The Hobbit Book Review Essays - The Hobbit, New Zealand Films

The Hobbit Book Review The Hobbit Book Review The main character of the book is Mr. Bilbo Baggins. He is the Hobbit who led the Dwarves to the Lonely Mountain to reclaim their treasure from the dragon named Smaug. Bilbo is middle aged and resides in a clean, warm burrow dug into the side of a hill. In the beginning of the story Bilbo is a very weak character. He is easily frightened, and very shy. One of his strengths though, is that he is of the mythical race called Hobbits. Hobbits are known for their skills in thievery and spying. There are two main characteristics of Hobbits that separate them from normal humans. One, Hobbits are very small. They only grow to reach the height of about three feet if they are lucky. Secondly, they have large feet that are covered at the tops by thick hair. This hair is used to keep the hobbit's feet warm because they do not wear boots. Another characteristic of hobbits is that they normally don't wish for any excitement or adventure. They thrive on repetition and dull activities such as gardening. Hobbits also love to eat. Bilbo's favorite foods are: cake, bacon, sausage, eggs, wine, bread and any other fattening things that can be thought of. Some other important characters are as follows. Gandalf, he is the wizard that accompanies Bilbo and the dwarves on their quest. Thorin Oakenshield is son of the king of the dwarves who were driven from the Lonely Mountain. Smaug is the dragon of the Lonely Mountain who hordes the treasure he stole. Gollum is a slimy creature that was born a Hobbit but had the ring too long; this is the character that Bilbo steals the ring from. Bard is the archer that kills Smaug. Bilbo is the main character of the story and also the narrator. The main conflict of the story line is Bilbo vs. Himself. Bilbo has to overcome his fears of dragons and other creatures in order to carry out his part of the mission. Another conflict is the whole party vs. Smaug. The party of dwarves along with Bilbo and Gandalf, have to be able to destroy the dragon in order to claim their so deserved treasure. Bilbo completes this task by finding the dragon's weak spot and relaying the location to an archer in Lake Town. Both of these conflicts are won by the end of the story. The book begins with Bilbo enjoying a pipe after breakfast. This is one of his favorite pleasures and he feels quite content in doing so. As Bilbo smokes his pipe, Gandalf stops by to have a chat with Bilbo. He informs Bilbo that he is looking for someone to go on an adventure with him. Although Bilbo is tempted to accept the offer, he declines. Before Gandalf leaves Bilbo decides to invite him for tea the next morning. The next morning instead of the wizard at the door, there is a group of dwarves... thirteen in all. Bilbo is astounded! They are all very rude; they enter Bilbo's burrow in groups of twos. The dwarfs outline a plan on how to regain the treasure that is rightfully their own but has been stolen by the evil dragon Smaug. Bilbo is astounded to notice that he is in the plans. The dwarves plan to use Bilbo to steal the treasure from Smaug. After a lot of arguing and convincing, Bilbo decides to join in the dwarves' quest. Gandalf gives the party a key and a map of their journey which ends at the Lonely Mountain. It is there that the treasures of Thorin's ancestors are kept-guarded by Smaug. The quest begins when the party meets at the Green Dragon Inn. From there they venture into the Lone-lands. As heavy rains begin to fall, Bilbo notices that Gandalf is missing. This is something that is later on considered to be normal because Gandalf comes and goes throughout the duration of the trip. All through the quest Bilbo ends up saving the party from many dangerous situations. This is something that at first Bilbo finds hard to believe because he has very low self-esteem. The party gets into many jams during the trip, but they always escape them through the help of Bilbo and some times Gandalf. Some of these jams are: getting caught by trolls, getting captured by goblins, being attacked by large wolves called Wargs, one of the dwarves falls into a coma from touching black water in the Mirkwood Forest, near starvation, being captured

