The impact of socioeconomic inequalities on mother-child HIV Thesis

The impact of socioeconomic inequalities on mother-child HIV transmission and the therapeutic intervention in South Africa - Thesis Example Absolute poverty in this case is the inability for one to meet basic need while relative poverty is whereby individuals and the community lag behind in welfare. According to Mail Guardian (2011), almost half of South Africa population lives below the poverty line, surviving on just over R500 a month. Though poverty levels have been decreasing over time, the country still lags behind due to the high level of unemployment. It is estimated that only 41% of adults are employed (Mail Guardian 2011). According to Cox (2008), poverty has caused a significant effect on the financial power of the affected women than men. According to Rosenweig et al. (1998), lack of adequate finance, affordable housing, and skills have exposed single parents to engage in dangerous promiscuity like prostitution hence increasing their risk of contracting HIV and Aids. In South Africa, women accounts for more than 57% of individuals living with HIV (Henry 2005). Moreover, majority of women living with HIV are within 25 to 35 years (Henry 2005). This is a childbearing age hence; there is a very high likelihood of having mother-to-child HIV transmission. In response to the effect of HIV and mother-to-child transmission, the government of South Africa has come up with various intervention strategies. Among them is public health education, advocating for Caesarean section during delivery, substituting breastfeeding after delivery, use of antiretroviral drugs for the infected mothers and tax waive on antiretroviral drugs (Haarmann 2000). However, Antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) are the most popular of all the interventions on mother-to-child HIV transmission (Chigwedere et al. 2008). It increases child survival and decreases HIV related morbidity and mortality. For a pregnant mother to be able to use ARVs, the person goes through several phases with screening for pregnancy being the first stage. Upon

Mildred Taylor Essay Example for Free

Mildred Taylor Essay Draft No. 3 TJ is an unlikable boy who has only himself to blame for the situation at the end of the novel. How far do you agree? T. J is an unlikable boy but I do not believe that he has only to himself to blame for the situation at the end of the novel. There are other sides to the story as well. TJ starts off in the novel as a happy, cheerful young boy who enjoys life, but you can already start to see the cheeky side of him. In chapter 1, TJ says: Look on the bright side, Jus think of the advantage youve got. Youll be learnin all stuff fore the rest of us like whats on them tests. This proves that TJ is a cheat. If his mother were a teacher, then he would definitely look at the tests and cheat. TJ and his brother came from one of the poorest families. For example, when he comes into school on the first day, he is wearing no shoes. Whereas the Logans have: New coats and books and shiny new packards. One of the reasons that TJ is such a troublemaker is that he had a socially deprived background and therefore I think he needs to receive the attention that his family never gave him. His families are poor sharecroppers on Granger land. Sharecroppers were black people who work on white land, and get a small percentage of the produce. They are weak and frail and cannot control TJ. A description of TJs father shows he is: A frail sickly man with a hacking cough. The fact that he had a deprived upbringing and that nobody is doing any thing about TJs getting out of hand is why he is not fully to blame for what happens at the end of the novel. Later on, TJ says to Stacey: Friends gotta trust each other, Stacey, cause aint nothing like a true friend. However, TJ betrays Stacey. Stacey is caught with TJs cheat notes and Miss Logan (his Mama) beats her son in front of the whole class. This makes TJ unlikable. We also feel sympathetic towards Stacey for being blamed for something that he did not do. Later on, TJ is mesmerised by a pearl-handed gun. His behavior becomes increasingly disturbing. TJ mocks Stacey about his magnificent new coat because he is jealous. TJ says: He looks like the fat preacher. But the truth is, T. J. is a confused, insecure youngster. He is a character who sets much of the storys violent action into motion; this makes him unlikable. He is a liar, a cheat, and a thief. He causes trouble for different members of the Logan family. Firstly, TJ humiliates Stacey, who in the end disowns his new coat. In chapter 6, Stacey says: The coat was too big for me and and TJ said it made me look like like a preacher. TJ wanted the coat very much so he could show off to his white friends. Then he initiates the