Information Of Wijaya Group Of Companies Information Technology Essay

Information Of Wijaya meeting Of Companies Information Technology EssayThe Wijaya Group Of Companies was puted in 1977 with a limited minute of employees to conduct the worry. It has a history of oer 3 decades forthwith, and has created employment opportunities for nearly 1200 employees. The Chairman of Wijaya Group of Companies, Mr. K.R.G. Wijesundara came appear with the initial idea of establishing this gild with regard to cloak industry 30 yrs ago. As the owner of the bon ton Mr. Wijesundara has faced a lot of challenges in directing the confederacy to achieve its prime organizes due to the continues changes in the external environmental factors which aroused from the newly introduced open economic trading policies to Sri Lanka at that snip. The demand factors in the appargonl industry changed completely and created many ecological niche markets during this era, forcing Mr. Wijesundara to introduce many strategies and play in order to face these challenges and direc t his employees continuously. Due to the correct controlling measures adopted, he was able to motivate his employees and carry out a friendly environment within the organization leaving a s rate for the employees to complete their individual tasks effectively and efficiently.The Wijaya Group of Companies was able to expand its upshot business to many new areas in the industry within a very shorter period of time due to the collective efforts by the employees of all categories starting betokenal from the top management to bottom level. Among its customers The Wijaya Group of Company, is well cognize as C.I.B Shopping Center today, and it suffers many maturements under single roof, starting from imported as well as locally manufactured garments to other important house hold items. The prime tar tie of this company is to invest in new business ventures and expand it locally as well as internationally, and as a result of this the management soon came up with the idea of specializ ing in some sectors and undefended up special outlets for Sarees which was named as Wijaya Saree Mandhir. By the end of this year the Wijaya Group Of Companies, holds 22 branches in Sri Lanaka, and conducts its business ground on a divisional Structure headed by five separate Regional Managers from regions such as Western Province, Sabaragamuwa Province, North Western Province, North Central Province, and Central Province. This company has shortly employed 21 branch managers, to direct the activities all around its branches.THE VISSION AND MISSION OF WIJAYA GROUP OFCOMPANIESTHE HIERARCHIAL STRUCTURE OFWIJAYA GROUP OF COMPANIESTHE PROBMLEM IDENTIFIEDTHE ABSENCE OF ONLINE SELLINGThe Wijaya Group Of Companies soon holds the ownership of 22 outlets which includes Shopping Centers as well as special outlets for Sarees and Tailoring. As the management always tends to expand its military operations in diverse sectors, today they are in brink of introducing its products to the global m arket. The C.I.B computer storageping centers have a wider variety of products ranging from garments to household items and today it holds a strong portion of loyal customers that shop in these centers regularly.At present the management of Wijaya Group of Company, is working hard on increasing the customer base they are holding currently, and the most general methods in use are the various marketing tactics which varies from Price differences to different Bonus Offers, with such measures the management has been able to attract customers continuously. besides despite all this, our team was able to identify a problem which was a major drawback in this company, and that is the Absence of Online SellingToday we live in a highly globalized world, where each in every individual and a country is interconnected via Internet and as a result of this, parcel outing tactics used by most of the organizations are moving towards a more web based structure. The marketing strategies used by mo st of these organizations are entertained to meet this new trend in order to achieve the competitive advantage over their competitors. Profit maximization is considered as a prime target in most of the organizations today, and in order to achieve this it is vital to approach a customer before the competitor, and provide updated information to them. A company so-and-so easily achieve this through online selling, where a complex procedure like selling throw out be make by a single prattle on the screen, rather than meeting different retailers, distributors etc.. providing many advantages to the customer as well as the company itself.Literature ReviewInternetelectronic tradingThe InternetThe Internet is a vast public web of computer networks, which connects users of all types all around the world to each other and to an amazingly thumping information repository.It is been hailed as the new technology behind the New Economy. It allows anytime, anywhere connections to information, entertainment and communication. At present many companies use the Internet to build well-nigh relationships with customers, and marketing partners. Beyond competing in traditional market places, they now have access to exciting new market spaces. The Internet whitethorn help a business in the following methods.1. Virtual storefrontSells physical products directly to consumers or to individual businesses.Example Amazon.com2. Information brokerProvides product, pricing, and availability information to individuals and businesses and generates taxation from advertising or from directing debauchers to sellers.Example Edmunds.com, Kbb.com3. Transaction brokerSaves users money and time by processing online sales transactions, generating a fee each time a transaction occurs. Also provides information on rates and terms.Example Expedia.com4. Online marketplaceProvides a digital environment where buyers and sellers stern meet, chase for products, display products, and establish prices f or those products. It could provide online auctions or reverse auctions where buyers submit bids to multiple sellers to purchase at a buyer specified price as well as talk over to fix pricing.Example eBay.com, Priceline.com5. Content ProviderCreates revenue by providing digital content such as digital news, music, photos, or video, over the entanglement. The customer may to access the content. or revenue may be generated by selling advertising space.Example CNN.com, TheStreet.com6. Online value providerProvide online service for individuals and businesses and generates revenue from subscription or transaction fees, from advertising, or from collecting marketing information from users.Example salesforce.com7. Virtual communityProvides online meeting place where people with sympathetic interests can communicate and husking useful information.Example Fortunecity.com8. PortalProvides initial point of entry to the Web along with specialized content and other services.Example Yahoo.c om, MSN.comElectronic CommerceElectronic commerce which is also known as e-commerce is a form of doing business via internet. It can be also known as the buying and selling processes support by electronic means, primarily the internet. E-commerce includes e-marketing and e-purchasing. Ecommerce benefits both buyers and sellers in many ways such as it could be convenient, buying can be easy and private, it could provide great product access to buyers, online buying and selling could be more synergetic and immediate, it could be used as a tool for building tidy customer relationships, from the sellers point it could reduce costs, increase speed and efficiency, and also it could be more flexible way of conducting business.IT Based SolutionStarting an online selling operationImplementation IssuesStarting an Online Selling OperationThe Wijaya Group Of Companies is a medium sized chain, which conducts its business as shopping centers and saree centers in