Janmar Coatings Case Analysis

Janmar Coatings, Inc. | To:| Ronald Burns| Subject:| Janmar Coatings, Inc. Suggestions| Comments:| The problem facing Janmar Coatings, Inc. is deciding where and how to execute corporate marketing efforts in the southwestern United States. Janmar Coatings is currently marketing to 50 counties, their main focus area so far has been the 11 counties in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The main issue Ronald Burns, the president of Janmar Coatings, is having is trying to come up with a solution to market his company in the most cost effective way during 2005.After 2 long meetings with his executive team he still has no clear direction. He has gathered an approach from each of his team members, including: VP of Advertising, VP of Sales, VP of Operations, and VP of Finance, and now has four solutions to consider. The VP of Advertising has proposed to increase corporate advertising with an large emphasis on television. The VP of Sales proposed hiring a new field representative to help generate ne w accounts. The VP of Operations has proposed a 20% price cut on all Janmar product sales.The VP of Finance proposed that nothing be done; that the company continue with their current efforts and keep a 35% contribution margin. After looking at the company’s overall goals and finances, I would agree with the VP of Sales. Based on his suggestion, I believe it would be a smart time to hire a new sales representative for Janmar. The cost attributed to company for hiring a new sales representative would be $60,000 per year. And the amount of sales revenue needed to cover this expense is $170,000.However, if this sales representative position is correctly used, they will be able to make this margin back rapidly. Because by concentrating on only developing new retail accounts in the non-DFW area, the company could generate lots of sales to a brand new buyer market. Janmar has realized that they need to focus more energy on the ‘Do-it-yourselfers’ as they say, or DIY po pulation, and the non-DFW area seems to be where most of these consumers are located. It was mentioned that product prices would need to be lowered 40% in order to attract contractors, but that is not an immediate worry.Janmar needs to focus all their current energies on the DIY consumers and professional painters. Hiring a new sales representative would be the smartest decision right now because they will know every detail of the products and have the ability to market that properly to each of those consumer segments. However, I have also considered the Vice President of Advertising’s suggestion that they should increase advertising expense by $350,000. While initially, increasing advertising expenses sounds like a good thing to do, this decision would almost double the current advertising expenditure.Janmar is spending around 3% of revene on advertising and sales promotions efforts; which comes out to nearly $360,000. And while it may By increasing advertising expenses by $ 350,000, an additional $1,000,000 in sales will need to be recovered to make up for this expenditure. Mr. Burns makes a valid point by saying that 75% of the audience advertised too is not buying paint. With 25% of your audience only looking to buy paint, it would not be worth the risk of not increasing sales by $1,000,000, to implement the extra advertising expense.Also, I considered the Vice President of Operations proposal for a 20% price cut on all Janmar Coatings, Inc products. Price cuts are always something that needs to be entered into with extreme caution. Even the slightest 1-2% drop in price can lead to a huge drop in margin. In Janmar’s situation, if they choose to implement a 20% price cut, they decrease their overall sales dollars by $2. 4 mm. And their variable cost will not be effected by this price cut to their cost of goods sold will be held constant.In the end reducing their gross profit by 50%, which is extremely high. By implementing this price cut too, t hey would be lowering their contribution margin by almost 60%. While initially, a price cut may seem very appealing to the consumers, the overall toll it will take on the contribution margin and sales dollars generated by Janmar, it would not be a smart decision to move forward in making that a reality. Now, the Vice President of Finance suggested pursuing the current approach. His idea is that Janmar Coatings has always, and will continue, to be successful.The contribution is high, just because an increase in costs doesn’t mean there will be an increase in sales, so why do anything different? Although the VP of Finance has valid points, there is obviously something that needs to be done, or else 22 meetings would not have been necessary. Yes there is a great contribution now, but if things stayed the same, other companies may become more popular and generate more sales than we do and push us out. Based on information from 2004, Janmar currently has a 15% market share in the 50-county service area. If Janmar just stays where they are, they could ose market share as well. It is true that with any expenditure, sales have to increase to compensate for those expenditures, but a company cannot merely stay â€Å"neutral† when something absolutely has to be done. There is a way to introduce a plan that will generate sales to compensate for the expenditure. In this case, simply adding a new sales representative seems to be the best, lowest risk, most probable solution in this case. Lastly, to do a more in depth review the Vice President of Sales suggestion to bring on a new field representative to the sales force.The focus for this new representative would be to focus on developing retail account leads and calling on professional painters to gain new business through dealers. In the overall non-Dallas Fort Worth area, the penetration of Janmar is only 16%, so this representative would only concentrate in this area. Over the last 5 years, Janmar has focus ed most all of the actions toward the DFW area, while the non-DFW area has started to grow. The non-DFW area sales have grown 23% over those 5 years. DIY customers represent a higher percentage of sales than professionals in both areas.However, DIY customers represent 90% of sales in non-DFW areas. Because our contribution margin is 35%, with the addition of a new representative costing $60,000, about $171,429 additional in sales would be needed to recover the expense. With the addition of a sales representative, though, this sales rep could be focused on the non-DFW area and create account leads with more professional painters. The company would need a price cut of about 40% to attract contractors, but if the company could also just create awareness among more professionals in the non-DFW area, more sales could be generated there.Let’s not focus on contractors right now, and get the professional sales in the non-DFW area up, and create more accounts with them. Sales in the D FW area and non-DFW area in the last 5 years:Increase Advertising Spending (emphasis on television): Current advertising spending| 3% of sales=. 03*12mm=$360,000| Sales needed to recover advertising expenditure| $350,000/. 35(CM)=$1,000,000| 20% Price Cut on all Janmar products: Current: Sales Gross Profit CM| Sales: $12mmGross Profit: $4. mmCM: 40%| Sales, Gross Profit, and CM changes after 20% price cut| Sales: $9. 6mm ($2. 4mm change)Gross Profit: $2. 4 mm ($2. 4mm/50% change)CM: 25% (60% decrease)| | | | Adding another Sales Representative to the work force: Current Sales Reps| 8 field reps that cast about $480,000 +commission (assuming they receive the $60,000 salary the new rep would receive)| Sales needed to recover new rep expenditure| $60,000/. 35 (CM) = $171,428. 57| Janmar Market Share of architectural paint and allied products| 15% |

