining economies of scale; differentiation by way of brand image, technology, features, uniqueness, or the quality of service support, any of which enables the firm to charge a

Laboratory Excercise Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Laboratory Excercise - Research Paper Example 2. Four tree species Four distinct tree species were observed in Ornithos Atlantic Rainforest between 20:30:19 and 21:00:19 Brazil times. One of the tree species had a thick stem and branches. The leaves of this tree were not observable within the viewpoint of the webcam. This tree species was located in the middle background of the webcam. The second tree had banana-like leaves and occupied the left hand side of the webcam. The branches and stem of this tree were not covered within the view of the webcam. The third tree species comprised of shrubs that occupied the lower left side the webcam. The leaves of these shrubs were bright, green and irregular in shapes. The fourth tree species composed of the dry stems in the middle background of the webcam. This tree species had no leaves nor branches since the remaining branches were dry. 3. Bat The bat flew from the left side of the webcam. It spent two minutes within the view of the camera before exploring the feeding table. The bat the n disappeared to the left side of the webcam. Environmental conditions Ornithos Atlantic Rainforest is characterized by wet and warm climate. Mean monthly temperatures remain above 180C throughout the year. The forest floor receives only 2% of the solar radiation due to extensive canopy. Ornithos Atlantic Rainforest receives more than 2,000 millimeter of rain per year (Marent & Morgan, 2006). The inter-tropical convergence zone plays a crucial role in creating the climatic conditions suitable for rain forests. The precipitation in this forest ranges between 700 and 1,600 millimeter. Approximately 50% of this precipitation comes from the forest’s own precipitation (Livejoy & Hannah, 2005). Ornithos Atlantic Rainforest is humid across the year because of heavy rains. Around 75% of the biotic species in Ornithos Atlantic Rainforest are indigenous. Patterns and Density of Biodiversity in Ornithos Atlantic Rainforest The rapid expansion of human population and economies in the 21s t century has led to stresses on natural ecosystems and the species within them (Marent & Morgan, 2006). Biodiversity is the range of variation found among the living organisms. Ecosystem refers to any geographic location occupied by living organisms and the nonliving parts of their physical environment. Ornithos Atlantic Rainforest has a dense and irregular tree species. The trees do not have any uniformity in pattern since Ornithos Atlantic Rainforest is a natural forest. The forest is covered by a variety of indigenous trees, but only four species were observable within the view of the webcam (Marent & Morgan, 2006). The forest also hosts a variety of animal species such as insects, reptiles and birds. The webcam, however, captured the white butterfly-like insect and a bat. Factors Influencing Biodiversity in Ornithos Atlantic Rainforest The first factor influencing biodiversity in Ornithos Atlantic Rainforest is global climate. Weather forecasters have revealed rapid climate cha nge across the world. Climate change such as increased temperatures, wind and intensity of sunshine affects the ecosystems in the Ornithos Atlantic Rainforest (DellaSalla, 2011). Organisms that do not have rapid adaptive features cannot survive extreme climatic conditions, and thus cease to exist. The second factor influencing biodiversity is natural disturbances. Storms and strong winds are common in rainforest areas, and frequently cause considerable damage in forests (Marent & Morgan,

