Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Com 4 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Com 4 - Assignment Example We hire a special class of employees who are dedicated to their work. We test dedication during probation by putting you through a number of jobs which will require you to persevere. If your probationary period goes well, you are hired! 3. Select the job you are interested in and email the job title to us at jobs@companio.com. We will send you an application form; an auto-response. Alternatively you can download the application form from the ‘Contact’ page on our website. 5. We require your CV to be attached. Make sure it is a recent one and has information regarding your recent employments, the latest educational degrees, any certifications you might be taking, hobbies and references. We will reject applications that do not have CVs with these prerequisites. Photographs are optional. 2. Once you are short-listed for the job we will send you an email. If you do not receive an email after a week it is probable that you have not been short-listed. You can still contact the HR on hr@companio.com for you

Monday, October 28, 2019

Letter of Recommendation Essay Example for Free

Letter of Recommendation Essay Letter of Recommendation To the applicant: Please fill in your name and the other required information below. In turn, deliver or email this form to the person who will write this letter. NOTE: Request your recommender to seal his or her letter of recommendation in an official envelope and sign across the back flap upon completion. Recommendation letters that are not sealed and signed will not be accepted. Confidential Name of Applicant: (given name) Shajeel(family name) Rasool Nationality: Pakistani Desired Degree Program Doctoral Desired Major: Electrical Engineering To the recommender: The person named above has applied for the ‘Korean Government Scholarship Program’. We ask for your assistance, and would appreciate your frank and candid appraisal of the applicant. * Please type or print clearly using black ink. 1. How long have you known the applicant and in what relationship? Please assess the applicants qualities in the evaluation table given below. Rate the applicant compared to other classmates who are/were in the same school year with him/her. How well do you think the applicant has thought out plans for graduate study? 5. Please comment on the applicant’s performance record, potential, or personal qualities which you believe would be helpful in considering the applicant’s application for the proposed degree program. Recommender’s Name Date Recommender’s Signature Position or Title: University (Institution): Address: Tel: Fax: (zip-code:-) Please return this form sealed in an official envelope and signed across the back to the applicant. We greatly appreciate your timeliness regarding this letter for your recommendee.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Magical Realism and Fantastic Sublime in Laura Esquivels Like Water fo

Magical Realism and Fantastic Sublime in Laura Esquivel's Like Water for Chocolate The different elements of the story Like Water for Chocolate are amazing. The feelings that go through a person upon listening, watching, and tasting events that happen during this story of the Spanish family's lives. The customs of this family were so unorthodox. This story is fantastic sublime and magical realism combined. Laura Esquivel wrote this novel in 1992. The nationality of the people in the novel was Mexican. A person can tell by the way expressions were made and the things that were done in the story. The novel has many fantastic sublime elements as well as magical realism. The elements of the story that stick out in a person's mind are the birth of Tita, the feelings of the love that Tita has in her heart for her sister's husband, Tita's cooking, the shower catching on fire, and Tita's sister riding off on a horse. Upon the birth of Tita, her mother flooded the kitchen table and floor when her water broke. The fluid had turned to salt and had to be swept up off the floor. This type of thing happening in the real world is not going to happen. The fluid turning into the salt was definitely a magical realism element. The fluid from the birth drying up like salt is similar to the sublime. The mysteries of cooking are treated in Like Water for Chocolate. The sublime seems to have a definition of being inhuman, an image that cannot be named. The magical realism has the definition of being magical and unreal. Tita's love she had for her sister's husband upon their marriage and through out the time of their marriage and lives. Tita's love never changed. It was the magical way Tita felt in her heart about the man she loved and the ... ...is really hard to distinguish the difference between the two. The hidden mysteries in the story of Like Water for Chocolate seem to never show the real meanings. The novel is interesting and keeps a person on his or her toes. The main point in the story is the boiling point that a person has inside will eventually boil over, given enough time. Emotions run high through out the story as well as the way each and everyone deal with the way the emotions come out. Works Cited Arensberg, Mary. The American Sublime. Albany: State University of New York Press, Albany 1986. Esquivel, Laura. Like Water for Chocolate. N.Y. Doubleday, 1992. Faris, Wendy. "Scheherazade's Children: Magical Realism and Postmodern Fiction" Magical Realism Theory, History, Community. Ed. Lois Parkinson Zamora and Wendy B. Faris. Durkham, N.C.: Durham: Duke up, 1995: 163-190.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Comparing Hamlet by William Shakespeare and The Killings by Andre Dubus

Comparing Hamlet by William Shakespeare and The Killings by Andre Dubus Losing a loved one to tragedy, especially two most brutal and malicious tragedies as these, will torture the minds of any and all men. Terrifying thoughts, even carefully planned acts of revenge will plow themselves into your brain. It is how we react to these situations that can and will forever define that man, his life, and his actions. In these two stories, Hamlet's father and Matt Fowler's son are murdered with jealous motives of romance, ambition, betrayal and rage. Revenge captures the hearts of both characters, but in different forms. Hamlet sees his fathers ghost and is told if he ever loved his father he is to ?[revenge his foul and most unnatural murder]?. The brutal slayer of Fowler?s son is out on bail and faces minimal jail time for the life of Frank Fowler, Matt?s youngest son. Matt decides to take the law into his own hands and with the help of a friend, plans and executes the murder of Richard Strout. With the killer of his son bar-hopping around town and his wife broken apart with grief, Matt Fowler loses himself in revenge. He begins to carry an unregistered gun hoping to confront Strout and kill him in ?self-defense?. He is defeated in his professional life, losing his nerve as a hard-working bank manager, unable to look his customers in the eye without shying away in fear and grief. Finally confessing himself to a poker buddy, his murderous intentions rush out onto the table. His friend, who?s sympothy and loyalty may be excessive, agrees to help Matt take his revenge on Strout. Hamlet, instead, seeks his revenge alone. When Horatio, Marcellus, and Bernardo take Hamlet to see the ghost of his father, he follows the ghost... ...n a dish served cold. Though he found the nerve to seek his revenge, I doubt he ever stopped replaying the events of that night in his head, wondering if he did the right thing, and if the pricetag for it was going to be hell or prison. Neither Hamlet nor Fowler forgive the men who wronged them, and their lives, consumed with the idea of injustice, were ruined along with almost everyone else?s. For Fowler, the answer was easy: Kill and don?t get caught. He thought only of the best way to get away with it, forgetting his morals and judgement. I question how hard he thought if he should do it or not. His instincts told him to kill, and that is what he did. Hamlet, on the other hand, fought with himself over and over about how to appropriatly handle his revenge, and opportunity presented itself, as it always does, with time. Regretfully, he was mortally wounded.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Managing Employee Misbehaviour for Promoting Business Ethics

