Moral Agency Essay Example for Free

Moral Agency Essay Most philosophers suggest only rational beings, who can reason and form self-interested judgments, are capable of being moral agents. Some suggest those with limited rationality (for example, people who are mildly mentally disabled or infants[1]) also have some basic moral capabilities. [3] Determinists argue all of our actions are the product of antecedent causes, and some believe this is incompatible with free will and thus claim that we have no real control over our actions. Immanuel Kant argued that whether or not our real self, the noumenal self, can choose, we have no choice but to believe that we choose freely when we make a choice. This does not mean that we can control the effects of our actions. Some Indeterminists would argue we have no free will either. If, with respect to human behaviour, a so-called cause results in an indeterminate number of possible, so-called effects, that does not mean the person had the free-thinking independent will to choose that effect. More likely, it was the indeterminate consequence of his chance genetics, chance experiences and chance circumstances relevant at the time of the cause. In Kants philosophy, this calls for an act of faith, the faith free agent is based on something a priori, yet to be known, or immaterial. Otherwise, without free agents a priori fundamental source, socially essential concepts created from human mind, such as justice, would be undermined (responsibility implies freedom of choice) and, in short, civilization and human values would crumble. It is useful to compare the idea of moral agency with the legal doctrine of mens rea, which means guilty mind, and states that a person is legally responsible for what he does as long as he should know what he is doing, and his choices are deliberate. Some theorists discard any attempts to evaluate mental states and, instead, adopt the doctrine of strict liability, whereby one is liable under the law without regard to capacity, and that the only thing is to determine the degree of punishment, if any. Moral determinists would most likely adopt a similar point of view. Psychologist Albert Bandura has observed that moral agents engage in selective moral disengagement in regards to their own inhumane conduct. [4].

Major Trends Which Affect Microprocessor Information Technology Essay

Major Trends Which Affect Microprocessor Information Technology Essay In the first section I selected the question about Memory Management Unit of Linux operation system. In this section I described the strategies and mechanism used by Memory Management, problems faced by these techniques and solutions to overcome it. In the section number two I chose the question about microprocessor. This question discussed how microprocessors work, major trends affecting to their performance, differences between microprocessors design goals for laptops, servers, desktops and embedded systems. 2 Section1: Linux Operating System Introduction Linux, one of the free open source operating system does sufficient memory management activities to keep the system stable and users demand for errors free. As processes and threads executes, they read instructions from memory and decode it. In such act, instructions would be fetched or store contents of a location in a memory. Then, the processor would execute the instructions which in either way the memory would be accessed in fetching instructions or storing the data. Linux uses a copy-on-write scheme. If two or more programs are using the same block of memory, only one copy is actually in RAM, and all the programs read the same block. If one program writes to that block, then a copy is made for just that program. All other programs still share the same memory. Linux handles memory in such a way that when RAM is not in use, the operating system uses it as disk cache. Below diagram illustrate a brief overview of Linux operating system. C:UsersuserDesktopimages.jpg 3 Memory Management The term memory management refers to the one of the most important parts of the operating system. It consider in provision of memory-related services to applications. These services include virtual memory (use of a hard disk or other non-RAM storage media to provide additional program memory), protected memory (exclusive access to a region of memory by a process), and shared memory (cooperative access to a region of memory by multiple processes). Linux memory management does use the platform of Memory Management Unit which translate physical memory addresses to liner ones used by the system and page fault interrupt are requested when the processor tries to access to memory that is not entitled to. Virtual Memory Virtual memory of Linux is using a disk as an extension of RAM therefore that the effective size of convenient memory grows respectively. The kernel will write the substance of a currently dormant block of memory to the hard disk so that the memory can be used for another function. When the original contents are necessary again, they are read back into memory. This is all made completely transparent to the user; programs running under Linux only see the larger amount of memory available and dont notice that parts of them reside on the disk from time to time. Obviously, reading and writing the hard disk is slower (on the order of a thousand times slower) than using real memory, so the programs dont run as fast. The part of the hard disk that is used as virtual memory is called the  swap space. Virtual memory system consist of all virtual addresses not physical addresses. These virtual addresses are transformed into physical addresses by the processor based on information held in a set of tables maintained by the operating system. To make this conversion easier, virtual and physical memory are shared into handy sized pieces called pages. These pages are all the same size, if they were different size, the system would be very hard to administer 4 The schemes for Memory Management The simplicity of Linux memory model facilitates program implementation and portability in different systems. There exist two schemes