Monday, September 16, 2019

New Product Marketing Plan Essay

In the continuation of the product marketing plan for Tress Express, the completion of the market segmentation will allow for further development of the necessary elements to introduce the product line into today’s market. As such, the detailing of the business’ target market profile key buying behaviors and organizational target markets will shed light on the potential customers and the methods behind their reasoning for seeking out such products. Along with the management of the Product Life Cycle (PLC), as well as the product mix and positioning statement for Tress Express, this second part of the product marketing plan will expand upon elements of marketing. Target Market Profiles Millions of people worldwide are affected by hair loss or thinning. According to Statisticbrian.com (2014), approximately 56 million men and women experience hair loss. Estimates indicate that by the age of 60, 65% of men and 80% of women will experience noticeable hair loss or thinning. Statistics indicate that as men and women age, the likelihood of hair loss increases. For those not affected by thinning or loss will usually experience graying hair over time. Tress Express Products line of emergency cosmetic hair care solutions targets aging adults affected by hair thinning, loss, and graying. Tress Express Products customers are concerned with health, energy, and wellness. They look for quick fixes that provide instant improvement. They are open to new products that save them time, make life easier, and are cost effective. Tress Express Products customers are motivated by their current life stage rather than their age. Service and low-price items are valued by them. They are less sensitive to prestige. If they feel they are purchasing a superior product at a good value they are less price conscious. Product Life Cycle Four stages exist in the product life cycle: introduction, growth, mature, and declining stage (What is Your Product Life Cycle, 2014). Each of the stages consists of action the businesses take to introduce, manufactures, and market the product to consumers. The first stages starts with product development into the consumer market. During the introduction stage, the business launches the product into the market while providing special consideration to pricing, market segmentation, branding, and promotional requirements (What is Your Product Life Cycle, 2014). Growth follows introduction as the second stage to product life cycle. During the growth stage, the company attempts to increase market share by expanding the target audience, increase product awareness, and enter additional markets (What is Your Product Life Cycle, 2014). The third stage consists of maturity. Rick Suttle characterizes maturity as the saturated stage in the product life cycle process. During the maturity stage, the competition for market share becomes fierce. Businesses adopt alternative business strategies such as lowering product prices, adding additional products into the market, or add new features into the existing product (Suttle, 2014). The decline stage completes the product life cycle process. During the decline stage, the product becomes obsolete and irrelevant. The company can either add new features to the product to entice customer to return or discontinue production. The demand for hair loss treatment products has increased over the years. The increasing demand presents an opportunity for a company to introduce a new product into the market. However, introducing a new product into the market presents various challenges for a business especially if the industry has a leading product provider such as Rogaine. The company needs to plan and monitor the life cycle process to ensure product longevity. Following the four stages of product life cycle with special consideration to product, place, price, and promotion provides a guide to ensure a position and sufficient share in the market. Introducing a hair loss product into the market serves a vital role to the company’s success. The plan requires aggressive medical research, testing, and promotion to ensure product meets consumer expectations. The company needs to focus on product differentiation to distinguish the product from its competitors. Furthermore, the company needs to conduct price comparison with leading  competitors to establish the selling price. The price needs to accommodate the targeted consumer in the introduction phase. Furthermore, the promotion of the product requires an aggressive approach by incorporating multi-media means such as social networking, media advertising, and printing. Growing market shares extends the life of the product. The product life cycle characterized growth as the expansion of the product. The company can accomplish growth by either extending product awareness through additional promotional objectives or expanding product qualities. However, the company needs to examine before undertaking endeavors intended to increase growth. The endeavors may increase the cost of the product that will translate to price increase that will have a negative effect to revenues. During the maturity stage the market becomes saturated with other competitors. If the market demands remained constant and suppliers increases, the demand for company’s hair loss product may decrease. During this stage, the company needs to undertake drastic changes in order to prevent decline. The company needs to reinvest on research and development to introduce new products or increase product differentiation. Furthermore, the company needs to increase its consumer reach or lower the price without compromising the quality of the product to gain market advantage over its competitors. The decline stage ends the product life cycle process. During the decline stage, the company re-invents its product to gain any possible momentum. A study of the market also serves vital to determine if the market remain profitable. The company can end its product manufacturing during the decline stage and sells remaining products in preparation for the end. Product Offering Tress Express Products offers low cost emergency cosmetic hair care solutions. Tress Express currently offers three products to combat gray hair. The Gray Blaster Pen, a gray cover up applicator pen, Gray Away Hair Spray conceals thin spots, and Hairline Concealer kit fills in the hairline with the use of makeup brushes and a palette of hair concealer powders. Tress Express is introducing a new hair dye product called Gray Away Henna Dye. Gray Away Henna Dye is an all-natural hair dye that bonds with your hair and specialty herbs condition the hair and scalp. This product will be available in six hair colors. The hair colors will be black, light brown,  red, auburn, blonde, and dark brown. Developing a natural hair dye product, will appeal to the eco-friendly consumers. The branding will be consistent with the current products developed by Tress Express Product to include logo and company tag line. The Gray Away Henna Dye will be packaged in a box featuring the hair color contained within the box. The box will also emphasize the â€Å"All-Natural† tagging. This product is along the lines of competitive or substitute henna dyes on the market, but Tress Express’s henna dye is safe to mix with other colors and nourishes as it colors. No warranties or guarantees will be offered. This product will provide another low cost option to our emergency cosmetic hair care solutions. Positioning Statement and Justification Thinning and balding hair is a natural occurrence that affects both men and women of all ages. Tress Express caters to everyone who faces hair loss challenges. Tress Express is the first choice for emergency hair solutions. Tress Express is positioned as the premier hair emergency solution that provides quick and easy hair balding products that are cost effective. Tress Express hair care products provide the simplest and most cost effective solutions for thinning hair. Tress Express was created to assist both men and women with achieving their best look. With Tress Express anyone can eliminate embarrassment in an instant. Tress Express will help to create a polished impeccable image for all of its customers. With Tress Express in seconds your appearance will make a lasting impression. Tress Express prides itself on restoring a youthful look and boosting confidence through concealing problem spots for both men and women. Our products can help anyone achieve the appearance of full natural looking hair. References Statisticbrian.com 2014. Hair Loss Statistics. Retrieved from http://www.statisticbrain.com/hair- loss-statistics/ Suttle, R. 2014. Four Stages of a Product Life Cycle. Retrieved on November 2, 2014 from: http://www.ehow.com/info_8123597_four-stages-product-life-cycle.html What is Your Product Life Cycle. 2014. Retrieved on November 2, 2014 from: http://www.more-for-small-business.com/product-life-cycle.html

