Does It Matter Who We are Communicating about Essay

Does It Matter Who We are Communicating about - Essay Example Awareness alone cannot eliminate bias in communication. The author discusses the importance of learning how to communicate with various personality types, in order to get the message across. By learning about the audience, through observation and body language, the speaker or communicator can adjust or tailor communications that will reach, rather than offend, multiple members of an audience. This discussion also has implications for communications among individuals. It cannot be assumed that the listener communicates in the same manner as the speaker. The author highlights the need for greater awareness and adaptability in communications, thus eliminating the bias of assuming that the species in terms of language and stereotyping in communication that occurs within those groups. Stereotyping is described as a means of confiscation, for the individual to gain favor within the group and survey participants are able to identify various forms of stereotyping in a given scenario. The limitations of the research include a scenario describing the behavior of one individual, rather than of multiple group members. The research clearly indicates that stereotyping does occur in communications, within various social contexts. The research also indicates the need for awareness of stereotyping, in communication with a larger audience that may consist of members of very different groups. members of the group or audience to be respected and this is done through inclusion. The authors suggest that, particularly in a class setting, the faculty can set parameters for class communications from the start. It is further suggested that communications within and for a larger group should also consider avoiding language that stereotypes a specific group or groups.

Chinese Aid in Africa Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Chinese Aid in Africa - Essay Example If nothing else, it is noteworthy that the two Asian giants are not so badly affected by the global economic downturn, unlike America which is still struggling to recover the 8 million jobs lost during the recession and undergoing a weak economic recovery. Without China and India, the world might have fared worse when the usual export markets of the United States and Europe are weak and cannot sustain demand for the worlds manufactured exports. Their domestic markets saved the day. Because of this increased role in the global economic arena, China and India have been under increased scrutiny from economists and politicians alike. There is increased discussion on how to harness these two giant economies to further global economic expansion despite its various differences in culture, strategic objectives, language and political environment. In the case of China, its history and culture are so vastly different from the West it has developed its own way of dealing with the new role and responsibility of suddenly being an economic and also military superpower. Although China and India are somewhat different from each other, it can be said their economic growth paths are not entirely unique (Kaplinsky & Messner 1). The impact of the two countries on the global political economy is largely due to their sheer size, both in terms of the economic output and population size. China alone accounts for nearly 20% portion of the entire human race while India accounts for 17%, as of the year 2004. It is quite interesting to see which country achieves first an economic miracle in terms of actual reduction in poverty levels. India had largely been self-sufficient as it was self-contained and started later than China in introducing free market and capitalist reforms (1992) while China had shed its socialist economic policies earlier (1979).  

Das Kapital by Karl Marx Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Das Kapital by Karl Marx - Essay Example The first volume of Das Kapital was published in 1867 at a time when the working conditions for industrial laborers were terrible and the division between the classes was growing increasingly more pronounced. It must not be forgotten that Das Kapital was a work born out of the industrial revolution. Marx begins the first chapter of Das Kapital with a statement concerning commodities. He defines a commodity as "an object outside us, a thing that by its properties satisfies human wants of sort or another" (125). It is interesting that Marx begins the text with a discussion and definition of a commodity and after several successive chapters, it is clear to see that the commodity is one of the main driving forces behind capitalism. The commodity itself, however, is only valued according to demand or other more ethereal conditions and thus it is a perfect item for the capitalist as it presents no fixed "price" in itself, but its value is rather determined by desire and the potential for profit. To backtrack for a moment, however, a more concise definition of commodity is contained within the idea of "use value." This refers to a commodity's value in how it will be used and how it is desired but this value, according to Marx, has little to do with the actual labor that went into the production of the item. Again, while it is not immediately clear at this early point in the text, the use value versus the idea of labor are important issues because there is more distinction between the two than one might initially think. For instance, something might have a very high use-value and be greatly desired. This desire leads the capitalist to make it expensive and the laborer who made the desired commodity is not paid what the desired commodity is worth, but rather is paid living wages while the surplus profits go directly to the capitalist since he owns the means of production. While that was a very brief, concise, but altogether limited description of the process behind commodities and use value, it is useful background information to frame the discussion as this analysis continues. After this introduction to commodities and use values in Das Kapital , the idea of exchange value becomes of equal importance. As Marx puts it in one of the important quotations from "Das Kapital", "As use values, commodities are, above all, of different qualities, but as exchange values they are merely different quantities, and consequently do not contain an atom of use value" (127). In other words, it is the proportion by which use values of one kind exchange for use values of another kind. This is a vital and fluctuating relationship and has less to do with the commodity than it might initially seem. In short, the common element in a commodity's exchange-value is simply the "value" of it. This means that it all comes down to labor. This is a common tactic Marx employs, at first there a number of daunting methods for scientifically extracting a conception of value but in the end, it all boils down to questions about work and

