Collective Bargaining at Magic Carpet Airlines Case Study Essay

Collective Bargaining at Magic Carpet Airlines Case Study - Essay Example However, this may have been counterproductive, because the airline could have then argued that there is no connection because of the different industries. The main additional source that it seems the union missed, was to look at national airlines as a comparison, instead of just looking at other feeder airlines. The union had several primary objectives which they wanted the company to face and on which they thought they could bargain productively. First of all, there was the issue of raising wages. The flight attendants wanted a higher hourly rate. Also, there was the objective of increasing job security, particularly to protect flight attendants with a lot of seniority from being fired or laid off by the airline. In addition to job security, the union also wanted expanded vacation and leave time, as well as better working conditions. Another objective of the union was to change the duty rig system. In the duty rig system, a flight attendant may spend a 15 hour day, commuting to an airport, waiting for the flight, and running checks, but only get paid 6 hours, because in the duty rig system, they are only paid for time that the airplane is in the air. This seemed unfair to union representatives. The union’s strategies can be separated into three categories—inform, involve, and convince. In the inform stage, the strategy was to keep union members as well informed as possible as to what was going on with the collective bargaining negotiations. In the involve strategy, the union aimed to optimize union membership participation by encouraging activities such as picketing and mini-strikes. Finally, the third strategy concentrated on convincing the airline of their grievances, and not backing down from their objectives. These strategies were more than reasonable—the only real power a union has is to withhold work. Magic Carpet’s goals were to preserve the status quo, and to save money. They did not want to give in to union

Nursing and midwifery council Essay Example for Free

Nursing and midwifery council Essay Malnutrition can be defined as a serious condition that occurs when a person does not include the right amount of nutrients in their diet such as water, protein, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals in their diet (NICE, 2012). This can lead to serious adverse circumstances where one can become malnourished. Kirch (2008) also stresses that malnutrition can also arise as a result of disease. The rational for the chosen topic ‘malnutrition in elderly patients, was based on being one of the largest contributors to elderly mortality in health care. In support Sinclain (2011) states that up to 15% of elderly in the community, 62% of hospitalised patients and 85% of nursing home residents suffer from malnutrition which is a strong independent predictor of mortality in elderly. Evidence based practice in nursing is finding solid research and applying them in nursing practices, in order to promote quality of care given to patient’s. Furthermore Baker (2013) states that it is a process which involves the use of evaluation, research process, problem solving, assessment of care, decision making and requires the patients involvement. Evidence based practice is important in clinical settings having the potential to improve the of care patient, implemented to improve recovery. The nursing and midwifery council (NMC 2008) recommended that all nurses must have the ability to critique and use evidence based practice. Developing a framework for critiquing health research (Caldwell et al, 2005) will be used as an appraisal method to critique the 3 empirical research articles. This was chosen by the writer because the authors made it clear, straightforward, easy and precise to use in critiquing academic research papers, both qualitative and quantitative using tables, numbers, keywords subheadings, guidelines and relevant websites. It was also discussed that this assists the ‘novice’ nursing student and health-related research with learning about the two approaches to research by giving consideration to aspects of the research process that are common to both methodologies approach and different stages of crit iquing them. Boud et al (1985) articulate reflection as a act in which an individual examines their experiences, beliefs, values behaviour and knowledge that leads to a new understanding and appreciation of a situation which prompted the reflective process. Yun, (2008) emphasise reflection is an active and intentional process that uses thinking in order to learn from experience. We reflect in order to learn from current or future experiences  aiding us in improving academic skills in theory and in practical, the ethics of reflection contain information such as asking questions or reflecting on what actually happened, looking at the skills that were used to deal with the situation, examine the negative and positives looking into what feelings arose from the experiences, what could have be done and what can be done better in the future. As nurses we need to reflect on our own practice to enhance the care given to patients. Rolfe et al model (2001) Cycle has been chosen to support writer reflection and this was chosen because it is a simple model which raises the following questions what, so what and now what in order to reflect effectively and improve the quality of care given to patients stimulating both personal and professional growth. In nursing practice we need to plan and leave time in order to reflect on the care delivered to patients. Following this we need to reveal the service given has confidentiality, privacy and dignity and this is being maintained, check if the patient treated is being fairly and with respect, if the nurses communicate with the patients in ways they understand. All these collective questions need to be in place when caring for patients in order to support reflection and deliver a good standard of care. Elder, Evans and Nizette (2012) states reflection allows nurses to examine both thei r practice and the accompanying cognitions and effective meanings in relation to values, biases and knowledge and in relation to the context in which the situation occurred.