Anastasio Somoza García, President of Nicaragua

Anastasio Somoza Garcà ­a, President of Nicaragua Anastasio Somoza Garcà ­a (Feb. 1, 1896–Sept. 29, 1956) was a Nicaraguan general, president, and dictator from 1936 to 1956. His administration, while being one of the most corrupt in history and brutal to dissidents, was nevertheless supported by the United States because it was viewed as anti-communist. Fast Facts: Anastasio Somoza Garcà ­a Known For: Nicaraguan general, president, dictator, and founder of the Somoza Dynasty of NicaraguaBorn: Feb. 1, 1896 in San Marcos, NicaraguaParents: Anastasio Somoza Reyes and Julia Garcà ­aDied: Sept. 29, 1956 in Ancà ³n, Panama Canal ZoneEducation: Peirce School of Business Administration, Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaSpouse(s): Salvadora Debayle SacasaChildren: Luis Somoza Debayle, Anastasio Somoza Debayle, Julio Somoza Debayle, Lilliam Somoza de Sevilla-Secasa Early Years and Family Anastasio Somoza Garcà ­a was born on Feb. 1, 1986, in San Marcos, Nicaragua, as a member of the Nicaraguan upper-middle class. His father Anastasio Somoza Reyes served as a Conservative Party senator from the department of Carazo for eight years. In 1914, he was elected vice-secretary of the Senate. He was also a signer of the Bryan-Chamorro Treaty in 1916. His mother Julia Garcà ­a was from a wealthy family of coffee planters. At the age of 19, after a family scandal, Somoza Garcia was sent to live with relatives in Philadelphia, where he attended Peirce School of Business Administration (now Peirce College). In Philadelphia, Somoza met and courted Salvadora Debayle Sacas, who had a politically well-connected family that objected to the marriage. Nevertheless, in 1919 they married in Philadelphia in a civil ceremony. They had a Catholic ceremony in Leon Cathedral when they returned to Nicaragua. They returned to Nicaragua and had a formal Catholic wedding in Leà ³n Cathedral. While in Leà ³n, Anastasio tried and failed at running several businesses: automobile sales, boxing promoter, meter reader for an electric company, and inspector of latrines at the Rockefeller Foundations Sanitary Mission to Nicaragua. He even tried counterfeiting Nicaraguan currency and only avoided prison because of his family connections. U.S. Intervention in Nicaragua The United States became directly involved in Nicaraguan politics in 1909 when it supported a rebellion against President Jose Santos Zelaya, who had long been an opponent of U.S. policies in the area. In 1912, the United States sent Marines to Nicaragua to bolster the conservative government. The Marines remained until 1925 and as soon as they left, liberal factions went to war against the conservatives. The Marines returned after only nine months away and stayed until 1933. Beginning in 1927, renegade general Augusto Cà ©sar Sandino led a revolt against the government, which lasted until 1933. Somoza and the Americans Somoza had gotten involved in the presidential campaign of Juan Batista Sacasa, his wife’s uncle. Sacasa had been vice president under a previous administration, which had been overthrown in 1925, but in 1926 he returned to press his claim as the  legitimate president. As the different factions fought, the U.S. was forced to step in and negotiate a settlement. Somoza, with his perfect English and insider’s position in the fracas, proved invaluable to the Americans. When Sacasa finally reached the presidency in 1933, the American ambassador persuaded him to name Somoza head of the National Guard. The National Guard and Sandino The National Guard had been established as a militia, trained and equipped by the U.S. Marines. It was meant to keep in check the armies raised by the liberals and conservatives in their endless skirmishing over control of the country. In 1933 when Somoza took over as head of the National Guard, only one rogue army remained: that of Augusto Cà ©sar Sandino, a liberal who had been fighting since 1927. Sandino’s biggest issue was the presence of American marines in Nicaragua, and when they left in 1933, he finally agreed to negotiate a truce. He agreed to lay down his arms, provided that his men be given land and amnesty. Somoza still saw Sandino as a threat, so in early 1934 he arranged to have Sandino captured. On February 21, 1934, Sandino was executed by the National Guard. Shortly thereafter, Somoza’s men raided the lands that had been given to Sandino’s men after the peace settlement, slaughtering the former guerillas. In 1961, leftist rebels in Nicaragua established the National Liberation Front: in 1963 they added â€Å"Sandinista† to the name, assuming his name in their struggle against the Somoza regime, by then being led by Luà ­s Somoza Debayle and his brother Anastasio Somoza Debayle, Anastasio Somoza Garcà ­a’s two sons. Somoza Seizes Power President Sacasa’s administration was severely weakened in 1934–1935. The Great Depression had spread to Nicaragua and the people were unhappy. In addition, there were many allegations of corruption against him and his government. In 1936, Somoza, whose power had been growing, took advantage of Sacasa’s vulnerability and forced him to resign, replacing him with Carlos Alberto Brenes, a Liberal Party politician who mostly answered to Somoza. Somoza himself was elected in a crooked election, assuming the presidency on January 1, 1937. This began the period of Somoza rule in the country that would not end until 1979. Somoza quickly acted to set himself up as dictator. He took away any sort of real power of the opposition parties, leaving them only for show. He cracked down on the press. He moved to improve ties to the United States, and after the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 he declared war on the Axis powers even before the United States did. Somoza also filled every important office in the nation with his family and cronies. Before long, he was in absolute control of Nicaragua. Height of Power Somoza remained in power until 1956. He stepped down briefly from the presidency from 1947–1950, bowing to pressure from the United States, but continued to rule through a series of puppet presidents, usually family. During this time, he had the complete support of the United States government. In the early 1950s, once again president, Somoza continued to build his empire, adding an airline, a shipping company, and several factories to his holdings. In 1954, he survived a coup attempt and also sent forces to Guatemala to help the CIA overthrow the government there. Death and Legacy On September 21, 1956, Anastasio Somoza Garcà ­a was shot in the chest by young poet and musician Rigoberto Là ³pez Pà ©rez at a party in the city of Leà ³n. Là ³pez was instantly brought down by Somoza bodyguards, but the president’s wounds would prove fatal on September 29. Là ³pez would eventually be named a national hero by the Sandinista government. Upon his death, Somoza’s eldest son Luà ­s Somoza Debayle took over, continuing the dynasty his father had established. The Somoza regime would continue through Luà ­s Somoza Debayle (1956–1967) and his brother Anastasio Somoza Debayle (1967–1979) before being overthrown by the Sandinista rebels. Part of the reason that the Somozas were able to retain power for so long was the support of the U.S. government, which saw them as anti-communist. Franklin Roosevelt allegedly once said of him: â€Å"Somoza may be a son-of-a-bitch, but he’s our son-of-a-bitch.† There is little direct proof of this quote. The Somoza regime was extremely crooked. With his friends and family in every important office, Somozas greed ran unchecked. The government seized profitable farms and industries and then sold them to family members at absurdly low rates. Somoza named himself director of the railway system  and then used it to move his goods and crops at no charge to himself. Those industries that they could not personally exploit, such as mining and timber, they leased to foreign (mostly U.S.) companies for a healthy share of the profits. He and his family made untold millions of dollars. His two sons continued this level of corruption, making Somoza Nicaragua one of the most crooked countries in the history of Latin America. This sort of corruption had a lasting effect on the economy, stifling it and contributing to Nicaragua as a somewhat backward country for a long time. Sources Editors of the Encyclopedia Britannica. Anastasio Somoza: President of Nicaragua. Encyclopedia Britannica, January 28, 2019.Editors of the Encyclopedia Britannica. Somoza Family. Encyclopedia Britannica, August 24, 2012.La Botz, Dan. The Somoza Dynastic Dictatorship (1936–75). What Went Wrong? The Nicaraguan Revolution, A Marxist Analysis, p. 74–75. Brill, 2016.  Merrill, Tim L. (ed.) Nicaragua: A Country Study. Federal Research Division, U.S. Library of Congress, 1994.Otis, John. Dictators daughter wants UPI, April 2, 1992.Walter, Knut. The Regime of Anastasio Somoza, 1936–1956. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1993.