five different provinces in Sr i Lanka, and concentrates mainly in the apparel sector today, by providing imported as well as in house garments to varies levels of categories. Currently it uses traditional methods in selling operations and has not adopted itself to the latest method of selling, which is done through internet.Starting an online selling operation ashes and getting involved in e-commerce would benefit the company in many ways with the present days rapidly changing business world. Since Wijaya Group of Companies holds 22 outlets, they could build up an intranet which is an inner network based on Internet and World Wide Web technology standards. All the shopping centers therefore could be concerned to one another. This system depart help the chain to communicate and keep track of their stocks.Wijaya Group Of Companies could also develop an extranet, which is a private intranet that is accessible to authorized outsiders such as suppliers of the company. Suppliers could communicate with the company v ia extranet and supply products when needed and each shopping center may place orders when they reach a re-order level. This company could have their own accept line to keep connected to their most important suppliers.This company may start off their online selling procedure by launching their own Web site. This web site may include information about the chain, their products, and their branches, how to purchase a product online, recompenses, making orders, checking on new products, etc. They could use banner ads which are graphic displays on web pages used for advertising and the banner should be linked on to the company web site so that the person clicking on the banner will be transported to the company web site immediately.They could develop a portal which is a web site or other service that provides an initial point of entry to the web pr to internal company data. This portal could provide its viewers with a directory of information on the internet along with news, telephone directories, maps, shopping and other services. They could also develop their own internal portals to provide employees with streamlined access to corporate information resources.CostWijaya Group Of companies will be able to sell their products directly to retail customers via internet, by passing intermediaries such as distributors or retail outlets. The purchase transaction costs could be bring down in great hails by eliminating intermediaries in the distribution channel (disintermediation). The company could also reinforce re intermediation by shifting the go-between role in a value chain to a new source. The benefits of disintermediation to the consumer are illustrated below.Rs.128Rs.120Rs.100As this processes show, the selling operation of the company could be changed into a more than simpler process if the company adopts the online selling method, by reducing the extra responsibilities of retail outlets and distributors which will help to cut down the costs.The company can use interactive features of web pages to hold consumers attention or to capture detailed information about their tastes and interests. The company web site can be a handsome source of detailed information about customer behavior, preferences, needs, and buying patterns and the company can use this information to tailor promotions, products, services and pricing.The web site of the company could also obtain customer information by asking visitors to register online and provide information about them. These information along with the consumers previous purchases could be enter in the company web site and the next time the same consumer logs in, the web page could greet him/her by his/her name (ex Welcome Peter) and provide the consumer with products similar to the previous purchases. This system will motivate the consumer to purchase products more lots from C.I.B shopping centers and will help build strong customer relationships. Communications and product offerings can be tailored precisely to individual customers. Wijaya Group of Companies can create a unique personalized web page which is also known as web personalization that displays content or ads for products of special interest to each user.Apart from these, they can develop their electronic payment systems and receive payments online, and could create blogs to reach customer suggestions, they could even use their web site and e-mail to customer questions and provide customers with helpful information. The web site may also have link such as push to talk for instance where visitors could click on and request for a phone call in case of any enquiry and the company should have a call center connected with this link to provide this service.STEPS TO CRATE AN ONLINE STOREFRONTSHOPPING CART PROGRAMME merchandiser ACCOUNT (BANK)PAYEMENT GATEWAYE-COMMERCE WEB SITESHOPPERThe above picture shows the process of online selling. The procedure of online selling statrs with the creation of a website of the company and ends with a transaction which is done via credit cards.Get Signed Up with the Best Wholesale DistributorsIf a company plans to expand its operations to online, it is important to search for the best sweeping distributors, drop-shippers and sign up with them. In this case it is vital for Wijaya Group Of Companies, to complete this task first inorder to run the online selling process smoothly.These wholesale distributors offer the lowest wholesale prices around and drop-ship the products directly to the customers location with the name of the business on the box, so that it will appear to your customer as if the package came from the oraganization itself. This will be a brilliant concept for Wijaya Group of Companies as it will help to increase the loyality of customers towards their products.Build Up the Online StorefrontCreating a website is the next major step in this,the company will have to create and register their own unique domain name. (eg www.cib-shop.com). The company has to choose a reliable web hosting provider as well.After selecting the unique domain name,it is important to create and design a professional and profitable Internet Storefront that will entice visitors to buy the products on their first visit.Select a suitable E-Commerce SoftwareIt is important to select software that suits the needs of the company. Through this Wijaya Group Of Companies will be able to lay down and process orders.Recommended Software Product Cart SoftwareSelect a suitable way to collect PaymentsA sophisticated payment method is a must in online selling. Most of the organizations accept the credit card system today as it simplifies the transaction to the customer as well as the company. Wijaya Group of Companies can select the system as it fits, and some of the methods used by other organizations are Real time Credit Card Processing through a number of supported payment gateways, Offline Credit Card Processing (eg A company can use their POS if they have ret ail stores), Checks, Purchase order, PayPal, Google stop etc..Key Facts in Online SellingChoosing the Right NicheThis is a vital factor in online selling. The products a company plans to sell through online has a greater impact on the final value of sales, and this could be only achieved by selecting the exact niche market. Even after selecting the correct niche market if a company fails to deliver the updated information through working hard and introducing new features to their site in a daily basis still a company will fail to meet the targets set by the management. The Wijaya Group Of Companies will have to consider this matter seriously, if they want to achieve competitive advantage over their competitors. They must be in a position to update information of the new products immediately to the site and present it to the customers creatively. In the physical world, niches are based on geography, but Geography is almost irrelevant on the Internet. So it is