Managing Employee Misbehaviour for Promoting Business Ethics Workplace misbehaviour: Any intentional action by members of organizations that defies and violates Shared organizational norms and expectations, and/or Core societal values, mores and standards of proper conduct (Vardi and Wiener, 1996, p. 153). Misbehaviour in this sense is also said to be about breaching broader, yet far from clearly defined or fully shared societal norms or moral order. In industrial sociology key writers on misbehaviour – Ackroyd and Thompson (1999, p. 2) – borrow Sprouse's (1992, p. 3) definition of sabotage – â€Å"anything you do at work you are not supposed to do† – to define misbehaviour, although questions remain about how useful this definition is. Perspectives on misbehaviour Misbehaviour is also a phenomena discussed in several other academic disciplines. For instance, in gender studies, we see quite a distinct dimension of misbehaviour emerging. Misbehaviour in gender studies tends to concern males defending masculine identities in an organizational context and how masculinity is in reality a crucial, yet often hidden dimension of a broader organizational identity (Collinson and Collinson, 1989; DiTomaso, 1989; Levin, 2001). An account of men trying to preserve the dominance of a masculine identity, sponsored implicitly by senior management, is outlined in the following passage taken from ethnography of a trading floor of a large, American commodities exchange: When the working environment becomes less active, the more overtly sexualized repertoire of joking and getting along emerges. Men and women use jokes to pass time, fit in and relieve tension, but a direct result of men’s sexual banter is to facilitate group solidarity among men to the exclusion of women. Strong heterosexual joking is predicated on men being the sexual agents of jokes and women being the objects (Levin, 2001, p. 126). Further dimensions of gender-related misbehaviour include women subverting dominant masculine identities (Cockburn, 1991; Game and Pringle, 1983; Gutek, 1989; Pollert, 1981), women taking advantage of their sex appeal to get around male supervisors (Pollert, 1981) and female flight attendants feigning responses to lurid comments from male passengers (Hochschild, 2003). Further details of Gutek’s (1989) research highlights the many ways in which sexuality can be the spur for a range of misbehaviour: More common than sexual coercion from either sex are sexual jokes, use of explicit terms to describe work situations, sexual comments to co-workers, and display of sexual posters and pictures engaged in by men at work (Sex and sports, some observers claim, are the two metaphors of business. ) The use of sex can be more subtle than either hostile sexual remarks or sexual jokes. Although this tactic is often assumed to be used exclusively by women, some men, too, may feign sexual interest to gain some work-related advantage (1989, p. 63-64). Commentary on what could be interpreted to be misbehaviour is also a feature of industrial relations research. In industrial relations theorists seem to view misbehaviour as a lesser version of strike action, or action short of strike action (Bean, 1975; Blyton and Turnbull, 2004; Hyman, 1981; Nichols and Armstrong, 1976). From this perspective, misbehaviour is taken to represent the actions of unorganized employees. In effect, misbehaviour is synonymous with a widespread and increasing inability of employees to offer a coherent and organized response to management strategies (Beynon, 1984). As such, industrial relations theorists link misbehaviour to record low levels of strike activity (Hale, 2007). Moreover, some theorists believe acts such as sabotage – in the form of grievance bargaining or deliberate poor workmanship – are intimately bound up in the labour process (Zabala, 1989). Research work in Ethics: 2008 NATIONAL GOVERNMENT ETHICS SURVEY in US: National Government Ethics Survey Shows Employee Misconduct is High Key Findings On all levels of government, there is a lack of programs and incentives to encourage ethical behavior, the report says †¢Six in 10 government employees saw at least one form of misconduct in the last 12 months. †¢One in 4 employees work in an environment conducive to misconduct. According to ERC, this includes strong pressure to compromise standards, a presence of situations which invite wrongdoing, and a culture where employees’ personal values conflict with their values at work. †¢Overall strength of ethical cultures is declining. †¢Almost one-third of employees do not report misconduct. More than one-third of government employees believe government does not demonstrate its values through socially responsible decision-making. Levels of Government Federal Level – The number of incidences of misconduct observed is slightly lower, but reporting is still comparatively low. Only 30 percent of federal government organizations have ethics and compliance p rograms, and only 10 percent have strong ethical cultures. State Level – Workers are most vulnerable to ethical risks as there are more reports of employees who have observed misconduct multiple times. Still 30 percent do not report misconduct to management. Local Level – Employees are the least likely to know the ethical risks since fewer resources are put in place to encourage ethical behavior. Local government organizations have the lowest levels of reporting misconduct, only 67% are reporting. â€Å"In order to encourage high ethical standards within our organizations, we first have to provide an environment that is conducive to ethical behavior,† says Sharon Allen, chairman of the board at Deloitte & Touche. However, management and leadership have a huge responsibility in setting examples for their organizations and living the values they preach if they want to sustain a culture of ethics. † The report, â€Å"2007 Deloitte & Touche USA LLP Ethics & Workplace,† is based on responses from 1,041 U. S. adult workers. Harris Interactive conducted the research in February on behalf of Deloitte & Touche. The top two factors contributing to the promotion of an ethical workplace are the behavior of management and direct supervisors, as chosen by 42% and 36% of respondents, respectively. More surprisingly, emphasis of criminal penalties doesn’t seem to do much to deter unethical behavior, nor does ethics training. There is, however, a strong relationship between ethical actions at work and a healthy level of work-life balance. In fact, 91% of those employees surveyed agreed that workers are more likely to behave ethically at the office when they have a good work-life balance. Allen explains why this may be so. â€Å"If someone invests in all of their time and energy into their jobs, it may have the unintended consequence of making them depend on their jobs for everything – including their sense of personal worth. This makes it even harder to make a good choice when faced with an ethical dilemma if they believe it will impact professional success. † Categories of Employee Misbehaviour: a. Production deviance – includes behaviors that waste time and resources. b. Property deviance – involves either theft or destruction of facility or residents’ property. c. Normative deviance – generally involves talk that hurts or belittles others. d. Personal aggression – mostly involves hitting, fighting, or sexual harassment. Common Employee Misbehaviour: Fighting Theft from the employer or colleagues Fraud or falsifying work documents Accessing and/or distributing pornographic emails or websites Deliberately damaging company property Serious bullying or harassment Bringing the employer into serious disrepute Serious infringement of health and safety rules Serious failure to follow reasonable instructions. Causes of Employee Misbehaviour: Poor Employee selection and orientation procedures Poorly defined employee expectations Poorly understood employee expectations Improperly selected and trained supervisors Incorrect philosophy of discipline Effects of Employee Misbehaviour: oInefficiency oIncreased costs oUnhealthy and unsafe work environment Employee Misbehaviour – To be Punished or leaving it ignored: Handling employee misconduct is a very critical task to be performed by the senior managers. Misconduct and other offensive behaviors often lead to decreased levels of productivity as they affect the individual performance of the employees. To manage discipline among employees, every company opts for a discipline policy which describes the approach it will follow to handle misconduct. When dealing with employee misconduct, companies must keep careful mind of the legislative and common law legal framework that governs the employment relationship. Regard must be made to relevant legislation such as the Employment Standards Act 2000, Ontario Human Rights Code, Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, Occupational Health and Safety Act (reprisal provisions) and to principles such as constructive and wrongful dismissal. To effectively manage the employment relationship and deal with potential misconduct, employers are well advised to develop and maintain reasonable rules of conduct and performance expectations. Communicate these to employees and ensure consistent application and enforcement. Provide appropriate counseling and training to your workforce. Carefully consider each incident of misconduct and the appropriate reaction. Avoid knee jerk instantaneous reactions. These only serve to increase potential employer liability. Management needs to conduct a preliminary investigation. Once the company has completed the investigation, the manager should make the employee aware of the findings. Once again, the manager can ask for the employee's side of the story. Using this evidence, management, with the help of a Human Resources representative, must decide what to do. They must decide how they should discipline the employee or whether they should fire the worker. To conclude, Very surely an action is required quickly if left unattended; misconduct will quickly demoralize the other employees too. While everyone reacts differently, even the top performers are usually going to be the first casualties of demoralization. Dealing with Employee Misbehaviour: The employer must investigate the matter fully (speak to witnesses, collect documentary evidence etc). The employer must also give the employee an opportunity to explain himself. The employee should sufficiently know what the case and evidence is against him before any hearing. Prior warning of the hearing date and that the disciplinary action is under consideration. Give the employee the opportunity to call witnesses. Inform the individual he has the right to be accompanied by a colleague (or a trade union official). Inform the employee he has the right of an appeal. Employee's rights If an employee has been with the employer for over a year they have unfair dismissal protection. Although employees have the right not to be dismissed for an unfair reason, the conduct of an employee is expressly stated to be a potentially fair reason to dismiss. Employees also have the right not to be discriminated against on the grounds of their sex, race or disability. This would include being singled out for a warning about their conduct or receiving harsher penalties than other employees would receive. Employees have the right not to be dismissed in breach of their contractual terms. For example, failure to follow a contractual procedure may result in a claim of breach of contract. Employees are entitled to be dismissed on notice (unless for gross misconduct). Failure to do so entitles the employee to claim damages for breach of contract. This type of claim is also called ‘wrongful dismissal'. Employees should be made aware, either in their contract of employment or in disciplinary procedures what are the likely consequences if they break the guidelines the company has laid down in relation to their conduct. Employers must be consistent. If other employees have previously committed the same offence but have not been dismissed it may be difficult to justify dismissal on a subsequent occasion. Certain offences are contrary to acceptable conduct that discipline is readily accepted or justified upon review regardless of whether there was any prior communication or warning to the employee. Theft Intentional destruction of company property Total refusal to perform safe work Gross or intentional endangerment of the safety of coworkers. Excessive absenteeism is another factor that can lead to termination only after a series of lesser penalties. Dismissal for misconduct to be reasonable: Even though an employer may have strong suspicions that an individual is guilty of misconduct, this may not be enough. Although an employer does not have to show an employee committed the offence â€Å"beyond all reasonable doubt†, there is a threshold that must be reached. In particular: †¢The employer must believe that the employee is responsible for the conduct in question. †¢The employer must have reasonable grounds for this belief. †¢The employer must carry out as much of an investigation into the matter as is reasonable. Charging an Employee with a criminal offence: †¢The employer does not have to wait for the outcome of police investigations or criminal trial. †¢The employer should hold its own investigation into the matter. †¢The employee's rights to have this matter investigated by his employer and to present his side of the story remain regardless of the fact that he is charged by the police. Out of office misconduct: †¢Generally, employees will only be subject to the company's disciplinary rules and procedures during their office hours or when they represent the company. †¢In certain circumstances an employee's behaviour may be subject to the employer's scrutiny if it is deemed to be likely to impact on the performance of his contract or the reputation of the employer. Out of office misconduct must be particularly serious to warrant disciplinary action and the behaviour should also relate to the employee's ability (or perceived ability) to do his job. Disciplinary action The type of disciplinary action that is taken will depend on the employer's disciplinary procedures and the circumstances surrounding the misconduct. The employer will have to follow its written guidelines regarding certain types of misconduct. If historically an employer has always been lenient on a particular matter an Employment Tribunal is likely to find the employer has acted unreasonably and unfairly dismissed an individual if it suddenly decides to invoke its disciplinary procedures in disciplining individuals without warning. Warning tiers in a disciplinary procedure †¢Usually employers will decide to issue a first warning orally. This is appropriate if it is a minor infringement that cannot be dealt with on an informal basis. The employee should be told that this is the first step in the disciplinary procedure and why he is receiving the warning. At this point he should also be informed of his right of appeal against the decision. Although oral warnings will be kept on an employee's personnel file, they should be disregarded for further disciplinary purposes after a specific period of time. †¢If an employer regards an infringement as being more serious then the employee should be given a formal written warning. Again an employee should be given details of the reason for the warning as well as what is required from