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Personality Traits Example

Character Traits Example Character Traits †Coursework Example 4 December Personality Traits My determination of characteristics p...

Thursday, October 31, 2019

How global warming disrupts North American wildlife Research Paper

How global warming disrupts North American wildlife - Research Paper Example s like sparrows, swallows, song birds, wood peckers etc help in facilitating pollination of plants that characterise the nature of forests found in the north American region consisting of fire-plants, maple foliages, evergreen trees etc. Animals like deer, squirrels etc help in distributing seeds through dispersed food and seeds in their faeces. The migration of these agents of botanical diversity and generation may cause the forests to gradually diminish in terms of their size, structure and density. Effects of Global Warming on Bio Diversity and North American Wildlife The Wild Life Society, a 9000 member strong community of wild life professionals, produced a study on effects of global warming on wildlife, is the first comprehensive study of the impact of global warming on North American Wildlife. (Pegg 1) The work conducted by The Wild Life Society is adding to the growing body of scientific work that suggests that global warming may pose the greatest threat to biodiversity wipin g out rare and endangered species and reducing typical forests to barren land. A study by the National Wildlife Federation has projected that there will be â€Å"disruption of essential ecological processes, displacement or disappearance of coastal wetland species, significant loss of coastal marshes and disruption of alpine and Arctic ecosystems† (Wetkit News 1) Some of the Salient finding s of the study conducted by the NWF includes: The report's major findings include: A Projected rise in the sea level due to global climate change. This may cause some wildlife species to abandon their habitat in search of inland areas or disappear entirely if their lowland wetlands are rapidly eroded by the sea. "Even a small amount of warming may eliminate some wetland plant and animal species in alpine... This paper stresses that the threat to wildlife is more visible further up the latitudes in the regions of Alaska, British Columbia, and Northwest territories etc. Small changes in temperatures lead to magnified effects in terms of ecology shift, higher death rates of animal species and abandoning of habitat. This report makes a concluiosn that out of all the species found in the places further up the latitudes in the cold and arid regions of Alaska and Canada, the polar bear and some seal species are the most threatened. It has been forecasted that these two species may be the first to become extinct if global warming continues to affect the ecology. Moreover the forecast given by scientists and researchers did not take into account the adverse and extent of damage to ecology due to climatic imbalances. The study on North American Wildlife by National wildlife Foundation, an organisation dedicated to research and progress on wildlife conservation, spells out a certain threat. The author talks that the radical change in climatic conditions will affect the habitat and living conditions of virtually every species. As temperatures increase, these species will move up the latitudes in search of cooler areas. The shift of the range of habitat and animal life that depends on them will shift nor thwards. This means that species of animals would have to shift northward to continue living in a favourable environment. Many species in this process will become extinct due to lack of a habitat.

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

A museum visit to autry museum los angeles and its relation to class Essay

A museum visit to autry museum los angeles and its relation to class - Essay Example This showed not only the basics of what occurred at this time, but also represents and observes the past of how things were. The vastness of the land, as well as the cowboys desires to chase the large animals were two of the concepts which I immediately noticed. This was followed by observations of the hand made tools, hats and other artifacts which were important to the cowboys. The significance was based on how each of the men had to change their level of innovation to try to settle and build a specific life, while having the sense of dominance over a specific piece of land. This led to the noticed cowboy movies that were also represented, which held this same ideal and continued to show the mindset of cowboys that were settling in the West. The representation of cowboys after the 1900s that is seen in the exhibition is one which is seen to link to the myth of the cowboy. The representations of the cowboy outfits, paintings of the salon girls and the guitars also represent this ide ology. The concept of movies such as â€Å"The Lone ranger† and the idolized cowboy are highlighted in these particular areas, specifically with reference to what the cowboys became.

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Elucidating the p53 Signalling Network by Reverse Genetics