important for Wijaya Gr oup to choose a niche small enough that they can dominate and maintain it through constant updates.High Production ValueIn a print catalog, production values refers to the quality of the paper and depression processes used, the number and quality of images, and the care taken with graphic design. High production values are critically important in catalogs, which have to convince consumers to buy based on a few sheets of paper.Production values are even more important on the Web. Consumers will not buy from an unskilled Web site. Most of the people who visit a site will still flummox the idea of ordering online unusual as it requires a number of special facilities. The management of this company will have to concentrate on this matter, because the site created by them needs to inspire visitors with confidence. It should say that it is a kind of company that does things right, and that if a customer order something from there, it will be a good experience for them.Promoting the Sit eHaving a great Web site is not enough. The victory of it, relies on how far the site is capable of bringing in people to it. exclusively promoting an online store is different from promoting an ordinary Web site, because through an online store a company targets to sell its products. Earlier the only answer available for promoting a site was through a Search Engine that provides space for all kinds of products. further recently Internet Hubs like Yahoo And MSN have created areas just for shopping, giving more prominence to frequently requested products. If a company plans to advertise its products and sell those before its competitors, it is important to make sure that the site created by the company appears in the first place as soon as the customer requestfor similar sites. A company can achieve this by using the key words which relates to the products frequently, as it creates a greater chance for the search engines to strive it out. So it is important for the management of the Wijaya Group of Companies to look in to this fact and create a site which can be easily filtered by the search engines. It is important to use these key words (eg the word clothes) in a natural manner and give out the relevant information to the customer, without irritating them by using it repeatedly in each and every sentence and phrase.Emphasize the ServicesOnline selling is becoming popular in a slow pace in Sri Lanka, and the number of uses who make use of this facility keeps on increasing in a daily basis today. As it is in the verge of growth most of the people who visit a store will still find the idea of buying online a little strange, so it is important to tranquilize these customers. The most powerful confidence builder is a top-quality site high production values go to work directly on the visitors subconscious. But its also important to reassure visitors explicitly. It is important for a company to ensure the security level of their site and the transactions done, as it will have a great impact on the buying patterns of a customer, and if a company is capable of providing the required level of security, they have to highlight it and mention it to the customer clearly, and this can be considered as an emphasizing of a service provided by the company.Advantages and Disadvantages in Online sellingAdvantagesOnline shopping malls give an immediate online presence.Sector-specific malls can provide an effective travel guidebook to your target market.Theyre easy to set up for people with moderate IT skills.You dont need to go through the process of setting up anInternetmerchant account.You often get help and support in getting your store operational.Updating your subscribers can be done almost instantly through email. Visitors to your website can get up to the minute information on each visit. If you are having a sale, your customers can start shopping at the discounted prices literally as soon as they open their email.The cost of spreading your me ssage is next to nothing. Emailing your subscription base is more often cheaper than sending a letter through the mail.DisadvantagesThe online selling operation would emphatically benefit the company in many ways when comparing with the traditional method which is followed at present. But introducing the new technology to the company may be very costly from the companys point of view in terms of equipment, staff, buildings, maintenance cost, etc. It may be very risky and the results would be unpredictable.Going online and selling online will require more professional and technical staff and since the system will eliminate paper work, a great number of employees will have to be terminated from their jobs.Incase the system fails the company will have to face the probability of losing its existing customers.Online selling operations require a special online payment scheme. These Payment Schemes have a greater risk of getting hacked, so the customers will be reluctant to give their cre dit card information and forfend this method of online selling.There is a lot of competition for the products introduced by an organization. By the time your customer finds you, they have tried out other links. Unless they can find what they are looking for quickly, they are gone.RecommendationsThe Wijaya Group of Companies should not directly stop conducting its business in the traditional method instead they should practice a latitude strategy where both the systems should be conducted.The company should adopt its web site according to the changing environment and not just stick to the basics of a web site ( ex add more links)The company could develop a corporate intranet for the key departments in the business. ( ex Finance and accounting, Human resources, Manufacturing and production, gross sales and marketing)In order to attract the customers it is important to update the information available frequently.

The Importance Of Exercise In Older People Physical Education Essay

The Importance Of Exercise In Older People visible Education EssayIn fourth-year adults, sensible activeness is a unavoidable action to bequeath and chief(prenominal)tain health.1 A substantial amount of empirical evidence has demo that the health benefits associated with participation in visible use force out maintain functional independence and ultimately improve quality of life.2-.3 In addition, participation in material activeness improves self-esteem, mental alertness and social interaction, and decreases levels of depression.4-5 material activity is also a major independent modifiable risk factor that has a protective effect against the onset of cardiovascular disease, ischemic stroke, shell 2 diabetes, and cancer.6-7 However, a preliminary report in 2007 by the National Statistical Office of siamese connectionland showed that more than 58% of Tai elderly engaged in fleshly activity slight of tenner than recommended for good health.8 T here(predicate)fore, it is imperative that fleshly activity among the aged population is evaluated.A review of strong-arm activity studies reveals that the animal(prenominal) surround is hallificantly associated with physiological activity participation. According to Bandura, strong-arm milieu plays either the role of facilitator or obstacle in benignant motivation by means of the interaction between cognitive functions and environment.9-10 Both natural features and human constructs related to environment may affect physical activity meshwork.11 somatic environment positively decides physical activity within older people.12-18 While the significance of physical environment is well recognized, an accurate measure is needed to identify the specific characteristics of the physical environment for physical activity, with respect to older people. If there is gloomy error in the assessment, the explanation of the race between physical environment and physical activity will be raised.The concept of behavior cathode-ray