Object Oriented Databases Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Object Oriented Databases - Research Paper Example This paper has discussed some of the major advantages and disadvantages of object oriented databases in comparison with relational database management systems. An object oriented database stores data and information in the form of objects. Actually, OODBMS stores objects instead of data, such as real numbers, strings and integers. These databases are believed to be very useful for businesses when they have huge data and high performance is required. There are a number of languages that support objects, for instance C++, Java and Smalltalk. In fact, these languages provide an excellent support for modeling, inheritance and creating objects of the data. In addition, OODBMS allow developers to extend the capabilities of the programming languages such as control the consistencies, easy data recovery and improved database features (Rouse 2005, Stajano 1998, Bagui 2003). Basically, OODBMS store data in the form of objects, which consist of attributes and methods. A method is used to graphically demonstrate the objects. Normally, unified modeling language (UML) is used to demonstrate these objects. In addition, data stored in a database have some characteristics, which are called attributes. For instance, a ball is an object and its attributes are its color and its shapes. Similarly, the operations or functions that an object performs on data are called methods. For instance, a doctor performs some actions to check their patients and these actions are known as method (WBT-Master Server Map 2014, Carlsson 2003, Atkinson, et al. 2003). â€Å"A relational database stores data in the form of a set of appropriately defined tables from which data could be reassembled or accessed in a lot of diverse means without reorganizing the database tables† (Stajano 1998). E. F. Codd invented the relational database at IBM in 1970. Additionally, a relational database is a collection of tables holding data fitted into properly arranged groups. Every table (that is sometimes acknowledged