Elucidating the p53 Signalling Network by Reverse Genetics Reiyyan Tariq Nizami Aim In my research project I am working with four different strains Caenorhabditis elegans. I have been performing a double mutant screen using an RNAi knockout library. Cep-1 is a protein that causes apoptosis due to DNA damage in the worm. The cep-1 protein is an ortholog of the human tumor suppressor protein p53, which is found mutated in many cancerous cells. The aim of my experiment is to find genes that are regulators of cep-1 which cause lethality if mutated with cep-1. Alternatively mutants which are lethal as single mutants but survive as double mutants in combination with a cep-1 mutant are also potential genes of interest. These mutants have the potential to be regulated by drugs/proteins to change the levels of cep-1 and induce/prevent apoptosis in cells. Background Cancer is a disease of uncontrolled cell growth in our body. Under normal conditions a cell has regulatory proteins and check points that make sure that a cell is growing at the right pace and if for any reason the cell starts to grow irregularly then these proteins stop the cell growth and cause apoptosis. Apoptosis is the programmed death of a cell, as you can imagine it is tightly regulated and loss of regulation can result in catastrophe for the cell and the organism. When apoptosis is over active, healthy cells will die and this is often seen in diseases such as neurodegenerative diseases, hematologic diseases and many other tissue damage diseases. Loss of apoptosis in turn results in cancers, autoimmune diseases and inflammatory diseases. P53 is a tumor suppressor protein that was discovered in 1979. Since then a lot of research has been done into p53 and its functions. P53 is a tumor suppressor protein that is involved in defense of the cell. It is activated when a cell undergoes many various kinds of stress, such as DNA damage, hypoxia, metabolic stress and oncogene activation. It is one of the most important barriers to cancer in many mammals. P53 works in many various pathways, primarily p53 is involved in binding to transcription factors that then activate pathways involved in cellular defense, such as preventing angiogenesis and cellular growth. Malfunctioning p53 is one of the greatest hallmarks of cancer. The majority of mutations found in p53 are due to single nucleotide substitutions in the amino acids of the DNA binding domain of the protein. Similar cancerous phenotypes are observed when either p53 loses function due to a loss of function mutation or when negative regulators of p53 are overactive or positive regulators of p53 lose their function. However p53 is quite unique amongst tumor suppressor proteins because different missense mutations in the protein can cause different levels of p53 activity and hence have varying effects on the host. The effect of the mutation is further modified depending on the genetic background of the person with the mutation. Due to the different effects of various amino acid substitutions and the varying genetic background of patients it is quite difficult to study large populations. This is because high-throughput sequencing and genome wide single nucleotide polymorphism maps are expensive to obtain. The prices are going down as new technologies are becoming available however until now there have been no larger scale studies relating different mutations to varying levels of risks for different types of cancers. It is also hard to perform molecular studies on entire humans and so research is done on cell lines, mice and on cep-1 the Caenorhabditis elegans ortholog of p53. Caenorhabditis elegans is a worm in the nematodes phylum. They are a very well-studied organism due to their ease of study. C. Elegans are one of the simplest organisms that have a nervous system and that make them a very good model organism for neuronal studies. They are transparent creatures and so many molecular and cellular processes especially those involved in development have been thoroughly researched. They have a short generation time and are very cheap to maintain. They are an extremely good model organism for performing screens because any of their nonessential genes can be knocked out easily by using RNAi. The cep-1/p53 pathway is highly conserved throughout evolution as it is an extremely important pathway that is essential for cellular survival over time. The cep-1 protein works through the following pathway to cause apoptosis in cells suffering DNA damage. Cep-1 à ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚   Egl-1/Ced-13 –| Ced-9 –| Ced-4 à ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚   Ced-3 à ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚   Apoptosis A similar pathway is observed in humans p53 à ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚   BH3 –| Bcl2 –| Apaf1 à ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚   Caspase à ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚   Apoptosis A majority of these proteins are orthologs to one another. It was hoped that through my screen further proteins which interact with Cep-1 would be found and then their orthologs in humans could be found and then researched and targeted to regulate p53. Materials and Methods The experiment in itself was an extremely simple but time consuming experiment. Screens were performed with mutant worm strains which were then fed RNAi, through Escherichia coli (E. coli), to silence the gene of interest and create double mutants. To begin with a liquid screen is preferred over a solid screen. This is because with a liquid screen you can screen a larger sample of double mutants more easily than a solid screen. Liquid Screen The following strains of bacteria and worms were utilized, E. Coli – OP50, C. Elegans – N2, C. Elegans – GK138, C. Elegans – LG12501. E. Coli – OP50: Food source for C. Elegans C. Elegans – N2: Wild type worms C. Elegans – GK138: Cep-1 Mutant worms C. Elegans – LG12501: Cep-1 Mutant worms RNAi Knockout library for C. Elegans Chromosome 1 Day 1: Grow worms on Nematode Growth Medium (NGM) plates with OP50 as a food source for the worms. Day 3: Bleach worms that were plated on day 1 so as to only have eggs remaining on plates. Bend glass rod into L shape using a high temperature flame (Bunsen burner) Pipette bleach onto plates with worms on them and gently scrape the surface to mix worms and eggs with bleach Pipette fluid into Eppendorf tube and centrifuge at max speed for 3 minutes Aspirate most of the fluid and keep as much of the pellet as possible Suspend pellet with bleach Repeat steps 3 and 4 Suspend pellet using M9 solution Centrifuge at high speed for 1 minute Aspirate most of the fluid and keep as much of the pellet as possible Repeat 7 and 8 Suspend pellet using M9 