Friday, April 3, 2015

Alternative Medicine Research Paper

Non-conventional medicine refers to a variety of treatment methods from sometimes age-old traditions and practices that have emerged around the 19th century, generally before the scientific method. 

Non-conventional medicines are for this reason overall considered pseudo-scientific by part of the medical community, but a growing number of doctors are studying them and adding them to their medical practice. They are also known under the names of alternative medicine, parallel medicine, holistic medicine, traditional medicine, complementary medicine, and natural medicine.

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Trade Area Analysis Essay

Trade Area Analysis: The Example of Best Buy in Toronto Area
Trade area delimitation for Best Buy stores
Ten Best Buy stores are shown on the map and have an almost even distribution all over Toronto. However, there is still a higher concentration of the stores in the south-western section of Toronto city, which is more densely populated. Apparently, Best Buy aspires to serve all the customers in Toronto, and this explains the wide area distribution of its stores. Each store is located a relatively far distance away from other stores to avoid overlapping the market, while at the same time covering a larger market area.

Possible new store locations can be identified using the Thiessen polygon technique to Map One. Theoretically, the boundary line vertices are considered as being the best sites for new stores. These locations are recognized as being poorly served areas since the people residing around the areas have to travel fairly long distance to get to a Best Buy store. Moreover, best Buy stores in such locations are less likely to be in competition with Best Buy stores around it.
         
Possible new Best Buy stores are identified using little triangles. There are nine locations identified as possible new Best Buy store locations. Of all the locations under consideration, West Site location seems the most unrealistic. Although it is found on the junction of boundaries, it is located exactly where the Pearson International Airport is which has a sparse human population. Opening a new store at this location is not pragmatic as most of the market area will be occupied by the Pearson International airport and so will not have any significant impact on new customers or sales for Best Buy chain. Similarly, the sixth spot falls on the Toronto Zoo and the whole location is covered by green spaces therefore; there is no economic point in opening a new best Buy store at this location. West Site numbers two and three locations are very close to each other so it is more appropriate to choose only one of the sites. On the East Site, location numbers four and five are also located close to each other so only one spot should be chosen as the location for a new Best buy store.
         
With the two new possible Best buy sites; the South Site and the East Site on the map, market areas for existing new Best Buy stores changes. The stores not affected by the new store locations are Oakville, Woodbridge, Heartland, Bramptch and Ajax. The market areas for Downsview, Sherway, Markham, Leaside and Scarborough will be slashed into smaller areas. As is seen on Map Two, these market areas will become much smaller and more evenly distributed and will result in the capture of more customers. The two sites are both located in the in the vertices of the polygons, which implies that these areas are poorly served by Best Buy. Adding the new stores will make it more convenient for best Buy customers as they will be able to travel shorter distances to reach a store.
         
Comparing the East and South Sites, it is clear they are both densely populated. Judging from the satellite imagery, most of the people in the area live in houses with both the areas being easily accessible. Although they will cause a shift in the market share, the market areas for the existing and new Best Buy stores will be more even. The present challenge however, is the availability of space for the new proposed stores. The theoretical new store locations are both found inside residential areas. However, expanding the potential areas will enable the location of available suitable spaces to construct new stores. Apart from finding a location to construct the stores, opening new Best Buy stores in the two locations will not result in the “cannibalisation” of the neighbouring stores.
         
As can be seen from the map, the Fairview Mall store and the downtown store are very close to the two possible new store sites identified in Map One. The two stores are found in the region where customers were originally served poorly. Now the customers will be better off as they will travel shorter distances, while the new store locations will likely capture more customers. However, the two stores are located close to the polygon edge meaning that they may be too close to the neighbouring stores and will likely to compete with each other.

We can write a custom essay on Trade Area Analysis for you!


