Krispy Kreme

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc. FIN Professor XXX XXXX Month xx, xxxx History Krispy Kreme was founded by Vernon Rudolph after he purchased the famous secret recipe of yeast-raised doughnuts in 1937 from a French chef in New Orleans. Rudolph began to sell these doughnuts wholesale to supermarkets. The demand for his doughnuts grew quickly, and by cutting a hole in the wall of the factory to sell directly to customers the concept of Krispy Kreme retail stores was born. The retail concept for Krispy Kreme doughnuts allowed Rudolph to grow his factory stores to 29 shops in 12 states by the late 1950’s.When Rudolph died in 973 Beatrice Foods bought his company and expanded it to more than 100 locations and expanded the menu to include soups and sandwiches. Beatrice tried to reduce costs by changing the appearance of the stores and using cheaper ingredients. This negatively affected the company and Beatrice sold the company to a group of franchise owners. This group of owners was led by Joseph McAleer, who was the first Krispy Kreme franchisee. The leveraged buyout was completed for $24 million in 1982. The new group brought back the original recipe and logo.By 1989 the group was almost debt free and they were beginning to expand. The company CEO, Scott Livengood, took the company public in April of 2000. The share price after the first day was $40. 63. Holes in Doughnut Accounting Practices In May of 2004 Krispy Kreme announced to its investors that they should expect earnings to be 10% lower than predicted. It was at this time that the low-carb diet had taken the U. S by storm, and Krispy Kreme blamed this low-carb diet for their low wholesale and retail sales.They also announced the sales of a the Montana Mills bakery chain of 28 bakery cafe’s that had been acquired in January of 2003 for $40 million in stock. Krispy Kreme also announced that the Hot Doughnut and Coffee Shops were falling short of expectations and three of them were closing at a cost o f $7 to $8 million. Krispy Kreme (KKD) stock price closed down 30% that day. Shortly after on May 25th, 2004 when the Wall Street Journal published a story about how Krispy Kreme handled is accounting for franchise acquisitions.According to the article Krispy Kreme recorded the interest paid by the franchisee as interest income for immediate profit, except that Krispy Kreme booked the purchase cost of the franchise as an intangible asset and did not amortize it. In the repurchase agreement of the 7 stores in Michigan, they allowed one of the franchises top executives to stay on with the company after the repurchase. This executive left the company shortly after closing the deal, and had to pay him $5 million in severance which Krispy Kreme also rolled into the unamortized-asset category. Krispy Kreme claimed it followed GAAP standards and had done nothing wrong.The final shoe to drop as on July 29th, 2004 when Krispy Kreme announced that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had launched an informal investigation related to â€Å"franchise reacquisitions and the company’s previously announced reduction in earning guidance†. Krispy Kreme (KK) shares fell another 15%. The revelations about the companies accounting practices and showing interest as immediate income and not amortizing the repurchased franchises but rather showing them as intangible assets alone could justify the devaluation of their stock price by approx. 45%.Couple their earnings decline and the announcement of store closings and it easily can be justified. Couple that with the fear of the unknown. If Krispy Kreme was treating their interest and reacquired franchises as they were which seems to be blatantly wrong, what else might the SEC find during their investigation? This fear would certainly drive investors away and their share price down. The facts along with its ratings being dropped by 50% of analysts to â€Å"Hold† from â€Å"buy† a few months earlier. K rispy Kreme Deep Fried and Possible Deeper Issues Krispy Kreme grew incredibly quickly in the years leading up to the nvestigation (as shown in the chart below) and then may have tried to meet Wall Street expectations through some questionable practices such as shipping more product or pulling ahead product orders, then allowing the orders to be returned shortly after for credit. â€Å"Testimony by a former sales manager at a Krispy Kreme outlet in Ohio, said a regional manager ordered that retail store customers be sent double orders on the last Friday and Saturday of the 2004 fiscal year, explaining â€Å"that Krispy Kreme wanted to boost the sales for the fiscal year in order to meet Wall Street projections. The witness said the manager explained that the doughnuts would be returned for credit the following week – once fiscal 2005 was under way† (Chin, 2005). It seems pretty clear that Krispy Kreme was using questionable methods to inflate profits. Investors also l ater found out that Scott Livengood (CEO), the former COO John W. Tate, and the former CFO Randy Casstevens, â€Å"unloaded more than 475,000 shares of Krispy Kreme stock for proceeds of $19. 8 Million†, (Chin, 2005) while they were fully aware sales were declining since January of 2003.During this investigation, Scott Livengood, Krispy Kreme’s CEO announced his retirement. It would seem to me that there may be some deeper issues with Krispy Kreme and if I were a shareholder I would want out, or to be certain that Krispy Kreme’s accounting mess was cleaned up. The chart below shows Krispy Kreme’s performance during the years leading up to the investigation. Krispy Kreme Re-made Fresh Today Krispy Kreme’s stock has not fully recovered, (see chart below), but as of the end of 2012 Krispy Kreme seems to have made a comeback. â€Å"Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc. Krispy Kreme) is a retailer and wholesaler of doughnuts complementary beverages and treats a nd packaged sweets. The Company’s principal business is owning and franchising Krispy Kreme stores, at which a variety of doughnuts, including the Company’s Original Glazed doughnut, are sold and distributed together with complementary products, and where a broad array of coffees and other beverages are offered. As of January 29, 2012, there were 234 Krispy Kreme stores operated domestically in 38 states and in the District of Columbia, and there were 460 shops in 20 other countries around the world.Of the 694 total stores, 292 were factory stores and 402 were satellites. The Company operates in four segments: Company Stores, domestic franchise stores, international franchise stores, and the KK Supply Chain† (â€Å"Krispy Kreme Doughnuts†). As of close of business on Friday last week KKD traded at $14. 80, way below its heyday when the stock traded in the $40’s but it is double its all-time low. Krispy Kreme doughnuts (KKD as of March 22, 2013 When compared to its competitors Krispy Kreme’s P/E is 49. 33. This is much higher than the others but its P/S is in the middle.Krispy Kreme’s competitors are listed as Dunkin’ Brands Group, Einstein Noah restaurant Group, and Starbuck Corporation. Below is the direct competitor comparison. Direct Competitor Comparison| | | KKD| DNKN| BAGL| SBUX| Industry| Market Cap:| 989. 57M| 3. 94B| 253. 09M| 42. 99B| 384. 28M| Employees:| N/A| 1,104| 6,912| 160,000| 10. 87K| Qtrly Rev Growth (yoy):| 0. 16| -0. 04| -0. 04| 0. 11| 0. 30| Revenue (ttm): | 435. 84M| 658. 18M| 427. 01M| 13. 66B| 453. 84M| Gross Margin (ttm):| 0. 17| 0. 79| 0. 21| 0. 57| 0. 31| EBITDA (ttm):| 47. 93M| 304. 86M| 48. 46M| 2. 46B| 47. 5M| Operating Margin (ttm): | 0. 09| 0. 38| 0. 07| 0. 14| 0. 07| Net Income (ttm):| 20. 78M| 108. 18M| 12. 74M| 1. 43B| N/A| EPS (ttm):| 0. 30| 0. 93| 0. 74| 1. 86| 0. 78| P/E (ttm):| 49. 33| 39. 95| 20. 01| 30. 87| 29. 99| PEG (5 yr expected):| 1. 02| 1. 58| 0. 98| 1. 43| 1. 50| P/S (ttm):| 2. 24| 5. 96| 0. 59| 3. 13| 1. 04| | | | | Suggestions for a Krisp/Klean Future Making Doughnuts I three things I might suggest if I were the CFO for Krispy Kreme doughnuts would be to insure open communication with investors and insure them that internal auditing systems are in place.I’m sure that investors lost all trust in the previous management because of the questionable practices that were followed. Krispy Kreme needs to rebuild that trust by having open lines of communication with its investors. I would take a serious look at closing unprofitable stores, and research other markets to open more stores. Some areas may still be underperforming while others are booming. Concentrate on the areas that show better potential and take advantage of that market while it is supporting growth. Because their competitors seem to offer expanded menus I would concentrate on healthy choices for the lunchtime crowd.Everyone is aware of Krispy Kreme’s doughnuts, but I’m not so sure their other menu items are well known as an option for lunch/brunch. Other than the morning rush for doughnuts, they could make their stores more profitable with being the †go toâ€Å" spot for lunch also. References Chin, N. (2005). Krispy Kreme Dougnuts: Empty calories or empty profits? Retrieved from http://www. corporateconflicts. com/index-sb-cases-kk. html Krispy kreme doughnuts. (n. d. ). Retrieved from http://www. google. com/finance? client=ob&q=NYSE:KKD Krispy Kreme Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc. FIN Professor XXX XXXX Month xx, xxxx History Krispy Kreme was founded by Vernon Rudolph after he purchased the famous secret recipe of yeast-raised doughnuts in 1937 from a French chef in New Orleans. Rudolph began to sell these doughnuts wholesale to supermarkets. The demand for his doughnuts grew quickly, and by cutting a hole in the wall of the factory to sell directly to customers the concept of Krispy Kreme retail stores was born. The retail concept for Krispy Kreme doughnuts allowed Rudolph to grow his factory stores to 29 shops in 12 states by the late 1950’s.When Rudolph died in 973 Beatrice Foods bought his company and expanded it to more than 100 locations and expanded the menu to include soups and sandwiches. Beatrice tried to reduce costs by changing the appearance of the stores and using cheaper ingredients. This negatively affected the company and Beatrice sold the company to a group of franchise owners. This group of owners was led by Joseph McAleer, who was the first Krispy Kreme franchisee. The leveraged buyout was completed for $24 million in 1982. The new group brought back the original recipe and logo.By 1989 the group was almost debt free and they were beginning to expand. The company CEO, Scott Livengood, took the company public in April of 2000. The share price after the first day was $40. 63. Holes in Doughnut Accounting Practices In May of 2004 Krispy Kreme announced to its investors that they should expect earnings to be 10% lower than predicted. It was at this time that the low-carb diet had taken the U. S by storm, and Krispy Kreme blamed this low-carb diet for their low wholesale and retail sales.They also announced the sales of a the Montana Mills bakery chain of 28 bakery cafe’s that had been acquired in January of 2003 for $40 million in stock. Krispy Kreme also announced that the Hot Doughnut and Coffee Shops were falling short of expectations and three of them were closing at a cost o f $7 to $8 million. Krispy Kreme (KKD) stock price closed down 30% that day. Shortly after on May 25th, 2004 when the Wall Street Journal published a story about how Krispy Kreme handled is accounting for franchise acquisitions.According to the article Krispy Kreme recorded the interest paid by the franchisee as interest income for immediate profit, except that Krispy Kreme booked the purchase cost of the franchise as an intangible asset and did not amortize it. In the repurchase agreement of the 7 stores in Michigan, they allowed one of the franchises top executives to stay on with the company after the repurchase. This executive left the company shortly after closing the deal, and had to pay him $5 million in severance which Krispy Kreme also rolled into the unamortized-asset category. Krispy Kreme claimed it followed GAAP standards and had done nothing wrong.The final shoe to drop as on July 29th, 2004 when Krispy Kreme announced that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had launched an informal investigation related to â€Å"franchise reacquisitions and the company’s previously announced reduction in earning guidance†. Krispy Kreme (KK) shares fell another 15%. The revelations about the companies accounting practices and showing interest as immediate income and not amortizing the repurchased franchises but rather showing them as intangible assets alone could justify the devaluation of their stock price by approx. 45%.Couple their earnings decline and the announcement of store closings and it easily can be justified. Couple that with the fear of the unknown. If Krispy Kreme was treating their interest and reacquired franchises as they were which seems to be blatantly wrong, what else might the SEC find during their investigation? This fear would certainly drive investors away and their share price down. The facts along with its ratings being dropped by 50% of analysts to â€Å"Hold† from â€Å"buy† a few months earlier. K rispy Kreme Deep Fried and Possible Deeper Issues Krispy Kreme grew incredibly quickly in the years leading up to the nvestigation (as shown in the chart below) and then may have tried to meet Wall Street expectations through some questionable practices such as shipping more product or pulling ahead product orders, then allowing the orders to be returned shortly after for credit. â€Å"Testimony by a former sales manager at a Krispy Kreme outlet in Ohio, said a regional manager ordered that retail store customers be sent double orders on the last Friday and Saturday of the 2004 fiscal year, explaining â€Å"that Krispy Kreme wanted to boost the sales for the fiscal year in order to meet Wall Street projections. The witness said the manager explained that the doughnuts would be returned for credit the following week – once fiscal 2005 was under way† (Chin, 2005). It seems pretty clear that Krispy Kreme was using questionable methods to inflate profits. Investors also l ater found out that Scott Livengood (CEO), the former COO John W. Tate, and the former CFO Randy Casstevens, â€Å"unloaded more than 475,000 shares of Krispy Kreme stock for proceeds of $19. 