(lean)Supply Chain and Operations Management Essay

(lean)Supply Chain and Operations Management - Essay Example Many large corporations have intricate purchasing and supplying operations that inevitably create waste and foster non-value added activities. In order to minimize waste and reap maximum profits, corporations exercise lean management practices. One such corporation that practices lean management is Toyota Motor Corporation. It has remained one of the key practices in Toyota (KERBER AND DRECKSHAGE, 2011). One of the key steps in lean is to recognize which steps create value and which do not. By breaking down all activities in to the two aforementioned categories, concrete steps can be taken to promote the former and eradicate the latter. The lean management identifies seven activities as the â€Å"seven wastes†, they are as follows: Over-production: This occurs when more products are produced than what is demanded by the consumer. One common erroneous practice is the production of goods in bulk, as often transpires that customers need change over long periods that products in bulk require. This practice is considered the worst source of waste, as it begets all the other wastes, as more inventory and expenditure is required for the storage and preservation of goods; this does not benefit the customer nor generates income (TAYLOR AND BRUNT, 2001). Continuously improve: This is the mindset which a company is required to adopt. It must always work on the incremental enhancement of processes, services and products over time, with the aim of reducing waste and maximizing

Implementation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Implementation - Essay Example Creating Liasoning agents and Integrators within the organization: since the organization has formal structures the first step towards becoming a learning organization is to increase communication and coordination between departments and units, initially it needs to assign liasoning and integrating jobs to personnel and gradually move on to create task force and teams. Team Development: members from each unit/department should be identified to form a task force. This task force should regularly meet and set goals and monitor results regarding the solution to the current challenge being faced by the organization. Market Intelligence and Information Distribution System: Johnson and Johnson should improve it's existing or if not already existing, it should set up sound market intelligence and distribution systems. The unit should collect information on consumer preferences, competitor activities, and upcoming technologies and share it with all the unit managers to gear up the whole organization to increase the flow in its product development pipeline. Monetary and Technological Help to promising startup companies and entrepreneurs: since the company is finding hard to find more and more startup companies produc

Animals Should Not Be Used for Medical Testing Essay Example for Free

Animals Should Not Be Used for Medical Testing Essay Tina Date: 11/29/2011 Animals should not Be Used for Medical Testing Nowadays, animals are used for medical testing which is hurtful and not necessary. Tens of millions of animals are used each year in federally and privately funded experiments. Do animals feel the same pain that human feel? How do we know that other humans feel pain? We all know that we ourselves can feel pain. We know this from the direct experience of stubbing toe on a chair, or having finger slammed in a drawer. So animals are as same as human. They have feelings about hurt, happiness, and pain either. Therefore, animals should not be used for medical testing because animals have the rights to survive, not a prey for vivisection in laboratories, and there are still having so many ineffective of drugs in the world. Pain is a physical event; something that cannot be observed. Pain is something that is felt, and we can only assume that other humans can feel pain from external indications such crying, screaming, or jerking away from something. If we can justify that other humans feel pain, why do human think that animals do not feel pain by continue using animals for testing? Considering that all living beings possess natural rights that any animals with a nervous system have specific rights to survive in the world. All animals are born equal and they have the same rights as human to existence in this planet. Why do not human save animals instead of killing them by many unnecessary testing? When an animal is poked, burned, or stepped on, they will cry, yelp, or jerk away. Since the external indicators are the same, we can assume that animals feel the same pain that we as humans feel. Today the medical term â€Å"vivisection† is used. Vivisection is defined as â€Å"cutting while still alive†; it is more commonly used today that is performed on animals especially. Charles River Breeding Laboratories, a company owned by Bausch and Lomb, provides 40-50% of the animals used in experiments of laboratories (Mercy For Animals). Medicine testing on animals is inaccurate and does not benefit humans at all. Every single day in a year, animals including, but not limited to, dogs, cats, rabbits, mice, rats, hamsters, rhesus monkeys, and cattle are commonly used for vivisection. Animals are innocent! They are organisms that have the rights to existence and to be respected by humans. They are not prey for vivisection in the laboratories. Vivisection is unethical. Furthermore, testing on animals is unreliable. Human rarely think about the opposite side of their experiments. New drugs can pass safety on animals but this does not mean that human can use these drugs safely because animals and humans do not get the same diseases. Animals’ cells are so different from humans’ cells. For example, Opren drug caused 3500 people to suffer serious side effects including damage to skin, eyes, liver, and kidneys (Tachell). Thalidomide caused about 10,000 birth defects worldwide (CAAT), and Clioquinol caused 30,000 cases of blindness and paralysis and thousands of death (CAAT). Conversely, many drugs that are beneficial to humans are dangerous to animals. Penicillin, which is an antibiotic to humans, kills guinea pigs. Aspirin causes birth defects in rats, mice, monkeys, but it does not harm in humans any way. In the last 15-20 years, it has been estimated that animal testing has decreased 30-50% due to the reduction and replacement techniques (Tachell). The most common alternatives that are used today are: in-vitro tests, computer software, and even human â€Å"clinical tests. † Human have to understand that this planet is not only ours, but the animals as well. Albert Einstein once said, â€Å"Our task must be free ourselves†¦By widening our circle of comparison to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. † (CAAT) The means of living a healthy and fulfilled life is to embrace and respect all life on this planet. The animals cannot tell the scientist that they do not want to be tested on, but we can. http://www.un.org/en/ http://www.mercyforanimals.org/ http://www. animalliberationfront. com/Philosophy/Animal%20Testing/whyanimaltestingisbad. htm.