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Mozart K331 Analysis

Analysis of W. A. Mozart’s Piano Sonata in A Major, K. 331: First Movement Classical composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born to Leopold and Anna Maria Mozart in 1756 in Salzburg, Austria (then the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation). Mozart showed promise in music from an early age, prompting his father to assume the role as his instructor. His father described his son as a gift from God, and Leopold nurtured Wolfgang’s talents as such. Mozart would eventually travel throughout Europe with his musical family; however, it was in Salzburg that he would compose three piano sonatas in 1783.These pieces were most likely composed for Mozart’s pupils in Vienna, who were a significant source of income for him at the time. This paper concerns the second of the three: Sonata in A major, K. 331, specifically the first movement. The following explores the basic form of the piece, melodic and harmonic structure, as well as examination of methods used to vary the theme. The overall form of this movement is theme and variation. This form is characteristic of many solo sonatas; however, it is atypical for a first movement of a classical sonata. More frequently, the first movement would be in sonata form.This movement presents the theme in the first 18 measures as seen in Fig. 1(pg. 2). There are two 4-bar phrases, the first ending on a half cadence and the second on a perfect authentic cadence, that repeat. This forms what is called a â€Å"period,† where we have two similar phrases connected by a half cadence. In the second period, Mozart introduces new material, developing the long-short motive for four measures and continuing to a half cadence. After this he returns to the original melody for four bars, and ends the phrase on a root position imperfect authentic cadence.Following is a 2-measure extension, ending with a cadential 6/4 to give a strong perfect authentic cadence. Each movement follows the same structure except variation VI, in w hich the final repeat cadences and then continues to an 8-measure coda. Other than that, each movement follows the same binary form. Fig. 1: First Movement, mm. 1-18. The tender melody Mozart presents in these first 18 bars is simple, with a lot of stepwise motion and small leaps. Adhering to classical style, he uses chords built on diatonic pitches and resolves dissonances quickly. Pairing a simple homophonic melody with simple accompaniment makes it easier to anipulate the theme in the coming variations. In Fig. 1, you’ll notice that the middle voice barely moves at all. In fact, it isn’t until measure 9 that we start seeing strong beats without an E in them. Also, the long-short (quarter-eighth/dotted eighth-sixteenth) motive remains constant until it too develops at measure 9. All of these techniques for a simple theme help Mozart develop his idea later. In the first variation, Mozart agitates the theme with the use of chromatic approaches and chromatic passing ton es. Between the left and right hands, we hear an unrelenting series of sixteenth notes.Mozart also incorporates more use of dynamics than he did in the theme, by composing contrasting piano and forte sections. This drastic dynamic change happens in the A section of the variation. In variation II, another insistent figure is introduced: this time, triplet sixteenth notes. The melody in the right hand starts out very ornamented. Mozart then puts each melody note at the start of a flowing downward triplet arpeggio. The left hand emphasizes the strong beat throughout these triplets, and then the melody returns in the original ornamented character from the start of this variation’s A section.On the half cadences in this variation, we see a direct quote from the theme. Variation III brings the most drastic change yet. The key changes to the parallel minor (A minor). This movement features flowing sixteenth notes and phrase markings spanning up to three measures. It features many ch romatic neighbor and passing tones, as well as use of the melodic minor scale: sharping scale degrees 6 when ascending, and keeping it within the key when descending. Scale degree 7 is rarely lowered, as it is usually bound by the major V chord quality.Variation IV, back in A major, features a floating melody line above the staff that begins on beat 2, almost like an afterthought or reaction to the strong beat. It contains less dynamic contrast than the past variations, presenting the majority of the notes at piano. The light airy feeling given by the notes in the upper register provides a necessary contrast from the previous gloomy movement. In Variation V, the tempo is remarked: adagio. In the new slow tempo, 32nd notes in the left hand provide the accompaniment, while the right hand plays some intricate scalic and chromatic passages.At this tempo, the right hand is playing such intricate passages, that the theme has been significantly blurred to the point where it is barely ident ifiable. The chromaticism is still present, but it is scaled back a bit in this movement. We see a new character of sound emerge in the right hand with a happy staccato repetition on the tonic pitch. There are also a lot of contrasting dynamics to the point where they change back and forth mid-measure. In the final variation, the dynamic contrast resembles that of variation II; however the similarities, more or less, end there.The tempo changes to allegro and opens with jubilant eighth notes with contrasting articulations. This variation features mostly fast scales and arpeggios that outline the theme. As the B section concludes, a major scale rockets upward and leads into the coda. The coda basically alternates tonic and predominant chords until finally ending with two strong V-I progressions for a perfect authentic cadence to close out the movement. One thing that I find interesting about Mozart’s Sonata is that in every movement, there is a very steady pulse.This means tha t the movements are not only tied together by the melody and chords, but by the presence of a constant rhythmic pulse first presented in the theme. I really like what Mozart did with these variations. He was able to create very individual variations without distancing the music from the theme or from classical style. I wouldn’t go as far as calling the work genius, but I think the quality of the work, and the way that he connected the variations was nearly perfect. The dynamic contrast is exciting, and the final variation provides a good sense of finality.Well done, Mozart. Bibliography Brown, Peter. â€Å"Amadeus and Mozart: Setting the Record Straight. † The American Scholar. 61(1992): 49-52. The Harvard Biological Dictionary of Music. â€Å"Mozart, (Johann Chrysostom) Wolfgang Amadeus (27 Jan. 1756, Salzburg – 5 Dec. 1791, Vienna)†. Accessed November 16, 2012. http://www. credoreference. com/entry/harvbiodictmusic/mozart_johann_chrysostom_wolfgang_amad eus_27_jan_1756_salzburg_5_dec_1791_vienna. Heartz, Daniel. Mozart, Haydn, and Early Beethoven: 1781-1802. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2009. | | | | ——————————————- [ 1 ]. Peter Brown, â€Å"Amadeus and Mozart: Setting the Record Straight,† The American Scholar, 61(1992): 49-52. [ 2 ]. â€Å"Mozart, (Johann Chrysostom) Wolfgang Amadeus (27 Jan. 1756, Salzburg – 5 Dec. 1791, Vienna)†, The Harvard Biological Dictionary of Music, Accessed November 16, 2012, http://www. credoreference. com/entry/harvbiodictmusic/mozart_johann_chrysostof_wolfgang_amadeus_27_jan_1756_salzburg_5_dec_1791_vienna. [ 3 ]. Daniel Heartz, Mozart, Haydn, and Early Beethoven: 1781-1802, (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2009), 52-4.