solution and vortex Eppendorf tube at low speed to mix solution Place Eppendorf tubes in slow rocker in a 20 ° fridge overnight to allow eggs to hatch Day 4: Replicate bacteria containing RNAi from knockout library using a sterile 96 pin replication tool into a 96 well containing Liquid Broth (LB) with Ampicillin and allow the bacteria to replicate overnight at 37 °C in an incubator Induce transcription of RNAi using adding 0.1 Molar IPTG into wells and place in a shaker for 1 hour. Pellet bacteria by centrifuging in a cold centrifuge at 5 °C for 5 minutes at 2,500 g Remove the supernatant by flipping over the well quickly but carefully so as to keep pelleted bacteria in the wells Suspend bacterial pellet in wells using NGM Pipette worms into wells and place in 37 °C shaker Day 8: Remove worms from shaker gently making sure not to tilt the 96 well plates Observe and record phenotype of the worms Compare phenotype between the 3 different strains of worms Leave worms in 20 °C fridge overnight Day 9: Remove worms from fridge gently making sure not to tilt the 96 well plates Observe and record phenotype of the worms Compare phenotype from previous day Compare phenotype between the 3 different strains of worms Sequencing After potential hits were found in the liquid screen the RNAi from these bacteria were sequenced to ensure that the sequence of the RNAi was correct and hadn’t randomly mutated over time. RNAi was prepared by using a Qiagen miniprep spin kit. Suspend bacteria in 250  µl Buffer P1 and place in a microcentrifuge tube Mix 250  µl Buffer P2 and shake the mixture by flipping tube over a few times To the mixture add 350  µl N3 buffer, mix well quickly Centrifuge at 13000 rpm for ten minutes Aspirate supernatant into new tube Centrifuge again for a roughly 1 minute and discard the flow through Wash spin column with 0.5 ml PB buffer and centrifuge for 1 minute, discard flow through Wash spin column with 0.75 ml PE buffer and centrifuge for 1 minute Discard flow through and centrifuge at maximum speed for 1 minute Place prep column in a sterilized 1.5 ml microcentrifuge tube Add 50 ÃŽ ¼l of water to prep spin column and allow to rest for 1 minute after which centrifuge for 1 minute After the Qiagen miniprep is complete the tubes were sent for sequencing to The Centre for Applied Genomics where it was sequenced and results were obtained within a week. Solid Screen Solid screens were performed on genes which were found to have increased lethality with cep-1 deletion or increased survivability with cep-1 deletion. The following strains of bacteria and worms were utilized, E. coli – OP50, C. Elegans – N2, C. Elegans – TG12 E. Coli – OP50: Food source for C. Elegans C. Elegans – N2: Wild type worms C. Elegans – TG12: Cep-1 Fluorescent tagged (GFP) worms C. Elegans – Ned-8: Positive control C. Elegans – HT115: Negative control RNAi Knockout library for C. Elegans Chromosome 1 Day 1) Streak RNAi bacteria of interest from RNAi Library to obtain single colonies. Allow them to grow overnight in 37 °C incubator Day 2) Pick and grow a single colony in 5 ml of LB + Amp + Tet overnight in a 37 °C shaker Day 3) Add 0.1M IPTG for 4 hours to induce RNAi Plate 100  µl of induced bacteria on RNAi plates incubate at 37 °C incubator overnight Day 4) Pick 5 worms at the same stage and plate onto RNAi plates Allow to grow over 4 days at 20 °C Day 8) Score phenotypes and compared between different strains Day 9) Score phenotypes again on next day and compare between different strains and the previous day Fluorescent Microscopy We used a Differential interference contrast (DIC) microscopy to observe localization of cep-1 in TG12 worms. Worms were mounted using the following method Place a drop or two of hot liquid agarose onto microscope slide Immediately place a second slide perpendicularly on top of the agarose Allow agarose to settle for one to three minutes Gently slide off second slide so as to leave an agarose patch behind Add a drop of 1mM Levamisole to paralyze worms and prevent their movement Pick worms and place them on the slide Slowly place coverslip on top of worms, be very gentle Once prepared the slides were observed using a DIC microscope to find any irregularities in the localization or amount of cep-1 in the worms, especially in the germline and the eggs. Results The aim of this experiment was to find genes that cause lethality as double mutants with cep-1 mutants but not in wild type worms, these genes would be positive regulators of cep-1 and cause apoptosis through cep-1. The screen was also designed to find worms that cause lethality in wild type worms but not in cep-1 mutants, these would be negative regulators of cep-1 and cause apoptosis through cep-1. The results were gathered and tabulated to allow for an easier and better analysis of data. Note: There is a lot of data and so only data that is relevant is shown. Liquid Screen Results Legend L = Synthetic LethalE = Embryonic LethalG = Slow GrowthB = Egg laying abnormal R = No RNAi C = Contamination A = Larval Arrest S = Sterile V = Variable Morphology P = Lethal progeny W = No Worms Cells of interest are highlighted Chromosome 1 – Plate 1 N2 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 A R G G/L L C A/C A/C E R E/S G R R I S/L S R R R R K R R R R M R R R R S O R R S/E R cep-1 (gk) 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 A R L C/L C/L G/E C G/S G/L C/L E R E/S G R R I E/S E/S R R R R K R R R R M R G/E R R R /G/S O R R S R cep-1 (lg) 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 A R C/L L L E/P C G/L G L E R E/S G R R I S/B S/B R R R R K R R R R M R E/G R R R S O R R S/E R Chromosome 1 – Plate 5 N2 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 A C E G E I E K R M R R R O G R cep-1 (gk) 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 A C E G I E K R M R R R O R cep-1 (lg) 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 A C E G I E K R M R R R O R Key results of interest in liquid screen Lethality in gk and lg but not in N2 Well Gene N2 gk lg A23 F53G12.5 G/E E/P M03 Y95B8A_85.h G/E E/G Lethality in N2 but not in gk or lg Well Gene N2 gk lg G04 F25H2.10 E Solid Screen Results 3 hits of interest were obtained from all the plates that were screened. These 3 hits were then repeated multiple times on solid media to make sure the results were accurate. N2 lg gk A23 -1 A23 -2 A23 -3 N2 lg gk M03 -1 E M03 -2 E M03 -3 N2 lg gk G04 -1 L A G04 -2 E G04 -3 The M03 strain showed opposite results in the solid screen in comparison to the liquid screen. However since the results were consistent we decided to study both M03 and G04 under the microscope with fluorescent markers. Fluorescent microscopy results No major mislocalization of GFP tagged cep-1 was found and no extra or lack of GFP tagged cep-1 was observe