dismissal of Mary Logan because he has failed the exam. In that time, if anyone fails the end of year exam, then they must redo the year, thus being with the same teacher. He tells Mr. Granger that Miss Logan erased the word nigra on the books. This causes Mr. Granger to sack Miss Logan because she does not abide to the white rules. In chapter 8, Mr. Granger says: You so smart I expect youd best just forget about teaching altogether then thataway youll have plenty of time to write your own book Later on, in chapter 12, Papa sets fire to the land and ruins many of his crops, thus making him poorer in an attempt to save TJ from being lynched. Even though he is working away from home to improve family income. In the 1930s in the South, the Depression came and the black people often had to seek work elsewhere (Papa, for example, manages to hold down insecure work on the railroad during the Depression. ) TJ has no scruples, no morals, and will do anything to avoid accepting responsibility. This makes him unlikable. He bullies his brother Claude and he will use any devious method to avoid failing at school. But when TJ is in trouble he asks Stacey for help because he is going to fail. Stacey replies angrily: TJ, dont you come talking to me bout no more cheating! When TJ fails, he is full of resentment and anger, so he engineers the dismissal of Miss Logan. He is successful, but only with the help of two other white boys, RW and Melvin. He does this because the Simms brothers are white, and they have more power over what happens to the blacks. This makes TJ unlikable and we feel sympathetic towards Mama (TJ used to hate the whites. ) Mama says: Well you told me Jeremy said they were laughing at TJ behind his back. Some folks just like to keep other folks around to laugh at them use them. TJ does not realise that his white supposed friends are backstabbing him. Stacey discovers that it is TJs fault that his mothers beloved career is ruined. TJs friendships with the white boys spell trouble because they constantly use him, and get him into trouble. This is why TJ does not only have himself to blame for the situation at the end of the novel. Mary Logan understands that TJ is insecure and has no understanding for self-respect so she does nothing to punish TJ. Mama and Papa talk about Stacey in chapter 9: Mary, I want him strong not a fool like TJ Hes got more brains and learning than that' Cassie overhears her parents talking about Stacey and TJ. TJ has gotten out of hand. They discuss his future and what will happen to TJ if things carry on. When Cassie asks her mother if TJ is dumb, she answers, TJs not dumb Cassie, he just wants attention, but hes going after it the wrong way. This shows again why he is not totally to blame. TJ mainly needs attention. Mama says: Theyd better `figure out some way of getting that boy back on the right track because hes headed for a whole lot of trouble. This quotation shows the reader that TJ will get worse if things do not change for TJ. TJ arrives with RW and Melvin (who are both a terrible influence on TJ) and he is dressed like his white friends to impress his ex-friends, the Logans. Cassie realises that the brothers are merely using TJ. She is amazed by TJs stupidity. But TJ befriending white people shows just how desperate TJ is for attention. He thinks he is getting the attention that his parents and the Logans stopped giving him, but in reality, the white Simms brothers are just using TJ. TJ says to the Logans: Everything I want they give me, cause they really like me. Im their best friend. TJ arrives later, badly hurt and crying with despair. He has been tricked into robbing the Barnett store but RW and Melvin covered their faces and wore gloves. They used TJ as their scapegoat and they could not care less what happens to him. We feel sympathetic towards TJ and this is why TJ is not totally to blame for the end. The Lynch mob then come for TJ, intending to visit the Logans next. The sense of fear and anxiety felt by the Logan children, the stories told around the hearth and the consequences for T. J dominate the novel. The Author, Mildred D. Taylor is always giving very negative portrayals of TJ, with occasional references to why he is like he is. This makes him unlikable. But we do feel sympathetic towards him. At the end of the novel Cassie cries for TJ and the land and gives them economic independence, which shows she has fully realised that blacks are the targets for racism, and her whole life will be like that, and that TJs life was wasted. Racism was spreading during the 1930s, especially in Mississippi, the Ku Klux Klan were very active there. Cassie already knows about the dreaded Night Men. Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Mildred Taylor section.

What factors influence the onset of drug addiction?