for implementation of memory management in Linux; 1.Paging 2.Swapping Paging Demand Paging Currently, saving is done using physical memory by virtual pages when compiling a program. In latter case when a program runs to query a database, not all database will respond, but only those with data records to be checked. For instance a database request for search query will only be loaded and not database with programs that works to add new records. This is also referred to as demand paging. The purpose of using demand paging is to load performing images into a process of virtual memory. Every time when a command is accomplished, the file containing it is opened and its contents are displayed into the processs virtual memory. Memory mapping is executed by modifying the data structure which is describing this process. Even so the rest of the image is left on disk ,only the first part of the image is actually sent into physical memory. Linux uses memory map to identify parts of image to load into memory by generating page faults as the image executes. 5 C:UsersfoxDesktopmmu-vs-iommu-memory.png Page Faults Page fault exception are generated when a process tries to access an unknown page to memory management unit. The handler goes further in examining the currently running process`s memory information and MMU state, then determines whether the fault is good or bad. As good page faults cause the handler to give more memory to the process, the bad faults invoke the handler to terminate the process. From good page faults are expected behaviour to whenever a program allocates a dynamic memory to run a section of code, write a for the first time a section of data or increases its stack size. In such a case when a process tries to access this newly memory, page fault is declared by MMU and the system adds a fresh page of memory to the process`s table. The interrupted process is the resumed. In cases where a process attempt to access a memory that its doesnt own or follows a NULL pointer then bad faults occur. Additionally, it could also be due to bugs in the kernel in which case the handler w ill print an oops information before terminates/killing the process. 6 Swapping Linux separates its physical RAM (random access memory) into pieces of memory called pages. The process of Swapping is accomplished by copying a page of memory to the preconfigured space on the hard disk, known as a swap space, to exempt that page of memory. The combined sizes of the physical memory and the swap space is the amount of virtual memory available. Swapping is done mainly for two reasons; One is insufficient memory required by the system when physical memory is not available. The kernel does swaps out the less used pages and supply the resources to currently running processes. Second, a significant number of the pages used by an application during its start-up phase may only be used for initialization and then never used again. The system can swap out those pages and free the memory for other applications or even for the disk cache. Nevertheless, swapping does have a disadvantage. If Compare with memory, disks are very slow. For example, memory speeds are measured in nanoseconds, but disks are measured in milliseconds, so admittance to the physical memory can be significantly faster than accessing disk. It depends how often swapping occurs, if it happens frequently your system will be slower. Sometimes excessive swapping or thrashing occurs where a page is swapped out and then very soon swapped in and then swapped out again and so on. In such situations the system is struggling to find free memory and keep applications running at the same time. In this case only adding more RAM will help. There are two forms of swap space: the swap partition and the swap file. The swap partition is a substantive section of the hard disk which is used only for swapping; other files cannot locate there. A special file in the file system which stands amongst your system and data files called a swap file. 7 Problems of virtual memory management in Linux There are several possible problems with the page replacement algorithm in Linux , which can be listed as follows: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The system may react badly to variable VM load or to load spikes after a period of no VM activity. Since the Kswapd, the page out daemon, only scans when the system is low on memory, the system can end up in a state where some pages have reference bits from the last 5 seconds, while other pages have reference bits from 20 minutes ago. This means that on a load spike the system have no clue which are the right pages to evict from memory, this can lead to a swapping storm, where the wrong pages are evicted and almost immediately after towards faulted back in, leading to the page out of another random page, etc. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ There is no method to prevent the possible memory deadlock. With the arrival of journaling and delay allocation file systems it is possible that the systems will need to allocate memory in order to free memory, that is, to write out data so memory can become free. It may be useful to introduce some algorithm to prevent the possible deadlock under extremely low memory situation. Conclusion All in all, Linux memory management seems to be effective than before and this is based on the assumption that Linux has less applications that it runs as to compared to windows machines which has more users and more applications. Beside, the system may react badly to variable VM load However, regular updates from Linux has managed to lessen the bugs. Swapping does require more disk memory in case the physical memory is insufficient to serve more demanding applications and if the disk space is too low the user runs the risk of waiting or kill other process for other programs to work. Additionally, resuming the swapped pages may result into corrupted data, but Linux has been in upper hand to solve such bugs. 8 Frequently Ask Questions What is the main goal of the Memory Management? The Memory Management Unit should be able to decide which process should locate