         
The smaller polygons show the relatively well served regions, so closing a store in one of these areas with smaller polygons will theoretically not result in significant inconvenience to Best Buy customers. It depends on how far customers will have to travel to access another store after one or some of the stores are closed and how this compares to the distance the customer travelled before closure. In practice, other factors should be put into consideration when deciding to open new stores or close existing ones. For example, it can be tricky to open or close a store when determining the acceptable distance customers have to cover to reach a store. Best Buy stores in reality are not identical such that closing one and opening another will have no effect on consumer preferences. Some customers could prefer using one store to another because of the micro differentiation of each best buy store. Closing a store can also result in Best Buy’s competitors finding an opportunity to set up, resulting in an overall loss of customers.
           
To efficiently apply the Thiessen polygon technique several assumptions have to be made such as a disincentive to travel long distance as has been assumed in real life. Another assumption is that all the stores are identical to each other. This assumption will work well on the Best Buy store chains as the products in each of the stores are similar in quality and price, while they are similar in size. Although there might be a variation in service in each store, it does not have a significant bearing on the consumers. Consumers are assumed to be economic operators who are fully informed and know all the locations and distances to stores so they make the most rational choices by going to the nearest Best Buy store. For instance, it will be easy for consumers to Google or use mapping software like GPS and find the nearest Best Buy store. Though a having a chain of Best Buy stores fits this model better than others, the method still has downsides to its sue. In reality, stores can never be absolutely identical, information transparency may not exist, and customers may not be as rational as they can be. If Best Buy stores form part of a large shopping area that vary in size, the Thiessen polygon technique will not be very effective. Larger shopping areas have a tendency to attract more customers. The indifference line will be further away from the large shopping areas rather than splitting the market through the middle. This phenomenon is referred to as the gravity model.

Converse breakpoint method takes into account both the distance and size when delimiting market areas. In this method, a formula exists for calculating a breakpoints’ position. Determining the size entails establishing the store area, the employee numbers, and number of parking spaces, among other factors. This model is more suitable since it allows variation in the store sizes. However, this method assumes the existence of a special monopoly in the market area. In reality, market areas commonly overlap so monopolies are rare. This problem can be overcome using the Huff model as it calculates the probability that customers in this area will prefer shop at one of a number of stores, enabling the creation of a map of overlapped market areas.

Monday, November 4, 2013

Essay on Pricing

Pricing is indeed a very important tool with which an organization can market its products and increase the profit margins. Indeed, I was in a good position to appreciate this fact after I interviewed a few people during the Triathlon MLB even. During the event, I observed that many of the stands that were at the venue were offering some products that had different price tags. 

During the interviews, I found out that price is usually determined based on a number of factor. The first factor is the time within which the product has stayed in the market. In this respect, products that have been on the market for more than two years have always attracted lower prices than those that have been developed and brought into the market in less than two years. 

Pricing of the product is also determined by the nature of clients the vendors deal with. In this respect, price differentiation becomes a very important tool of marketing. For consumers that are in the suburbs, prices of the periods sole would be relatively higher than those that are sold in the low-end user regions. In this respect, business persons do give great consideration to the ability of the consumer to spend on a product. 

The backdrop of this consideration of that the consumer’s price of persons living in the suburbs would be relatively higher than those that love in the low economic regions. 

Thursday, August 22, 2013

Essay on Inferno

Inferno
The author of the comedy, Dante was reported to have been born in Florence in 1265. The author’s family was not poor and as such he had a good basic education, and even managed  to further his studies exploring Latin, poetry, art, philosophy, history and biblical studies (Lawall & Maynard 1). It is reported that he was studious and private by nature and is unlikely to have produced the comedy had he not started serving the public in various councils and capacities. Politics in Florence was a dangerous game, and during one of his many trips away, his detractors hatched a plot that saw him decide to stay away from the city and live in Northern Italy. It was while here that he began writing his great work that is the subject of this report (Lawall & Maynard 1).

The author in creating the comedy diverged considerably from many norms followed by poets of this era. For example, it’s the first major literature of its time to use Italian vernacular instead of the Florentine dialect. It is reported that due to such divergence Italian vernacular and not Florentine dialect is today the national language (Lawall & Maynard 3).