Lifestyle Theme Based Restaurant In Klang Valley Tourism Essay

Lifestyle Theme Based Restaurant In Klang Valley Tourism Essay Purpose Design/methodology To explore the issues, a quantitative study was conducted. There are 200 questionnaires distributed and less than 200 questionnaires expected to be completed in a correct manner. The questions in the survey will be measure by 5 points range scale, range from 1 (strongly agree) to 5 (strongly disagree). There are total of 20 questions been asked and each question represent the hypothesis that want to be tested. Findings Keywords Generation Y, Lifestyle Theme Based Restaurant, Theme Restaurant, Restaurant Choice Factor, Customer Satisfaction Paper type Research paper Introduction 2-5 pages Nowadays people are eating out more often, but they increasingly put a premium on saving time and eating healthy in better eating environments (Ryu Han, 2010). As a result, the new restaurants with theme based have emerged as a growth category in the foodservice industry. According to Fen Lian (2010) service quality, customer satisfaction and customers re-patronage intentions in the context of the restaurant industry are important. In Malaysia, the restaurant industry is experience an impressive transformation and strengthens competition. Restaurant is a very important area to explore but often become neglected area of study (Kivela, Inbakaran and Reece, 1999). The fact is restaurant business has a low assumption about the service and the quality of service is difficult to prove until customers come and patronize in the particular restaurant. The research problem arise from this study is because currently every restaurant has a theme, it tries to convey to its customers, some more successfully than others and some of the restaurants has failed due to they did not bring some improvement to the targeted specific market and not focus on their food quality (E.S.P consulting broker, 2010). They believe that the essenstial way in susccessful the restaurant is consistent in the good food and excellent customer service. Moreover, based on study done in Los Angles by Weiss, Feinstein and Dalbor (2004), has found out that sometimes theme based restaurants fails to provide an innovative idea and lack of entertaining experience to their customers (Bagli, 1998). The decline of theme restaurant industry also occurred because of high priced menus (Pate, 2000), low quality of food (Bagli, 1998), high development costs (Ramseyer, 2001), low repeat business (Farkas, 1998), poor location (Frumkin, 2000), and dà ©cor that never changes (Bagli, 1998). As there is study proof that Gen Y customers has a different life style compared to their baby boomer parents and other customer cohorts (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2004) and have greater disposable income (Tomkins, 1999), Gen Y tend to looking for theme based things. So it is an opportunity for theme restaurant management to start look at Gen Y market. It is important to look at Gen Y preferences in choosing several of theme restaurants because Gen Y whose plays the role as consumers has their differentiation in their spending power and preferences. Moreover, if the food and customer service in the restaurant is not up to their preference, it will not drive them to go back to eat at the same place. In order to solve this research problem, I came out with a research question, What are the factors that influencing Generation Y in choosing lifestyle-theme based restaurant? The main purpose of this study is to examine the factors that affect customer to dine at lifestyle-theme based restaurants. Because every single things that experienced by customers during their visit on that particular restaurant may be different each time, for example the quality of service experienced by one customer is different with the other customers. Thus influence their satisfaction level and their re-patronage intentions. The importance of this study is aimed for 2 aspects of service provider. First, it is aimed to help existed theme restaurant managers to form improvement strategies on their business which focus on characteristics that range most important from Gen Y customers. Second, it is aimed for the owners of new comers theme restaurant to improve better idea in order to attract Gen Y consumers to come and dine at their new theme restaurant, it is important for the new business to know and respond potential consumers expectation and preferences. The several objectives in this study were: (a) To identify the main factors that influences Generation Y in choosing lifestyle-theme restaurant; (b) To access Generation Y preference for lifestyle-theme restaurant selection; and (c) To address the importance of Generation Y preference to bring better marketing improvement and increase more revenue for lifestyle-theme restaurant. The type of research methodology is quantitative technique; the data collection method will be a structured survey which is a form of questionnaire, the sampling method will be generation Y respondents and they will be male and female in different background and profile but specific of their age will be between 16-32 years old. There will be 200 questionnaires distributed and less than 200 questionnaires expected to be completed in a correct manner. It will be conducted in area around Bandar Sunway, Petaling Jaya, Subang Jaya, and Puchong. Potential respondents were pre-screened with the question, Have you dined at a theme restaurant in Malaysia during the past twelve months? If the answer was yes, respondents were asked to participate in the study by completing the next questions. The survey will be measure by 5 points range scale, range from 1 (strongly agree) to 5 (strongly disagree). This research consists of three parts in order to meet research objective and to answer research question. First part begins with a review on the literature related to theoritical framework on Generation Y behavior, customer satisfaction in theme based restaurant and hypothesis development. In second part there are two (2) things to highlight on; first (1) is explanation on research methodolgy used in conducting this research paper, second (2) is findings and analysis, it is describes the result obtained comprehensively and systematically. Third part is resolves the research questions, evaluate findings in order to meet research objective and to give recommendations. Then, conclusion will be showed at the end of the research paper. This study begins with a review of the literature related to facts about generation Y and a brief introduction to theme restaurants. Next, this study examines the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ The study presents findings of aà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦, and concludes that by highlightingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. and recommendations from a marketing and hospitality perspective. Part 1 Literature Review 15-20 pages FACTORS INFLUENCING GENERATION Y IN CHOOSING LIFESTYLE THEME BASED RESTAURANT IN KLANG VALLEY Introduction In order to identify what are the factors influencing Generation Y consumer in choosing which lifestyle theme restaurant to dine in, first main point we must understand the customer satisfaction towards theme based restaurant, because in restaurant concept, customer satisfaction is an indicator whether a customer will patronage to a restaurant (Fen Lian, 2010). Even there is no guarantee of a satisfied customer will return to that particular restaurant, but it is nearly certain that a dissatisfied customer will not repeat their visit (Soriano, 2002). So from the previous dining experience it will affect customer to re-visit the restaurant. In the literature review it will be explained about the facts about Generation Y and how they make their decision making, continue with explanation on 4 types among all of theme restaurants available in Malaysia with focus on lifestyle theme restaurant. Moreover, we will talk about customer satisfaction factors in 2 different types of restaurant, first in casual theme restaurant and second in theme based restaurant, from this comparison we can actually see the differences in customer satisfaction between these restaurants. Thus it drives 5 hypothesis are proposed to confirm the relationship between food quality, service quality, atmosphere, pricing and recommendation as a factors influencing Generation Y in choosing lifestyle theme restaurant. Facts about Generation Y Generation Y was born between 1979 and 1995, now aged 16-32 (Kattiyapornpong, 2009). They are optimistic, technology savvy and very demanding. Currently the majority of Generation Y is in university population. In their generation, they enjoyed Greenday, American Idol, Linkin Park, Black Eyed Peas and they also experienced global terrorism in November 9, 2001 (Kattiyapornpong, 2009). Experiences occur in childhood and teenage years create differences between baby boomers, generation X and genertion Y (McCrindle, 2010). Baby boomers were influenced by advent of TV, the Cold War, Rock and Roll and decimal currency. Generation X was influenced by Personal Computer, AIDS, single parent families, and recession. Generation Y was influenced by the advent of internet, cable television, globalisation and September 11 (McCrindle, 2010) Generation Y or millennial youths of this generation have significant spending power and wield considerable clout in purchase decisions for their family as well as being savvy consumers themselves (Harris Interactive, 2003; ODonnell, 2006; AC Nielsen, 2006; Wilson, 2007). Gen Y people they tend to form a community because they wanted to be understood, respected, included and accepted. This generation contributes strong loyalty to their friends. They work hard to fulfill what their peers expected from them, they have self-esteem and very well in regarded their self in group or sub-culture (McCrindle, 2010). Decision Making by Generation Y A study conducted by Halpern, 1997 saying that in order to arrive at a decision, there are several steps that must be followed, (1) must realize that it is going to be necessary to make a decision, (2) to determine the goals to be achieved, (3) generate alternatives which lead to fulfill the proposed goals, (4) evaluate whether these alternatives meet expectations and (5) select the best alternative. In decision process it seems that women are more affected by the environment, they look for more information and dedicate more time to the decision process (Gill, Stockard, Johnson, Williams, 1987) on the contrary, men are more dominant, assertive, objective, and realistic (Wood, 1990). Theme Restaurant Theming is the process where an environment is decorates by a distinct character. Nowadays theme based restaurant has become common strategy used by the service industry, especially those in hospitality and tourism industry (Munoz, C. Wood, N., 2009). Consumers are attracted to themed restaurants because of variety reasons. Higher standards of living and dynamic development in the food and beverage industry it drives consumer begins to pay attention towards environment, atmosphere and personalization apart from satisfying themselves in physical products. Todays consumers are excited in purchase products and steps to consume the product that brings the enjoyment and fulfill their experience (Miller, 2007). From many theme restaurants which focus on nation or regional like Italian, Japanese, Korean or Mexican, they using different concepts of theme to enrich their food styles and features. For the restaurant that taking music, history, sports or even gaming as their themes, various consuming experiences are deliver to the consumers. However, because of the development of theme restaurants create a lot of competitions in restaurant industry, many of theme restaurants are facing low profit or even negative rates. In order to turn this situation around and solve the problems, theme restaurants begin to attract customers one by one, by meeting their demand as well as increase in service quality and higher the restaurant standard. Clasiffication of Theme Restaurants (variety, deli, seafood) Talk about theme restaurant, it is not only about restaurant with particular theme, but theme restaurant also can be classified into many different types. Especially in Malaysia, there are many different theme restaurant opening now, however the main focus in this research paper is towards lifestyle theme restaurant. Here are the following different types of theme based restaurant available in Malaysia such as Ethnic Restaurant, Country Style Restaurant and Steak House Restaurant. These three theme restaurants will be explain in a brief form and it may not cover all types of theme restaurant in Malaysia, and next to it there will be spesific discussion on lifestyle theme restaurant. Ethnic Theme Based Restaurant In several of studies, the term of ethnic food has been defined differently. Utami (2004) defines ethnic food as a spesific cuisine from different region that reflect particular characteristics of its local origin. Utami (2004) added that people who are from different area from its origin will consider the food is ethnic. Based on restaurant segmentation study done by Olsen et al. (2000), an ethnic restaurant is defined as full service restaurant which offering dishes from foreign origin country for example Chinese, Japanese, Thai, and Italian. For consumers, ethnic-themed restaurant is the most common and also the frequent exposure to theming by the restaurants. Consumers are dine to ethnic-themed restaurants for different reasons, for some of them ethnic-themed restaurants are innovation, a way to connect to their ethnicity (Negra, 2002) and interact with a different culture and gastronomy (Bailey and Tian, 2002; Barbas, 2003; Germann-Molz, 2003; Long, 2003; Tian, 2001). Currently the demand for ethnic cuisine and theme restaurants has been rise (Dundelston, 2003; Lewis, 2007; Wahlgreen, 2005). Walker (2007) argued that every ethnic restaurant is well design based from the crockery, food and restaurant dà ©cor of a national culture is consider as a theme restaurant. The example of the restaurant can be Mexican, Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Indian. If the restaurant is represent several national decorations using traditional ethnic color and artifacts and serving exotic cuisine, it is a theme restaurant (Walker, 2007) Country Style Theme Based Restaurant Based on a study done by Munoz, C. Wood, N. in 2009 about Mexican restaurants, this type of country restaurant has experienced a rise in popularity over the first decade of this twenty first century (Van Houten, 2004; Wahlgren, 2005). Their improving on the availability of spices, peppers, and produces (Ruggless, 2005). While this restaurant chains attentively provide a wider variety of regional dishes and flavors, others still continue to offer patrons on standard Americans menu items while forget the importance of this type of restaurant plays as a cultural arbiter. The majority of Mexican restaurants are often focusing on specific sounds, smells and textures to bring and create an appealing and successful environment in their restaurant (Solomon Englis, 1994). The components for success also often include elements such as restaurant design, employees, cultural artifacts, food, drink and entertainment music (Guinness, 2002). Steak House Theme Based Restaurant There are many steakhouse restaurants in Malaysia boasting to be the best. It can be nationwide franchises or homegrown branch. A lot of factors come into play when looking for a good steakhouse restaurant, ambience for instance, cleanliness of the establishment, fixtures and furnitures, and quality of service (Tilden, 2010). A good steak house restaurant should be have quick and polite servers in raising restaurants popularity and a sommelier should know the right kind of red wine would match with customers steak ordered. The restaurant should be able to fulfill guest spesific orders, have different gimmicks to attract their customers and lastly of course the steak itself (Tilden, 2010). One of the most successful steakhouse restaurant concepts is Outback Steakhouse. In Malaysia it self, we can find it in Kuala Lumpur and Bukit Bintang area. It is first opened in Florida in 1998, at that time beef was not everyones favourite meal but now there are more than 880 Outback Steakhouse restaurants out there (Walker, 2008). Each Outback Steakhouse restaurant is a friendly, casual, relaxing place, with fantastic food, excellent and attentive staff (Walker, 2008). 1.5.4 Casual Theme Restaurant One of the largest casual theme restaurant chains is Tony Romas, it specializing in baby ribs. With nearly 200 restaurants chain in 33 countries over 17 states and 6 continents, Tony Romas is one of the most globally recognizable restaurants name in food industry. Tony Romas also serves signature onion loaf, steak, onion loaf, chicken and seafood to thousand of guests every day. Tony Romas first opened in Miami, Florida on 1972. It featured casual dà ©cor with comfortable ambience. The menu offered is simple and consisted of great tasting food and reasonable price. Baby back ribs are the house speciality menu and everyone favourite menu (source: tonyromas.com) 1.5.5 Lifestyle Theme Based Restaurant Restaurants that featuring all varieties of live music is popular across the country. Theme restaurants segment has struggled during late of 1990s until this decade. Theme restaurants that have survived in restaurant business have given a priority on their quality of food (Miller, 2006). Famous restaurant like Hard Rock Cafà © and Planet Hollywood has been established since early 1990s, and both of these restaurants have promoted their brand reputation and expand in casino market. Theme restaurants like Hard Rock Cafà © and Planet Hollywood have huge of popularity and located in very strategic location nearby major tourist attractions. Like in Malaysia, Hard Rock Cafà © is located at Kuala Lumpur and Planet Hollywood previously also located at Kuala Lumpur but no longer opened. Most of the profit in many theme restaurants is come from the high price of merchandise (MacLaurin and MacLaurin, 2000). Large theme restaurants also involve large of capital and investments. They focus on architec, color, lighting, sound effect, color, fabrics, wall, furniture and fixtures. These all are blended together to create uniquenes, drama and excitement (Walker, 2007). In Las Vegas, different kind of theme restaurants founded however it is often fail because food and service are lost in the high theater. Food is really sensitive and main factor must have in many theme restaurants (Walker, 2007). Miller (2006) gives strategy for new comers theme restaurant concepts to make the food and dining experiences as a fundamental on restaurant business, high quality of food will help theme restaurants meets consumers preferences and expectations. Some theme restaurants appeal to an older generation and present a time for reflection and nostalgia, for examples Hard Rock Cafà © and Planet Hollywood (Walker, 2007). So in this research paper we will look at lifestyle theme restaurants like T-Bowl, The Garden, Full House, Bubba Gump, Gasoline, etc which these are the lifestyle theme restaurants can be found in Malaysia especially in Klang Vallety area and its patronise by generation Y. 1.5.4.1 Garden Lifestyle Store and Cafà © Lately, more and more concept restaurants came in to food industry. Last two years there is new type of outlet which sells foods and decoration items. It is like you are dining in the middle of garden and at the same time you can shop in the lifestyle store. Garden Lifestyle Store and Cafà © established since 2009, offers an extensive of food choice fusing from both Western and Asian cuisines. It is a semi fine dining restaurant with breathaking atmosphere and impressive interior design to give customers an experience of dining in a real garden. The restaurant decorated with bunch of beautiful flowers and plants, a pianist will present a performance of melody rhythm from the stunning white grand piano. In Malaysia there are 6 branches of Garden Lifestyle Store and Cafà © which are located at 1 Utama, The Curve, Sunway Pyramid, Mid Valley, Alamanda (Putrajaya) and Viva (Kuala Lumpur). (Source: garden-cafe.com.my) 1.5.4.2 Full House Lifestyle Store Cafà © Fullhouse Lifestyle Store Cafà © is designed to resemble a full sized house. It offers fusion delight foods, unique menu and enjoyable dining experience. Besides from that, almost everything at Fullhouse is for sale, from clothes, accessories, gifts and decorative items. Fullhouse also provides event management, where you can arrange any party celebration or special occasion. They provide theme party as well as event service to help their guest to arrange the most happening party in town. It is a truly novel home dining experience. Guest will feel a homely ambience from the first step they walk into the restaurant. It is suitable for family gathering, romantic dinner and hangout place with friends (Source: fullhousecafe.com.my). 1.5.4.3 T-Bowl Restaurant T-Bowl or known as Toilet Bowl Restaurant was established on 18th February 2008 and first opened in QueensBay Mall at Penang, Malaysia. This restaurant designed base on bathroom concept, where toilet bowl used as seat, basin as dining table, mini toilet bowl as platter. The restaurant offers varieties of cuisines range from Hong Kong, Japan, Korean and Western. Todays, eating is more to pleasure and enjoyment, it is not as simple as an action only. T-Bowl provides different eating experience, enjoyment and welcome generation of modern and trendy era (Source: t-bowl.com). 1.5.4.4 Bubba Gump Shirmp Co. Restaurant and Market The first Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. Restaurant and Market was opened in 1996 in California. It has grown in many locations throughout the United States and internation. It is chain of seafood restaurants, provides a casual environment and great meal. At Bubba Gump Shirmp Co. food is the diva. They offer features shrimp, famous baby back ribs and everyone favorite drinks. Since 1996, Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. has been providing unique service, fantastic foods and fun casual atmosphere. Todays, this restaurant located in 22 domestic and 11 international locations, it has grown into a global brand (Source: bubbagump.com). 1.5.4.5 Gasoline Cafà © Gasoline cafà © is a new dining sensation that carries out modern lifestyle. It is a new look cafà ©, provides varieties of delicious food, great atmosphere and convenient location. Gasoline cafà © is a concept cafà © specialized in comic themes. It provides fresh and nutrious meals. There is variety of cuisines served which are Hong Kong, Chinese, Japanese and Western cuisines. All the food and beverages are prepared according to teenagers preferences and refined to suit local tastes. The drinks offered such as variety of smoothies, soda drink and flavor taste of tea (Source: gasoline.com.my). 1.6. Customer Satisfaction In todays competitive market, many companies are increasingly their firms marketing strategies and tactics in order to make profits and contribute fully growth of the company. Customer satisfaction factors and repatronage intention are global issues that may affect all organizations, it can be large or small company, profit or non-profit company and local or global company. To improve customer satisfaction and retention, many companies are concerned in learning, analyzing and implementing new marketing strategies which aim for the benefits on firms financial (Fen and Lian, 2010). Quality and customer satisfaction have been recognized as an important aspect for success and survival in todays competitive market. Many researchers have conducted on these two concepts, quality and satisfaction are link together to customer behavior in purchase and loyalty intention (Olsen, 2002); willingness to spread postive word of mouth (Kang, Nobuyuki and Herbert, 2004); and complaint intention (Sà ¶derlund and ÃÆ'-hman, 2005). In restaurant concept, customer satisfaction is used as an indicator whether a customer will patronage to a restaurant. Even there is no guarantee of a satisfied customer will return to particular restaurant, but it is nearly certain that a dissatisfied customer will not repeat their visit. An analysis on customer satisfaction factors will provide clues for food service manager to take action and increase the posibbility that customers will come back. (Soriano, 2002) In particular, food quality, atmosphere, menu, variety, service from staff, cleanliness, styling, price, interior design and dà ©cor, professional appearance of staff and store location are all the components of store image in restaurant industry (Baker et al. 1994; Lindquist, 1974; Prendergast Man, 2002). In this study, in order to identify the factors that drive consumers come back to the specific restaurant, firstly will be look at the factors effect consumers satisfaction in casual restaurant industry as there is a research done by Ryu Han (2010). Continuing to find out what are the factors that affect consumers satisfaction in theme based restaurants industry. So from here we can actually know what the differences between consumer satisfactions in normal restaurant and in restaurant that has a particular theme. 1.6.1 Casual Dining Restaurant Industry Casual dining restaurant industry already been started since late of 1960s, in 1980s it started to specialized into a concepts by create casual atmosphere, expand the menu appeal with alcohol and moderate the food price. Casual dining restaurant try to capture customer attention by create a theme and a brand image that represent a generation of the consumer. Casual dining restaurant also has a wide variety on menu items that can be used for any occasions. They continuously improve their menu choices and offers limited items in limted time so consumers attracted to try and make multiple visits to their restaurant. (Murphy, DiPietro, Rivera and Muller, 2009) Casual dining restaurant has a knowledgeable and higher service level staff compare to fast food restaurants (Muller Woods, 1994). Currently, casual dining is an important segment of the restaurant industry. It is generating $65 billion sales and over 126,000 restaurants in the United States (NRA, 2007). This industry also expected to continue increse on annual sales between 5% and 7% over the next 5 to 10 years (Darden Restaurants, 2006). Quick casual restaurant is a combination of fast food and full service restaurant which offers menus and dà ©cor and it is reflective of casual dining restaurant. This type of restaurant tends to do high sales volume during lunch time and generate profit slightly higher than standard service restaurants. Their guests are commonly adult customers with middle to upper incomes level (Tillotson, 2003). 1.6.2 Customer Satisfaction Factors in Casual Dining Restaurant In casual restaurant, there are some factors can affect customer satisfaction such as the attractiveness of restaurant facilities, distinct food and sufficient level of service quality. Customer satisfaction is one of the most critical marketing priorities, because it is assumed to be an implication of repeat sales, positive word of mouth and loyalties of customer. There are 2 main important aspects in the restaurant industry, (1) tangible (food and restaurant facilities), (2) intangible (interaction between service provider and customer). A proper combination between tangible and intangible aspects will result in customers perception of high service quality in that particular restaurant. The other study also suggested that food quality is the most influence factors affect customer loyalty in restaurant choice (Mattila, 2001). She has indicated top three reasons for customers to patronize their casual dining restaurant were food quality, service, and atmosphere. 1.6.3 Theme Based Restaurant Industry The important charecteristic of theme restaurant service is consumers must present in the consuming process and experience the service delivery by the providers face to face. Customer wants the satisfaction of specific experiences that meet their perception, expectation and satisfy with the personal preference received during their consuming process (Hsieh Chen, 2009). To promote theme restaurant service quality, management starts to focus on Moment of Truth between customers and service providers. Service quality is a communicational aspect, which helps the guest feel the actual warm hospitality showed to them via professional technics and tactics showed in service skills with high quality feeling (Hsieh Chen, 2009). Restaurant frequently develop new menus and offer a selection of different menu items to attract customers (Namkung Jang, 2007). Kivela, Inbakaram Reece (2000) identified menu variety as a significant attribute of food quality in determining customer satisfaction in theme/atmosphere restaurants. To conclude all the studies that have been found, food quality was the most important factors of overall restaurant service quality and is expected to have a positive relationship between customer satisfaction and loyalty. 1.6.4 Customer Satisfaction Factors in Theme Restaurant To assess customer satisfaction in the service industry, there is one most popular and widely way through an application of expectancy disconfirmation theory (Oh, 1999). The expectancy disconfirmation states that consumer form an opinion about particular service by comparing the actual service given by service provider with their expectations of how is the serive should have been performed (Oliver, 1980). The result from customer satisfaction is whether a customers perception given by service provider meets up to their expectation (Oliver, 1980; 1981). Study found that from all the possible factors that affect customer satisfaction in restaurants, food quality is the most important and powerful factors for customer to return (Oh, 2000). In addition to that, according to study done by MacLaurin and MacLaurin (2000) about Customer Perceptions of Singapores Theme Restaurants, has explored and included food quality as one of the most important elements in theme restaurant, followed by theme concept, service quality, menu, atmosphere, convenience, value, product merchandise and pricing. Moreover, one of the examples from the study found that Hard Rock Cafà © is one if the most successful theme restaurant chains, its in highest rank among its competitiors in terms of food quality (MacLaurin Mac Laurin, 2000). Therefore, it is logic to think that theme restaurants food quality may influence customer satisfaction and result in return intent. Beside quality of food plays important roles in theme based restaurant industry, there is a study done by Bitner, 1992; Wall and Berry, 2007 has provided evidence of how the physical environment influences consumer behavior. The physical environment of the restaurant such as restaurants atmosphere, ambience, dà ©cor, furniture, and other facilities can have a great impact on the dining experience (Sloan,2004) and behavioral intentions (Ryu Jang, 2007). Previous studies found that because of the unique nature of the restaurant service, physical environments could guide consumers in evaluating a restaurant experience (Wall Berry, 2007). Therefore, restaurant with theme based has wide opportunity to develop and play a big role in restaurant industry. Quality of atmosphere in a restaurant can influence customer patronage intention (Wakefield Blodgett, 1994). T