in the main memory; should control the parts of the virtual space of a process which is non-core resident; responsible for monitoring the available main memory and for the writing processes into the swap device in order to provide more processor fit in the main memory at the same time. What is called a page fault? Page fault appear when the process addresses a page in the working set of the process but the process is not able to locate the page in the working set. To overcome this problem kernel should updates the working set by reading the page from the secondary device. What is the Minimum Memory Requirement? Linux needs at least 4MB, and then you will need to use special installation procedures until the disk swap space is installed. Linux will run comfortably in 4MB of RAM, although running GUI apps is impractically slow because they need to swap out to disk. 9 Section 2: Microprocessor Introduction Microprocessor incorporates all or most of the functions of Central Processor Unit (CPU) on a single integrated circuit, so in the world of personal computers, the terms microprocessor and CPU are used interchangeably. The microprocessor is the brain of any computer, whether it is a desktop machine, a server or a laptop. It processes instructions and communicates with outside devices, controlling most of the operation of the computer. How Microprocessors Work Microprocessor Logic A microprocessor performs a collection of machine instructions that tell the processor what to do. A microprocessor does 3 main things based on the instructions: Using its ALU (Arithmetic/Logic Unit), a microprocessor is able to perform mathematical operations like addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. A microprocessor is able to move data from one memory location to another. A microprocessor is able to make decisions and jump to a new set of instructions based on those decisions. 10 The following diagram shows how to extremely simple microprocessor capable of doing of 3 jobs. The microprocessor contains: An address bus that sends an address to memory A data bus that can sends data to memory or receive data from memory A RD (read) and WR (write) line to tell the memory whether to set or get the address A clock line lets a clock pulse sequence the processor A reset line that resets the program counter to zero and restarts execution 11 Here the explanation of components and how they perform: Registers A, B and C are kind of latches that made out of flip-flops The address latch is just like registers A, B and C. The program counter is a latch with the extra capacity to increment by 1 when or reset to zero it is needed. Major trends which affect microprocessor performance and design Increasing number of Cores: A dual-core processor is a  CPU  with two processors or execution cores in the same  integrated circuit. Each processor has its own  cache  and controller, which enables it to function as efficiently as a single processor. However, because the two processors are linked together, they can perform operations up to twice as fast as a single processor can. The Intel Core Duo, the AMD X2, and the dual-core PowerPC G5 are all examples of CPUs that use dual-core technologies. These CPUs each combine two processor cores on a single silicon chip. This is different than a dual processor configuration, in which two physically separate CPUs work together. However, some high-end machines, such as the PowerPC G5 Quad, use two separate dual-core processors together, providing up to four times the performance of a single processor. 12 Reducing size of processor Size of the processor the one of the major trend what is affecting to the processor in last years time. When the processor becoming small there will be many advantages like it can include many cores to a processor, it will protect energy, it will increase its speed also. 45nm Processor Technology Intel has introduced 45nm Technology in Intel Core 2 and Intel Core i7 Processor Family. Intel 45nm High-K Silicon Processors contain Larger L2 Cache than 65nm Processors. 32nm ProcessorTechnology At research level Intel have introduced 32nm processor (Code Name Nehalem- based Westmere) which will be released in 2nd quarter of 2009 Energy saving Energy is one of the most important resources in the world. Therefore we must save and protect it for future purpose. The power consumption in microprocessor would be one of the major trends. For instance, Intel Core 2 family of processors are very efficient processor, they have very intelligent power management features, such à Ã‚ °s, ability to deactivate unused cores; it still draws up to 24 watts in idle mode. 13 High speed cache and buses In Past year Microprocessor Manufactures like Intel has introduced new cache technologies to their processors which can gain more efficiency improvements and reduce latency. Intel Advanced Smart Cache technology is a multicore cache that reduce latency to frequency used data in modern processor the cache size is increased up to 12MB installing a heat sink and microprocessor 14 Differences between Microprocessors Servers Originally the microprocessor for server should give uninterrupted time and stability with low power consumption and less resources allocating processor for System Cache. Thats why most of the time they use Unix and Linux as the Server based operating systems, because they take less amount of hardware resources and use effectively so the heat which dispatches from the processor is less and the heating would be less. Desktop Processors The desktop microprocessors are a bit different from server microprocessors, because they are not very much concerned of power consumption or use less resources of Operation system. The goal of Desktop microprocessors is to deliver as much performance as possible while keeping the cost of the processor low and power consumption within reasonable limits. Another important fact is out there, it is most of the programs which are being used in desktop machines are designed to do long time processor scheduling jobs like rendering a high definition image, or compiling a source file. So the processors are