8 Million†, (Chin, 2005) while they were fully aware sales were declining since January of 2003.During this investigation, Scott Livengood, Krispy Kreme’s CEO announced his retirement. It would seem to me that there may be some deeper issues with Krispy Kreme and if I were a shareholder I would want out, or to be certain that Krispy Kreme’s accounting mess was cleaned up. The chart below shows Krispy Kreme’s performance during the years leading up to the investigation. Krispy Kreme Re-made Fresh Today Krispy Kreme’s stock has not fully recovered, (see chart below), but as of the end of 2012 Krispy Kreme seems to have made a comeback. â€Å"Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc. Krispy Kreme) is a retailer and wholesaler of doughnuts complementary beverages and treats a nd packaged sweets. The Company’s principal business is owning and franchising Krispy Kreme stores, at which a variety of doughnuts, including the Company’s Original Glazed doughnut, are sold and distributed together with complementary products, and where a broad array of coffees and other beverages are offered. As of January 29, 2012, there were 234 Krispy Kreme stores operated domestically in 38 states and in the District of Columbia, and there were 460 shops in 20 other countries around the world.Of the 694 total stores, 292 were factory stores and 402 were satellites. The Company operates in four segments: Company Stores, domestic franchise stores, international franchise stores, and the KK Supply Chain† (â€Å"Krispy Kreme Doughnuts†). As of close of business on Friday last week KKD traded at $14. 80, way below its heyday when the stock traded in the $40’s but it is double its all-time low. Krispy Kreme doughnuts (KKD as of March 22, 2013 When compared to its competitors Krispy Kreme’s P/E is 49. 33. This is much higher than the others but its P/S is in the middle.Krispy Kreme’s competitors are listed as Dunkin’ Brands Group, Einstein Noah restaurant Group, and Starbuck Corporation. Below is the direct competitor comparison. Direct Competitor Comparison| | | KKD| DNKN| BAGL| SBUX| Industry| Market Cap:| 989. 57M| 3. 94B| 253. 09M| 42. 99B| 384. 28M| Employees:| N/A| 1,104| 6,912| 160,000| 10. 87K| Qtrly Rev Growth (yoy):| 0. 16| -0. 04| -0. 04| 0. 11| 0. 30| Revenue (ttm): | 435. 84M| 658. 18M| 427. 01M| 13. 66B| 453. 84M| Gross Margin (ttm):| 0. 17| 0. 79| 0. 21| 0. 57| 0. 31| EBITDA (ttm):| 47. 93M| 304. 86M| 48. 46M| 2. 46B| 47. 5M| Operating Margin (ttm): | 0. 09| 0. 38| 0. 07| 0. 14| 0. 07| Net Income (ttm):| 20. 78M| 108. 18M| 12. 74M| 1. 43B| N/A| EPS (ttm):| 0. 30| 0. 93| 0. 74| 1. 86| 0. 78| P/E (ttm):| 49. 33| 39. 95| 20. 01| 30. 87| 29. 99| PEG (5 yr expected):| 1. 02| 1. 58| 0. 98| 1. 43| 1. 50| P/S (ttm):| 2. 24| 5. 96| 0. 59| 3. 13| 1. 04| | | | | Suggestions for a Krisp/Klean Future Making Doughnuts I three things I might suggest if I were the CFO for Krispy Kreme doughnuts would be to insure open communication with investors and insure them that internal auditing systems are in place.I’m sure that investors lost all trust in the previous management because of the questionable practices that were followed. Krispy Kreme needs to rebuild that trust by having open lines of communication with its investors. I would take a serious look at closing unprofitable stores, and research other markets to open more stores. Some areas may still be underperforming while others are booming. Concentrate on the areas that show better potential and take advantage of that market while it is supporting growth. Because their competitors seem to offer expanded menus I would concentrate on healthy choices for the lunchtime crowd.Everyone is aware of Krispy Kreme’s doughnuts, but I’m not so sure their other menu items are well known as an option for lunch/brunch. Other than the morning rush for doughnuts, they could make their stores more profitable with being the †go toâ€Å" spot for lunch also. References Chin, N. (2005). Krispy Kreme Dougnuts: Empty calories or empty profits? Retrieved from http://www. corporateconflicts. com/index-sb-cases-kk. html Krispy kreme doughnuts. (n. d. ). Retrieved from http://www. google. com/finance? client=ob&q=NYSE:KKD Krispy Kreme INTRODUCTION First, I will discuss the environment of Krispy Kreme and my analysis as to what led to the company’s position in 2004. Second, I will discuss the financial health and current condition based upon the historical income statements and balance sheets. Third, I will discuss the financial ratios in relation to the financial statements. Fourth, I will discuss if Krispy Kreme was financially healthy at the end of 2004. Fifth, I will discuss my assessment of Krispy Kreme’s health and why I think the stock price dropped by 80% between 2003 and 2004.Sixth, I will discuss why I think the market reacted so negatively to the disclosures about adverse results and the revelations in the Wall Street Journal regarding the firm’s accounting methods for the franchise rights. Lastly, I will provide my recommendations for turning around Krispy Kreme Doughnuts’ business. COMPANY POSITION Krispy Kreme Doughnuts started small by selling directly to grocery stores. T heir doughnuts became so popular they began selling directly to customers. They sold a delicious doughnut and a viewing experience.When Beatrice Foods bought the company, her business model did not succeed because it expanded the product line in the opposite direction of what consumers wanted and she inputted cheap ingredients into a popular recipe which sacrificed taste. When she sold the company to the group of franchisees, it pushed the company back into a positive direction by bringing back the original recipe. Krispy Kreme was debt-free by 1989 and their IPO left them with a market capitalization of nearly $500 million in 2000.They appeared to be on the right track but, it seemed they were expanding too rapidly. They allowed franchisees to place their stores in locations that were not favorable, resulting in the franchises not doing well enough and owing Krispy Kreme Doughnuts millions. Krispy Kreme relied on the income from franchised stores purchases of equipment and mixes to o much. They also had their product in too many locations, creating an increase of supply and a decrease in demand. HISTORICAL FINANCIAL STATEMENT ANALYSISOn further analysis of the historical income statement, it seems that Krispy Kreme Doughnuts’ operating expenses are increasing gradually every year and are over 75% of total revenues for each year. The only income statement item that has decreased significantly was interest income from 2002 through 2004. Everything else seemed to point towards a profitably company because both gross profit and net income were increasing by at least 2% every year. On further analysis of the historical balance sheet there we some large red flag items.Property and equipment, net of depreciation was a significant portion of total assets each year. Most of the equipment they created was sold to franchisees and used in each company owned or franchisee owned factory stores. The significant amount on their balance sheet could have meant that they were manufacturing equipment faster than they were selling it to their franchises or due to the fact that they were expecting to expand, but were not able to expand to the extent they wanted to. As a percent of total assets, accounts receivable declined from 17% in 2000 to 7 % in 2004.Inventories were significantly increasing each year, but one would assume that some of their inventory would have to be written of due to the items expiration date (doughnuts can only last so long, so they appear to not be selling as much). Reacquired franchise rights, goodwill and other intangibles significantly increased starting in 2002, and every year after that. It rose in those years to be close to one third (30%) of total assets, which was the biggest item percentage wise other than property and equipment. The most significant item on the liabilities and shareholders’ equity section of the balance sheet is common stock.Every year common stock was close to 50% of total liabilities and shar eholders’ equity. In my opinion, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, recognized they were in trouble with the increasing failures of franchises and kept issuing more stock in hopes to bail themselves out. FINANCIAL RATIO ANALYSIS In exhibit seven the time series of the ratios raise one specific question. The inventory turnover raises the question as to why it was taking longer for their inventory to sell. When converted to days, the ratio determined that their inventory took over twenty-three days to turnover in 2003.It seems that Krispy Kreme Doughnuts’ inventory was over saturated in the market. With an abundance in supply, it seems that their doughnuts were not as in demand. When comparing Krispy Kreme Doughnuts’ financial ratios to others in the industry, I determined that Krispy Kreme was doing better in some areas than those in the industry such as with their liquidity ratios. Krispy Kreme’s liquidity ratios were significantly higher than any company in its ind ustry. In other areas, such as profitability ratios, Krispy Kreme was about average compared to other companies.Krispy Kreme’s activity ratios were significantly lower than any other company in its industry, meaning their assets are not turning over as much as other companies. In such an industry, product seems to move fast, which further supports my notion that their product was becoming less popular due to the saturated market. It seems a lot more companies in this industry support operations with debt rather than capital, Krispy Kreme was doing the opposite. Exhibit nine supports this position because no other company had a significant amount of shareholders’ equity like Krispy Kreme.Other companies were better able to handle their operating expenses keeping them closer to 50% of net sales, unlike Krispy Kreme who kept theirs closer to 75%, but Krispy Kreme also had a higher percent of net sales in relation to operating profit and profit before taxes. FINANCIALLY HE ALTHY AT YEAR END 2004? In my opinion, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts is not completely healthy at the financial year end of 2004. Their income statement shows an increased net income from the year before, but I believe that increase can only last so long.With the inability to expand further, and current operations decreasing more than they are making, I do not expect their net income to increase by year end 2005. Everything on their balance sheet is increasing, including their inventory. They need to realize that they are simply not selling product. Although their debt is low, that is from the increasing stockholders’ equity in the form of stocks. With the outlook of the company not good, they cannot expect to support their operations with the issuance of new stock. They need to find a new way to finance their operations and ecrease their operating costs. STOCK PRICE DECREASE AND NEGATIVE MARKET REACTION In my opinion investors recognized the same warning signs that I did when analy zing Krispy Kreme Doughnuts’ financial statements and decided to drop their losses while they could still make some kind of profit selling off the stock. When Krispy Kreme announced to investors to expect earnings to be â€Å"10% lower than anticipated, claiming that the recent low-carbohydrate diet trend in the US had hurt wholesale and retail sales,† I think they further expected that something was not right with the picture they were portraying.The Wall Street Journal article, revealed an accounting practice that was not commonly followed by others in Krispy Kreme’s industry. When the SEC launched an informal investigation into the â€Å"franchise reacquisitions,† investors jumped ship as fast as they could. The significant decrease in stock from 2003 to 2004, was investors getting nervous and protecting themselves from their stock being worth near nothing. RECOMMENDATIONS In my opinion Krispy Kreme Doughnuts needs to make radical changes to the way it conducts business.I think they should completely stop off-premise sales, making their product only available in factory stores. This would hopefully decrease their inventory and decrease operating expenses related to the fleet of trucks that deliver product to grocery stores. Selling their product in factory stores only will hopefully recreate the demand for the doughnuts that there once was. I also believe that they should decrease the amount of franchises and refocus to company owned stores.Franchisees might not properly know how to pick a location or be properly trained, as seen with the increase of failing franchises. This would decrease the large amount on their balance sheet from reacquiring franchises. Focusing their business to one or two types of primary sources of income and reducing expenses would be a way to help lower market saturation of their product. Having more company owned factory stores, provides Krispy Kreme a chance to have more control over their operations a nd not depend on franchisees to make a profit for them.