Study of Document Layout Analysis Algorithms

Study of Document Layout Analysis Algorithms Relative Study of Document Layout Analysis Algorithms for Printed Document Images Divya Kamat, Divya Sharma, Parag Chitale, Prateek Dasgupta ABSTRACT In the following survey paper, the different algorithms that could be used for document layout analysis have been studied and their results have been compared. For the removal of image mask, Bloomberg’s algorithm and CRLA have been described. For the purpose of text segmentation, we have studied the Recursive XY Cut algorithm, RLSA and RLSO algorithms. Introduction Physical layout analysis of printed document images is the first step of the OCR conversion. For the OCR to work effectively, we need to provide an input wherein no images are present in the document i.e. the image contains only text. If this is not done properly, the OCR will return garbage values. To avoid this, we have discussed two algorithms, Bloomberg’s Algorithm and CRLA that could be used for the removal images from the document images. The next step is the text segmentation wherein we find the text blocks inside the document. The coordinates of these text blocks are then passed as input to the OCR. To perform this segmentation, we have discussed the recursive XY cut algorithm, the RLSA and RLSO algorithms. Removal of Image from Document The first step in the document layout analysis is to remove the images present in the original document. We will be discussing the Bloomberg’s algorithm along with its variations and the CRLA algorithm for image removal. Bloomberg’s Algorithm The Bloomberg’s algorithm is primarily used to find the image mask of halftone images. The implementation of this algorithm uses basic morphological operations. The algorithm has the following steps: In the first step, the binarization of the input image is performed. Next, 41 threshold reduction is performed twice using threshold T=1. 41 threshold reduction is performed using T=4. 41 threshold reduction is performed using T=3. Opening the image with a structural element of size 55. Next, 14 expansion of the image is performed twice. Next the union of overlapping components of the seed image obtained from step 6 with the image obtained from step 2 is performed. Dilation with structural element 33 followed by 14 expansion which is performed twice. The halftone mask obtained from step 8 is then subtracted from the binarized input image. The main issue with Bloomberg’s algorithm is that it is unable to distinguish between text and sketches (i.e. line drawings) in a printed document image. Enhanced CRLA Algorithm CRLA stands for Constraint Run Length Algorithm. In this algorithm we apply horizontal and vertical smoothening to the document image to get a clear separation between text and images in the document. Enhanced CRLA is used to smooth out only the text part in the image and avoid smoothening of non-textual part of the document image. Algorithm: Label the connected components in the document image. Classify the components with respect to their heights as follows: Height less than or equal to 1 cm, label it as 1 Height between 1 and 3 cm, label it as 3 Height greater than 3 cm, label it as 3 Apply horizontal smoothening to the components with label 1 only. Apply vertical smoothening to the components with label 1 only. Logically AND the two images obtained previously. Apply horizontal smoothening to the output image of AND operation. Calculate Mean Black Run Length Calculate the Black Run Length (BRL) row-wise for the region under consideration. Maintain a Black-White Transition Count (TC) for the region. Calculate Mean BRL as MBRL= (BRL/TC). Calculate Mean Transition Count Maintain a Black-White Transition Count (TC) for the region. Calculate W, the width of the region. Calculate Mean TC as MTC=(TC/W) Extract the components from the image with label 1 having values of MBRL and MTC in the acceptable range for the typical document image. Apply horizontal smoothening to the components with label 2 only. Apply vertical smoothening to the components with label 2 only. Logically AND the two images obtained previously. Apply horizontal smoothening to the output image of AND operation. Calculate MBRL and MTC. Extract the components from the image with label 2 and 3 having values MBRL and MTC in the acceptable range for the typical document image. At step 9 we extract the text part of the document image and at step 15 we extract the non-text part of the document image. The main advantage of the CRLA algorithm is that clear separation of text and non-text part of the document image. It also works for sketches as well as halftones effectively. It has considerably less complexity as selective smoothening is done. However, after the removal of the non-textual