Comparative analysis of the rise of religious extremism in Arab and Ind

Comparative analysis of the rise of religious extremism in Arab and Indian Politics The cases being discussed by the authors here are more significant than the discussion of any other Muslim or Hindu nation because of the fact that these cases discuss the role of these religions in their respective birthplaces. We can realize the importance of this point by considering, for example that the Islamic countries worldwide look towards the Arabic ulemas for validation of their Islamic policies and also each fatwa issued by the Arab ulemas is almost always followed by a similar action by their counterparts in other countries. Similarly, though Hinduism doesn’t have a transnational appeal like Islam, Hindus all over the world still regard India as the ‘holy land’. Thus the followers of both these religions tend to look towards these nations in the hour of crisis of faith. Interestingly, many of the causes for the rise of extremist Islam in Arabic politics and Hinduism in Indian politics appear to be similar. The states’ unwillingness to recognize the role of religion in the society, the growing influence of secularists which led to the displacement of the traditionalists form their positions of power, and the ability on the part of religious groups to create a successful network of social, educational, religious and charitable organizations across the nation are some of these causes. In fact, the last of these similarities is strikingly apparent in context of the rise of Society of Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in India. However, there are some significant differences, as well, due to the inherently different nature of the society and culture in different countries. One of the major reasons for th... ...arate legal code for their community, was often perceived as ‘sticking together’. The Islamic precept of considering religion as superior to nationalism (Wataniyyah) and the oft repeated attitude of some Indian Muslims of not bowing before the national flag give rise to a bitterness between the two communities. In fact, such Koranic notions as dividing the world in two regions- Dar es Salaam (the house of peace, where Islam prevails) and Dar el Harb (the house of war, where Islam does not exist) - and proclaiming that there will be lasting peace on earth only when the whole world comes under Islam, are often behind the worldwide anti-Islamic view that we are witnessing in today’s world. Such circumstances, along with the promise to rebuild the Ram Janmabhoomi temple in Ayodhya, were fully exploited by the BJP to gain a significant political support and surge to power. Comparative analysis of the rise of religious extremism in Arab and Ind Comparative analysis of the rise of religious extremism in Arab and Indian Politics The cases being discussed by the authors here are more significant than the discussion of any other Muslim or Hindu nation because of the fact that these cases discuss the role of these religions in their respective birthplaces. We can realize the importance of this point by considering, for example that the Islamic countries worldwide look towards the Arabic ulemas for validation of their Islamic policies and also each fatwa issued by the Arab ulemas is almost always followed by a similar action by their counterparts in other countries. Similarly, though Hinduism doesn’t have a transnational appeal like Islam, Hindus all over the world still regard India as the ‘holy land’. Thus the followers of both these religions tend to look towards these nations in the hour of crisis of faith. Interestingly, many of the causes for the rise of extremist Islam in Arabic politics and Hinduism in Indian politics appear to be similar. The states’ unwillingness to recognize the role of religion in the society, the growing influence of secularists which led to the displacement of the traditionalists form their positions of power, and the ability on the part of religious groups to create a successful network of social, educational, religious and charitable organizations across the nation are some of these causes. In fact, the last of these similarities is strikingly apparent in context of the rise of Society of Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in India. However, there are some significant differences, as well, due to the inherently different nature of the society and culture in different countries. One of the major reasons for th... ...arate legal code for their community, was often perceived as ‘sticking together’. The Islamic precept of considering religion as superior to nationalism (Wataniyyah) and the oft repeated attitude of some Indian Muslims of not bowing before the national flag give rise to a bitterness between the two communities. In fact, such Koranic notions as dividing the world in two regions- Dar es Salaam (the house of peace, where Islam prevails) and Dar el Harb (the house of war, where Islam does not exist) - and proclaiming that there will be lasting peace on earth only when the whole world comes under Islam, are often behind the worldwide anti-Islamic view that we are witnessing in today’s world. Such circumstances, along with the promise to rebuild the Ram Janmabhoomi temple in Ayodhya, were fully exploited by the BJP to gain a significant political support and surge to power.