Friday, October 25, 2019

Grateful Dead Essay -- essays research papers

Throughout history there have been many musical "influences". One extremely important influence to modern music is The Grateful Dead. The group was formed in 1965 by bluegrass - enthusiast Jerry Garcia on guitar and vocals, Ron "Pigpen" McKernan on vocals and organ, Bob Weir on guitar and vocals, classical music student Phil Lesh on bass and vocals, and Bill Kreutzmann on drums. From the beginning, they brought together a variety of influences, from Garcia's country background to Pigpen's feeling for blues (his father was an R&B radio DJ) and Lesh's education in contemporary serious" music. Add to that, the experimentation encouraged at some of the group's first performances at novelist Ken Kesey's "acid test" parties-multimedia events intended to replicate (or accompany) the experience of taking the then-legal drug LSD-and you had a musical mixture of styles often played with extended improvisational sections that could go off in nearly any direction. The band signed to Warner Brothers in 1967, experiencing some difficulties early on with the restrictions of standard recording practice s and the company's interest in producing a conventionally commercial product. As a result, the group's first few albums were somewhat tentative but showed promise for the future, especially with the key additions of Mickey Hart as a second drummer in 1967 and Garcia's old friend Robert Hunter as the band's lyricist. The Dead finally hit their stride with the release of Live Dead, a double album, in 1969. (They were always more comfortable on stage than in the studio.) Two studio albums in 1970, Workingman's Dead and American Beauty, found them exploring folk-rock and more tightly constructed song forms and, along with extensive touring, won them a much larger audience. In the second half of the '70s, the Dead recorded a series of commercially - oriented albums for Arista, then concentrated on roadwork for the better part of the '80s. In the Dark, released in 1987, was their first studio album in seven years. It sold a million copies and produced the band's first Top Ten hit in &quo t;Touch of Grey." One of the aspects of the Grateful Dead that made them stand out was their mixing of several different kinds of music. As mentioned earlier, the Dead's music is a hearty mixture of bluegrass, classical, and good old-fashioned rock... ...ot;, is Blues Traveler. On the scene since 1984, John Popper (lead vocals and unbelievable harmonica) has lead this band up from the depths of the local party circuit to having a multi-platinum album (1994's Four). Also with the same blues-rock feeling, deadheads are sure to flashback to yesteryear with one of Popper's unreal harmonica riffs. Traveler has also touched millions of college kids and drawn them in with their unique musical style, just as the Dead were reeling them in in the 60's and 70's. The Grateful Dead's immense musical influence has by far been an underlying factor in many bands that we would consider influential today. Bob Dylan considered Jerry to be like an older brother. The Rolling Stones, The Allman Brothers, and countless other legends have played under the Dead's tutelage. This only shows that they have so greatly influenced the world of music as we know it today. Just as they were influenced to create their own unique style, they are still influencing bands today, thirty-four years after it all began. The Grateful Dead were certainly an implausible influence over the music world today. There is only one thing left to say. We are truly Grateful.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Business Process in a Hotel