Mark&Spencer Governance Structure Essay Example for Free

MarkSpencer Governance Structure Essay Corporate Governance 1. Group Board The boards role is what management is doing, holding them accountable for performance against the targets and standards, probing and challenging their thinking to make sure that they are on the right track. The Board works closely with management in thinking through their direction and long-term plans, the opportunities, the risks and making sure we are developing the right management team for the future. The non-executives provide independent challenge and review, bringing wide experience, specific expertise and a fresh, objective perspective. As members of the Board Committees, they play a crucial role in undertaking detailed governance work with a particular focus on shareholders. GROUP STRATEGY 1. Overall Group strategy and corporate vision, setting standards and creating a high-performance culture which maximizes value creation and minimizes risk. 2. Creation, acquisition or disposal of corporate entities or assets which are material to the Group. 3. Evaluation of the Group’s competitive position and opportunities arising from the strategies and strengths of competitors. 4. Development and protection of the brand, its values and business principles. 5. Extension of the Group’s activities into new business or geographic areas 2. Nomination Governance Committee To ensure that appropriate procedures are in place for the nomination, selection, training and evaluation of directors and for succession plans, with due regard for the benefits of diversity on the Board, including gender. Terms of Reference 1. To receive a bi-annual Company Chairmans report on board structure, size, diversity (including gender), composition and succession needs, keeping under review the balance of membership between executive and non-executive and the required blend of skills, experience, knowledge and independence on the Board. 2. To ensure the Group’s governance facilitates efficient,  effective and entrepreneurial management that can deliver shareholder value over the longer term. To review any departures from the UK Corporate Governance Code and explanations to shareholders as to how our actual practices are consistent with good governance. 3. To keep under review the leadership and succession needs of the organization with a view to ensuring the long term success of the Group. 4. To formally propose new executive and non-executive directors for the approval of the whole Board, following a formal, rigorous and transparent procedure for such an appointment. 5. To ensure that all directors undergo an appropriate induction program and to consider any training requirements for the Board as a whole. 6. To ensure that Board Committee membership is refreshed and that undue reliance is not placed on particular individuals when deciding chair/membership of committees. 3. Audit Committee Monitors the integrity of the financial statements and reviews effectiveness of internal controls, risk management and audit. Role The Committee assists the Board in fulfilling its oversight responsibilities. Its primary functions are: To monitor the integrity of the financial statements of the Company and any formal announcements relating to the Company’s financial performance, reviewing significant financial reporting judgments contained in them. To review the Company’s internal financial controls and the systems of internal control and risk management. To maintain an appropriate relationship with the Company’s auditors and to review the independence objectivity and effectiveness of the audit process, taking account of the relevant professional and regulatory requirements. To perform his or her role effectively, each Committee member will obtain an understanding of the detailed responsibilities of Committee membership as well as the Companys business, operations and risk. The Committee can obtain its own independent professional advice as necessary. Audit Process 1. To provide an open avenue of communication between the external auditors, the internal auditors and the Board, meeting separately with both at least annually without management. 2. To keep under review the scope and results of the audit and its cost effectiveness and to report periodically to the  Board on significant findings. 3. To meet, as required, with the external auditors, the internal auditors and management in separate executive sessions to discuss any matters that the Committee or these groups believe should be discussed privately with the Audit Committee. External Auditors 1. To recommend to the Board, for annual shareholder approval, the appointment, re-appointment and removal of the external auditors, and to lead the process of putting the external audit contract out to tender, if appropriate, at least every ten years. 2. To assess their qualifications, expertise, resources, effectiveness, independence and objectivity and to review the auditor’s quality control procedures and steps taken by the auditors to respond to changes in regulatory or other requirements. 3. To approve the terms of engagement and the remuneration to be paid to the external auditors in respect of audit services provided. To review the nature and extent of non-audit work undertaken by the external auditors. In some cases the nature of advice may make it more timely and cost-effective to select them. They may also be appointed for consultancy work but only after rigorous checks to confirm they are the best provider including competitive tender and does not impair the external auditor’s independence. To confirm that the Committee approval process for non-audit fees has operated for the period under review. 4. To review with the Chief Finance Officer and the external auditors the scope and results of the external audit and any significant findings reported to the Committee in the management letter, receiving updates from management on action taken. Internal Auditors 1. To ensure that the internal audit and risk department is adequately resourced and continues to have appropriate standing within the Company, and to keep under review its members’ independence and objectivity. 2. To review with the external auditors and Head of Internal Audit and Risk, the internal audit program and any significant findings, including fraud, illegal acts, deficiencies in internal control or similar issues and review management’s responsiveness to the auditors findings and recommendations. 3. To monitor and review the effectiveness of the internal audit and risk function. 4. Remuneration Committee Recommends remuneration strategy and framework to recruit, retain and reward senior executives for their individual performance. Role To recommend to the Board the senior remuneration strategy and framework, giving due regard to the financial and commercial health of the Company and to ensure the Chairman, Chief Executive , executive directors and senior management, (currently together comprising Reward Levels H and G) are fairly rewarded for their individual contributions to the Company’s overall performance. Terms of Reference 1. To determine and agree with the Board, and taking such external advice as necessary, the appropriate policy for rewarding the Company’s Chairman, Chief Executive, executive directors and senior management. 2. To establish the selection criteria, selecting, appointing and setting terms of reference for any remuneration consultants who advise the Committee. 3. On behalf of the Board to prepare, and to place before shareholders at each annual general meeting, a report setting out the Company’s policy and disclosure on senior remuneration as required by the Directors Remuneration Report Regulations 2002 and other associated legislative or regulatory requirements. 4. To determine for each annual general meeting any aspect of remuneration policy should be brought to shareholders that requires their specific approval, eg share schemes, in addition to the remuneration report which will be submitted to shareholders annually for general approval. 5. To undertake appropriate discussions as necessary with institutional investors on policy or any other aspects of senior remuneration. 6. Annually to review and update its terms of reference, recommending any changes to the board and to evaluate its own membership and performance on a regular basis. * The remuneration of non-executive directors is determined by the Chairman and Chief Executive together with the executive directors. 