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Developmental Psych Core Questions Essay

Core Chapter Learning Objectives for PSY 104 Developmental Psychology 1. Explain the role of theories in understanding human development, and describe three basic issues on which major theories take a stand. (pp. 5–7) 2. Describe recent theoretical perspectives on human development, noting the contributions of major theorists. (pp. 21–26) 3. Identify the stand that each contemporary theory takes on the three basic issues presented earlier in this chapter. (pp. 26, 27) 4. Describe the research methods commonly used to study human development, citing the strengths and limitations of each. (pp. 26–31) 5. Describe three research designs for studying development, and cite the strengths and limitations of each. (pp. 34–38) 6. Discuss ethical issues related to lifespan research. (pp. 39–40) Chapter 2 1. Explain the role and function of genes and how they are transmitted from one generation to the next. (p. 46) 2. Describe the genetic events that determine the sex of the new organism. (pp. 46–47) 3. Identify two types of twins, and explain how each is created. (pp. 47–48) 4. Describe various patterns of genetic inheritance. (pp. 48–52) 5. Describe major chromosomal abnormalities, and explain how they occur. (pp. 52–53) 6. Explain how reproductive procedures can assist prospective parents in having healthy children. (pp. 53–57) 7. Describe the social systems perspective on family functioning, along with aspects of the environment that support family well-being and development. (pp. 59–60) 8. Discuss the impact of socioeconomic status and poverty on family functioning. (pp. 60–63) 9. Summarize the roles of neighborhoods, towns, and cities in the lives of children and adults. (pp. 63–65) 10. Explain how cultural values and pract ices, public policies, and political and economic conditions affect human development. (pp. 65–70) 11. Explain the various ways heredity and environment can influence complex traits. (p. 70) 12. Describe concepts that indicate â€Å"how† heredity and environment work together to influence complex human characteristics. (pp. 72–74) Chapter 3 1. List the three phases of prenatal development, and describe the major milestones of each. (pp. 80–85) 2. Define the term teratogen, and summarize the factors that affect the impact of teratogens on prenatal development. (pp. 85–86) 3. List agents known or suspected of being teratogens, and discuss evidence supporting the harmful impact of each.(pp. 86–93) 4. Discuss other maternal factors that can affect the developing embryo or fetus. (pp. 93–95) 5. Describe the three stages of childbirth. (pp. 96–97) 6. Discuss the baby’s adaptation to labor and delivery, and describe the appearance of the newborn baby. (pp. 97–98) 7. Describe natural childbirth and home delivery, noting the benefits and concerns associated with each. (pp. 99–100) 8. List common medical interventions during childbirth, circumstances that justify their use, and any dangers associated with each. (pp. 100–101) 9. Describe the risks associated with prete rm and small-for-date births, along with factors that help infants who survive a traumatic birth recover. (pp. 101–106) 10. Describe the newborn baby’s reflexes and states of arousal, including sleep characteristics and ways to soothe a crying baby. (pp. 106–111) 11. Describe the newborn baby’s sensory capacities. (pp. 111–113) 12. Explain the usefulness of neonatal behavioral assessment. (pp. 113–114) Chapter 4 1. Describe major changes in body growth over the first 2 years. (pp. 120–121) 2. Summarize changes in brain development during infancy and toddlerhood. (pp. 121–129) 3. Describe the development of the cerebral cortex, and explain the concepts of brain lateralization and brain plasticity (pp. 124–125, 126) 4. Describe how both heredity and early experience contribute to brain organization. (pp. 125, 127–128) 5. Discuss changes in the organization of sleep and wakefulness over the first 2 years. (pp. 128–129) 6. Discuss the nutritional needs of infants and toddlers, the advantages of breastfeeding, and the extent to which chubby babies are at risk for later overweight and obesity. (pp. 130–131) 7. Summarize the impact of severe malnutrition on the development of infants and toddlers, and cite two dietary diseases associated with this condition. (p. 132) 8. Describe the growth disorder known as nonorganic failure to thrive, noting symptoms and family circumstances associated with the disorder. (pp. 132–133) 9. Describe four infant learning capacities, the conditions under which they occur, and the unique value of each. (pp. 133–136) 10. Describe the general course of motor development during the first 2 years, along with factors that influence it. (pp. 137–138) 11. Explain dynamic systems theory of motor development (pp. 138–140) 12. Discuss changes in hearing, depth and pattern perception, and intermodal perception that occur during infancy. (pp. 140–147) 13. Explain differentiation theory of perceptual development. (pp. 147–148) Chapter 5 1. Describe how schemes change over the course of development. (p. 152) 2. Identify Piaget’s six sensorimotor substages, and describe the major cognitive achievements of the sensorimotor stage. (pp. 153–155) 3. Discuss recent research on sensorimotor development, noting its implications for the accuracy of Piaget’s sensorimotor stage. (pp. 155–160) 4. Describe the information-processing view of cognitive development and the general structure of the information-processing system. (pp. 160–162) 5. Cite changes in attention, memory, and categorization during the first 2 years. (pp. 162–165) 6. Describe contributions and limitations of the information-processing approach, and explain how it contributes to our understanding of early cognitive development. (p. 165) 7. Explain how Vygotsky’s concept of the zone of proximal development expands our understanding of early cognitive development. (pp. 165–166, 167) 8. Describe the mental te sting approach and the extent to which infant tests predict later performance. (pp. 166, 168–169) 9. Discuss environmental influences on early mental development, including home, child care, and early intervention for at-risk infants and toddlers. (pp. 169–172) 10. Describe theories of language development, and indicate how much emphasis each places on innate abilities and environmental influences. (pp. 172–174) 11. Describe major milestones of language development in the first 2 years, noting individual differences, and discuss ways in which adults can support infants’ and toddlers’ emerging capacities. (pp. 174–179) Chapter 6 1. Discuss personality changes in the first two stages of Erikson’s psychosocial theory—basic trust versus mistrust and autonomy versus shame and doubt. (pp. 184–185) 2. Describe changes in the expression of happiness, anger and sadness, and fear over the first year, noting the adaptive function of each. (pp. 185–188) 3. Summarize changes during the first two years in understanding others’ emotions and expression of self-conscious emotions. (pp. 188–189) 4. Trace the development of emotional self-regulation during the first 2 years. (pp. 189–190) 5. Describe temperament, and identify the three temperamental styles elaborated by Thomas and Chess. (pp. 190–191) 6. Compare Thomas and Chess’s model of temperament with that of Rothbart. (p. 191) 7. Explain how temperament is assessed, and distinguish inhibited, or shy, children from uninhibited, or sociable, children. (pp. 191–193) 8. Discuss the stability of temperament and the role of heredity and environment in the development of temperamen t. (pp. 193–194) 9. Summarize the goodness-of-fit model. (pp. 194–195) 10. Describe Bowlby’s ethological theory of attachment, and trace the development of attachment during the first two years. (pp. 196–198) 11. Describe the Strange Situation and Attachment Q-Sort procedures for measuring attachment, along with the