Creating Customer Value in Tourism and Hospitality Industry, pp. 752-763 M. Drljaca: METHODOLOGY OF BUSINESS PROCESS DEVELOPMENT IN A HOTEL MIROSLAV DRLJACA, MSc, Researcher Zagreb Airport, Ltd. , Zagreb, Croatia METHODOLOGY OF BUSINESS PROCESS DEVELOPMENT IN A HOTEL UDC 65. 012. 4:640. 4 Preliminary communication Requests of interested parties, amongst which the customer has the central position, are starting points of quality management system that complies with requirements of ISO 9000ff international norms.Regardless of the fact whether we want to arrange hotel management system to meet the requirements of these norms, one should be able to recognize exact requests of interested parties, especially of the customer of services. Correct recognition of these requests presents the beginning of quality system management in a hotel. In order to fulfill the expectations and requests of guest, the management system in a hotel must be developed, documented, implemented and managed in such way to ensure realisation of the actual and foreseen guests' requests.Function structure of hotel organisation will not be sufficient for a long-run achievement of this goal. Classic structural model of hotel organisation must be upgraded through developed, documented and implemented business processes. In order to run hotel successfully, numerous interrelated activities must be defined and managed. The application of business process systems in the hotel, their definition and interaction, together with the management, can be defined as process approach.Business processes are one of structural elements of hotel management system. If they are not developed, documented and implemented, we can justly ask whether hotel management system is capable of meeting requests of interested parties. For running businesses, as well as hotels, there are three characteristic types of business processes: core business processes, management business processes and support processes.Scientists and expe rts do not agree about generally accepted methodology of business process modelling. This paper accepts a hypothesis saying that a good methodology is the one which enables managing of business process in a way to ensure the fulfillment of interested parties' requests, specifically the requests of guest. Key words: process, methodology of business process modelling, process approach. INTRODUCTIONDespite the fact that only a small number of hotel industry representatives in Croatia possess ISO 9001 certificate as international confirmation of requested quality level of management system, the idea of quality, as marketing orientation, as business 752 Creating Customer Value in Tourism and Hospitality Industry, pp. 752-763 M. Drljaca: METHODOLOGY OF BUSINESS PROCESS DEVELOPMENT IN A HOTEL philosophy and everyday practice, is more and more existing in hotel industry. Independently of the degree of awareness of hotel management, business processes can be developed in any of the following ways: 1) in a long-established manner – which is based on „know-howâ€Å" of the most important parametres of business processes, with interventions only in situations when reliability of business process is seriously affected, 2) without any control, when in extreme cases the business process develops in completely uncontrollable conditions, 3) in partly controllable conditions – characterized by business process model according to chosen methodology, in conditions which are controlled in the same amount as the basic parametres that define them, and 4) in completely controlled conditions – those business processes whose basic parametres of definition are under complete control. 2 In order to create completely controlled environment for developing of usiness process in a hotel, it is necessary that hotel business processes be: 1) named, 2) described, 3) structurised/organised, 4) controlled, 5) managed, and 6) always improving. In order to fulfil it, hot el business processes need to be conceived, i. e. developed according to chosen methodology. The problem lies in the fact that ISO 9001:2000 norm (Quality Management Systems – Requirements) requires the proof that business processes are managed, but methodology of business processes developing is not being suggested. 3 The choice of methodology, and often its definition, is left to be made by hotel management. 1. DEFINITION OF TERM „PROCESSâ€Å" The word „processâ€Å" evolves from Latin word „procedereâ€Å", which originally means „moveâ€Å" or „go aheadâ€Å".This word form was followed by noun „processusâ€Å", which is translated as „processâ€Å" and means „ †¦ a series of actions, phases or events, development (in any direction or form) and transformation (inputs > outputs) of anything that was took under consideration (element, structure, sub-system, system, etc. ). â€Å" 1 2 3 ISO 9001 certificate, inter national confirmation of requested quality level of management system, acquired the following hotel industry representatives in Croatia: (in 1999: Hotel Excelsior in Dubrovnik, Hotels Maestral – Hotel Komodor in Dubrovnik; in 2000: Vodicanka Tours – Hotel Punta in Vodice, during change of owners did not retain the certificate, and Hotels Argentina in Dubrovnik).Basic parametres of definition of business processes are: a) object of activity (material, information, product, service and similar), b) frequency of operation (continually, sometimes only once, and similar), c) area of activity (state, city, company/organisation, part of company, and similar. ), d) manner of operation (usual, uncontrollable, in partly controllable conditions, in completely controllable conditions). At writing about methodology of business process development the authors avoid presenting final solutions, because methodology of business process development represent intellectual ownership (know how) of the author or consultant. Rare examples in Croatian literature are: Ivan Mamuzic, â€Å"Procesni pristup u sustavu upravljanja kvalitetom†, Kvaliteta, Broj 3, Infomart, Zagreb, 2002, p. -4, in which author presents possible methodology of business process development and shows part of diagram of process flow; Miroslav Drljaca, â€Å"Proces kao ishodiste modela ISO 9001:2000†, Kvaliteta, Broj 3, Infomart, Zagreb, 2002, p. 5-6, in which the author presents methodology of business process development and shows break-up of one business process; Zivko Kondic, Kvaliteta i ISO 9000, Tiva, Varazdin, 2002; and partly: Nenad Vulic, Sustavi upravljanja kvalitetom, Veleuciliste u Splitu, Split, 2001. Total presentation of methodology of business process development is written in: Nenad Injac i Marko Besker, Metodologija izgradnje poslovnih procesa u sustavu kvalitete, Oskar, Zagreb, 2003. 