What factors influence the onset of drug addiction? Familial Risk Factors Favoring Drug Addiction Onset Introduction: The purpose of the study is to indicate the factors that are suspected to be affecting children for drug abuse. The author Zimic and Jukic have concluded their work Familial Risk Factors Drug Addiction Onset which is a sound research based on a sample of 146 addicts and 134 control subjects. The hypothesis of the study is drug addiction might surely be seen from parental standpoint. The hypothesis is taken on the basis of past results, different case studies, and research papers on the subject of drug addiction. The authors seem to have biased thinking towards drug addiction related with parents and the child’s upbringing. Though there is a direct relation between a child and parents but it is not certain that they are the reason for this drug abuse. The paper, however, discusses very little about other factors including peer groups, friends, social environment and other factors. According to the authors, drug addiction is most prone to children in their teen age for which surveillance from parents is much required in order to have a look at their daily routine, the friendships they have, and relations with the people surrounding their children (Zimic and Jukic, 2012). The behavior of overlooking a child in the teen age causes serious troubles to let them astray from their supposed pattern of life, a happy and healthy life, to a drug addicted life which remains for lifetime. These are the factors, the major points and real time facts which have been discussed in the study along with the familial factor that, according to authors, make drug addiction more stream line for a child who doesn’t have enough knowledge for outside world in the teen age. Methods: The study was conducted in time interval from 2008 to 2009 in which they took a sample of drug addicts and normal (non-drug addict) people from the population. The total number of drug addicts was 146 in which there we 92 men, 51 women and 3 other people who didn’t specify their gender but their age was between 18 and 46 years. The survey was done using questionnaire, having around 67 different variables involved in the questions. This study was taken while the addicts were undergoing through the recovery process in different psychiatrist hospitals. The sample for control group or the normal group had a total of 134 people of which 88 were men, 45 were females and 1 of the 134 people didn’t specify the gender but the age of that individual was between 17 and 44 years of age. The study is pure quantitative in nature and is experimental since individuals from both the groups are being tested using questionnaires, asking their school background, age, sex, place of birth, place of birth and more such questions that the researchers found important to consider so that they may have complete insight of the subjects. Though the questions asked were qualitative because of the fact that additional information regarding the background of the subjects was needed. The questions comprised of open ended and closed ended questions and also had given the subjects with an option â€Å"other† so that if they had any other answer to the question, they could put that in the â€Å"other† option. The purpose for this additional option was to have complete knowledge of the subject without missing any single piece of information. The questionnaire were given to the subjects in hand rather using any other medium such as mail or email. Open-ended questions were analy zed by the researchers categorizing them as either positive, negative, or neutral. Statistical software, SPSS, was used to analyze the research questions and get more appropriate findings. The procedures chosen for the research were valid, appropriate and accurate enough to achieve suitable results, those which were statistically right. Ethical Aspects: The researcher took into account all aspects of ethics and other factors that should be taken care of while performing a research on such sensitive cases where medical teams, hospitalized patients; more importantly patients those who have imbalances psychologically are involved. The ethical criteria were fulfilled before performing the research. The approval was taken by the research team from Board of Ethics of University Medicine in Zagreb and Board of Ethics of Hospital Vrapce and Clinical Hospital Sister of Mercy. The research team did not only fulfilled this aspect of ethical moralities but also attached cover letters with the questionnaires to all the subjects that explained the purpose of the study. They took the information from the subjects after providing a notice to all the subjects that the information provided will be held hundred percent confidential and this the reason why the questionnaire did not have questions such as name, date of birth and like. Results: The results of this study were taken out in several categories and in different aspects of the subject’s information received. In the familial sociodemographic feature aspect, the researchers did not find any statistically sound differences such as the subjects mostly came from three-five members family, they were firstborns among the siblings and like. The only difference in this aspects was found in the parent’s marital status. In the familial development feature aspect, significant differences were recorded in further several aspects such as: separation of parents before the age of seven, parental divodrce or death of one of parents in early childhood or adolescence, psychological stress or trauma experienced in the life, parental surveillance, and parental support. In the familial interaction features aspect the results were more intense and shocking differences were found between the two samples. The results for this aspect were taken further in to: Unfavorable emo tional relationship with the parents, especially with the father throughout the childhood and adolescence. People from addicts had favored their mothers when they were asked to choose