four patterns of attachment that have been identified using the Strange Situation. (pp. 198–199) 12. Discuss the factors that affect attachment security, including opportunity for attachment, quality of caregiving, infant characteristics, family circumstances, and parents’ internal working models. (pp. 200–202, 203) 13. Discuss fathers’ attachment relationships with their infants, and explain the role of early attachment quality in later development. (pp. 202, 204–205) 14. Describe and interpret the relationship between secure attachment in infancy and later development. (pp. 205–206) 15. Trace the emergence of self-awareness, and explain how it influences early emotional and social dev elopment, categorization of the self, and development of self-control. (pp. 206–209) Chapter 7 1. Describe major trends in body growth during early childhood. (pp. 216–217) 2. Discuss brain development in early childhood, including handedness and changes in the cerebellum, reticular formation, and the corpus callosum. (pp. 217–219) 3. Explain how heredity influences physical growth by controlling the production of hormones. (p. 219) 4. Describe the effects of emotional well-being, nutrition, and infectious disease on physical development. (pp. 219–222) 5. Summarize factors that increase the risk of unintentional injuries, and cite ways childhood injuries can be prevented. (pp. 222–223) 6. Cite major milestones of gross- and fine-motor development in early childhood, including individual and sex differences. (pp. 224–227) 7. Describe advances in mental representation during the preschool years. (pp. 227–229) 8. Describe limitations of preoperational thought, and summarize the implications of recent research for the accuracy of the preoperational stage. (pp. 229–233) 9. Describe educational principles derived from Piaget’s theory. (pp. 233–234) 10. Describe Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s views on the development and sign ificance of children’s private speech, along with related evidence. (pp. 234–235) 11. Discuss applications of Vygotsky’s theory to education, and summarize challenges to his ideas. (pp. 235–237) 12. Describe changes in attention and memory during early childhood. (pp. 237–239) 13. Describe the young child’s theory of mind. (pp. 239–241) 14. Summarize children’s literacy and mathematical knowledge during early childhood. (pp. 241–243) 15. Describe early childhood intelligence tests and the impact of home, educational programs, child care, and media on mental development in early childhood. (pp. 243–248) 16. Trace the development of vocabulary, grammar, and conversational skills in early childhood. (pp. 248–251) Chapter 8 1. Describe Erikson’s stage of initiative versus guilt, noting major personality changes of early childhood. (p. 256) 2. Discuss preschoolers’ self-understanding, including characteristics of self-concepts and the emergence of self-esteem. (pp. 256–258) 3. Cite changes in the understanding and expression of emotion during early childhood, along with factors that influence those changes. (pp. 258–259) 4. Explain how language and temperament contribute to the development of emotional self-regulation during the preschool years. (p. 259) 5. Discuss the development of self-conscious emotions, empathy, sympathy, and prosocial behavior during early childhood, noting the influence of parenting. (pp. 259–261) 6. Describe advances in peer sociability and in friendship in early childhood, along with cultural and parental influences on early peer relations. (pp. 261–264) 7. Compare psychoanalytic, social learning, and cognitive-developmental approaches to moral development, and cite child-rearing practices that support or undermine moral understanding. (pp. 264–269) 8. Describe the development of aggression in early childhood, noting the influences of family and television, and cite strategies for controlling aggressive behavior. (pp. 269–272) 9. Discuss genetic and environmental influences on preschoolers’ gender-stereotyped beliefs and behavior. (pp. 273–276) 10. Describe and evaluate the accuracy of major theories of gender identity, including ways to reduce gender stereotyping in young children. (pp. 276–278) 11. Describe the impact of child-rearing styles on child development, explain why authoritative parenting is effective, and note cultural variations in child-rearing beliefs and practices. (pp. 278–281) 12. Discuss the multiple origins of child maltreatment, its consequences for development, and effective prevention. (pp. 281–283) Chapter 9 1. Describe major trends in body growth during middle childhood. (p. 290) 2. Identify common vision and hearing problems in middle childhood. (p. 291) 3. Describe the causes and consequences of serious nutritional problems in middle childhood, giving special attention to obesity. (pp. 291–293) 4. Identify factors that contribute to illness during the school years, and describe ways to reduce these health problems. (pp. 293–294) 5. Describe changes in unintentional injuries in middle childhood. (p. 294) 6. Cite major changes in motor development and play during middle childhood, including sex differences and the importance of physical education. (pp. 294–299) 7. Describe major characteristics of concrete operational thought. (pp. 299–301) 8. Discuss follow-up research on concrete operational thought, noting the importance of culture and schooling.(pp. 301–302) 9. Cite basic changes in information processing and describe the development of attention and memory in middle childhood. (pp. 303–305) 10. Describe the school-age child’s theory of mind, noting the importance of mental inferences and understanding of false belief and capacity to engage in self-regulation. (pp. 306–307) 11. Discuss applications of information processing to academic learning, including current controversies in teaching reading and mathematics to elementary school children. (pp. 307–309) 12. Describe major approaches to defining and measuring intelligence. (pp. 309–310) 13. Summarize Sternberg’s triarchic theory and Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences, noting how these theories explain the limitations of current intelligence tests in assessing the diversity of human intelligence. (pp. 310–312) 14. Describe evidence indicating that both heredity and environment contribute to intelligence. (pp. 312–317) 15. Summarize findings on emotional intelligence, including implications for the classroom. (p. 313) 16. Describe change s in school-age children’s vocabulary, grammar, and pragmatics, and cite advantages of bilingualism. (pp. 316–319) 17. Explain the impact of class size and educational philosophies on children’s motivation and academic achievement. (pp. 319–321) 18. Discuss the role of teacher-student interaction and grouping practices in academic achievement. (pp. 321–322) 19. Explain the conditions that contribute to successful placement of children with mild mental retardation and learning disabilities in regular classrooms. (p. 322) 20. Describe the characteristics of gifted children, including creativity and talent, and current efforts to meet their educational needs. (pp. 323–324) 21. Compare the academic achievement of North American children with children in other industrialized nations. (pp. 324–325) Chapter 10 1. Describe Erikson’s stage of industry versus inferiority, noting major personality changes in middle childhood. (p. 330) 2. Describe school-age children’s self-concept and self-esteem, and discuss factors that affect their achievement-related attributions. (pp. 330–334) 3. Cite changes in understanding and expression of emotion in middle childhood, including the importance of problem-centered coping and emotion-centered coping for managing emotion. (pp. 335–336) 4. Trace the development of perspective taking in middle childhood, and discuss the relationship between perspective taking and social skills. (pp. 336–337) 5. Describe changes in moral understanding during middle