5. Governance Group Supports colleagues by providing governance support and oversight that is meaningful, relevant and focused on ensuring the business is doing the right things the right way both in the UK and overseas. The Governance Group  engages across the business and comprises legal, audit and risk, insurance, archive, pensions, employee representative and secretariat, reporting on its activities regularly to the Board in the Group Secretary’s report. Giving guidance to colleagues on doing the right thing, the right way including ethics’ code: 1. Implementing practical and cost-effective responses to legislation and regulation. 2. Reviewing and making our policies and practices more accessible. 3. Minimizing trading disruption and legislative consequences. 4. Leveraging business initiatives and sharing best practice. 5. Negotiating contractual terms and protecting our brands and innovation. 6. Providing assurance on internal controls and visibility of key risks. 7. Minimizing insurance premiums, claims and fines. 8. Protecting and promoting our brand heritage. 9. Enabling the Company to meet its pension liabilities. 10. Assisting employee and shareholder engagement. 11. Supporting directors in their Board and Committee roles. Operational Governance 6. Executive Board Accountable for running the business, making sure we are doing the right thing day-to-day and delivering the Group’s strategy. It allocates capital and controls all non-property investments with a risk of material impact on financial results, brand or strategy. It keeps the Board regularly informed about the business and how we work with our different stakeholders. Its work is supported by a number of operational committees and functions. The EB exists to run the business and deliver the Group’s strategy as approved by the Group plc (public limited company) Board: To develop and review strategic opportunities and initiatives for the Group; to evaluate the Group’s competitive position and determine strategies to protect MS, its sub-brands, values and business principles and to consider the impact on key stakeholders; To manage the day to day business, responding to market conditions and trends with appropriate plans for pricing and promotions; To agree and deliver the Group’s financial and operational plans and forecasts; and to deliver these plans and monitor performance against the Group plan, financial forecasts and quarterly revisions; To act as the authorizing  Board for all non-property expenditure (including non-retail property investments e.g. warehousing) subject to the authority set out below. To recommend to the Group Board all expenditure in excess of this authority; To regularly monitor performance against pre-determined criteria to ensure non-property investments deliver required returns; To monitor the Group’s business processes systems and controls; To identify, evaluate, monitor and manage the Group’s risks (including financial, commercial, information security, HWDB, ethics and compliance, business continuity, fire, health and safety) to enhance the Group’s performance and its assets; To review leadership development and succession across the Group; to review HR strategy, including reward framework, employee bonus (excluding those determined by the Remuneration Committee), conditions of employment and pension schemes and people matters; To drive overall Group performance through setting and tracking their own clear objectives which are cascaded throughout the Group and changing ways of working; To review and update annually its terms of reference, recommending any changes to the Group Board and to evaluate its own membership and performance on a regular basis. 7. Management Committee To monitor the development of the Group’s work streams against the Group’s three year plan and to safeguard cross-functional co-operation of the work streams: to input to the Group’s strategic plan on an annual basis ; to cascade the relevant information to the business ; members of the management committee may be asked to present updates to the management committee to keep everyone informed 8. Property Board The property board ensures capital expenditure is allocated to the Group’s UK and International property portfolio (including Retail Property, Head Office Buildings and Core Investment) in line with the Group’s strategic goals and business priorities, whilst also ensuring maximum flexibility: To recommend to the Executive/Group Board the allocation of the property capital expenditure plan and the relevant investment policies on a three year cycle. To approve and control all UK property expenditure (including Retail Property, Head Office Buildings and Core Investment), projects, and programs  on a three year cycle, within delegated authority limits from the Group Board. To approve all International property expenditure (including Retail Property, Head Office Buildings and Core Investment) relating to joint ventures and wholly owned subsidiaries within delegated authority limits from the Group Board. To regularly monitor performance of all UK and International stores against pre-determined criteria to ensure property investments deliver required returns. To identify, evaluate and manage risks relating to property investment expenditure. To review and update annually its terms of reference, recommending any changes to the Executive Board and Group Board and to evaluate its own membership and performance on a regular basis. 9. Customer Insight Unit Influences decision-making by tracking marketplace trends, our customer barometer and customer views. The customer insight unit ensures customers to gain a real understanding of what they want, what they think and how they behave. The customer insight unit is vital in ensuring that our customers’ needs are recognized in any decision taken by the business. 10. How We Do Business Committee To ensure that ‘How we do business’ is an integral part of the business and the way it operates. Terms of Reference Its primary function is to oversee implementation of Plan A, the Company’s ‘eco plan’ launched in January 2007 which sets out 100 commitments across the challenges of Climate change, Waste, Sustainable raw materials, Fair partner and Health: 1. To provide leadership on HWDB across the business. 2. To ensure all parts of the business: †¢ Have assigned clear roles and responsibilities for delivering Plan A †¢ Have a resourced project plan for delivering all aspects of Plan A †¢ Report on progress in implementing Plan A on a regular basis †¢ Have robust data and evidence to support progress claims †¢ Gain the external assurance levels agreed by the Audit Committee †¢ Benchmark themselves against their competitors †¢ Understand stakeholder expectations on HWDB issues (customers, employees, shareholders, opinion formers) †¢ Have the resources and skills to implement the plan †¢ Are maximizing the communication potential of the issues they are managing. 3. To seek external stakeholder views on our overall performance and maintain an overview of external benchmarking and commentary on our performance. 4. To oversee any internal and external auditing of our performance. 5. To oversee external reporting on our performance and progress against our Plan A targets. 6. To provide the Board with an overview of the social, environmental and ethical impacts of the Group’s activities and how they are being managed. 7. To review and update annually its terms of reference, recommending any changes to the Board and to evaluate its own membership and performance on a regular basis. 11. Business Involvement Groups Every store and every business area has BIG representatives, elected by their colleagues to represent their views. Through the business involvement group network, the business informs, involves and consults employees so their views can be influence business change and decision-making. Commitment to BIG means that MS colleagues have the chance to voice their opinions and ideas, get answers and have their views represented when the business considers changes that affect them. This means they all have an opportunity to positively influence the business they are work in. 12. Fire, Health, and Safety Committee Promotes the safety and well being of our employees, customers and visitors and minimizes the risk of financial penalties. 13. Business Continuity Committee Role The Committee will keep under review the effective management of business continuity across the Marks Spencer Group with the objective being to galvanize the development and maintenance of effective means to continue business in the event of a significant interruption to business. It will provide leadership on BC policy across the Group and will ensure that the Policy is integrated into every aspect of the Group’s critical operations  around the world.