Irish Music Assignment Essay

The term Sean-nos or traditional Irish singing in the Irish Language, is a style of singing, which is rooted in the Gaeltacht regions of the Ireland. There are three main styles of Sean-nos, corresponding to the three areas where Irish is still spoken as a community language, the Gaeltachtai of Munster, Connacht and Ulster. Munster Gaeltachtai includes parts of Kerry, Cork and Waterford, the Connemara region of Connacht and the Ulster Gaeltacht in Donegal. Although Sean-nos is practised outside these areas, only in these 3 areas would it be the most popular. Even though all these areas have all share the same interest in singing they all have there own unique ways of performing Sean-nos songs. Sean-nos singing is normally unaccompanied and performed as a solo art. The person who sings a Sean-nos song is usually telling a story through the song by combining many vocal techniques, especially through the use of ornamentation and variation. Sean-nos singers use different techniques to ornament the performance of a song, One syllable in a word can be sung to several notes and the notes can be varies from verse to verse. Sometimes the notes to be ornamented can be adjacent to each other and at other times the gap between them is wide. This style of singing is confined mainly to Munster. Different notes can be stressed for a particular effect, or a note can be held over several beats. for example the famous Sean-nos singer from munster Iarla Ó Lionà ¡ird shows off these techniques of Ornamentation and variation in his most recent album Foxlight which was released in September 2011. Another obvious difference between the Sean-nos style of singing can be seen in the Ulster style. Donegal sean-nà ³s has been heavily influenced by Scots Gaelic song, which is much less ornamented than sean-nà ³s. Donegal singers tend to keep a steady pulse throughout the song. The melody is presented with minimal ornamentation grace notes, and may also contain a steady pulse throughout the song. The Donegal style of Sean-nos singing can be heard through Doimnic Mac Giolla Bhrà ­de who is a well known sean-nà ³s singer from Gaoth Dobhair, Co. Donegal who was the winner of Corn Uà ­ Riada, the Oireachtas sean-nà ³s singing competition, in 2009. Dominic released his own album in 2004 called Saol na Suà ¡ilce, presenting us with the unique Ulster style of Sean-nos singing Like the Munster style of singing Connacht Sean-nos singing in the Connemara area is also highly ornamentated with forms familiar to a traditional instrumentalis and also alot of variation making it difficult to tell the difference between the two, Seosamh Ó hÉanaà ­ from Connemara a famous Sean-nos singer that passed away in 1984 had recorded hundreds of songs using his distinct Connemara style of singing.

Production and Operations Management in Williamsons Joinery Essay

Production and Operations Management in Williamsons Joinery - Essay Example The company always focused on the high quality of the products that they offered to the customer and also had high focus on the craftsmanship that was been used over the products where of unique designs and also made very carefully. The company faced a lot of problems related to the inventory management and storage of items as the space in the company got occupied by huge storage of goods as a result the company was incurring huge loss. Though because of the high sales of the custom furniture’s the company was able to make up its cost but slowly the operational cost increased to a great value and it started affecting the company’s performance in many ways like by increasing the lead times, reducing the capacity, increasing the overall cost, storage issues etc. This report covers the overall performance of the company in the way it produces its goods including its operational process and layouts, identification of the problems that the company is facing and the specifica tions of those problems by going into the root cause of the problem and also the impact of these problems over the day-to-day operation of the company. All these are been analysed using various concepts of production and operation management to understand the effect of wrong management and the problems that the happen causing a huge impact on the whole operation of the company. According to Tompkins and White in 2003 the impact of the material flow does have an effect from the way the layout s been designed, while Chhajed, Montreuil in 1992 exclaimed that the complexity of the layout design affects in the production process in a huge way. In 1997, Heragu explained that the layouts in the company are generally made based on the flow of the materials between the various facilities in the company. It is been decided based on the space available for each facility.

Finance and Accounting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Finance and Accounting - Essay Example A survey conducted by International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) revealed that out of 500 corporations, around 94% of the companies used derivative tool and they efficiently succeeded in hedging risks (International Derivatives and Swaps Association, 2009). It is seemingly clear that derivatives have economic and financial benefits for business which means they have resulted in making global financial markets safer. However, with the emergence of derivatives for financial speculations has brought this instrument under heavy criticism for making financial sector more risky and has been criticised for financial crisis. So, derivative have some benefits and risks too. The first most advantage of derivatives is the restructuring of risks by which movement in assets prices, interest rates and default of creditor can be hedged. They help in speculating the movement in the value of assets when they do not even own the assets. Secondly derivatives allows businesses to accomplish in controlling the external factors efficiently. Derivative instrument has been criticised for being used only for speculations. Derivatives contracts reduce the risk of one party while increases risk of the underlying assets for other party; this allows both parties to speculate the value of the principal assets irrespective of the fact parties are interested in the contract or not. Derivative instruments have efficient and effective economic and financial advantages which are required for the development of businesses and trade to hedge risks but it depends on the usage of this instrument which can pretence risks. Derivatives were criticised for lack of transparency in the OTC derivatives market under which standings of firms, their movement in asset prices and interest rates are not adequately transparent to the regulatory authorities and to other business companies (Financial Services Authority and HM Treasury, 2009). Sometimes business firms in the market are unaware of the mar ket standings of other companies which adds to more risks as monitoring of risks is weak and unwillingness for trade and hence the market liquidity may reduce. Derivatives contracts are affected by both operational risks and systematic risks. It is argued that operational risks can be improved by physical clearance of underlying assets and by addressing valuation differences. (Managed Funds Association, 2009) On the other hand systematic risks are caused by default of major stakeholders of derivatives market. It is usually referred to as â€Å"domino effect† (Investment Management Association, 2011). Derivatives of credit default swaps have the ultimate vulnerability to risks because they are more problematic in assess the value of underlying assets. Former Chairman of Federal Reserve, USA stated in a conference that â€Å"Although the benefits and costs of derivatives remain the subject of spirited debate, the performance of the economy and the financial system in recent ye ars suggests that those benefits have materially exceeded the costs† (Greenspan, 2003). (Part-2) Hedge funds are targeted to generate higher absolute returns for different type of investments. Hedge funds use highly advanced strategies for investment which comprise leveraged, short, long, and derivative positions designed for sophisticated investors. As hedge funds targets for higher returns that makes them more volatile and riskier besides profit compensate the risks at the end (SHORTMAN, 2010). Hedge funds are more liberal with respect to regulations and regulatory framework which makes them more flexible to use dynamic, vigorous and vibrant investment strategies with the combination of long, short and derivatives

CRJS466IP5 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

CRJS466IP5 - Research Paper Example uffers from either major depressive, manic, and mixed episodes coupled with hallucinations, delusions, catatonic behaviour, or disorganized speech (Hodgins & Drmed, 2004). According to James & Glaze (2006), patients with schizoaffective disorder are at higher risks of engaging in crime compared to those suffering from disorders like schizophrenia, Bipolar, and unipolar affective disorders. Additionally, patients from minority groups whose gender orientation was male were more likely to engage in violent crime hence arrested. James & Glaze (2006) also reveal that by 2005, more than half of the prison and jail inmates demonstrated mental health problems in state, local and federal prisons. Originally, persons with schizoaffective disorder with a recent history of mental health issue diagnosed by a health professional were not eligible for conviction given that they were said not to be understand their actions even though they were aware they had commited them. This is indicated by the 2005 statistics that revealed that approximately 10% of federal prisoners, 15% of state prisoners, and 24% of local jail inmates demonstrated one symptom of psychotic diso rder. In the case of Panetti, it was revealed that prior to the crime, he camouflaged military fatigues and shaved his hair (Birnbaum, 2006). During the killing, his wife and daugher pleaded with him for their lives and he only sprayed them with the victim’s blood befor escaping to a close bunkhouse. Despite having suffered numeruous episodes of schizopherenia and schizoaffective disorder prior to his crime, the judge rulled that he was fit to stand trial since he could represent himself. (Birnbaum, 2006) Owing to his hallucinations and the fact that he claimed that he had been possed by a strange personality he called â€Å"Sarge’ it was just to remand Panetti for mental evaluation. Panetti claimed that Sarge was responsible fo the killings as he had been compelled to kill the Alvarados. However, the court found