from their father and mother for emotional attachment. Most of the non-addict subjects also favored their mothers over fathers when asked for attentiveness of their parents. The results showed that addicts had more intense and distant relationship with their fathers because of the fact lack of appropriate communication in the early childhood. Even in the case of lack of communication with the mother, the subjects favored their mothers to have better level of understanding and that the mothers were more caring and attentive towards their child than fathers. The results also concluded that addicts were of the view that the decision-making at home were eventually made by their fathers while mothers were given less or no chance to make decisions. While on the other hand, the control group had a different point of view. The results showed that the control group had answered in the favor of both the parents that the decision is made considering the point of view of the parents. In the familial sociological features aspect, results showed huge differences between the two subject samples. Discussion and Conclusion: The study was taken out in the normal environment without the subjects knowing that they were being experimented. The research outcomes suggest that early childhood relationships with parents, especially with the father had more adverse effects on the lives of their children. The results showed the statistically proven, the addicts had more complaints regarding their father’s attitude and lack of attentiveness and emotion intent during their childhood and adolescence which eventually resulted in non-compliance to surveillance during the teen age, emotional relationship, and openness to freedom of speech. The addicts who were sampled were more inclined towards their mothers than fathers because of their caring attitude, level of interest in the child and degree of emotional intent. On the other hand, the control group had more of a balanced relationship between their parents, they said that they had better understanding between them, more balanced decision-making right and that they were taken care from both almost equally. Other reasons for drug addiction were the past experiences, stress, trauma or any unsuitable event that had jolted the addicts. People who were exposed to war environment in their lives, had more trauma and stress level ultimately ending up in the shape of drug addiction. The study also discussed the parental differences, the divorce, deceased and single parent factor which had direct impact on their children. The study had more appropriate results and the tests performed were statistically sound which gave the results more close to reality. Parents do have direct impact on their children and the upbringing of a child significantly matters for the rest of their lives. Parents who oversee their children actually put them in trouble later, sometime, in their lives. To save the lives of their children from drug addiction, parents do have to play a vital role from the day a child is born till, at least, the teen age and proper surveillance be made in order to get the insights of the daily routine of their child. A child learns from their parents, so this comes on to the parents who can make a life or break it. References: ZimiĆ¡, J. I., JukiĆ¡, V. (2012). Familial risk factors favoring drug addiction onset. Journal of psychoactive drugs, 44(2), 173-185.

Essay --

In the The Forgotten Plague: Opium and Narcotics in Korea under Japanese Rule, 1910-1945, John M. Jennings argues that opium and narcotics trafficking played a significant part in Korea under Japanese colonial rule from 1910-1944, and that the subject of opium in Korea under Japanese colonial rule is not fully examined by historians. Jennings bases this connection between the opium and narcotics trade and the Japanese on three factors: the spread of drug addiction in Korea during Japanese colonial rule, Korea's rise in production and exportation of narcotics throughout the 1920s and 1930s, and the political immunity of Korean drug traffickers in China. In the first part of the article, Jennings emphasizes how Korea was forced to deal with a major domestic drug addiction problem under Japanese colonial rule. The article highlights how opium first arrived in Korea from China, and that opium smoking has long been a widespread habit in Korean society. By I905 there were so many opium addicts in Korea that the Japanese Residency General had to force the Korean Government to stop the problem. This resulted in harsh laws condemning opium smoking, the importation and sale, as well as opium paraphernalia (Jennings 797). The article does a good job of emphasizing to the reader that these new laws were ineffective because opium smoking endured throughout the early stages of the Japanese colonial period. Jennings references how in 1912 the Japanese government was required to enforce a new law in which Korean opium smokers were punished under the same level of severity as if under Japanese law to discourage the widespread usage of opium (Jen nings 797). According to Jennings, Korean addicts were only permitted to continue smoking if the end... ...elf states many times in the article that he wishes to shed much needed light on an ignored aspect of imperial Japan's actions in Korea. This article contributes to the wider literature because it introduces the reader to the effects of Japanese colonialism in Korea through the analysis of primary source documents, first hand experiences, and expert opinion. My experience has shown that little is mentioned in textbooks and resources to cover the topic of Korea under Japanese colonialism other than the dates of annexation and the date of emancipation. This is a very good article for readers and scholars to compare with Western imperialism material. Furthermore, the Japanese occupation of Korea from 1910 to 1945 went through several overlapping phases, this article touches on many of those political, social, and economic changes occurring in Korea during this period.