childhood, and note the extent to which children hold racial and ethnic biases. (pp. 337–339) 6. Summarize changes in peer sociability during middle childhood, including characteristics of peer groups and friendships. (pp. 339–341) 7. Describe four categories of peer acceptance, noting how each is related to social behavior, and discuss ways to help rejected children. (pp. 341–342, 343) 8. Describe changes in gender-stereotyped beliefs and gender identity during middle childhood, including sex differences and cultural influences. (pp. 342–345) 9. Discuss changes in parent–child communication and sibling relationships in middle childhood, and describe the adjustment of only children. (pp. 345–346) 10. Discuss factors that influence children’s adjustment to di vorce and blended families, highlighting the importance of parent and child characteristics, as well as social supports within the family and surrounding community. (pp. 347–350) 11. Explain how maternal employment and life in dual-earner families affect school-age children, noting the influence of social supports within the family and surrounding community, including child care for school-age children. (pp. 350–351) 12. Cite common fears and anxieties in middle childhood, with particular attention to school phobia. (pp. 352, 353) 13. Discuss factors related to child sexual abuse and its consequences for children’s development. (pp. 352–354, 355) 14. Cite factors that foster resilience in middle childhood. (p. 354) Chapter 11 1. Discuss changing conceptions of adolescence over the past century. (pp. 362–363) 2. Describe pubertal changes in body size, proportions, sleep patterns, motor performance, and sexual maturity. (pp. 363–366) 3. Cite factors that influence the timing of puberty. (pp. 366–367) 4. Describe brain development in adolescence. (pp. 367–368) 5. Discuss adolescents’ reactions to the physical changes of puberty, including sex differences, and describe the influence of family and culture. (pp. 368–370) 6. Discuss the impact of pubertal timing on adolescent adjustment, noting sex differences. (pp. 370–371) 7. Describe the nutritional needs of adolescents, and cite factors that contribute to serious eating disorders. (pp. 371–373) 8. Discuss social and cultural influences on adolescent sexual attitudes and behavior. (pp. 373–376) 9. Describe factors involved in the development of gay, lesbian, and bisexual orientations, and discuss the unique adjustment problems of these youths. (pp. 376, 377) 10. Discuss factors related to sexually transmitted diseases and to teenage pregnancy and parenthood, including interventions for adolescent parents. (pp. 376, 378–380) 11. Cite personal and social factors that contribute to adolescent substance use and abuse, and describe prevention and treatment programs. (pp. 380–382) 12. Describe the major characteristics of formal operational thought. (pp. 382–384) 13. Discuss recent research on formal operational thought and its implications for the accuracy of Piaget’s formal operat ional stage. (pp. 384–385) 14. Explain how information-processing researchers account for cognitive change in adolescence, emphasizing the development of scientific reasoning. (pp. 385–386) 15. Summarize cognitive and behavioral consequences of adolescents’ newfound capacity for advanced thinking. (pp. 386–388) 16. Note sex differences in mental abilities at adolescence, along with biological and environmental factors that influence them. (pp. 389–390, 391) 17. Discuss the impact of school transitions on adolescent adjustment, and cite ways to ease the strain of these changes. (pp. 390, 392–393) 18. Discuss family, peer, school, and employment influences on academic achievement during adolescence. (pp. 393–395) 19. Describe personal, family, and school factors related to dropping out, and cite ways to prevent early school leaving. (pp. 396–397) Chapter 12 1. Discuss Erikson’s theory of identity development. (p. 402) 2. Describe changes in self-concept and self-esteem during adolescence. (pp. 402–403) 3. Describe the four identity statuses, the adjustment outcomes of each status, and factors that promote identity development. (pp. 403–406) 4. Discuss Kohlberg’s theory of moral development, and evaluate its accuracy. (pp. 407–409) 5. Summarize research on Gilligan’s claim that Kohlberg’s theory underestimated the moral maturity of females. (pp. 409–410) 6. Describe influences on moral reasoning and its relationship to moral behavior. (pp. 410–414) 7. Explain why early adolescence is a period of gender intensification, and cite factors that promote the development of an androgynous gender identity. (pp. 414–415) 8. Discuss changes in parent–child and sibling relationships during adolescence. (pp. 415–417) 9. Describe adolescent friendships, peer groups, and dating relationships and their consequences for development. (pp. 417–421) 10. Discuss conformity to peer pressure in adolescence, noting the importance of authoritative child rearing. (p. 421) 11. Discuss factors related to adolescent depression and suicide, along with approaches for prevention and treatment. (pp. 421–423) 12. Summarize factors related to delinquency, and describe strategies for prevention and treatment. (pp. 423–426) Chapter 13 1. Describe current theories of biological aging, including those at the level of DNA and body cells, and those at the level of organs and tissues. (pp. 432–434) 2. Describe the physical changes of aging, paying special attention to the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, motor performance, the immune system, and reproductive capacity. (pp. 434–438) 3. Describe the impact of SES, nutrition, obesity, and exercise on health in adulthood. (pp. 438–444) 4. Describe trends in substance abuse in early adulthood, and discuss the health risks of each. (pp. 444–445) 5. Summarize sexual attitudes and behaviors in young adults, including sexual orientation, sexually transmitted diseases, sexual coercion, and premenstrual syndrome. (pp. 445–449) 6. Explain how psychological stress affects health. (pp. 449–451) 7. Summarize prominent theories on the restructuring of thought in adulthood, including those of Perry and Labouvie-Vief. (pp. 451–453) 8. Discuss the development of expertise and creativity in adulthood. (pp. 453–454) 9. Describe the impact of a college education on young people’s lives, and discuss the problem of dropping out.(pp. 454–455) 10. Trace the development of vocational choice, and note factors that influence it. (pp. 455–458) 11. Discuss vocational preparation of non-college-bound young adults, including the challenges these individuals face.(pp. 458–459) Chapter 14 1. Define emerging adulthood, and explain how cultural change has contributed to the emergence of this period. (pp. 464–466) 2. Describe Erikson’s stage of intimacy versus isolation, noting personality changes that take place during early adulthood. (pp. 468–469) 3. Summarize Levinson’s and Vaillant’s psychosocial theories of adult personality development, including how they apply to both men’s and women’s lives and their limitations. (pp. 469–471) 4. Describe the social clock and how it relates to adjustment in adulthood. (p. 471) 5. Discuss factors that affect mate selection, and explain the role of romantic love in young adults’ quest for intimacy. (pp. 472, 474) 6. Explain how culture influences the experience of love. (p. 475) 7. Cite characteristics of adult friendships and sibling relationships, including differences between same-sex, other-sex, and sibling friendships. (pp. 475–476) 8. Cite factors that inf luence loneliness, and explain the role of loneliness in adult development. (pp. 476–477) 9. Trace phases of the family life cycle that are prominent in early adulthood, noting factors that influence these phases. (pp. 478–485) 10. Discuss the diversity of adult lifestyles, focusing on singlehood, cohabitation, and childlessness. (pp. 486–488) 11. Discuss trends in divorce and remarriage, along