Foreign Direct Investment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Foreign Direct Investment - Essay Example In essence, FDI gives the investor the power to operate a company in another country for the long term. Developed host countries are not too welcome to the idea on the premise that they fear foreign firms will end up dominating their local firms. In contrast to this, developing countries are more welcome to the idea on the grounds that FDI will bring additional capital, expertise and new technology into their country. (Contessi & Weinberger, 2009). Host countries record FDI flows as liabilities along with similar items in their balance of payments. In host countries like these FDI flows make up a large percentage of the total investment in the economy as compared to more developed countries; the effects of FDI on these countries differ as well, with developing countries showing a steady growth trend as compared to developed countries who showed boom and bust cycles as a result of engaging in FDI. (Contessi & Weinberger, 2009). Growth is normally measured by looking at the trends in p er capita GDP growth. Analysts relate FDI to per capita to GDP growth by looking at figures of gross FDI inflows and FDI inflows per capita to see if they have any impact on the economic growth of a country. Research has revealed a positive relationship between FDI levels and growth levels in an economy, in some cases these results have been insignificant as well but these variables have never shared a negative relationship. Extraneous variable have a magnitude changing effect on this relationship. It has been seen that, the more developed a country is, the better and greater positive effect FDI will have on its economic growth. (Contessi & Weinberger, 2009). Most studies that have analyzed the impact of FDI on the economic growth of the host country have found the results to be pretty elusive. Most established relationships are based specifically on the host country’s own specific economic characteristics. Thus it is difficult to generalize these effects and apply them to ot her countries as the findings of a study. However, the probable effects are not completely elusive, as the endogenous growth theory provides framework for the positive linkage between growth and FDI inflows. (Johnson, 2005). A study found that FDI can have a positive effect on growth, given that the host country promotes exports simultaneously. (Balasubramanyam et al, 1996). Another study showed that FDI had a positive impact on growth, but this effect was to be directly proportional to the host country’s level and quality of human capital. (Borensztein et al, 1998). A further study conducted on 50 developed and developing countries also found FDI to be positively impacting host country’s growth rate. (Olofsdotter, 1998). Research revealed that FDI and growth have a positive relationship, the magnitude of which depends on the specific economic conditions of the country in question. (Zhang, 2001). Another study based on research on Latin American countries also had simi lar findings. (Bengoa & Sanchez-Robles, 2003). Some studies on the other hand, found a weak link between FDI and economic growth based on research done on a mix of developed and developing countries. (De Mello, 1999). Other studies, like the one which conducted research on a mix of 72 developing and developed countries found that FDI

What is the relationship between Foucault's concept of Essay

What is the relationship between Foucault's concept of 'governmentality' and recent changes in field of crime control - Essay Example of Knowledge in 1969, Discipline and Punish in 1976, History of Sexuality, Volume 1 in 1976, Herculine Barbin in 1980, and The Use of Pleasure and The Care of Self both in 1984. Foucaults concept of governmentality has a distinct emphasis on self and promotes and encourages the actions that will help us evolve and fosters the relationship to other individuals and organizations by efficient interconnections. It recommends the use of governmental power not so much in terms of constraints and authorities but as a process of producing society that is healthy, literate, virtuous, normal, cultured, national citizens. Foucault sees government as a general technical form, which encompasses everything from ones control of the self to the control of populations. Correspondingly, he feels that the important thing in the political arena is to encourage the cultivation of the appropriate governmentality by politicians. Foucault introduced the term governmentality in a series of lectures that he gave at the College de France on the Birth of Bio politics in 1979 (Marks 2000: 128). These lectures engaged with the changing face of liberalism as a political project in the Reagan and Thatcher administrations. For Foucault, governmentality meant both strategies of organizational governance, in a broad sense, as well as self-governance by those who are made subjects of organizational governance. The concept of governmentality sought to capture new Liberal approaches to political management. The turmoil of World War II influenced his thinking and although his writings seem to cover a varied and widespread spectrum he was constantly looking to receive an understanding of the struggle of individuals against the collective power of the society. He was intrigued by the fact that individuals are controlled by the society at large and why this happens. He is very famous for his book â€Å"Discipline and Punish† written in 1975. This book analyzes the prison system and gave a new

Q Assess the effectiveness of Nathanael West's use of Surreal elements Essay

Q Assess the effectiveness of Nathanael West's use of Surreal elements in 'The Day of the Locust' - Essay Example When the war finally ended, it was called the Great War, because it was thought that no such war would ever be fought again. The next decades did nothing to break the pessimism that many felt about the world's future. The crash in the world financial markets that happened in 1929, the worldwide drought in 1930, conspired to create the Great Depression, a worldwide economic downturn that basically lasted until industry began gearing up for what would be called the Second World War. As a result, the 1930's was a decade of extreme pessimism, which was manifested in a number of ways. The arts produced "case studies, reportage, documentary photography, proletarian literature, and 'social problem' films" with the goal of "reconstruct[ing] the 'hidden' logic of an elusive social reality" (Veitch, xvii). This is the time period in which Nathanael West made his literary mark. Jonathan Veitch makes note of the problems that critics have had in assigning West a particular place within the writing of that time, and American literature as a whole. Different critics described him, variously, as a "poet of darkness," "an apocalyptic writer," "a universal satirist," "a homegrown surrealist," and a "writer of the left." (Veitch xi, xvi). Some of these descriptions have definite contradictions with one another, but they all reflect different elements of the author's persona, and his work. His "style was never constant. At times his pictorial technique closely resembled collage [but also] cartoon strips, movies, and several schools of painting, as well as such non-graphic visual arts as the tableau and the dance." (Schug). While many of West's novels and other writings defy classification, though, The Day of the Locust does not. The surreal elements of this novel place it squarely in the camp of modernist fiction. His technique and methods bear considerable similarity to those of his contemporaries. When one considers some of the commonalities of modernist fiction: violence, decadence, irony, the grotesque, dreams, realism, allusion, distortion, and experimentation (Schug), all of these apply to The Day of the Locust, and many of them are a result of the surrealist techniques that West applies to his novel. The particular target of West's writing in The Day of the Locust is the dilemma that the artist faced when taking on the growing culture industry of the 1930's. The Hollywood industry is both the object of critique in the novel, as well as the subject of the story itself. The book executes a dark criticism of the so-called "dream factory" that Hollywood was in those times (and still is seen to be today) (Blyn). Ironically, those many of the aesthetic techniques at work in the novel owe a debt to that same Hollywood industry that the book itself is attacking. Consider, for example, the riot scene where a star appears at the premiere of a film. Protagonist Tod Hackett is taken away by the police in a squad car: He was carried through the exit to the back street and lifted into a police car. The siren began to scream and at first he thought he was making the noise himself. He felt his lips with his hands. They were clamped tight. He knew then it was the siren. For some reason this made him laugh, and he began to imitate the siren as loud as he could. (185) Clearly, the siren operates as a