Tesco Plc. 2012 Annual Accounts compare them with Sainsbury Plc. as appropriate

Tesco was established in 1919 and now has become the largest retailer in the UK, the second largest retailer measured by profits and third largest retailer measured by revenues in the world. It has operations in 14 countries with 520,000 people employed and millions of customers served every week (Tesco, 2013). Tesco’s 2012 Annual Report has just published, through which we can critically analyse the company’s operational and financial conditions.There are numerous relationships between the figures published in the annual report, and ratios have been commonly used for conducting a quantitative analysis of these relationships (Atrill and McLaney, 2013). They are calculated by comparing the current year numbers (2011-12) with previous years (2010-11) and other companies. Hence, J Sainsbury plc (known as Sainsbury’s) is chosen since it is the major competitor of Tesco at home. The ratios can be classified into five categories, namely profitability ratios, liquidity ratios, activity or efficiency ratios, gearing ratios and investment ratios. When using the ratios to assess two companies’ performances, relevant social, political and economic changes will all taken into account.Profitability Ratio Profitability ratios are the ratios used to assess a company’s capability to generate earnings in comparison to its expenses and other relevant costs. Major profitability ratios include return on investment (ROI), return on capital employed (ROCE), gross profit margin and net profit margin. Firstly, ROI is a concept evaluating the efficiency of an investment, and equals to ‘net profit after tax’ dividing ‘shareholders’ funds’. For Tesco, its ROI for the financial year 2011-12 was 15.8, decreased by 1.9% from previous year. Nevertheless, it is still better than Sainsbury’s, which got only 10.6%. Therefore, it can be argued that in general the investment on Tesco is more efficient and you can get bette r return.Besides ROI, ROCE is a similar concept which is a relative profit measurement demonstrating the return the business generated from its gross assets. A higher ROCE shows that the company is using its capital more efficiently. In consequence, ROCE should be higher than company’s capital cost, otherwise it tells us that the company is not employing its capital effectively and is not generating shareholder value.It is calculated by ‘profit before interest and tax’ diving ‘shareholder’s funds + long-term debt’. Tesco’s ROCE for the financial year 2011-12 was 13.3%, higher than previous year’s 12.9% and Sainsbury’s 11.1%. The rise of ROCE to some extent resulted from the discontinued operation of Japan. From this point of view it can be argued that Tesco made a right decision to exit from Japan where its investment failed to generate good returns (The Telegraph, 2012).Moreover, gross profit margin and net profit margin are the other two commonly used profitability ratios. The former is defined as the percentage between ‘gross profit’ and ‘sales’, whereas the latter is the percentage between ‘net profit’ and ‘sales’. For Tesco, the two ratios both decreased compared to previous year: The gross profit margin reduced from 8.5% to 8.2% and the net profit margin reduced from 6.0% to 5.9%. It means that this year the company failed to control cost as well as last year. The reduction was caused by various reasons. First of all, the economic downturn in the UK, particularly the high petrol prices and falling real incomes affected  customers’ discretionary spending significantly(BBC News, 2012). In addition, 2012 was a transition year for Tesco .The company not only changed its chairman, CEO and a number of other senior managers, but also made some adjustment on organisational structure and business focused. Finally, the company decided to increa se investment so that to improve customers’ shopping trip, making trading profit declined. In spite of these challenges, Tesco still outweighed Sainsbury’s on profitability, which got 5.4% and 3.6% respectively.Liquidity ratios The second category of ratios called liquidity ratios, which are utilized to determine the ability of a company to pay off its short-term debts. There are important as companies must ensure that these ratios are liquid otherwise they may have problem in paying back its creditors. Two important liquidity ratios are current ratio and acid test ratio.Current ratio measures ‘current assets’ (cash +debtors + stock) against ‘current liabilities’. Tesco’s current ratio in 2012 was 2.01, reduced from 2.12 in 2011. The current asset was rising, but it failed to offset the bigger rising of current liabilities, which was mainly led by the increased short-term borrowings. In 2012 there was a â‚ ¬1500 million medium term n ote (MTN) matured. Nevertheless, it still outperformed Sainsbury’s, whose current ratio was 1.84 in 2012. Because Tesco’s current ratio for the past two years were both greater than 2, it means that the company has no problem to meet creditor’s demands.Acid test ratio differentiates current ratio by excluding stock from the equation as stock may not easily be converted into cash. Tesco’s acid test ratios for the past two years were 1.56 (2011) and 1.45 (2012) respectively. Though decreased by 7.1%, it still great than 1 and