with factors that contribute to them. (pp. 488–489) 12. Summarize challenges associated with variant styles of parenthood, including stepparents, never-married single parents, and gay and lesbian parents. (pp. 489–491) 13. Describe patterns of career development, and cite difficulties faced by women, ethnic minorities, and couples seeking to combine work and family. (pp. 491–495) Chapter 15 1. Describe the physical changes of middle adulthood, paying special attention to vision, hearing, the skin, muscle–fat makeup, and the skeleton. (pp. 502–504, 505) 2. Summarize reproductive changes experienced by middle-aged men and women, and discuss the symptoms of menopause, the benefits and risks of hormone therapy, and women’s psychological reactions to menopause. (pp. 504, 506–509) 3. Discuss sexuality in middle adulthood. (p. 509) 4. Discuss cancer, cardiovascular disease, and osteoporosis, noting sex differences, risk factors, and interventions. (pp. 509–513) 5. Explain how hostility and anger affect health. (pp. 513–514) 6. Discuss the benefits of stress management, exercise, and an optimistic outlook in adapting to the physical challenges of midlife. (pp. 514–517) 7. Explain the double standard of aging. (p. 517) 8. Describe changes in crystallized and fluid intelligence during middle adulthood, and discuss individual and group differences in intellectual development. (pp. 518–520) 9. Describe changes in information processing in midlife, paying special attention to speed of processing, attention, and memory. (pp. 520–523) 10. Discuss the development of practical problem solving, expertise, and creativity in middle adulthood. (pp. 523–525) 11. Describe the relationship between vocational life and cognitive development. (pp. 525–526) 12. Discuss the challenges of adult learners, ways to support returning students, and benefits of earning a degree in midlife. (pp. 526–527) Chapter 16 1. Describe Erikson’s stage of generativity versus stagnation, noting major personality changes of middle adulthood and related research findings. (pp. 532–535) 2. Discuss Levinson’s and Vaillant’s views of psychosocial development in middle adulthood, noting gender similarities and differences. (pp. 535–536) 3. Summarize research examining the question of whether most middle-aged adults experience a midlife crisis.(pp. 536–537) 4. Describe stability and change in self-concept and personality in middle adulthood. (pp. 538–539) 5. Describe changes in gender identity in midlife. (pp. 540–542) 6. Discuss stability and change in the â€Å"big five† personality traits in adulthood. (pp. 542–543) 7. Describe the middle adulthood phase of the family life cycle, and discuss midlife marital relationships and relationships with adult children, grandchildren, and aging parents. (pp. 543–551) 8. Describe midlife sibling relationships and friendships. (pp. 551–553) 9. Discuss job satisfaction and career development in middle adulthood, paying special attention to gender differences and experiences of ethnic minorities. (pp. 553–555) 10. Describe career change and unemployment in middle adulthood. (p. 556) 11. Discuss the importance of planning for retirement, noting various issues that middle-aged adults should address. (pp. 556–557) Chapter 17 1. Distinguish between chronological age and functional age, and discuss changes in life expectancy over the past century. (pp. 564–566, 568–569) 2. Explain age-related changes in the nervous system during late adulthood. (pp. 566–567) 3. Summarize changes in sensory functioning during late adulthood, including vision, hearing, taste, smell, and touch. (pp. 567–570) 4. Describe cardiovascular, respiratory, and immune system changes in late adulthood. (pp. 570–571) 5. Discuss sleep difficulties in late adulthood. (pp. 571–572) 6. Summarize changes in physical health and mobility in late adulthood, including elders’ adaptation to the physical changes, and reactions to stereotypes of aging. (pp. 572–575, 576) 7. Discuss health and fitness in late life, paying special attention to nutrition, exercise, and sexuality. (pp. 575–579) 8. Discuss common physical disabilities in late adulthood, with special attention to arthritis, a dult-onset diabetes, and unintentional injuries. (pp. 580–582) 9. Describe mental disabilities common in late adulthood, including Alzheimer’s disease, cerebrovascular dementia, and misdiagnosed and reversible dementia. (pp. 582–588) 10. Discuss health-care issues that affect senior citizens. (pp. 589–590) 11. Describe changes in crystallized and fluid abilities in late adulthood, and explain how older adults can make the most of their cognitive resources. (pp. 590–591) 12. Summarize memory changes in late life, including implicit, associative, remote, and prospective memories. (pp. 591–594) 13. Discuss changes in language processing in late adulthood. (pp. 594–595) 14. Explain how problem solving changes in late life. (p. 595) 15. Discuss the capacities that contribute to wisdom, noting how it is affected by age and life experience. (pp. 595–596) 16. Discuss factors related to cognitive change in late adulthood. (pp. 596â€⠀œ597) Chapter 18 1. Describe Erikson’s stage of ego integrity versus despair. (p. 604) 2. Discuss Peck’s tasks of ego integrity, Joan Erikson’s gerotranscendence, and Labouvie-Vief’s emotional expertise.(pp. 604–605) 3. Describe the functions of reminiscence and life review in older adults’ lives. (pp. 606, 607) 4. Summarize stability and change in self-concept and personality in late adulthood. (pp. 606–608) 5. Discuss spirituality and religiosity in late adulthood. (pp. 608–609) 6. Discuss contextual influences on psychological well-being as older adults respond to increased dependency, declining health, and negative life changes. (pp. 609–611, 612) 7. Summarize the role of social support and social interaction in promoting physical health and psychological well-being in late adulthood. (p. 611) 8. Describe social theories of aging, including disengagement theory, activity theory, continuity theory, and socioemotional selectivity theory . (pp. 612–615, 616) 9. Describe changes in social relationships in late adulthood, including marriage, gay and lesbian partnerships, divorce, remarriage, cohabitation, and widowhood, and discuss never-married, childless older adults. (pp. 619–623) 10. Explain how sibling relationships and friendships change in late life. (pp. 624–625) 11. Describe older adults’ relationships with adult children, adult grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. (pp. 625–626) 12. Summarize elder maltreatment, including risk factors and strategies for prevention. (pp. 627–628) 13. Discuss the decision to retire, adjustment to retirement, and involvement in leisure and volunteer activities. (pp. 628–632) 14. Discuss the meaning of optimal aging. (pp. 632–633) Chapter 19 1. Describe the physical changes of dying, along with their implications for defining death and the meaning of death with dignity. (pp. 640–642) 2. Discuss age-related changes in conception of and attitudes toward death, including ways to enhance child and adolescent understanding. (pp. 642–644) 3. Cite factors that influence death anxiety, including personal and cultural variables that contribute to the fear of death. (p. 643) 4. Describe and evaluate Kà ¼bler-Ross’s theory of typical responses to dying, citing factors that influence dying patients’ responses. (pp. 647–648) 5. Evaluate the extent to which homes, hospitals, and the hospice approach meet the needs of dying people and their families. (pp. 650–653) 6. Discuss controversies surrounding euthanasia and assisted suicide. (pp. 654–659) 7. Describe bereavement and the phases of grieving, indicating factors that underlie individual variations in grief responses. (pp. 659–660) 8. Explain the concept of bereavement overload, and describe bereavement interventions. (pp. 663, 665) 9. Explain how death education can help people cope with death more effectively. (p. 665)