the individual in the future and the allotted time scale for improvement. Employees should have a right of appeal. Employees also must be warned what penalty there will be if after the allotted time the employer does think there has been a satisfactory improvement. The written warning should also be kept on the employee's personnel file but cannot be considered for disciplinary procedures after a specific period of time. A final written warning is appropriate if there has been a failure to either improve or change conduct while the earlier warning is still ‘live'. This type of warning can also be used if there is a one-off occurrence of misconduct that is deemed by the employer to be sufficiently serious. As always the final written warning should provide details of the misconduct, warn that failure to rectify the situation may lead to dismissal or some other disciplinary ac tion which is short of dismissal (which is explained below). Again employees must be told of their right to appeal. The written warning can only remain live for a specified period of time after which point it must be disregarded, no matter how serious the misconduct. †¢Disciplinary action short of dismissal may include a transfer, demotion, loss of seniority, suspension without pay or loss of increment. An employer cannot take these sanctions unless there is a specific provision in the employee's contract. †¢If an employer decides to dismiss (either because of gross misconduct or failure to rectify behaviour following a final written warning) the employee should be informed as soon as possible of the decision, as well as the reasons for the dismissal. He should also know the date their employment will terminate and the period of notice. An employee should also be told of the fact that he has the right to appeal as well as how he can make that appeal and to whom. Employers should also confirm the decision to dismiss in writing. If an employee has at least one year's continuous service they can request a written statement of particulars of reasons for their dismissal. †¢General considerations for employers when disciplining †¢A good disciplinary procedure will enable an employer to take appropriate steps in the event of misconduct of an employee. The disciplinary procedure should be in writing Consequences of Disciplinary actions: Union Grievance Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Complaint (EEOC) Law Suits Employee Buyouts Having to Reinstate Employee Embarrassment to Leadership Leadership Looses Credibility Employees Don’t Respect the process Creating an Ethical climate in the Organization to avoid Misconduct : The ethical climate of an organization is the shared set of understandings about what is correct behavior and how ethical issues will be handled. This climate sets the tone for decision making at all levels and in all circumstances. Some of the factors that may be emphasized in different ethical climates of organizations are (Hunt, 1991; Schneider and Rentsch, 1991): * Personal self-interest * Company profit * Operating efficiency * Individual friendships * Team interests * Social responsibility * Personal morality * Rules and standard procedures * Laws and professional codes As suggested by the prior list, the ethical climate of different organizations can emphasize different things. In the Johnson & Johnson example just cited, the ethical climate supported doing the right thing due to social responsibility–regardless of the cost. In other organizations–perhaps too many–concerns for operating efficiency may outweigh social considerations when similarly difficult decisions are faced. When the ethical climate is not clear and positive, ethical dilemmas will often result in unethical behavior. In such instances, an organization's culture also can predispose its members to behave unethically. For example, recent research has found a relationship between organizations with a history of violating the law and continued illegal behavior (Baucus and Near, 1991). Thus, some organizations have a culture that reinforces illegal activity. In addition, some firms are known to selectively recruit and promote employees who have personal values consistent with illegal behavior; firms also may socialize employees to engage in illegal acts as a part of their normal job duties (Conklin, 1977; Geis, 1977). For instance, in his account of cases concerning price fixing for heavy electrical equipment, Geis noted that General Electric removed a manager who refused to discuss prices with a competitor from his job and offered his successor the position with the understanding that management believed he would behave as expected and engage in price-fixing activities (Geis, 1977, p. 24; Baucus and Near, 1991). Pressure, opportunity, and predisposition can all lead to unethical activities; however, organizations must still take a proactive stance to promote an ethical climate. The final section provides some useful suggestions available to organizations for creating a more ethical climate. PROMOTING AN ETHICAL CLIMATE: Ethical Philosop hies and Employee Behavior: Recent literature has suggested several strategies for promoting ethical behavior in organizations (Adler and Bird, 1988; Burns, 1987; Harrington, 1991; Raelin, 1987; Stead etal. , 1990). First, chief executives should encourage ethical consciousness in their organizations from the top down showing the support and care about ethical practices. Second, formal processes should be used to support and reinforce ethical behavior. For example, internal regulation may involve the use of codes of corporate ethics, and the availability of appeals processes. Finally, it is recommended that the philosophies of top managers as well as immediate supervisors focus on the institutionalization of ethical norms and practices that are incorporated into all organizational levels. The philosophies of top managers as well as immediate supervisors represent a critical organizational factor influencing the ethical behavior of employees (Stead etal. , 1990). Research over a period of more than twenty-five years clearly support the conclusion that the ethical philosophies of management have a major impact on the ethical behavior of their followers employees (Arlow and Ulrich, 1980; Baumhart, 1961; Brenner and Molander, 1977; Carroll, 1978; Hegarty and Sims, 1978, 1979; Posner and Schmidt, 1984; Touche Ross, 1988; Vitell and Festervand, 1987; Worrell etal. 1985). Nielsen (1989) has stressed the importance of managerial behavior in contributing to ethical or unethical behavior. According to Nielsen, managers behaving unethically contrary to their ethical philosophies represent a serious limit to ethical reasoning in the firm. Much of the research cited in the above paragraph implicitly and explicitly states that ethical philosophies will have little impact on employe es' ethical behavior unless they are supported by managerial behaviors that are consistent with these philosophies. Managers represent significant others in the organizational lives of employees and as such often have their behavior modeled by employees. One of the most basic of management principles states that if a certain behavior is desired, it should be reinforced. No doubt, how ethical behavior is perceived by individuals and reinforced by an organization determines the kind of ethical behavior exhibited by employees. As a result, if business leaders want to promote ethical behavior they must accept more responsibility for establishing their organization's reinforcement system. Research in ethical behavior strongly supports the conclusion that if ethical behavior is desired, the performance measurement, appraisal and reward systems must be modified to account for ethical behavior (Hegarty and Sims, 1978, 1979; Trevino, 1986; Worrell et al. , 1985). According to Nielsen (1988, p. 730): In many cases, mangers choose to do, go along with or ignore the unethical†¦ because they want to avoid the possibility of punishments (or) to gain rewards. Ethical Culture: Organizations and their managers must understand that the above recommendations are key components in the development and maintenance of an ethically-oriented organizational culture. Organizations can also enhance an ethically-oriented culture by paying particular attention to principled organizational dissent. Principled organizational dissent is an important concept linking organizational culture to ethical behavior. Principled organizational dissent is the effort by individuals in the organization to protest the status quo because of their objection on ethical grounds, to some practice or policy (Graham, 1986). Organizations committed to promoting an ethical climate should encourage principled organizational dissent instead of punishing such behavior. Organizations should also provide more ethics training to strengthen their employees' personal ethical framework. That is, organizations must devote more resources to ethics training programs to help its members clarify their ethical frameworks and practice self-discipline when making ethical decisions in difficult circumstances. What follows is a useful seven-step checklist that organizations should use to help their employees in dealing with an ethical dilemma (Schermerhorn, 1989; Otten, 1986): Helping employees in dealing with Ethical Dilemma: (1) Recognize and clarify the dilemma. (2) Get all the possible facts. (3) List your options–all of them. (4) Test each option by asking: â€Å"Is it legal? Is it right? Is it beneficial? † (5) Make your decision. (6) Double check your decision by asking: â€Å"How would I feel if my family found out about this? How would I feel if my decision was printed in the local newspaper? † (7) Take action. An effective organizational culture should encourage ethical behavior and discourage unethical behavior. Admittedly, ethical behavior may â€Å"cost† the organization. An example might be the loss of sales when a multinational firm refuses to pay a bribe to secure business in a particular country. Certainly, individuals might be reinforced for behaving unethically (particularly if they do not get caught). In a similar fashion, an organization might seem to gain from unethical actions. For example, a purchasing agent for a large corporation might be bribed to purchase all needed office supplies from a particular supplier. However, such gains are often short-term rather than long-term in nature. In the long run, an organization cannot operate if its prevailing culture and values are not congruent with those of society. This is just as true as the observation that, in the long run, an organization cannot survive unless it produces goods and services that society wants and needs. Thus an organizational culture that promotes ethical behavior is not only more compatible with prevailing cultural values, but, in fact, makes good sense. Although much remains to be learned about why ethical behavior occurs in organizations and creating and maintaining organizational cultures that encourage ethical behavior, organizations can benefit from the following suggestions: Maintaining organizational cultures that encourage ethical behavior: ** Be realistic in setting values and goals regarding employment relationships. Do not promise what the organization cannot deliver. ** Encourage input throughout the organization regarding appropriate values and practices for implementing the cultures. Choose values that represent the views of employees at all levels of the organization. * Do not automatically opt for a â€Å"strong† culture. Explore methods to provide for diversity and dissent, such as grievance or complaint mechanisms or other internal review procedures. ** Insure that a whistle-blowing and/or ethical concerns procedure is established for internal problem-solving (Harrington, 1991). ** Provide ethics training pro grams for all employees. These programs should explain the underlying ethical and legal (Drake and Drake, 1988) principles and present practical aspects of carrying our procedural guidelines. Understand that not all ethical situations are clear-cut. Like many basic business situations, the organization should recognize that there are ambiguous, grey areas where ethical tradeoffs may be necessary. More importantly, some situations have no simple solution (Cooke, 1991). ** Integrate ethical decision-making into the performance appraisal process. Responsibilities of Employers in accordance with managing the behaviour of Employees: †¢treat all employees equally; †¢give consideration to the employee's general work record including their length of service, position and whether there are any special circumstances; †¢ensure incidents are dealt with without undue delay; ensure the proceedings (including any statements from witnesses and records) be kept confidential; †¢specify what disciplinary sanctions the company may take; †¢state who has authority within the company to take each level of disciplinary action; †¢ensure employees are informed of the allegations against them as well as any relevant documenta tion before the date of any hearing; †¢ensure that employees have the right to state their case before any decision is reached; †¢allow employees to be accompanied either by a colleague or if appropriate, a trade union official; †¢ensure that the sanctions are proportionate to the misconduct; †¢ensure that allegations will be carefully investigated; †¢ensure employees are given an explanation of any sanction; and †¢Specify that there is a right to appeal as well as how and when this must be taken. Finally†¦To conclude†¦ Ethical behavior among the employees can be inculcated by adopting the following principles of ethical climate. oMake the expectations clear oTreat the people employed as if they are adults, which they are. oSpend time meeting with staff members regularly oSevere discipline procedures may back fire. oMake all policies and procedures available to all employees. oEncourage open communication between you and the people who report to you. Human beings prefer to follow their own doctrines- therefore management should be aware that difficulties may crop up and should formulate friendly implementation of policies. â€Å" No man is fit to command another that cannot command himself† – William Penn References: 1. http://www. ethicsworld. org/ethicsandemployees/nbes. php 2. http://www. michaelpage. co. uk/content. html? pageId=15676 3. Managing misconduct By Rob Eldridge of Berwin Leighton Paisner 4. http://www. employeeterminationguidebook. com/ 5. http://www. lbwlawyers. com/publications/employeemisconduct. php 6. http://www. slideshare. net/meetsantanudas/managing-employee-discipline 7. http://www. fsa. usda. gov/FSA/hrdapp? area=home=mgrs=dem 8. http://www. employeemisconduct. com/ 9. Edward J. Tully December 1997 Misconduct, Corruption, Abuse of Power– What Can the Chief Do? 10. http://www. streetdirectory. com/travel_guide/20341/corporate_matters/how_employee_misconduct_affects_all_worker_productivity. html 11. Belt Tightening Tactics Linked to Increases in Employee Misconduct April 27, 2010 by Amy Coates Madsen 12. http://standardsforexcellenceinstitute. wordpress. com/page/2/ 13. W. Edward Stead, Dan L. Worrell and Jean Garner Stead An integrative model for understanding and managing ethical behavior in business organizations Journal of Business Ethics Volume 9, Number 3, 233-242 14. Ethical behavior starts at the top By Amy Schurr, Network World April 24, 2007 12:05 AM ET