753 Creating Customer Value in Tourism and Hospitality Industry, pp. 752-763 M. Drlja ca: METHODOLOGY OF BUSINESS PROCESS DEVELOPMENT IN A HOTEL Figure 1. Process presentationRULES AND CONTROLS INPUT TRANSFORMATION AREA OUTPUT MECHANISMS Process can be also defined as â€Å"a course, evolution or manner through which something was born or transformed, it is a development, a procedure †¦Ã¢â‚¬ 4 HRN EN ISO 8402:1996 norm defines the process as a â€Å"group of mutually independent resources and actions which transform input elements into output elements. †5 Transformation of input elements into output is in fact a transformation of one into the other. Each process thus becomes unique and special. Transformation of input into output is a system of complex interactions of operations and resources. It is a technology. It is â€Å"know how. International norm ISO 9000:2000 defines the process as „group of connected or mutually dependent activities which transform input into results. â€Å"6 The application of process system in a company, its definitio n and mutual interaction, as well as the management of process system – can be called „process approach. â€Å"7 The process approach has the advantage of permanent managing of links between – particular processes (within the process structure), which is the structural element of hotel management system, – and – combination and mutual interaction of these elements. 8 When applied in the hotel quality management system, this process approach underlines the importance of the following: ? understanding and meeting of guest's requests, need of supervision of business processes in value added conditions; ? achieving results of business processes and their efficiency, and 4 5 6 7 8 Zelimir Domovic, Sime Anic i Nikola Klaic, Rjecnik stranih rijeci, SANI-PLUS, Zagreb, 1998, p. 1163. HRN EN ISO 8402 Quality management and quality assurance – Vocabulary, (ISO 8402:1994; EN ISO 8402:1995), Quadrilingual version. International norm HRN EN ISO 9000:2002 Quality management systems – Fundamentals and vocabulary (ISO 9000:2000, EN ISO 9000:2000), Version quadrilingue, p. 40. International norm HRN EN ISO 9001:2002 Quality management systems – Requirements (ISO 9001:2000, EN ISO 9001:2000), p. 14.Except process structure, structural elements of management system of every company, a hotel as well, are: 1) strategic documents of company (mission, vision, strategy, politics, general and special managerial aims), 2) organisation, 3) resources, 4) partnerships, and 5) communication and notification. 754 Creating Customer Value in Tourism and Hospitality Industry, pp. 752-763 M. Drljaca: METHODOLOGY OF BUSINESS PROCESS DEVELOPMENT IN A HOTEL ? permanent improvement of business processes, based on impartial estimation. Regardless of many possible types of business processes, and many diversities of process structures, all business processes in hotel can be divided into three types: ? management processes, ? core processes, ? sup port processes. Figure 2.Three types of business processes Management processes Guest' s request Core business processes Guest' s satisfaction Support processes Source: Martyn A. Ould, Business Processes, John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester, England, UK, 1995, p. 2. Many industries have more than one core or „macroâ€Å" group of business processes, including: management of business system, management of resources, realisation of products and services, measurement and control. 9 Management business processes are important for progress of core business processes, as well as of support process. These are business processes of development, planning, quality management and management of hotel organisation.Because of entirety and directions of their influence onto core business processes – Management business processes are called – vertical processes. Core business processes are focused on the achievement of satisfaction of customers, (buyers/users), i. e. hotel guests . They directly add new value to the product, meaning service. They meet requests of hotel guests and are generator of their 9 Herbert C. Monnich, Jr. , ISO 9001:2000 for Small and Medium Sized Businesses, American Society for Quality, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, 2001, p. 3. 755 Creating Customer Value in Tourism and Hospitality Industry, pp. 752-763 M. Drljaca: METHODOLOGY OF BUSINESS PROCESS DEVELOPMENT IN A HOTEL contentment.Core business processes, processes of fulfillment or realization, are business processes whose result – in form of product or service has direct value confirmation on the market. The plan and the product in their creation are in core business processes strongly integrated. Core business processes are called – horizontal processes. Figure 3. Interactivities of different types of business process Management processes (vertical) Core processes (horizontal) Support processes (vertical) Support processes which are also called logistical or resourceful business processes, are directed towards producing satisfaction of internal users within hotel organisational structure. They are able to create added value for the guest.However, this influence on making added value is indirect and is fulfilled through support of core business processes. Support processes are auxiliary business processes and represent a support to core business processes. With regard to direction of activities onto core business processes, they are also called – vertical processes. Numerous management, core and support processes develop within this process structure simultaneously. They have a series of interactions. Each interaction in certain measure affects the business process result in terms of meeting the guests' requests. 2. BUSINESS PROCESSES IN A HOTEL „Complete work process of a hotel consists of processes of production activities and service activities.Purpose of production activities is rendering of services which have product characterist ics, like: various food, beverages that are specifically prepared, bread, desserts, and similar. Purpose of service activities is providing guests with: accommodation, serving of meals and beverages, entertainment, sale of goods, various handicraft-and-services, laundry washing, ironing, and similar. â€Å"10 „Process contains all activities linked into a chain. It starts with defining of all possible needs a 10 Ivanka Avelini Holjevac, Kontroling – Upravljanje poslovnim rezultatom, Sveuciliste u Rijeci, Hotelijerski fakultet Opatija, Opatija, 1998, p. 379. 756Creating Customer Value in Tourism and Hospitality Industry, pp. 752-763 M. Drljaca: METHODOLOGY OF BUSINESS PROCESS DEVELOPMENT IN A HOTEL guest (tourist, buyer, etc. ) may have during the trip, until return, only with aim that all guests' needs are met. â€Å" 11 Table 1. Types of business processes in a hotel 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Process of hotel management. Process of planning. Process of development. Pro cess of marketing. Process of quality management. Process of environment management. Process of social responsibility management. Process of security/safety at work management. 1. Process of producing food and beverages which are specifically prepared. 2. Process of serving meals and beverages. 