oscilloscope helps to elucidate the influence of physical environment on physical activity.19 Behavior occurs within a physical and social context. So, the behavior of older people will be influenced by environment the neighborhood, comm social unity, or business firm environment. The home environment is a primary setting for the performance of daily activities among older people.20 In Tailand, most older people stay and participate in physical activity in their home. Although prior studies yield assessed only convenience of facilities and access to equipment at home related to physical activity, the characteristics of home environment is the least studied potential determinant of participation in physical activity.11-12 Existing investigations use either neighborhood-foc apply racing shells to determine physical environment 14,21-22, or capture applied both neighborhood and availability of facilities in the community.18,23 A review of relevant research indicates that aspects of the physical environment, such(prenominal) as safety, traffic volume, street lighting, unattended dogs, having a sidewalk, and accessibility to customary recreation places influence physical activity,14-18 whereas other evidence suggests equivocal results.21-22,24 At least one potential reason exists for this inconsistency which may be related to the physical environment beat, especi from apiece one(prenominal)y with older adults. about physical environment questionnaires were developed in western countries. These measurements have involved different neighborhood and community settings assessed in different dimensions such as convenience, safety, accessibility, and facility. Even though the physical environment questionnaires have been validated in western countries, they have not been tested in others settings. Due to differences of geographical features, culture, and patterns of living, a need exists to assess the physical environment of Thai elderl y to confirm reliability and hardness in this cultural context. Furthermore, the relationship of the physical environment of home and physical activity of older Thai people is still unknown. Understanding features of the physical environment related to physical activity may provide an effective implementation devise to motivate older Thai people to participate in physical activity. For these reasons, a modified instrument, the Thai Environmental set up for natural Activity for Older Thai people (TESPA) for assessing the physical environment including home, neighborhood, and community environment needs to be modified and validated for the older Thai population.This employment addressed this shortcoming by modifying and confirming a leash-factor structure for physical environment in a sample of older adults in Thailand. We hypothesized that a gibe common chord-factor structure for the TESPA would fit the data well and that these factors would possess good internal consistency. Additionally, we hypothesized that higher scores on the subscales of the TESPA would be significantly and positively correlated with higher levels of physical activity. Moreover, our study purpose was to prepare physical environment questionnaire for a large descriptive study related to physical activity in older Thai people.ObjectiveThe purpose of this project was modification and assessment of the TESPA scale in older Thai people to provide a authorized and valid measure that is culturally congruent and useful for future research.MeasuresDemographics. -A personal data sheet was utilise to obtain demographic and socioeconomic data including age, gender, income, matrimonial status, education level, area of living, the length of living in their residence and medical history.The Chula Mental Test (CMT), an interviewing questionnaire developed by Jittapunkul, and colleagues was administered to determine the cognitive function of older Thai people who has difficulties in reading and writing.25 The CMT consists of 13 items related to cognitive function. Scales are coded on a dichotomous score of 0 (incorrect) and 1 (correct) items 5 and 12 have two sub-scales, and items 3 and 13 have three sub-scales separately. Total scores indicate the cognitive function and range from 0-19. Scores 0-4 lucubrate severe cognitive impairment, scores 5-9 depict moderate cognitive impairment, scores 10-14 reveal mild cognitive impairment, and scores 15-19 demonstrate normal cognitive function.Physical activity. -Physical activity was assessed by using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire Long form (IPAQ-L). The IPAQ-L was developed by the International Consensus Group for the Development of an International Physical Activity Questionnaire at the WHO in 1998.26 The IPAQ-L includes 5 parts work-related activities, transport-related activities, domestic activities, and time spent sitting during the previous 7 days. In addition, the IPAQ-L assesses the frequency, inte nsity and duration of all daily physical activity. In summary, get physical activity equals the MET score, which is the sum of transactions spent in each domain multiplied by the MET value.26 We used a cut-off point 600 METs, as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the United States of America and the American College of Sports Medicine.27 Threshold values for the IPAQ-L in the present study were categories insufficiently active ( 600 METs-min-week)We translated and adapted the IPAQ-L to fit the habits of older Thai people content severeness was determined by three experts. The content validity advocate of the IPAQ-L was .96. Numerous studies testing the test-retest reliability of the IPAQ-L revealed results ranging from 0.63 to 0.91, which indicated good repeatability.26,29 In the present study, the stability of the IPAQ-L questionnaire was report to be 0.77 in 30 Thai elderly.MethodsA cross-sectional design was used in the current study. The process of modification of the questionnaire included two phases (see Figure 1). In phase I, the instrument was modified as follows 1) questionnaire improvement detail and 2) quantification arrange. In phase II, instrument assessment was conducted to examine construct validity by confirmatory factor outline and the known-group method.Insert figure 1 herePhase 1 Modification of instrumentStage 1 Questionnaire improvement stage consisted of measurement review, description, instrument refinement and item construction.Measurement review and translation procedurePhysical environment is defined as older peoples perception of the physical environment to facilitate or hinder physical activity engagement in three settings home, neighborhood, and community. We reviewed the relevant research regarding measurement of physical environment from the literature. The existing measurement was chosen based on definition and psychometric properties of measurement. afterward obtaining written consent from the author, the original questionnaire was translated into Thai versions by the researcher and an independent translator according to the translation-back translation method.28 The Thai version was evaluated by three Thai/English bilingual people. The questionnaire was translated back into English by two Thai-English independent translators who each had taught English to graduate students for more than 20 years. We then compared both versions in the original language, conducted checks with the translators, discussed the differences, and produced a final consensus version.1.2 Instrument refinement and item constructionWe modified the translated instruments to achieve a closer cultural fit for older Thai people. During October to December 2007, a preliminary study was conducted with ten elders five who lived in a municipal area and five in a non-municipal area. The participants were selected from a encompassing range of backgrounds five elders had elementary education and had worked in the agricultural sector, three elders had secondary