Professional Role Paper Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Professional Role Paper - Assignment Example It is not must to become certified for intensive care but certain people choose to become certified and various facilities choose to hire certified nurses. Nurses that serve critical patients need to serve in emergencies, Intensive Care Units, Critical Care Units, and walk in clinics. In addition to general nursing care these nurses need to provide patients with sympathy, respect and support. The nurses need to have a hold over reassurance of patients’ needs. Critical care nursing is a trend setting field as in the near future many people will be requiring specialized intensive care. The field of critical care nursing is a promising one but requires certain attributes in a person. Modernization has also affected the field of health care and with every day that passes patient care becomes complex, hence it is a must nurses be knowledgeable. Intensive care nursing is different from regular nursing because it requires the nurses to take special care of the patients. Critical care nursing focuses on the care of the critically ill or unstable patients. Critical care nurses usually work in emergency departments and ICUs. A critical care nurse in addition to her nursing qualities provides a patient with sympathy and moral support. Due to all these traits I envision myself becoming an intensive care nurse in the future. This field of nursing intrigues me because I like providing support to patients who are critical. The rush of blood that working in a critical unit causes interests me (Cottrell and Kendall, 2010). Nursing dates back to ancient times. The history of nursing shows that it was a profession of honor and discipline. History gives account of one of the most famous nurses of all time that provided critical care at the time of war. Florence Nightingale stands as one of the most prominent nurses in history (Blais and Hayes, 2011). In America an association called American

Business Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Business - Coursework Example 2). Teachings on active leadership associate goals through instituting power and enthusiasm by enforcing compliance of different people. Various theories provide ideas on the advancement of sufficient character. Sets of personality assure good leadership because of admired habits on the nature of effective leadership. Leaders choose across Americans by regular people rather than the scion of elite East Coast at Yale University. Leadership adopts group identity and presidents, especially chief executives, who employ various approaches to identities as the result of effective leadership. Besides, ideas on effective leadership were developed by Bush assistance during massive confusions of 9/11 (Reicher, Haslam & Platow, 2007, p. 2). Information concerning 9/11 promotes and assists different people in enhancing national unity. In addition, effective leadership is encouraged in activities of capitalism and the western world. 100 years ago, Max Weber, a renowned German social and political theorist, presented ideas on charismatic leadership. His ideas focused on the antidote of grim prognosis. The ideas dwelled on industrial society without including leadership priorities. The notion of charisma endured and attracted diverse challenges. The instabilities following World War 1 when a majority of scholars continued to viewing the effects that strong leadership brings in survival (Reicher, Haslam & Platow, 2007, p. 2). The majority of leaders changed against various notions that show and determine effectiveness in leadership qualities. The concepts represent changes of charisma to a consensus because attractions and resistance affects leadership qualities. Social identities of leadership in experiments attract BBC prison study. Investigations of social behavior assist in conducting simulated prison environments. Random assignments of volunteers include guards

Please read the cases and answer the questions by using the relevant Essay - 2

Please read the cases and answer the questions by using the relevant legal basis - Essay Example Further Article 4 prohibits any agreement between undertakings that will prevent, disrupt or restrict competition directly or indirectly in a given area of commodities. Reduction of prices will likely to make Ilovemoneyalot control the market and interfere with small shareholders in the market. Under Article 5 (b, c) allows Ilovemoneyalot to take such decisions provided they will not eliminate competition and that they are to benefit consumers of those products (Turkish Competition Authority 1). I would advise Arthur under the intellectual and Artist Works Law No.5846 of December 5, 1951 that protects the rights of the original author (Turkish Competition Authority 1). Selling Arthur’s song to the public is a violation of Art. 13. That protects the economic and moral interests of authors in their intellectual and artistic works. The court has mandated to determine the real author of music under clause (Addition: 7.6.1995 - 4110/6).Maria Wannebesinger has no right to alter the original work of Arthur without his consent. Arthur should sue Maria to demand compensation for exposing his work to the public behind his

The Satire Behind A Brave New World Essay Example for Free

The Satire Behind A Brave New World Essay In the book A Brave New World, is it possible to say that the author Aldous Huxley conveys the idea that the book is a satire rather than a blue print for a perfect society? This is a controversial question, which may only be answered after analyzing many aspects of the book. For example, Huxley not only uses many exaggerations throughout the narrative and various language resources but he also uses irony to create a satirical and entertaining story. The author uses satire throughout the novel, when approaching certain subjects as, materialism, replacement of love by promiscuity and forgetting about the importance of poetry and literature. Satire is used by Huxley when describing how people in the brave new world believe that ending is better than mending. In other words, you should never allow something you possess to be old and out of date. Instead you should replace them constantly to the new and latest product available. He also shows how people are induced to buy more and more with the constant use of propaganda. This may be seen as ironic to the reader as people always try to save the most money as possible in our present world, while in the brave new world people believe that you should always be spending money on as most activity and consumptions as possible. This creates a contrast to the world in which we are living in. In the beginning of the novel we are introduced to the promiscuity and the lack of commitment in the lives of the characters. What is seen in the story is that the reason for sexual relations with another human being is only for pleasure and not for conceiving a child and that it is better for a woman to be as most promiscuous as possible and be with as many men, opposing our knowledge, that a woman should marry and be faithful to one man only. This may be seen as a satire because it contradicts the knowledge that human beings have had so far .In the book characters such as Lenina and Fanny are constantly discussing the subject of sexual relations showing how their ideas in relation to men contradict todays thoughts, making this a very interesting and unique aspect of the book. Another very amusing aspect of the book is that people living in the brave new world believe that reading is a waste of time and it is seen as an insult a person who believes that poetry and literature (Shakespeares plays for example) should be valued. I believe this adds to the irony of the narrative because nowadays people value more and more learning about poetry, literature and art, and the history behind it. So when reading the novel, it is very interesting to see how Huxley portrays these opposing ideas found in the hypothetical perfect world he created. He shows how the people in the Brave New World are not interested in old things, they are however interested in seeing new and superficial movies with no significant meaning behind them. I believe that these aspects of the narrative were approached and developed in such ironic and satirical way; to allow the reader to reflect on what was the authors intention was when doing so. I believe Huxleys intention was to show how the idea of Utopia may be so aspired and worshiped by humans; however it may not be so perfect after all. Even though in the brave new world people are always happy, they dont experience feelings of love and even though they have the power to consume products in such great amounts, they are not allowed to the power of freedom. The author approaches these subjects throughout the novel in such way that it is amusing and entertaining to the reader, making him want to read more and discover more unique aspects attributed to the characters and the narrative created by Huxley.

Child Poverty Essay Example for Free

Child Poverty Essay Child poverty is one of the major problems today. Poverty can affect anyone but children are most affected. Poverty in children has become big social problem. Poverty is not having enough for needs. Not having enough can bring many concerns. Poverty is long lasting effect and can leave permanent mark on Childs behavior. Poverty can impact children’s performance in school and poverty can bring many health issues. Many children are born in poor family where their family members lack at providing enough for their children. Many children in poor family suffer from hunger and not having enough nutrition. As mansion in Gregory’s essay â€Å"shame† Richard was not able to focus in school because he was suffering from hunger, and teacher thought he was not smart and they never bother to find out, but the truth was he was just hungry because he was poor and wasent able to provide enough food. Poverty can also cause huge impact on Childs performance. While parents are busy trying to make living they cannot provide enough motivational help to their children while some children have to go to work instead of study because lack of money in family. In the essay â€Å"shame† Gregory describes how Richard had to work hard and polish shoes to make little amount of money. Early labor and not having enough help in their academic progress impact on children’s growth and development of child. Withought proper education child lacks at proper understanding of our society. Poverty also brings many health concerns in children. Because of parents cannot provide enough material. Many children born in poor family are often exposed to miner diseases that may prove fatal. In some poor family where parents always drinking problem, children always learn from their parents and adopt their aggressive behavior, drinking problem or drug abuse. These can also lead in fatal health issue in children. Parents always seem to forget â€Å"what we do. They do. † In the essay â€Å"shame† Gregory talks about how Richard did not learn about hate and shame until he went to school. Poverty is one of the most evil situations we have in our society. And it can transform our children’s entire personality and affect our neighborhood and future. we have to work together to ensure bright and healthy future.