How to Reduce Air Pollution Essay

Air pollution is an issue of concern to the world. Pollution in our environment will undoubtedly affect our quality of life and it can also cause various health problems and other negative effects. As a result, we want to find way out. Three simple solutions to reduce air pollution such as reducing the using of vehicles, cutting down the using of machineries and planting trees. The first necessary way to solve this problem is to cutting down the using of machineries. We should try to use more human labor rather than machines in production or farming activities. For instance, people in our country can use handy craft products and do their farm by the human being like doing farm in a traditional way without using any kind of tractors. Furthermore, for the products which are made by machines, such as paper, bottles, cans, or plastic bags, we should re-use and recycle them as possible as we can instead of producing more products. The machines will rest from production and also rest from dispose CO2 to the air. The second way to solve this problem is to reduce the using of vehicles. People should change from travel by their own car or motorbike to travel by public transportation such as taxies, buses, or trains. When we can cut down the amount of cars or motorbikes on the street, the amount of CO2 also decrease and we can save our air. Moreover, you will save money while you do your segment to reduce air pollution. According to Science Applications International Corporation (2007), â€Å"Public transportation use reduces travel by private vehicles.† (p.2). The third way we have to do is planting trees. Trees convert carbon dioxide into oxygen, cleaning up air pollution every day, so we have to reduce cutting down of it. According to McPherson (2003), â€Å"Leaves of trees absorb or intercept air pollutants, including small particulate matter and the components of smog.† (p.1). In addition, the trees help cool neighborhoods to create less need for air conditioning. In conclusion, we must work together to reduce pollution so that the future generations can live in a healthy, unpolluted environment.

European influence in Africa Essay

The presence of Europeans in African countries had a great influence on the cultural benefits, traditions and norms of Africans. African societies were composed of small ethnic groups bound by deep cultural and traditional benefits. Slave trade in North Africa disintegrated these cultural systems. The entry of Europeans in North Africa led to breaking of those small indigenous units into modular states that could be easily controlled by the colonial rule. They abolished the indigenous legal systems and imposed new legal systems based on European concepts of law. North Africa was integrated into the world capitalist system, where its main function was to provide raw materials and new markets for Western industrial revolution. This led to imposition of taxation forcing Africans into cheap wage labor. Land grabbing and alienation in settler colonies made it impossible for the economy of the colonized countries to grow. This is because the colonial administrations only developed areas they saw fit for their benefit and it led to growth of colonial cities such as Dakar, Lagos and Nairobi. Westernization in North Africa led to the rise of Christianity and reduced the number of Muslims in sub Sahara, which contributed to the destabilization of Africa traditions and cultural benefits. Christianity promoted the assimilation of new ideas and new lifestyles such as monogamy and nuclear family. African societies believed in polygamy and extended families. This is being practiced even to day. Christian missionaries introduced Western education, which involved mastery of European language and literacy. The adoption of new habits and tastes coupled with Christianity and western education, led to the development of a new elite that included teachers, clerks, lawyers and doctors. Slave trade degraded the value of African people because they were used against their will to benefit the European economy. This impacted negatively on African leaders because some still practice slave trade today. Europeans brought about, modernization in Africa in terms of Western education, Christianity and Western lifestyles. European influence in Asia (1650-1815). South East Asia comprised of societies that varied in different aspects. Main societies in south East Asia included China, Thailand and Cambodia, therefore European influence on South East Asia varied extensively depending on indigenous states. Societies in South East Asia had very distinct traditional beliefs and rulers who reigned with a conviction of permanency and stability. Europeans created new economic relationships in South East Asia by establishing new industries like rubber production and improvement of traditional ones such as rice and sugar industries. They were improved and expanded to meet the European needs. Communities in Cambodia protested against economical changes when agribusiness in form of plantation farming was introduced. Europeans aimed to make the traditional cultures modern. This was received positively by some south East Asians who had been trained in Western schools. They believed that Western culture would have positive effects on their cultural and economical backgrounds. The elites adopted the European language and mode of dressing. Adoption of the Western culture led to political, economical and social growth in Asia. However, it was difficult to assimilate the European culture and lifestyles in Asia because of the diversity of Asian cultural customs and traditions. Asia is composed of Muslim, Christianity and Buddhism and therefore impacting Christianity in Asia was difficult. These traditional settings emphasized on unifying of social, economic, political and social spheres, though it is impractical to unify all the spheres. The influence of Europeans in Asia was highly varied and uneven throughout the region. They used superior military technology to achieve conquest and monopoly. The Portuguese invasion of Malacca led to the decline of the trade systems as they tried to dominate the spice trade. The European therefore, caused the detachment of producers form their traditional markets. As a result the powerful trading cultures in southeastern Asia collapsed due to colonial influence. European influence was limited to the coastal ports and the adjoining regions. Peasant life in Asia was not affected by the European influence as they remained inside the confines of their village. (Alagappa 130-138). European influence in Middle East (1825-1941). Middle east societies combined religion with governance of their states. European powers overwhelmed the region and tried to separate governance from religion. They replaced the indigenous educational, social and political systems through modernization. The Kuranic schools were replaced by the Western education. Middle east is an Islamic region that viewed European powers as enemies for creating Christianity in the Muslim dominated region. This created a sense of distrust of the Europeans by the Arabs. Europeans faced great resistance form the Arabs who used national movements to adopt anti-western speeches in order to gain favor from their people.. European powers in the Middle East replaced the Muslim leaders by non-Muslim leaders to create artificial political territories since they did not arise from the societies. They created states that had conflicting ethnicities and divided other ethnic groups into two or three portions. For instance they divided the Kurds into Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Syria. (Kaelble 120-127). Dividing ethnic communities stirred political rivalry and violence in the Middle East. It also created instability among the Arabs, preventing political, social and economical development. The Arabs formulated revenge missions to the Europeans and resisted any form of invasion whether political, economical, educational or social.