education and had worked as small businesses owners, and two elders were retired and held bachelors degrees. Open-ended interviews were applied to stop up that instrument content and language were suitable for Thai elderly. They were interviewed in their home or a temple in their village. The participants were encouraged to share their opinions regarding the relevancy of items and nicety to the culture of older Thai people. Additionally, participants were encouraged to think of additional items that potentially could be used in the questionnaire. Each participant was interviewed twice for 30 minutes for each time, or until no new data occurred. In the preliminary study, no participant refused to participate.Interviews were audio taped and transcribed verbatim. Categories and coding were derived from data sources and previous related studies. Statements by participants intimately the physical environment were delineated and i dentified as a content domain. Representative phrases and terms were marked to be used as potential items so that the language of the participants could be preserved. Additional items then were discussed with two Thai experts and an American expert in gerontological nursing. As a consequence, the measurement was modified.Stage 2 Quantification stageThis stage involved the validity and reliability of the psychometric properties of the modified measurement. Content validity of the scale was evaluated by three geriatric experts including one physician in geriatric physical activity, one expert in geriatric community nursing, and one expert in geriatric nursing. The experts were asked to rate the level of relevancy between the items and the definition of the concepts as represented. A four-point Likert-type scale ranging from 4 (strongly relevant) to 1 (strongly inappropriate) was used to rate each item.Data disposition started in October 2008 after obtaining approval from the Institu tional Review Board at Chulalongkorn University, Thailand. Both written and verbal informed consent was obtained in Thai on the same date as the data collection. The informed consent form explained the purpose of the study, benefits, risks, the types of questionnaires and tasks to be completed, and the length of time needed to complete the interview. In particular, it explained about risk prevention and treatment when the risk may occur during the interview or when collection of data is taking place.Permission was obtained from participants prior to data collection. At the setting, the participants were informed about the purpose of the study and their right to refuse participation. If participants chose not to answer the questionnaire, they could withdraw from the study at any time without penalty. They were also notified that their relationship with the health trouble team would not be affected. Their names were not used instead, a code number was used to ensure confidentiality. There was no harm to the participants in this study.In addition, to assess the feasibility of using psychometric properties, the modified measurement was determined in the buffer store study. The consent was obtained from the directors of primary care units, one in an urban area and the second in a rural area. A purposive sample of 15 older people from each setting was recruited in the pilot study no respondent refused or dropped out in this stage. The participants were older people, with a mean age of 70+ 4.19 years. Most participants were female (76.7%), married (53.3%), had elementary education (80%), were employed (62.6%), with a household income of less than 5,000 Baht per month (approximately US$147) (76.7%). A substantial proportion (63.3%) lived in urban areas and had lived on average for 44.6 years in their residence. Of the sample, more than half reported sufficient physical activity level (50%), whereas 20% had a low physical activity level. A total of 23.3 % reported ha ving no current health problems, while 16.7 % had hypertension. The most frequent type of physical activity reported was household related activity, followed by leisure time activity, transportation related activity, and occupational activity. Stability of reliability was obtained in two weeks, whereas internal consistency was assessed at baseline.Phase 2 Assessing the InstrumentConstruct validity of the modified scale was determined in the main study. Multi-stage random sampling was employed to obtain a sample of 336 elderly (aged 60 years and older) residing in 12 villages from six provinces of Thailand, who were not part of the preliminary study or the pilot study. In each village, 28 participants were selected by a systematic sampling proficiency from a name list obtained from the villages primary care unit. A simple random technique was applied and only one share in each family was included in the study. The participants were determined to be eligible to participate in the stu dy if they scored 15 on the CMT, were able to ambulate without assistive devices, and were willing to participate in the present study.Data were collected from November 2008 to April 2009. An authorization letter was sent to officers of the primary care unit in all 12 settings to ask for their consent. After obtaining their consent, the public health nurses of the primary care units were asked by the researcher to make appointments with participants. When verbal agreement was obtained, the participants were asked to sign a consent form. The modified questionnaire was used to conduct interviews lasting between 15 to 20 minutes each participant received a hankey in appreciation for their participation.A total of 336 questionnaires were selected for accuracy of data entry. Statistical analysis showed that two cases with a single or more than one lose value on community environment were deleted, leaving 334 cases for analysis. According to IPAQ Research Committee guidelines, the physi cal activity scores were processed to reduce data comparability. hug drug cases were excluded by the truncation process due to the total duration value being more than 3 hours per activity, and four cases were eliminated because of multivariate outliers. Therefore, 320 cases remained for analysis.Most of the participants in the main study were female, married, had elementary education, and a household income less than 5,000 Baht per month (approximately US$147). Approximately 70% of the participants reported at least one health problem. Shared living was the most frequent living arrangement reported (92.8%) with an average of 4.11 persons per household. A substantial proportion (61.9%) lived in an urban area and stayed in their own residence.Data analysisDescriptive data are presented as mean + SD. The internal reliability of the scale was based on an alpha coefficient great than or equal to .70 30 stability of the scale was analyzed by product correlation coefficient. Reliability of each item, overall reliability, and construct validity of the scale were determined using structural equation modeling (SEM).31 The known-group technique was conducted using the multivariate analysis of variance, to compare the physical environment of those who reported sufficient physical activity and those who did not. Statistical significance for analyses except SEM was defined as pResultsPhase 1 Modification of instrumentStage 1 Questionnaire improvement stageFollowing determination of the validity and reliability of the instrument, results were used to make modifications. The following procedures were undertaken.1.1 Measurement review and translation procedureFindings from prior studies demonstrated that most physical environment measurements were designed to identify specific characteristics of the built environment (e.g. distance between destinations, presence of sidewalk), and showed moderate to high reliability. Blocks of questions appeared to have different reliability among urban and rural respondents. Only one measurement was