A report on the Implementation of Standard Costing

A report on the Implementation of Standard Costing In current years, various tools such as activity-based costing, the balanced scorecard and target costing have been used in the business community. However, traditional management accounting systems continue to be widely applied. One example is standard costing, which has been used on a wide front during the last century. The purpose of this paper is to examine the widely use of standard costing system. Despite it is less relevant than newer accounting methods, standard costing is far from obsolete. Because of its simplicity, flexibility and affordability, standard costing remains a favorite cost accounting method among accounting and finance professionals. Introduction: In todays time of rapid technologic change, tough global and domestic competition, total cost management is central to sustained corporate profitability and competitiveness. The management focus today is to minimize cost. The cost leadership strategy does not mean compromise on either quality or technology or product differentiation. Low costs are no advantage, if the customers are not willing to buy the product of low cost firm. Cost management has to be driven with customer as the focus. The survival way for any company is how to manage its product/service cost, quality and performance. The customers are continuously demanding high quality and better performance products/services and at the same time, they want the prices to fall. The shareholders are also demanding a required rate of return on their investment with the company. Thus, cost has become a residual. The challenge is being able to manufacture or provide service with the stipulated cost framework. Thus, cost management has to be an ongoing continuous improvement program. Standard Costing In recent years, various tools such as activity-based costing, the balanced scorecard and target costing have been used in the business community (Kaplan Cooper, 1998; Kaplan Norton, 1996; Ansari et al1997). However, traditional management accounting systems continue to be widely applied (Brewer, 2000). One example of traditional management accounting is standard costing. Standards can be used with either job order or process costing system to provide important information for managerial planning, controlling, and decision making. Standard costing assists in setting budgets and evaluating managerial performance. The major motive to use standard costing is because it facilitates product costing estimation (Ask Ax, 1997). Ask and Axs study is supported by a study conducted by Puxty and Lyall (1989), which reported that 76 percent of the UK commercial and industrial companies operate a standard costing system. Although it is used widely, people recently criticize it could not provide the information needed in todays competitive environment. Despite the criticism, there are few signs that the use of standard costing tends to decrease. The survey from Ask and AX (1997) showed that 12.6 % of the companies investigated stated that they would abandon standards but on the other hand, 9.9 % stated that they would like to convert to standard costing system. The History of Standard Costing The standard costing system was developed in the early 1900s. According to Drury (1992), it was the scientific management principles recommended by F.W. Taylor and other engineers. Scientific engineers built up information about standards to set up the best way to use labour and material resources within manufacturing. Engineers used the standards to provide information for planning the flow of work so that the waste of materials and labour was minimized. Interestingly, engineers did not consider standards as a tool to control financial costs at that time (Drury, 1992) The first thoughts of using standards as a tool to control costs came from G. Charter Harrison, who designed the first standard costing system. Started in 1911, Harrison worked for the Boss Manufacturing Company, Illinois, in USA makers of work gloves. It took him a few years before he published the first set of equations for the analysis of cost variances (Solomons, 1968) Harrison was not the only person on the standard costing scene. In 1908 and 1909 Harrington Emerson supported the development of an information system specifically directed towards the achievement of efficiency objectives. Emerson stated that information about standards allow managers to differentiate variances that are due to controllable conditions and variances that are caused by conditions beyond managements control (Solomons, 1968) Traditionally standard costing systems are used in order to support the manufacturing industry. Today standard costing is widely used by all kinds of industries. The Purpose of A Standard Costing System: The purpose of cost and management accounting is to provide financial information to managers to help them to plan activities, control the activities and see the financial implications of any decisions they make take (Hussey Hussey, 1998). Standard costing systems provide cost data that can be used for many different purposes. Ask and AX (1997) have identified several fields of application when it comes to a standard costing system. Their survey has the following reasons/purposes why a company may use a standard costing system: Product Costing 82.4% Inventory Valuation 64.8% Variance Analysis 56.0% Budgeting 45.1% Transfer Pricing 31.9% Drury (1996) gives a wider view of the purposes. He states that the main purpose a standard costing system can be used are: To help in setting budges and evaluating managerial performance. To act as a control device by stressing those activities which do not match to plan and thus alert decision-makers to those situations that many be out of control and in need of remedial action. To provide a forecast of future costs that can be used for decision making purposes. To simplify the task of tracing costs to products for inventory evaluation purposes. To provide a challenging target with individuals are motivated to achieve. There are many advantages with standards. Calculations are easier made and an effective performance controls are enabled, which provide opportunity to savings. Critique Against Standard Costing Systems Standard costs are major elements within the management accounting area. They were used when organizations conditions were stable, standardized products were produced and labour and material costs were the major costs components. But todays business environment is different. The difficulties in the manufacturing process are increased when products are many and product series are short. (Ask Ax, 1997) When difficulties increase, it has more complicated interpreting of variances. Moreover, it could be difficult to tie the