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

How Unemployment Affect Labour Market

How Unemployment Affect Labour Market How Unemployment Affect Labour Market How Unemployment Affect Labour MarketUnemployment is a socio-economic situation when part of the active, working population can not find work that they are able to perform. Unemployment is conditioned by excess of quantity of people wanting to find a job over the amount of available jobs, corresponding to the profile and qualifications of applicants for these jobs. Thus, able-bodied citizens, or job seekers registered at the labor exchange, who have no real opportunity to get a job in accordance with their education, specialization and labor skills are considered to be unemployed. Thus, the main aim of the assignment is to explain how unemployment affect labour market.Making a response to the article about unemployment, we may say that balance in the labor market exists when the amount of the requested labour is equal to the amount of the proposed work. According to the neoclassical concept, it can be achieved by instantaneous reaction of wages on supply and demand in the labor marke t. Due to the flexibility of wages, market mechanism provides full and productive employment. Full employment in this case means that anyone who needs a certain amount of labor in the current price can realize this wish at the moment.But, exploring stocks and flows of unemployment into the labour market, it becomes obvious that even in rather stable economic times, there are always can be seen large monthly flows into and out of employment. It means that there appear problems in labour market, when the level of unemployment is increased of decreased because balance is always better than sudden changes in one or another side.To continue, as it was previously mentioned, unemployment, being a socio-economic phenomenon, has great destructive scales. It is a fact that very often we estimate only economic impact of unemployment as the number of free workers and the amount of benefits paid, while the social consequences that are difficult to stand out and which have cumulative character ar e not practically evaluated. However, the degree of negative impact on the unemployment situation in the country depends on the particular characteristics of the overall social situation. So, researches in this area allow more clearly define the boundaries of the problem and find ways out of the crisis, in accordance with features of social, economic and political development of the country at the present stage.Thus, making a conclusion, it can be stated that the labor market is one of the indicators, the state of which gives an indication of the national well-being, stability and efficiency of social and economic transformation. It is a truth that mixed economy and its restructuring put forth new requirements for quality manpower, its professional qualification structure and the level of training, while everything of this greatly increases competition between workers because nobody wants to be unemployed. Moreover, it allows to make actual the tasks of clarifying the influence of f actors that shape the processes in the labor market, assessing patterns, trends, and prospects for its development. To add, employment is a necessary condition for human reproduction, as it is essential for people’s living standards, costs of the society for the selection, training, retraining and advanced training of people, their employment, as well as financial support for people who have lost their jobs. Therefore, such problems as employment, unemployment, labor force competitiveness and, in general, the labour market, are relevant to the economy and they are always relevant for consideration.

Monday, October 21, 2019

Converting Cubic Inches to Cubic Centimeters

Converting Cubic Inches to Cubic Centimeters Cubic inches (in3) and cubic centimeters (cc or cm3) are common units of volume. Cubic inches is a unit used primarily in the United States, while cubic centimeters is a metric unit. This example problem demonstrates how to convert cubic inches to cubic centimeters. Cubic Inches to Cubic Centimeters Problem Many small car engines have an engine displacement of 151 cubic inches. What is this volume in cubic centimeters? Solution: Start with the conversion unit between inches and centimeters. 1 inch 2.54 centimetersThat is a linear measurement, but you need a cubic measurement for volume. You cannot simply multiply this number times 3! Instead, you form a cube in three dimensions. You may remember the formula for volume is length x width x height. In this case, length, width, and height are all the same. First, convert to cubic measurements:(1 inch)3 (2.54 cm)31 in3 16.387 cm3Now you have the conversion factor between cubic inches and cubic centimeters, so youre ready to complete the problem.Set up the conversion so the desired unit will be canceled out. In this case, we want cubic centimeters to be the remaining unit.volume in cm3 (volume in in3) x (16.387 cm3/1 in3)volume in cm3 (151 x 16.387) cm​3volume in cm3 2474.44 cm3Answer:A 151 cubic inch engine dispaces 2474.44 cubic centimeters of space. Cubic Centimeters To Cubic Inches You can reverse the direction of the volume conversion easily enough. The only trick is to make sure the correct units cancel out. Lets say you want to convert a 10 cm3 cube into cubic inches. You can use the volume conversion from earlier, where 1 cubic inch 16.387 cubic centimeters volume in cubic inches 10 cubic centimeters x (1 cubic inch / 16.387 cubic centimeters)volume in cubic inches 10 / 16.387 cubic inchesvolume 0.610 cubic inches The other conversion factor you could have used is: 1 cubic centimeter 0.061 cubic inches It does not matter which conversion factor you choose. The answer will come out the same. If youre not sure youre doing the problem correctly, you could work it both ways to check yourself. Check Your Work You should always check your work to make sure the resulting answer makes sense. A centimeter is a smaller length than an inch, so there are many cubic centimeters in a cubic inch. A rough approximation would be to say there are about 15 times more cubic centimeters than cubic inches. A value in cubic inches should be much smaller than its equivalent value in cubic centimeters (or, a number in cc should be over 15 times bigger than the number given in cubic inches). The most common mistake people make doing this conversion is not cubing the value being converted. Dont multiply it by three or add three zeros to it (three factors of ten). Cubing a number is multiplying it by itself three times. The other potential error is in reporting the value. In scientific calculations, its important to watch the number of significant digits in an answer.

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Mixing up lay and lie

Mixing up lay and lie Mixing up lay and lie Mixing up lay and lie By Maeve Maddox A reader writes: I have problems with lying and laying. Â  Is there an easy way to make sure I am using the right one? The distinction is easy enough, but this particular usage is on the endangered list and may not survive into the next generation of English speakers. Knowing the difference between lying and laying requires the speaker to recognize the difference between transitive and intransitive verbs. Verbs that describe actions are either transitive or intransitive. A transitive verb takes a direct object. The Latin prefix trans- means across. The action of the transitive verb carries across to a direct object. This direct object receives the action of the verb. Ex. The man drives a truck. The verb is drive. To determine whether the verb has a direct object, one asks drives what? In this example, there is an answer: drives a truck. The verb drives in this sentence is transitive. Something, truck, receives the action. Some verbs are always transitive. Some are always intransitive. Many, like drive, may be either transitive or intransitive. Ex. Every Sunday the family drives in the countryside. If we apply the question drives what? to this sentence, we do not get an answer. Nothing in the sentence receives the action. There is no direct object so in this sentence drive is an intransitive verb. The action remains with the verb. (The phrase in the countryside tells where the family drives.) The common confusion between the verbs lie and lay is understandable because the form lay exists in the conjugations of both verbs: to lie intransitive verb meaning to recline; to rest horizontally Present: Today I lie on the bed. Past: Yesterday I lay on the bed. Present Perfect: I have lain on the bed all day. Present Continuous: I am lying on the bed. to lay transitive verb meaning to place; to put Present: Today I lay the book on the table. Past: Yesterday I laid the book on the table. Present Perfect: I have laid the book on the table. Present Continuous: I am laying the book on the table. Here are a few more illustrations of correct usage: Lie down, Fido! The accident victim lay in the street. The spectators lay back in their seats to look at the sky. Today its your turn to lay the table. I laid the table yesterday. English has two other verbs that may confuse the issue further: to lie to tell a falsehood generally intransitive: Present: Today I lie about my age. Past: Yesterday I lied about my age. Present Perfect: I have lied about my age. Present Continuous: I am lying about my age. to lay to produce an egg may be transitive or intransitive Present The hens lay eggs. (transitive) The hens lay well. (intransitive) Past The hen laid three eggs. (transitive) Present Perfect: The hen has laid an egg every day this week. (transitive) Present Continuous: The hens are laying well this year. (intransitive) Both forms of lay derive from an Old English verb meaning to place on the ground or put down. The two lie verbs come from two different Old English verbs, one meaning to speak falsely, and the other meaning to rest horizontally. This is not our first post on lay/lie and probably wont be the last. See this one from July 2007. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Has vs. HadExcited ABOUT, not "for" 50 Words with Alternative Spellings

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Using both examples of theory and practical cases (both company and Essay

Using both examples of theory and practical cases (both company and country examples) assess the relative importance of political and cultural factors in influencing global investment decisions - Essay Example Before establishing investments in a foreign country, it is important to assess the status of its politics as well as its cultural orientation. This is because politics and culture of the host country are major determinants of the success of foreign investment in it. Ignoring political threats in global investment decisions puts the company at a high risk of failure. (Cateora, Philip R. and John L. Graham, 1998 pp.23-25). In recent years, politics and the threats they pose to foreign investors determine the success of a company. They are the ones that actually determine the winner or looser. Investment policies of a country are normally formulated nationally through local policy plans. This could lead to uncalled for negative impacts on the global market. Political intervention on the market systems of many countries is rampant. This is happening in the developed and developing countries, necessitating caution while companies consider investing in foreign countries. The regulations of the global market are being changed time and again by politicians and can be disadvantageous to foreign companies especially those that invest heavily on fixed assets such as in the tourism industry where companies make huge capital outlay for assets such as buildings and infrastructure. The major threat caused by political interference is over-regulation thereby bringing in impediments to open capital flow which may ad versely affect the global market (Mooij Marieke. 1998 pp. 38-41). Political risks are the possibilities that may occur in the host country due to political decisions or actions that may have a negative impact on the business. In such cases, companies may end up loosing their money or fail to perform according to the expectations. They include confiscation of property due to local misunderstanding, changes in currency value, restrictions of business activities, politically instigated violence such as the one that was experienced in Rwanda in 1992,