Advent Of Implants Rendered Endodontics Health And Social Care Essay

The justification for pull outing a tooth which has been endodontically treated and puting an implant in its position is a sensitive and combative one. In 2005 Ruskin et al1 published a professional sentiment article in which a strong instance is made for the extraction of dentitions and immediate arrangement of an implant over endodontic intervention. The writers province that the literature provides a clear advantage for implants in footings of success rates, predictability, and cost when compared with endodontic therapy. This point of view represents one extreme of what is going a turning argument sing whether or non to pull out a tooth which may be otherwise retained through endodontic intervention in favor of an endosseous implant. With the osseointegrated alveolar consonant implant construct developed by Brnemark going a widely accepted intervention mode for the replacing of losing dentition, the pick to retain a morbid tooth through endodontic intervention or pull out it and p ut an endosseous implant-borne prosthetic device is going a modern treatment-planning quandary. There is no uncertainty that the modern implant is a brilliant intervention pick when dentitions have been lost due to periodontic disease, cavities, or traumatic hurt. However, does the grounds support the bold claims of Ruskin and others? This reappraisal aims to reply this inquiry by analyzing the grounds available in the literature, comparing both intervention options under a figure of standards, and offering an sentiment as to whether the coming of implants truly has rendered endodontias disused. When researching the literature to compare between success rates of endodontic and implant intervention, a common job is cited in many articles12-15 relating to the markedly different standards used to mensurate success. Torabinejad et al16 found that result steps used in the endodontic literature were more rigorous than those in implant surveies. Endodontic success seems to be assessed utilizing the standards set out by Strindberg in 195617 ( or alterations of these criteria18 ) , which require the absence of periapical radiolucencies with a normal, integral periodontic ligament and integral lamina dura environing the vertex. Clinical map and histopathological rating of biopsied tissue samples have besides been used19. However, the success of implants has been mostly judged on survivability. Implant endurance has been described by Albrektsson20 as implants that are still in map but unseasoned against the positive result standards outlined by Watson et al21, i.e. an implant which is functional, symptom free and with no obvious clinical pathology. Therefore, the definition of endurance as found in the implant literature does non take into history the fact that there may be associated bone loss, redness or periodontic defects associated with these implants. For illustration, in a survey conducted by Brocard et al22, implants with marks of peri-implantitis and maintained by antibiotic intervention were non considered failures. Therefore, it has been suggested that success rates for endodontic therapy and implants may be unnaturally low and high, severally, because of the narrow definition of success used in endodontic clinical research and the slightly broad standards for success in the implant literature. In add-on to this job, Morris et al12 found that success rates of endodontic intervention surveies may be negatively biased because of the varying degrees of clinical experience of those executing the interventions, with the bulk of processs being performed by general practicians and pupils in the endodontic literature15, 23. In contrast to this, most implants were placed by specialists24. Some surveies have striven to battle these disagreements. Hannahan and Eleazer25 gauged both intervention types by specifying success as the radiographic grounds that the implant or treated tooth was still present in the oral cavity and that there were no marks or symptoms necessitating intercession during the follow up period. They found that there was no important difference between the success of either implant or endodontic intervention ( 98.4 % and 99.3 % severally ) but that there was a important difference in the demand for intercession after intervention, with 12.4 % of implants but merely 1.4 % of endodontically treated teeth necessitating intercessions. These findings were supported in a retrospective chart review14, which found that both interventions had similar failure rates but that implants had a higher frequence of postoperative complications which required intercession ( 17.9 % ) . Deporter et al26 besides found similar failure rates between the two but once more rep orted that implants had a higher incidence of postoperative complications necessitating intervention. Additionally, two separate systematic reappraisals in 200713, 27 concluded that the two interventions produce similar results. Physiological Factors, Function and Aestheticss Schulte28 found that the proprioceptive mechanisms of the natural tooth can non be replaced by ankylotic maintained implants. Trulsson29 showed that periodontic receptors expeditiously encode tonss when dentitions ab initio touch and manoeuvre nutrient, and merely a little sum of receptors encode the quick and powerful addition in force associated with seize with teething through nutrient. Consequently, patients who lack signals from periodontic afferent fibers such as those with implants – show an impaired all right motor control of the mandible. Therefore, tooth loss and replacing with an implant may hold inauspicious physiological and functional effects. Aestheticss has been reported as the most frequent job with implants in the anterior region30. Torabinejad and Goodacre31 found that a natural tooth can frequently accomplish better aesthetic consequences than an implant, but that in instances where the intervention program involves coronating the natural tooth, an implant Crown may be a better pick. This is because the implant can be crafted with a thicker sum of porcelain that enhances the colour-matching potency, particularly in the cervical part. Troubles have besides been reported in accomplishing aesthetic consequences when two next anterior dentitions are replaced with implants. It has been shown that merely 3-4 millimeter of soft tissue will organize coronal to cram lying between two implants, which may take to the loss of the interdental papilla and the formation of an inaesthetic black trigon between the two restorations32. Therefore, retaining a natural tooth maintains the proximal crestal bone and interdental papilla, helping overall aesthetics and visual aspect. Cost Benefit A cost benefit analysis comparing between single-tooth implants and endodontic intervention by Moiseiwitsch and Caplan33 concluded that – excepting any subsidiary processs such as bone transplants, sinus lifts or crown prolongation processs – endodontias and a Crown is less expensive, requires less visits and is completed quicker than an implant. Pennington et al34 found that root canal intervention is extremely cost-efficient and that orthograde re-treatment when confronted with initial failure is besides cost effectual, although surgical re-treatment was found non to be. This allowed them to reason that implants may hold a function as a 3rd line of intercession if re-treatment fails. Christensen35 found that an implant-supported Crown costs about dual that of a root-treated tooth restored with a Crown. This grounds suggests that, at least from a fiscal point of view, endodontic intervention may be a preferred pick compared with implants. Decisions It is clear from the grounds that both intervention modes are, within their ain indicants, extremely successful and permanent Restorations. However, the bold suggestion of this reviews rubric is erroneous. It has been shown that it is hard if non impossible to compare endodontic intervention and implants in footings of result because of the huge differences in the definition of success between the two in the literature. This contradicts Ruskins claim that implants keep a clear advantage and that they are more predictable in result than an endodontically treated tooth. Rigorous standards utilized in root canal predictive surveies may take to the recording of lower rates of success, while the usage of less terrible success standards in implant surveies may bring forth higher success rates. Iqbal and Kim13 concluded that the determination to endodontically handle a tooth or infusion and replace it with an implant Restoration should be governed by factors other than outcome because of th e troubles in comparing the two, and recommended that all attempts should be made to continue the natural tooth before sing extraction and replacing. To let us to do a more accurate comparing between the two intervention modes, standardized methods of finding success must be used in the implant literature. There is no deficiency of recommendations for such standards. Albrektsson et al36 set forward their standards for implant success in 1986 that included absence of mobility, absence of peri-implant radiolucency, absence of marks and symptoms, loss of fringy bone of less than 1.5 millimeter during the first twelvemonth after interpolation of the prosthetic device and less than 0.2 mm one-year bone loss thenceforth, and a minimal 10-year keeping rate of 80 % . Others have besides proposed add-ons to this set of criteria37, 38. What can be stated for certain is that endodontic intervention shows great value in its long-run permanency and success. One of the chief aims in dental medicine is the saving of the natural teething, often and successfully achieved utilizing endodontic intervention. A 2007 meta-analysis39 showed that natural dentitions surrounded by normal healthy periodontal tissues demonstrate a really high length of service of up to 99.5 % over 50 old ages, and even dentitions which are undermined periodontally can hold survival rates of between 92-93 % one time treated and maintained on a regular basis. This survey concluded that implants do non excel the permanency of a natural tooth even if it is compromised but treated efficaciously. Therefore an implant should non be an alternate for dentitions that can be restored and maintained. Indeed, the keeping of dentition is of import to most patients. As tooth doctors, one of our primary ends is the saving of the natural teething. We must ne'er shun our responsibility to salvage dentitions whenever possible, despite the frequent and sometimes aggressive protagonism of implant arrangement over root canal intervention. A conference every bit early as 1979 seeking a consensus on dental implants warned that selling was forcing what was a budding engineering into uncontrolled and extended use40. It has besides been shown that implant surveies have a high hazard of bias41. Today there is a turning tendency among some purveyors of implants to advance this engineering as a superior intervention option to endodontias, a tendency which may bias the general tooth doctors objectiveness and forbid them from appropriately measuring and reding their patients. A instance is frequently made that dentitions with failed endodontic intervention, which are campaigners for retreatment to t o the full eliminate periradicular disease, have a high hazard of failure. However, there is plentiful grounds in the literature that punctilious controlled disinfection can take to about 100 % healing and function42, 43. It is this reviews recommendation that the determination to pull out a tooth with the purpose of puting an implant-borne Restoration should be dictated by the clinicians scrutiny of the single patient and based on both the grounds above and clinical opinion. In instances of ongoing endodontic disease, endodontic orthograde or retrograde intervention must ever be the first pick.

Blog Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

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International Business Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

International Business Law - Essay Example India has no data protection law and therefore, there is no law regulating the protection of personal data of staff and employees that are kept in the databases of companies. What India has is the Information Technology 2000 (IT Act 2000) which prohibits the disclosure of data by a person who has secured access to it without the consent of the person whose personal data is being disclosed. The foregoing piece of legislation has therefore, a very narrow application and does not really protect information in company databases from persons who have no secured access to it (Spedding & Rose 307). In a contract where two parties come from different countries, two sets of law are naturally involved – that of the host country and that of the country of the outsourcing party. In such instances, the parties to the contract must expressly signify in the contract which law must govern the parties’ contractual relationship. Under the Indian judicial system, the choice of law of the parties called â€Å"the proper law of the contract† is respected and upheld by the Indian courts. Thus, if StoneTechnical enters into an agreement with an Indian counterpart for the outsourcing venture, the parties must agree by themselves which law should govern their contractual obligations and in case of a dispute under which law should the rights of the parties be determined. In addition, foreign judgments are enforceable in India so long as a reciprocal arrangement exists between India and the country of the outsourcing or FDI country as can be gleaned from the provisions of the Indian Civil Procedure Code. In the absence of such an arrangement, enforcement of such judgment can be had through the filing of an action for its enforcement (Sople 2009 p. 96). Aside from the foregoing, particular legal issues for outsourcing that are not potentially advantageous to StoneTechnical are the following: absence of at-will employment; statutory protection in employment to a class of

Managing a Golf Business Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Managing a Golf Business - Assignment Example Rendering of ‘Custom-Fitting’ equipments for the individual golfers rather than depending on ‘Off-the-Shelf’ technique helped the company gain on larger revenue margins. The ‘Off-the-Shelf’ clubs depended more on the custom of ‘One-Size-Fits-For-All’ that tended to affect customer interests and thereby affected profits and revenues earned. Secondly the dry summer months add to the strength of the company in significantly contributing to the turnovers of the firm. Thirdly the work atmosphere in the Professional Golf Club is also found to be quite amicable and prosperous for development of business relations. The work atmosphere is also found quite congenial in fostering an environment that would promote innovation and empowerment. Weakness Firstly the current state of business affairs relating to the carrying out of the training operations of the Golf Professional Club is affected by the emergence of the winter and wet summer months. The business is affected owing to the wet outside soil restraining effective performance of golf training sessions.Such seasonal factors also happen to create obstacle to the optimal utilisation of the resources available with the Golf Club and thus restrain the effective meeting of customer care needs. Secondly the space rendered to carry out training activities indoors has also been seriously affected owing to unavailability of adequate space. Thus under-utilisation of the available space and resources coupled with bad weather and soil conditions contributed in weakening of the existing business conditions. Assessment of the Competition and the Market External Analysis of the Business Opportunities The demographic factors of the Mere Valley region render a host of opportunities for the P rofessional Golf Club to effectively thrive in the area. Mere Valley population consists of high income individuals and also composed of people from business backgrounds possessing a passion for Golf. These people are frequent visitors or members of the Golf Club that in turn reflects the opportunity for the club to further expand in helping the people to pursue Golf as an effective sport. Moreover the availability of large number of open spaces in the Mere Valley region also renders significant opportunities for the Golf Club to effectively grow and accommodate a larger crowd of trainees. Thus presence of required customer profiles along with open spaces effectively contributes in business continuity of the Golf Training and Professional Club in the region. Moreover the availability of baking facilities in the region also helps the different clubs to gain adequate loans for working on renovation and replenishment activities in an effective fashion. Threats Firstly owing to the pres ence of opportunities pertaining to required customer