Sainsbury’s 0.99, again indicating that Tesco has enough short-term assets to cover its short-term liabilities without selling inventory.Activity/Efficiency Ratios This category of ratios, which mainly includes ratios such as asset turnover,  stock turnover, debtor days and creditor days, measures how well a company utilizing its internal assets and liabilities.Primarily, asset turnover, which equals to ‘sales’ di viding ‘total assets’, measures how efficiency a company is in using its assets to achieve sales revenue to the company. Tesco’s asset turnover ratio in 2012 was 1.27, lower than its previous year’s 1.28 and Sainsbury’s 1.81. Since those companies with low profit margins tend to have high asset turnover ratio whereas companies with high profit margins tend to have low asset turnover ratio, Tesco has bigger profit margin than Sainsbury, and this advantage has been expanded. We should also realize that companies in the retail industry like Tesco and Sainsbury tend to have higher asset turnover ratio than companies in other industries because of their competitive even cutthroat pricing.In addition, the stock turnover ratio indicates how many times a company’s stock is sold and replaced over a period, for instance a year, and is calculated as ‘cost of sales’ divided by ‘stock’. According to this formula, we can get the r esults of 17.50 and 16.48 for Tesco in 2011 and 2012 respectively and 22.48 for Sainsbury’s in 2012. The numbers are within the appropriate interval. A very low stock turnover rate may indicate overstocking whereas a overtop rate may point to stock shortage, which further result in the loss in business. From this point of view, both of the companies manage the stock appropriately.Thirdly, debtor day measures the number of days, on average, that customers take to pay. The formula is ‘debtors (accounts receivable) / sales * 365’. Companies should ensure that its debtor ratio is neither too high nor too low. Otherwise it may face potential risks of either losing customers or losing profit by bad debt. Since most of the retailing business is cash business, supermarkets usually have very short debtor days. Tesco’s debtor days for the past two years were 14 days (2011) and 15 days (2012) respectively while Sainsbury’s has a even shorter debtor day of 5. C reditor day, on the other hand, measures the number of days, on average, that companies take to pay its suppliers.It is calculated by ‘accounts payable / cost of sales * 365’. From the formula we can get that Tesco had 60 creditor  days for the past two years. Together with a very short debtor day, it is evident to see its bargaining power in the market. This helps Tesco maximize profits. Sainsbury also has a big creditor day of 47 days, indicating its strong bargaining power as well.Gearing Ratios Another category of ratios is defined as gearing ratios, including gearing and interest cover ratio. Gearing is defined as the portion of net assets financed through debt rather than equity, and the calculation formula is ‘long-term debt / shareholders’ funds + long-term debt’. The aim of the calculation of gearing ratio is to see whether the company is able to get a healthy long-term financing. Tesco and Sainsbury’s both have good gearing ratios. For Tesco, its gearing ratio in 2012 was 38.4%. In comparison with 40.8% in 2011, it reduced by 5.9%. The decreased gearing reflected Tesco’s stable debt position despite the investment in assets growing. For Sainsbury’s, its gearing ratio in 2012 was 31.7%, meaning that it used even smaller portion of debt to finance net assets.Investment Ratios The final category of ratios is referred to as investment ratios, which are mainly calculated to meet the interests of shareholders and potential investors of the company. The most commonly used shareholder returns rations include dividend per share, dividend yield, and earnings per share (EPS).First, dividend per share, equalling ‘dividend paid’ divided by ‘number of shares’, reflects the belief of the company’s management towards its future growth. For instance, a growing dividend means that the company’s management is confident that the growth can be sustained. Tesco’s 2012 fu ll year dividend was 14.76p, which was an increase of only 2.1% on last year, but lower than Sainsbury’s 16.1p. Although the company continued the record of consecutive years of dividend growth in the FTSE 100, for its shareholders, 2012 was a tough year. The company’s management explains that this was due to their new strategy to forego some short-term profit to re-invest in the long-term health of the business.Second, dividend yield shows how much a company pays out in dividends each year relative to its share price. In the absence of any capital gains, it equals to the return on investment for a stock. Dividend yield can be calculated according to the formula ‘dividend per share / Market price per share’. On 30th March 2013, Tesco and Sainsbury’s dividend yield were 4.24 and 4.14 respectively.Furthermore, earnings per share, known as EPS and calculated as ‘profit after tax’ dividing ‘number of shares’, shows the profit ( or loss) made by every issued share. It is an important indicator of a company’s profitability, and also the single most significant factor in determining the share price. In 2012 Tesco’s EPS was 37.4p, increased by 