Report on NatWest Bank’s Creativity and Innovation Essay Example for Free

Report on NatWest Bank’s Creativity and Innovation Essay NatWest Bank is a member of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS Group). In 1968 National Provincial Bank (est.1833) and Westminster Bank (est.1836), fused as National Westminster Bank. Jointly, these banks could outline their history back down the centuries through a ancestry of influential constituents, since the 1650s. The declaration totally astonished the public, but to both banks the benefits were obvious the merger enhanced balance sheet strength, created opportunities to streamline the branch networks and enabled greater investment in new technology. The statutory process of integration was completed in 1969 and National Westminster Bank commenced trading on 1 January 1970, with the three-arrowheads symbol as its Logo of the company with 3,600 branches, established a wide range of new services, including the banks first credit card, Access, in 1972, and computer-linked cash dispensers, Servicetills, in 1976. Deregulation in the 1980s, culminating in Big Bang in 1986, also encouraged National Westminster Bank to enter the securities business. County Bank, the Groups merchant bank, acquired stockbroking and jobbing firms to create NatWest Investment Bank. In the mean time, the International Banking Division appeared to offer international banking services to large companies and to focus on expansion in the USA, the Far East and Europe. In the 1980s new services were developed such as telephone banking and touch- screen share dealing to assist the governments privatisation programme. The 1980s also saw the National Westminster Home Loans established in 1980 and the Small Business Unit in 1982. The Switch debit card extended the electronic transfer of money to point of sale in 1988. In the 1990s financial services markets world-wide underwent huge variations and in response the bank refocused its activities, exiting from a number of markets and adopting the title of NatWest. In March 2000, The Royal Bank of Scotland Group completed the acquisition of NatWest in a  £21 billion deal that was the largest take-over in British banking history. NatWest ranks fifth in the world and is now part of a financial services group which is the second largest bank by market capitalisation in the UK and in Europe. (NatWest 2006) Read more: Essay About National Westminster Bank Creativity and Innovation of the Bank: With granting a muscular competitive encourage to innovation, creativity and efficiency, it always attains lead on rival firms. Innovation is a driver of productivity growth. Novel products, processes and methods of working can relent efficiency gains and quality improvements not only within the innovating firm, but also within other firms that recap or institute on the innovation within their own firms. There are a number of reasons why the rate of innovation is likely to fall below socially optimal levels, and smaller innovating firms may face particularly severe barriers to innovation. The key constraints are: †¢ Limited access to risk capital: The informational impediments to free- functioning markets for SME finance were discussed earlier in this chapter, but it is particularly difficult for potential lenders or investors to assess likely risk and returns accruing to future research or to the implementation of unproven innovations. Newly-established innovating firms often m ake a loss and face severe cash-flow constraints in their early years. †¢Difficulties appropriating the full benefits of innovation: Whilst a competitive environment will provide the best general incentive for firms to innovate, firms need to be confident that they can reap the rewards of their innovation. This is why the intellectual property regime allows firms to prevent, for a limited period, their competitors from copying their innovations. This is a necessary reward for the costs of RD, and helps to encourage innovation. Nevertheless, the internal return to innovation may still be modest relative to the industry-wide benefits that arise once the innovation can be replicated by other firms. †¢ Inability to diversify risk: While larger companies may have a large portfolio of innovative activity, innovation in smaller firms may be concentrated on a single product or process, and the cost of undertaking the necessary RD may be very large relative to the overall financial assets of the company. Accordingly, where SMEs are risk-averse, they will be discouraged from investing in innovative activities with uncertain returns. Assembling the enterprise confront will rely on the innovation and creativity of entrepreneurs themselves, but the Government must also provide the right condit ions and the necessary support for successful enterprise. (Cosh and Hughes 2000) The NatWest Group has a total of 6 UK banking licences and licences from several other authorities. There are two principal costs linked with getting to the position where a bank is in a position to obtain and maintain its banking licence: 1) Implementing a reporting system that satisfies the requirements of the regulators. In addition to standard financial reports these would include implementing the systems to monitor and report capital adequacy, liquidity, credit risk, and interest rate risk etc. 2) Ensuring that there is the necessary infrastructure in place to satisfy individual regulatory requirements on operational areas such as money laundering, advertising and sales of financial products. There are also noteworthy sunk costs in coping with the provision of creativity infrastructure. To replace the existing branch and service centre network and administrative buildings is a major project in its own right and in addition to the costs of such physical assets, which are on the balance sheet it would be necessary to handle the stipulation of such facilities. Costs would also be involved in the provision of such items as HR policies, for example the sunk costs associated with setting up employee benefit programmes, such as pension plans, stock options, bonus schemes, car schemes, health care etc. The same tactic has been adopted and this turns up at an total expenditure of  £ [255] m. This is probably a conservative estimate. Over the period 1996 to 2000 NatWest incurred expenses of around  £ [13] bn in respect of its Retail Transformation programme, which was only a modification of part of its existing infrastructure rather than creation of a totally innovative one. (RBSG, 2002) NatWest depends entirely upon the qualities of innovation, and suffer more acutely from the rapidity of transform. Whether in presentation, writing, the visual arts or advertising, the progress of new ‘product’ is at the heart of all doings. Without this self- generated action, there is not anything to put up for sale. The sector therefore has a specific and challenging manufacturing process or value chain which, at each stage, demands different talents. At the raw development end of production (ideas generation, creating, training) there is a need for concepts, leading edge ideas and formulations, creativity, innovation and initiative customer orientation. Problem solving is paramount. At the moment of production (turning ideas into products, locations for production) – this first set of aptitudes is still important but must be supplemented by: _ï€  Intelligence, understanding of the market, industry foresight and strategic view; _ï€  Effective management o f resources; _ï€  Ability to develop and manage relationships with partners, explore new connections and collaborations with suppliers. The merger of the Royal Bank of Scotland (BoS) and Halifax to form HBOS resulted from increasing competitive pressures in the financial sector. Since about 1980, with the decline of heavy industries and growth of a service economy, like other clearing banks, BoS was obliged to expand further into small business lending and new retail products (e.g. residential mortgages, financial services, credit cards, etc.). Competition was exaggerated by banking deregulation, which led to the growth of a secondary banking sector, the transformation of many building societies (including Halifax) into banks, and new amalgamations into ever-larger banks (as cited in Leyshon and Thrift 1993). During this period there was increasing concern in the Scottish banking community about the potential for takeovers to erode a distinctive Scottish banking sector (as cited in Saville 1996: 717-40), which had been partly maintained by an historical ‘gentleman’s agreement’ between the English and Scottish banks to limit their presences in each other’s markets. In September 1999, BoS surprised The City of London by making a  £20.85 billion bid to take over NatWest Bank, in effect striking first in an environment where further bank mergers seemed inevitable. Many in the financial press were quick to point out that under these new terms, BoS and other Scottish banks could not expect to have the ir future ‘independence’ protected. In late November the Royal Bank of Scotland, BoS’s main competitor in Scotland, made a successful counter bid of  £25.1 billion. The City now anticipated a takeover of BoS, compelling BoS to keep pace with the Royal Bank. BoS and Halifax began merger negotiations in April 2001, and the new banking group, HBOS, began trading on the stock market on 10 September, 2001. The Halifax was the dominant partner in the merger, being about twice the size of BoS in terms of number of employees and market value at the time of merger, and supplying key organizational leadership, including the CEO. The core rationale of the merger was that it brought together Halifax’s substantial mortgage lending income and BoS’s expertise and placement in the corporate banking world to create new business opportunities for the merged organisation. It also saw the dislocation of BoS’s rather conventional, cautious and habitual banking ethos by the more modern, competitive and market driven ethos of the Halifax organisation. Thus the merger was experienced by staff as an encounter between two different corporate cultures, and two different national cultures, at the same time. By ‘the ideology of change’ it specifies an ideological condition that corresponds closely with Therborn’s conception of modernity. With this phrase I want to dire ct attention not so much to a set of ideas and beliefs about change, but more to a disposition, or attitude toward change. I mean to suggest a normatively charged attitude in which established ways of doing things are devalued and innovation and change is positively valued in principle, regardless of the particulars of any given situation. It is, in a sense, a ‘presumption of guilt’ in regard to the old, and ‘presumption of innocence’ in regard to the new. This attitude is deeply naturalised, so that the imperative and positive value of change is widely regarded as self-evident, and not easily questioned. Thus rather than the great social critiques and political programmes associated with the formation of modernity, I mean to invoke a routinized and normalized aspect of established modernity—seen in the way political parties and governments promote themselves through promises of reform, in the way corporations and public institutions are constantly restructuring in order to ‘modernize’ and keep pace with their competitors, and in the way consumer-citizens in capitalist society come to expect scientific and technological advances that will increase knowledge and improve commodities and services, while fashions in popular culture rapidly replaces one another. The ideology of change is mundane, relentless common sense. Some problems of ‘innovation and creativity’ lay with the organization and its leadershi p, rather than personnel, the exhortation to embrace change was ultimately being translated into a message of personal moral reform. In this way the ideology of change, while meeting resistance, percolated down to