Is the US still a global hegemonic power Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Is the US still a global hegemonic power - Essay Example The break-up of the Soviet regime in the late twentieth century, however, changed all that, leaving the United States in a uniquely powerful position in the world. This situation has been labelled a â€Å"global hegemony† based on the Greek word hegemon meaning leader. A hegemony demonstrates supremacy and leadership, but it also implies that there are others who more or less willingly follow this leadership and sustain the hegemony with their support. In modern times the phrase â€Å"global hegemony† the phrase has been defined with an emphasis on economics as a situation which â€Å"requires a preponderance of material resources, in terms of raw materials, sources of capital, market dominance and advantages in the production of highly valued goods.† (Kehoane, 1984, p. ) The supremacy of the United states in technology and its ability to influence international organizations such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund , which support capitalist fr ee market economy ideals, has helped to ensure that America maintained a hegemonic position in the mid twentieth century. Other analysts view the situation of the United States in terms of a â€Å"theory of hegemonic stability† which maintains that â€Å"the presence of a single, strongly dominant actor in international politics leads to collectively desirable outcomes for all states in the international system.† (Snidal, 1985, 579) Snidal argues that the dominance can be exercised in both coercive leadership and benevolent leadership and of course the leader can determine at any point which type to apply. There are two ways in which such a hegemonic power can decline: â€Å"the absolute decline of the dominant actor (e.g. Spain beginning in the late 16th century) or from positive but differential growth rates through which secondary powers ‘catch up’ with a former leader (e.g. the ‘decline with growth of the United States after 1960).† (Snida l, 1985, 585) It seems that in the new millennium a number of other players have finally begun to â€Å"catch up† with the United States, notably the European Union which increasingly acts in a unified strategy on international issues, and China, which is emerging as a new world economic power which has the potential to dwarf even the United States. American hegemony is now being questioned both in terms of its current ability to provide benefits for other countries lower down in the hierarchy, and in terms of its ability to sustain itself in the face of emerging competition. This paper starts from the assumption that the United States was a global hegemonic power, jointly with the U.S.S.R. from 1945 and then in its own right from the late 1980s at least. It then examines arguments which support the idea that the United States is still a global hegemonic power and arguments against. Economic, political, military and cultural factors are considered in turn, and then the argume nts are discussed, explaining why the hegemonic power of the United States is currently under threat, and concluding in the end that the United States is still a hegemonic power, but that this situation is not likely to last very much longer. 2. Arguments

Knapps Relational Development in the Movie No Strings Attached Essay

Knapps Relational Development in the Movie No Strings Attached - Essay Example This essay discusses that according to Knapp, Initiating as the first stage of the relationship begins with the simple introduction between two individuals. Between Adam and Emma, their relationship began at a summer camp when they were young teenagers. Their body language apparently shows that it was an awkward meeting, especially with the way their small talk has progressed. Seeing each other again after five years in a fraternity party when they were university students was made led to what Knapp calls the Experimenting stage in a relationship. When Emma invited Adam to her father’s funeral, it became obvious in the movie that she is not comfortable talking about situations concerning emotions. Calling her father’s funeral â€Å"this thing† shows that it is her way of coping with the loss of a member of her family. Although Emma did not express her feelings and beliefs about the situation and certain issues to Adam, her gestures simply speak of her opening up herself and sharing her beliefs with him. Bringing someone to an event where he or she meets the family is a step further to making closer and letting them know that you are no longer just an acquaintance. A father’s funeral is rather a very emotional and personal event that is supposed to be shared only to people who we know well and we are familiar with, physically and emotionally. In addition, the mere introduction of Adam to her family made Emma open up a part of her life to Adam, which makes their relationship move further to Knapp’s second phase of relational development.... m to her family made Emma open up a part of her life to Adam, which makes their relationship move further to Knapp’s second phase of relational development. It took Adam and Emma a few more years to see each other again and continue where they left off. After running into each other in a farmer’s market in Los Angeles, they exchanged contact numbers and promised to keep in touch. However, it was only after Adam’s desperation after finding out his father is living with his ex-girlfriend that they were able to get together again. Adam, having exposed his vulnerability to Emma when he passed out and slept over at her apartment, became comfortable talking with her. After a short conversation and a few laughs, they made out right before Emma went to work. When Emma seemed to be ignoring his messages and calls, Adam surprised her at the hospital with a heart-shaped balloon hoping she would be impressed by the gesture and probably for them to become a couple considering what just happened the morning before. To his surprise, Emma was â€Å"not the type who is good at relationships.† When they saw each other again and had sex the second time at Adam’s place, Emma proposed an agreement to Adam for which he thought he could â€Å"handle.† The Intensifying stage of their relationship began at this point as they have agreed to â€Å"use each other for sex† since Emma thought it would be better for them so they would not have to have breakfast together when they wake up. Having breakfast is in fact a common gesture for couples who are in a real relationship, and it is usually at breakfast when couples get to talk about each other and makes plans. Obviously, this situation is what Emma wanted to avoid. She does not feel comfortable feeling vulnerable and needy of a man next to

Performance Appraisal Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Performance Appraisal Paper - Essay Example The thesis statement of the current reflective paper is to evaluate how the various aspects of human resource management and planning work together to perform that primary function. The contemporary issues in human resource planning and development are very much different from what it used to be two or three decades back. With so many firms entering the global market, the major objective of HR is the management of cultural diversity as well as ethics of various nations where the firm is seeking business. With the advent of new technology too, new issues have arsed in the field of HR planning. For instance, information needs to be communicated within a nation or within an organisation. Apart from this, workplace diversity continues to be a major concern for HR managers. In this arena, the primary function of managers is to ensure that no discrimination is done in promoting, hiring or termination procedures and practices (Brewster, et al., 1996). However, each of these challenges are also opportunities for improving the overall monitoring of performance, safety and health issues as well as turnover management. Globalization has seen a tremendous growth with technological advances. As the cost effectiveness of business is increasing, more and more companies are going global. Thus, new roles of seeing international employees have been added to HR management. The HR managers are realizing that with different religions, races and cultures, work motivation is also changing. As a result, the overall hiring and recruitment process has seen a dramatic change. Today, hiring process does not confide to a person’s functional capabilities but also his/her capability to work in a diverse environment. With the equal Opportunity (EEO) as well as affirmative action plan, the firing and hiring policy has become more controlled as

Drama Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Drama - Essay Example In Jack’s case, his friendship with Gwendolyn commenced in London when he was moving under the guise of Earnest, It was as Earnest that Jack had first captured Gwendolyn’s attention and affection, while Algernon deliberately assumes the identity in order to approach Cecily, Jack’s niece and ward. Hence, the name Earnest is significant in imparting acceptability to the respective suitors. In Jack’s case, as Algernon states: â€Å"You answer to the name of Earnest. You look as if your name was Earnest. You are the most earnest looking person I ever saw in my life.† (Act I, Part II). Gwendolyn’s affection is directed specifically at a man she sees as Earnest in her own mind and is reflected in her delight when she discovers that Jack is actually Earnest after all: â€Å"Ernest! My own Earnest! I felt from the first that you could have no other name!† (Act II, part 2). Hence, capturing the attention and affection of their lady loves is one solid reason for the importance of the name Earnest. The most significant reason however, for the importance of being Earnest, lies in the bestowal of a noble identity on Jack as a result of the name. Since he was adopted after being discovered in a large handbag at a railway station, his antecedents remain unknown. This is a barrier for him in class and status conscious Victorian society and is also the cause for Lady Bracknell being unfavourably disposed towards him. At the end of the play, Miss Prism’s confessions disclose the fact that Jack is none other than General Moncrieff’s eldest son and as such would have also inherited his name. When Jack goes through the army records, he finds out that the General’s name was indeed Earnest; as a result his own name was also actually Earnest. Hence the name Earnest is all tied up with Jack’s lineage and identity and is significant and