also designed to adopt those kinds of processing. Laptop Processor The CPU produces a lot of heats, in the desktop computers there are a systems of fans, heat sinks, channels and radiators that are uses to cool off the computer. Since laptop has small size, and far less room for any cooling methods, the CPU usually: Runs at a lower voltage and clock speed (reduces heat output and power consumption but slows the processor down) Has a sleep or slow-down mode (when the computer is not in use or when the processor does not need to run as quickly the operation system reduces the CPU speed) 15 Embedded Microprocessors Most of the embedded devices using Microcontrollers instead of separate Microprocessors; they are an implementation of whole computer inside a small thumb size chip called Microcontroller. These microcontrollers are varying its performance due to battery consumption and Instruction length issues. Most of them are designed using RISC architecture to minimize the complexity and the number of instructions per processor. Embedded device processors have high speed potential but the problem they are having is high power consumption and heating. Conclusion Current technology allows for one processor socket to provide access to one logical core. But this approach is expected to change, enabling one processor socket to provide access to two, four, or more processor cores. Future processors will be designed to allow multiple processor cores to be contained inside a single processor module. 16 Frequently Ask Questions: 1. How does the operating system share the cpu in a multitasking system? There are two basic ways of establishing a multitasking environment; times lice and priority based. In a a times lice multitasking environment each application is given a set amount of time (250 milliseconds, 100 milliseconds, etc) to run then the scheduler turns over execution to some other process. In such an environment each READY application takes turns, allowing them to effectively share the CPU. In a priority based environment each application is assigned a priority and the process with the highest priority will be allowed to execute as long as it is ready, meaning that it will run until it needs to wait for some kind of resource such as operator input, disk access or communication. Once a higher priority process is no longer ready, the next higher process will begin execution until it is no longer ready or until the higher priority process takes the processor back. Most real-time operating systems in use today tend to be some kind of combination of the two. 2.What is a multi-core? Two or more independent core combined into a single package composed of a single integrated circuit is known as a multi-core processor. 3. What is the difference between a processor and a microprocessor? generally, processor would be the part of a computer that interprets (and executes) instructions A microprocessor, is a CPU that is in just one IC (chip). For example, the CPU in a PC is in a chip so it can also be referred to as microprocessor. It has come to be called a microprocessor, because in the older days processors would normally be implemented in many ICs, so it was considered quite a feat to include the whole CPU in one chip that they called it a Microprocessor 17

Management of Implant Related Nerve Injury

Management of Implant Related Nerve Injury Nerve injury following implant therapy often results in paraesthesic or anaesthesic effects that affect quality of life of the patient. Patients usually experience postoperative changes in sensation, including pain, even though the intraoperative procedures were uneventful. In cases of uneventful clinical implant placement procedures, a postoperative telephonic interview, as soon as the effects of anaesthesia have dissipated, will enable the clinician to determine possible nerve injury and hence initiate management protocols. Postoperative radiography would be essential to assess whether the inferior alveolar nerve canal or mental foramen have been traversed, however it must be noted that absence of radiographic findings do not preclude nerve injury. Management protocols aim to alleviate pain, loss of normal sensation and overall discomfort following nerve related injuries, with varying degrees of success depending on the nature of injury. Hence, it is clearly identified that the imp ortance of comprehensive pre-planning mitigates the need for management of nerve related injuries. Nerve injuries in the maxilla are relatively uncommon compared to mandible. Branches of the greater palatine nerve, posterior superior alveolar nerve, and the nasopalatine nerve, which supply the gingival issues in the anterior and posterior palate and buccal mucosa of the maxilla, are inevitably damaged due to flap procedures in implant therapy. Due to the rich anastomosis between these nerves, very rarely does this damage result in neural deficit. Numerous academic studies have been attributed to implant related nerve injury of the mandibular branch of the trigeminal nerve, more importantly, the inferior alveolar nerve, mental nerve, and the lingual nerve. Interventions can be broadly classified as, a.  Non-surgical b.  Surgical, and c.  alternate treatments. a. Non-Surgical Therapy This form of therapy should be mandated as soon as signs and / or symptoms of nerve injury be suspected, whether intraoperatively or postoperatively. Corticosteriods, dexamethasone (8mg daily for 3 days) or prednisolone (1mg/kg/day up to 80mg day), in high doses have been shown to minimize neuropathies in acute nerve injuries if administered within 1 week of the injury. A non-steriodal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) could be added to the regimen or prescribed as an alternative. Ibuprofen, 800mg three times daily for 3 weeks, is a suitable NSAID. Corticosteriods and NSAIDs reduce the inflammatory response with corticosteroids having the added effect of preventing ectopic discharges from injured axons and preventing neuroma formation (Juodzbalys et al, 2011). Pain and temperature are the first sensations to resolve with other sensations taking longer (Alhassani and Alghamdi, 2010: 405; Juodzbalys et al, 2011). The use of topical applications has not been broadly researched. Capsaicin and clonidine patches along with EMLA paste (4% lignocaine) are some of the products used to treat hyperalgesia with varying success. Topical clonazepam, 0.5mg to 1.0 mg 3 times day was shown to be effective in relieving burning oral pain (Graff-Radford and Evans, 2003: 979, Fukada et al, 2012). Tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs), antiepileptic drugs, and muscle relaxants have been effective in treating cases with neuropathic pain and intermittent pains which exhibit an â€Å"electric shock† – like symptoms (Graff-Radford and Evans, 2003: 980). An example of a TCA is amitriptyline although other antidepressants can be used. In patients where TCAs are contraindicated, serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (Venlafaxine) can be prescribed. Gabapentin and topiramate are antiepileptic drugs which stabilize the injured nerve membrane. It must be noted that this class pharmacological agents depress the activity in the central and peripheral nervous systems. Hence patients on these therapies can expect side effects including, drowsiness, loss of memory, and somnolence. It can be expected that some patients cannot manage the side effects of these drugs and opt to live with pain or altered sensations (Renton et al, 2012; Park et al, 2010: 345). Cryotherapy is effective treatment to minimize swelling over the osteotomy site and hence minimizing secondary nerve damage due to swelling. Use of ice packs in the first 24 hours promotes post-surgical recovery and reduces nerve degeneration and neuroma formation (Juodzbalys et al, 2011). A stellate ganglion block is a treatment modality that used to treat patients experiencing chronic neuropathic pain and to relieve subjective symptoms. If performed early,1 to 2 month post nerve injury, it accelerates neurophysiological repair by blocking the sympathetic nervous system hence increasing blood flow and decreasing oedema (Fukada et al,2012;). A more recent non-surgical, non-invasive approach includes the use low level laser therapy (LLLT), also known as cold laser therapy, for inducing tissue repair. The initial concept, now available for mainstream commercial use, has been gaining interest as research with over 200 random clinical trials have been already published, 50% of which were aimed at pain relief, but it must be noted fewer studies have investigated its efficacy in the head and neck region. LLLT broadly aims to reduce inflammation and provide analgesia by blocking peripheral axonal transmission and stimulating nerve regeneration / healing. After repeated treatments with LLLT, decreased central sensitization is acheived (ThorLaser). [ABDUL PLEASE ASSIST ME WITH THAT REFERENCE FROM THORLASER]. In animal studies, LLLT has shown positive results in enhancing myelination of axons and nerve function. In the Midamba and Haanaes 1993 study, similar protocols were used on patients with long standing inferior alveolar or l ingual nerve neurosensory deficits, an average of 71,1% improvement was noticed in subjective symptoms (cited in Ozen et al, 2006: 7). The use of vitamin B12 as an adjunct with routine pharmacotherapy is thought to promote the regeneration of nerve terminals. Modalities that increase blood flow to the injured nerve also promote healing. These include near infrared therapy to increase local blood flow and adenosine triphosphate by causing vasodialation. b.Surgical Therapy Microsurgical repair includes procedures that involve internal neurolysis, external neurolysis, and removal of the neuroma. Microsurgical repair of the injured nerve carries its own risk as permanent anaesthesia is a possibility. Hence, these procedures are carried out with aid of a microscope by specialist neurosurgeons or trained maxillo-facial surgeons. Microsurgical repair of the lingual or inferior alveolar nerve has been shown to have significantly improved sensory outcomes in most patients with total recovery in a fewer patients. Zicchardi et al (2009: 300) have concluded that statistically, there were no significant differences between the microsurgical neurosensory outcomes between the inferior alveolar and lingual nerves. It has been reported that 55% to 82% of patients show improved neurosensory outcomes of microsurgical repair of the inferior alveolar nerve (Strauss et al, 2006: 1769; Bagheri et al, 2012: 1983). This wide range leads to hypothesize that other factors play a role in the outcomes of microsurgical nerve repair. Time between the nerve injury and microsurgical repair has been a topic of debate with regards to sensory outcomes. Some groups advocate early repair (6 month or earlier post-injury), and some groups finding no statistical difference in sensory outcomes between early or later repairs. However, in a retrospective cohort study undertaken by Bagheri et al, a cohort of 167 patients were evaluated post-microsurgical repair, where it was deduced that early repairs were directly related to better outcomes. Younger patients (patients less than 51 years) also yielded a more favourable outcome than older patients. Neurosensory testing will also give insight into the severity of damage and hence the outcome of microsurgical repair, if indicated. In cases where it has been clearly established that nerve damage has occurred post implant therapy, removal of the implant within 24 to 30 hours has been shown to resolve neuropathy (Renton et al, 2012). c.  