High Performance And Energy Efficient Homes Construction Essay

High Performance And Energy Efficient Homes Construction Essay An energy efficient home combines state-of-the-art, energy-efficient construction and appliances with commercially available renewable energy systems to reward its owner with significantly reduced energy consumption. An energy efficient home like any other home, is connected to the utility grid, but overall it produces as much energy as it consumes. With net metering, the homes electric meter runs backward when the home is producing more power than it is using. With its reduced energy needs and solar energy systems, an energy efficient home can, over the course of a year, produce as much energy as it uses. Such homes are thought to have a number of advantages, including improved comfort, protection against electricity price spikes, reduced peak load on the utility grid, and environmental sustainability. Diffusion-of-innovations theory has guided much research in public acceptance of solar energy and energy efficiency innovations (Rogers and Shoemaker 1971; Rogers 1995). The theory is based on numerous studies of national, regional, and statewide populations that involve a myriad of innovations. Diffusion-of-innovation theory is widely accepted in the energy analysis community. HIGH-PERFORMANCE HOMES AS AN INNOVATION: The high-performance homes are innovative for several reasons. Although the concepts of whole-building energy efficiency have been implemented by builders in various parts of the world, the resulting homes did not necessarily contain solar water heating or solar electric systems. On the other hand, many custom homes are energy efficient and contain either solar water heating or solar electric systems, or both, but they have generally been built one-at-a-time, and most are not tied to an electricity grid. The high-performance home project is innovative because it offers homes that approach the energy efficient home concept for both nuclear and joint families living in Tamil Nadu. Thus, the innovation of focus in this study is the high-performance home as a precursor of near-zero energy homes. These homes contain four key elements namely: (1) They are highly energy efficient; (2) Their water is preheated by the sun; (3) They produce electricity; and (4) They can supply electricity to, store, and take electricity from a utility grid. The significance of such an offering will be realized when they become routine rather than unique specialty commodities offered only by custom builders.3 The successful reutilization of energy efficient homes will ensure higher quality homes that are widely available, less expensive than conventional homes to operate (all other things being equal), and environmentally friendlier than conventional homes. INNOVATION ATTRIBUTES: HIGH-PERFORMANCE HOME: Five most important attributes of novelties are thought to influence their rate of adoption, namely: (1) Comparative Benefits (2) Complexity (3) Compatibility (4) Observability (Rogers, 1995) (5) Ability of trial Each of these can be examined in turn for their potential relevance in the acceptance of high-performance homes. In this case, there are two levels of adopters: (1) Builders who must adopt these kinds of homes before (2) Home buyers have the opportunity to do so. The diffusion of innovations in the form of best building practice applies to the voluntary spread of innovative practices through networks of builder companies. ENERGY: The IEA report on key world energy statistics, has projected that India alone uses primary energy of around 24.9 EJ of the total 503.5 EJ used by the world. With a population of 1123 million as of 2009, each Indian uses an energy equivalent of 22.2GJ/ person/ year. Further the estimated amount of electricity spent by each Indian is 543/ capita/ year (IEA, Key World Energy Statistics, 2009). The goals outlined for the Indian energy sector include: providing affordable access to convenient energy services, making new technology attractive to investors and developing sustainable energy systems. WATER: In the twenty first century safe water has become one of the most important need of the hour and developing countries have started to feel the pinch on public health. The year marked 2005 is the beginning of International Decade for Action: Water for Life along with the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) has proposed a reduction to half the proportion of the worlds population with the focus of giving viable access to sanitation and safe drinking water by the year 2015. It is estimated by United Nations International Childrens Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and World Health Organization (WHO) that around 2.6 billion people lack adequate sanitation and an average of 1.2 billion people lack access to improved water supplies. It has been estimated that diarrheal morbidity can be reduced by an average of 6-20 per cent with improvements in water supply and by 32 per cent with improvements in sanitation. In India, approximately 72.7 per cent of the rural population does not use any method of water disinfection and 74 per cent have no sanitary toilets. The key to providing microbiologically safe drinking water lies in understanding the various mechanisms by which water gets contaminated, and formulating interventions at critical points to decrease and prevent contamination of drinking water. Geographic information system (GIS) tools can be used to demonstrate spatial relationships for a clearer understanding of problems and possible solutions. TAMIL NADU HOUSING: AN OVERVIEW: Tamil Nadu is located in the southern tip of India alongside Kerala. It is the Eleventh largest state and it covers more population rate and also contributes the 5th place in GDP (Gross Domestic Product). It has a population of 62405679 people, residing in an area that spans 130058 sq.km. The energy requirements of the state are not met indigenously. Requirements of water are met from the dams in Karnataka and Kerala and water shortage is the name given for the game that is been played for a very long time. Now a days researchers have found out that the ground water table column or aquifers level are dropping down and in over some years there would be no water found in the aquifers. This is mainly because people in India use water from ground water column for their domestic purposes. Each house in India have their own deep bored wells from which water is drained either physically or mechanically via motors, these practices causes an impact towards the aquifers or the ground water tab le column in India leading to face draught condition in the nearest future. India also faces problems like frequent power cuts for more than 8 hours a day. Indian Government has taken a decision to have hourly power cuts in each area to conserve electricity but, electricity is one of the major resources, which we need daily to lead a compatible life. Frequent power cuts are a norm throughout the state also as the consumption of electricity exceeds production on any given day. It is hence vital that homes be designed to be energy efficient so that the consumption of power and water is regulated in such a way to contribute to make the state self sufficient in terms of energy and water requirements. Maximizing personal prosperity aligned with ecological effects of a lifestyle has become a noticeable fact for a very long time now. There is always a change in the climate. There is very frequent occurrence of tornadoes and earth quakes and it has become the order of the day and a natural phenomenon. There are simultaneous occurrences were, polar caps and melting and the glaciers have started to retreat. There is also an increase in the number of natural disasters day by day, reaching to an unknown level till now. Drought and flood on the one hand have started to cost millions of lives year after year. The whole atmosphere is polluted with bad air, and fine dust has loaded the surface of the earth, which in turn has a telling effect on ozone and this in turn raised CO2 levels on earth. The greatest challenge of the millennium is the protection of climate and there is a worldwide alarm and awareness spread across to make the earth livable. Hence it is both prudent and agreeable to st art with the four walls of our house. EFFICIENT HOUSING REDEFINED: An energy efficient house is just defined by its inner values. The energy efficient house implies a standard stating that no active energy is need to make the house get heated or cold. In energy efficient houses the main heat sources would be the sun, and the main cooling source will be the wind. This can be achieved by using energy efficient components. For example, the window that has a thermal insulation helps with efficient insulation and heat exchange systems. The standards to fulfill todays energy efficiency requirement for tomorrow has become the energy efficient house standard. The energy consumption of a house is indicated by its typical energy values. The potential to save energy on an energy efficient house has almost raised its energy saving efficiency to 90% which would be the average energy cost of an existing residential and corporate building which has no restrictions for it architectural design. Further studies that were done by Dr. Wolfgang Feist in May 1988, has brought to its fore front triumphant advancement into construction of ecological housing, with thousands and thousands of examples explaining in detail on the energy efficient housing standards. Whether building complex, row house or detached house, which has been already built, is entitled to adjudged excellence and also be moved into an energy efficient structure. The freedom to architecturally manipulate a design is basically unlimited as there is no fundamental difference in the structure of an energy efficient houses and a conventional building. Research and Evaluations that are done on building project have proved that an energy efficient house will always results in extensive energy saving and also has put a benchmark for improving the quality of construction. The future of housing and shelter are houses that are designed to increase the energy efficiency and environmental performance. The long-term objective is to transform the housing market to one in which a majority of residential new construction in the state is net zero-energy i.e. extremely efficient buildings whose low energy needs can be met by on-site renewable energy generation. It is vital to support the transition to a residential new construction energy code that favors energy conservation standards to ensure a better tomorrow. There are a lot of market barriers in constructing a new energy efficient house, namely: conflicting design criteria, lack of knowledge transfer with regards to the benefits of an energy efficient house and the ecological performance on the part of builders, consumers, appraisers, lenders, realtors and others, limited technical skills on the part of some of the builders and their subcontractors to address key elements of efficiency; and the lack of ability of consumers, appraisers, lenders and others to differentiate between standard and efficient homes. MARKETTING ENFFICIENT HOMES: Single family and joint-family homes can both benefit if the home is designed to be energy efficient. An important limitation is building Affordable Housing regardless of their location. Larger homes as in homes designed for joint families are likely to inherently use more energy, and promoting energy efficient housing allows total home energy use to grow with size. A cooperative marketing offer for participating builders will drive homebuyer demand for qualifying homes. An aggressive consumer focused marketing campaign will be essential to maintain builder participation (and therefore market share). Areas for research in residential new construction may include the performance metering of program homes and optimized new home designs for significant reduction or elimination of cooling energy requirements.it is also vital to consider opportunities to solicit creative proposals for pilot-scale promotions associated with the development of energy efficient homes. Energy consumption mete rs and monitoring will be built into these homes to enable future tracking of actual performance. To meet the challenges of a slow residential new construction housing market, increased energy standards, reward high performance homes, transition to a market-based, home energy rater network, the following program strategies and tactics are being proposed: Carbon footprint labeling for high performance homes, creating consumer awareness and demand, differentiating builders in the growing green building consciousness of consumers. It is vital to attract media attention to relevant projects and associated savings realized by residents, especially for home projects, which incorporate both energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies. Further, it is important to build relationships with residential builders through educational seminars and training to increase higher performance building practices and to help build a Green Workforce. Energy-efficient homes help lower energy costs, increase affordability, increase durability, and improve health and safety. High performance homes reduce impact on the environment. It is a call for every home to be a part of the solution for sustainable living to help combat global warming. Feature stories focusing on energy and financial savings, new technologies (solar), and environmentally sound building practices herald a new era of efficient homes. Homes that feature new energy-saving technologies, renewable energy, and very high performance homes, in terms of their energy rating and reduced environmental impact give us a promise for a better life in the future. AWARENESS IS THE KEY: Increased awareness of green and sustainable living practices, and impact of carbon footprint reduction, greater awareness of residential indoor air quality, health and safety issues for better living, promotion of energy saver plans to reduce energy use 20% supporting the increased development of a green workforce by promoting green job training are vital steps towards achieving an ecofriendly building culture. The current economic uncertainty may suppress numbers of energy efficient homes, particularly if residents are not well educated on the benefits of such homes. As such, the awareness of energy efficient homes among realtors and residential home buyers/builders remains relatively low. Along with endorsing for energy efficient homes comes the responsibility for ratings. It is incumbent upon the program to assure that a robust system for identifying and communicating quality issues exists to manage the credibility of the savings and certifications offered. Not only must the design of the house be energy efficient but also the appliances used within the house. For this, it is important to promote the purchase of efficient home heating, cooling and water heating equipment, and the quality installation of such equipment. Its long-term goal is to make the high quality installation of high efficiency residential equipment the norm in the market. BARRIERS TO ENERGY EFFICIENT HOME CONSTRUCTION: The program must continue to address several market barriers to achieve its goals such as, the consumers inability to differentiate, and therefore value, the difference between a poor quality construction and a good quality construction and installations, the consumers lack of information on the benefits (both energy and non-energy) of quality installations, efficient equipment and low value perception of contractor and the sense of difficulty to program participation. These barriers can be overcome by endorsing the use of: ENERGY STAR-qualified energy-efficient water heaters and gas heating equipment; high efficiency electric cooling and heating equipment; installation of solar domestic water heating systems; accurate analysis of building cooling and heating loads and the proper sizing and selection of cooling and heating equipment according to established industry standards. WATER CONSERVATION: Water conservation is another vital component of an energy efficient house. There are various principal designs for rainwater harvesting system but the general outlined over is that it collects water from a roof top which is linked with a roof pipe which is then directed to a storage tank which is either outside or inside the building. These designs for storage of water ranges from simple rain barrel which is placed at the bottom fitted with a motor, which helps in watering the plants to extensive water tank systems that can provide an adequate quantity of the water that someone uses. It has also come up with new treatment and filtration technique to make rainwater harvesting easy relatively. DESIGN OF RAINWATER HARVESTING SYSTEM: Rainwater harvesting systems can either be incorporated into a new construction or be installed in existing buildings. A basic system that is used of rainwater harvesting includes a basic roof, roof drains, gutters and a piping system to transport water to the storage tank or from the storage tank or cistern to meet the required need. Storage tanks can be either outside or inside, below or above the ground, or partially below the ground or partially above the ground. The best place to fit the storage tank will be the basements as this helps the water get its gravity and also be protected from freezing. There is a huge variety of rain water collection systems and individual components available commercially in the market. CRITEREA FOR SELECTION OF HARVESTING SYSTEMS: Each rain water harvesting system is unique and should be evaluated separately. Proper sizing is important when designing rain water harvesting systems. It is essential to know how much rainwater is expected to collect and how much water is expected to be used. Determining the right sizing will affect installation cost, operation, and on-going maintenance. CONCLUSION: The average family spends about 2000 to 4000 rupees per month on electricity. Knowing where exactly this money goes can help plan usage and reduce the power bill. Electricity provides many of the conveniences enjoyed every day. Making informed decisions about how electricity is used can help meet the need for energy better without having to build additional power generating plants. The Energy efficient housing plans have established ambitious goals for energy efficiency. Currently available efficiency measures, and the initiatives that deliver them, will not be able to achieve these goals. AIM: In concern, with the above factors the aim is to build a virtual, energy efficient house for a nuclear family with moderate rooms and room sizes. In this virtual house, energies like water, electricity, domestic waste and environmental impacts will be prevented and shall be maintained properly. These energies can be maintained by adopting automatic lights in some areas of the house and having automatic taps in bathrooms also by adding up renewable energy like solar energy and by encouraging some new techniques from home exnora. Since, India is not contributing for renewable energy in a high level each houses can be built with renewable energy source with the individual interest of the people so, there will be no power cuts in future. EXNORA Excellent Novel Radical, home exnora includes many techniques in maintaining a good environment. They also have several techniques to recycle and reuse domestic waste water and wastes. Such techniques can be used in the virtual house to sustain a n energy efficient house in Tamil Nadu.