Friday, October 18, 2019

Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 17

Marketing - Essay Example This paper presents an insightful investigation of the effectiveness and contribution of advertising towards the success of a company’s sales. It manifests if at all the advertisement expenditures, exclusively lead to the sales elevation; or these efforts need to be blended with other suitable marketing activities so as to derive much better outcomes. It indicates the impact of advertising on company’s sales margin, while establishing facts from the theoretical material and draws out the potency of marketing activities in combination with proper advertisement towards the achievement of sales and profit targets. The effectiveness of advertising in precipitating a company’s sales success in relation to the other elements of marketing strategies happen to be matter of serious concern in today’s business domain. Corporations tend to squander millions on advertising along with other marketing activities in an anticipation to enhance their sales and profitability. If advertising alone can lead to the company to improved sales, new customer attainment and existing customer retention successfully, then it could subsequently save a lot of company’s funds and efforts exerted in conducting other marketing activities. Aaker (1991) states that the purpose of advertising is to distinguish a company’s product from others in the market hence establishing the product’s brand equity. The author signifies the concept of advertising with product differentiation and establishment of brand equity. Merino Srinivasan and Srivastava, (2006, p12) confirm this point as, â€Å"high brand equity firm may be able to differentiate themselves effectively in competitive environments, achieving both high prices and high customer loyalty increasing and stabilizing its sales revenues and profits†. Here also, high brand equity and product differentiation has

Corporate governance in Olympus Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Corporate governance in Olympus - Essay Example This had to be initiated since the company was making a difference in the market with outstanding potential share. In 1950, Olympus started the diversification of its product offerings in medical systems, health care equipment, and then moving forward to SLR cameras and world’s first Microcassette recorder (Olympus Imaging America Inc., 2012). As a highly innovative company relying on its ability to give more value for its customers, Olympus continued responding to the market’s needs for products such as â€Å"clinical blood analysers, powerful microscope systems, and breakthrough digital cameras† (Olympus Imaging America Inc., 2012). After 93 years, today, Olympus seems to be so proud about its achievement from the past until at present while it continues to create the same enthusiasm in producing its product offerings and creating value for customers through its high standard quality product and service contributions in the market. From a very simple microscope, the world’s needs for clinical equipment moved to a higher standard. Olympus then started to produce products like â€Å"acoustic microscopes, ultrasonic endoscopes, reagent AIDS detection, digital voice recorders, and best-selling camera like the Infinity Stylus† (Olympus Imaging America Inc., 2012). Olympus therefore provides equipments and devices for medical and healthcare, imaging and information, and industrial applications (Datamonitor: Business Information Centre, 2007). Olympus is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan while the rest of its satellites or branches are situated in Europe, Asia and Americas. It has centralised structure, aiming to produce new innovative ideas, technological advancement, and a cut-above-the-other-manufacturing performance, consistently. The company is organised into different segment divisions such as imaging system business, medical systems business, life science business, information and communication business and other businesses (Datamonitor: Business

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Addiction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Addiction - Essay Example (Pharmaenergy, 2008) Sleeplessness, lack of appetite, tremors, convulsions, hallucination, continuous sweating, and/or death caused by liver cirrhosis or heart diseases. (Drug Abuse Help, 2008; Addiction Research Foundation, 2003) Sleep disturbances, emotional and physical irritation, the sudden loss of appetite, nervousness, excessive sweating, anxiety, including some occasion of upset stomach, tremors, and chills (Drug Info, 2008) Increased level of anxiety, headache, extreme anxiety, tension, sleepiness, weak and poor muscle coordination, confusion, irritability, becoming dizzy, and having an impaired judgement among others (Novus - Medical Detox Centers, 2007). Immediate withdrawal from the use of Dormicum leads to unexplainable seizures in case the patient has a history of epilepsy. (Pills for All, 2008) Q.2 Michael gives a history of continual use during the past year of Subutex, Dormicum, Cannabis, and alcohol. He insists that he can â€Å"get off them all† by himself. You need to explain to him the special danger of withdrawal from one of the four drugs he is abusing. Identify the drug and give reasons why withdrawal from this drug can be dangerous? Subutex ® is a buprenorphine hydrochloride product that is commonly used in treating heroin which is also known as opioid or opiate drug addiction. (Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, 2008; Patient UK, 2008) The over use of Subutex will not cause serious organ damage but it can increase the patient’s risk to develop liver-related diseases (CSAT Buprenorphine Information Center, 2008). The problem with Michael’s case is that he is abusing the intake of Subutex with the use of heroin, alcohol intake and other drugs. As a precautionary measure, Michael should be informed that the overdose of using Subutex can be fatal especially when used with a tranquilizer

Law issues Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Law issues - Essay Example Regardless of whether or not Alice’s estates pass under the rules of intestacy or as a testamentary disposition of property, Meg’s inheritance is also an issue as it appears that she died simultaneously with Alice and is survived by her son Phillip, who is presumably a minor and was a dependent of Meg’s. Thus the Inheritance (Provisions for Family and Dependents) Act 1975 may also affect the manner in which Alice’s property is divided, particularly as it relates to Meg’s inheritance. The Law, Legal Rules and Application of the Law to the Facts The formal requirements for making and/or rectifying a will are necessary for providing a method by which testators can dispose of their property as they wish in a way that either detects or prevents fraud.1 In this regard, Section 9 of the Wills Act 1837 provides that in order for a will to be valid it must be in writing, signed by the testator, and witnessed and attested to by at least two witnesses.2 It mus t also appear that upon signing the will, the testator intended to â€Å"give effect to the will† by his/her signature.3 On the facts of the case for discussion the signing and witnessing of the will do not appear to be an issue. Whether or not Alice intended to give effect to the will may arise since she made what appears to be changes to the contents of the will. However, the mere fact that the will was properly signed by Alice will suffice to satisfy the requirement that she intended by her signature to give effect to the will.4 The timing of the changes made to the will can be important for establishing the validity of those changes. For example, it was held in Re White that where changes were made subsequent to the making and execution of a will and were not re-signed, the testator’s previous signature cannot provide evidence that the testator intended to give effect to the revised will.5 Further guidance with respect to the effect of the changes made by Alice to the will is provided by the Wills Act 1837. Section 21 of the Wills Act 1837 provides that: No obliteration, interlineation, or other alteration made in any will after the execution thereof shall be valid or have any effect, except so far as the words or effect of the will before such alteration shall not be apparent, unless such alteration shall be executed in like manner as hereinbefore is required for the execution of the will...6 In other words, if a will is altered prior to its execution, the alteration will be deemed to be valid. However, where the alteration is made in the absence of attestation, it is presumed that the alteration was made after the execution of the will. However, this presumption can be rebutted by evidence such as sworn witness statements.7 Nevertheless, Section 21 of the Wills Act 1837 implies that when alterations are not apparent, it can be assumed that the alterations were made prior to the execution of the will. However, where the alterations and oblit erations are obvious, it is best that the testator execute the alterations in same manner as the will is executed. It was held in Re Shearn’s Goods that where the testator’s signature together with witnesses’ signatures appear in the margin or anywhere near the alterations, the alteration will be valid and admitted to probate.8 On the facts of the case

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Addiction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Addiction - Essay Example (Pharmaenergy, 2008) Sleeplessness, lack of appetite, tremors, convulsions, hallucination, continuous sweating, and/or death caused by liver cirrhosis or heart diseases. (Drug Abuse Help, 2008; Addiction Research Foundation, 2003) Sleep disturbances, emotional and physical irritation, the sudden loss of appetite, nervousness, excessive sweating, anxiety, including some occasion of upset stomach, tremors, and chills (Drug Info, 2008) Increased level of anxiety, headache, extreme anxiety, tension, sleepiness, weak and poor muscle coordination, confusion, irritability, becoming dizzy, and having an impaired judgement among others (Novus - Medical Detox Centers, 2007). Immediate withdrawal from the use of Dormicum leads to unexplainable seizures in case the patient has a history of epilepsy. (Pills for All, 2008) Q.2 Michael gives a history of continual use during the past year of Subutex, Dormicum, Cannabis, and alcohol. He insists that he can â€Å"get off them all† by himself. You need to explain to him the special danger of withdrawal from one of the four drugs he is abusing. Identify the drug and give reasons why withdrawal from this drug can be dangerous? Subutex ® is a buprenorphine hydrochloride product that is commonly used in treating heroin which is also known as opioid or opiate drug addiction. (Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, 2008; Patient UK, 2008) The over use of Subutex will not cause serious organ damage but it can increase the patient’s risk to develop liver-related diseases (CSAT Buprenorphine Information Center, 2008). The problem with Michael’s case is that he is abusing the intake of Subutex with the use of heroin, alcohol intake and other drugs. As a precautionary measure, Michael should be informed that the overdose of using Subutex can be fatal especially when used with a tranquilizer