variances to the particular persons or the particular areas. Also, when the manufacturing conditions become more complex, the amount of fixed costs increases. Therefore, fewer opportunities will influence the total costs in the short term. Managers have less interesting to manage by using traditional thinking on how costs are influenced by volume. As shown above, standards may be difficult to set in todays dynamic conditions. A standard costing system may be expensive to maintain and the additional record-keeping may become a burden to managers and they lose confidence in the system. (Hussey Hussey, 1997) Richard Fleischman and Thomas Tyson claimed that standard costing cannot provide adequate assistance in the areas of construction strategy and operational management. (Fleischman and Tyson, 1998) Don Hansen and Maryanne Mowen describe standard costing system as potentially dysfunctional. (Hansen and Mowen, 2002) These criticisms have contributed to the dismissal of standard costing, especially for large companies that have more sophisticated method such as Activity Based Costing (ABC) and target costing. Mike Lucas even questioned that whether it is still appropriate for college accounting programs to teach this topic. (Lucas, 1997) Global Acceptance of Standard Costing While academics pointing out the weaknesses of standard costing, people observed that this accounting tool continues to be widely used throughout the world. Studies showed that in developed countries the standard costing using rate is as high as 73% in the U.K. and 86% in Japan. (Garg, Ghosh, Hudick and Nowacki, 2003) More specifically76% of 303 accountants in the U.K. and 73% of 85 finance and accounting specialists in New Zealand use standard costing. (Guilding, Lamminmaki and Drury, 1998) The authors also found that accountants viewed modern costing and production management tools as having no impact on how widely standard costing and variance analysis are used. A study by Maliah Sulaiman, Nik Nazli and Norhayati Mohd Alwi of companies doing business in Malaysia found similar widespread dissemination and persistence of standard costing: 70% of 66 local firms and 76% of 21 Japanese are using standard costing. These studies reveal that standard costing does not overemphasize cost control; however, it is linked to quality management. In addition, the Lucas and Sulaiman studies have shown that companies use historical performance instead of predetermined engineering standards on actual costs. Instead of using newer and costlier systems, companies chose to reconfigure existing system with more precise schemes, implying that firms have adapted standard costing to their specific needs and have not abandoned it. Swiss Chalet Standard Costs System: System Description In order to demonstrate that standard costing is far from obsolete. I examined the standard costing system at Swiss Chalet, one of the biggest Canadian restaurant chains. The collected data of this study consists of in-depth interviews with employees working with standard costing at different divisions within Swiss Chalet. The study about the standard costing in U.K., Dubai and Malaysia is also used. First opened in 1954, Swiss Chalet now has more than 190 restaurants across Canada and United States serving their signature rotisserie chicken and a variety of other menu items. In the beginning of each month, Swiss Chalets area manger will send standard costs to each Swiss Chalets store. The standard costs are generated through historical data and area managers analysis based on each stores current situation. Then, management in each store can project materials, labor and overhead costs by reviewing the standard costs established for each of these cost elements. Then computer generate the variances and make managers recognize the differences between the actual activities and resource consumption and the expected activities and resource consumption. When the variance is significant, this is a signal for investigation, Managers will try to discover the cause and exert influence to correct it. Therefore, cost control and performance evaluation is the main purpose of Swiss Chalets Standard Costing System. According to Mann-Whitney U test Statistic13, inventory costing is the key function of standard costing for industries in U.K, Dubai and Malaysia. Also, Mann-Whitney U test suggests that the industrial-sector companies in U.K. use standard costing to a greater extent than the service sector for the functions of cost control and performance evaluation, costing inventories and computing product cost for decision making. Also, in only one instance has this pattern reverted toward the service sector: the use of standard costing as an aid to budgeting. These findings are consistent with those of other studies of industrial sector companies in Malaysia and the U.K. (Marie Rao, 2010) Material Standards: Swiss Chalets direct material components have three categories: foods, liquor and disposals. Foods include chicken, potatoes, ribs, and vegetables. Etc. Liquor includes wine, spirit and other non-alcohol beverages. Disposals include food boxes and bags to wrap food. Also, the standard cost of non-value-added materials such as discount materials, food wastes and voidable orders are also included for the purpose of reduction or elimination. When area mangers determine the standard cost, historical cost, stores current performance and cost-benefit trade-offs are involved in making quality decisions. When all quantity and price information has been gathered, component quantities are multiplied by unit prices to yield the total cost of each component. These totals are summed to determine the total standard material cost of one unit of product and the total standard material cost. Information about direct material of each component, their specifications (including quality), their quantitie s and total standard material cost are listed on a bill of materials. This average of historic usage method is consistent with statistics of service sectors in Dubai, U.K. and Malaysia. According to Mann-Whitney U test Statistic, 76% of service sector in Dubai and 63% of service sector in Malaysia use average of historic usage to set up labor and material standards. On the other hand, nearly nine out of 10 industrial sector respondents in Dubai employed standards based on design/engineering studies, which is comparable to Japanese companies in Malaysia (81%). These firms appear to be significantly more scientific in their approach to standards setting compared to the service sectors, which predominantly used average of historic usage method. Labor Standards: The procedures for developing labor standards are similar to those used for material standards in Swiss Chalet. Swiss Chalet has four types of works in the front of the house: servers, hosts, managers and bar tenders. They also have three types of people in the kitchen: cooks, line cooks and pre cooks. The standard costs of each type of worker in each specific time range are identified. Because they are in the restaurant business, labor requirement is different during the different period of the day. Therefore, their labor standards are specifically identified in each hour. Their managers salaries are also counted into the labor standard costs although they are fixed overhead cost. Labor rate standards reflect the wages and fringe benefits paid to employees. Because employees in the same position are paid different wage rates based on their experiences in the restaurant business, a weighted average rate is computed and used as the standard. After labor tasks are analyzed, an operatio ns flow document is prepared that lists all the necessary activities and labor costs in each time range. Overhead Standards: Swiss Chalet store has two types of overhead costs: utility costs and maintenance costs. (Managers salaries are included in the labor costs). Utility costs include rent, gas and hydro, etc. Maintenance costs include equipment repair budget, sanitary service and pest controls, etc. Area managers use historical data, store situation and market price to determine the overhead standard costs. Swiss Chalets managers review the standard every month. Slightly more than half of Dubai industries (52%) conduct reviews semiannually, consistent with Japanese respondents in Malaysia (55%). On the other hand, domestic Malaysia firms in the U.K. were apt to review their costing standards annually at a rate of 35% and 68%, respectively. (Marie Rao, 2010) Material Variance: Store managers do the inventory count every week and then input direct material cost they used of each component, their specifications (including quality), their quantities and total standard material cost into the computer system. The computer system generates the price variance and quantity variance. Store managers usually can not do much about the price variance because they are not able to control prices. Head office has purchasing contracts with their suppliers with fixed prices in the yearly basis. The only price they can control is vegetable prices, which have seasonal fluctuation. Managers are able to influence the price according to the price variance. Quantity variances are considered the responsibility of the person in charge of the kitchen. When the quantity variance is too big, managers have to think about the efficiency of the material usage, weather experienced employees are well allocated in different shift and weather further training should be provided. Labor Variance: When employees start to work and when they leave the store, they input their password into the computer system. Computer system automatically records their working hours and generates labor rate variance and labor efficiency variance. If the labor cost is bigger than 29% of the total costs, head office will give a warning to the stores, demanding them to reduce the labor costs. Therefore, managers have to balance the use of experienced workers and inexperienced workers in a specific task by using labor efficiency variance and labor rate variance. Using highly skilled highly paid individuals for lower-level jobs could cause an unfavorable labor rate variance, accompanied by a favorable labor efficiency variance. Therefore, Swiss Chalet examines variance where the variance exceeds a given percentage of standard. In Dubai, 39% of industrial companies and 50% of service companies base their costing decisions on managerial judgment, compared to roughly half of U.K. companies and one fourth of local and Japanese companies in Malaysia. However, 35% of firms in Dubais industrial sector and 29% in its service sector answered when the variance exceeded a given percentage of standard, which is similar to the rates found in the Malaysia and U.K. studies. (Marie Rao, 2010) II Usefulness and effectiveness of the System: The major advantage of standard cost system in Swiss Chalet is that it highlights and allows management to manage by exceptions, that is, it allows management to concentrate on the areas where there are inefficiencies. It also allows company management to understand the quality expected and costs that will be incurred in the preparation of each dish and what impacts deviations from these standards will have on costs and profits. When the variance is significant, this is a signal for investigation, Managers tries to discover the cause and exert influence to correct it. In the Swiss Chalet store I visited, costs are under control; productivity is high; workers are achieving bonuses based on team activity goals and employee morale is high in a work environment typically viewed as tedious. The system is highly controlled and automated. The process is effective and the standards they set are appropriate and attainably. Although their standards are developed from past and current information, environmental, seasonal and economic factors are considered for the period in which the standards are to be applied. Swiss Chalets material, labor and overhead standard costs are changed every month. For example, recently, Swiss Chalet eliminated many non value added labor movements, their labor time standards changed very soon accordingly. Swiss Chalets standards can be reached or slightly exceeded approximately 60% or 70% of the time with reasonable effort by workers. Their standards allow for normal, unavoidable time problems or delays. Their standards represent an attainable challenge and are able to motivate workers performance and at determining how effectively and efficiently workers are performing their tasks. III Recommendation: Process changes: Under current system, area managers are the only people who do the standard costs setting. I believe that area managers could cooperate with purchasing manager, accountants, marketing managers and store managers to determine which choices are most appropriate. The cooperation will help the company better balance the interrelationship of cost, quality, quantity and selling price. Under the current system, standard costs of each type of worker in each specific time range are used to calculate the total labor standards. However, workers salaries are different even in the same position because their experiences are different. Therefore, each individuals salary and individual numbers in one specific time range used to calculate the standard labor costs should be identified for managers better understand the standards and better improve their labor arrangement and improve their labor efficiency. Computer System change: Swiss Chalets current computer system is good, but still not highly automated. They still use fax to transit