Apple History Essay examples -- essays research papers

Symptoms Since its inception, Apple has had major changes at the top of the organization. In, as little as, ten years four CEO’s were giving the position and then dismissed because of inabilities to bring the company to profitability and an increase in market share. Apple had no clear business strategy, no statement of direction that could be used as a plan for deciding for which businesses the company should be in and which not. Executives and managers created their own strategies, with each strategy going into different directions. Other symptoms include the computer industry in general. Personal computers have become a commodity and the industry itself has reached a level of maturity. Major players in the computer industry have to constantly remain innovative and invest heavily in research and development to sustain a competitive advantage. In the beginning, of the computer era when personal computers were in development Apple became the industry leader during the mid 1970s. In 1981, IBM produced its first personal computer. During, the time IBM developed and launched its first PC IBM approached Bill Gates to provide an operating system for the company’s product. By giving Microsoft total rights to license the operating system put both IBM and Apple at a disadvantage while establishing Microsoft as the dominant leader in the software industry. Apple also faces aggressive competition in the hardware sector. The inability to react to competitors aggressive strategies such...

Irony in Oedipus the King Essay -- Oedipus Rex, Sophocles

Irony in Oedipus Rex Oedipus Rex, by the Greek playwright Sophocles, is, without a doubt, one of the greatest examples of dramatic irony. There are many instances where the audience knows so much more than the main characters, and Sophocles uses irony to point to Oedipus as Laius' murderer as well. Additionally, Oedipus is most definitely a tragic hero-he had a tragic flaw, namely that he was relentless and often rash in his search for the truth about Laius' death and his killer; this ultimately lead to Oedipus' own destruction. He also refuses to compromise or humble himself before others and stubbornly refuses to allow others to express different opinions from their own. Oedipus is so arrogant and self-confident that he challenges the will of the gods (hence, the entire basis of the play). One of the early examples of dramatic irony in the play is during the scene in which Oedipus accuses Creon of plotting against him with Teiresias, an old, blind prophet. Creon is a great friend to Oedipus, and Teiresias, by at first refusing to reveal the murderer is trying to p...

Anatomy Case paper Essay

You are a first-year RN student and you volunteered to work for San Antonio Hospital in the ER Department. Patient John Doe was brought by the ambulance after he collapsed at work. The triage nurse is assessing him for further evaluation by the ER Physician on duty. Based on your study of Anatomy and using your critical thinking skills, you were given the following criteria about Mr. Doe: 1. Personal History: 65 years old, married with two children. 2. Medical History: Diabetes Mellitus, Hypertension, Renal Stones, Anemia, Acne, Prostatic Hyperplasia, Muscular Dystrophy, Hemiplegia, Coronary Artery Disease, G.E.R.D. and ED. The Triage Nurse asked the patient to wait for his turn, until Dr. Johnson examines him. A. Definitions: Diabetes Mellitus: a disorder in which the pancreas no longer produces enough insulin, or cells in the body stop responding to the insulin being produced. This causes high levels of glucose in the blood and cannot be absorbed into the cells in the body. Hypertension: is abnormally high blood pressure, blood pressure is a type of measurement to be able to tell what the force is against the walls of the arteries as the heart pumps blood through the body. Renal Stones: a Kidney stone is a solid mass which is made up from crystals that separates from the urine and builds up on the inner surfaces of the kidney. Anemia: is a condition where the body has a deficiency of healthy hemoglobin (red blood cells) to carry adequate oxygen to the tissues in the body. Acne: is an inflammatory skin disease that occurs when the hair follicles becomes inflamed or infected due to clogging of sebaceous glands. Prostatic Hyperplasia: benign enlargement of the prostate gland. Muscular Dystrophy: is a group of inherited disorders that involve muscle weakness and muscle loss gradually decline over a period of time. Hemiplegia: is paralysis of one side of the body. Coronary Artery Disease: condition due to a blockage or narrowing of small blood vessels that supply the blood and oxygen to the heart. Gastroesophagel Reflux Disease (G.E.R.D.): condition due to when the muscle at the end of the esophagus doesn’t close causing the stomach contents (food or gastric acid) that leaks backwards from the stomach into the esophagus. Erectile Dysfunction (E.D.): a sexual dysfunction which is the inability to achieve, or maintain an erection of the penis long enough to engage in satisfactory sexual intercourse. Blood Calcium level: Normal values range from 8.5 to 10.2 mg/dL. Note: gm/dL = grams per deciliter Hemoglobin: Male: 13.8 to 17.2 gm/dL Female: 12.1 to 15.1gm/dL C. Based on your knowledge of the normal values and Mr. Doe’s condition, explain the homeostatic disturbance of each problem that Mr. Doe suffers from. Diabetes Mellitus: Hemostasis in correlation with diabetes is the hemostatic system which is responsible for checking, maintain, and balancing the proper rise and fall of glucose levels in the blood. In Mr. Doe’s body since he had diabetes, his pancreas produces too not enough or no insulin. People with type II diabetes is normally developed later in life and becomes resistant to the effects of insulin overall, but can be reversed and controlled. Hypertension: Homeostatic disturbances that could be responsible for Mr. Doe’s HTN could be a result from some of the medication he is taking. Another factor is his weight, diet, and lack of physical exercise. In a normal system the force of blood against the artery walls doesn’t have a negative effect. Therefore, would not cause physical him to have any serious health conditions. However, when a person like Mr. Doe suffers from HTN, the force of the blood against the artery wall thus resulting in heart disease. Renal Stones: In a normal system the calcium levels in the blood are at a safe level, and helps with contracting muscles, releasing hormones making sure that nerves and the brain are functioning properly. In like Mr. Doe who has too high calcium levels in his blood can cause renal stones can begin to develop. Renal stones block the ability of homeostasis to occur. When these calcium deposits get lodged and block urine from being able to exit in order empty out the bladder, thus the body isn’t able to function properly. Anemia: Healthy hemoglobin (red blood cells) are extremely important in a person’s system, because they are rich carriers of oxygen to the tissues in the body. When a person like Mr. Doe loses this ability many negative symptoms can occur in the body. The cause of Mr. Doe’s anemia may be a result from any Non-Steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drug (NSAID) he may be on for any number of the other complications he is suffering from. He may also have a vitamin deficiency which would be a factor in low iron levels. Without proper homeostasis it would be easy to understand why a patient like Mr. Doe is experiencing this condition. Acne: In a normal system the hair follicles on different surfaces of the body function properly and do not become clogged. When a person has hair follicles becomes plugged with oil from the sebaceous glands mixed with dead skin cells will result in acne. Homeostasis correlates to the removal of toxins from the body, and causes a disturbance which results inflammation and infections in the skin. Prostatic Hyperplasia: As men age they are more prone to experience enlargement of their prostate glands. Mr. Doe is experiencing this condition which is more common for men his age, due to the homeostatic disturbance in his hormones and cellular growth. Muscular Dystrophy: Muscle fibers in a normally functioning system are extremely touch and resistant to damage and injury. In a person who is suffering from muscular dystrophy these fibers become weaker gradually over time and become more susceptible to damage. This is caused to defective genes that are involved in making proteins that protect the muscle fibers. Disturbance in homeostasis could factor that is responsible for some of these genetic mutations. Hemiplegia: Most people have normal functions with movement on both sides of their body. When someone like Mr. Doe suffers from one side of their body having the same paralysis and limitations of movement. This is most often the leading culprit that is heard about hemiplegia. The homeostatic disturbance in Mr. Doe’s system related to HTN which could also be what is causing his movement disorder. Having a stroke could also be responsible for this condition and may have gone un-detected and untreated because Mr. Doe may not have realized he was having a stroke. Coronary Artery Disease (CAD): The coronary arteries (which are the major blood vessels that supply the heart with oxygen, blood and nutrients) can become damaged if a high amount of cholesterol is continuously deposited over time. Homeostatic disturbances such as HTN and diabetes are indicators of why Mr. Doe is experiencing this disease. This is turn can cause him to suffer from a heart attack. G.E.R.D.: In a normal functioning system after a person eats a meal the food goes to the stomach to begin the digestion process. The homeostatic disturbance that causes a patient like Mr. Doe to experience a reflux of stomach acid relaxation of muscles in the lower esophageal sphincter and its failure to close and prevent the back flow of food or liquid from returning upwards. E.D.: As most men age and are in Mr. Doe’s age begin to start experiencing issues, or complications with their prostate and the ability to perform sexually. A patient that is younger is able to maintain an erection for a longer period of time and perform a satisfactory sexual intercourse. Not have to worry or be concerned with experiencing this complication. Due to the fact Mr. Doe has an enlarged prostate gland and diabetes could be a leading indicator resulting in some of the homeostatic disturbances that is resulting in him having erectile dysfunction. D. Upon histological examination of mammal pancreas under the microscope, describe the different features of this Specimen. Figure 1 Anatomy of the pancreas Upon histological examination of a normal human pancreas the Aplha cells which produce glucagon, and Beta cells which produce insulin can easily be identified under the microscope. The bulk of the pancreas is an exocrine gland secreting pancreatic fluid into the duodenum after a meal. However, scattered through the pancreas are several hundred thousand clusters of cells called islets of Langerhans. Upon histological exam of a human pancreas with diabetes it is easy to identify the difference in the cells from a healthy pancreas. The reason is due to the fact the Beta cells are either attacked, or rejected the insulin which is causing the insulin production to be affected. The alpha cells are responsible for elevating the glucose levels in the blood which are also being affected due to the diabetes. The following describes the process of insulin in the pancreas: The islets are endocrine tissue containing four types of cells. In order of abundance, they are the: †¢ beta cells, whi ch secrete insulin and amylin