Multivariate Multilevel Modeling

Multivariate Multilevel Modeling Literature Review This chapter tying up the various similar studies related to modeling responses multivariately in a multilevel frame work. As a start, this chapter begins by laying out the recent history of univariate techniques for analyzing categorical data in a multilevel context. Then it gradually presents the literature available on fitting multivariate multilevel models for categorical and continuous data. More over this chapter reviews the evidence for imputing missing values for partially observed multivariate multilevel data sets. The Nature of Multivariate Multilevel models A multivariate multilevel model can be considered as a collection of multiple dependent variables in a hierarchical nature. Though the multivariate analysis increases the complexity in a multilevel context, it is an essential tool which facilitates to carry out a single test of the joint effects of some explanatory variables on several dependent variables (Snijders Bosker (2000). These models have the power of increasing the construct validity of the analysis for complex concepts in the real world. Consider a study on school effectiveness which can be measured on three different output variables math achievement, reading proficiency and well-being at school. These data are collected on students those who are clustered within schools by implying a hierarchical nature. Although it is certainly possible to handle three outcomes separately, it is unable to show the overall picture about school effectiveness. Therefore multivariate analysis would be more preferable in these types of scen arios since it has the capability of decreasing the type 1 error and increasing the statistical power (Maeyer, Rymenans, Petegem and Bergh) (Draft). Hierarchical natures of multivariate models are not like as the univariate response models. Let us focus on above example; it implies a two level multivariate model. But in reality it has three levels. In this case, the measurements are the level 1 units, the students the level 2 units and the schools the level three units. Importance of Multivariate Multilevel Modeling Multivariate multilevel data structures may itself present a greater complexity as it leads to focus the multilevel effects together with the multivariate context. Therefore the traditional statistical techniques would fail to face these kinds of areas since it can decrease the statistical efficiency by producing overestimated standard errors. On the other hand violation of independence assumption may cause to under estimate the standard errors of regression coefficients. Therefore multivariate multilevel approaches play an important role to get rid of these kinds of situations by allowing variation at different levels to be estimated. Furthermore Goldstein (1999) has shown that clustering provides accurate standard errors, confidence intervals and significance tests. Some amount of articles have been published on multilevel modeling based on a single response context. Multivariate multilevel concept comes into the field of statistics during the past few years. When people want to identify the effect of set of explanatory variables on a set of dependent variables and by considering these effects separately on response variables, then if it shows a considerable difference among those effects then it can be handled only by means of a multivariate analysis (Snijders Bosker, 2000). Software for Multivariate Multilevel Modeling In the past decades, due to the unavailability of the software for fitting multivariate multilevel data some researchers tend to use manual methods such as EM Algorithm (Kang et al., 1991). As a result of developing the technical environment, the software such as STATA, SAS and S plus are emerged in to the Statistical field by providing facilitates to handle the multilevel data. But none of those packages have a capability of fitting multivariate multilevel data. However there is evidence in the literature that nonlinear multivariate multilevel model can be fitted using packages such as GLLAMM (Rabe-Hesketh, Pickles and Skrondal, 2001) and aML (Lillard and Panis, 2000). But it was not flexible to handle this software. Therefore MlwiN software which has become the under development since late 1980’s was modified at the University of Bristol in UK in order to fulfill that requirement. However, the use of MlwiN for fitting multivariate multilevel models has been challenged by Goldstein, Carpenter and Browne (2014) who concluded that MlwiN was useful if only when fitting the model without imputing for the missing values. However REALCOM software was then came into the field of Statistics and provided the flexibility to impute the missing values in the MLwiN environment. MLwiN is a modified version of DOS MLn program which uses a command driven interface. MLwiN provides flexibility to fitting very large and complex models using both frequentist and Bayesian estimation along with the missing value imputation in a user friendly interface. Some particular advanced features which are not available in the other packages are included in this software. Univariate Multilevel Modeling vs. Multivariate Multilevel Modeling In general, data are often collected on multiple correlated outcomes. One major theoretical issue that has dominated the field for many years is modeling the association between risk factors and each outcome in a separate model. It may cause to statistically inefficient since it ignores outcome correlations and common predictor effects (Oman, Kamal and Ambler) (unpublished) Therefore most of the researches tend to include all related outcomes in a single regression model within a multivariate outcome framework rather than univariate. Recently investigators have examined the comparison between Univariate and Multivariate outcomes and they have proven that Multivariate models would be preferable than several univariate models. According to the Griffiths, Brown and Smith (2004), they conducted a study to compare univariate and multivariate multilevel models for repeated measures of use of antenatal care in Uttar Pradesh, India. In here, they examined many factors which may have a relationship to the mother’s decision to use ante-natal care services for a particular pregnancy. For that they compared Univariate multilevel logistic regression model vs. Multivariate multilevel logistic regression model. However as a result of fitting univariate models, model assumptions became violated and couldn’t get stable parameter estimates. Therefore they preferred the multivariate context rather than the univariate context after performing the analysis. Generalized Cochran Mantel Haenzel Tests for Checking Association of Multilevel Categorical Data. The history of arising the concepts related to Generalized Cochran Mantel Haenzel was streaming to the late 1950’s. Cochran (1958), one of a great Statistician has firstly introduced a test to identify the independence of multiple 2 Ãâ€" 2 tables by extending the general chi-square test for independence of a single 2-way table. In here, the each table consists of one or two additional variables for higher levels to detect the multilevel nature. The test statistic is based on the row totals of each table. The assumption behind is that the cell counts have binomial distribution. As an extension to Cochran’s work, Mantel and Haenzel (1959) extended the Cochran’s test statistic for both row and column totals by assuming the cell counts of each table follows a hypergeommetric distribution. Since Cochran Mantel Hanzel (CMH) statistic has a major limitation on binary data, Landis et al (1978) generalized this test into handle more than two levels. However there is a major drawback of the Generalized Cochran Mantel Haenzel (GCMH) test. This test was unable to handle clustered correlated categorical data. Liang (1985) was proposed a test statistic for get rid of this problem. However that test statistic itself had major problems and it was fail to use. As development of the statistics field, a need for a test statistic capable of handling correlated data and variables with higher levels arouse. Zhang and Boos (1995) coming in to the field and introduced three test statistics TEL TP and TU as a solution to the above problems. However among these three test statistics TP and TU are preferred to TEL since these two use the individual subjects as the primary sampling units while TEL use the strata as the primary sampling unit (De Silva and Sooriyarachchi, 2012). Furthermore, by a simulation study TP shows better performance than TE by maintaining its error values even when the strata are small and it uses the pooled estimators for variance. Therefore it provides a guideline to select TP as the most suitable statistic to perform this study. De Silva and Sooriyarachchi (2012) developed a R program to carry out this test. Missing Value Imputation in Multivariate Multilevel Framework The problem of having missing values is often arising in real world datasets. However it contains little or no information about the missing data mechanism (MDM). Therefore modeling incomplete data is a very difficult task and may provide bias results. Therefore this major problem address to a need of a proper mechanism to check the missingness. As a solution to that, Rubin (1976) presented three possible ways of arising misingness. These are classified as Missing At Random (MAR), Missing Completely At Random (MCAR) and Missing Not At Random (MNAR). According to the Sterne et. Al (2009), missing value imputation is necessary under the assumption of missing at random. However, it can also be done under the case missing complete at random. On nowadays most statistical packages have the capability of identifying the type of missingness. After identifying the type of missingness, the missing value imputation comes into the field and it requires a statistical package to