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Modern Microecon, Consumer Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Modern Microecon, Consumer Theory - Essay Example In raw economic terms, utility is a measure of consumer satisfaction, that is, how much satisfaction a consumer derives from the consumption of a good or a service. Budget constraint on the other hand represents the combination of goods or services an individual can consume or purchase in consideration to given prices with his or her limited income. Combining the two concepts forms the foundation of consumer theory. The utility theory provides a methodological framework whereby usually, all individuals, organizations and firms evaluate given options. Utility is a term used to describe the satisfaction that each of the given options provide to the one making the decision. Hence, the basis of the utility theory is that each individual will choose that option which tends to maximize utility, working on what is called the ‘maximization principle’. This principle states that the most desirable choice is the one with the highest level of satisfaction. However, while making the se decisions, the individual must also consider his income earned along with the respective prices of the goods and services in question. ... Total utility continuously rises as consumption increases. This rise becomes smaller as more units of a product are consumed, it can also decline after a certain level of consumption. On the other hand, marginal utility measures the change in consumption benefit as a result of consuming one more or one less unit of a product. In other words, marginal utility tracks the change in total utility as the number of units consumed changes. The behavior of marginal utility is such that it tends to fall continuously as consumption of a product increases. This is because the first few units consumed of a product provide a higher level of satisfaction than the later few. For example, the first drink of water is worth a lot more to a thirsty individual than his seventh one. For a consumer to be in equilibrium certain conditions need to be met. The consumers are assumed to be rational in their decision whereby they aim to maximize the utility derived from the consumption of any product. It is als o assumed that consumers have limited incomes and that the value of utility can be quantified in monetary terms. The equi-marginal principle states that a consumer will be in equilibrium if it is not possible to switch expenditure from good X in favour of good Y to achieve an increase in total utility. In other word this principle is satisfied when the marginal utility of every dollar spent on a good is equal to the price paid for that good. If a basket of goods is in question, an individual will continue to alter the mix of consumption of the products until the marginal utility of a dollar spent on each of the goods is equal. Therefore, the equilibrium principle can be expressed as MUx/Px=MUy/Py, where MU is the marginal utility and P is the price of the good. Consumer

Energy Conservation Essay Example for Free

Energy Conservation Essay Abstract: The gap between supply and demand of energy is continuously increasing despite huge outlay for energy sector since independence. Further the brining of fossil fuel is resulting in greenhouse gases which are detrimental to the environment. The gap between supply and demand of energy can be bridged with the help of energy conservation which may be considered as a new source of energy which is environment friendly. The energy conservation is cost effective with a short payback period and modest investment. There is a good scope of energy conservation in various sectors, viz industry agriculture, transport and domestic, This paper will give overview of energy conservation in Indian scenario. Introduction India today has a vast population of more than 1.20 billions out of which nearly 75% are living in rural areas. Energy and development are inter-related. In order to have sustainable growth rate. It is imperative to have sufficient energy for systematic development in various sectors. Energy sector has received top priority in all Five year pains so far. During seventh Five Year plans 30% of the plan outlay was allotted to this sector. The installed capacity of electric power has increased from 1362 MW. At the time of independence to a staggering 70,000 MW. Despite such achievements, the gap between demand and supply of electrical energy is increasing every year as power sector is highly capital-intensive. The deficit in installed capacity was nearly 10,000 MW, by the and of eleventh five year plan. It is estimated that in 2011 alone India has lost above 10.0 billion US$ in manufacturing productivity because for power is projected to grow by 7 to 10% per year for the next 10 years. The working group on power had recommended capacity addition program of 46,645 MWduring the twelveth plan period along with the associated transmission and distribution works at a cost of Rs. 12, 26,000 corer. With this capacity addition there would have been a peak power shortage of 15.3 percent by the end of the 12th plans. The proven reserves of fossil fuel in India are not very large. A major share of scarce foreign currency is earmarked for importing petroleum products. The bill of which is continuously increasing coal reserve likely to be exhausted by the middle or centaury. Thus a bleak scenario awaits India in future unless absolutely new strategies are adopted. In spite of huge plan outlay of energy sector in last 60 years, most of the rural population has not yet been able to reach the threshold of enough energy to meet their basic human needs. There appears to be something basically wrong in planning. The planners have adopted the western model of centralized energy system without necessary modification to suit Indian condition. In future the energy conservation would assume more significance globally on the basis of the effect of burning fossil fuel on environment, particularly the global warming rather than the depletion of fossil fuel reserves and other consideration. Sector wise energy consumption:Sector Industry Transport Residential Agriculture Others %power consumption 49% 22% 10% 5% 14% THE SCOPE AND POTENTIAL The developing countries like India are obliged to maintain a certain growth rate for which energy is a basic ingredient. Failure to meet the energy demand for the basic needs of the economy will cause inflation unemployment and socio economic disorder. The major energy projects are capital-intensive and result in the degradation of the environment and ecology. Energy efficiency and conservation in the past have been neglected on the assumption of continuous availability of fossil fuel. Energy conservation is the strategy of adjusting and optimizing energy using systems and procedures to reduce energy requirements per unit of output without affecting socio-economic development. Energy conservation means going with what is available, while in developed countries 1% increase in G.N.P. needs barely 0.6% increase in energy consumption in whereas in India the corresponding increase in energy consumption is nearly 1.5% 1. Transmission and Distribution Losses India has a complex transmissio n and distribution network. The Transmission and distribution (T D) losses in Indian Power Systems are rather high. According to Central Electricity Authority (CEA) statistics, on all India basis the losses are around 20 percent. According to the estimates of a few other independent agencies, the real TD losses may be even higher than this figure power systems with those of more developed In order to estimate the cost effectiveness of the various modern techniques available for reduction of TD losses in the context of Indian environment, it is essential to have an idea regarding the energy losses taking place at the various stages of transmission and distribution of power as well as a further break—up of the line losses and transformation losses. The TD losses can be divided in to two parts, namely. Extra-high voltage (EHV) /High Voltage (HV) transmission and low voltage distribution. Out of total 15% TD losses targeted to be achieved. 2. Long Term Conservation Objectives of Energy 4. To take steps to prevent inefficient use of energy in future projects, buildings, products, processes etc. in every sector of energy use. 3. Areas of Energy Conservation The main areas where conservation was possible are as follows:1. Improvement in power factor would result in reduction in actual maximum demand on the system. 2. Improvement in plant load factor results in optimum utilization of plant capacity and increasing production. 3.80% of the industrial electricity consumption is accounted for by induction motors which are mostly used for pumping and compressor application, etc. 4. Various furnaces, electrolysis baths and vessels operating at higher temperature are found to have inadequate insulation. Higher surface temperature means loss of electrical form of energy by radiation. This can easily be prevented by applying proper insulation to limit the surface temperature rise above ambient up to 200C. New Concerpts in Energy Conservation Energy Conservation offers a practical means of achieving development goals. It enhances the international competitiveness of industry in world markets by reducing the cost of production. It optimizes the use of capital resources by diverting lesser amounts in conservation investments as against huge capital investment in power sector. It helps environment in the short run by reducing pollution and in the long run by reducing the scope of global climatic changes. Energy conservation is a decentralized issue and largely depends on the individual unlike decisions of energy supply which are highly centralized. The housewife, the car driver, the boiler operator in industry and every other individual who consumes energy in some form or other is requiring participating in energy saving measures. In order to have energy efficiency strategies really effective some conceptual changes are imperative. †¢ Conservation must be recognized as a new source of Energy- â€Å"a benign and clean source† 1. To bring attitudinal changes in all energy users so that they strive for maximum energy efficiency in all products, projects, buildings, processes, domestic and commercial use, agricultural and transport use in consistent with economic considerations. 2. Take necessary steps to discipline those who fail to fall in line with the above changes. 