Other Treatment Modalities It is clear from above that nerve injury post implant therapy has an effect on the quality of life of affected patients. Some patients even lose confidence in their treating physician / dentist / specialist as a result, and opt for alternate management strategies. Psychotherapeutic interventions, including cognitive behavioural therapy, aim to manage the resulting depression, if diagnosed. When combined with psycho-active chemotherapy, stress management techniques, and hypnosis, has been shown to be effective in managing neuropathic pain. Patients are taught to modify their behaviours according to their symptoms, psychological traits and ultimately decreasing patients’ pain-related disability (Dickenson et al, 2010: 1644). Further investigation into treatment modalities for nerve injuries, iatrogenic or otherwise, make mention of other procedures, that are beyond the topic of this discussion, but include the use of epidural injections, neuromodulation, transcutaneous electrical stimulation, spinal cord stimulation and deep brain stimulation. There are no clearly defined management protocols for the management of nerve injury post implant therapy, however, Juodzbalys et al, (2011), have constructed a management guideline that incorporates some of the treatment modalities described above (See Table 1). REFERENCES Alhassani, A., Alghamdi, A.S.T., 2010. Inferior alveolar nerve injury in implant dentistry: Diagnosis, causes, prevention, and management. Journal of Oral Implantology, 36 (5), 401 – 407, viewed 30 April 2014, (Ebsco online / Allen Press). Bagheri, S.C, Meyer, R.A, Cho, S,H, Thoppay, J, Khan, H.A, Steed, M, 2012. Microsurgical repair of the inferior alveolar nerve: Success rate and factors that adversely affect outcome. Journal of Oral Maxillofacial Surgery, 70, 1978 – 1990, viewed 30 April 2014, (online Science Direct). Dickinson, B.D, Head, A, Gitlow, S, Osbahr III, A.J, 2010. Maldynia: Pathophysiology and management of neuropathic and maladaptive pain – A report of the AMA Council on Science and Public Health. Pain Medicine, 11, 1635 – 1653, viewed 24 May 2014, (Ebsco online / Wiley Blackwell). Fukuda, K, Ichinohe, T, Kaneko, Y, 2012. Pain management for nerve injury following dental implant surgery at a Tokyo dental college hospital. International Journal of Dentistry. vol. 2012, Article ID 209474, viewed 22 April 2014, (Ebsco online / Hindawi Corporation). Graff-Radford, S.B, Evans, R.W, 2003. Lingual nerve injury. Headache, 43, 975 – 983, viewed 21 April 2014, (Ebsco online / Wiley Blackwell). Juodzbalys, G., Wang, H-L, Sbalys, G., 2011. Injury of the inferior alveolar nerve during implant placement: a literature review. Journal of Oral Maxillofacial Research , 2 (1), 1 – 20, viewed 22 April 2014, (Ebsco online). Ozen, T, Orhan, K, Gorur, I, Ozturk, A, 2006. Efficacy of low level laser therapy on neurosensory recovery after injury to the inferior alveolar nerve. Head Face Medicine, 2, 3-9, viewed 01 June 2014, (Ebsco online / BioMed Central). Park, J.H, Lee, S.H, Kim, S.T, 2010. Pharmacological management of trigeminal nerve pain after implant surgery. International Journal of Prosthodontics, 23, 342 – 346, viewed 22 April 2014, (Ebsco online, Quintessence) Renton, T., Dawood, A., Shah, A., Searson, L., Yilmaz, Z., 2012. Post-implant neuropathy of the trigeminal nerve. A case series. British Dental Journal, 212 (E17), 1 – 6, viewed 30 April 2014, (online Nature Group). Strauss, E.R, Ziccardi, V.B, Janal, M.N, 2006. Outcome assessment of inferior alveolar nerve microsurgery : a retrospective review. Journal of Oral Maxillofacial Surgery, 64, 1767 – 1770, viewed 05 May 2014, (Ebsco online/ Quintessence). Ziccardi, V.B, Riviera, L, Gomes, J, 2009. Comparison of lingual and inferior alveolar nerve microsurgery outcomes. Quintessence International, 40, 295 – 301, viewed 02 May 2014, (Ebsco online/ Quintessence). THORLASER

Marketing Strategies :: essays research papers

Title:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Guidelines in Increasing the Number of Sales (applicable in any Industry; most Applicable in the Food Industry) Researcher:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  RuthLenlea B. Villela Professor:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dr. M. Pangilinan School:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Technological University of the Philippines Year:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1st Sem School Year 2004 Problem How to increase the Sales in a Local Ice Cream Parlor Summary / Findings PROBLEM ONE: NO SUNDAE DESCRIPTIONS The first problem we saw was that he was only listing the names of his sundaes, since there was no room for a description of each sundae. While this wasn't a problem for his Basic Sundaes, after all, everyone knows what's in a Pineapple Sundae, or a Hot Fudge Sundae, it was a huge problem with his Specialty Sundaes. Many of his Specialty Sundaes had fun, 'creative' names, like The Lala Palooza, The Zombie and The Razzana. Maybe Frank and his staff, and a few of his long-time customers, knew what those sundaes were, but we were certain that most of his customers didn't have a clue. Frank had assumed that his customers knew what those sundaes contained, or if they didn't, they would simply ask. People don't buy what they don't understand. And few are going to ask. They will take the path of least resistance and just buy what they are familiar with -- Pineapple Sundaes, Hot Fudge Sundaes, etc. PROBLEM TWO: NO PICTURES We've all heard that a 'picture is worth a thousand words.' Well, that saying is especially true when it comes to food. When you show pictures of desserts in restaurants, you will sell a lot more desserts. Some restaurants are even more savvy, and actually display the desserts or bring them right to your table for you to see. The bottom line -- visuals sell! Frank had never really thought about his menu system. The plain white letters on the black display boards had been his system since the day his business opened. He never considered adding pictures to his menu. Conclusion: Our experience in marketing, and our knowledge of how people buy, made it clear to us, that these two problems -- obscure sundae names with no descriptions, and no pictures of the sundaes themselves -- were making it nearly impossible for Frank's customers to order his higher-priced sundaes. Having pinpointed the problems, the solution was relatively easy. We suggested that Frank take pictures of each of his Specialty Sundaes, and have them enlarged. Frank then had two large signs made to be placed at both ends of his ordering counter, above his cashiers to make it easy for his customers to see the Specialty Sundaes and what they contained.