data and information within the organization are not highly shared within one portal. Therefore, I believe Enterprise Resource Planning System (ERP) will make their work process more effectively. EPR system provides a much higher level of accuracy to gathering cost information. With most manufacturing processes being automated and operated with little direct labor, ERP system has the advantage of keeping an accurate record of overhead cost pools at all levels in an organization. ERP has greater capacity to accurately allocate costs and it is important for developing accurate standards. Standard costs can be prepared with, for example, the sub-module mySAP.com Financials under ERP system. Intermountain Health Care, Inc.s Standard System According to Mr. W.V. Rosqvists research paper Intermountain Health Care, Inc, (IHC) Satandard Costing System Methodology and Implementation, the IHC Standard Costing System is able to manipulate the procedure costs in any way desirable to provide meaningful groupings for analysis. The Standard Costing System provides hospital management with a tool for meeting increased cost pressures in the health care environment. The system is useful for pricing services, but it is also important to monitor productivity and analyze costs and profitability. IHC is a not-for-profit hospital chain with 22 hospitals in the intermountain area and head office is in Salt Lake City. They have a complex approach to determine detailed standard costs for every procedure in the hospital. IHCs standard costing system was designed to link the hospitals financial management and case mix reporting system to provide significant information in the area of following: Cost/Profit Studies: the ability to determine cost and profit at each of levels, such as patient, physician, medical specialty, payer and employer. Marketing: to make complex decisions regarding the competitive market forces such as pricing, contracting and physician retirement. The analysis gives hospital the advantage to determine the financial impact of changes in volume. Departmental Productivity: to monitor the department performance to help variance analysis and goal setting. Utilization of Hospital Service: the ability to alter utilization, which depends on the ability to analyze current patterns and associated costs. Cost Comparison: To compare costs to other hospitals to help managers to identify and learn the efficient methods. Competitive Analysis: To study competitor information and make reasonable judgment of its costs. It will allow a significant view of the impact of price completion on all the competitors. It will help IHC to determine the extent to which it should compete on prices with other hospitals and with nontraditional health care providers, such as outpatient surgery centers. The IHC approach to standard costing provides detailed costs for every individual charge item in the hospital. Fixed and variable costs are maintained for every item in broad categories: labor expense, supply expense, depreciation and hospital overhead. After the implementation, their standard costing system is able to: provide full standard fixed and variable costs for management purpose in making pricing and marketing decisions; maintain a management reporting system compatible with existing system; provide an approach to compare hospitals and departments; provide accuracy while allowing easy and rapid maintenance. (M. V. Rosqvist) The Future of Standard Costing: According to Cheatham and Cheatham (1996), many accountants do not know that a redesigned standard costing system can provide the important information that they need and updating their system is an easier process than adopting a new system. They also point out that standard costing system combines managerial, financial and operations accounting, which make it as a control system. But the possible replacement is only cost accumulation system. Critics against the standard costing system questioned whether the system is useful in the manufacturing system of today. As we demonstrated above, it is still a widely used method, due to the fact that it provides cost information for many different ways in addition to cost control. A lot of companies adapted their standard costing system to report on these variables that particularly important to them. In companies where an activity-based system is implemented, standard costing is still essential when it comes to controlling the costs of unit-level activities. Other criticism comes from that overemphasis is on the price and efficiency, which would make quality aside. Also, volume variance to measure utilization of capacity ignores overproduction and unnecessary build-up of inventory. In this situation the fact that variance analysis is not locked in to a set of variables is ignored. Used variables can be changed when the need arises. Examples of this are presented below. (Cheatham Cheatham, 1996) To use standards on the functions of raw material ordering and inventory levels, which give information about the effectiveness of suppliers. Because the objective is to deliver orders as placed, any variances are undesired. Price variances can be combined with a quality variance to prevent purchasing managers from only focusing on price but do not pay attention to quality. Raw materials inventory variances indicate an inventory build-up, because more material purchased than used, by reverted conditions. This is in line with a just-in-time theory. Further criticism is about the non-focus of continuous improvement. But, standards based on engineering studies or historical data are not a necessary part of a standard costing system because standards can be changed by a lot of methods. Examples are listed as below. (Cheatham Cheatham, 1996) Use last periods results as standards. The last periods result has to be representative; otherwise it needs to be revised. It is also achievable to use a base period that comparisons are made. Use benchmark as something outside companies. To compare with competitors or with the leader of the industry. Use predetermined cost reduction by reducing the standard cost for every period by a predetermined amount to achieve constant improvement. Finally, the reporting system of the standard costing system may be revised. In the traditional way internal completion often arises. By revising the reporting system, cooperation among workers, managers and departments can be supported. Conclusion: Despite it is less relevant than newer accounting methods, standard costing is far from obsolete. However, redesign and update the standard costing system to adapt the new environment may be necessary. Because of its simplicity, flexibility and affordability, standard costing remains a favorite cost accounting method among accounting and finance professionals.