Intellectual Property of Lasik Surgery

The procedure of Lasik Surgery is an innovative technique that could provide life lasting changes to individuals afflicted with ophthalmic disorders.   Patents continue to develop and new and improved technologies released.  Ã‚   In considering and evaluating the intellectual property of Lasik surgery, it is important to look at the procedure from a variety of angles so as to better understand the complexity of the process.Lasik surgery is a privately owned business.   Additionally, private as well as public owned corporations have the ability to research and investigate new procedures in Lasik Surgery.   As a procedure is released, individual practitioners are eligible to practice the business if they have the correct licensures.   The procedure of Lasik Surgery is FDA approved, and all patents to further develop and improve upon Lasik surgery procedures must also be approved by the FDA.   Furthermore, while the Lasik Surgery business is privately owned, it is still subj ect to the legal regulations of the Federal trade commission.There are countless patents involving Lasik Surgery and its technological improvements.   As of Fall 2003, VISK and Summitt were the only two companies authorized by the FDA to hold Lasik Surgery patents.   Recently, the companies of Summitt Technology and VISX were charged with price fixing and violating the standards of the Federal Trade Commission.  Ã‚   As a result of the price scandals reveled by the FTC, patents became released to the patent pool, but were still subject to veto power by VISK and Summitt (Perry, 2003).   As a result of the release to the public pool, the competing patents would no longer be held by a single entity (FTC.gov, 1998).There are several individual physician that can also hold ophthalmic patents.   For example, Dr. Richard Lindstrom, Founding Manager of Minnesota Eye Consultants, holds twenty-eight patents involving ophthalmology and improvements in laser procedures (Minnesota Eye Consultants, 2006).At current time, there is no approval for the development of generic Lasik procedure products.   This is due to the sensitive nature of the industry, as a generic procedure may cause harm to the patient and may not comply with all FDA regulated standards. One recently released patent related to Lasik Surgery was patent number 6,951,556.   This patent was issued to an individual by the name of Robert L. Epstein, MD.   Dr. Epstein is the director of 800-I-CAN-SEE, the Mercy Center for Corrective Eye Surgery in McHenry, Illinois. The release of the patent provides a new way for physicians to correct off-center laser ablations that periodically occur as a result of the Lasik procedure.   As a result of the patent, correction of off-center laser ablations can now be incorporated into newer laser correction machines (Epstein, 2005).The Lasik Surgery industry is an evolving and constantly improving technology.   It is important to understand the intellectual pr operty laws and patent regulations so as to determine what the future holds for the industry.   It will be interesting to see what changes result from the increased privatization of the Lasik Surgery process.ReferencesEpsetin, Robert (2005).   New Patent for Correcting Centering of Lasik Vision  Ã‚  Ã‚   Treatments.   Retrieved October 20,  Ã‚   2006 from http://eye.taragana.net/archive/new-patent-for-correcting-centering-of-lasik-vision-treatments/FTC.gov (1998).   FTC Charges Two Firms that Control that Market for Laser Eye Surgery with Price-Fixing Conspiracy.   Retrived October 20, 2006 from http://www.ftc.gov/opa/1998/03/eye.htmMinnesota Eye Consultants (2006).   Laser Vision Correction.   Retrieved October 20, 2006 from http://www.seewithlasik.com/docs/lasik-minneapolis.html.Perry, Martin (2003).   Laser Eye Surgery Patent Pool.   Retrieved October 20, 2006 from http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:qadHX0VPSOQJ:econweb.rutgers.edu/perry/389/lectures/PPTB38 9.F03.PatentPools.doc+number+of+lasik+surgery+patents&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=11.

Donald Trump Essay

Trump's early years are a major part of what has made him successful in the past and in the present Donald John Trump was born on June 14, 1946 in the city of Queens, New York into the family of Frederick C. And Mary McLeod Drum p. His father, Frederick C. Trump was a realest developer and builder. He owned multiple middle income apartment buildings in Queens. Dona's mom was a plinth rapist, working with different charities. Donald Trump was an energetic and assertive e child and according to the site Biography. Com â€Å"His parents sent him to the New York MilitaryAcademy, hoping the discipline would help channel his energy in a positive m inner. † Trump was very successful in the academy, in both social and academic aspect TTS. In Biography. Com it continues to states that â€Å"Trump did well academically and socially, rising to be star athlete and student leader by the time he graduated in 1964 Trump's efforts and work in the business world have made him the extremely we althy man he is today. He is currently worth currently is 4$ Billion, and owns multiple realest properties.He also owns many hotels, restaurants, c salons, ND even various golf courses in the United states as well as internationally. T rump also hosts the reality Television show ‘The Celebrity Apprentice†. These properties, realest investments and his successful TV show would not have been poss. able if it were not for his hard work during his younger years in business. His massive f retune and wealth were acquired through hard work, connections, as well as his exec Lent knowledge Of the business world. Trump began his career working in the fame business, the Trump organization, which built and operated apartment build nags.Trump later moved to Manhattan, where he began expanding his business career be cause he became convinced of the economic opportunity there. Trump involved himself fin various building projects and opportunities in the city that would earn him high pr ofit s and recognition. Trump's personality and attitude are some of the defining factors that make him a very notable businessman, entrepreneur, and celebrity today. Trump's charisma and charm have helped him in his career as well. His charisma and personality as well as knowledge and communication skills are key to his such as.Donald Trump's interpersonal abilities are key to making connections in the b equines world and to achieve personal success. His ability to combine business knoll edge and Mr. Frangible great communication skills would seem to be one of the main factors that were e beneficial in becoming the successful businessman that he is. Trump's wealth, knowledge, and personality are a part of his major success. His wealth and success will leave behind a legacy and is an example of the economic opportunity in the United States.He would continually â€Å"set high tankards of excellence while expanding his interests in real estate, sports an d entertainment† Biogra phy-asp). Donald J. Trump has been a success in his personal life as well as in his professional and busing sees life. His entrepreneurial skills and his savvy knowledge and assertive skills put him In a successful pathway leaving a legacy and example of the economic opportunity y in the United States.