2.1% from 2011 and higher than its competitor Sainsbury’s 28.1p. Consequently, we can argue that Tesco achieved a modest profit growth in 2012 and it is more profitable than Sainsbury’s.Non-financial performance analysis Financial information particularly the ratio analysis has its limitations. Therefore, we need to analyse non-financial information as well. Primarily, from the scale of the business, Tesco definitely enjoys a larger business scale. It has businesses in 14 countries throughout the world and the total stores numbers is 6,234 in 2012. By contrast, Sainsbury’s on operates in the U.K. with around 1,000 stores. Additionally, from the brand reputation and value aspect, Tesco in general outweigh Sainsbury’s to a large ex tent, particularly in global markets. Nevertheless, at home Sainsbury’s brand awareness is almost as famous as Tesco since the company is using competitive pricing strategy and providing fresh goods to improve customer loyalty.Conclusion To sum up, this essay has used five categories of ratios to critically assess the financial performance of Tesco in view of previous year’s results and the competitor Sainsbury’s. Generally speaking the company delivered modest profit growth in a challenging economic environment, with a strong international performance largely offset by a reduction in UK profits. Owing to strategic changes on organisational structure and business focused,  Tesco’s financial performance was negatively affected. Nevertheless, in many aspects such as profitability and liquidity it still outperformed its major competitor Sainsbury’s. It is confident that the company is able to pass the period of change and development smoothly and it s future prosperity can be expected.

Analytical Essay The Red Convertible Essays

Analytical Essay The Red Convertible Essays Analytical Essay The Red Convertible Essay Analytical Essay The Red Convertible Essay Essay Topic: Analytical After he and his brother purchase the convertible, he describes a great big willow tree. In Indian society, willow trees signify wisdom so I gather that perhaps it sticks out In his memory because in the great wide open of Gods creation, perhaps he and his brother gleaned some great wisdom about life In general under the limbs of this willow tree. He mentions how his brother went off to Vietnam upon their return. One cant help but to Imagine the completely different surrounding that his brother found himself in. I imagine wetlands, tropical angles, hot and sticky air that feels as though you are breathing water due to the humidity. Just as they might have found a bit of themselves in the great wide open adventures they had in the car prior to the war, his brother lost a lot of himself in the wet, humid, dangerous jungles of Vietnam. In Robert Frosts Mending Walls, the setting is again outdoors. This time, the setting is in cold, damp England. I gather this from the way the author speaks about fox hunts and stone walls between neighbors. Here, he and his neighbor are again outside walking the stone wall border between heir properties. Two deferent people united and yet separated by a simple wall. Walker 2 While their wall is a physical wall, the wall that later separated the brothers in the previous story was an inner wall made up of the remaining demons of war along with the inner struggles of a prisoner of war returning to life as a civilian. Just as the two neighbors walk their walls to repair the gaps by replacing the loosened and missing boulders, the two brothers tried to repair the gaps to their relationship with the last ride out in the red convertible. The revealing theme is the same in both works. In the red convertible, the family tries to ignore the different personality that has engulfed the older brother upon his return. They keep It quiet and dont mention it but in whispers. They want to keep things the same even though It Is clearly evident that they will never be the same again. In Mending Walls, the writer asks his neighbor why must they keep the wall up when he has no cows nor does his neighbor, they both only have trees and it is clear that neither type of tree will move to encroach upon ten toners proper HIS enlarger, not wanting to go galls t Nils Tanners wellness whom we are led to believe holds great regard for tradition states that good fences make good neighbors. Regardless of whether it makes sense to have the wall or not, it has always been that way and therefore it will continue that way as well. It is similar to the family way of thinking in the red convertible. It is clear that everyone from the younger brother to the friends, neighbors and even the mother in the story can see that the older brother is not the same upon his return from Vietnam. The known is scary to them so instead of tackling the bigger issue and getting him the help he needs, they go back to the way things were. They try to act as if everything is still the same. They ignore the fact that he has been through things they cannot imagine and instead try to pretend he is the same old person he was before. This must be extremely frustrating on the brother and eventually the only way he can think of to make them happy and also to relieve the nightmare he lives in day after day is to end it all with one giant leap into a rushing river at the close off perfect day.