The Influence Of Organisational Culture Versus National Culture Essay

The Influence Of Organisational Culture Versus National Culture Within The Global Group of Companies Author: Table of Contents: Executive Summary  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Page 3 Company Background  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Page 4 Research Analysis  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Page 6 Recommendations  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Page 13 References  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Page 15 Appendix  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  (Survey questionnaire attached as a separate document) Executive Summary: Research (1) indicates that national culture has a greater impact on employees than does their organisation’s culture and this report examines both cultures within VOLE Inc. a seventeen month old company with the ambition to establish a worldwide presence within three years. At the moment VOLE is small enough to debate and address these issues but diverse enough with operations across four continents in fourteen countries to already be experiencing the strains of cultural differences, particularly between the Far East where the company has its roots and the recently opened markets of Western Europe and the United States. It will hopefully lead to the formulation of some agreed corporate communication policies as these will become increasingly difficult to put together and implement as global expansion... ...rketing of the VOLE network to individual JV companies, who are also granted financial autonomy and control of their respective P&L functions, the primary drawback of such a structure – the reduction of management control over key parts of the business – must be constantly borne in mind. This weakness can be best tackled from the centre by a continual emphasis on the interdependency of each VOLE JV on each other, a fact well recognised in the survey, but easily forgotten in the day to day business activities of each JV as new successful companies are built from the ground up. Maximum advantage must also be taken of the flexibility such an organisational structure provides and the ability of VOLE companies to provide a network management service simply, quickly and for a far smaller cost than the traditional video conferencing industry must be continually highlighted as the company’s USP. References: (1)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  N.J. Adler 2002 International Dimensions of Organizational Behavior. 4th Ed Ciciinatti, OH: Southwestern pp. 67-69 (2)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  S.P. Robbins 2002. Prentice Hall Self Assessment Library. Pearson Education Company

Chinese Foreign Policy Essay

Specific portfolio. (See â€Å"Collective Leadership.†) To ensure Party control, the top-ranked members of the PSC serve concurrently as the heads of other parts of the political system. The top ranked PSC member, Party General Secretary Hu Jintao, for example, serves concurrently as head of the military, in his capacity as head of Chairman of the Central Military Commission, and as the head of State, in his capacity as State President. The second-ranked PSC member, Wu Bangguo, serves as Chairman of the National People’s Congress (NPC), while the third-ranked PSC member, Wen Jiabao, serves as Premier of the State Council, and the fourth-ranked member, Jia Qinglin, heads the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and oversees the Party’s relations with non-Communist groups. Portfolios for other PSC members include the propaganda system; management of the Party bureaucracy and Hong Kong and Macau; finance and economics; Party discipline; and the internal security system. 32 PSC members also head Party â€Å"Leading Small Groups† (LSGs) for their policy areas. LSGs are secretive bodies intended to facilitate cross-agency coordination in implementation of Politburo Standing Committee decisions. The National Security Leading Small Group and the Foreign Affairs Leading Small Group, for example, are both headed by Party General Secretary Hu Jintao. The next highest decision-making body is the full Politburo, which, with the suspension of the disgraced former Chongqing Party Secretary, Bo Xilai, now comprises 24 officials. In addition to the nine members of the PSC, Politburo members include the heads of major departments of the Party bureaucracy, the two highest ranking officers in the Chinese military, State Council Vice Premiers, a State Councilor, and Party leaders from important cities and provinces. The current Politburo has only one female member. Because of its relatively unwieldy size and the geographic diversity of its members, the full Politburo is not involved in day-to-day decision-making. In 2011, it met eight times, with its meetings often focused on a single major policy area or on preparations for major national meetings. According to the Party’s constitution, the PSC and Politburo derive their power from the Central Committee, whose full and alternate members together â€Å"elect† the Politburo, Politburo Standing Committee, and Party General Secretary, and â€Å"decide† on the composition of the Party’s Central Military Commission.34 In practice, incumbent top officials provide a list of nominees to the Central Committee, which ratifies the leadership’s nominees.35 The current nearly 400-member Central Committee (including alternates) is made up of leaders from the provinces (41.5%), central ministries (22.6%), the military (17.5 %), central Party organizations (5.9%), and stateowned enterprises, educational institutions, â€Å"mass organizations† such as the Communist Youth League, and other constituencies (12.4%). The National People’s Congress (NPC) The third major political institution in China is the National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s unicameral national legislature. According to Article 57 of China’s constitution, the NPC is â€Å"the highest organ of state power.† The Constitution tasks the NPC with overseeing the Presidency, the State Council, the State Central Military Commission, the Supreme People’s Court, and China’s national level public prosecutor’s office, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate. In practice, however, the NPC’s powers are severely limited, and the entire entity operates under the leadership of the Communist Party. The public theater of the NPC’s work is centered around its ten-day-long annual full session, held every March and attended by all of the NPC’s nearly 3,000 deputies. The next full session, in March 2013, will mark the start of a new five-year Congress, and is expected to approve a major leadership transition, including a new President and Premier, and new Vice Premiers and State Councilors. At the annual full sessions, NPC deputies almost always vote to approve the reports, laws, and candidates put before them, usually by overwhelming margins, leading many observers to describe the NPC as a â€Å"rubber stamp† parliament. NPC delegates do occasionally push back, however. At the March 2012 session of the NPC, for example, a record 20% of deputies withheld their support from the Ministry of Finance’s budget report, reportedly in protest over the Ministry’s longstanding refusal to accept any NPC suggestions for revisions