Pro Forma Definition - Economics

Pro Forma Definition - Economics Pro forma, originates as a Latin phrase which, literally translated, means something like for the sake of form. It is often used for specific purposes in economics and finance.   Our Ambivalence About the Phrase in Finance The briefest perusal of some dictionary definitions begins to express our ambivalence about the use of the term in economics and especially in finance. Some online dictionaries give relatively neutral definitions that adhere closely to the phrases Latin origins, such as according to form, as a matter of form, and for the sake of form. Other dictionary definitions begin to express more complex assessments of the meaning of the phrase, Merriam-Websters, for example: done or existing as something that is usual or required but that has little true meaning or importance  (emphasis added). Its not a far reach from little true meaning to not meaningful at all and potentially deceptive. Legitimate Instances of Pro Forma In reality, the greater number of uses of pro forma documents in finance are not deceptive at all; they serve a valuable purpose.  One such use, one that occurs frequently, has to do with financial statements. In most circumstances, a financial statement  reflects reality. In some circumstances, a financial statement that does not do so could be considered (in ascending order of wrongness): valueless, misleading or evidence of criminal misrepresentation. But a pro forma financial statement is (usually) a legitimate exception to that rule. Instead of answering the question What is the state of the balance sheet? or how much money did the enterprise earn in a given time period, a question answered by the income  statement, a pro forma balance sheet and income statement answers the question What would happen if...? Heres a good example: The corporation has earnings for the past year of $10M, with expenses of $7.5M. These are figures you might find in the income statement. But, executives wonder, what would be the effect of introducing a new product line (which would sharply ramp up expenses)? You would expect that in the shortest term, before the revenues from the new product line were realized, that profits would diminish considerably and that  revenues would go up very little. Youd also expect that over time the additional revenue from the new product line would more than pay for the increased expenses, and that the business would be more profitable. But, is that really true? At the point of youd expect... this is just a guess. How can you know, if not for sure, but at least with some   increased confidence that increased profitability will result?  Thats where pro forma financial documents come into play. A pro forma set of financial documents will refer to past performance as a guide to project would would likely happen in the future if we make a similar introduction. It answers the question What if...   When the company introduced a past product, the MicroWidget, operating costs rose X percent in the following three quarters, but in the fourth quarter increased revenue from the MicroWidget more than made up for the increased operating cost expense and net profit actually rose 14 percent year over year.   The pro forma balance sheets, income statements and statements of cash flows show what might happen if a new MacroWidget product is introduced, based on the data available. Pro Forma Statements vs. Certainty Note that a pro forma financial statement does not express certainty. It expresses what, with the data available, business leadership and accountancy professionals believe  is likely to happen. Often it does, and sometimes it does not. Nevertheless, pro forma statements serve a valuable purpose by introducing data that supports (or does not support) the original intuition that, for example, adding a MacroWidget to the product line is a good idea. It does so by quantifying the probable results based on past performance. The pro forma balance sheets, income statements  and, importantly, statements of cash flows give business executives a better idea of what will happen if.... The Downside of Pro Forma Statements The general intent of pro forma financial statements, to answer the question what will happen if... can be abused. In the notorious Enron collapse,  pro forma statements played an important part. Arthur Andersen Enrons auditors, it became clear in retrospect, were too close to the company to deliver reliable financial statements to financial markets. This was particularly true of the pro forma statements that projected a rosy future for Enron and purportedly were based on reasonable assumptions.    They utterly failed to predict what became instead a total collapse that sent Enron executives  to jail, ended the Arthur Andersen company and culminated in a prolonged and messy Enron bankruptcy in which stockholders and others lost hundreds of millions of dollars. Absent criminal intent, data that already exist are reliably what they propose. Data that are projections based on assumptions which is the essence of a pro forma statement are inevitably and categorically more subjective. In short, they are useful financial tools that are particularly easy to abuse. You shouldnt avoid using them, but you need to exercise caution. Books on Pro Forma Profits You Can Trust: Spotting and Surviving Accounting LandminesHow Companies Lie: Why Enron Is Just the Tip of the IcebergThe Valuation of Technology: Business and Financial Issues in RD Journal Articles on Pro Forma Assessing the relative informativeness and permanence of pro forma earnings and GAAP operating earningsThe Predictive Value of Expenses Excluded from Pro Forma EarningsAre Investors Misled by Pro Forma Earnings?

Georgetown Scholarship Essay Example

Georgetown Scholarship Essay Example Georgetown Scholarship Essay Georgetown Scholarship Essay Essay Topic: Scholarship From abrogating the infamous problem of world hunger that is prevalent among the developing countries to the preservation of Mother Nature who seems to exponentially spiral down towards death in correlation to our nonstop industrial poison, the premiere issue that arises to be solved is not utilizing these funds solely to discover or use on research for the historically-yearned panacea of all these problems, but to discover the grades of importance to which these problems need to be chronologically addressed. Sure, the level of importance may fluctuate for people ith different perspectives, but finding the common ranks in which the majority agrees on will most likely prove to palliate the cons of our societys traditional morality. The sole most important problem: Poverty. My statement is controversial, yet I believe that I withhold a satisfactory Justification for my daring audacity in the statement. The Tree of Poverty is a colossal essence of our intricate society that branches off to too many malevolent factors, such as the branches of disease and hunger. Finding the conflagration to abolish this seemingly immortal tree would be iminishing the amplifying mercurial distance between the downright rich and the nadir of the poor, considering eighty percent of the population in the world today live in countries where income divergences keep expanding. How will we solve this? one might ask. The first step will be creating a chance for these countries by focusing on their children, their future. The establishment of educational services in countries that hold an insufficient amount of resources to do so will help reduce the 121 million children who are not in education that should be. : One must realize that the orld holds a massive number of uncut gems, but processing these potential gems to shine is what makes them valuable. This process represents the education in which millions of children will partake with the development of education in the places that are not able to do so. With this education, not only will they surpass the fortitude of the barrier of poverty to their dreams and goals, but exceed this to be so much greater. Nearly on par with the Tree of Poverty, the foundation of biodiversity holds on to its roots as the implacable dictator of industrialization threatens for its looming xtinction. What many might not know is that although technology is proving to become a somewhat sustainable factor as a bare replacement for the natural world, sustainability of the Earths present pulchritude is a much more efficient and reasonable validation when compared to the funding of expensively non-dependable technology we have today. One might believe that the preservation is not worth the benevolent aspects of industrialization. But considering the favored medicinal resources, recreational value of commonly known wildlife, the Joy of growing your wn plant life, and all the amiable values that come with our wondrous biologic life, the spending of money to further restrain the aggrandizing industrialization and preserve the treasure of wildlife is Justifiable by all means. By economically funding multifarious groups of biological preservation, it is believed that a gradual improvement will be shown as time goes by. Basically speaking, all the cute animals in the Atlanta Zoo you take your children to see wont all be extinct in ten years. The foundation of the common persons traditional morality both holds the potential for alevolence and benevolence, thus I believe that using titty million dollars tor these national problems will help diminish the potential for negative outcomes of mans works and focus more on its munificence. Although one might wish for the worlds problems to be gone with one trade of fifty million dollars and a snap of the fingers, people must acknowledge that they need not to imperiously rush through the fast- moving waters of the colossal river of society; rather, take one slow step at a time and find a way to make it to the other side.

A Complete Guide to 2019 Interview Questions

A Complete Guide to 2019 Interview Questions The hardest part of preparing for an interview is the unknown factor. Although you can make assumptions about what you’ll be asked, you never know for sure until you’re there on the hot seat. Sure, you’ll be asked about your jobs, your skills, and your experience- but there are lots of different ways any given interviewer can go. While it is impossible to predict with 100% accuracy what might be thrown your way, you can do your best to prepare for the different scenarios you might see on interview day. The most asked interview questionLet’s start with THE interview question. The alpha. Without a doubt, the most  asked  interview question in existence is â€Å"Tell me about yourself.† It’s an easy ice-breaker, and it lets the interviewer start to get a sense of what you’re like as a candidate.Here’s how you can answer it:Tell Me About YourselfYour Elevator PitchThis  will most likely be the first question you’re aske d in any job interview, so it’s absolutely imperative you have your response ready to go.Interview questions measuring personalityUnlike the classic â€Å"Tell me about yourself,† questions measuring personality are a lot more uncommon, subtle, and complex. These are generally questions the employer has tailored to measure your personality and how  it would translate to the responsibilities of  their open position.Here are some examples:Ethical Interview QuestionsBehavioral Interview QuestionsHypothetical Interview QuestionsBrainteaser Interview QuestionsSituational Interview QuestionsProblem Solving QuestionsThese questions can be tricky because it’s not often clear what kind of answer the employer wants to hear. A person hiring someone for an accounting position may consider someone with an introverted personality a better fit for the job than someone who parties it up every Saturday, and vice versa.Interview questions you’re not expectingIt’ s less likely that you’ll be asked any of these interview questions, but as you can never be sure of anything in the interview game.  It’s always a good idea to prepare:Interview Questions You’re Not ExpectingRemember, these questions exist, which means they were all asked at one point or another. Don’t be the interviewee  that gets caught like a deer in headlights when faced with a  Ã¢â‚¬Å"gotcha† question.Here are some additional questions that you might not be expecting:â€Å"How would you fire someone?†Ã¢â‚¬Å"What’s your idea of the perfect day?â€Å"â€Å"You’re driving down a dark road, during a wild storm. You drive past a bench†¦.â€Å"The â€Å"biggest challenge† interview questionIf the interviewer does ask you a question like, â€Å"What’s the most difficult part of being a [current job title]?† or â€Å"What was the toughest part of your last job?† here are ways you can frame your struggles  to make yourself look awesome:The Biggest Challenge Interview QuestionsQuestions relating to salaryThe job application process has a number of separate stages: applying, interviewing, job offer, then salary negotiation and acceptance. Most employers stick to this, and let the money talk wait until things are further along. But if they jump the gun and ask you up front for a) your current salary or b) desired salary, what do you do?Interview Questions Relating to SalaryInterview Questions About Your Current SalaryQuestions about salary are important to keep in mind. More and more states are passing legislation about what potential employers can and can’t ask you about your salary history, so make sure you know what your state’s current policies are, before you hand over that information to an interviewer.Illegal interview questionsOut of ignorance or slyness, an interviewer might try to get information out of you that the company is not allowed to fac tor into their hiring decisions. However, you’re not obligated to answer them- and in fact you shouldn’t.  Your battle plan should be to figure out why they’re asking (whether it has direct consequences for the job itself), and to decide whether you should answer.Illegal Interview Questions11 Unethical Interview Questions You Don’t Need to AnswerRed Flag QuestionsSome of the hardest questions you’ll encounter might be illegal, so it’s important to know what the danger zone questions are, and why you don’t need to answer them. And if there’s an out-of-bounds question being asked, don’t panic. Just say you don’t feel comfortable answering it, and deftly steer the topic to something else you’d like to share about yourself.The hardest types of questionsWhen you’re in the hot seat, all questions thrown your way seem tough. Some, though, are harder than others, like the ones below. Remember: your intervi ewer not only wants to get a good sense of what you will answer, but also how you handle the pressure. Stay cool and take a breath, even when you’re struggling to come up with an answer. Study these questions and prep yourself for whatever might come your way.Tough Interview Questions That Are Very CommonThe Hardest Interview Questions of 2016The 10 Toughest Interview QuestionsHow to Answer the Toughest Interview Questions9 Super-Tricky Job Interview Questions and How to Answer ThemWild card questionsAnd finally, here are some additional questions that did not fall into any particular category, but are very important to prep for:â€Å"Can I contact your current employer?â€Å"â€Å"Why have you had so many jobs?â€Å"â€Å"Aren’t you overqualified for this position?â€Å"â€Å"Why Should I Hire You?â€Å"What you should ask themAnd just when you think you’re done prepping for every possible question you can get in an interview, there’s still more work to be done: you need to prep the questions you’re going to ask too. You should always, always have questions for your interviewer.4 Questions to Ask at the End of an InterviewAsk These 10 Interview Questions to Impress Your Hiring ManagerThe Most Important Question You Need to Ask in an InterviewNow that you’re prepared for what you’ll need to say and ask on interview day, don’t forget to dust off your lucky interview outfit and brush up on that body language as well. Good luck, and happy interviewing!