Quality and Risk Scenario Essay Example for Free

Quality and Risk Scenario Essay The HIM professional can have a direct impact on the quality or compliance of specific operations or employees within a healthcare institution. Healthcare institutions, such as hospitals, can be huge institutions made up of hundreds or even thousands of treatment or operation specific areas operation. This can include anything from the surgeon who performs coronary artery bypass to the neonatal intensive care nurse who directly cares for struggling newborns to the physical plant worker who makes sure all the lights in the building stay on and the operating room is maintained at a certain temperature. As an overall institution the thought of identifying risk and liability within the organization can be quite overwhelming and daunting. The best way to approach this is to break things down into specific issues or areas and focus on one thing at a time, with the overall goal to be improving quality and reducing risk to the institution. This paper will focus on three specific scenarios that represent an area of risk and liability for the institution. These three scenarios will include the safety of blood transfusions within a hospital, dealing with power failure risks within a hospital and using operational checklists to improve employee efficiency, consistency and reducing the human factor of making mistakes. Scenario one is to be specific to a scenario involving patient care and safety. The specific discussion here will be the use of blood transfusions within the hospital setting. This is a procedure that has been done for dozens of years even as medical science has made tremendous progress. The reality is that science just hasn’t found a synthetic way to carry oxygen through the blood stream and blood infusions still remain today the best way to do just that. While the best procedure out there for this, blood infusions don’t come without their risks and financial impacts. A study by the University Healthcare Consortium analyzed over 29,000 blood transfusions over a 7 year period from 2003-2009 (Williams, 2011). These transfusions ranged anywhere from scheduled routine outpatient surgeries to unexpected traumatic injuries brought in through the emergency room. The analysis identified many risks associated with blood transfusions, including poorly trained staff, lack of trained staff, minor hemolytic allergic reactions all the way up to severe anaphylactic reactions. The study was even able to identify that the time of day that the transfusion was performed could positively or negatively affect the patient outcome. So, while this can be a lifesaving procedure a blood transfusion should not be taken lightly. Another study published in the April, 2012 issue of the professional journal Anesthesiology was conducted by Johns Hopkins Hospital analyzing the outcomes of over 3000 patients who received blood transfusions. This study reveals that measuring the hemoglobin level in patients can be an accurate indicator of when a patient should receive a blood transfusion. This is a significant study because it could have a positive effect on both patient outcome and the financial costs involved in giving a blood transfusion. The Johns Hopkins study revealed that patients were being given blood transfusions when they really didn’t need it. A normal hemoglobin level ranges between 12-14 and the study reveals that a level as low as 7 or 8 is safe. Prior to this study the leading specialty societies, including the FOCUS research group (Functional Outcomes in Cardivascular patients Undergoing Surgury), set parameters that transfusions were definitely needed if the hemoglobin was below 7 and probably did not need a transfusion if the hemoglobin was 10 or above. But nobody ever set any parameters on what to do if the hemoglobin ranged between 7 and 10. This left the physician to decide when to start a blood transfusion. The Johns Hopkins study revealed that because of this most physicians always erred in the side of â€Å"safety† by ordering a transfusion any time the hemoglobin was at or below 10. But the Hopkins study has now determined that a hemoglobin of 7 or 8 can be considered safe. Giving blood to patients who have a hemoglobin above 7 shows no real benefit and truth is that the risk due to side effects may actually be increased. Remember that this procedure has been in place for decades and this new research was a game changer. The benefits to a hospital from the Hopkins study are tremendous. The study revealed that the costs to the hospital for one unit (300ml) of blood can cost as much as $1,100. While the donor gives the blood for free it must be analyzed for toxic diseases including Hepatitis and HIV (IMVS 2012). The blood is then separated into red blood cells, platelets and plasma, to be distributed specifically where needed. Include the storage and transportation costs and you can start to understand why blood is so expensive. Only giving blood when truly indicated has been shown to reduce the use of blood by up to 66% per institution with no change in outcomes to the patient including â€Å"length of stay, heart attack, stroke, death, and even the ability to walk† (Clark, 2012). This is where the HIM professional can come into play. The HIM can take research articles like this or even acquire their own research and then do training to educate the hospital staff. The Hopkins tudy indicated that when the HIM spoke directly with the surgeons and showed them the research there was a tendency to accept the new mindset and start delaying blood transfusions until the patient hemoglobin dropped below 7. This resulted in extra blood supply for those patients who truly need it and a significant reduced operating cost to the institution. It’s the HIM’s job to establish or change procedures that reflect changing and beneficial modalities and to get the information out to the hospital physicians and staff so they can help reduce institutional costs and ultimately benefit their own livelihood. This process can be done for hundreds or even thousands of processes currently in place within a hospital institution. Now we move on from our blood transfusion scenario to one involving the infrastructure of the hospital. The specific example to be used here is the hospital power supply. Hurricane Sandy revealed for many healthcare institutions in the north eastern United States that they were not as prepared as they thought. Some of these hospitals did have emergency generators in place, but they did no good for providing electricity when they were located in the basement of the building submerged in water from the flood. Sometimes it takes a real catastrophe for us to truly see how prepared we really are and how to improve. It’s crucial that a hospital be able to maintain electricity at all times. Almost every part of the building depends on electricity for staff to function and take care of their patients. Without electricity the lights won’t work, the furnace and air conditioners won’t work, the pumps won’t pump water through the pipes, ventilators will stop working and elevators won’t even be able to transfer sick patients between floors. These are some examples, but surely you can find many more failures if you look hard enough. For this reason, it is important that a hospital evaluate and have a plan in place to reduce the possibility of losing electricity and also have a plan in place if all safe guards fail. The concerns can truly be specific to a geographic area. For example, a hospital in the Midwest may not have to worry much about being hit by a hurricane, but it could be hit by a tornado. I spoke with hospital administrator Robyn Mazzolini at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, Illinois regarding how their hospital has addressed the issue of maintaining electricity to the facility. Robyn indicated that there were three specific issues of highest concern. They included the loss of power from the local utility company, flooding of the existing generators in the basement of the main hospital and damage from tornados. Robyn indicated that about ten years ago the hospital installed a generator in the basement of the main building that is capable of providing power to the entire ten story hospital, including all lights and HVAC. The problem was that the unit was very large and heavy and, as a result, had to be installed in the basement. A second generator was installed right next to the first to act as a backup generator should they lose power from the power company. These generators are also designed to operate on both natural gas or stored gasoline in the event the gas lines become compromised. This seemed to solve 90% of the scenarios that could come up. Then the neighboring community experienced a flood that shut down utilities for days and a few weeks in some areas. The hospital was concerned that they would be shut down in the event of a flood in their generator rooms in the basement. So, they added a third generator inside a remote area on the south perimeter of the hospital. This generator is located inside a concrete structure three floors above ground level. This is a smaller generator that will run specific areas in order for the hospital to stay functional. For example, this generator only supplies certain lights so that there is always enough visibility to operate. It also is designed to operate all electronics in the operating rooms, emergency room and critical care areas so there is no compromise to patient care. On the remaining medical floors there is one or two red colored electric outlets that operate off this third generator. In addition, this generator is not connected in any way to the basement level so that it can power the upper floors of the hospital even if the ground level is buried under 20 feet of water. The third generator is also enclosed in walls of reinforced concrete with the thought that it could withstand a tornado. It was the HIM and the HIT who were involved in the process to help determine the essential power needs of the hospital. The HIM evaluated the staff and the various facilities to determine that they could function treating most patients as long as there was one dedicated outlet within each patient room. The HIT also identified that the operating rooms, critical care areas and emergency room pretty much needed full power capabilities no matter what. The HIM and facilities managers both have a critical role in communicating the needs of the patients, staff and hospital to the engineers, administrators and building designers. And while Lutheran General Hospital was able to spend millions to prepare for a power disruption and pretty much covered every scenario, they still need to be ready to operate should all power to the facility cease. It is the HIM who can evaluate the various areas of the hospital based on resources, staffing and needs to determine the most critical issues to address first in the event of a total power failure. This takes a lot of time and energy and is probably an evolving process as conditions and resources change. But, in the end, it is the HIM professional who is able to connect all the dots to help bring the best solution for the organization. The third and final scenario presented here is related to staffing and how the HIM can help reduce risk and liability when it comes to the behavior of hospital staff. Hospital employees by their human nature are susceptible to making mistakes or forgetting to do certain things in the course of their patient care. Every health care institution, and any other business for that matter, strives to find ways to provide the best service possible to its customers. The challenge in improving service and reducing liability is finding a process that actually works. Ohio State University Medical Center found a way to improve the quality and consistency of patient care from its medical professionals. Ohio State did created a system of check lists to be used by hospital staff in their particular department and area of responsibility. So, there were many different checklists, but each employee only had one checklist that they were specifically responsible for. The University compared the outcome of over 3000 patients both before the check lists were used and then an additional 3000 plus patients after the checklists were used. The results were staggering. The study showed, for example, that the surgical death rate of patients decreased 47% when check lists were used compared to none used. Surgical infection rates were found to have decreased by 45%. These are dramatic results that clearly show a huge improvement in patient care and reduction of risk and liability. A possible cause for such improvement is that using checklists prevented medical staff from skipping a stop that could have caused a serious complication or infection. The aviation industry has proven that checklists work. When a pilot has a sudden engine failure there is plenty of room for panic and impulsive missed steps. This is why pilots are trained to immediately pull out their check lists, even if they have them memorized, and go systematically down the list to make sure that all steps are completed as indicated. This following of check lists has proven to significantly improve survivability of the aircraft during an emergency. The use of check lists seems to hold true for the health care industry, too, as the data clearly shows. The HIM plays a critical role in the development and rollout of these check lists to the various departments. The HIM must involve the hospital staff, managers and physicians in the process of developing a check list that easily and safely covers the needs of both the patient and the hospital. Once developed the HIM must develop and take the time to train the staff so that they understand the intent of the check lists as well as the individual steps and why they are to be completed. This training will ensure that the employees buy into the use of the check lists and choose to use them consistently with every patient. Theoretically, this should provide the same process and the same desired outcomes each time. Besides implementing the checklist program through training the HIM also plays an important role in developing a policy that says how the plan is to be implemented. Employees appreciate it when everything is clearly spelled out of what is expected of them. The HIM is in a position to deal with both the hospital administrator and the front line nurse who is physically caring for patients. This allows the HIM to obtain feedback and recommendations from all involved in the process and create or modify the plan as it is determined that changes need to take place. The HIM is possibly also in the best position to analyze the data to present the findings of the continued analysis to administrators to determine if the check list process is working or not. An example of a checklist that Ohio State University Medical Center used was the Pre-Op holding RN checklist that ends with transfer to the operating room RN checklist. Each nurse has specific duties to complete with their patient as they prepare them for their surgical procedure. The Pre-Op nurse can follow the check list to ensure that all required actions have indeed taken place. When transferring care to the operating room nurse the pre-op nurse passes on her check list to verify to the next nurse that everything has been completed properly. Each nurse is also required to ask the next receiving nurse if they have any questions. As you can see, this process really does maintain a high quality of continuity of care for the patients as they move throughout the various areas in the hospital during their stay. Cutting corners and skipping steps in the patient care process is significantly reduced if not completely eliminated and the HIM or HIT professional is involved all along in helping to create and improve the process within that hospital. This paper only discussed three scenarios in the process of seeking to maintain quality while reducing financial liability within a hospital environment. These processes can be used and applied towards the thousands of specific areas of responsibility that exist within a large health care facility like a hospital. The HIM professional really does play a crucial role in connecting the various departments and providers within a small or large healthcare institution. The HIM is in a position to know the pulse of the front line operations as well as the upper office administration’s intended direction going forward. The HIM professional can pull everyone together to compile data and make recommendations or changes that benefit the patient, the physicians and nurses, the facilities operators and even the top level administrators. There are few other individuals who are in such a good position to create such positive change. Quality HIM professionals will be in demand for many years to come.

Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticle (MNS) Properties

Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticle (MNS) Properties INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background Study Large amount of solid remnant from agriculture industries waste can create disposal problem to environment such as generation of odour and can attract pests that can endangered human health. Due to this problem the application of this waste is widely explored to control the disposal problem. According to Norsuraya, Fazlena and Norshasyimi (2016), primary fuel source and additive in construction industries utilise the application of solid residue. The example agricultural waste is corn cob, rice husk, sugarcane leaf and bagasse. Studies have been conducted to enhance the use of this solid residue into profitable product. One of the important element present in the waste is silica that has wide application. According to Norsuraya, Fazlena and Norshasyimi (2016), among the agriculture residue sugarcane bagasse ash (SCBA) consist the highest of the silica content with the value of 96.93%. This studies comply with the studies conducted by Rahman et al. (2015), that stated the amount of silica content in SCBA is more than 50%. Bagasse ash is the product of combustion of bagasse that are commonly used as a source energy to operate plant. Bagasse is one waste product in sugar industry that incurs additional disposal cost. Bagasse is cellular fiber remaining after extraction of the sugar-bearing juice from sugarcane. It consist of lignin (20-30 %), cellulose (40-45 %) and hemicelluloses (30-35 %) (Peng et al., 2009). The silica content varies depending on the environment, soil nature and the process involves in harvesting it. In Malaysia the application of Sugarcane Bagasse (SCB) is still not widely explored but studies already conducted to produce silica gel as adsorbent, additive for concrete, cosmetic and others because of its characteristic. SCB is more related to by-product in sugarcane mills industry. After the juice containing sucrose called as table sugar extracted from the sugarcane by pressing the sugarcane. The residue is the SCB which contains high fibrous residue. The largest sugarcane plantation in Malaysia is at the northern region of Malaysia which can produce more than 70 000 tonne of sugarcane. The sugarcane bagasse waste from the extraction process contribute to huge disposal waste problem. SCBA can be the most valuable stock for production of mesoporous silica that are useful application such as adsorption and catalyst (Rahman et al., 2015). For that purposes, the size and surface area of the mesoporous silica are importance. Mesoporous silica is a silica that has pore with diameter range of 2 50 nm depending on the process of synthesis of the mesoporous silica. The large surface area of the mesoporous silica functions as the active site that useful for the application such adsorption. Dye is a natural or synthetic materials that can add a specific colour onto the material that are applied to. Every year more than 10 000 types of dye are produced around the world and are used in different types of industries (Malakootian et al., 2015). The application of dye used widely from food industry to textile industry with the biggest consumer of dye is textile industry. This industry is known to be the one of the main contributor of industrial wastewater pollution and it is the most polluting of all the industrial sector. 10-50% of the dye will end up in the effluent (Axelsson et al., 2006). Dye are significantly toxic and mutagenic that poses hazard to aquatic life and living organism. One of example of dye is methylene blue (MB) that are an important aromatic compound with chemical formula of C16H18ClN3S. Large amount of this dye are released in the water sources and according to Malakootian et al. (2015) it is more importance removing dye from textile wastewater than tre ating other colourless organic and inorganic because only a small amount of dye can affect the water quality and colour. Various treatment method introduce to removes dye from textile wastewater such as physical, chemical and biological but it is not effective due to complex chemical structure that lead to resistant to this type of treatment other than the treatment cost. Thus, it is important to find other alternative process of removal of dye. Currently, the most known method to treat textile wastewater is by using adsorption process method because of it has more advantages compared to traditional method especially in environmental aspects and its ease of operation, cost effectiveness, biodegradability as well as greater efficiency. In order to carry out the adsorption, the main important thing is the adsorbent. According to Malakootian et al. (2015) the most typical adsorbent used for adsorption treatment for the removal of dyes from coloured water or wastewater, but due to its high production, regeneration and reactivation procedures cost research has been concentrated on alternative adsorbents with high adsorptive capacity and low cost such as mesoporous silica nanoparticle (MSN). These adsorbents have high efficiency due to their high surface area, high mechanical properties and good resistivity to thermal degradation, and they exist in several structures and amphoteric properties. 1.2 Problem Statement The wastewater from textile contain high concentration of dye. So it required for the effluent from the industry to undergo treatment. Wastewater resulting from these industries is generally characterize by high COD, pH, dissolved solid temperature and dye and surfactant content. Dye also can be toxic to environment because of its chemical properties. In order to treat effluent from textile industry that contain high percentage of dye, various method introduced and used. Examples of the methods are physical, chemical, biological, membrane separation, radiation, electrochemical, advanced oxidation, photolysis, electrochemical, sonolysis processes, etc. However, these methods are relatively ineffective because most dyes as azo reactive dyes are highly water soluble, have complex structures, and are stable to light, chemical and biological degradation, etc. Furthermore, these methods have certain disadvantages such as high capital and operational costs, secondary sludge disposal problems and the release of large volumes of toxic by-products (Malakootian et al., 2015). Among all these methods, adsorption is the best method because of its advantages and the best adsorbents is by using nanotechnology method such as Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticle. It is because it has high adsorptive capacity and low cost. 1.3 Objectives of Study The objectives of the study can be outlined as follows: To prepare Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticle (MSN) from bagasse ash To characterize the physicochemical properties of MSN. To study the potential of MSN as an environmental adsorbent in wastewater treatment 1.4 Research Scope The research is to investigate the effluent of low cost adsorbent materials which is Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticle (MSN) from bagasse ash as the adsorbent to remove the Methylene Blue. The MSN are prepared from Sol-Gel Method and then Hydrothermal Synthesis by using formaldehyde, water and without formaldehyde and water. The MSN will be characterize and will be subjected to: Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) to identify the major functional chemical groups present in the silica Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) to determine the average particle size and the morphology of the materials. Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) to evaluate the specific surface area. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) to evaluate the image of the MSN The performance of MSN adsorbent in removing methylene blue from aqueous solution will be carried out in various parameter which are: Effect of pH the aqueous methylene blue in pH 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 Effect of MSN dosage (0.1 g, 0.2 g, 0.3 g, 0.4 g and 0.5 g) Effect of initial concentration of aqueous methylene blue (10 ppm, 20 ppm, 30 ppm, 40 ppm and 50 ppm) Effect of temperature of the aqueous methylene blue (30 Â °C, 50 Â °C and 70 Â °C) The treated aqueous methylene blue dye will be characterized and subjected to UV-Visible Spectrometer (UV-Vis) to evaluate the percentage of methylene blue dye remove from the aqueous solution from adsorbent by MSN. LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction One of the major problem in environment is water contamination. The bad effect of water contamination will affect everything in this world such as human, animals and plants. It is because water is the main elements to support all living things and earth. Nearly all of water contamination is caused by human activities. Apart from human activities, water contamination is also caused by natural waste. From long time ago, the water contamination is studied by researcher. There are many technique and method to treat and remove contaminants in the waste water. It is for preserving both human and the environment in this world. Among all contaminant in water, dye is one of the contaminant that exist in the water. The waster that contain dye is mainly from industry that related to textile industry, plastic and paper. It contain up to 10% of used dye. It is proven that dye is dangerous to all living things due to its harmful behaviour of dye molecules and their metabolites is significant for the development of strategies to diminish their desperate damaging impacts (Hebbar, Isloor, Zulhairun, Sohaimi Abdullah, Ismail, 2017). In addition to having harmful adverse effect, the presence of colour in water is visually unpleasant and can destroy the entire ecosystem. One of the most effective method to overcome the problem of effluent water containing dye is by using adsorption technique. It has been proven to be very effective by many researchers. This is because adsorption method offers more advantages compared to other method especially in environmental aspects and its ease of operation, cost effectiveness, biodegradability as well as greater efficiency. 2.2 Dyes Dyes are produced all over the world with approximately 10 000 different type of dyes produced per year and it has been used extensively in so many industries. Most common industry that utilizing dye is textile industry and estimated to utilize around 7 ÃÆ'- 105 1 ÃÆ'- 106 tons (Malakootian et al., 2015). Dyes are used to dye a textile products, fur products, and others. Dye can be originated mainly from vegetables and also animal sources. There also the existence of synthetic dye that replacing the natural sources. The main function of dye are to add colour to a certain materials such as textile. Dye are also generally utilized as part of industry such as rubber, paper, cosmetic etc. Among these different industry, textile industry positions first in utilization of dyes for colouring of fiber. The dye are constantly left as major waste in these industries. Because of their compound structure, dyes are impervious to fading on presentation of light, water and numerous chemicals and this manner are hard to be decolorized once discharged into the nature or aquatic environment. Basically, dyes are ionising and aromatic compound. Inside the dyes, there are chromophores present in them. Based on their structures of the dyes, it has aryl rings that has delocalised electron systems. These structures are said to be responsible for the adsorption of electromagnetic radiation that has varying wavelengths, based upon the energy of the electron clouds. Dye can influence aquatics life, human wellbeing and environmental framework when dye wastewaters are greatly released wastewater into water sources due to complex compound in the dye. It has big complicated molecular structure and harmful properties. It in the end rolls out improvements of ecological system and other serious pollution issues. Dye wastewaters can contain harmful organic residue with the significant mixes of phenol derivatives, aniline derivatives, organic acid and benzene derivatives (Likhar Shivramwar, 2013) 2.2.1 Classification of Dye Dyes can be characterized into a few classes as per their utilization, for example, reactive, disperse, direct, vat, sulphur, cationic, acid and solvent dyes. The classification of dyes according their application is as shown in table 2.1. Table 2.1: General dyes classification and its application (Hunger, 2003) Class Principal Substrate Application Chemical Types Acid Dyes Nylon, Wool, Silk, Paper, Inks and Leather Usually from neutral to acidic dyebaths Azo (including premetallised), antraquinone, triphenylmethane, azine, xanthene, nitro and nitroso Cationic (Basic Dyes) Paper, Polyacrylonitrile, Modified Nylon, Polyester and Inks Applied Applied from acidic dyebaths cyanine, hemicyanine, diazahemicyanine, diphenylmethane, triarylmethane, azo, azine, xanthene, acridine, oxanine and anthraquinone cotton, Direct Dyes Cotton, Rayon, Paper, Leather and Nylon Applied from neutral or slightly alkaline baths containing additional electrolyte Azo, phthalocyanine, stilbene and oxanine Dispersed Dyes Polyester, Polyamide, Acetate, Acrylic and Plastics Fine aqueous dispersions often applied by high temperature/ pressure or lower temperature carrier methods; dye may be padded on cloth and baked on or thermofixed Azo, anthraquinone, styryl, nitro and benzodifuranone Reactive Dyes Cotton, Wool, Silk and Nylon Reactive site on dye reacts with functional group on fiber to bind dye covalently under influence of heat and pH (alkaline) Solvent Azo, anthraquinone, phthalocyanine, formazan, oxanine Solvent Dyes Plastics, Gasoline, Varnishes Lacquers, Stains, Inks, Fats, Oils and Waxes Dissolution in the substrate Azo, triphenylmethane, anthraquinone and phthalocyanine cotton Sulphur Dyes Cotton and Rayon Aromatic substrate vatted with sodium sulphide and reoxidised to insoluble sulphur- containing products on fiber Indeterminate structure Vat Dyes Cotton, Rayon and Wool Water-insoluble dyes Solubilised by reducing with Sodium hydrogensulphide, then exhausted on fiber and Reoxidised Anthraquinone (including polycyclic quinines) and indigoids Synthetic dye are being used extensively used in different dyeing industry with textile is leading industry that utilize it with 56% of world dye production annually. Its effluent contain critical level of organic contaminants, which are toxic as it will create odour, bad taste, unsightly colour, foaming, etc. These substances are often resistant to degradation by biological methods and are not removed effectively by conventional physico-chemical treatment methods. Removal of these dyes from effluents in an economic fashion remains a major problem for textile industries. 