We can write a custom essay on Inferno for you!


Selecting Circles Of Dante's Version Of Hell And Explain How The Punishment Fits The Sin
In addition to variation in language the author also used a considerably different style presentation a sis seen in the three line stanzas and changes in canticles. The author calls the comedy a work of morality and the goal of the poem is to call people to follow the good life as a way to happiness.

In Dante’s poetic depiction of hell, it is divided into nine major circles. Of the nine circles, eight correspond to levels of sin. The first circle is an exception, where the worthy unbaptised, people from before Christianity are punished for the fault of not being baptized (Lawall & Maynard 8). As one goes deeper into hell, the circles get progressively worse both in terms of sin and punishment. The purpose of this report is to provide a brief glimpse of the punishments for different sins. To accomplish this, three sins will be selected and their corresponding punishments. It should be noted that these sins involve breaking God’s eternal law and for which repentance has not been obtained. These sins can be classified as the ‘seven deadly sins’ or cardinal sins. Their punishment is harsh due to their cardinality, as all other sins stems from these roots (Lawall & Maynard 8).

The nature of punishment for the sins is based on Aristotelian philosophy of reciprocity, ‘an eye for an eye’ . For this reason many sins have a significant resemblance to the act itself, for instance the lustful are constantly blown about by winds just as they allowed their passions drive them to distraction. In a similar fashion diviners have their heads turned back, just as they often made claims of possessing an ability to look forward into the future. The wrathful are made constant subjects of each other’s anger and the people who shed blood are immersed in boiling blood and attacked by ferocious beasts each time they surface for air . Though the comedy appears to concur with classical Christian concepts, the main difference in the comedy lies in Dante’s classification of sins. For example as opposed to using the seven cardinal sins, the author comes up with additional classifications. The author includes sins of ‘incontinence’, ‘mad brutishness’ or ‘malice ’ .

Though the sins remain the same, this classification introduces new concepts such as appetite and uses this to create a list of simple and complex sins of the appetite . The use of vulgar language by the author is aimed at making the reading appealing to all, and its wide acceptance is proof of the literary genius behind this work.
Order custom essay on Inferno

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Santiago Calatrava Essay

1. Describe the work. In your own words, tell what you see.
    The Santiago Calatrava train station represents a stunning, low-lying bird architectural tunnel; lit in golden yellow colors and white light. The structure represents order and tranquility expected to add value to the rail station scenery. 

A. What is the primary subject matter?
    The rail station subject matter is incorporating a sculpture structure into a functional structure based on a motion by a bird on flight. The primary subject matter of the design enhances the architectural design to function as a railway station.

B. Are the images real or imagined?
    The images are real, the environment is represented, the parking lot is real and functioning and the tunnel railway itself is facilitated as a real image by the presence of the aforementioned features. Use of natural light and shadows creates a sense of reality. Movements of lines create motion and depth that add value to the image realness.

C. What is the form (how is the work put together, what is the medium?)
    Santiago Calatrava used glass and steel frames as medium of expressing his artistic and architectural genius. The work is put together using concrete pillars that support the steel arching structure that make out a bird’s wings that assemble into a beak at the extreme western side.

D. What style is it?
    The style is a naturalistic style, in which steel framework act like a bone structure joined support the glass which fills that space. The naturalistic style is predominant since the roof looks like sky and the walls take a white color.


We can write a custom essay on Santiago Calatrava for you!



2. Analyze the formal aspects of the work.
    From the western side a bird in flight is pronounced creating an illusion of a structure on motion. At first stance, the two sitting steel arches create a striking illusion of reality that tower up high for about 40 meters. Use of line is very particular in strengthening the structure, diagonal lines arching inward into the structure from the roof stand strong pillars that hold up the roof.

 A. Does the work seem unified or chaotic?
    The shape of the structure unifies the work, which is like a human eye from the front and a bird on flight from east and west direction.