3. To adopt policies which make energy conservation easy and attractive for being adopted by all energy users. End use management of energy demand should not be met by increased supply only. Energy efficiency is the most cost effective way to bridge the gap between supply and demand. In the past the energy planning was based on continuous supply of fossil fuel. What matters to a consumer of energy is not energy per so but the services it provides cooking. Lighting, motive power etc. thus the true indicator of development is not the magnitude of per capita energy consumption, but the level of energy services provided. A stage has reached when developing countries need not to look at energy consumption per capita as a sign of development and growth. The economics of major power projects ignore the time value of money. The gestation period of the project is ignored. Thus the projects which yield physical benefits after many years are treated at par with projects that yield immediate benefits. Thus no attention is paid to when the returns are obtained. subsidies, liberalization of licenses and loans at concessional terms. It is in this context that Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) has introduced to schemes, with a sharp focus on energy conservation objectives in industries. These schemes are (a) Energy Audit Subsidy Scheme, and (b) Equipment Finance for Energy Conservation Scheme. These Schemes which were initially in operation for a period of 2 years have been extended up to the end of the twelvth Five Year Plan. . a) Energy Audit Subsidy Schemes ENERGY AUDIT AND FINANCIAL INCENTIVES 1) Energy Audit The Energy Audit is an accounting tool, an analytical device to detect energy waste.. One series of entries consists of amounts of energy which were consumed during the month in the form of electricity, gas, fuel, oil, steam: and the second series lists how the energy was used: how much for lighting, air conditioning, heating, production processes and other activities. Energy Audit, therefore, is a crucial tool for energy management because it indicates the scope for conservation by identifying the waste areas. Nearly 20-30 percent savings on energy can, at a conservative estimate, be easily achieved by any industry, if energy conservation measured identified by energy surveys are adopted. Moreover, at least 10 percent savings are possible simply by following good housekeeping practices which require no investment whatsoever. Even when a conservation measure demands investment, it is generally always paid back in less than two years. 2) Financial Incentives Assistance would be available under this scheme for preliminary as well as for detailed energy audit. The charges of the approved consultancy agency for carrying out the energy audit would be partly subsidized by IDBI which will bear 50% of the cost, the balance to be borne by the applicant company. For preliminary audit, the amount of subsidy available under this scheme per undertaking/company would be limited to Rs. 10,000 or 0.01 percent of gross fixed assets of the undertaking/company whichever is less. The limit of assistance for detailed energy audit would be Rs. 1.00 lakh or 0.05% of the gross fixed assets of the undertaking/company whichever is lower. Assets value shall be exclusive of revaluation reserves. b) Equipment Finance For Energy Scheme conservation For the purposes of EFEC scheme, equipment shall include plant machinery, miscellaneous fixed assets erection and installation charges, technical know-how fees for designs and drawings. Assistance under the scheme would be available only for installation of equipment for effecting energy conservation in the existing plants/processes and not for expansion or diversification of production capacities, even though, the same may also result in energy conservation. Assistance under the scheme would be in the form of term loan. APPROACHESAND CHALLENGES Approaches The various approaches of energy conservation may be divided into (i) short-term measures (ii) mediumterm measures and (iii) long-term measures. All the short-term as well as medium term measures for the energy intensive sectors may be taken up immediately so that their benefits can be realized during 12th plan itself. Further, the programmes for long- Recognizing the importance of energy conservation projects by the Government and the financial institutions in terms of concessions/reliefs income-tax, excise duties, customs duties, sales tax, term measures should also be initiated simultaneously during the 12th plan hey include: 1) Software components These include: (a) Promotion, motivation education, dissemination of information, data bank and creation of national Energy Conservation centre (b) Promotion of RD in technologies, equipment etc. (c) Promotion of studies on policies, economics of energy use, demand management, various types of survey etc. (d) Developments of standards. (e) Rectification programmes. They include:2) Hardware Components The following are included under this category. A. Energy efficient projects in all the sectors including co-generation. B. Demonstration projects-Models of efficient appliances, demonstration centres etc. Energy may not be very cooperative as there is an information gap in these areas. The creation of a database and its scientific analysis is the backbone of any future planning and decision making. There are certain challenges in effective implementation of energy efficiency programmes. Some of them are given below: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Technological Economics Motivation and Awareness Institutional and Legislation . STRATEGIES AND ACHIEVEMENTS In sixth Five Year Plan (1980-84) for the first time the significance of energy efficiency and conservation was realized. In the Seventh Five Year Plant document too the Planning Commission identified energy conservation and efficiency as thrust areas based on the recommendations of the inter Ministerial working Group (IMWG) (1983) on energy conservation. The Eleventh Year Plan document has also emphasized the implementation of rectification programmes for agricultural pump sets for achieving energy efficiency in the agricultural sector. Even though the Eleventh Five Year Plan realized the opportunity, potential and need for energy conservation it did not incorporate any concrete programmes, policies and budgetary provision in this regard. The working Group on Energy conservation has recommended a comprehensive scheme for twelvth Five Year Plan period. This includes awareness programmes, training, development, research, energy audit, energy efficiency measures in various sectors, providing subsidies to implementing agencies and covering other aspects as well. The status of energy conservation in various sectors is as follows: 1. Agricultural Sector C. Technology import/up-gradation-Acquisition of state-of-art technology through foreign collaborations. D. Strengthening of Transmission and Distribution systems of various State Electricity Boards to reduce the system losses to 15% range. E. Development of infrastructure such as improvement of transport systems, communication systems, electrification of railways etc. 2. Stages of Energy Efficiency The different types of activities of energy efficiency could be put into four distinct categories. The first two types given below concern existing plants and equipment and latter two to new ones:†¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Soft or managerial Solutions Modest Investment New Technology of Production Technological Break through Challenges One important factor in achieving energy efficiency and conservation target is the response of the and-user. As often, the behavior of many end-users of The farmers in the country have installed about 18 million pumps operated by diesel/electricity. These roughly consume 30 billion kWh of electricity and 6 billion litres of diesel. It is necessary to provide the much needed irrigation to the crops but, unfortunately, the pumping systems adopted have remained inefficient and the consumption of electricity and diesel has been 50 to 100 percent more than what it should be. Regarding petroleum products, India produces hardly 60% of the required crude oil indigenously, importing more than Rs. 15,000 crores worth of crude oil and petroleum products to meet the current demand. The excessively wasteful consumption of energy in the agricultural sector has to stop both for conserving energy per se and reducing the irrigation cost for the farmers. There has been an increase in the absolute consumption of energy in agricultural sector. The electricity consumption has grown at the rate of 14.4% per annum whereas the oil consumption has increased at the rate of 10.1% per annum. 2. Transport Sector of light bulb known as E-lamp (electronic light) has been introduced recently in USA. This lamp is supposed to consume 75 percent less electricity than conventional incandescent lamp. Its lifetime is between 15,000 to 20,000 hours. The E-lamp has made its bid to become the â€Å"Compact Disc† of residential lighting, but events during the next few years may determine whether it will become a household word. 4) Industrial Sector The sector uses, nearly thirty two percent of the commercial energy. This sector is second only to industrial sector. Further, this sector is heavily dependent on petroleum products. Import of petroleum is nearly 35 percent of total expenditure on imports in India. Its consumption is increasing at an annual rate of 6 to 8 percent. Automobiles thus offer one of the most promising areas for major savings. There are tow modes of transport which are most common, viz. rail and road. Unlike the railway, the road sector is not wholly in the organized sector and hence its database is rather weak. The road transport has increased very fast during last decade or so. One approach to achieve energy conservation is to shift a part of the traffic from road to rail. It is imperative to develop research and development activities in the direction of improving the fuel efficiency of vehicles and developing alternate energy sources. According to the report of Advisory Board on Energy the conservation potential in transport sector is nearly 20% which can be achieved by an investment of Rs. 890 crores. Conservation measures would yield an annual savings of Rs. 765 crores and avoid an investment of Rs. 432 crores for creating additional energy capacity. A series of measures including operation control, upgrading driver’s skills training programmes to create fuel conservation consciousness and proper use of clutches, reduction of body weight, speed restrictions and improved over hauling practices has been recommended.