2.2.2 Methylene Blue Methylene Blue (MB) or also known as Methylthioninium Chloride was first synthesized at 1876 by a German Chemist, Heinrich Caro. Paul Guttman and Paul Ehrlich used MB in the treatment of Malaria dieses in 1891. During that time also, the function of MB as a dye were discovered and were used in First World War as a biological weapon and partially staining the soldiers. MB has many uses in different field, For instance, chemists use it to detect oxidizing agents and biologists use it to stain tissue samples and detect nucleic acids. In medicine, it is used as a treatment for various illnesses and disorders, including methemoglobinemia, schizophrenia, kidney stones, and herpes infections. In aquaculture, it is used to prevent freshwater fish eggs from being infected by bacteria and fungi (Methylene blue New World Encyclopedia, 2014) In term of dye application only, MB a basic blue dye used for dyeing silk, leather, plastics, paper, and cotton mordant with tannin as well as for the production of ink and copying paper in the office supplies industry. The release of this dye to earth is troubling for both toxicological and aesthetical reasons as dye hinder light infiltration, harm the nature of the accepting streams and are toxic to food chain organisms. The dye has a synthetic origin and complex aromatic molecular structures, it is an inactive and hard to biodegrade when released into waste streams. This perspective has dependably been neglected in their discharge. The removal of synthetic dye is of incredible worry since a few dyes and their degradation products might be cancer-causing agents and poisonous and, thus, their treatment cannot rely on upon biodegradation alone. Table 2.2: Properties of Methylene Blue (MB) METHYLENE BLUE IUPAC name 7-(dimethylamino)phenothiazin-3-ylidene]-dimethylazanium;chloride Properties Molecular formula C16H18ClN3S Molar mass 319.86 g/mol Density 43 600 mg/L at 25 Â °C Melting point 100 ÂÂ °C Boiling Point Decomposes Odour Odourless Solubility in water Soluble in ethanol, chloroform; slightly soluble in pyridine; insoluble in ethyl ether Adapted from https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/methylene_blue#section=WIPO-IPC 2.2.3 Technologies for Dye Removal Dye are used widely in all sector to colour their product. In order to colour the product large amount of dye is used. Apart to colour their product the dye also been used as paper, and plastic. This will result in large amount of effluent containing dye as contaminant into the nature. According to study conducted by Axelsson et al. (2006), 10 50 % of the dye used in industry will go to effluent because of the dye molecule might react with hydroxyl ions in the solution giving rise to even more water-soluble hydrolysed molecules. Because of the good solubility of dye in water it will endangered the nature. It is also reported by Sapawe et al. (2012) that 15 % of the total world production of dyes is released in textile industry. This proves that from out of 7ÃÆ'-105 tons of effluent produce large number of dye is discharges as wastewater. Without further treatment to the effluent containing dye contaminant, it can cause extreme problems if not treated legitimately because of dyes are harmful, toxic, mutagenic, carcinogenic to human life as well to another living organism (Sapawe et al., 2012). To treat the dye so many method had been introduced and the best method reported by Malakootian et al. (2015), is by using adsorption method and supported by Marrakchi, Ahmed, Khanday, Asif, Hameed (2017) due to some advantages. From all types of treatment, it can be classified into three categories which are divided for the technologies which are physical, chemical and biological. However, it is hard to treat the dye because of their synthetic origin and mainly complex aromatic structure. All of these technologies possess pros and cons. 2.2.3.1 Physical and Chemical Treatment There are numerous method falls under physical and chemical treatment such as anion exchange resins, cogulations, flotation, electroflotation, electrochemical destruction, irradiation, Ozonation,adsorption, and the use of activated carbon. Physical and chemical treatment is far more effective than biological treatment in decolourizing dye but it will use more energy, chemicals, and biological process hence increasing the capital cost for the treatment (Miao, 1992). Apart from that, it will lead to secondary sludge disposal problems and the release of large volumes of toxic by-products (Malakootian et al., 2015). 2.2.3.2 Biological Treatment Biological have three stages or phases. It is because before the effluent arriving to the biological phase, it will go through some physical and chemical treatment. For comparison to the physical and chemical method, physical and chemical treatment will treated physically or chemically without going through another phases. It is reported by Malakootian et al. (2015) that biological treatment is in effective in decolorizing water because most dyes as azo reactive dyes are highly water soluble, have complex structures, and are stable to light, chemical and biological degradation. The example of biological treatment are fungal biodegradation, bacteria biodegradation, yeast biodegradation, and microbial biosorption, Biological treatment has lower capital cost compared to physical treatment and chemical treatment (Miao, 1992). 2.3 Decolorizing of Dyes by Adsorption Process Absorption has been proved as the best method for treatment wastewater containing dye. It offers noteworthy advantages over customary treatment techniques particularly from the environmental perspective and its simplicity of operation and also more prominent efficiency. Some adsorbents, which are utilized for the expulsion of dye from aqueous solutions with differing achievement include activated carbon, magnesium oxide grafted chitosan, modified bentonite, TiO2 powder, TiO2 nanotube and others. Among all these materials, activated carbon is a standout amongst the most much of the time adsorbents utilized for the removal of dye from coloured waters and wastewaters, yet because of its high generation, recovery and reactivation procedure cost, research has been concentrated on alternative adsorbents with high adsorptive capacity and low cost. Therefore, recently there has been a lot of attention toward using nanotechnology methods. Nowadays using nanomethods, especially by using Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticle, The large surface area allows for binding at a great number of active sites distributed within the framework of the porous materials. The large pores can overcome the pore-diffusion limitation and provide high-speed pathways for gas molecules (Rahman et al., 2015). Apart from that, it is reported that, Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticle which is synthesized from natural sources claimed to safe in handling, cheap and can be generated from cheap resources (Norsuraya et al., 2016) which is bagasse ash in this case. Due to this advantages, the usage and studies regarding Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticle increase exponentially as adsorbent. METHODOLOGY 3.1 Introduction The aim of this study is to synthesis Mesoporous silica from bagasse ash by using green route and to study the performance of the Mesoporous silica in wastewater treatment by utilizing aqueous methylene blue as the wastewater. The mesoporous silica is prepared by carrying out combustion of bagasse to produce bagasse ash and then using Sol-Gel method to make gel from the bagasse ash. The product of Sol-Gel method will undergo hydrothermal synthesis by using formaldehyde, water and without formaldehyde and water to synthesis Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticle (MSN). The MSN produced will be characterize by using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The performance study for wastewater treatment to treat aqueous methylene blue by using MSN will be test under four parameter which is the effect of pH, effect of MSN dosage, effect of initial concentration of the dye, and effect of temperature. The research methodology is summarized in the research flow chart in Figure 3.1 below. 3.2 Material and Methods In this study there are six stages of preparations and experiment. Which are the preparation of bagasse ash, preparation of silica gel from bagasse ash, production of Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticle (MSN), characterization of the MSN, Performance study of MSN and characterization of treated wastewater. 3.2.1 Preparation of Bagasse ash The material, apparatus and glassware needed for this stage as shown in table 3.1 Table 3.1: List of Materials, Glassware and Apparatus Materials Apparatus Sugarcane Bagasse Oven Furnace Sugarcane Bagasse can be collected from sugarcane juice hawker at Tampin, Negeri Sembilan. First step need to be taken is to cut the bagasse in small pieces and boil the bagasse to remove the remaining sugar in the bagasse, after that the bagasse need to be wash and rinse by using distilled water to remove impurities. After that, the bagasse will be subjected to oven drying process at 70Â °C 80 Â °C for 24 hours. To obtain ash from the bagasse, combustion are to be carried out in furnace at 800 Â °C for 3 hours at heating rate of 10 Â °C/min. The ash need to be collected and labelled as Sugarcane Bagasse Ash (SBA). 3.2.2 Preparation of Silica Gel from Bagasse Ash (Sol-Gel Method) The material, apparatus and glassware needed for this stage as shown in table 3.2 Table 3.2: List of Materials, Glassware and Apparatus for Sol-Gel Method Materials Apparatus SBA Erlenmeyer Flask 1M Lye Solution (NaOH) (1 litre) Stirrer Distilled Water Beaker 1M Sulphuric Acid (H2SO4) Pipette (25 ml capacity) pH meter Boil 30g of Bagasse Ash and 1 L of 1M Lye Solution (NaOH) in Erlenmeyer flask for 1 hour with a constant stirring to dissolves the silica and produce a sodium silicate solution. Filter the solution through whatman No. 41 ashless filter paper and wash the residue with boiled distilled water. Let the filtrate to cool to room temperature. Reduce the pH of the solution to pH 7 by using 1M Sulphuric Acid (H2SO4) by using titration method and constant stirring. When gel form from the solution from the solution, age it for approximately 18 hours. After the ageing, gently broke the gel and centrifuge at 2500 rpm for 10 minutes. Discard the supernatant and transfer the gel into a beaker and dry for 11-13 hours at 80Â °C to produce xerogels. Wash with deionized water to remove minerals and impurities from the silica 3.2.3 Production of Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticle (Hydrothermal Synthesis) The material, apparatus and glassware needed for this stage as shown in table 3.3 Table 3.3: List of Materials, Glassware and Apparatus for Hydrothermal Synthesis Materials Apparatus Cetyltrimethylammonium Bromide (CTAB) Conical Flask Ammonium Hydroxide (NH4OH) Stirrer Distilled Water Beaker Microwave Mix 0.64 g of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and 30 ml formaldehyde solution (37 wt %) in 100 ml closed conical flask and stir at 27Â °C for 5 minutes. Quickly add 2.8 ml NH4OH and stir for 30 minutes. Add 2.8 ml of silica prepared in Sol-Gel method and stir vigorously for 24 hours. Transfer the mixture to 100 ml beaker and place it in microwave at 800 Watt for 30 minutes. Filter the product and wash with deionize water and dried it overnight at 60Â °C. Calcinate the dried product in air at 540Â °C for 3 hours to remove surfactants in order to obtain MSNs. Repeat all step by replacing formaldehyde with water and without formaldehyde. The product form is Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticle (MSN). 3.2.4 Characteriza