constructed for older people.12 A meta-analysis study by Duncan and colleagues concluded that the environmental characteristics in measurement presented in physical activity include facilities, sidewalks, shops and services in manner of walking distance, heavy traffic, high crime, street lighting, and unattended dogs.32The Social-physical Environmental Supports for Physical Activity Questionnaire (ESPA) is a measurement that designed to hold and assess the supporting social and physical environment for physical activity typically performed by all age.33 The ESPA was selected to collect data in this study because it is close congruent with the Thai context, and indicates both neighborhood environment and community environment. In addition, the coefficient differences between urban respondents and rural respondents of this scale were small when compared with the other questionnaires.34 Moreover, the previous validity and r eliability value of ESPA was acceptable.34 The ESPA is composed of two domains the social and the physical environment domains. The physical environment is composed of 20 items 10 neighborhood items (access, characteristics, barriers, use), and 10 community items (access, and barriers). A Likert-scale was used to assess neighborhood items, except for an item on public recreation facilities which allowed response options as 1(yes) or 0 (no). The community items have response options of 1(yes) or 2(no), with score form items on recreation facilities, whereas a community item used a Likert Scale. The higher the summary score the stronger the physical environment. The ESPA questionnaire was translated into Thai.Instrument refinement and item constructionAll participants recommended that some items of the ESPA questionnaire be deleted and many remarked that the questionnaire format be reviewed. Most participants suggested that 21 physical environment items be eliminated including public swimming pools, sidewalks, parks, walking trails, bike paths, recreational centers, shopping malls (sometimes used for physical activity or walking programs), and being a private member of a recreational facility . These items reflected physical activities and sites that were uncommon in Thailand and thus were not deemed to be valid it this cultural context. As well, five pages of the scale and miscellaneous types of choices took up too much time and were difficult to answer for exampleIn general, would you say that motorized traffic in your neighborhood is. Heavy, Moderate or Light., When walking at night, would you describe the STREET lighting in your neighborhood as..Very good, Good, Fair, Poor or Very poor and How safe are the public recreational facilities in your community? would you say Very safe, Somewhat safe, Somewhat unsafe or Not safe at al.Additionally, the literal translation of the newsworthiness physical activity into Thai git-ja-gam-taang-gaa or - (git-ja-gam = activity taang-gaai= physical) was unfamiliar to older people. Most participants thought this term was difficult to understand and felt that it was not applicable to them. The elders preferred the term kleuan-wai-ok-raeng or (kleuan-wai= movement ok-raeng= expend energy) instead to define physical activity. The term kleuan-wai-ok-raeng was therefore applied to this study.The interview findings illustrated that the statements contribute to physical environment among participants was delineated and identified as a content domain. Home was most frequently mentioned as a favorite place for engagement in physical activity. The majority of participants expressed that they generally preferred engaging in physical activity at home because of safety concerns and convenience. Representative phrases and terms were marked to be used as potential items so that the language of the participants could be preserved. As a result, the home environment subscale was formulated, and it was consisted of safety and convenience both inside and virtually home.Based upon the experts suggestions, 21 items that were considered irrelevant on the ESPA were eliminated and four additional items related to home environment were added to the ESPA. Therefore, the modified scale was called Thai Environment Support for Physical Activity in older Thai people (TESPA). A Likert scale was used to assess physical environment for physical activity. Possible responses were 1(strongly disagree), 2(disagree), 3(neither agree nor disagree), 4(agree), and 5(strongly agree). The realizable ranges of scores for home, neighborhood, and community sub-scale were 4-20, 3-15, and 3 15 respectively. The total score was calculated by computing the numerical ratings for each answer. The possible scores ranged from 10 to 50. higher(prenominal) scores indicated a higher level of perceived physical environment accessory of physical activity.In short, the TESPA was conceptualized to include three subscales, with the six items serving as supportive neighborhood and community environments, and the four new items as supportive of home environment. Neighborhood environment was defined as the area around their home to which they could walk within 10 minutes.23 A supportive neighborhood environment referred to older peoples perceptions of support including characteristics, access, and barriers of physical activity a pleasant neighborhood for walking low traffic volume and lack of unattended dogs in their neighborhood.23 Secondary, community environment is defined as the area contained within a 20-minute drive from the respondents home.23 residential area environment support refers to older peoples perceptions of convenience and safety of physical activity in their community convenience of facilities of the Primary Care Unit access to parks, playgrounds, and sports field and the safety of public recreation facilities.23 Finally, home environment support is defined as participants perceptions of conve nience and safety regarding their home environment, both in and around their home, in relation to their participation in physical activity.Stage 2 Quantification stageThe Content Validity Index of the TESPA questionnaire was 0.92. The reliability coefficients of TESPA scale was 0.73 and the test-retest reliability of scale was .76. The results of the pilot study demonstrated that respondents took between 15 to 20 minutes to complete the questionnaire. The measurements were culturally appropriate for older Thai people and the procedures were followed without any difficulty.Phase 2 Assessing the InstrumentThe physical activity score ranged from 0 to 2203.50 MET-minute/week with a median of 849.25 (SD = 438.63), and the interquartile rang of 670.13 MET-minute score. The skewness coefficient (.26) and the kurtosis statistic (-.52) indicated that the majority of the subjects reported a moderate physical activity score and a close proximity to a normal distribution. Also, 65% of the parti cipants of this study were sufficiently active and 35% were not. The total sum scores of physical environment ranged from 19.00 to 50.00, with a mean of 34.87 (SD = 6.47). The skewness value (.26) and the kurtosis value (-.49) indicated that the majority of the respondents had moderate physical environment scores and the variance was distributed normally.Construct validation was support by confirmatory factor analysis, and the known-group technique. Based on confirmatory factor analysis, the findings demonstrated that the construct of TESPA was composed of three underlying subscales home, neighborhood, and community environment. The correlation among items ranged from .02 to .77 and the total scale could explain 61.01% of the variance of physical environment. The home, neighborhood, and community subscale could account for 29.4%, 19.7%, and 12.0% of the variance, respectively.The next analysis tested the three-factor model. The measurement model testing was designed to estimate whi ch ten items were used as indicators for the model. Although the original model was statistically significant, the model was not consistent with the data /df= 4.59 and RMSEA more than 0.05 (= 151.54, df= 33 pInsert figure 2 hereTable 1 illustrates the loading with t-values and squared multiple correlation coefficients among each observed variables for TESPA scale. The results revealed that all indicators of the TESPA measurement had significant low to high parameter estimates, which were related to their specific constructs and validated the relationships among observed variables and their constructs. The squared multiple correlations for observed variables of the latent variables were ranged from 0.02 to 0.92. The R2 of item 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 were acceptable indicators, except for the item 1, 7, 8, 9, and 10 which were less than .40.Insert Table 1 hereThe known-group technique is an examination of relationships based on theoretical prediction. 