beleaguered selves seeking some greater purchase on their state of affiars. (Hearn 2006) HRM Strategic Milestones in NatWest: During 1990–91 County NatWest, an investment bank, asked all its business units, including its personnel department, to set up strategic milestones for a five-year period. Their performance was to be measured against those milestones at specified target dates. The requirement to produce strategic milestones as an input to the bank’s five-year marked an important watershed in defining the contribution of personnel to the business at a strategic level. It forced the department to reflect on the nature of that contribution. Senior management of the bank duly authorised 18 separate strategic milestones. The milestones were consistent one with the other, and overall addressed issues that consultation within business units and across the three personnel teams had shown to be critical to business success. Each milestone was assigned to a designated individual and was incorporated into his or her own targets of performance. Quarterly reviews on progress, involving the whole department, were subsequently held to ensure that the milestones were on target. The operational tasks that a centralised TD planning process involves seek to ensure that: TD considerations are taken fully into account when business strategy is formulated. They form part of a human resource plan within the wider business plan. At business unit/divisional level there are policies to ensure people are trained and developed in line with the needs of the business. At the individual level TD is an integrated part of daily routine and procedures, helping people to achieve performance standards and behavioral objectives and building up the kind of workforce needed in terms of productivity, quality and flexibility. TD staff operates a collaborative approach to planning at every stage in order to ensure a high level of buy-in from line management and other stakeholders. (Harrison 2001) Conclusion: NatWest Bank had recently a remarkable triumph over the competitors on November 15 2006 in the 12th Annual Convention- CCA Excellence Awards categorized for â€Å"Best Customer Focus: Financial Services† (details available on http://www.ccai.org.uk/events). The Bank is the second giant bank in the entire Europe (after Deutsche Bank) and incredibly progressed in a very short span of time (as discussed in the historical background). NatWest’s creativity and innovation â€Å"line of attack† led the bank to the stature of success. Chinua Achebe (1930 ), Nigerian novelist, poet, and essayist rightly says: â€Å"Contradictions if well understood and managed can spark off the fires of invention. Orthodoxy whether of the right or of the left is the graveyard of creativity†. (Anthills of the Savannah) References NatWest; A History, (2006), NatWest Bank, available on http://www.natwest.co.uk/aboutus.htm/ accessed April 29 2007. Cosh and Hughes, (2000), Tackling Market Failures, British Bankers Association. Jonathan Hearn, (2006), National Identity, Organisational Culture, and the Ideology of Change in Scotland, BSA Annual Conference, Scottish Study Group. Rosemary Harrison, (2005), Producing and Implementing LD Strategy, CIPD Publications. Appendix A: NatWest Glossary AER Annual Equivalent Rate. This shows what the interest rate would be if interest were paid and added to your account each year. APR Annual Percentage Rate. The interest payable on what youve borrowed is added up along with other charges (e.g. arrangement fees) and then expressed as an annual rate of charge. The APR helps you compare the true cost of borrowing, for example for a mortgage. The APR takes into account all fees and charges applied to the mortgage as well as the monthly payments over the life of the loan. arrangem ent fee a fee to cover administration. arrears money that was due to be paid but has not been paid. When you are behind in payments, you are in arrears. assets your money, property, goods and so on that have a financial value. assurance a policy that you pay for, and that pays money to your next of kin when you die. bankers draft a cheque drawn on the bank (or building society) itself against either a cash deposit or money taken directly from your own bank account. A bankers draft is a secure way of receiving money from someone you dont know and where a cash is inconvenient. Bankers drafts are commonly used for large purchases such as homes and cars. base rate the interest rate from which lenders set their rates for lending and savings products. Its usually based on the base rate set by the Bank of England. capital money that youve invested or borrowed (e.g. to buy a home). It doesnt include the income or profit you get from an investment, or the interest you have to pay on a loan or mortgage. CHAPS Clearing House Automated Payment System. This is a system that enables money to be transferred from one bank account to another on the same day. chip and PIN a system to reduce card fraud. A chip and PIN card has a smart chip that holds your four-digit Personal Identification Number (PIN). When you pay in a shop with a chip and PIN card, youll be asked to enter your PIN into a keypad instead of signing a receipt. This PIN is the same number that you use to withdraw money at a cash machine. cleared balance/cleared funds includes credits (cheques and cash) that have completed the clearing cycle. You can only withdraw or transfer money to another account with money from your cleared balance. The cleared balance is updated during the day as you make payments into and out of your account. clearing cycle the process that your cheque goes through when you pay it into your account. A cheque wont be cleared if, for example, the person who gave it to you doesnt have enough money in their account. credit card allows you to borrow money to pay for goods and services without using cash or cheques. credit balance the amount of money in your account. credit limit the maximum amount of money that you may borrow. debit card allows you to pay for goods and services without writing cheques or using cash. The money is taken directly from your current account (you dont borrow the money as with a credit card). Some debit cards can also be used to guarantee cheques. debt an amount of money that you owe to a person or company. Direct Debit an instruction from you to your bank or building society allowing someone to take money from your account. The amount of money taken can vary, but you must be told the amounts and dates beforehand. Direct Debits allow you to pay bills automatically from your account on a regular basis. discounted rate a variable rate that is set at a fixed percentage amount below the lenders standard variable rate for a period of time. At the end of the period, the mortgage goes back to the lenders variable rate. EAR Effective Annual Rate. This is the amount of interest charged on an overdraft and is stated as an annual rate. Unlike the APR, the figure does not include any fees or charges. Equity (in property) the difference between how much your property is worth the balance of your outstanding mortgage and any other debts secured on the property. Equity release a way of releasing extra money by borrowing against the equity in your home. ERTF Exchange Rate Transaction Fee. This is a fee that you pay when withdrawing foreign currency from a cash machine or when paying for something in another currency (e.g. when youre on holiday abroad). The foreign currency is converted into pounds sterling (using the banks exchange rate) and a fee for doing this is added. fixed-rate interest an interest rate that stays the same throughout an agreed period. flexible mortgage a mortgage that allows you to make overpayments and underpayments on the mortgage without penalty, and, in some cases, to take payment holidays. gross the whole amount before any deductions (such as tax or fees) are made. gross interest rate interest before income tax is deducted. Insurance policy a policy that you pay for, and that pays money to you to cover possibilities such as theft, damage to property, loss and so on. interest the amount that you pay when you borrow money. Its expressed as a percentage rate over a period of time. interest-free no interest is charged on money that you borrow. interest-only mortgages a loan on which you only pay the interest element. The amount of capital you owe remains the same throughout the term of the mortgage and is due to be repaid at the end of the term. interest rate the rate at which you pay back interest, expressed as a percentage of the amount you borrow. investment something you put money into that will provide income in the future (such as savings) or gain in value so that you can sell it at a higher price later (such as a house). loan money that you borrow (e.g. to buy a new car) on condition that you pay it back. lifetime mortgage a type of equity release product for the over 60s, which allows you to release money by borrowing against the value of your home. There are no monthly repayments, instead the interest is added to the loan and the whole amount is repaid when you die or move into long-term care, usually from the sale of the house. This means more interest will build up than with a conventional mortgage. mortgage a loan to help you buy property on condition that the company giving you the loan has certain rights, including the right to sell the property if you dont pay back the loan. net the amount after deductions (such as tax or fees) are made. net interest rate the rate payable after the lower rate of income tax is deducted. (NB the rate of tax may vary, so a net rate is usually only given as an example.) nominal annual rate the rate of interest that would apply if the interest were not added each year and if there were no inflation. overdraft borrowings from your current account. overpayment higher or extra mortgage payments that you make (usually to pay off your loan or mortgage early). p.a. per annum, which means each year. payment holiday a period of one or more months when you dont make repayments on your loan or mortgage, although interest continues to accrue during that time. PIN Personal Identification Number. This is the four-digit number that you enter into a cash machine when you want to take out cash, and that you use when you pay with your chip and PIN card. Never give this number to anyone, or write it down. rate the percentage interest rate charged by a lender. remortgage replacing a mortgage with a new one (from your existing or a different lender), without moving home. You use the money you borrow for the new mortgage to repay the old one. repayment method the means by which a mortgage is repaid. The two main repayment methods are interest only and repayment. repayment mortgage a loan where you pay back some of the capital as well as interest each month. The amount you owe is gradually reduced. return the profit you get, for example, when you invest money. share a unit of ownership in a company. share certificate shows the amount of ownership. share dealing the process of buying and selling shares. standing order a method of making regular payments directly from your bank account. Its a fixed sum and you tell your bank when to start and stop paying it. stock another term for share. transaction each time you pay money into or take money out of your account, its called a transaction. unarranged borrowing an overdraft that is higher than your bank or building society has agreed to. uncleared balance the amount of money in your account including all the uncleared items in your account and any items paid in during the day. underpayment a loan or mortgage payment that is less than the amount that you should normally pay for that month. variable-rate interest the interest rate that you pay on your loan or mortgage and that rises and falls roughly in line with a stated index, such as the base rate set by the Bank of England. (NatWest , 2006, available on http://www.natwest.co.uk/glossary.htm/)