perform this. Since the missing value imputation in a hierarchical nature is little bit more advanced and it cannot be done using usual statistical packages such as SPSS, SAS and R etc. Therefore Carpenter et. al (2009), developed the REALCOM software to perform this task. However latter version of REALCOM was not deal with multilevel data in a multivariate context. Therefore the macros related to perform this task was recently developed by the Bristol University team in order to facilitate under this case. Estimation Procedure The estimation procedures for multilevel modeling are starting late 1980’s. However For parameter estimation using Maximum Likelihood Method, an iterative procedure called EM algorithm was used by early statisticians (Raudenbush, Rowan and Kang, 1991). Later on the program HLM was developed to perform this algorithm. The most operational procedures for estimating multivariate multilevel models in the presence of Normal responses are Iterative Generalized Least Squares (IGLS), Reweighted IGLS (RIGLS) and Marginal Quasi Likelihood (MQL) while for discrete responses are MQL and Penalized Quasi Likelihood (PQL). According to Rasbash, Steele, Browne and Goldstein (2004) all of these methods are implemented in MLwiN along with including first order or second order Taylor Series expansions. However since these methods are likelihood based frequentist methods they tend to overestimate the precision. Therefore more recently the methods which are implemented in a Bayesian framework using Marcov Chain Monte Carlo methods (Brooks, 1998) also used for parameter estimation which allows capability to use informative prior distributions. These MCMC estimates executed in MLwiN provides consistent estimates though they require a large number of simulations to control of having highly correlated chains. Previous researches conducted using Univariate and Multivariate Multilevel Models Univariate multilevel logit models Before take a look at to the literature on multivariate multilevel analysis, the literature of univariate multilevel analysis is also be necessary to concerned since this thesis is based on some univariate multilevel models prior to fit multivariate multilevel models. In the past decades, many social Scientists used to apply multilevel models for binay data. Therefore it is very important to review how they have implemented their work with less technology. As a aim of that, Guo and Zhao (2000) was able to do a review of the methodologies, hypothesis testing and hierarchical nature of the data involve of past literature. Also they conducted two examples for justify their results. First of all they made a comparison between estimates obtained from MQL and PQL methods which was implemented by MLn and the GLIMMIX method implemented by SAS by using examples. They have shown that the differences in PQL 1 and PQL 2 are small when fitting binary logistic models. Furthermore, they have shown that PQL- 1 and PQL-2 and GLIMMIX are probable to be satisfactory for most of the past studies undertaken in social sciences. Noortgate, Boeck and Meulders (2003) uses multilevel binary logit models for the purpose of analyzing Item Response Theory (IRT) models. For that they carried out an assessment of the nine achievement targets for reading comprehension of students in primary schools in Belgium. They performed a multilevel analyses using the cross-classified logistic multilevel models and used the GLIMMIX macro from SAS, as well as the MLwiN software. However they found that there were some convergence problems arisen by using PQL methods in MLwiN. Therefore they used SAS to carryout analysis. Furthermore they have shown that the cross-classification multilevel logistic model is a very flexible to handle IRT data and the parameters can still be estimated even with the presence of unbalanced data. Multivariate Multilevel Models In the past two decades a very few of researches have sought to fit the multivariate multilevel models to the real world scenarios. Among those also all most all the researches trying to focus basically in educational sectors as well as socio economic sectors. None of them were able to focus these into the medical scenarios. However lack of multivariate multilevel analysis which presents in the field of health and medical sciences this chapter consists of the literatures of multivariate multilevel models in other fields. According to the previous studies of education, Xin Ma (2001) examined the association between the academic achievements and the background of students in Canada by considering three levels of interest. For that the three level Hierarchical Linear Model (HLM) was developed in order to achieve his goals. This work allows him to draw the conclusions that both students and schools were differentially successful in different subject areas and it was more obvious among students than among schools. However the success of this study is based on some strong assumptions about the priors of student’s cognitive skills. Exclusive of the field of education Raudenbush, Johnson and Sampson (2003) carried out a study in Chicago to determine the criminal behavior at person level as well as at neighborhood level with respect to some personal characteristics. For this purpose they use a Rasch model with random effects by assuming conditional independence along with the additives. Moreover, Yang, Goldstein, Browne and Woodhouse (2002) developed a multivariate multilevel analysis of analyzing examination results via a series of models of increasing complexity. They used examination results of two mathematics examinations in England in 1997 and analyzed them at individual and institutional level with respect to some students features. By starting from a simpler model of multivariate normality without considering the institutional random effects, they gradually increased the complexity of the model by adding institutional levels together with the multivariate responses. When closely looked at, there work shows that the choice of subject is strongly associated with the performance. Along with this growth of applications of multivariate multilevel models, researches may tend to apply those in to the other fields such as Forestry etc. Hall and Clutter (2004) presented a study regarding modeling the growth and yield in forestry based on the slash pine in U.S.A. In their work, they developed a methodology to fit nonlinear mixed effect model in a multivariate multilevel frame work in order to identify the effects of the several plot-level timber quantity characteristics for the yield of timber volume. In addition to that they also developed a methodology to produce predictions and prediction intervals from those models. Then by using their developments they have predicted timber growth and yield at the plot individual and population level. Grilli and Rampichini (2003) carried out a study to model ordinal response variables according to the students rating data which were obtained from a survey of course quality carried out by the University of Florence in 2000-2001 academic years. For that they developed an alternative specification to the multivariate multilevel probit ordinal response models by relying on the fact that responses may be viewed as an additional dummy bottom level variable. However they not yet assess the efficiency of that method since they were not implemented it using standard software. When considering the evidences of the recent applications of these models the literature shows that Goldstein and Kounali (2009) recently conducted a study on child hood growth with respect to the collection of growth measurements and adult characteristics. For that they extended the latent normal model for multilevel data with mixed response types to the ordinal categorical responses with having multiple categories for covariates. Since data consists of counts they gradually developed the model by starting a model with assuming a Poison distribution. However since the data are not follow exactly a Poisson distribution they treated the counts as an ordered categories to get rid of that problem. Frank, Cerda and Rendon (2007) did a study to identify whether the residential location have an impact to the health risk behaviors of Latino immigrants as they are increasing substantially in every year. For that they used a Multivariate Multilevel Rasch model for the data obtained by Los Angelis family and neighborhood survey based on two indices of health risk behaviors along with their use of drugs and participation for risk based activities. They starting this attempt by modeling the behavior of adolescents as a function of the characteristics related to both individual and neighborhood .According to the study they found that there is an association between increased health risk behaviors with the above country average levels of Latinos and poverty particularly for those who born in U.S.A. Another application of multivariate multilevel models was carried out Subramanian, Kim and Kawachi (2005) in U.S.A. Their main aim was to identify the individual and community level factors for the health and happiness of individuals. For that they performed a multivariate multilevel regression analysis on the data obtained by a survey which was held on 2000. Their findings reflect that those who have poor health and unhappiness have a high relationship with the individual level covariates By looking at the available literature, it can be seen that there are some amount of studies conducted on education and social sciences in other countries but none of the studies conducted regarding health and medical sciences. Therefore it is essential to perform a study by analyzing the mortality rates of some killing diseases which are spread in worldwide to understand risk factors and patterns associated with these diseases in order to provide better insights about the disease to the public as well as to the responsibly policy makers.