We Must Invest in Technology Education :: Argumentative Persuasive Topics

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Many school districts today are faced with the ever-growing challenge of inadequate funding for technology education; one school found an inventive way to meet this challenge. In Spokane, Washington, the Audubon Elementary Student Technology Cabinet was formed as an innovative way to assist the school with the essential technology support on a restricted budget. At the onset, students in the cabinet received training on how to clean the computers, load new programs and trouble shoot computer glitches. Moreover, students perform as mentors for other students assisting with computer-based homework and research projects. Club members spend approximately two hours a week going from class to class exposing children to the wonderful world of technology and it's many applications: surfing the web, and assistance when writing a report and fun and games. Like the children described above, students anxiously desire the experience of working with computers and technology; since, they not only see computer knowledge as fun but as a necessary part of their education. According to Kyle Martin, a sixth grader at Audubon Elementary, "I use my computer and the Internet every night to finish my homework. It's a lot easier than going to the library and searching for the right book." In the past, information was treated as a scarce resource, and educators harnessed the task of imparting this information for the benefit of the learners. This is not true in the world today; as a matter of fact, students encounter a vast reservoir of information at their fingertips: the Internet, CD ROM Encyclopedias and computerized maps. Consequently, educators need to impart to all learners three new foundational skills: how to find information, how to determine if what is found is relevant to the task at hand, and how to determine if the relevant i nformation is accurate.    While the importance of securing an adequate education for American's children has been long understood, this undertaking has, over the last fifteen years taken on a new sense of urgency. On the one hand, increasing international economic competitions and corporate restructuring brought attention to the necessity of preparing the next generation of Americans in the challenging world of high-tech and finance. Accordingly, the quality of education in the United States could determine whether our children achieve highly compensated jobs, compete for high-skilled jobs, or contend with workers from developing countries; hence, adequate technology training helps ensure our children's success as adults.

Southwest Marketing Strategy Essay -- essays research papers

Southwest Airlines is the industry leader in low cost airfare. They began its operation in 1971 with three Texas based routes and began interstate routes in 1978. When Southwest entered the market in 1971 they employed a market penetration pricing approach. They wanted to provide the best service for the lowest possible price. They saw that if they cut out certain unnecessary benefits they could lower their ticket price to a level far below that of the competition. They do not have in flight movies, meals, or first class sections. This strategy has been very cost effective and Southwest passes the savings on to the customer. They chose to focus on pleasure travelers and low-income travelers opposed to business travelers. This allowed them to take advantage of a market, which was often ignored by other airlines. Southwest is not concerned with the prices of other airlines. They do not engage in pricing to meet competition, or pricing below competition. CEO Herb Kelleher stated, â€Å"We’re not competing with other airlines. We’re competing with ground transportation.† This philosophy has led them to be very successful because they are priced below the competition, but don’t raise their prices when the competition does. Cost controlling is very important in the airline industry. Southwest is very good at controlling their costs. They offer a no frills service for people who want to get to their destination for as little as possible, and are not concerned about the bells and whistles like in-flight movies. Southwest also realized that when their planes are on the ground, they aren’t making money. They decided to keep their planes in the air as much as possible and have worked hard to keep a low turnaround time. They manage to unload passengers and load new passengers for the next flight within twenty minutes, which is shorter than the industry average. Southwest also uses only one kind of plane, the Boeing 737, in order to reduce costs of parts and training employees to use different types of planes. All of these methods have lowered the cost of operations for Southwest and allowed them to have a profit of $4.7 billion, which is twice that of United Airlines. And because they are so efficient they can pass the savings on to customers. There is no first class at Southwest and therefore all the customers are treated the same. They all receive the same level of atte... ...ly buy Southwest’s inexpensive tickets. College students also aren’t concerned about in-flight movies, meals, or other perks. Southwest would crush the competition in that route and make a large profit. Even families going on vacation would fly Southwest Airlines to Mexico. It is cheaper than other major airlines and it is a respected airline, unlike some no name airlines that run flights to Mexico. Advertising would be best done on television because America has become lazy and watches too much TV. They should advertise their great customer service by having customer testimonials and pictures of smiling customers and employees. They should also advertise during family oriented shows, because they are a form of inexpensive travel that a family could take advantage of. In conclusion, I feel that Southwest has taken advantage of its inexpensive flights and family oriented atmosphere to prevail despite the September 11th tragedy. Southwest has been a profitable business for 26 consecutive years and has twice the profits of United Airlines. They have been doing a great job providing customer service and will continue to be successful as long as they continue with their current plan.

Managing COnflicts :: essays research papers

Scenario: Agency Issues in Negotiations Al and Bob entered the third meeting with some confidence. As the representatives for Symbiot Services (SS), they had hammered out some detailed language with the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) that would meet all of the prior objections raised during negotiations by the agency, and would still assure SS a reasonable profit for the services that SS would provide. Al had been the primary negotiator for SS. Bob was now entering the negotiations to provide the final legal fine points to the agreement in principle, and to thereafter give the legal department ¡Ã‚ ¦s blessing to the agreement. On the other side of the table, Rhonda and Sarah unpacked their notes meticulously. Rhonda, DNR ¡Ã‚ ¦s primary negotiator, had worked with Al to identify all the issues raised by the respective organizations and craft an agreement that weaved together all the parts into an effective agreement. Sarah had joined Rhonda for this meeting to sign off for the States Attorney Office, putting the legal seal of approval on what had been written. While Sarah and Bob unloaded their papers and books, Al and Rhonda chatted about how difficult it had been to identify all the issues raised at their respective home offices, then figure out how things could be addressed in a way agreeable to both sides, and then reduce the entire wall of post-it notes, taped copies of e-mails, and highlighted letters to a readable document. Because they are the talking links between their organizations, Al and Rhonda had to almost personally bridge the gaps between the organizations, and often it seemed they were a team of their own, arguing with the two  ¡Ã‚ §home teams. ¡Ã‚ ¨ The last sticking point had been the issue of how much SS would discount its regular charges for services. DNR was a very big customer and expected to get the bulk discount for services. The DNR had wanted a 50% reduction from the regular rate; SS had offered 10%, and they had finally settled on a 25% rate reduction for this contract, in the interest of providing a break to taxpayers. Both Al and Rhonda were careful to obtain e-mailed or hard copy approval of the 25% rate reduction from their bosses, because neither had the authority to set unique rates unilaterally. Sarah, representing DNR, brought the meeting to focus by reciting the issues that had been resolved, and asked SS if it had any final issues to resolve before declaring the final document completed.