The Rise and Fall of the Automat

The Rise and Fall of the Automat It all sounds so futuristic: a restaurant without waiters, without workers behind the counter, without any visible employees whatsoever, where you simply feed your money into a glass-enclosed kiosk, remove a steaming plate of freshly made food, and carry it to your table. Welcome to  Horn Hardart, circa 1950, a restaurant chain that once boasted 40 locations in New York City and dozens more across the U.S., at a now-distant time when automats served hundreds of thousands of urban customers every day. The Origin of the Automat The automat is often considered to be an exclusively American phenomenon, but in fact, the worlds first restaurant of this kind opened in Berlin, Germany in 1895. Named Quisisana- after a company that also manufactured food-vending machinery- this high-tech eatery established itself in other northern European cities, and Quisisana soon licensed its technology to Joseph Horn and Frank Hardart, who opened the first American automat in Philadelphia in 1902. An Appealing Formula As with so many other societal trends, it was in turn-of-the-century New York that automats really took off. The first New York Horn Hardart opened in 1912, and soon the chain had hit on an appealing formula: customers exchanged dollar bills for handfuls of nickels (from attractive women behind glass booths, wearing rubber tips on their fingers), then fed their change into vending machines, turned the knobs, and extracted plates of meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and cherry pie, among hundreds of other menu items. Dining was communal and cafeteria-style, to the extent that Horn Hardart automats were considered a valuable corrective to the snobbery of so many New York City restaurants. Fresh-Brewed Coffee for a Nickel a Cup Its not widely known today, but Horn Hardart was also the first New York restaurant chain to offer its customers fresh-brewed coffee, for a nickel a cup. Employees were instructed to discard any pots that had been sitting for more than twenty minutes, a level of quality control that inspired Irving Berlin to compose the song Lets Have Another Cup of Coffee (which quickly became Horn Hardarts official jingle). There wasnt much (if any) choice, but in terms of reliability, Horn Hardart could be considered the 1950s equivalent of Starbucks. Behind the Scenes Given all the  high-tech accouterments and lack of visible personnel, Horn Hardart customers could be forgiven for thinking that their food had been prepared and handled by robots. Of course, that wasnt the case, and an argument can be made that automats succeeded at the expense of their hard-working employees. The managers of these restaurants still had to hire human beings to cook, convey food to the vending machines, and wash the silverware and dishesbut since all this activity went on behind the scenes, they got away with paying below-par wages and forcing employees to work overtime. In August of 1937, the AFL-CIO picketed Horn Hardarts across the city, protesting the chains unfair labor practices. In its heyday, Horn Hardart  succeeded partly because its eponymous founders refused to rest on their laurels. Joseph Horn and Frank Hardart ordered any food uneaten at the end of the day to be delivered to cut-price, day-old outlets, and also circulated a hefty, leather-bound rule book that instructed employees on the proper cooking and handling of hundreds of menu items. Horn and Hardart (the founders, not the restaurant) also constantly tinkered with their formula, assembling as often as possible at a sample table where they and their chief executives voted thumbs up or thumbs down on new menu items. Fading in Popularity by the 1970s By the 1970s, automats like Horn Hardart were fading in popularity, and the culprits were easy to identify. First, fast-food chains like McDonalds and Kentucky Fried Chicken offered much more limited menus, but a more identifiable taste, and they also enjoyed the benefits of lower labor and food costs. Second, urban workers were less inclined to punctuate their days with leisurely lunches, complete with appetizer, main course, and dessert, and preferred to grab lighter meals on the fly; one imagines that the fiscal crisis in 1970s New York also encouraged more people to bring their meals to the office from home. Finally Went out of Business in 1991 By the end of the decade, Horn Hardart gave in to the inevitable and converted most of its New York City locations into Burger King franchises; the last Horn Hardart, on Third Avenue and 42nd Street, finally went out of business in 1991. Today, the only place you can see what Horn Hardart looked like  is in the Smithsonian Institution, which harbors a 35-foot-long chunk of the original 1902 restaurant, and this chains surviving vending machines are said to languish in a warehouse in upstate New York. Rebirth of the Concept No good idea ever truly disappears, though. Eatsa, which opened in San Francisco in 2015, seems unlike Horn Hardart in every way conceivable: every item on the menu is made with quinoa, and ordering is done via an iPad, after a brief interaction with a virtual maà ®tre d. But the basic concept is the same: with no human interaction at all, a customer can watch as her meal almost magically materializes in a small cubby flashing her name. In the food industry, it seems, the more things change, the more they stay the same!