Health and Safety reflection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Health and Safety reflection - Essay Example Likewise, I also exemplify strengths in selecting the most appropriate and effective contraception. In addition, the assessment on the genetic history has been illuminating in terms of discussing any potential genetic disorders or health problems by bringing the subject matter to one’s parents, who are knowledgeable in one’s genetic history of illnesses. The knowledge and awareness gives one the opportunity to address any potential risks and to be more vigilant in factors that might increase propensities to these illnesses. These strengths in awareness and knowledge on the subject matter of health relationships, sexuality, reproductive choices, and genetic disorders, among others, could be shared with family members, friends and associates to likewise enhance their knowledge on these subject matters and assist any of them who might be experiences some challenges, problems, or difficulties in any of the abovementioned topics I= Improvements: Discuss areas for personal im provement in regards to your results of this/these assessment (s) . Summarize an action plan to make these improvements. Despite the strengths, I admit that there is always room for improvement. Under the topic on reproductive choices, for instance, there are target behaviors that include the need to be more selective and aware of eating health food and in going through regular physical activities and exercises. Although at the moment, one has been observing eating a balanced diet, there are times when one gives in to eating sweets or drinking colas, once in a while. In this regard, the action plan is to schedule a regular routine for exercising, especially when one is aware that indulgence in unhealthy foods has been undertaken. As suggested, I need to set goals, monitor my behavior, and provide a definite timeline to observe and note the improvements. By giving myself a potential reward, I would be motivated to improve. A reward could be in terms of buying a favorite outfit that I had been eyeing for quite some time or sharing my experience to others who most need the same improvement. Under healthy relationships and sexuality, I strongly believe that despite having strengths in communicating with others, this facet could still be improved by being more open and receptive to others. Likewise, with increasing focus and thrust on cultural diversity, I admit that there is a need to develop and enhance awareness on diversity in cultural communication patterns that would assist in the development and growth of health relationships. The same process would be undertaken: set a goal, monitor one’s changes in behavior, provide a definite timeline, provide motivation and rewards, and commit to the needed change. I= Insights: Discuss any new things you learned about yourself after completing these assessments? Light bulbs that have gone off? New â€Å"ah ha† moments generated by these assessment results. How might this insight motivate you to make a healt hy behavior change? After completing these assessments, I realized that I am open to embrace new learning, knowledge with the objective of improving oneself through establishing diverse relationships and keeping or maintaining strong bonds with loved ones. I learned that I

Economics of India Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Economics of India - Research Paper Example There was also a transformational of India society and destruction of all structural barriers both foreign and domestic that inhibits the development. The second road led to the transfer of the power to the Indian supporters of traditional classes of imperialism. It led to the continuation of the integration into the imperial system of capitalism that was revolving around the metropolitan powers as a satellite. There was existence of development continuation and the underdeveloped development as a result. Since the Indian economy was controlled by the Britain, Indians had no independence of their own economy. This means that the British people were in dominance of the Indian Economy sectors. After the power transfer, the Indian Rupee was tied and dominated by the British Sterling pound. India thus became a sub-colony of the British imperialists after independence and the domestic classes that ruled enjoyed limited political power which depended and was within the domain of the imperi alists’ powers. European came to India in the 16th century and their main aim was to develop the prospects of trade. The government of British took control and Began to exploit Indians resources and drained of the wealth. The independence was gained after a much efforts and sacrifices by the people of India. India the immediately began to exploit their resources by planning of their needs and resources that is they planned the economic development. In order to achieve the desired level, liberalization and prioritization together was pursued. The economy was a mixture of capitalism and socialism and this has led to the current developed state of India.(Ghosh, 2011 ) As a consequence of the rapid growth and also liberalization , Indian companies have much been involved towards t he ‘look east’ policy that was initiated by India can be pursued with vigor .India is at sectoral dialogue partner of Association of South East Asia Nation .(ASEAN) These sectors includes t ourism , science and technology , trade and investment In the past two decades, it is poised that India will realize a faster growth in the years to come. In the years between 1950 and 1970s, the Indian Economy expanded by 3%. The rate if growth increased to 5.5 % in the 1980s. The rate henceforth increases by 1.2% in the years between 1992 and 1993. Reforms to open up the economy were therefore, embedded and embarked on from 1997-1998 and the growth had to drop to 5.5% and later to 4.4% by the end of years 2002-2003. The drop in the growth was due to poor rains impact which affected the agricultural sector output. In 2003-2004, there a gradual increase in growth which shifted to 8.2%. Such an increase is much needed for provision of employment opportunities for the population of India that is eventually growing. The purpose of the formation of the Indian manufacturing Competitiveness was basically lay down the policies and guidelines on challenges and the opportunities in manufactu ring markets of India and other emerging ones. For the India economy to grow, so as to distribute wealth across all of her people, manufacturing had to have a growth rate from the current standing of 17% to around 30% which require; firstly, production increase and plant level quality. Secondly, it is the pursuit of strategies and the operations of the manufacturing which are world-wide, competitive and lastly, the integration of the supply

Benefits of Opening a Franchise Hospice Facility vs. Non-Franchise Research Proposal

Benefits of Opening a Franchise Hospice Facility vs. Non-Franchise - Research Proposal Example Indeed, the fact that there are two schools of thought means that in each case, there are associated benefits and corresponding demerits. To ordinary citizens and particularly the ageing, their concern will continue to be for them to receive the very best of healthcare service from hospice facility operators. It is important to state however that in the midst of managerial and organizational challenges resulting from the wrong choice of a mode of operating a hospice, an investor or entrepreneur may be underpinned with poor service delivery to customers over a very long period of time (Muhammad, 2009). This brings out the need for individual entrepreneurs to carefully assess the weights behind each of the forms of having hospice facility in place before deciding on one of the choices. This research work therefore seeks to identify the benefits of opening a franchise hospice facility as against non-franchise so that entrepreneurs will be well informed in their selection decisions, basi ng their decisions on factors that best suit their immediate premises. 1.2 Research Aim This research work will be embarked to identify the benefits of opening a franchise hospice facility as against non-franchise hospice facility. To achieve this overall aim, there should be some specific objectives that should be achieved first. The over all achievement of the specific objectives would constitute the achievement of the research aim. 1.21 Specific Objectives 1. To identify the various options for owning a hospice facility that are at the disposal of an entrepreneur. 2. To assess the various ways in which franchise hospice facility would be advantageous or disadvantageous to an entrepreneur 3. To assess the various ways in which non-franchise hospice facility would be advantageous or disadvantageous to an entrepreneur 4. To find various factors that should be considered in the opening of the hospice care facility 5. To come out with recommendations on the method of opening of the bu siness 1.3 Significance of the Study Successful completion of the research work shall be of immense benefit to several groups of persons. Some of the specific benefits include: 1. Entrepreneurs will be well informed on the right method of opening a hospice care facility that would best suit their needs. 2. As entrepreneurs make the right selection regarding the method of opening hospice care facility, they are sure to have formidable corporate and institutional financial base with which to expect profits (Muhammad, 2009). 3. A profit making hospice is likely to be a well managed and well equipped hospice care facility that would address the health needs of the populace, especially the ageing. 1.4 Research Questions The researcher puts forward the following research questions to serve as guidelines for the conduct of the research; especially in secondary data collection where data shall be sought from existing literature. The questions are: 1. What are the various methods of starting hospice care facility? 2. How does each of the methods of starting hospice care facility serve as an advantage or disadvantage to the entrepreneur? 3. What factors should inform individual entrepreneur’s decision on the selection of franchise hospice

What Would The World Be Like If Water Were Denser As A Solid Than As A Essay

What Would The World Be Like If Water Were Denser As A Solid Than As A Liquid - Essay Example Water exists in three states: liquid, solid, and invisible vapour. Water posses' unusual and exceptional physical properties. These unique properties are vital for survival of all living things and one of utmost importance is the density of water and ice. Most substances are denser in the solid state than the liquid state. Unlike most materials that shrink on solidifies water expands as it freezes and become less dense in its solid state than in its liquid state, so that ice floats instead of sinking. This property permits life to develop in polar and sub Polar Regions where ice floats and allows life to continue living below the surface. Thus arises an interesting question: If ice were heavier than water, it would sink, and more ice would form on top of it. As a result, all life in the waters would be trapped in the ice in the many areas of the world where it gets cold enough to freeze water Earth's waters are filled with life. The coexistence of the solid, liquid, and gaseous phases of water is vital to existence of life on Earth. If ice were denser than liquid water, it would sink. Most of the water on the planet is in the form of ice, would freeze solid from top to bottom including oceans, lakes and rivers and would immediately sink. Sun's rays could not penetrate into the depths of ocean bed and therefore unable to melt the frozen ice. The warm surface layer would be less dense than the solid frozen layer below; there would be no significant convection to mix the oceans. The coldest water would remain near the surface, and the necessary warming phenomenon could not occur in summer. About 70% of the Earth's surface is covered by water. Oceans and seas act as heat reservoirs helps to moderate our global climate. It wouldn't take long until most of the earth's water was frozen with only a thin layer of melt water on top that would mean a drastically different climate on earth. The temperature of the entire earth would decrease; the animal and plant life would reduce. The density of ice is less than the density of water due to the characteristics of hydrogen bonding in liquid and solid water. The water molecule forms an angle, with hydrogen atoms at the tips and oxygen at the vertex. Since oxygen has higher electro negativity than hydrogen, the side of the molecule with the oxygen atom has a partial Page 3 Negative charge. The water molecules are attracted to each other due to opposite attraction. This attraction is known as hydrogen bonding. Hydrogen bonding also gives water an unusual behavior when freezing. Water expands as it freezes and molecules are more distant from one another in ice than they are in the liquid water. Therefore, ice is not as dense as liquid water at standard conditions Fresh water has its greatest density under normal atmospheric pressure at 4 C, then becoming less dense as it freezes or heats up. As a stable, polar molecule prevalent in the atmosphere, it plays an important role as a greenhouse gas absorbing infrared radiation, without which, Earth's average surface temperature would be -18 C. Water is the most resourceful of our natural resources. It uniquely structured to provide the heat source for the global weather engine,