From the Depths of My Soul :: Personal Narrative essay about myself

From the Depths of My Soul    ``Songs my father taught me'' should be the title of everything I play. His teachings took place from my first breath to his last. They are profoundly present in every moment that I am with the guitar. He taught me to love her, to care for her and to give myself to her.    Many times I went to sleep listening to him playing classical guitar, or woke up to the sound of a Bach gavotte! While walking in the old part of town, he would call my attention to the moonlight illuminating the narrow streets, or smell the flowers perfuming the old city, and then tell me``This is the Fandanguillo of Turina!''    I saw my father under persecution by the republicans and later decorated with honors by the democrats. I saw my father in poverty and I saw him financially successful. One thing remained untouched - his love of music, his love of the guitar. He practiced with the same devotion when there was no sight or hope of a successful career as he did later when success did come. The collection of music I play in homage to him was an essential part of the repertoire he always kept with him and gave to my brothers and me so that through our love of it we could search for beauty and that unattainable perfection that is the guiding light of all the great servants of music.    My father was a genius; he is an immortal man. I always wanted to believe in immortality. I always wanted to believe in eternal life, and intellectually I did. But in my heart, I had my doubts. In the last moments that my father and I spent together, he took these doubts away. He taught me that indeed there is a God. He taught me that there is eternal life, and we made a pact that we would soon be together, reunited, and in full recognition of each other.    My father taught me many things. When he was alive we had the most beautiful and most perfect love affair that two people could have. My father was the greatest guitarist known to me, and everything in me is only an offspring of that magnificent tree of music that he was. And everything that passes from me to future generations will be an offshoot of that beautiful root that was completely ingrained in the earth of music.