B. Does the work feel balanced?
    The work is balanced through use of line and shape. Lines converge at the western end of the structure and the wings rise at both sides leaving a ridge in between to separate the winged outer convex structure. The ridge balances the work; the wings balance each other by the lift acquired on both sides, which represent a fraction that is a quarter to the length of the structure.

C. What is the general mood of the work (pleasant, disturbing, exciting...?)
    The structure creates a general pleasant mood brought about by presence of blue colors at the ridge and arch and a white color at the sides and walls of the hemispherical train station.

3. Interpret the work.
 A. What is the artist saying about his/her subject?
    The artist infused flight into the structure to represent the busy travelers expected to use the Port authority Trans Hudson train station to either catch a train or take a flight.

 B. Is the work pleasant or uncomfortable to look at?
    The work is inspiring to look at and adds value to the topography of the train station as an architectural masterpiece that infuses art, creativity and engineering.

C. Consider the colors used. How do they affect you?
    The artist used blue colors on the ridges’ roof glass to represent the sky. The diagonal glass fillers are transparent to allow direct flow of natural light. The concrete pillars and steel support structures are displayed in excellent white color that creates peace and tranquility.  The steel pillars are painted white to blend with the sky and clouds.

D. Consider any symbols used. Do any images seem “out of place”?
    The most striking symbol is a bird on flight, which correlated with the function of the station’s airport and train facilities. The second symbol is the human eye, through the eye of the station, people travel afar.

E.   Is the work influenced by a particular time, place, or belief?
    The work is highly influenced by the naturalistic belief that architectural structures ought o add value to the environment by either blending in or by standing out as a center of aesthetic value. The Port authority trans Hudson train station stands out as an aesthetic structure of the 21st century away from the old blocks of structures. Use of steel and glass to facilitate use of natural light is a new notion towards curbing global warming by utilizing renewable energy like natural light.  
Order custom essay on Santiago Calatrava

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Susan Glaspell "Trifles" essay

This play is based on a simplistic but deceptive ground as implied by the title. Using a straightforward setting, the author intelligently surfaces two conflicting ideas through the choice of characters. The play is mainly about the “insiders” and “outsiders” as suggested by Holstein. The play presents the audience with two concepts about the scientific methodical investigative approach and the informal disorderly investigative approach. In this case, the investigators were the county Attorney, the sheriff, and a neighbor to this homestead. Mrs. Peters, and Mrs. Hale, who are wives to the Sheriff and neighbor respectively, accompanied them. There is a difference in perception by men and women during the investigations. Women were quiet from the beginning of the investigation because they were not part of the investigation team but had come to collect some household materials for Minnie Wright, who was then behind bars in prison over the alleged murder of her husband, Mr. John Wright. Men are portrayed as “outsiders,” whereas their wives are the “insiders’” in the play. This is based on how they carried on with their investigations and the results (Holstein 45).

Men perceived the setting literally as lone farmhouse that had no evidence of life in it. On the other hand, women perceived the place as a home. The men’s interpretation did not involve any feeling or association to the place, which is why they perceived it from the outside as lonely farmhouse. Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale associated with the place as the home where people lived and interacted (Glaspell 8).

The “outsiders” (men) used formal scientific approaches of investigation to gather facts. They were mainly concerned with facts that related to the murder and had no time for other minute details, which they thought was not important at that time. The attorney uses the investigation book to guide in gathering what was required in the case. They are systematic in their investigation procedures as they move from one room to the other conducting their search. At the end of their investigations in the rooms, both the Sheriff and the Attorney are convinced beyond any reasonable doubt that no stone had been left unturned, except for the unnecessary details (Glaspell 12). Interestingly, they discover at the end of the play that they had not gathered any tangible evidence related to the murder and were as naïve as they had been before the investigations. During the investigations, they followed a predetermined procedure and did not associate with Mr. Wright’s situation to dig out some of the details they had overlooked. To them, there was no difference between Mr. Wright and his wife. They are considered as “outsiders” in this play because they separated themselves from the situation and conducted their investigations as third parties. This explains why they gathered information as their approach would allow them. In addition, the source of conflict was internal. It was about the oppression Mrs. Wright had been subjected to by her husband. She killed him to regain her spirit back and be free (Glaspell 22).