Market segmenatation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Market segmenatation - Essay Example Consumers from similar market segments also respond in the same manner to market fluctuations. Basis on which market segmentation is done includes gender, income, age group, marital status, and occupation (Yankelovich, 2004: p86). Based on gender, the marketer will divide the consumer market into smaller sub-sets with regards to gender. Women and men possess different preferences and interests, which necessitates segmentation (Yankelovich, 2004: p87). Businesses and organizations should carry out different strategies in marketing when selling products to male consumers, which would not be as effective with female consumers. Men will normally not buy products that the business markets to men while females would not buy male-marketed products. Gender-based market segmentation is vital in various industries such as apparel, footwear, cosmetics, and footwear. Age-group segmentation, on the other hand, is division of the market based on the target audience’s age bracket. Obviously, the manner in which a business markets products to teenagers will be different to how they market them to young children or adults. Examples of age-based segmentation include toys and sweet foods to those under ten years, apparel and music to those between ten and twenty years, and anti-aging products, magazines, and cosmetics to those over the age of twenty (Yankelovich, 2004: p87). ... For example, Shopper’s Stop, Carrefour, and Pantaloon market their products to high-income groups while Big Bazaar, Reliance Retail, and Vishal Retail market products to individuals in the lower age bracket. Market segmentation can also be done according to marital status of the people within the market population. For example, tour operators and travel agencies have holiday packages for married couples and different packages for unmarried women and bachelors. Finally, market segmentation is also done according to the occupation of the target consumers. People working in offices have needs that are different to those who go to college or high school, as well as people who are retired. One example of occupation-based market segmentation is the fact that T-shirts with witty and raunchy messages would not have a market among retirees, whereas it would be, when among college students (Beane & Ennis, 2007: p24). Summary Businesses are able to attain a competitive edge through focus on specific market segments in their marketing efforts. The concept of market segmentation has to do with the use of market research in the identification of the ideal client and market for the business (Boote, 2011: p31). Using market segmentation, a business can develop different profiles for its customer base. The first profile is geographic profiles where customer segmentation is done according to their geographic location. Small enterprises like pizza shops have a target market that lives within a ten-kilometer radius of its location. Business owners, therefore, can target customers using door hangers on all businesses and houses in the area advertising a special offer. The second one is demographic profiles, which refers to

The Satisfaction of General Practitioners with the New NHS Arrangement Dissertation

The Satisfaction of General Practitioners with the New NHS Arrangement - Dissertation Example Initially, Health Authorities were charged with the responsibility of planning, managing funds, and providing healthcare services at the community and hospital levels (Wilkin 2002, p. 539). This arrangement was later changed to the extent that the service provider and the purchaser functions were separated leading to the establishment of an â€Å"internal† market. Under this arrangement, the Health Authorities became the service purchasers even as the NHS Trusts became the service providers (Wilkin 2002, p. 539). One of the major reforms that rocked the NHS related to the establishment of the general practitioner (GP) fundholding scheme. Under the fundholding scheme as established in the 90s, the general practitioners were responsible for the management of their own budgets as well as the procurement of some health services. The fund holders enjoyed more freedom in managing resources and making innovations than the Health Authorities even though the latter retained control of close to 80% of the hospital and community services for patients who subscribed to fundholding practices, and 100% of the budget for non-fundholding practices (Wilkin 2002, p. 539). They were also responsible for overseeing elective procedures in hospitals on behalf of patients.

Market segmenatation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Market segmenatation - Essay Example Consumers from similar market segments also respond in the same manner to market fluctuations. Basis on which market segmentation is done includes gender, income, age group, marital status, and occupation (Yankelovich, 2004: p86). Based on gender, the marketer will divide the consumer market into smaller sub-sets with regards to gender. Women and men possess different preferences and interests, which necessitates segmentation (Yankelovich, 2004: p87). Businesses and organizations should carry out different strategies in marketing when selling products to male consumers, which would not be as effective with female consumers. Men will normally not buy products that the business markets to men while females would not buy male-marketed products. Gender-based market segmentation is vital in various industries such as apparel, footwear, cosmetics, and footwear. Age-group segmentation, on the other hand, is division of the market based on the target audience’s age bracket. Obviously, the manner in which a business markets products to teenagers will be different to how they market them to young children or adults. Examples of age-based segmentation include toys and sweet foods to those under ten years, apparel and music to those between ten and twenty years, and anti-aging products, magazines, and cosmetics to those over the age of twenty (Yankelovich, 2004: p87). ... For example, Shopper’s Stop, Carrefour, and Pantaloon market their products to high-income groups while Big Bazaar, Reliance Retail, and Vishal Retail market products to individuals in the lower age bracket. Market segmentation can also be done according to marital status of the people within the market population. For example, tour operators and travel agencies have holiday packages for married couples and different packages for unmarried women and bachelors. Finally, market segmentation is also done according to the occupation of the target consumers. People working in offices have needs that are different to those who go to college or high school, as well as people who are retired. One example of occupation-based market segmentation is the fact that T-shirts with witty and raunchy messages would not have a market among retirees, whereas it would be, when among college students (Beane & Ennis, 2007: p24). Summary Businesses are able to attain a competitive edge through focus on specific market segments in their marketing efforts. The concept of market segmentation has to do with the use of market research in the identification of the ideal client and market for the business (Boote, 2011: p31). Using market segmentation, a business can develop different profiles for its customer base. The first profile is geographic profiles where customer segmentation is done according to their geographic location. Small enterprises like pizza shops have a target market that lives within a ten-kilometer radius of its location. Business owners, therefore, can target customers using door hangers on all businesses and houses in the area advertising a special offer. The second one is demographic profiles, which refers to

Decision-making Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Decision-making - Essay Example sset Pricing Model or CAPM relates the returns on one individual security with that of the market and as such it considers the risk of the market as well as the risk of the individual security. So called beta is therefore the exact measure which shows the relationship between the risk and return of the individual security with that of the market by calculating the co-variance of returns on individual security with that of the market. CAPM also assumes that the investors are well diversified and they only attempt to reduce the systematic risk that is arising out of the market. As such beta is the measure which calculates this systematic risk and is always assumed to be 1 for the market as a whole. The above calculations indicate that the beta calculated through two methods is different from each other. Beta-1 is calculated through the traditional method of finding the covariance and variance and then taking the ratio of two whereas beta 2 is calculated through regression analysis by taking the slope of the % change in the returns of the market and the individual security. The differences in the value of the two betas may be attributed to the relative differences in the two methodologies. The published betas of two companies are 2.48 & 2.14 and are significantly different from calculated beta. (digitallook.com,2010. The above calculations indicate differences between the beta calculated and beta that has been published in various external sources. The changes or differences in the value of two betas may be attributed to different betas. The beta which has been calculated is based upon the closing price of the stock whereas published beta may have taken the adjusted prices of the shares while accommodating any dividends or splits. Thus the overall beta may be different from published sources if there exists a difference in calculations. The differences in the beta can also be attributed to the geared and un-geared beta based on the method of calculation. Un-geared