Monday, October 14, 2019

MGMT Methylation Status and Glioblastoma Multiforme Outcome

MGMT Methylation Status and Glioblastoma Multiforme Outcome ABSTRACT Background: O6 – methylguanine-methyltransferase (MGMT) promoter methylation has been associated with increased survival among patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) who were treated with various alkylating agents. We examined the relationship between MGMT methylation status and clinical outcome in newly diagnosed GBM patients treated with BCNU wafers (Gliadel ®). Methods: MGMT promoter methylation in DNA from 122 newly diagnosed GBM patients treated with Gliadel was determined by a Quantitative methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction assay (QMSP) and correlated with overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS). Results: The MGMT promoter was methylated in 40 (32.7%) of 122 patients. Overall median survival was 13.5 months (95%CI: 11.0-14.5) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) was 9.4 months (95%CI: 7.8-10.2). After adjusting for age, KPS, extent of resection, temozolomide (TMZ) and radiation therapy (RT), newly diagnosed GBM patients with MGMT methylation who were treated with Gliadel had a 15% reduction in hazard of death compared to patients with unmethylated MGMT (Hazard ratio: 0.85, 95%CI: 0.56-1.31). Patients aged over 70 with MGMT methylation and treated with Gliadel had a significantly longer median survival of 13.5 months compared to 7.6 months in patients with unmethylated MGMT (p=0.027). A similar significant difference was also found in older patients with a median recurrence-free survival of 13.1 versus 7.6 months (p=0.01) for MGMT methylated and unmethylated, respectively. Conclusions: Methylation of the MGMT promoter in newly diagnosed GBM patients who were treated with Gliadel followed by RT and TMZ, was associated with significantly improved survival compared to the non-methylated patient population with similar treatment. For the elderly population, methylation of the MGMT promoter was associated with significantly better OS and RFS. INTRODUCTION Glioblastome multiforme (GBM) is the most common primary brain tumor, with a median survival of less than two years [1]. To date, only two different alkylating agents have been shown to be consistently associated with prolonged survival – temozolomide (TMZ) and the locally delivered BCNU wafers (Gliadel) [1-3]. Gliadel wafers (Eisai Inc. for Arbor Pharmaceuticals, LLC) are implanted and locally deliver Carmustine (also known as (1,3-bis(2-chloroethyl)-1- nitrosourea (BCNU)) at the site of tumor resection, allowing for a higher concentration of local chemotherapeutic doses while minimizing systemic adverse effects [2-4]. These wafers provide a controlled- release form of local chemotherapy for approximately 3 weeks [4, 5]. Methylation of the MGMT promoter in gliomas was found to be an important predictor of the tumor responsiveness after several cytotoxic regimens [6], including BCNU treatment [7]. It was found that expression of the DNA repair protein, O6 – methylguanine-methyltransferase (MGMT), results in GBM resistance to alkylating agents. Alkylating agents cause cell death by binding to DNA, most commonly to the O6 position of guanine, and forms cross-links between adjacent DNA strands. This cross-linking of double strand DNA is inhibited by the cellular DNA-repair protein MGMT. In this study, through a unique analysis of 122 patients with newly diagnosed GBM who were treated with Gliadel, we retrospectively examined the association between MGMT promoter methylation status and survival. METHODS Patients and Tumor Specimens We retrospectively reviewed 185 patients with newly diagnosed GBM who received Gliadel after tumor resection, at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, USA, between July 1997 and December 2006. Of these patients, only 122 patients had stored samples that were available for MGMT analysis. The clinical, radiological and hospital course of these patients were retrospectively reviewed. Age and gender were recorded, as well as Karnofsky performance score (KPS) at time of diagnosis, tumor location, time to recurrence and dates of death were recorded. Overall survival (OS) was calculated from the time of surgery to death, and recurrence free survival (RFS) was calculated from the time of surgery to time of recurrence or censored at the last time of follow-up. GBM was histologically confirmed in all cases. Extent of surgical resection was determined based on a postoperative MRI performed Treatment Algorithm Gliadel wafers were typically not implanted in patients after tumor resection when the tumor largely extended into the ventricles or was multifocal. DNA Extraction After initial patient de-identification, all original histologic slides from the GBM specimens were reviewed to reconfirm the diagnosis of GBM by a senior neuropathologist (PB). A representative block with tumor was retrieved for DNA extraction. Histologic slides from the formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue were obtained. One representative slide was stained with HE and the tumor was marked by the senior neuropathologist (PB). An additional five correlating unstained 10 micron slides were also obtained. The tumor cells in the unstained slides were microdissected according to the marked HE stained reference slide. DNA was extracted from paraffin embedded tissue after xylene deparaffinization. The microdissected tissue was digested with 1% sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and 200ug/mL proteinase K (Roche, Nutley, NJ) at 48 °C for 48 hours, followed by phenol/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation of DNA. Extracted DNA was dissolved in either LoTE (2.5 mM EDTA, 10 mM Trisâ⠂¬â€œHCl [pH 8]) or distilled water. Bisulfite Treatment Extracted DNA was subjected to bisulfite treatment, to convert unmethylated cytosine residues to uracil residues. Briefly, 2  µg genomic DNA from each sample was treated with bisulfite using the EpiTect Bisulfite kit (Qiagen, Valencia, CA) according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Converted DNA was stored at -80oC. Methylation Analysis Bisulfite-modified DNA was used as a template for fluorescence-based real-time PCR. Amplification reactions were carried out in triplicate in a final volume of 20  µL that contained 3  µL bisulfite-modified DNA; 600 nmol/L concentrations of forward and reverse primers; 200 nmol/L probe; 0.6 units platinum Taq polymerase (Invitrogen); 200  µmol/L concentrations each of dATP, dCTP, dGTP, and dTTP; and 6.7 mmol/L MgCl2. Primers and probes were designed to specifically amplify the promoter of MGMT and the promoter of a reference gene, ACTIN B; primer and probe sequences and annealing temperatures are provided in Table 1. Amplifications were carried out using the following profile: 95 °C for 3 min followed by 50 cycles at 95 °C for 15 s and 60 °C for 1 min. Amplification reactions were carried out in 384-well plates in a 7900 sequence detector (Perkin-Elmer Applied Biosystems) and analyzed by a sequence detector system (SDS 2.2.1; Applied Biosystems). Each plate included patie nt DNA samples, positive controls (Bisulfite-converted Universal Methylated Human DNAStandards (Zymo Research) in serial dilutions 20ng to 2pg) and molecular grade water was used as a non-template control. The ÃŽ ²-actin gene was used to normalize and act as an internal loading control. The methylation ratio was the ratio of values for the gene-specific PCR products to those of the ACTIN B and then multiplied by 1,000 for more efficient tabulation. Statistical Methods The overall survival (OS) time was defined from the date of initial diagnosis of the disease (surgery) to the time of death or censored at the time last known alive. The recurrence-free survival (RFS) was counted from the date of initial diagnosis of the disease to the time of disease recurrence or censored at the time last known alive and recurrence-free. Probabilities of OS and RFS were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier (KM) method [15] and compared using Log-rank test. Confidence intervals were calculated using the method of Brookmeyer and Crowley[14]. Cox proportional hazards model [16] was used to estimate the association between OS or RFS and MGMT methylation status, treatments and well known prognostic factors. Schoenfeld residuals were used to test the proportionality of factors in Cox proportional hazards models. Radiation status was treated as a stratification factor in the Cox regression model. TMZ has FDA approval for newly diagnosed GBM patients aged between 18-70. Subgro up analyses were performed for patients who were aged over 70. All p values were two-sided. All analyses were performed using the Statistical Analysis System, version 9.2. MGMT was considered as promoter methylated if the methylation ratio was higher than 8, and unmethylated if below 8. RESULTS Patient Population Six hundred patients with newly diagnosed GBM underwent craniotomy between 1997 and 2006, at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. One hundred eighty five patients received Gliadel (30.8%) after tumor resection. Methylation specific PCR was performed in 122 of the 185 patients (66%) because 63 patients did not have sufficient paraffin embedded tumor tissue for MGMT analysis. The characteristics of the patients and type of treatments are shown in Table 2. The clinical course of forty patients who had methylation of MGMT promoter was compared to 82 patients without promoter methylation of MGMT. The similarity of distributions among patients characteristics, and treatments between MGMT methylated and unmethylated is also shown in Table 2. There was a slightly male predominance in both groups. The median age of the MGMT methylated group was 65.5 years compared to 60.5 years in the non-MGMT methylated group (p=0.59). Most of the patients in both groups had KPS score of ≠¤ 80 (p=0.67). Most of the patients in both groups underwent gross total resection (GTR) (85% vs. 74% in the methylated and non-MGMT methylated group, respectively), (p=0.19). Most of the patients in the MGMT methylated and non-MGMT methylated groups received post-operative radiation therapy (RT) (80% and 72% respectively). However, there were 31 patients (25%) without radiation treatment recorded in their medical chart. Only 33% and 29% of MGMT methylated and non-MGMT patients, respectively, were treated with TMZ due to majority of patients was treated prior to 2005 when RT+ TMZ became the stadnadrd of care for the newly diagnosed GBM patients. Overall Survival The Kaplan-Meier estimate of the median OS for the122 patients with newly diagnosed GBM was 13.5 months (95% CI: 11.0, 14.5). Median OS for those with MGMT methylation was 13.9 months (95%CI: 9.5, 17.1) compared to 12.9 months (95%CI: 10.9, 14.5) (p= 0.86) in patients non methylated. Univariate and multivariate association of survival with treatment factor, baseline prognostic factors, and MGMT methylation status are shown in Table 3. There was a 15% reduction in hazard of death (Hazard ratio: 0.85, 95%CI: 0.56-1.31) for patients with MGMT methylated tumor compared to those with MGMT unmethylated tumor after adjusting for age, KPS, extent of resection, TMZ and RT. A subgroup analysis was performed among 35 patients who were 18-70 years old and treated with Gliadel, RT and TMZ ( Gliadel+ Stupp’s regimen) [1]. The median OS was 19.8 months (95% CI, 14.5, 22.2) in this subset of patients. There was no statistically significant difference in OS among these 35 patients with MGMT pr omoter methylation (median OS:20 months,95% CI: 9.2, 37.0), compared to patients without MGMT promoter methylation (median OS: 18.9 months, 95% CI: 11.9, 22.2), (Table 4). Only two out of 30 elderly patients aged above 70 years were treated with TMZ, one was MGMT methylated and another was not. Among these elderly patients, those with MGMT promoter methylation showed a significantly longer median survival of 13.5 months (95% CI, 0.49, 17.1) compared to 7.6 months (95% CI, 2.9, 9.4) when the MGMT promoter was non-methylated (p=0.027). A similar significant difference in median recurrence-free survival was also found in elderly patients where the median survival was 13.1 versus 7.6 months (p=0.01) for MGMT methylated and unmethylated, respectively. The overall median recurrence-free survival was 9.4 months (95%CI: 7.8-10.2) for all patients. There was no difference in RFS between patients 18-70 years old with and without MGMT methylation. DISCUSSION In this study we investigated the significance of MGMT methylation status in a series of 122 patients with newly diagnosed GBM who underwent surgical resection and implantation of Gliadel wafers. The results of our series show a reduction in hazard of death for patients who were MGMT methylated compared to non-methylated. Interestingly, this effect was much more profound in the elderly group of 35 patients who were older than 70 years old when they were diagnosed with GBM. Elderly patients who were MGMT methylated had significantly better OS, compared to non-methylated (13.5 vs. 7.6 months respectively, p=0.027). The methylation of the MGMT promoter region leads to a reduced ability to repair DNA damage induced by alkylating chemotherapeutic agents [7]. Methylation of the MGMT promoter was found to be associated with responsiveness to alkylating chemotherapeutic agents such as temozolomide [6] and BCNU [7], and an increase in OS and progression free survival. The median survival of patients who received the combination of Gliadel, temozolomide and radiation therapy in our cohort ranged between 18.9 to 20 months, six months greater than that for the radiation therapy and temozolomide historic cohort [1] (Figure1). For patients younger than 70 years old, the median survival of the MGMT methylated sub-group was slightly greater that MGMT non-methylated. KPS in a known prognostic factor for patients with brain tumors [8]. Most of the patients in our study cohort had poor KPS of less than 80. Still, our results were in line with the report of Lechapt-Zalcman et al. [9] who assessed the prognostic impact of MGMT promoter methylation in patients with newly diagnosed GBM that received Gliadel in addition to radiation therapy and temozolomide. The OS of their study cohort was 17.5 months. Patients with MGMT methylation had a significantly longer OS of 21.7 months compared with patients without MGMT methylation who had OS of 15.1 months. Two recent phase III clinical trials in the elderly age of patients with malignant astrocytoma, the NOA-08 [10] and Nordic trials [11], demonstrated that temozolomide therapy alone was not inferior to radiotherapy alone, and methylation of the MGMT gene promoter was associated with a benefit from temozolomide. However, there is a concern that combination therapy of radiation therapy and temozolomide may be less active and less well tolerated in the elderly population [12]. European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC)-26981/National Cancer Institute of Canada (NCIC) CE3 trial have suggested that with increasing age, the relative benefit of addition of temozolomide to radiotherapy decreases and the patients suffer from increased chemotherapy-associated side effect such as neutropenia, lymphocytopenia, thrombocytopenia , raised liver-enzyme concentrations infections and thromboembolic events. As opposed to systemic chemotherapy with its limitations, local delivery of Gliadel wafers may be promising in this subset of patients. Chaichana et al. compared 45 elderly patients who were treated with Gliadel to 88 elderly patients who did not receive Gliadel [13]. The survival for older patients who received Gliadel was significantly longer than for patients who did not receive Gliadel (8.7 months vs. 5.5 months respectively, p=0.007). The median survival of MGMT methylated in elderly patients in the current cohort was doubled. These results may support the use of Gliadel in this sub-population. Limitations There are several limitations to this study. Its retrospective nature carries a potential bias. Moreover, the time period of this study ended in 2006, only one year after temozolomide became the standard of care in the treatment of GBM, thus most of the patients were not treated with the combination of temozolomide and radiation therapy. Furthermore, because this is a tertiary referral center, there is a bulk of patients who were operated in this center, but received further neuro-oncology treatments elsewhere, near their home, and therefore, their complementary oncology treatment is not available. Still, this large and unique cohort of patients with newly diagnosed GBM who were operated in one tertiary center provide novel data that may assist in optimizing and personalizing the treatment for GBM patients.