35 Table 2 shows the mean values for e ach of the TESPA subscales and physical activity subgroups for the complete sample. Those who demonstrated sufficient physical activity had significantly higher physical environment scores along all three subscales and total score. In addition, each subscale was positively correlated with participation in physical activity including neighborhood (r=.30, pInsert Table 2 hereDiscussionTesting of the TESPA measurement model in the current study provided additional evidence for the validity and reliability. The findings are discussed in the following section.The content validity and construct validity of the newly designed TESPA scale were accepted. Continued support for the construct validity of the scale was also provided through confirmatory factor analysis and the known-group method. The TESPA measurement model demonstrated that all sub-scales of the measurement had significant low to high parameter estimates, which were related to their specific constructs and validated the relatio nships among observed variables and their constructs. Within the known-group method, the findings demonstrated that physical environment was significantly correlated with physical activity. This finding indicated that older people with high perceptions of safety, convenience, and accessibility in their home, neighborhood, and community environment were more potential to participate in physical activity.Similarly, active older people who met guideline recommendations for good health scored significantly higher in each of three factors supportive home, neighborhood, and community environment than those who did not. Physical environments affect the participation in behavior by means of the interaction between cognitive functions and environment through human motivation.9-10 Bandura argued that a better environment provides a great opportunity to perform a behavior.10 According to the empirical data in the present study, a glib explanation for this result contributed to characteristi cs of the Thai elderly. The majority of the elders sampled have lived in their home for a median 30 years consequently, they were familiar with the physical characteristics of their environment in and outside the home. It is possible that the friendly environment contributed to motivate them for physical activity engagement, while unfriendly environments discouraged activity.For reliability, although the R2 for item 1, 7, 8, 9 and 10 indicated that these items should be considered irrelevant for the TESPA scale, the measurement model was a good fit with the empirical data. Not only was this scale firstly modified and validated in older Thai adults, but also normative data for comparison in the elderly or other study were not available. Approximately 61 % of the variance in the TESPA scale was explained by the 10 items, whereas 39 % of the variance in this scale remains unexplained. Corresponding with the SCT approach, Bandura argued that nearly all aspects of the physical environmen t can influence physical activity.36 Owing to the fact that the TESPA measurement includes only safety, convenience, and accessibility aspects of physical environment, it is possible that other aspects may contribute more to physical activity than these aspects. other aspects of the physical environment may still influence engaging in physical activity a need is indicated for work to identify these aspects yet unidentified. Therefore, move evaluation of the psychometric properties both in the other sample and new additional items are necessary to confirm this study.Limitations and recommendationsThis study was limited by homogeneity of the sample. The majority of participants was female, married, low socioeconomic status, and lived in their home. Continued testing of the TESPA scale, particularly with socio-economically diverse older adults, is needed to insure that this measure is consistent. Additionally, using objective measurement should be considered, to further add to the va lidity of the findings and confirm the subjective report. Further, the item related to community environment should be seekd via a qualitative study to explore and understand with the physical environment of Thai elderly.Nevertheless, based on factors of the TESPA, manipulation of these factors with cognitive behav

Alice Walkers In Search of Our Mothers Gardens and Virginia Woolfs A

Alice footers In count of Our Mothers Gardens and Virginia Woolfs A Room of Ones Own It is interesting to contrast the points of view of Alice Walker and Virgina Woolf on the same subject.These writers display how versatile the English language sess be. Alice Walker was born in 1944 as a farm girl in Georgia. Virginia Woolf was born in London in1882. They brace both come to be highly recognized writers of their time, and they both have rather large portfolios of work. The scenes they might have grown up seeing and living through may have greatly influenced their views of subjects which they both seem to write about. In her essay In Search of Our Mothers Gardens, Alice Walker speaks first about the untouchable religious belief of the black women of the post-Reconstruction South. She speaks highly of the faith and undying hope of these women and their families. She even comes to recognize them as saints as she describes their faith as so intense, deep, unconscious, the they themse lves were unaware of the richness they held (Walker 694). In a passage in which she speaks about the treatment and social status of the women of the sixteenth century, Woolf explains that a muliebrity who might have had a truly great gift in this time would have surely gone crazy, shot herself, or ended up in some lonely cottage on the outside of town, half witch, half wizard, feared and mocked (Woolf 749). Her use of some of these powerful nominative shows that she feels strongly about what she is writing. to a fault for her, life growing up and stories she may have heard may have influenced this passage greatly. In her passage she imagines what it may have been like had William Shakespeare had a sister. She notices how difficult it would be even given... ...the first person and imagine the South very easily because of how descriptive she is in her narration. The reader of Woolfs essay clearly can understand and come to realize the unfairness and downright cruelty of the pure neg lect of hidden talent among many women throughout time. She does this through simply copulation a good story. This perhaps shows that Virginia Woolf may have been fond of Walkers work. Woolf chooses to clearly state and agree with the same points Walker makes and shows the ideas in a different light source because indeed she is a different person with different attributes. This shows up dominantly in her rewriting of Walkers In Search of Our Mothers Gardens. Works CitedWalker, Alice. In Search of Our Mothers Gardens. New York Harcourt arouse Javanovich, 1983.Woolf, Virginia. A Room of Ones Own. San Diego, Calif. Harvest-HBJ, 1989.