Biology Sensitivity Lab Report

To investigate the effect of skin sensitivity In response to cold temperature in different parts of the body by timing the maximum amount of time in which Ice-pack can be held to that area. Hypothesis: If the layer of skin Is relatively thin, the nerve response to cold will be the fastest, Increasing the skin's sensitivity. This therefore means that the fastest responses to cold will be in the face, and specifically the nose.The skin consists of 3 main layers; the epidermis, dermis and hypodermic (also known as the subcutaneous). The epidermis consists of dead and nearly dead skin cells which protects us from injury, infections, fluid loss†¦ Acting as a barrier. The Dermis is the skin layer which contains most of the nerve cells, hair follicles, sweat glands and many others. The Hypodermic layer is not really a skin layer, it attaches the skin to everything else; it contains the fat layer.The layer of fat in the nose's hypodermic is very thin in relation to other parts of the bo dy which will make the nerves detect the change in temperature on the surface the fastest, therefore bringing upon the response In less time. Variables: Independent variable: The part of the body (area of skin). Dependent variable: The maximum amount of time the ice-pack can be held to the skin (Using a stopwatch).Controlled variables: * The same height group (1 55-CACM) * The same weight group (45-keg) * The same age group (15-20) * The same sex (female) * The same temperature of the Ice-pack (placed In the freezer for 5 hours) * The same surrounding temperature (20-ICC) The same body temperature (3709 ; The same material used in the icepack( plastic and gel) ; The same size and thickness of the icepack (medium sized) Fair test: This experiment is considered to be a fair test because I think that most of the rabbles that can manipulate the results in any way other than the variable which I want to manipulate which is area of skin being tested, for example the height group and age g roup are controlled which ensures that the layer of fat in different people is similar due to these characteristics. Materials: * 3 ice-packs of the same temperature * Stopwatch * Thermometer * A long table Method: 1 . Place 3 identical icepacks in the freezer for 2 hours before starting the 3. Take their temperature making sure it is around ICC (If not change one of the people to one with all the requirements including temperature). 4. Make the person lay on the table on her back. 5.Take out one of the icepacks from the freezer. 6. Place the icepack on the thigh and time the time needed for the person to reach his limits with the cold. 7. Repeat the above step for the other body parts (Upper arm, belly, forearm, forehead and nose). 8. Replace the ice pack in the freezer again and take out another one. 9. Repeat the experiment on the same person another time. 10. Replace the second ice pack and repeat the step above with the third icepack. 11. Replace the ice pack in the freezer. 12 . Wait for an hour to regulate the temperature of the ice packs in the freezer. 13. Repeat steps 3-10 for the second female. 14. Record the result throughout the whole process. 15.The results are not completely constant though since the belly normally has more fat than the upper arm, but since the belly was covered with a shirt beforehand this led to tampering in the reliability of the experiment which is noninsured a source of error. The thermo receptors face's skin is the most responsive to temperature changes; the forehead had an average response time of 17 seconds. I came up with an average for each person's tree trials first, and then I came up with a final set of data for the average of all 6 trials on the two people. I came up with the final average by adding up all the 6 results from the several trials and divide them by 6 giving us a final result that we can work with to draw conclusions about our results and their reliability. Data presentation: Conclusion:My main conclusi on from this experiment about skin sensitivity in different areas in response to cold temperature changes is that the skin on the nose is the most affected. This is because of two things, the main reason being the layer of fat on the nose is a lot thinner than the layer of fat on other parts of the body like the thigh and the second reason being that thermo receptors which are the nerve cells which respond to temperature changes in the surrounding are highly concentrated in the face area so the fastest responses would therefore surely be from the face, explaining the fastest two reactions; nose (an average of 9 seconds) and forehead (an average of 17 seconds). This supports my hypothesis since that was my initial thought regarding the experiments' results due to scientific research.My results are highly valid since they make sense and are backed up with concrete scientific reasoning. The face brought upon the fastest responses followed by the belly and the arm. The belly has a thick er layer of fat than the arm; this is where my results got a bit mixed up since the people tested were wearing shirts which warmed them up fore starting which brought a faster response due to the bigger gap in change of temperature. The thigh had the slowest response time of an average of 163, which is logical since the thigh has the thickest layer of fat between the areas tested. Evaluation: In general I think my method was pretty valid since I controlled all the factors and explained the method in which I did.In my method I also showed steps of finding the average for the data collected which makes my results more reliable since they become more accurate. I also made the person getting tested to lie on a flat surface o that the icepack would be even on her body and won't move or fall down. Sources of error: 1 . The skin temperature was not constant all over the body since the belly for example was covered with a shirt. 2. The Ice-pack got warmer, so the last tests were less reliab le. 3. The pressure applied to the ice-pack was altered and not completely constant. 4. The difference between the reaction time of the forehead Improvements: 1 . The test should only be performed on parts of the body exposed completely, not the ones covered with clothes.

Gandhi vs. King essays

Gandhi vs. King essays Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. were civil right activists who took a form of action to obtain equal rights amongst their society. Gandhi moved to South Africa in 1893 to serve the Indian population after failing to establish a legal practice in Bombay. Subsequent to moving to South Africa, he recognized many laws that discriminated against Indians and initiated a change by taking action. Gandhi developed his theory of satyagraba (soul force), which implicates social justice through love as well as suffering the consequences. After meeting with a group of Indian nationalists he wrote down his theories in a pamphlet called Hind Swarf or Indian Home Rule. Martin Luther King Jr. did a non-violent campaign in Birmingham Alabama. Birmingham was one of the few cities where the fourth step in Kings non-violent campaign theory called direct action was necessary. Unfortunately, King was jailed on April 12-20, 1963 for violating a court injunction by leading a protest march in Birmingham. While King was in jail, eight Alabama clergymen published a statement criticizing the use of direct action and referred to this approach as unwise and untimely. While incarcerated, King politely responded to their statement in a letter titled Letter from Birmingham City Jail. Martin Luther King Jr. and Mohandas Gandhi developed theories that linked to a system that surpassed governmental laws. King and Gandhi had educational as well as logical reasoning for taking each approach towards unjust laws. Mohandas Gandhi based his document on defining the true meaning of civilization where as Martin Luther King Jr. based his document on recognizing the reason he wanted to cease injustice. Both Gandhi and King discussed reasons regarding the use of non-violent actions to fight for their rights. Gandhi differentiates the definition the word civilization...