Health Care Using Visual Aids Health And Social Care Essay

Health Care Using Visual Aids Health And Social Care Essay Tonks in Safer by design report points out that there is a great need for good design for medicine, and more attention should be paid to health care design. The NHS is seriously out of step with modern thinking and practice with regard to design (Tonks, A., 2008). Moreover recent studies conducted by Spinillo and Padovani focused on information design aspects in effectiveness of medicine inserts, showed that deficiencies in typography and confusing visual instructions affect task performance and information comprehension (Spinillo and Padovani, 2009). Well designed information can be crucial for improving patient-doctor communication and prevent from misinterpretation, which can have serious consequences. Paling recommends using visual aids wherever possible, to maximize understanding. Good visual aids can help the viewer to see the risk numbers in context, thus providing information and not just data. Furthermore he states For many patients, truly informed consent (or indeed dissent) is difficult to achieve without visual aids. According to Palings studies use of a simple visual aid can also improve the doctor-patient relationship. When simple visual communication tools are shared between doctor and patient, they offer an opportunity to deepen the bond between them. The closer the doctor-patient partnership, the more likely the patient is to be satisfied (Paling, J., 2003 also Buetow, S., 1998). Concluding Paling urges that more research is needed on how different strategies, particularly use of visual aids, help patients to understand risk. Similar studies have already assessed analogous visual tools such as the Wong-Baker FACES pain rating scale widely used to help patients communicate their level of pain (Paling, J., 2003). Furthermore he suggests that research should assess how differences in culture, age, and gender affect patients perception of risks. Few studies have examined how different groups respond to risks of any kind, and no studies seem to have investigated which approaches are the most effective for communicating medical risks to different populations (Paling, J., 2003). Figure 1. Wong-Baker Faces Scale From Wong DL, Hockenberry-Eaton M, Wilson D, Winkelstein ML, Schwartz P: Wongs Essentials of Pediatric Nursing, 6/e, St. Louis, 2001, P. 1301. Recently Dartey and colleagues looked at improving communication for patients with chronic pain using affective graphic design; also scales inspired by Wong-Baker faces. Designed leaflets concerned patients with low literacy skills and intended to aid accurate timing for medication taking. According to Darteys research using visual metaphors to facilitate healthcare communication to low-literacy patients stimulates the mind and aids adherence, however, it requires verbal explanation from the health professionals. It should also be developed in collaboration with the target community taking into account their cultural settings (Dartey et al., 2009). Figure 2. UCSF Computer generated medication calendar (UCSF TODAY 2007) Machtinger and colleagues present the success of a visual system implemented by UCSF research team in America. This new visual system creates a weekly computer generated calendar for patients on medication allowing them to see what medication they need to take and how much on a daily basis. Patients receive also written instructions in English and in their native language (Fig 2). The system aims to prevent miscommunication between doctor and patient, allowing the patient to have full understanding of the daily dosage of their medication. A system that concentrated on visual aspects in particular worked well for patients that suffered from memory loss and aided the communication of information to other nationalities. This system created by UCSF supports the use of visual aids to communicate messages to various groups of people, in particular enhancing effective communication across language barriers. Machtinger et all. suggest that visual symbols and use of colour coding can aid doct or-patient communication and improve mutual understanding (Machtinger et all., 2007). Mansoor and Dowse investigated the effect of pictograms on readability of patients information materials. According to the findings of their research presence of pictograms had a positive effect in the acquisition and comprehension of drug information. Moreover participants expressed an overwhelming positive desire for pictograms in their drug information (Fig. 3) (Mansoor and Dowse, 2003). Researchers stressed that in order to stimulate interest; drug information should be user-friendly, attractive, and easily accessible. Evaluating consumer or patient preference through open-ended questions best assesses these features. This form a crucial part of design process of patients information materials This forms a crucial part of the design process of patient information materials as it provides us with valuable information on how to improve the physical appearance and the readability of the leaflets, thereby making the leaflets more comprehensible. Leaflets with the appropriate tone, length, and design can do much to aid responsible medicine taking say researchers. According to this study, it was evident that the Z-fold leaflet including pictograms was the preferred format and design (Mansoor and Dowse, 2003). Figure 3. Nystatin suspension medicine labels (actual size of labels used 4.70 ÃÆ'- 7.85 cm) (Mansoor and Dowse, 2003). The following features successfully contributed to the location and understanding of the information: 1. short, easy-to-read and highlighted headings for navigating through the leaflet; 2. bullet points and broken paragraphs as opposed to solid text for attracting attention; 3. large spaces between paragraphs and important points rendering the leaflet less intimidating; and 4. large print size that improved legibility. Features that detracted from complete understanding of the information included: 1. the shaded box was ineffective in attracting attention and was often ignored; and 2. the length of the leaflet was a deterrent that sometimes hindered attention span. (Mansoor and Dowse, 2003). Suitably designed and tested drug information can improve compliance rates, satisfy patient information needs, and educate patients on the correct use of their medication (Mansoor and Dowse, 2003). It also plays an important role in empowering patients to become more active participants in their health care. A more informed patient enables greater participation in the decision-making process, resulting in a positive impact on medicine-taking behavior and health outcomes. It is, therefore, essential that information provided on medicine labels and PILs should be patient oriented, relatively brief, concise, and comprehensive. (Mansoor and Dowse, 2003). Review of literature on use of pictorial aids in medication instructions done by Katz and colleagues seams to prove that the use of pictorial aids enhances patients understanding of how they should take their medications, particularly when pictures are used in combination with written or oral instructions (Katz et al., 2006). Also Houts and colleagues in their review state that, according to existing research, pictorial aids improve recall, comprehension, and adherence (Houts et al, 2006). According to their findings there is evidence that people prefer pictures in health messages that are culturally sensitive and include representation of people like themselves and therefore they are more likely to notice these messages. However they couldnt find any experimental studies which compare attention given to culturally targeted and generic health messages. (Houts et al, 2006). Houts brings out Levie and Lentzs research example. They convey study on pictures in education cite which shows, that children prefer stories with pictures to ones without, furthermore audio-visual presentations are considered as more enjoyable and interesting if accompanied with picture (Levie and Lentzs, 1982). Houts points out that particular audience can respond differently to certain pictures and therefore health educational materials should be first tested with intended audience (Houts et al, 2006). Delp and Jones study suggests that addition pictures to health education text draws patients attention and will increase the chance that the text will be read. Leiner et all. research compares non-illustrated leaflet in opposition to a video tape with animated cartoons explaining the need for a polio vaccine. Both the leaflet and video contain the same information. Scores for animated cartoon group were significantly higher than the group with printed information given. Houts et all. reviewing existing studies noted that verbal health information accompanied by pictures helps remember and also recall these information. Houts literature search shows that almost all of studies found in educational data base reported that written or spoken text with pictures are better than text alone. This is called the pictorial superiority effect in educational research. The effect, according to researchers speculation, is caused by greater brain activation evoked by pictures. However no study was found to prove that the pictorial superiority effect was greater for particular type of content or pictures. Houts et all. stressed that more research is needed, especially on the conditions that maximize pictures effects. Houts gives also useful practice implications for designing the information: Educators should: ask how can I use pictures to support key points?, minimize distracting details in pictures, use simple language in conjunction with pictures, closely link pictures to text and/or captions, include people from the intended audience in designing pictures, have health professionals plan the pictures, not artists, evaluate pictures effects by comparing response to materials with and without pictures (Houts et al, 2006). Houts et all. stressed that pictures can change adherence to health instructions, however emotional response to pictures affects whether they increase or decrease target behaviors. The research suggests that all patients can benefit, but patients with low literacy skills are especially likely to benefit. Patients with very low literacy skills can be helped by spoken directions plus pictures to take home as reminders or by pictures plus very simply worded captions (Houts et al, 2006) Green and Myers argued that graphic stories and adult themed comics are an innovative and creative way to learn and teach about illness. Juxtaposing text and image can be beneficial especially for people with low literacy skills, learning difficulties; elderly people (Kripalani et al., 2007) can also be helpful in communication with young patients. Powerful visual messages convey immediate visceral understanding in ways that conventional texts cannot say authors (Green and Myers, 2010). Figure 4 . Cancer Vixen: a personal story of breast cancer Green and Myers research has shown how combining pic ­tures and text enhances understanding, as the activities of reading and viewing activate dif ­ferent information processing systems within the brain. (Mayer R.E., Sims V.K.,1994). This combination also fosters con ­nections between new information and existing knowledge, thereby increasing recall of health information, especially among those with low literacy. This process is even more effective when pictures overlap with text, are explana ­tory, and are engaging (Green and Myers, 2010). Green and Myer say that graphic pathographies can also help patients and their families better understand what to expect of a certain disease (Fig. 4) (Green and Myers, 2010). Research conducted by Coad and collegues exploited using art-based techniques in engaging children and young people in healthcare. The study looked at how art-based techniques and activities can be applied for use in consultation work and/or research projects with children and young people. In Coads research three art-based activities of using photographs, drawings/posters or collages and mapping techniques were considered in terms of application to field work. (Coad, J., et al., 2007) Art-based techniques, says Coad, give children and young people the opportunity to articulate their feelings through their own visual representations, including those with writing and/or language difficulties, one major challenge is understanding what the art-work means to them (Coad, J. et al., 2007).

Self Reflective Practice Essay -- Childcare Directors, Early Childhood

This paper will explore the role of the director in modeling reflective practice as a tool to move a program towards programmatic excellence. Childcare directors are closely connected to all aspects of the childcare program; they supervise and support the teachers and staff and they work with the children and families. They are responsible for the program administration. They are the program manager and the center leader. This paper will suggest ways to incorporate more reflective practice into our programs at Kennedy Heights Community Center. The literature on self-reflective practice will be explored and analyzed to support the paper’s thesis of reflective practice as a tool on the path to excellence. The limitations and weaknesses of reflective practice will also be explored. Reflection- Literature Review In her article, Becoming a Self Mentor, Bloom states, â€Å"The capacity to reflect and engage in candid introspection is at the core of achieving self-awareness. Reflective practitioners think creatively, imaginatively, and at times self-critically about what they are doing. Individuals who use a variety of reflective practices have a better understanding of themselves† (pg. 55). If we value continuous programmatic improvements then practitioners must know themselves to effectively change and improve themselves. Teachers and directors cannot adjust or improve their attitudes or behaviors if they are unable to honestly acknowledge and own their actions. Reflection can help to close the gap between â€Å"espoused theories and theories in action† (Bloom, 2007). The best written handbooks and program manuals are meaningless if teachers and directors do not implement the philosophy and vision of the program as written. If centers talk... ...d care and education to know what excellence looks like, but also knowledge of adult education to get all the teachers to the pursuit of excellence. While reflective practice is a critical part of professional development, the program administrator must continuously move a program towards excellence and have a deep understanding of best practices and what quality childcare looks like to effectively model and facilitate reflective practice that leads to sustainable change. While some aspects of quality are concrete and stable; many aspects of quality childcare reflect the needs of the children and their families and are constantly changing. It takes management skills to maintain consistency and leadership skills to facilitate the changing program needs to maintain quality. The director serves both roles and therefore serves as the gatekeeper to program quality.