Friday, September 13, 2019

A Streetcar Named Desire Essays - English-language Films

A Streetcar Named Desire ERiN GiLLESPiE Tennessee Williams is known for his powerfully written psychological dramas. Most of his works are set in the southern United States and they usually portray neurotic people who are victims of their own passions, frustrations, and loneliness. The play represents the conflict between the sensitive, neurotic Blanche DuBois and the crude, animalistic Stanley Kowalski. Blanche visits the home of her sister, Stella, in New Orleans and that is when Stanley started picking at her, almost testing her. Before she had met Stanley, she told her sister of how their plantation had been lost due to the costs of paying for the funerals of many family members. There was not enough money for her to keep the plantation. While Blanche bathed after her arrival, Stanley came home. Stella had told him what had happened and he immediately insisted that Blanche was swindling them. He hinted that Blanche had sold the plantation in order to buy beautiful furs and jewelry. He went through Blanche's trunk while she bathed, Stella insisted he stop. He was looking for sale papers from the plantation. After Blanche was finished bathing, Stella was outside, so Stanley started questioning Blanche. She insisted that she had nothing to hide from him and let him go through all historical papers from Belle Reve, the plantation. While living with Stella and Stanley, Blanche had met a man named Mitch, who she started dating. She liked him a lot but she hid many things from him. Firstly, she hid secrets of her first lover, her husband Allan Grey. Every time she thought of him, she thought of how he killed himself and she heard the polka which played in the background. She did not want to speak of this to Mitch. After Allan's death, Blanche used to go to the Tarantula Arms hotel where she would have intimacies with strangers. She did it because she felt it would fill her empty heart. She did not want to tell Mitch because she wanted him to respect her. Blanche was very careful to hide her looks too. She felt that she was old looking and tried to avoid bright lights from glaring down on her. She covered a light in Stella's house with a Chinese paper lamp to keep it from being so bright she hid her looks from Mitch, he never saw her in the day. Finally, one day, Stanley tried to find out many of Blanche's secrets and told them to Mitch so he would not fall for her, even though he was considering marrying her. He told Mitch of her intimacies, and told him of when she had a relationship with one of her students. Mitch felt deceived, she lied to him about many things, her age, her past. Stanley taunted Blanche until he attacked her in violent passion. When Blanche tried to tell her sister what Stanley had done to her, she does not know what to think. Blanche retreats into a private dreamworld. She tells Stella and Eunice, a friend, of how she is going to die. She says she will die from eating an unwashed grape. Grapes are a symbol with sexual overtones. Stanley represents the unwashed grape that will kill her. Blanche says that she will die with her hand in the hand of a young ship's doctor and she will be buried at sea. She will be dropped into an ocean as blue as her first lover's eyes. Blue is used in this play as a symbol of sadness. It represents her husband's death. Her husband, to her, was different than other men, he had beautiful blue eyes and she compared him to a seahorse. The male seahorse is different because it id him that gives birth unlike other creatures, as her husband was unlike other men. Stella does not believe her sister after she tells her wha t Stanley has done, instead, she has her sent to a mental institution. She cries as Blanche is taken away, perhaps she knows she has made a mistake but Stanley soothes her, telling her everything will be back to normal, as he is opening her blouse. Stanley has won, Blanche was gone, things would be like before, he