History of Punishment Essays -- Code of Hummurabi

The history of punishment began around the time of when the Code of Hammurabi was written. The death penalty was awarded for crimes of kidnapping, thievery, selling or taking stolen goods, etc. There are many punishments that were used in the world which have been abolished. For example, many nations have abolished capital punishment which follows all around anything dealing with the death penalty. Michigan was the first state to abolish the death penalty later followed by Rhode Island and Wisconsin. In the 2nd century during the Qin Dynasty of China rules were changed by enforcing strict laws. For punishment they used the nine familial extermination as punishment. The nine familial extermination was one of the most brutal and cruelest execution method used in China. It was basically when nine people from the accused’s family were executed. By the end of the 2nd century tenants of Jewish laws had 3 purposes. One of them was to make sure the criminal was punished for his actions. Punishments such as banishment, fines and imprisonment were given at this time. In the third century a punishment called Damnatio ad bestias was further introduced. Damnatio bestias was a punishment used for entertainment. â€Æ' In the 5th century the Roman law of the Twelve Tables contained the death penalty. Most people were executed by hanging or beheading for crimes against the church. Crucifixion was a punishment used in 6th century BCE, but was later abolished in the Roman Empire in 337 CE. It was when your arms were tied or nailed to a cross while the cross was tied and nailed to a pole. The person’s feet were a block of wood so their hands wouldn’t tear. Their feet were nailed to the cross. This is also known as Jesus Christ’s death. .. ... circumstances in 1998. Moving on to the 21st century, in 2001 there were 3048 prisoners executed in 31 countries. Most of them took place in Iran, Saudi Arabia, U.S. and China. China executes more people than any other country on Earth. In 2004, the death penalty was restored as a punishment. Later in the U.S. the death penalty support which was at 65% used to be at 74%. Also, it is said that 51% believe the death penalty isn’t used often enough. The history of punishment has been changed many times throughout the centuries. Capital punishment is trying to be banished today. Cruel and illegal executions are still going on just to get confessions before sentences were passed. Works Cited †¢ http://www.wcprg.org/History.pdf †¢ http://www.clarkprosecutor.org/html/death/timeline.htm †¢ http://www.smashinglists.com/unusual-methods-of-capital-punishment/2/

A study of anatomy and physiology of movement of upper limb

The procedure in lifting the hand to drink water is a complex one which involves a huge amount of technology inter-transfer between the brain and the eventual skeletal muscle.There is initiation of the movement at the brain which is transmitted via specialized white fibre tracts to the hip flexors via the intermediate spinal cord, involving a very complex mechanism at the cellular levelThe initiation of the   process is at the motor cortex (Ms I) of the brain. The primary motor area is located at the precentral gyrus of the frontal lobe. The area controlling the motion of the lower limbs lies towards the superior surface of the brain. Within this area lies the cell body of the primary neuron. These neurons are known as upper motor neurons (UMN).These UMNs receive modulating impulse from the inputs from the cerebellum and the basal ganglia via the extrapyramidal pathways. These tracts modulate the gross movement initiated at the frontal cortex. In turn these areas are modulated by a fferent signals from ascending spino cerebellar, and spino-thalamic pathways.   The signal initiated at the nucleus of the cell body is transmitted electronically via the axon of the myelinated neuron via the mode of salutatory conduction.The myelin sheath which surrounds the axon of nerves that involve fast transport, breaks at intermediate regions known as Nodes of Ranvier. The electrical impulse moves in   a jumping manner at these nodes nerve transmission as a neural impulse, generated by the formation of a nerve action potential. Like all excitable tissue, nerves maintain a resting membrane potential that is the difference of voltage across the membrane of the neuron. In neurons this value is   – 70 mV.This voltage difference is maintained by the Na/K pump on the membranes. This impulse generated at the axon hillock is transmitted via the depolarizing phase which allows sodium ions ingress into cells via opening of the Na channels. This entry of Na in one portion a llows activation of other Na channels, causing depolarization of the adjacent region of the neuron. Subsequently repolarization occurs via the opening of K channels, which restores the membrane potential.Thus this process continues which allows the transmission of impulse. Many such nerves together descend as the descending cortico spinal tract in the pyramidal system, which travels through the midbrain into the spinal cord, decussating at the level of midbrain( 90% of the fibres decussating and forming the lateral spinothalamic tract) and again at the level of spinal cord ( the other 10%, forming the anterior spinothalamic tract) .It is the former which