On the other hand, women were keen on detail. They conducted their research without a particular but applied one principle that saw them unveiling the critical evidence to the case, something that men had not been able to perceive. They identified with Mrs. Wright’s situation as part of her suffering. They visualized what she had undergone and tried re-enacting her actions. This qualifies them as “insiders” to the conflict. Only the oppressed understands the pain of oppression, not the oppressor. The play was set in a male dominated society where men oppressed and disregarded their wives. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters found it easy to unveil the evidence because they tackled the source of conflict by relating to their own experiences. Perhaps, they were also undergoing the same experience and psychological imprisonment that Mrs. Wright had been undergoing. They understood what had compelled Minnie to kill her husband. Ironically, men could not reach this level of thinking because they had not acknowledged that they were the source of oppression to their wives (Holstein 47).

As described before, this play is set in a male dominated society and women were mistreated by their husbands. This explains why the three men investigating the case looked down upon their wives and thought that nothing good could come out of their investigations. Had they accepted that they were the cause of distress in their wives, they could nave gauged why and how the murder took place (Glaspell 26). Consequently, they would have unveiled the critical evidence. They were not interested in knowing what had compelled Mrs. Wright to kill the husband but only viewed her from the legal perspective, a criminal and murderer. This makes them outsiders to the conflict in the play because of their lack of attention to detail. Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale are insiders to the conflict and identify with it through their own life experiences. This is the reason they managed to get to the minute detail and found the evidence men had not been able. Despite their decision to remain silent, they turn out as successful, even though they had been portrayed as inferior. Their decision to keep quiet is justified because Mrs. Wright had done the right thing and as long as men were naïve about it, they would use the same approach to gaining the freedom.

Friday, February 8, 2013

Example of a Research Paper

Free Example of a Research Paper

Major changes to the program in most developed countries for the past eight years have led to significant expert growth programs, particularly those relating to additional education and learning. These were mostly by means of workshops or classes where instructors joined specified schools. They were required to travel, which meant extra time away from universities and expenses such as transport costs. While advantages of in-service exercising are available, some authors are still criticizing it. Different techniques to computer expertise growth that are more affordable with regards to useful sources may better fit the needs of the developed and developing nations.

In this perspective, a research was performed into the effectiveness of school-based computer growth programs.  Below is a very simple edition of the computer database integration levels. The designs' characteristics decide the actual work-flow, which in many circumstances is much more repetitive than this article indicates (Mertler, 2008). Nevertheless, these subsections do provide general information on the database integration strategy that one should use. In broader conditions, one should split the growth procedure into three primary stages: research, development, and distribution. Each of these primary levels should contain several sub-stages, all of which form the complete growth procedure. Each level results to a specific decision or product that is a fundamental element of the overall growth procedure, or both. In most circumstances, the venture designer and customers should communicate during all the three levels.


Our company can write a custom research paper for you!



Research stage
During the Research Level, one should perform an initial discovery of the customers needs and wants so that a decision can be made on whether or not it is likely that there is a go between the client's needs and wants. If a prospective for such a go prevails and the client is enthusiastic about acquiring the presented solutions, one should settle on the agreement's details. Depending on these discussions, both parties choose on whether or not they want to perform together on the application's growth. The collection of historical data from one’s company or a competitor in the industry would give better results.

Contract developing course
If both associates choose that they do want to perform together on the application's growth, appropriate records are finalized. This phase also represents the client's contract in protecting the necessary costs as described in the finalized agreements. An extensive papers is then put together explaining the program and its performance on growth cost framework and schedule. This procedure is considerably complicated, and usually begins with any heritage programs or currently managed perform procedure analysis. This then continues with an analysis on different kinds of customer’s needs and wants (Hinchey, 2008).