Effect of Bicarbonate Supplement on Kidney Function

Effect of Bicarbonate Supplement on Kidney Function Bicarbonate Supplementation Slows Progression of CKD and Improves Nutritional Status Ione de Brito-Ashurst, Mira Varagunam, Martin J. Raftery, and Muhammad M. Yaqoob  Lay Abstract Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is the long-term damage of the kidney. Symptoms only start presenting when the disease is progressing towards the advanced stages. It is a disease of the elderly population, and with the UK’s ageing population, cases are likely to increase in the near future. Metabolic acidosis (MA) is a common complication of CKD and treating this has been thought to slow down the decline in kidney function. Bicarbonate supplementation has previously been used as an experimental treatment on rat models to correct the MA but results have been inconclusive. There is also a lack of long-term trials investigating the effect on humans. The results showed bicarbonate supplementation was beneficial to kidney function and nutritional status of patients, while causing minimal side effects. More clinical trials need to be performed to consolidate these findings and to look at alternative treatment regimens before being implemented into clinical practice. Background Information and Rationale for Carrying Out the Work Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is the long-term decline in kidney function. It is defined as kidney damage resulting in a GFR ≠¤ 60 mL/min/1.73m2 for more than 3 months, or kidney damage for more than 3 months with evidence of structural or functional abnormalities, with GFR not necessarily reduced (1). In advanced stages it can lead to metabolic acidosis (MA) due to a decreased tubular bicarbonate secretion, which has been known to cause protein catabolism and increased insulin resistance (2), and impaired ammonium excretion (3). The lesser stages of CKD are quite common in communities but ESRD is quite rare in populations. CKD is a disease of the elderly with around 30-40% of the population > 75 years having CKD at stages 3-5 (1). It is usually asymptomatic until the later stages of the disease and during ESDR, the only possible life supporting treatments are transplantation or dialysis (4). Obesity is associated with an increased risk of CKD by over 2.5 times (5). With obesity, type 2 diabetes and hypertension all on the rise (6-8) , there is likely to be a boom in the number of CKD cases within the next couple of decades. There is clearly a need to address this future burden on the healthcare system. Correction of MA in dialysis patients has shown to slow down protein degradation in a small number of short term clinical trials (9, 10). Studies on rat models have shown inconsistent evidence where MA has been shown to slow down progression of renal failure (11). Due to the short term nature of these studies, there has been inadequate evidence on the impact of renal function. There have been very few studies investigating the correction of MA in CKD in humans and also the lack of long term studies of the effect on pre-dialysis patients, which were the main motives for carrying out this study. Approaches to the Question and Key Results The research question raised was whether bicarbonate supplementation to patients with MA in CKD could slow its progression and improve nutritional status. A single-centre, open-label, randomised, parallel-group study was carried out to investigate this question. The inclusion and exclusion criteria were stated explicitly. 134 eligible patients were randomly assigned to either routine standard care or oral sodium bicarbonate tablets 600mg TID which was increased as necessary to maintain bicarbonate ≠¥ 23mmol/L. The treatment assignment procedure was done by an external statistician and involved block stratification, then randomisation carried out within each stratum of men, women, diabetics and non-diabetics. This method helped to balance each of the patients’ covariates and ensured adequate concealment. As a result, 67 patients were assigned to the control group and 67 patients to the treatment group. To reach a power of 90% which would allow an absolute difference of 30% to be detected, 63 patients in each group would have to be studied, but to allow for non-compliance, this was increased to 67. Calculation of statistical power ensured a large enough sample size. The 2 groups had similar baseline characteristics (Table 1) and ap art from the bicarbonate supplementation, they were both treated equally. Patients were followed up every 2 months for 2 years for the primary outcome measurements while nutritional assessments were carried out at 0, 6, 12, 18 and 24 months by a single dietician. All patients were able to be analysed with none of the patients being lost to follow up or discontinuing the intervention, however 5 withdrew before receiving the treatment. Intention to treat analysis was performed. The investigators, statisticians and the single dietician were blinded to the initial group assignment as they were directly involved in assessing the outcomes, but since the trial was open-label, it suggests that patients and external clinicians were not. The outcomes were focused on the research question and were measured in a standard way. The primary outcomes were the decline in renal function, the number of patients with rapid progression of renal failure, and the development of ESRD that required dialysis. After 12 months, the rate in decline of CrCl was lower in the treatment group at 1.88 ml/min per 1.73 m2 (95% [CI] 0.39 to 4.15 ml/min per 1.73 m2) than the control group at 5.93 ml/min per 1.73 m2 (95% confidence interval [CI] 4.19 to 7.76 ml/min per 1.73 m2) (P Secondary outcomes were measurements of changes in normalized protein nitrogen appearance (nPNA), dietary protein intake (DPI), serum albumin and mid-arm muscle circumference (MAMC) to identify the nutritional status of patients. Results showed an increase in DPI (P Likely Impact of Research Outcome The fact that there was both a slowdown of the decline in kidney function and a reduction in the number of patients progressing to ESRD is clinically beneficial. However, the confidence interval for the treatment group is quite large (0.39 to 4.15 ml/min per 1.73 m2) and the upper limit is close to overlapping with the confidence interval of the control group at the lower limit (4.19 to 7.76 ml/min per 1.73 m2) for the rate in decline of CrCl. Statistically, the treatment may only offer a marginal improvement over the control, but the bicarbonate supplementation clearly does offer some benefit to stage 4 CKD patients. There are also significant nutritional benefits to CKD patients. Poor nutrition leads to protein energy wasting (PEW) and a low serum albumin which increase morbidity and mortality in dialysis patients (12), but this can be easily reduced with bicarbonate supplementation. The patients studied in this trial are not 100% representative of the population. This trial had to exclude 30 out of 184 potential subjects due to eligibility criteria. The exclusion criteria included morbid obesity, congestive heart failure, chronic sepsis, malignant diseases, cognitive impairment or uncontrolled hypertension so findings will not apply to patients that fall into these categories, however the findings will be important for the majority of patients with CKD. The trial was only a single centre study on patients at the Royal London Hospital in the East End of London. The demographic in this area of London is likely to vary from demographics in other parts of London and the UK. I think all the outcomes of interest to the patient were considered before the trial. Side effects of worsening hypertension and oedema that required an increase in therapy and loop diuretics respectively were minimal (Table 3). Blood pressures rose and oedema worsened more in the treatment group but these were not statistically significant (P=0.17 and P=0.5). The single main issue was that 6.5% of subjects experienced a bad taste taking the tablet of the sodium bicarbonate, which was then switched to a powder form. In the long term I think this trial will form the basis of a future change in clinical practice. The change will not be immediate as this is the first RCT on pre-ESRD patients with MA and more clinical trials need to be carried out in this area, with a subsequent systematic review and meta-analysis. Overall, the bicarbonate supplementation does offer an advantage over standard treatment, and the fact that bicarbonate itself is simple and very cheap to source and produce with minimal side effects also works in its favour. Future Work and Conclusion There are some changes I would make to the trial. The confidence interval for the treatment group is quite large (0.39 to 4.15 ml/min per 1.73 m2) and the upper limit is close to overlapping with the confidence interval of the control group at the lower limit (4.19 to 7.76 ml/min per 1.73 m2) for the rate in decline of CrCl. So statistically, the treatment may only offer a marginal improvement over the control. In order to achieve a more precise CI, a larger sample size could be used, and a multi-centre trial could be conducted so that the findings can be applied to a wider population. I think the accuracy of the outcomes would also benefit from the use of a placebo and double-blinding. This study focused only on patients in stage 4 CKD. While these patients are likely to experience MA, it may also be beneficial to study the effect on patients in stage 3 CKD. Patients especially in stage 3b CKD (GFR 30-44 mL/min) are at risk of slipping into the stage 4 category and bicarbonate supplementation has potential to act as a preventative treatment. The serum bicarbonate level in the treatment group was maintained at 23 mmol/L or greater. There was no upper limit for the bicarbonate level and considering that the normal range of serum bicarbonate is 22-28 mmol/L, we can see that the trial looked at the lower end of the reference range. I think a future clinical trial should look at the effect of bicarbonate supplementation on stage 4 CKD patients when serum bicarbonate is controlled within a middle range of 24-26 mmol/L and at the upper end range of 26-28 mmol/L. It is encouraging to see that there have been more RCTs investigating the positive outcomes of bicarbonate supplementation on CKD (13-15), however further investigations still need to be carried out to reach an optimal and definitive treatment plan. References 1.Barratt J, Topham PD, Harris KPG. Nephrology. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2009. 2.Kopple JD, Kalantar-Zadeh K, Mehrotra R. Risks of chronic metabolic acidosis in patients with chronic kidney disease. Kidney Int Suppl. 2005(95):S21-7. 3.Bailey JL. Metabolic acidosis: an unrecognized cause of morbidity in the patient with chronic kidney disease. Kidney Int Suppl. 2005(96):S15-23. 4.Smart NA, Dieberg G, Ladhani M, Titus T. Early referral to specialist nephrology services for preventing the progression to endà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ stage kidney disease. 2009. 5.MacLaughlin HL, Hall WL, Sanders TA, Macdougall IC. Risk for chronic kidney disease increases with obesity: Health Survey for England 2010. Public Health Nutr2010. p. 1-6. 6.Klahr S, Morrissey J. Progression of chronic renal disease. Am J Kidney Dis. 2003;41(3 Suppl 1):S3-7. 7.Shaw JE, Sicree RA, Zimmet PZ. Global estimates of the prevalence of diabetes for 2010 and 2030. Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2010;87(1):4-14. 8.Guh DP, Zhang W, Bansback N, Amarsi Z, Birmingham CL, Anis AH. The incidence of co-morbidities related to obesity and overweight: A systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Public Health. 2009;9(1):88. 9.Graham KA, Reaich D, Channon SM, Downie S, Goodship TH. Correction of acidosis in hemodialysis decreases whole-body protein degradation. J Am Soc Nephrol. 1997;8(4):632-7. 10.Williams AJ, Dittmer ID, McArley A, Clarke J. High bicarbonate dialysate in haemodialysis patients: effects on acidosis and nutritional status. Nephrol Dial Transplant. 1997;12(12):2633-7. 11.Jara A, Felsenfeld AJ, Bover J, Kleeman CR. Chronic metabolic acidosis in azotemic rats on a high-phosphate diet halts the progression of renal disease. Kidney Int. 2000;58(3):1023-32. 12.Lowrie EG, Lew NL. Death risk in hemodialysis patients: the predictive value of commonly measured variables and an evaluation of death rate differences between facilities. Am J Kidney Dis. 1990;15(5):458-82. 13.Kovesdy CP. Metabolic acidosis and kidney disease: does bicarbonate therapy slow the progression of CKD? 2012. 14.Abramowitz MK, Melamed ML, Bauer C, Raff AC, Hostetter TH. Effects of oral sodium bicarbonate in patients with CKD. Clin J Am Soc Nephrol. 2013;8(5):714-20. 15.Gaggl M, Cejka D, Plischke M, Heinze G, Fraunschiel M, Schmidt A, et al. Effect of oral sodium bicarbonate supplementation on progression of chronic kidney disease in patients with chronic metabolic acidosis: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial (SoBic-Study). Trials. 2013;14:196.