The Holocaust Essay -- essays research papers

The Holocaust Experience   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The world that people lived in during the Holocaust is described by the personal experiences of the oppressed throughout the story Jack and Rochelle, written by Jack and Rochelle Sutin, and the memoir by Alexander Donat titled The Holocaust Kingdom. The horrifying mindset of the oppressors, particularly the Nazi`s, is illustrated in both books. The vicious and relentless emotional, physical, and psychological abuse the Nazi`s targeted at their victims is depicted in detail. The unspeakable cruelty received by the Jews dramatically altered their state of mind and how they lived their lives. The emotions of despair, distress, depression, hopelessness, helplessness felt by the Jews eventually turn to hate, anger, hopefulness, faith, and ultimately revenge against all oppressors.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Holocaust was a traumatic and tragic time in history to say the least. Those who were victims of the mistreatment were forced to respond. In Jack and Rochelle, both families were used to some form of oppression. Growing up in Poland, Rochelle and her family were used to feeling hated. Here is an example through dialogue of how some of the Poles felt about the Jews and the Germans: â€Å"Just wait! Hitler is coming and he`ll off the heads of all you Jews.† Rochelle: â€Å"What are you so happy about? The Germans might cut off my head, but your independence will be gone. Poland won`t be Poland anymore!† â€Å"They would tell me that it was worth losing their independence just to get rid of the Jews (page 8, Jack and Rochelle).†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Jack also experienced mistreatment even before the Germans came. In the town of Mir, he attended a grade school where he was singled out by the teachers: â€Å"As for school work, if we failed to complete an assignment or to pass a test, we were singled out for special criticism, well beyond what a Polish student would receive. â€Å"What`s the matter Jew?† the teacher would ask us. â€Å"Can`t keep up? (page 14, Jack and Rochelle).† They knew that they could not stay in Poland: â€Å"†¦there was no freedom, no future for us in Poland (page 16, Jack and Rochelle).† The Jews in Poland knew that they were not welcome. Here is an example of how Jack felt from early childhood growing up in Poland: â€Å"Did I have a sense that Jews were hated in Poland? You didn`t need to have a ... ...l, educated people. Finally, in April of 1945 the camps were liberated. After the liberation of the Jews, many of the Jewish inmates of the camps were too weak to move. Many of the Jews being liberated were so delusional from the continuous negligence, torture, unspeakable acts, mass killings, (basically an unrealistic experience), that they were not aware of what was happening. The Jewish prisoners were not restored to health simply by liberation. More painful than their captivity was the awakening from nightmares. When the prisoners began to improve physically, they were then able to feel and think and realize what had really happened to them. Many of the Jewish survivors described themselves as incapable of living their lives to the fullest. They often caught themselves unable to perform tasks that are considered very basic. Some felt that the war and the imprisonment had such a dramatic affect on their life that they had their spark to life that they once had. The traumatic experience of these camps has deeply scarred many of the unfortunate prisoners during the Holocaust. Let us all pray that a time like the Holocaust never comes about again.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  

Nina Monroe :: essays research papers

Nina Monroe 16 April 2002 Philosophy: Ethics 6. What arguments are offered by Plato and Aristotle that the just life is happier that the unjust one? Do you find these convincing? Why or why not? The Happy Life â€Å"So don’t merely give us a theoretical argument that justice is stronger than injustice, but tell us what each itself does, because of its own powers, to someone who possesses it, and that makes injustice bad and justice good†.1 In this quote from Plato’s Republic, Adeimantus challenges Socrates to demonstrate that justice is good in itself, and ultimately, to prove that the just life is the happiest life for a human being. Both Plato and Aristotle, two of antiquity’s greatest philosophers, concern themselves with the issue of human happiness. Neither thinker considers fate to be the definitive factor for achieving happiness. Rather, Plato and Aristotle argue that our actions and thoughts play a significant role in creating a happy life. This argument, as presented in Plato’s Republic and Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, also asserts that a life in accordance with justice is the happy, or good, life. Thus, tracing each philosopher’s theory of the happy life necessitates a discussion of their definitions of justice. Here too, the two philosophers show a great degree of agreement. Although the philosophies of Plato and Aristotle contain major differences in their fundamental principles, both thinkers take similar stances on the relationship between justice and happiness. Plato, through various Socratic dialogues, chooses to present his definition of justice in the context of a just state, later applying it to the case of a human. In the just state described by Socrates, each individual performs a certain function within society.2 It is in this principle of proper functioning of each part, from which Plato derives a definition of justice. It should not come as a surprise, therefore, that Plato was highly critical of Athenian democracy, which encouraged its citizens to try many different professions throughout each of their lives. Plato found that a certain element of conflict or turmoil arises from conditions that promote various parts of a system to meddle with the other parts. Plato’s notion of justice clearly echoes his overall theory of a highest goo d, or the good in itself. The highest good is constituted by something completely above the sensible world, and understood only within the realm of intelligibility. The truths of the intelligible realm are ordered and unchanging.