One relatively easy, yet very appropriate way to describe the appropriate procedures from the technological viewpoint is to say that the details that are being gathered from the customers can be separated into topics, features of such topics, and work-flow that explains. Depending on the customer’s needs analysis, topics become platforms and characteristics of these topics become new platforms. Workflow related factors are used for determining what types of customer connections are required. For example, the types of reviews, the components required, and how the types should be linked to each other.

Development stage
The venture associates must do what is required to fulfill the explanations that are published in the Customers Specifications Declaration. The program growth and programming procedure and the examining with the customers procedure that are described below may have to be recurred until all the necessities specified in declaration have been met. Well recorded application requirements help to reduce the number of development and customer testing periods that are required. Project designers should also take notices in planning for the application's next, improved edition (Reilly, 2003).

It should be noted that different customers should test the application. Project designers should make sure that they have the necessary sources available for managing all the reviews. The new application ought to fulfill the customers’ needs successfully. The greatest distinction in this area is the venture producer's ability to carry out performance testing. Based on these findings, the venture designer must recognize the projects and goals that have to be met so that application's utilization issues are exercised.

Project designer should make sure that the customer associate group and the client's control associates stay dedicated to the purposes, its development related organized source needs, and its utilization in the development atmosphere (Mitchell, 2008). Every application development function and performance that is described in customers’ specifications declaration should get enough attention, and in every step of the way, different features should be finished on time.

If required, venture designers should use the additional or back-up sources that were determined during the venture preparation level. Project designers should be careful about assigning some time to other sources for growth of new capabilities, unless the client demands them. If a currently managed step satisfies customers’ specifications statement's information, it is advisable to work with it. People can always think about something better than they have. Therefore, any product can be considered better than it currently is. Reality can never be compared to what individuals’ creativity can create. At a certain point, the additional time put into the additional upgrades simply does not rationalize the outcomes. So, the client should make the advised choices about when the additional costs should be validated. One can always make the next edition of the present program. Below is a representation of a developed program.

Distribution stage
The producer's policy should be to correct the development errors, such as the malfunctions that are found after the realization of the advancement procedure. This should be 100 % free during the specified examining time. In the same way, if one forgets to carry out a task based on the Customers Specifications Declaration, they should happily do so for free as soon as possible. However, there is some period in which the client should analyze the program. After that duration, any perform that needs to be done, such as pining out errors, should be charged independently.

After the program has been applied, the client's associate and the designer analyze it and make sure that all the features listed in Customers Specifications Declaration work as described. Thereafter, client's advisers and the organization's advisers sign on the Customers Specifications Declaration, showing that the stated tasks have been completed. Customer orientation is a very important aspect of the overall database integration procedure. Customers who have not been trained are less effective and less pleased with the program. Very little or no orientation may lead to a change in attitude by the user of the new program. At least some of the individuals operating for the client should become fully familiar with the new program. Preparations should be made so that these individuals can provide solutions to the customers’ questions.

Customer’s declaration
Customer Specifications Declaration identifies that which will be conducted, achievement work deadlines, price framework, and extra terms. Every aspect of customers’ specifications declaration explains the program or the growth procedure from a different position and every aspect of it, such as input/output model, is written information of either certain aspects of the program or the growth procedure. For the best possible results, the venture growth levels and steps can and should be customized using the designs' characteristics (Cohen & Manion, 2004). In the same way, customers’ specifications statement's parts can be customized, so that it uses the designs' characteristics.

This approach improves performance by helping to confirm that all the necessary components have been designed and that all that was designed is in the venture. It also helps to reduce the prospect of uncertainty or arguments between the designer and client about the program after it has been built (Somekh, 2005). After examining and utilizing the program, users may find capabilities that should be included to the program, as well as variations that should be made. Minimal variations can often be managed without price overruns. If the variations are minor and extra value is appropriate, any capabilities and variations can be included to the application's current edition. Otherwise, any of the above can be included to the application's next edition. That is, programs can and often should be, designed in editions so that each one of them is fully useful and develops on the past perform. In such a case, each edition should have its own customer specifications declaration.

Order custom research paper on any topic