In the life of a modern man born in the Renaissance essays

In the life of a modern man born in the Renaissance essays Have you ever pondered the birth of your hobbies? Or have you ever wondered who invented the mechanisms you use in your everyday life? Well, modern art, today's religion, and the present printing press had to originate some point in time. And what could be a better time then during the Renaissance and the Reformation? These three points were a major part of those years. If it weren't for them, a lot of things we have today, if you think about it, we simply would not have them. Modern art. Today's art is another way to express your feelings and emotions with the stroke of your hands. Back in the time of the Renaissance, the humanist's emphasis on cultivating an individual's talent inspired Italian artists to express their own values, emotions, and attitudes. In modern and in past times ...

Principles of Business Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Principles of Business - Research Paper Example The company also encourages its employees to volunteer in community outreach activities. The foundation supports Grace Foundation, World Vision and Asia Society in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong respectively. Hong Kong Council of Social Service awarded JP Morgan Chase foundation â€Å"The Caring Company†. Apart from external undertakings, CSR is also concerned with improving organizational management, mitigating overall risks facing the organization and stress proper use of company’s resources. Therefore, it is an activity meant to support company’s positioning to enable it take advantages of both foreseen and unforeseen opportunities. Connection between CSR program and its importance to bank According to Werther and Chandler (2010), CSR is an activity performed by banks and other companies to the community and environment to impact positively to the society and increase their overall competiveness. It integrates legal, ethical, economic and discretionary actions th at affects overall economic performance of the company. CSR seeks to provide the bank with sustainable competitive edge as it improves the reputation of the bank in the eyes of the governments and societies. Financial contracts and agreements executed by banks are characterized by uncertainty and asymmetrical information that makes good reputation and trust condition for conducting business. Therefore, CSR improves banks reputation and increases the level of trust. How does the CSR program apply to today’s trends and current issues in the global marketplace? Customers are increasingly getting versed with the need for investment in societies. Therefore, such customers are less likely to be customers of companies that exploit employees or that pollute the environment or those that are corrupt or carrying out illegal activities. Therefore, it is important for companies to maintain good relationship with the community in which it operates. Whom is the company responsible to? The company is responsible to the society in which it operates. Therefore, it must ensure that it operates business that improves lives of the people. Why a company implements a CSR program First, CSR protects shareholders and improve relationships with banking and investors. Shareholders understand that their investments gain better values not only through profit maximizing behavior but also operating in a responsible manner. CSR encourages companies to appoint board of directors who will deliver exemplary returns according to expectations of shareholders as well as protect company’s wealth and investments. With CSR programs, activities will contribute to bank’s strategic plan and shareholders will be assured of increased wealth emanating from steady dividends. CSR program demonstrates improved organizational management as well as improved processes in the bank. It also acts as channel of communication and reinforces relationships between shareholders and bankers as well as bankers and the community at large. Companies that have good reputation have undisputed advantage in convincing investors and other company stakeholders to support the company achieve its objective. Most investors prefer companies with strong CSR programs. Secondly, CSR improves stakeholder perceptions. Company’s stakeholders are many and varied. It is necessary to portray a good name for the company so that stakeholders of the company could be respected, trusted and liked. When stakeholder

Religion in United States Political System Essay

Religion in United States Political System - Essay Example These years have been a time ÃŽ ¿f aggressive Christian politics, as evangelicals entered the political fray seeking to mold public policies that would conform to their own religious convictions. On issues ranging from abortion to prayer in the public schools, evangelicals sought to use the instruments ÃŽ ¿f the American political system to forward their interests and values. Since their agenda fit snugly with that ÃŽ ¿f conservative politicians, advocates for "public religion" were generally associated with conservative political causes. During the 1980s the Moral Majority targeted "liberal politicians" for defeat in congressional elections.In the 21st Century we are all taught to believe that the right political systems are those that exist in countries like America, Britain and other parts Europe. We are taught this in the reading ÃŽ ¿f books and the watching ÃŽ ¿f television programs from the west. All ÃŽ ¿f these sources have influenced and changed the way the rest ÃŽ ¿f the wor ld thinks. It is therefore better to look at each society while it was untouched by the ways ÃŽ ¿f another.f another. The best ways are by comparing different political systems f societies from different geographical locations. Since the traditional and cultural values f each society are different, the thinking and the way f life would be very different if compared to one another. Therefore, a political system to one society is likely to be different if compared to another. At the same time, western society might be unfamiliar to the ways f the eastern society and vise-versa. Sometimes as time passes, there develops new theories f new political systems by great thinkers. So we see one political system being changed to another. This proves that it's impossible to take just one time frame as different political systems developed at different time lines. III. Western Civilization & Topic In western society and other societies in the world, religion was a major factor and still is in some societies when it comes to their own politics. Some believe religion and politics should be separated in order to create a true political system and some says it should not. No matter which society it is, we will always have people with greed in it. And these types f people are the danger to any pure political system, as greed and wanting f power can only lead to corruption. Corruption can only lead to suffering. In each society they have adopted to a mutual understanding f what's right and what's wrong. So it can be said that what's right for one society might not be the same for the people living in another. What happens then is that one society who might not want to accept the ways f another, responds to it by labeling it as deviant. For example: Howard Becker suggests "social groups create deviance by making the rules whose infraction constitutes deviance, and by applying those rules to particular people and labeling them as outsiders." Therefore at times, we see revolutions that bring about a whole new political system, even though sometimes all the promises that was to come with the new system vanishes somewhere. An example would be communism. Politics cannot be pinned down to a single aspect f life, it occurs throughout society, it involves every aspect f our lives, but it is especially concentrated in the modern nation state. It is the nation state that "establishes sovereign jurisdiction within defined boundaries...the state commands ultimate power in that it stands above all other associations and