is responsible for the upper limb movements. The cortico-spinal tract travels in the anterior horn cell of the spinal cord till the brachial plexus where they synapse with the spinal ventral root neuron (lower motor neuron). A single post-synaptic neuron receives signals from many neurons. At the axon terminal, the propagation of im pulses leads to release of neurotransmitters, which are stored in specialized vesicles.The released Ach diffuses into the synaptic cleft and binds with receptors on the post synaptic membrane to produce excitatory post synaptic potentials. This leads to generation and propagation of impulse in nerves which are destined to innervate the neuro-muscular junction. At the neuro-muscular junction, Ach is released, which diffuses into the synovial cleft and binds to receptors in the motor end plate, and triggers a muscle action potential.The released Ach is destroyed by the acetylcholinestrase. At the level of the sarcolemma of the muscles, the muscle AP travels along T-tubules, opening Ca release channels in the sarcoplasmic reticulum. Ca binds to troponin-tropomysin complex, which releases the myosin heads, these then bind to the actin thin filaments, and draws them closer to the M line. Meanwhile bringing the Z disc closer.This leads to muscle fibre contraction. This is a self propagati ng sequence eventually leading to the contraction muscles involved in the movement. Each nerve fibre innervates many musle fibres ( about 150). This is the motor unit.The greater the number of motor units recruited by the nerve action potential, the greater the force of contraction of the muscles. In the spinal cord, nerve impulse travels along the brachial plexus (C5 – T1) to innervate the Pectoralis major (Arm adduction and flexion – reaching out to hold the glass), Flexor digitorum superficialis and profundii of all fingers, the interossei and the lumbricals of all digits, opponens pollicis, flexor pollicis brevis , adducor pollicis and abductor pollicis brevis ( gripping of the glass by the fingers flexion at metacarpophalangeal.Proximal interphalangeal and the distal interphalangeal joint of the fingers; the carpometqcarpal joint, metacarpophalangeal and the interphalangeal joint of the thumb); then contraction of the biceps brachii ( elbow flexion) and the supina tor ( supination at the elbow joint); finally the contraction of the triceps muscle ( elbow extension, to put the glass back).This excitatory impulse is also associated with the production of inhibitory action potential ( hyperpolarizing impulse) in the antagonists (eg triceps during elbow flexion, and biceps during elbow extension)   

Free Essays on True Tragic Figure

Agamemnon is the first part of the trilogy Oresteia. It was written by Aeschylus who is often called â€Å"Father of Tragedy† in literature. Aeschylus is one of the greatest Greek writers in history. He presented audiences with the â€Å"second actor† for more complex stories. He is also known for his tragic characters and Agamemnon is no exception. He possesses all the characteristics and ultimately the fate of the majority of tragic characters, death. Agamemnon is the King of Argos who is coming back from a ten year battle with Troy. This in itself is a trait of a tragic person. The character must be a dignified person in society. In this case, it is a King who is tragic. In the battle against Troy, he was the leader of the Greek army that went because Helen, wife of Agamemnon’s younger brother Menelaus, was taken there. He is an arrogant person that only sees what is best for him and does not care for others. When Agamemnon gets back to the castle and meets his wife Clytaemnestra for the first time in ten years, she praises and welcomes him back. Although Agamemnon says he does not deserve this, he allows her to complete this long introduction to his post Troy life. That is a flaw, but it is not the one to doom him. During the journey to Troy, in order for the Greeks to have favorable wind push their ships onward, Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter Iphigenia to the god Artemis. Who would kill their daughter for own selfish victories? By his decision, it is clearly visible that he is proud and wants nothing more than victory. This tragic hubris ultimately results in his murder by the hands of his wife, Clytaemnestra. The devious spouse had been plotting his death because of the sacrifice he made of Iphigenia. When he returns, she says, â€Å"Zeus, Zeus/now fulfill our prayers†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (646). The Greek god fulfills her prayer and Agamemnon’s life is taken. It is possible that Hera’s husband allowed the murder of the great leader ... Free Essays on True Tragic Figure Free Essays on True Tragic Figure Agamemnon is the first part of the trilogy Oresteia. It was written by Aeschylus who is often called â€Å"Father of Tragedy† in literature. Aeschylus is one of the greatest Greek writers in history. He presented audiences with the â€Å"second actor† for more complex stories. He is also known for his tragic characters and Agamemnon is no exception. He possesses all the characteristics and ultimately the fate of the majority of tragic characters, death. Agamemnon is the King of Argos who is coming back from a ten year battle with Troy. This in itself is a trait of a tragic person. The