part of the document image, some stray pixels remain the image. The connected components in the halftone image whose height is less than 1cm are assumed as text elements in the algorithm. This results in presence of unwanted components in the final image. Text Segmentation The next step in the document layout analysis is the segmentation of text into text blocks that could be provided as input to the OCR. The following algorithms have been studied for this: Recursive XY Cut algorithm The recursive XY cut algorithm is used for obtaining text blocks from an image that does not contain any images from the original printed document. The XY cut algorithm works in the following way: The bounding boxes of the image are calculated. Next we calculate the horizontal and vertical projections of the image. After calculating the projections, we then perform X cuts on all the valleys in the horizontal projections which have a value greater than the threshold th. Next we perform Y cuts in between these X cuts at all the valleys in the vertical projections which have a value greater than the threshold tv. We repeat the steps 3 and 4 until there are no further X or Y cuts possible in a region. One of the problems with XY cut algorithm is that there is no method to find a threshold that will work for all the documents. Instead, a new threshold needs to be determined for each document and this cannot be done without manual intervention. Another major issue with the recursive XY algorithm is the time complexity. The recursive XY cut algorithm requires a large time to complete execution. Despite these disadvantages, this algorithm successfully separates the text blocks provided that a manual threshold is provided. RLSA The Run-Length Smoothing Algorithm (RLSA) works on black white scanned images of documents. It finds runs of white pixels and converts them into black pixels whenever they are less than a given threshold. The RLSA works in four steps: In the first step, we perform horizontal smoothing. For this, we scan the image row-wise and then replace lengths of white pixels by black pixels if they are less than a threshold th. In the second step, we perform vertical smoothing. For this, we scan the image column-wise and then replace lengths of white pixels by black pixels if they are less than a threshold tv. Next, we perform logical ANDing of the images obtained from the first and second steps. Then we perform horizontal smoothing on the image obtained from step 3 with a threshold ta. RLSO A simplified version of the RLSA, RLSO (Run-Length Smoothing with OR) works as follows: In the first step, we perform horizontal smoothing. For this, we scan the image row-wise and then replace lengths of white pixels by black pixels if they are less than a threshold th. In the second step, we perform vertical smoothing. For this, we scan the image column-wise and then replace lengths of white pixels by black pixels if they are less than a threshold tv. Next we perform a logical OR operation on the images obtained from the first and second step. The RLSA algorithm returns rectangular frames of documents with Manhattan Layouts. On the other hand, RLSO algorithm also works well with non-Manhattan layouts. The problem with both RLSA and RLSO is that the threshold for smoothing needs to be determined manually. Also the threshold required for each document image is different and it is almost impossible to be determined manually. Conclusion We have compared the above given algorithms for the document layout analysis. During our research we found that, while Bloomberg’s algorithm faces problems for images that contain sketches, CRLA faces problems for images that contain extremely small non-textual elements. We also observed that the recursive XY Cut algorithm and RLSA both do not work on printed documents having non-Manhattan layouts. On the other hand, the RLSO algorithm gives comparatively better results for Manhattan as well as non-Manhattan layouts. However, all three algorithms mentioned above face the common problem of manual threshold determination which is document specific. References Syed Saqib Bukhari, Faisal Shafait and Thomas M. Bruel, â€Å"Improved Document Image Segmentation Algorithm using Multiresolution Morphology† Jaekyu Ha and Robert M. Haralick, Ihsin T. Philips, â€Å"Recursive XY Cut using Bounding Boxes of Connected Components† , Third International Conference on Document Analysis and Recognition, ICDAR, 1995 Stefano Ferilli, Teresa M.A. Basile, Floriana Esposito, â€Å"A histogram-based Technique for Automatic Threshold Assessment in a Run Length Smoothing-based Algorithm†, ACM, 2010. Hung-Ming Sun, â€Å"Enhanced Constrained Run-Length Algorithm for Complex Layout Document Processing†, International Journal of Applied Science and Engineering, 2006