Dietary Fiber Analysis Health And Social Care Essay

Fiber is categorized into soluble and indissoluble fibre. Soluble fibre includes pectins, mucilages, gums, and storage polyoses. Soluble fibre has shown to hold positive effects on glucose metamorphosis that are partially attributed to the increased viscousness of luminal contents. It causes delayed gastric voidance, which account for around 35 % of the discrepancy in extremum glucose concentrations after consuming glucose. It besides reduces the rate of glucose diffusion through the H2O bed. The most of import factor in respects to glycemic consequence is soluble fibre ‘s ability to increase viscousness and organize gel-like stools. Soluble fibre besides becomes fermented in the colon and outputs short-chain fatty acids. It is thought that these short concatenation fatty acids may be good to lipid metamorphosis and cardiovascular disease bar ( Pittler and Ernst 2004 ; Papathanasopoulos and Camilleri 2010 ) . â€Å" In experimental clinch surveies, soluble dietetic fibre besides influences peripheral glucose uptake mechanisms, including increased skeletal musculus look of the insulin- responsive glucose transporter type, which enhanced skeletal musculus consumption, augmenting insulin sensitiveness and normalising blood glucose degrees. In worlds, several fatty acids stimulate look of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor, which increases degrees of adipocyte glucose † Insoluble fibre includes cellulose, hemicelluloses, and lignin. Insoluble fibre does acquire fermented in the colon, but it attracts H2O which increases faecal majority, softening, and defecation. The chief consequence of indissoluble fibre in respects to glycemia is heightened insulin sensitiveness. â€Å" Changes in intestine microbiota have been implicated, in position of ascertained microbiota differences between corpulent and thin topics, reduced Gram-negative bacterial content with diets high in dietetic fibre as opposed to high-fat diets, and experimental informations demoing insulin opposition develops after daily hypodermic injections of Gram-negative bacterial lipopolysaccharides. A test of whole grain in healthy adult females showed accelerated GIP and insulin response and improved postprandial glycemia during the undermentioned twenty-four hours. † The aim of the first survey was to find the extent to which Beta-Glucan reduces the glycemic index ( GI ) of oat merchandises and whether high degrees of Beta-Glucan impair palatableness. The survey wanted to find if there was a nexus between low GI nutrients and direction of Type Two Diabetes ( DM II ) . Sixteen trial topics were selected from a pool of patients at St. Michaels Diabetes Clinic with HbA1 degrees within 5.5 % – 8.5 % , with one exclusion of a patient that had 11.4 % HbA1. Ten participants were male and 6 were female, with an mean BMI of 29. All were diagnosed with DM II. Thirteen participants were treated with unwritten agents, and 3 used diet entirely. The breakfast cereal and a bite saloon ‘s which were enriched with extra b-glucans to bring forth a low glycemic index oat bran merchandise. Three tests were conducted with the breakfast cereal and bite saloon, utilizing the mean step of the postprandial glucose degrees. The consumer ‘s postprandial glucose degrees in response to white staff of life served as the control. This survey showed that when topics with type 2 diabetes consumed extruded breakfast cereals incorporating different degrees of oat bran dressed ore ( 8, 10.3 and 12.5g % b-glucan ) , decreases in postprandial glycemia ranged from 33 % to 62 % . This survey is done in a similar format to ours ; nevertheless it merely compared postprandial glucose degrees in response to beta-glucan enriched nutrients to white staff of life. Our survey is comparing a pure fibre addendum of Fleawort to an equal dietetic fibre repast. Besides, our trial topics will non hold diabetes. ( Jenkins, Kendall et al. 2008 ) The 2nd survey that was most similar to ours was conducted to see the benefits of syrupy fibre in topics who were insulin resistant. Dietary fibre has late received acknowledgment for cut downing the hazard of developing diabetes and bosom disease. The deduction is that it may hold curative benefit in pre-diabetic metabolic conditions. To prove this hypothesis, this survey investigated the consequence of supplementing a high-carbohydrate diet with fibre from Konjac-Mannan ( KJM ) on metabolic control in topics with insulin opposition syndrome. KJM is derived from Konjac, which is a sweet yam from the Araceae household with the botanical name: Amorphophallus spp. Two hundred and 78 topics between the ages of 45 and 65 old ages were screened from the Canadian-Maltese Diabetes Study. A sum of 11 ( age 55 A ± 4 old ages, BMI 28 A ± 1.5 kg/m2 ) were recruited who met the standards: impaired glucose tolerance, reduced HDL cholesterin, elevated serum triglycerides, and moderate high blood pressure. After an 8-week control-trial, they were indiscriminately assigned to take either KJM fibre enriched trial biscuits with 0.5 g of glucomannan per 100 kcal or wheat bran fibre control biscuits for two 3-week intervention periods separated by a 2-week washout. In this cross-over survey, the diets had the same sum of energy, were metabolically controlled, and conformed to National Cholesterol Education Program Step 2 guidelines. Serum lipoids, glycemic control, and blood force per unit area were measured in each test. During the experimental hebdomads, participants received absolutely portioned and packaged nutrients delivered to their work or place. These repasts were absolutely portioned with macro-nutrients in indistinguishable ratios. The Calories of each repast were tailored to run into the demands of each person, with fibre being 1.5g/ 100 kcals of nutrient. These two groups merely differed in the facet of KJM flour or the control, wheat bran flour. Both of these repasts were tantamount in fiber measure. KJM showed a fasting glycemia bead by 13 A ± 2.5 % ( P 0.0001 ) compared with 9.6 A ± 4.3 % ( P 0.05 ) on control. However, these consequences are non important, since the assurance intervals overlap. This survey compared KJM flour, which is rich in a high-viscous fibre, to fiber-enriched bran flour and tested many consequences, of which postprandial glucose degrees was one. The consequences showed no important difference between the two fiber-enriched flours. While this survey is near to our proposed survey, our survey will be comparing a fleawort addendum to dietetic fibre ; non comparing two types of dietetic fibre. This survey supplied us with thoughts for what to provide to our trial topics in their repasts. This survey gave their trial topics repasts that were absolutely portioned with macro-nutrients in indistinguishable ratios. This is indispensable for our survey to hold accurate consequences. ( Vuksan, Sievenpiper et Al. 2000 ) There have been several surveies that show that a fiber addendum lowers postprandial glucose degrees. However, none of the surveies are comparing auxiliary fibre to dietetic fibre. The inquiry if auxiliary fibre has a different consequence on glucose degrees than dietetic fibre has non been answered. A survey was conducted to see the consequence of seaweed addendum on glucose, lipid profile, and antioxidant enzyme activities in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Nine work forces and 11 adult females with diabetes controlled by diet and/or unwritten hypoglycaemic agents, a BMI of & lt ; 35, a fasting plasma glucose concentrations & gt ; 150 mg/dl, no ingestion of lipid-lowering drugs, and were 40 to 70 old ages of age were selected. Aside from diabetes, all topics were in good general wellness and had no clinical or laboratory grounds of nephritic, hepatic, or cardiovascular disease. Subjects were randomized into either a control group or a seaweed supplementation group. Pills with equal parts of prohibitionist powdered sea tangle and sea mustard were provided to the seaweed supplementation group three times a twenty-four hours for 4 hebdomads. Entire day-to-day ingestion of seaweed was 48 g. The topics continued normal day-to-day activities and exercising forms. Food consumption of each topic was quantitatively evaluated by 24 hr callback. The dietitian collected informations utilizing calibrated theoretical accounts to gauge the size of nutrient parts. Daily alimentary consumption was calculated utilizing the Computer Aided Nutritional Analysis plan ( Can-Pro ) package ( version 3.0 ; The Korean Nutrition Society ) based on informations from Korean food-composition tabular arraies. There were no important differences in fasting blood glucose ( FBG ) or postprandial 2 hr BG at baseline between the two groups. After seaweed supplementation, the concentrations of FBG and PP-2hr BG were decreased significantly in patients having seaweed supplementation, but there were no important differences in controls. Increased dietetic fibres intake from supplementation had good effects on FBG and PP-2hr BG ( Kim, Kim et Al. 2008 ) . This survey is similar to ours in regard that it is reexamining the consequence that auxiliary fibre has on postprandial glucose degrees. However, their control group did non hold the same sum of fibre in their diet as the supplemented group. The supplemented group was acquiring 2.5 times more fibres in their diet than the control. The fact that fibre affects glucose degrees is non in inquiry. With our research, we have been seeing that most surveies have a narrower age scope, this will assist us to find what age scope we would wish our trial topics to be. Besides, this survey used a nutrition analysis plan on the computing machine to calculate the foods ingested by the trial topics. We will utilize a similar method. A survey was conducted, look intoing the differences between fibre repasts enriched with soluble dietetic fibres from oats, rye bran, sugar Beta vulgaris fibre or a mixture of these three fibres. The survey looked at postprandial glucose and insulin effects. Thirteen healthy human voluntaries, 6 work forces and 7 adult females, ages 20-28 old ages of age were included in the survey. The topics were instructed to fast the dark before. They came to the installation one time a hebdomad ( 5 hebdomads entire ) and ingested a repast each clip in a random order. The repasts contained either oat pulverization ( 62 g, of which 2.7 soluble fibre ) , rye bran ( 31 g, of which 1.7 g soluble fibre ) , sugar Beta vulgaris fibre ( 19 g, of which 5 g soluble fibre ) , a mixture of these three fibres ( 74 g, 1.7 g soluble fibre from each beginning, giving 5 g soluble fibre ) , and no added fibre, which was the control. All repasts were adjusted to incorporate the same entire sum of available saccharides. Blood samples were drawn before the repast and every 30 min for 3 hours. Meals with rye bran gave a lower postprandial glucose extremum when compared with the control repast, and this consequence was more marked in adult females compared to work forces. Oat pulverization, incorporating a low sum of entire fibre and a high sum of saccharides in liquid matrix, gave a higher incremental glucose extremum concentration compared to rye bran and sugar Beta vulgaris fibre and higher insulin incremental country under curve compared to command. The oat pulverization besides influenced the effects of the assorted repast, decreasing the glucose-lowering effects. Postprandial triglyceride degrees tended to be higher after all fiber-rich repasts, but merely important for oat pulverization and the assorted repast when compared with the control repast ( Ulmius, Johansson et Al. 2009 ) . This survey concluded that soluble fibre influences postprandial glucose, insulin and triglycerides depending on fiber beginning, dosage of soluble and entire fibre, and perchance gender. While this survey was proving the difference of assorted beginnings of dietetic fibre, it is utile to our survey because they use methods similar to what we want to utilize. They tested their topics ‘ glucose degrees every 30 proceedingss for 3 hours. Besides, the survey had to add assorted things to the different repasts to guarantee that they had similar micronutrient content ; protein was the lone 1 that varied. A Reviewing these surveies has besides given us a way for a sample size.