character must be a dignified person in society. In this case, it is a King who is tragic. In the battle against Troy, he was the leader of the Greek army that went because Helen, wife of Agamemnon’s younger brother Menelaus, was taken there. He is an arrogant person that only sees what is best for him and does not care for others. When Agamemnon gets back to the castle and meets his wife Clytaemnestra for the first time in ten years, she praises and welcomes him back. Although Agamemnon says he does not deserve this, he allows her to complete this long introduction to his post Troy life. That is a flaw, but it is not the one to doom him. During the journey to Troy, in order for the Greeks to have favorable wind push their ships onward, Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter Iphigenia to the god Artemis. Who would kill their daughter for own selfish victories? By his decision, it is clearly visible that he is proud and wants nothing more than victory. This tragic hubris ultimately results in his murder by the hands of his wife, Clytaemnestra. The devious spouse had been plotting his death because of the sacrifice he made of Iphigenia. When he returns, she says, â€Å"Zeus, Zeus/now fulfill our prayers†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (646). The Greek god fulfills her prayer and Agamemnon’s life is taken. It is possible that Hera’s husband allowed the murder of the great leader ...

Free Essays on Jesus Battle

LIKE US IN ALL THINGS BUT SIN: An examination of the question of the impeccability of Jesus Christ The New Testament authors had no qualms about declaring that Jesus was truly human and telling us that Jesus committed no sin. Bible passages such as 2 Corinthians 5:21, Hebrews 4:15, 1 Peter 2:22 and 1 John 3:5 â€Å"witness that He [Jesus] did not give in to temptation, nor violate the moral standards of God, nor was He inconsistent with the nature of his character.† That is, Jesus was sinless. It is vital to our theology that Jesus was sinless. For only if Jesus was sinless could His death have been a vicarious substitution and fulfil God’s redemptive plan for man. If Jesus had not been sinless, then it would mean that He died for His own sins and not those of mankind. Had Jesus died for His own sins then His death could not have been accepted by the Father as a vicariously substitution for the punishment and judgement each of us are entitled to receive. Even though there is no serious debate that Jesus was anything but sinless, theologians have discussed the question of whether Jesus could have sinned if He had wanted. This is called the peccability of Christ. The opposing argument, i.e., impeccability, being that even if He had wanted, Jesus could not have sinned. Upon first consideration, one might view this question as being trivial; something to simply keep the theologians â€Å"out of mischief† when they have nothing better to do. However, there are some very appropriate reasons for examining this issue. The first reason to examine the issue of Christ’s peccability/impeccability is so that we might obtain a better understanding and a more in depth knowledge about both Jesus Christ and God, just as God has invited us. This is the same reason that we study Theology proper. When we arrive at an answer to this question, we will have additional knowledge about Jesus’ preincarnate state and ... Free Essays on Jesus' Battle Free Essays on Jesus' Battle LIKE US IN ALL THINGS BUT SIN: An examination of the question of the impeccability of Jesus Christ The New Testament authors had no qualms about declaring that Jesus was truly human and telling us that Jesus committed no sin. Bible passages such as 2 Corinthians 5:21, Hebrews 4:15, 1 Peter 2:22 and 1 John 3:5 â€Å"witness that He [Jesus] did not give in to temptation, nor violate the moral standards of God, nor was He inconsistent with the nature of his character.† That is, Jesus was sinless. It is vital to our theology that Jesus was sinless. For only if Jesus was sinless could His death have been a vicarious substitution and fulfil God’s redemptive plan for man. If Jesus had not been sinless, then it would mean that He died for His own sins and not those of mankind. Had Jesus died for His own sins then His death could not have been accepted by the Father as a vicariously substitution for the punishment and judgement each of us are entitled to receive. Even though there is no serious debate that Jesus was anything but sinless, theologians have discussed the question of whether Jesus could have sinned if He had wanted. This is called the peccability of Christ. The opposing argument, i.e., impeccability, being that even if He had wanted, Jesus could not have sinned. Upon first consideration, one might view this question as being trivial; something to simply keep the theologians â€Å"out of mischief† when they have nothing better to do. However, there are some very appropriate reasons for examining this issue. The first reason to examine the issue of Christ’s peccability/impeccability is so that we might obtain a better understanding and a more in depth knowledge about both Jesus Christ and God, just as God has invited us. This is the same reason that we study Theology proper. When we arrive at an answer to this question, we will have additional knowledge about Jesus’ preincarnate state and ...