Concept of Management Audit

The Concept of Management Audit The management audit is more recent concept. It focuses on results, evaluating the effectiveness and suitability of controls by challenging underlying rules, procedures and methods. Management audits, which are generally performed internally, are compliance audits plus cause-and-effect analysis. Management audit requires some additional work. It is a systematic technique of evaluating the operation and effectiveness of the management of a firm.This audit is conducted by an independent auditor or auditing firm, who are experts in auditing. This is done yearly or periodically. The audit team collects as many facts and information from office records and personal interviews with the personnel of the firm. The team also collects data through questionnaires distributed among the personnel and customers and/or clients of the firm. The team shall submit recommendations to the management for future actions.Management may use these recommendations for controlli ng the performance and accomplishments of the firm. According to Ferlyn L. Suvillaga â€Å"it is a systematic assessment of methods and policies of an organization’s management in the administration and the use of resources and other more. † From the response of Loria Lyn M. Fernandez â€Å"management audit is audit itself but instead of in accounts, it deals with the management. As explained by Rancy Mendoza â€Å"it is the process of determining the individual or group performance in an organization or business. † Based on the statement of Ivey Anne Muncada â€Å"it is a systematic assessment of company’s organizational policies and administration. † After reading a very reliable references, the researcher finally realized that management audit is very important, whether to organization, company or firm. It also requires some additional work because without work we cannot perform such management audit.

Does Homework Increase Student Achievement? Essay

Introduction Homework is a very complex topic and a source of great discussion. Support for homework has ebbed and flowed over the last century. Some have argued that the burden of homework causes significant family stress–including parent-child conflict, reduced family leisure time, and overly tired children. (Kralovec & Buell, 2000). Others have argued that homework is a necessary part of the American educational experience. After the Russians launched Sputnik in 1957, Americans were worried about keeping up educationally with other nations and began to demand more homework for the children (Gill & Schlossman, 2000). Due to these changing views on homework, research is more important than ever to determine (if possible) the effects of homework on student achievement. Definitions Homework can be defined as any task assigned by schoolteachers intended for students to carry out during non-school hours (Cooper, 1989). The scope of the word homework can include many different types of things. Variations in  homework can be classified according to its (a) amount, (b) skill area, (c) purpose, (d) degree of choice for the student, (e) completion deadline, (f) degree of individualization, and (g) social context. Variations in the amount of homework can appear as differences in both the frequency and length of individual assignments. Assignments can range over all the skill areas taught in school. (p. 1, Cooper, Robinson, and Patall, 2006). Primary Purposes/Benefits of Homework Assignments Homework can be assigned to fulfill many purposes. Those purposes are either instructional or non-instructional. (Epstein, 1988; Epstein and Van Voohis, 2001). Practicing or reviewing material from class is the most common instructional purpose. Other purposes include the introduction of new material and the application of learned skills to new situations. Examples of non-instructional purposes are to fulfill district homework policies, open and grown parent-teacher lines of communication, as well as improved parent-child communication regarding school. (Cooper et al., 2006) Students, teachers and parents experience these benefits of the homework assignments. Additional Benefits of Homework While the primary reason for assigning homework is to aid and reinforce instruction, there is growing evidence that the practice of homework can have additional benefits including managing distraction, self-efficacy, and perceived responsibility for learning (Bembenutty, 2009). While these self-regulation tasks, such as time management, setting goals, effort and persistence in completing difficult tasks, and self-monitoring one’s performance, are important to academic success, they are also vitally important life skills, especially for successful professional writers, athletes, artists, and scientists. (Ramdass and Zimmerman, 2011). Other benefits include long-term academic benefits such as better study skills, as well as nonacademic benefits such as greater self -direction and more independent problem-solving. In addition, parents tend to have a great appreciation of and involvement in schooling (Protheroe, 2009). Relationship between Homework and Achievement There are varied findings in the research for the relationship between  homework and achievement. Some research finds a positive relationship between homework and achievement. Zhu and Leung (2012) studied this relationship by introducing quality of homework as a factor. They focused on three aspects: frequency and amount of homework; types of homework; and usage modes of homework. Overall, Zhu & Leung found that the three aspects of homework studied did have a positive influence on assessment results. Tanis and Sullivan-Bustein (1998) studied homework completion and its effect on weekly quiz performance. This research did show improved test performance as homework completion increased. This study was somewhat flawed, however, because the participants were not chosen randomly. The students were chosen due to their history of achievement (or lack thereof) and homework issues. Nonetheless, this research did positively affect the students studied. Omlin-Ruback (1998) conducted a study focusing on increasing homework completion of middle school students through the use of interventions. This study found that the students who were participating in the homework interventions on a daily basis had better grades than those who did not. Thus, students who were completing more homework had improved achievement. While these three studies did find a positive relationship, other research finds no relationship. Trautwein, Schnyder, Niggli, Neumann, and Ludkte (2009) reviewed a great deal of prior research on the relationship between homework and achievement and decided that a more complex research design was required to study this relationship. The results of their study depended on the variables under focus. The homework-achievement association was positive, negative or not statistically significant depending on which variables were being studied. Opponents point out that homework can also have negative effects on achievement and school in general. It can lead to boredom with schoolwork, since all activities remain interesting only for finite periods of time. Homework can deny children access to leisure activities that also teach important life skills. Parents can get too involved in homework. They can  pressure children and can confuse them by using instructional techniques that are different from those used by the teacher (p.1, Cooper, 2008). Factors other than Homework that Affect Achievement The relationship between homework and student achievement is complex. One significant factor other than homework affecting achievement includes home life. Some students do not have the tools or support at home to complete homework. (Protheroe, 2009). In addition, test anxiety and stress levels can negatively affect student achievement even if homework completion is complete and thorough. (Talib and Sansgiry, 2011). Thus, studying a single relationship between homework and student achievement cannot explain the effects, or lack thereof, of homework. Conclusions There are varied finding in the research concerning the relationship between homework and student achievement. While there is a great deal of research on the topic of the value of homework in student achievement, it turns out that this relationship is very complex. There are many factors involved, many of which are out of the control of the school or teacher. In addition, there are gaps in the research regarding the different types of homework and the quality of homework. This complex relationship needs to be further defined and refined. Further research needs to be done using new statistical techniques that can successfully handle the number of variables in this relationship. References Bembenutty, H. (2009). Feeling-of-knowing judgment and self-regulation of learning. Education, 129(4), 589-598. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/61800994?accountid=12924 Bempechat, J., Li, J., Neier, S. M., Gillis, C. A., & Holloway, S. D. (2011). The homework experience: Perceptions of low-income youth. Journal of Advanced Academics, 22(2), 250-278. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/864940664?accountid=12924 Cooper, H. (2008). A brief history of homework in the united states. research brief. ().National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. 1906 Association Drive, Reston, VA 20191-1502. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/61858829?accountid=12924 Cooper, H., Robinson, J. C., & Patall, E. A. (2006). Does homework improve academic achievement A synthesis of research, 1987-2003. Review of Educational Research, 76(1), 1-62. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/62008296?accountid=12924 Cooper, H. (1989). Synthesis of research on homework. Educational Leadership, 47(3), 85-91. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/63060036?accountid=12924 Dettmers, S., Trautwein, U., Ludtke, O., Kunter, M., & Baumert, J. (2010). Homework works if homework quality is high: Using multilevel modeling to predict the development of achievement in mathematics. Journal of Educational Psychology, 102(2), 467-482. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/742870744?accountid=12924 Epstein, J. L. (1983). Homework practices, achievements, and behaviors of elementary school students. (). Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/63342872?accountid=12924 Epstein , J. L. (2001). School, family, and community partnerships: Preparing educators and improving schools Westview Press, 5500 Central Avenue, Boulder, CO 80301 ($35). Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/62348785?accountid=12924 Gill, B., & Schlossman, S. (2000). The lost cause of homework reform. American Journal of Education, 109(1), 27-62. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/62249711?accountid=12924 Hong, E., Wan, M., & Peng, Y. (2011). Discrepancies between students’ and teachers’ perceptions of homework. Journal of Advanced Academics, 22(2), 280-308. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/864939429?accountid=12924 Kralovec, E., & Buell, J. (2000). The end of homework: How homework disrupts families, overburdens children, and limits learning Beacon Press, 25 Beacon Street, Boston, MA 02108-2892; Tel: 617-742-2110; Fax: 617-742-2290; Web site: http://www.beacon.org ($18). Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/62323216?a ccountid=12924 Protheroe, N. (2009). Good homework policy. Principal, 89(1), 42-45. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/61819932?accountid=12924 Omlin-Ruback, H.A study of mathematics homework. , 98. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1011399791?accountid=12924. (1011399791; ED531060). Ramdass, D., & Zimmerman, B. J. (2011). Developing self-regulation skills: The important role of homework. Journal of Advanced Academics, 22(2), 194-218. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/864939542?accountid=12924 Talib, N., & Sansgiry, S. S. (2011). Factors affecting academic performance of university students in Pakistan. Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research in Business, 3(3), 589-600. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/926273717?accountid=12924 Tanis, B., & Sullivan-Bustein, K. (1998). Teacher-selected strategies for improving homework completion. Remedial and Special Education, 19(5), 263. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/236286267?accountid=12924 Trautwein, U., & Ludtke, O. (2009). Predicting homework motivation and homework effort in six school subjects: The role of person and family characteristics, classroom factors, and school track. Learning and Instruction, 19(3), 243-258. Retrieved http://search.proquest.com/docview/61902599?accountid=12924 Trautwein, U., Schnyder, I., Niggli, A., Neumann, M., & Ludtke, O. (2009). Chameleon effects in homework research: The homework-achievement association depends on the measures used and the level of analysis chosen. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 34(1), 77-88. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/61988315?accountid=12924 Zhu, Y., & Leung, F. K. S. (2012). Homework and mathematics achievement in Hong Kong: Evidence from the TIMSS 2003. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 10(4), 907-925. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1037906879?accountid=12924