Night World : Huntress Chapter 7

She emerged on the rooftop. There was a sort of roof garden here-anyway, a lot of scraggly plants in large wooden tubs. There was also some dirty patio furniture and other odds and ends. But the main feature was a small structure that sat on the roof the way a house sits on a street. Morgead's home. The penthouse. It was as stark and unlovely as the rest of the building, but it had a great view and it was completely private. There were no other tall buildings nearby to look down on it. Jez moved stealthily toward the door. Her feet made no noise on the pitted asphalt of the roof, and she was in a state of almost painfully heightened awareness. In the old days sneaking up on another gang member had been a game. You got to laugh at them if you could startle them, and they got to be furious and humiliated. Today it wasn't a game. Jez started toward the warped wooden door-then stopped. Doors were trouble. Morgead would have been an idiot not to have rigged it to alert him to intruders. Cat-quiet, she headed instead for a narrow metal ladder that led to the roof of the wooden structure. Now she was on the real top of the building. The only thing higher was a metal flagpole without a She moved noiselessly across the new roof. At the far edge she found herself looking four stories straight down. And directly below her there was a window. An open window. Jez smiled tightly. Then she hooked her toes over the four-inch lip at the edge of the roof and dropped gracefully forward. She grabbed the top of the window in mid-dive and hung suspended, defying gravity like a bat attached upside down. She looked inside. And there he was. Lying on a futon, asleep. He was sprawled on his back, fully clothed in jeans, high boots, and a leather jacket. He looked good. Just like the old days, Jez thought. When the gang would stay out all night riding their bikes and hunting or fighting or partying, and then come home in the morning to scramble into clothes for school. Except Morgead, who would smirk at them and then collapse. He didn't have parents or relatives to keep him from skipping. I'm surprised he's not wearing his helmet, too, she thought, pulling herself back up to the roof. She picked up the fighting stick, maneuvered it into the window, then let herself down again, this time hanging by her hands. She slid in without making a noise. Then she went to stand over him. He hadn't changed. He looked exactly as she remembered, except younger and more vulnerable because he was asleep. His face was pale, making his dark hair seem even darker. His lashes were black crescents on his cheeks. Evil and dangerous, Jez reminded herself. It annoyed her that she had to remind herself of what Morgead was. For some reason her mind was throwing pictures at her, scenes from her childhood while she was living here in San Francisco with her Uncle Bracken. A five-year-old Jez, with shorter red hair that looked as if it had never been combed, walking with a little grimy-faced Morgead, hand in hand. An eight-year-old Jez with two skinned knees, scowling as a businesslike Morgead pulled wood splinters out of her legs with rusty tweezers. A seven-year-old Morgead with his face lit up in astonishment as Jez persuaded him to try the human thing called ice cream†¦. Stop it, Jez told her brain flatly. You might as well give up, because it's no good. We were friends then-well, some of the time-but we're enemies now. He's changed. I've changed. He'd kill me in a second now if it would suit his purpose. And I'm going to do what has to be done. She backed up and poked him lightly with the stick. â€Å"Morgead.† His eyes flew open and he sat up. He was awake instantly, like any vampire, and he focused on her without a trace of confusion. Jez had changed her grip on the stick and was standing ready in case he went straight into an attack. But instead, a strange expression crossed his face. It went from startled recognition into something Jez didn't understand. For a moment he was simply staring at her, eyes big, chest heaving, looking as if he were caught in between pain and happiness. Then he said quietly, â€Å"Jez.† â€Å"Hi, Morgead.† â€Å"You came back.† Jez shifted the stick again. â€Å"Apparently.† He got up in one motion. â€Å"Where the hell have you been?† Now he just looked furious, Jez noted. Which was easier to deal with, because that was how she remembered him. â€Å"I can't tell you,† she said, which was perfectly true, and would also annoy the life out of him. It did. He shook his head to get dark hair out of his eyes-it was always disheveled in the morning, Jez remembered-and glared at her. He was standing easily: not in any attack posture, but with the relaxed readiness that meant he could go flying in any direction at any moment. Jez kept half her mind on watching his leg muscles. â€Å"You can't tell me? You disappear one day without any kind of warning, without even leaving a note†¦ you leave the gang and me and just completely vanish and nobody knows where to find you, not even your uncle .. . and now you reappear again and you can't tell me where you were?† He was working himself into one of his Extremely Excited States, Jez realized. She was surprised; she'd expected him to stay cooler and attack hard. â€Å"What did you think you were doing, just cutting out on everybody? Did it ever occur to you that people would be worried about you? That people would think you were dead?† It didn't occur to me that anyone would care, Jez thought, startled. Especially not you. But she couldn't say that. â€Å"Look, I didn't mean to hurt anybody. And I can't talk about why I went. But I'm back now-â€Å" â€Å"You can't just come back!† Jez was losing her calm. Nothing was going the way she'd expected; the things she'd scripted out to say weren't getting said. â€Å"I know I can't just come back-â€Å" â€Å"Because it doesn't work that way!† Morgead was pacing now, tossing hair out of his eyes again as he turned to glare at her. â€Å"Blood in, blood out. Since you're apparently not dead, you abandoned us. You're not allowed to do that! And you certainly can't expect to just walk back in and become my second again-â€Å" â€Å"I don't!† Jez yelled. She had to shut him up. â€Å"I have no intention of becoming your second-in-command!† she said when he finally paused. â€Å"I came to challenge you as leader.† Morgead's jaw dropped. Jez let her breath out. That wasn't exactly how she'd planned to say it. But now, seeing his shock, she felt more in control. She leaned casually against the wall, smiled at him, and said smoothly, ‘I was leader when I left, remember.† â€Å"You†¦ have got to be †¦ joking.† Morgead stared at her. â€Å"You expect to waltz back in here as leader?† â€Å"If I can beat you. I think I can. I did it once.† He stared for another minute, seeming beyond words. Then he threw back his head and laughed. It was a scary sound. When he looked at her again, his eyes were bright and hard. â€Å"Yeah, you did. I've gotten better since then.† Jez said three words. â€Å"So have I.† And with that, everything changed. Morgead shifted position-only slightly, but he was now in a fighting stance. Jez felt adrenaline flow through her own body. The challenge had been issued and accepted; there was nothing more to say. They were now facing each other ready to fight. And this she could deal with. She was much better at fighting than at playing with words. She knew Morgead in this mood; his pride and his skill had been questioned and he was now absolutely determined to win. This was very familiar. Without taking his eyes from her, he reached out and picked a fighting stick from the rack behind him. Japanese oak, Jez noted. Heavy, well-seasoned, resilient. Good choice. The fire-hardened end was very pointy. He wouldn't try to use that first, though. First, he would go for disarming her. The simplest way to do this was to break the wrist of her dominant hand. After that he'd go for critical points and nerve centers. He didn't play around at this. A minute change in Morgead's posture alerted her, and then they were both moving. He swung his stick up and down in a perfect arc, aiming for her right wrist. Jez blocked easily with her own stick and felt the shock as wood clashed with wood. She instantly changed her grip and tried for a trap, but he whipped his stick out of the way and was facing her again as if he'd never moved in the first place. He smiled at her. He's right. He's gotten better. A small chill went through Jez, and for the first time she worried about her ability to beat him. Because I have to do it without killing him, she thought. She wasn't at all sure he had the same concern about not killing her. â€Å"You're so predictable, Morgead,† she told him. â€Å"I could fight you in my sleep.† She feinted toward his wrist and then tried to sweep his legs out from underneath him. He blocked and tried for a trap. â€Å"Oh, yeah? And you hit like a four-year-old. You couldn't take me down if I stood here and let you.† They circled each other warily. The snakewood stick was warm in Jez's hands. It was funny, some distant part of her mind thought irrelevantly, how the most humble and lowly of human weapons was the most dangerous to vampires. But it was also the most versatile weapon in the world. With a stick, unlike a knife or gun or sword, you could fine-tune the degree of pain and injury you caused. You could disarm and control attackers, and-if the circumstances required it-you could inflict pain without permanently injuring them. Of course if they were vampires, you could also kill them, which you couldn't do with a knife or gun. Only wood could stop the vampire heart permanently, which was why the fighting stick was the weapon of choice for vampires who wanted to hurt each other†¦ and for vampire hunters. Jez grinned at Morgead, knowing it was not a particularly nice smile. Her feet whispered across the worn oak boards of the floor. She and Morgead had practiced here countless times, measuring themselves against each other, training themselves to be the best. And it had worked. They were both masters of this most deadly weapon. But no fight had ever mattered as much as this one. â€Å"Next you're going to try for a head strike,† she informed Morgead coolly. â€Å"Because you always do.† â€Å"You think you know everything. But you don't know me anymore. I've changed,† he told her, just as calmly-and went for a head strike. â€Å"Psyche,† he said as she blocked it and wood clashed with a sharp whack. â€Å"Wrong.† Jez twisted her stick sharply, got leverage on his, and whipped it down, holding it against his upper thighs. â€Å"Trap.† She grinned into his face. And was startled for a moment. She hadn't been this close to him in a long time. His eyes-they were so green, gem-colored, and full of strange light. For just an instant neither of them moved; then-weapons down, their gazes connected. Their faces were so close their breath mingled. Then Morgead slipped out of the trap. â€Å"Don't try that stuff,† he said nastily. â€Å"What stuff?† The moment her stick was free of his, she snapped it up again, reversing her grip and thrusting toward his eyes. â€Å"You know what stuff!† He deflected her thrust with unnecessary force. â€Å"That I'm Jez and I'm so wild and beautiful' stuff. That ‘Why don't you just drop your stick and let me hit you because it'll be fun' stuff.† â€Å"Morgead†¦ what are you†¦ talking about?† In between the words she attacked, a strike to his throat and then one to his temple. He blocked and evaded-which was just what she wanted. Evasion. Retreat. She was crowding him into a corner. â€Å"That's the only way you won before. Trying to play on people's feelings for you. Well, it won't work anymore!† He countered viciously, but it didn't matter. Jez blocked with a whirlwind of strikes of her own, pressing him, and then he had no choice but to retreat until his back was against the corner. She had him. She had no idea what he meant about playing on people's feelings, and she didn't have time to think about it. Morgead was dangerous as a wounded tiger when he was cornered. His eyes were glowing emerald green with sheer fury, and there was a hardness to his features that hadn't been there last year. He does hate me, Jez thought. Hugh was wrong. He's hurt and angry and he absolutely hates me. The textbook answer was to use that emotion against him, to provoke him and get him so mad that he gave her an opening. Some instinct deep inside Jez was worried about that, but she didn't listen. â€Å"Hey, all's fair, right?† she told him softly. â€Å"And what do you mean, it won't work? I've got you, haven't I?† She flashed out a couple of quick attacks, more to keep him occupied than anything else. â€Å"You're caught, and you're going to have to let down your guard sometime.† The green eyes that had been luminous with fury suddenly went cold. The color of glacier ice. â€Å"Unless I do something unexpected,† he said. â€Å"Nothing you do is unexpected,† she said sweetly. But her mind was telling her that provoking him had been a mistake. She had hit some nerve, and he was stronger than he'd been a year ago. He didn't lose his temper under pressure the way he'd used to. He just got more determined. Those green eyes unnerved her. Move in hard, she thought. All out. Go for a pressure point. Numb his arm- But before she could do anything, a wave of Power hit her. It sent her reeling. She'd never felt anything exactly like it. It came from Morgead, a Shockwave of telepathic energy that struck her like a physical thing. It knocked her back two steps and made her struggle for balance. It left the air crackling with electricity and a faint smell of ozone. Jez's mind spun. How had he done that? â€Å"It's not hard,† Morgead said in a calm, cold voice that went with his eyes. He was out of the corner by now, of course. For a moment Jez thought he was reading her thoughts, but then she realized her question must be written all over her face. ‘It's something I discovered after you left,† he went on. â€Å"All it takes is practice.† If you're telepathic, Jez thought. Which I'm not anymore. The Night People are getting stronger, developing more powers, she thought. Well, Hugh had been right on that one. And she was in trouble now. Whack! That was Morgead going for a side sweep. He'd noticed her lack of balance. Jez countered automatically, but her head wasn't clear and her body was ringing with pain. He'd shaken her, distracted her. â€Å"As you said, all's fair,† Morgead said, with a small, cold smile on his lips. â€Å"You have your weapons. I have mine.† And then he threw another of those Shockwaves at her. Jez was better braced for it now, but it still rocked her on her feet, took her attention off her weapon- Just long enough for her to screw up and let him in. He drove upward to catch her stick from below. Then he twisted, sweeping her stick in a circle, forcing her off balance again, trying to topple her backward. As Jez fought to recover, he struck to her elbow. Hard. Wham! It was a different sound from the crisp whack when wood hit wood. This was softer, duller, the sound of wood hitting flesh and bone. Jez heard her own involuntary gasp of pain. Fire shot up her arm, into her shoulder, and for a moment she lost her grip on the stick with her right hand. She forced her fingers to close on it again, but they were numb. She couldn't feel what she was holding. She couldn't block properly with one arm useless. And Morgead was advancing, that deadly cold light in his eyes. Absolutely merciless. His movements were relaxed and easy; he knew exactly what he was doing now. Two more whacks and he got through her guard again. The oak stick slammed into her ribs and she felt another wave of sickening pain. Gray dots danced in front of her eyes. Fractured? Jez wondered briefly. She hoped not. Vampires could break each other's ribs in fun and know that everything would heal in a day or two. But Jez wouldn't recover like that. Morgead might kill her without even meaning to. She couldn't let him keep striking her-but she couldn't retreat, either. If he got her into a corner, she'd be lost. Whack-wham. He got her on the knee. Pain sparked up and down her leg, lighting every nerve. She had no choice but to back up. He was crowding her relentlessly, forcing her to the wall. Morgead flashed a smile at her. Not the cold smile. This one was brilliant, and very familiar to Jez. It made him look devastatingly handsome, and it meant that he was in absolute command of the situation. â€Å"You can give up anytime, now,† he said. â€Å"Because I'm going to win and we both know it.†