Emotional Intelligence and it's Impact on Leadership Styles Essay

Emotional Intelligence and it's Impact on Leadership Styles - Essay Example Emotional intelligence Emotional Intelligence is a collective name for a set of social and emotional abilities which would help people to adapt to the routine demands and it is the ability to be more effective in relationships of varied nature (MacCann, Matthews, Zeidner, & Richards, 2004). Another definition of emotional intelligence is â€Å"the set of abilities that involves perceiving and reasoning abstractly with information that emerges from feelings† (Mandell and Phewanti ,2003) In a team environment, the role of emotional intelligence is turning to be of increased importance. Barling et al (157) has opined that the five characteristics of emotional intelligence includes, understanding other persons emotions; knowing to manage these emotions; emotional self control; empathy and management of relations. The application of these components in management has been a subject of research for several years. Emotional Intelligence and Transformational leadership Transformationa l leadership involves the leader motivating the team members to perform beyond the expected limits of performance (Sivanathan & Fekkan, 198). In general it has been opined that emotional intelligence is a prerequisite for any sustainable leadership model. It must be noted here that transformational leadership has been suggested to have sustained results than transactional leadership which is based on contingent rewards and other tangible benefits. Transformational leadership demands to a large extend the understanding of the followers’ emotions. In this context, the characteristics of emotional intelligence will compliment the functionalities of a transformational leader. According to Ashforth and Humphrey (1995), â€Å"emotions are an integral and inseparable part of everyday organizational life† (p. 97) . Thus a team environment will involve varied range of emotions. The skill to understand the other person’s emotions can be used to analyse the satisfaction an d the motivational requirements of the team members. This argument is supported by George (2000) as he opined that transformational leaders appraise and engage in emotions and they effectively use these emotions for the well being of the team. Moreover, emotional self control would help the leader to establish himself or herself as a role model for other to follow. Goleman (1998) has opined the need of emotional intelligence as a mandatory quality to be successful as leaders and that the transformational behaviors of leaders are directly proportional to the level of their emotional intelligence. Top Management & Emotional Intelligence The importance of emotional intelligence for a professional working at the top management level has been asserted by management experts. It has been opined that the importance of emotional intelligence increases with the increase in managerial responsibilities and one’s professional advances within the organization. The challenges of a leader in creases in multiple disciplines as the person climbs up the managerial ladder. This must be read together with the fact that, as the area of management broadens, the cultural and professional diversity also widens. This limits the scope of transactional style of leadership to be effective to have a sustainable leadership. There are several studies which analysed various levels of top management

Thursday, September 12, 2019

Finite Element Analysis of a Stainless Steel Research Paper

Finite Element Analysis of a Stainless Steel - Research Paper Example Therefore, this report describes the numerical analysis, conducted using the commercially available finite element solver, ANSYS, and then recommendations are provided as to whether testing or redesign should be the next step. The finite element method (FEM) is a numerical procedure used for finding approximate solutions of partial differential equations (PDE). A partial differential equation is a differential equation containing derivatives involving two or more independent variables. In engineering science, many phenomena are described by partial differential equations, such as displacement or temperature as a function of time and space. Problems involving PDEs are usually too complicated to be solved by classical analytical methods. Solving PDEs with the method of finite elements is possible today due to rapid solving capabilities of computers. Finite element analysis (FEA), originally used to solve stress analysis problems, is an approach which is used today in many branches of engineering including heat transfer and fluid flow. The material of the part is 2.5 mm stainless steel plate with a Young's modulus of elasticity of 206 GN/m2, a Poison's ratio of 0.3, and a yield strength of 580 MN/m2. It is assumed that the material has linear elastic properties and is both homogeneous and isotropic (although in reality this is not exactly true for cold-rolled sheets where grain orientation may vary). In addition, it was assumed that no discontinuities or residual stresses are originally present in the material due to manufacturing processes such as forging, rolling and welding. The thickness of the part is assumed constant and is believed to be small enough compared to its width such that shell elements can be used for adequate accuracy in modelling. Figure 1 shows the buckle modelled in ANSYS. The part is symmetric in two directions and has been separated in the model for simplification. Figure 2 shows the original drawing of the buckle and its symmetry. It is assumed that the geometry of the part is adequately represented by the finite element model developed. Displacements are expected to be relatively small such that a linear approximation will be valid. Figure 1 Figure 2 The solution of a finite element analysis is only so good as the quality of the mesh. The smaller the element size, the better the mesh should represent the geometry of the part. For this analysis, two mesh sizes were used: a smaller one where the highest stress concentrations were expected, and a larger one throughout the remainder of the model. The curved sections of the two slots were expected to receive the greatest stresses and were thus meshed with a value of 0.25, while the remained of the buckle was modelled with a 0.51 mesh size. The element type used was the PLANE82, which is a 2D structural solid element with eight nodes. Eight-noded elements are more accurate for modelling curved boundaries. The PLANE 82 shell element type also allowed for a thickness value in its input properties thus facilitating a 2D problem. In terms of boundary conditions, it was assumed t

Wednesday, September 11, 2019

Statistics in Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Statistics in Business - Essay Example When drawing inferences about a population, basically estimation and hypothesis testing is involved. Data may be quantitative or qualitative in nature. Qualitative data is data that is not numerical. Quantitative data on the other hand is numerical (involves numbers). Data can be measured in four levels: nominal, ordinal, interval and ratio (Anderson, Sweeney & Williams, 1994). The lowest of the four levels of data measurement is nominal and deals with labels, categories or names. Data that falls under the nominal level is usually qualitative. At this level, the data cannot be ordered and statistics can not be reasonably drawn from it. The second level of data measurement is ordinal. At this level, the data can only be ordered and ranked with no room to make meaning of the differences between the data. Data that can be ordered and in which sense can be made of their differences can be measured at the interval level. However, the data that falls in this category is known to have no starting point, examples being the Celsius and Fahrenheit scales used to measure temperature (Thompson, 2006). The highest level of data measurement is the ratio level. Data that falls in this category possesses all the characteristics of the interval level. In addition to these, the data has a zero value. Statistics plays an integral role in business decision making in the modern setup. In order to make sound business decisions, for example, an entrepreneur should have a good idea about the demand for their products. Based on statistics, the quality of products produced by a business may be verified (Anderson, Sweeney & Williams, 1994). Furthermore, statistical data may be used by managers to establish or evaluate customer satisfaction, evaluate risks, calculate loss or profit, and calculate financial ratios among other applications, all