to the budget.47 (Unlike the U.S. Congress, the National People’s Congress does not pass spending bills. Rather, at the annual full session each year, it votes to approve the budget presented by the Minister of Finance.) The NPC also makes revisions to the Premier’s annual report on the work of the government, the State’s most important policy document. Out of the public eye, individual committees and the Standing Committee exercise more meaningful influence. They shape legislation and can exercise a degree of oversight over government entities through â€Å"inspection† visits and committee reports. The power of individual NPC deputies to exercise oversight is largely restricted to the right to submit â€Å"proposals† advocating for reforms or demanding better implementation of laws or regulations, to which officials are required to respond in writing. Because the annual full session of the congress is so brief, much of the NPC’s work is undertaken by its approximately 175-member Standing Committee, which meets about half a dozen times a year.48 Other important NPC bodies include nine specialized committees and a legislative affairs work committee, all of which review and revise draft legislation before sending it to the Standing Committee or the full Congress for action. Like the State Council, the NPC has a Party organization embedded within it. The NPC’s chairman serves on the Politburo Standing Committee and is currently the Party’s number-two ranked official. NPC deputies are not directly elected. The Communist Party draws up lists of nominees, based in part on potential nominees’ perceived loyalty to the Party. Thirty-five electoral units, most of them provincial-level People’s Congresses, then vote upon the Party’s nominees. The process is modestly competitive in that the Party nominates 20% to 50% more candidates than available positions and those with the most votes are elected to serve as NPC deputies. NPC election rules stipulate quotas for the representation of ethnic minority groups, the military, women, and other groups, including the Party itself. Because China rejects any separation of powers, the President, Premier, and other top leaders are all NPC deputies. 49 Deputies serve for five-year terms. The NPC is the uppermost layer of a nation-wide system of People’s Congresses. These congresses are loosely linked together in process and function. Only deputies for the lowest level of People’s Congresses are directly elected. Traditionally, even at the lowest level, candidate lists are controlled by the Party, and elections are uncontested. Since 2011, however, China has seen a wave of independent candidates contesting elections for People’s Congresses in city districts and townships. Most such candidates have faced forms of official harassment, including intrusive surveillance, extra-legal detention, intimidation of their supporters, and election irregularities designed to keep them from appearing on ballots, but some have succeeded in being elected to office. Corruption Corruption in China is widespread and takes many forms, from lavish gifts and expensive meals bestowed on officials by those seeking favors, to bribes explicitly offered in exchange for permits and approvals, to embezzlement of state funds, exemption of friends and relatives from enforcement of laws and regulations, and the appointment of relatives to lucrative jobs in stateowned companies. A 2011 report released by China’s Central Bank estimated that from the mid- 1990s to 2008, corrupt officials who fled overseas took with them $120 billion in stolen funds.28 The CCP uses its Central Discipline Inspection Commission (CDIC) to police its own ranks for corruption, an arrangement fraught with conflicts of interest. As noted above, the Party metes out its own punishments for wrongdoing by its members, and has sole discretion about whether to hand members over to the state judiciary for investigation and possible prosecution. (See â€Å"Weak Rule of Law and Ineffective Policy Implementation and Enforcement.†) Critics charge that CDIC investigations are frequently politically motivated, even if they uncover real wrongdoing. Officials who keep on the right side of their superiors and colleagues may engage in large-scale corruption, while other officials may be investigated for lesser infractions because they have fallen afoul of powerful officials.

Statistics Data Driven Decision Making

It is known that there are two data types that are utilized to evaluate and draw meaningful conclusions through statistics, population and sample data. These two data types are utilized to formulate end conclusions of data that is to be collected and data that is to be reviewed. The description of population data can best be explained, as the complete collection of all data that is to be queried/collected and reviewed. Sample data, a subset of population data, is the partial collection and review of all data that is to be queried.The relationship of these two data types is simple; sample data is represented as a reflection of the population data and shares a common goal in this comparison through statistics. This can also either be represented as a part or as a whole of all data being evaluated. However we tend to utilize sample data more often than population data primarily as a result that sample data is utilized to formulate a coherent approach to drawing meaningful conclusions ab out the population.We utilize this through random sampling of population data to gather and make an assumption based on the population. This can kind of draw the conclusion that sample data and population data go hand in hand. As an example if we utilize â€Å"Culture Matters: A Survey Study of Social Q&A Behavior† an article which conducted, in 2009, a social survey of questions and answers based on cultural behaviors, we can come to find relatable data that can be identified through the understanding of sample and population data.An overview of this article notes that sample data was collected from four countries and turned overs responses from 933 people, of the population, who held similar job roles and were employed by a singular organization. This was completed to ascertain an understanding of what motivated an individual’s response to ask and answer questions while accessing a social network site.In this response the United States and the United Kingdom provided data which showed that western countries tend to associate themselves more with an individualistic approach and showed a lower context pattern, while China and India, Asian Cultures, tend to better associate themselves more with a high context pattern, and holistic collectivism. This data shows that the method of random sampling was utilized to ascertain a meaningful understanding of the sample data to formulate an assumption about the population of ones culture within these ountries and the role behind this decision making. As a result we can see that sample data which resulted in 38% UK workers, 41% US, 45% CN, and 50% IN was collected from the resulting population of a 100% of workers from all ethnicity working under a singular work group. This leaves to question the background ethnicity of those individual who did not participate in this survey. In result these statistics were utilized to draw a meaningful conclusion about this data both as a whole and as a sample.