3.Process of reception and accommodation of guests. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Process of human resources management. Process of financial management. Process of infrastructure maintenance. Process of information management. Process of purchase. Process of sale. Management business processes in a hotel. Core business processes in a hotel. Support processes in a hotel. At identifying of business processes in a hotel and dividing them into types, it is necessary to avoid identification of business function and business process in a hotel. Essential differences are at least these that follows: ? business function is static category, while business process is dynamic category, business function is mostly operated within one structural hotel unit, and is usually named after it, while process implies more participants from more structural hotel units, ? business function is operated within hotel, while process can have participants from outside of hotel structural organisation, but who are important for progress of concrete business process, 11 Zdenko Cerovic, Hotelski menadzment, Sveuciliste u Rijeci, Fakultet za turisticki i hotelski menadzment Opatija, Opatija, 2003, p. 415. 757 Creating Customer Value in Tourism and Hospitality Industry, pp. 752-763 M. Drljaca: METHODOLOGY OF BUSINESS PROCESS DEVELOPMENT IN A HOTEL ? ? ? . business function is run by functional manager, and process is run by business process manager, and identification of these roles must not be a rule but an exception, business process is one of the possible inner aspects of supervision of costs, quality costs as well, while function is not, due to all these differences, function is a narrower concept than busine ss process. METHODOLOGY OF BUSINESS PROCESS DEVELOPMENT Basic task of hotel management during of business processes development is in fact establishing, directing and describing of events during transformation process of input into output. In order this task could be accomplished, we ust have suitable methodology of business process development within the quality system. Different companies use dissimilar methodologies. Modelling of methodology in great measure depends on knowledge about quality management. Regardless of which methodology is used by teams who developing business processes, they should remain consistent when they apply it in developing all business processes in a hotel. Hotel management must create its own methodology or choose already existing methodology of business process development. Teams for business process development in practice often encounter the problem of verification of correctness of their own solutions. This paper presents one of the possible approac hes. 3. 1.Identification of the process is initial task in business process developing and demands (from the team): naming of the process, appointing of the leader (manager) of business process, defining of its objective(s), defining of input and output requests, description of mechanisms, rules and controls. Afterwards, they must determine outer and inner users of business process results, as well as designate process steps as consisting parts of the business process. 3. 2. Diagram of the context is simple display of business process at the highest level from which an interaction can be seen: rules, controls and mechanisms during transformation of input into output. 3. 3. Display of static model of business process presents logical sequence of process steps development as consisting parts of the business process.This phase of business process development identifies structural units where individual process step develops, and locates control points at which measurements will be perf ormed – and thus manage the business process. 3. 4. Description of the process describes requests that result from requests and needs of guests, then from specifications, norms, regulations, elaborations, methods and resources. Here are also identified requests, objectives and descriptions of their fulfillment, as well as allowed deviations. By defining of allowed deviations we in fact determine the minimum quality level of business process. 758 Creating Customer Value in Tourism and Hospitality Industry, pp. 752-763 M. Drljaca: METHODOLOGY OF BUSINESS PROCESS DEVELOPMENT IN A HOTEL Figure 4. Diagram of the contextRULES AND CONTROLS GUEST' S REQUEST PROCESS OF RECEPTION AND ACCOMMODATION OF GUESTS A- 0 GUEST' S SATISFACTION MECHANISMS 3. 5. Diagram of decomposition of business process is methodologically confirmed graphical representation of the process with all its consisting parts – process steps. It represents logical sequence of process steps development. It specif ies input, rules and controls, mechanisms and output of each process step. Diagram of decomposition represents a technology. It shows process of reception and accommodation of guests per process steps that logically develop in sequence. At least one exit from a process step is also an entry into the next.Process steps in the process of reception and accommodation of guests are identified as follows: 759 Creating Customer Value in Tourism and Hospitality Industry, pp. 752-763 M. Drljaca: METHODOLOGY OF BUSINESS PROCESS DEVELOPMENT IN A HOTEL Figure 5. Decomposition of process of reception and accommodation of guests Refusal of request Guest' s request ANALYSIS OF GUEST' S REQUEST A-01 ACCOMODATION OF GUEST A-03 RECEPTION OF GUEST A-02 Accommodated guest Orders to departments Invoice issued to guest Invoice forwarded to Financ. Dept. HANDLING OF GUEST A-04 Fulfillment of guest's request CHARGEING AND GREETING OF GUEST A-05 Fulfillment of requests FINAL ACTIVITIES A-06 ReportsNew proce ss cycle A-0. 1 Analysis of guest' s request A-0. 2 Reception of guest A-0. 3 Accommodation of guest A-0. 4 Handling of guest A-0. 5 Charging of services and greeting of guest A-0. 6 Final activities 3. 6. Description of process steps must specify input, output, mechanisms, rules and controls of each process step, as well as locate structural hotel unit in which certain process step develops. Also, written procedure is named, if any of process steps should be additionally documented. 3. 7. Presentation of dynamic model of the process is plan of implementation of developed business process into functional structure of organization of the hotel.The plan shows in which structural hotel unit develop activities of each process step, and which unit of organization is responsible for their execution. Making of presentation of dynamic model business process is a precondition of the process organisation itself. 760 Creating Customer Value in Tourism and Hospitality Industry, pp. 752-763 M. D rljaca: METHODOLOGY OF BUSINESS PROCESS DEVELOPMENT IN A HOTEL Figure 6. Dynamic model of process of reception and accommodation of guests Partners Financial Division Human Resources Div. Accommodation D. Reception Accommodation Divis. Food & bever. Division Commercial Division Controlling Quality Manager Process steps General Manager Structural units Analysis of guest's request A-01 Reception of guest A-02 Accommodation of guest A-03Handling of guest A-04 Charging of services and greeting of guest A-05 Final activities A -06 3. 