Literature :: essays research papers

ilton, John (1608-1674), position poet, whose rich, dense verse was a powerful influence on succeeding English poets, and whose prose was devoted to the defense of civil and religious liberty. Milton is often considered the greatest English poet after Shakespeare.Milton was born in capital of the United Kingdom on December 9, 1608, and educated at Saint Pauls School and Christs College, University of Cambridge. He intended to become a clergyman in the Church of England, but growing dissatisfaction with the state of the Anglican clergy together with his let developing poetic interests led him to abandon this purpose. From 1632 to 1638 he lived in his fathers country home in Horton, Buckinghamshire, preparing himself for his poetic career by entering upon an ambitious program of reading the Latin and Greek classics and ecclesiastical and political history. From 1638 to 1639 he toured France and Italy, where he met the leading literary figures of the day. On his return to England, h e settled in London and began writing a series of social, religious, and political tracts.In 1642 he married Mary Powell, who left him after a few weeks because of the incompatibility of their temperaments, but was harmonise to him in 1645 she gave birth to three daughters and a son before her death in 1652. In his writings, Milton supported the parliamentary cause in the civil state of war between Parliamentarians and Royalists, and in 1649 he was appointed foreign secretary by the government of the Commonwealth. He became totally blind about 1652 and thereafter carried on his literary work helped by an assistant with the aid also of the poet Andrew Marvell, he fulfilled his government duties until the restoration of

Hydrogen Power as a Fuel Source Essay examples -- Alternative Fuel Oil

Hydrogen Power as a Fuel Source It is no secret that the Gulf war was fought for superiority of the vast vegetable oil reserves in the Arab regions. This point to the fact that the superpowers are experiencing a severe shortage of supply for its un-satiated energy needs. slice the advanced nations in the world are the biggest consumers of fuel, their fuel production capacities are very limited or al around non-existent. Scientists predict that the worlds oil reserves will not last for long and we need to find out alternative forms of fuel for our ever growing fuel needs. In addition, the quantum of pollution that occurs by burning fossil fuels is an ever growing threat to the already fragile ecosystems of the world. It is in this scenario that the world has turned its attention to non-conventional fuels that are cheap, non-polluting and easily producible. While a variety of fuels have been considered as non-conventional alternate fuels, the potential of hydrogen as a fuel of the future is promising.In terms of usage, it is believed that the United States is the worlds most fuel-consuming nation with consumption levels reaching twelve million barrels a day. The astounding part of this statistic is that two third of this fuel, that is eight million barrels are burned on the roads to power cars and trucks. Obviously, the United States is also the worlds largest producer of Carbon dioxide that contributes most to the green house effect. The cost for importing so more oil a day is a...

Multiple Births :: essays research papers

Multiple BirthsMultiple kinds are rare in humans with twins as being the most harsh formof this event. Multiple births can arise in many different combinations of waysbut the probability of giving birth to more than one kidskin remains fairlyconstant when compared to the entire human race. The chances of multiple birthscan also vary from race and genetic background. Scientist and researchers donot know what the read ca practise of these variations is but many of them feel thatit is caused by hormone differences between different racial groups and/or thedifference in social class.The prenatal and babe mortality is much higher in multiple pregnanciesthan in pregnancies that only involves one child. The danger of premature birthalso increased with the higher come in of offspring that are involved. In manymultiple births, not all of the children survived to childhood or were born(p) dead.Through the advances in technology, the survival rate of infants born in amultiple pregnancy has increased. The first quintuplets, five babies born in asingle pregnancy, to survive in medical history were the Dionne quintuplets.The use of drugs that treat female sterility, or fertility drugs, mayincrease the chances of giving birth to multiple children. These drugs causethe ovaries to release an egg once a calendar month but in some cases they release morethan one egg, sometimes releasing several at a time, increasing the chances of amultiple birth. The drug clomiphene citrate is one of the most widely takenfertility drug and has resulted in the birth of twins about once in any twelvebirths, much greater than the chances of the birth of natural twins.Twins are the most common form of a multiple pregnancy. About one ineighty-seven births result in the birth of twins. Twins can be brotherlike, alsoknown as dizygotic twins, or identical, also called monozygotic twins, with thebirth of identical twins being the rarest, occurring about four times in everythousand births, abou t one-forth as often as the birth of fraternal twins. Thisratio of the birth of twins to the total number of births remains fairlyconstant but the birth of fraternal twins can alter greatly. biovular twinsare most common among black African followed by people of European origin.Asian races originating from the orient are the least likely to erupt birth tofraternal twins.The birth of twins can occur in two different ways, the medical dressing ofa single egg or the fertilization of two eggs. In the case of dizygotic twins,the womans ovaries release two eggs about the same time instead of one, with

Comparing Love and Marriage in Canterbury Tales, Lanval, Faerie Queene,

Love and Marriage in Canterbury Tales, Lanval, Faerie Queene, and Monsieurs Departure Medieval and Renaissance literature develops the concepts of love and spousal relationship and records the evolution of the relation between them. In Chaucers Canterbury Tales, Christian love clashes with courtly love, as men and women grapple with such issues as which partner should rule in marriage, the proper, acceptable role of sex in marriage, and the importance of love as a basis for a successful marriage. Works by earlier writers give the medieval literary notion of courtly love, the sexual attraction between a chivalric knight and his lady, often the knights lords wife. The wo soldiery, who generally held mastery in these relationships base on physical desire and consummation, dictated the terms of the knights duties and obligations, much like a feudal lord over a vassal. This microcosm of romance between man and woman was anchored by the macrocosm of the bonds among men and their fealty to their lord. The dominance of women and fealty to the leader in courtly love contrasts with the dominance ...