8. Establishing of responsibility for the process is logical continuation of work on business process development. It implies exact establishment of responsibility of concrete executor of individual process step. After establishment of responsibility, the conditions for establishment of management team for concrete process are prepared. Management team is headed by manager of business process. In this way we model process organisation, based on team work. 12 3. 9. Plan of measuring within the process is based on description of business process, i. . defined limits of allowed deviations, up to which business process still shows reliability as one of its crucial characteristics. The plan of measuring defines names of control points where certain measurements will be performed. It also defines target value, allowed deviations and measuring method. By all these measurements, comparisons with target values, and possible application of corrective measures and activities – we manage the business process. 12 Pere Sikavica, â€Å"Procesna i timska organizacija†, Slobodno poduzetnistvo, br. 18/98, Zagreb, 1998, p. 108116. 761 Creating Customer Value in Tourism and Hospitality Industry, pp. 752-763 M.Drljaca: METHODOLOGY OF BUSINESS PROCESS DEVELOPMENT IN A HOTEL 3. 10. Plan of providing information within process is necessary in order to clearly define: which participant of business process provides the information, who receives it , what is its contens, and when is the information sent and received. 3. 11. Making of further process documentation implies writing of procedures for particular process step which definitely needs it, and writing of lower level documents, like work instructions, check lists, plans of corrective measures and activities, etc. CONCLUSION In the audit of quality of hotel management system it is necessary to document and prove the request for business process management.Since this is the requirement of ISO 9001:2000 international norm, and only four representatives of hotel industry in Croatia have certificates related to this international norm, it is justified to ask: which methods were used in hotels to name, describe and organise structural units of business processes, and how were these business processes controlled, managed and constantly improved. In the economy branches, which are the core of tourist industry, the most successful companies, except for food-and-beverages industry , do not have certificates. There is a limited number of companies which possess international certificates, amongst which are: retail trading, hotel industry, road transport and manufacture of furniture. Therefore, repeatedly, the question is put: can we create development strategy for Croatian tourism without developed strategy of these economy branches that realise part of revenue resulting from tourists' expenses. There are no ready universal solutions.Imitating of another company's solutions or adoptions of lesser adjustments of these solutions as their own optimum solutions are – delusions, and in practice will be causing entropy. Every business process is different. It can even have the same name, same number and same names of process steps, same inputs and outputs, but still there are no identical business processes. Differences and originalities are happening in the interaction of inputs and outputs, rules, and controls, as well as mechanisms in each process step â⠂¬â€œ in the area of transformation of inputs into outputs. In the context of quality management systems we may conclude that ISO 9001:2000 international norm does not suggest methodology of business process development, but demands the proof that business processes are being managed.It can be concluded that every methodology of business process developing is satisfactory, if it can prove the management of processes. REFERENCES 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Avelini Holjevac, Ivanka, Kontroling – Upravljanje poslovnim rezultatom, Sveuciliste u Rijeci, Hotelijerski fakultet Opatija, Opatija, 1998. Cerovic, Z. , Hotelski menadzment, Sveuciliste u Rijeci, Fakultet za turisticki i hotelski menadzment Opatija, Opatija, 2003. Domovic, Z. , Anic S. i N. Klaic, Rjecnik stranih rijeci, SANI-PLUS, Zagreb, 1998. Drljaca, M. , „Proces kao ishodiste modela ISO 9001:2000â€Å", Kvaliteta, Broj 3, Infomart, Zagreb, 2002. Drljaca, M. , „Konzistentnost kvalitete i poslovne uspjesnosti u Hrvatsko jâ€Å", Zbornik radova 7.Simpozija Hrvatskog drustva menadzera kvalitete Kvaliteta nas izbor za buducnost, Oskar, Zagreb, Sibenik, 2005. 762 Creating Customer Value in Tourism and Hospitality Industry, pp. 752-763 M. Drljaca: METHODOLOGY OF BUSINESS PROCESS DEVELOPMENT IN A HOTEL 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. HRN EN ISO 8402 Quality management and quality assurance – Vocabulary, (ISO 8402:1994; EN ISO 8402:1995), Quadrilingual version. International norm HRN EN ISO 9000:2002 Quality management systems – Fundamentals and vocabulary (ISO 9000:2000, EN ISO 9000:2000), Version quadrilingue. International norm HRN EN ISO 9001:2002 Quality management systems – Requirements (ISO 9001:2000, EN ISO 9001:2000). Injac, N. i M.Besker, Metodologija izgradnje poslovnih procesa u sustavu kvalitete, Oskar, Zagreb, 2003. Kondic, Z. , Kvaliteta i ISO 9000, Tiva, Varazdin, 2002. Mamuzic, I. , „Procesni pristup u sustavu upravljanja kvalitetomâ€Å", Kvaliteta, Broj 3, Infomart, Zagreb, 2002. Monnich C. H. , Jr. , ISO 9001:2000 for Small and Medium Sized Businesses, American Society for Quality, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, 2001. Ould A. M. , Business Processes, John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester, England, UK, 1995. Sikavica, P. , â€Å"Procesna i timska organizacija†, Slobodno poduzetnistvo, Broj 18, Zagreb, 1998. Vulic, N. , Sustavi upravljanja kvalitetom, Veleuciliste u Splitu, Split, 2001. 763

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Figures of Speech in the Waste Land

Some figures of speech in the wasteland Figures of speech comprise two main categories. One category twists the meaning of words to wrest a new non-literal meaning from words that, when phrased together, have a very different literal meaning, as in the idiomatic figure of speech, â€Å"He died from laughter. † Literally, this means a man met his demise due to laughter. Figuratively (i. e. , non-literally), this means he laughed with vigor for a long time. Figures of speech that twist meaning are classified as  tropes.The other category enhances meaning by arranging and rearranging words and word order to dramatize, emphasize or more elegantly express the point at hand. For example, an analogy may be more dramatically made by using a  chiasmus  that inverts parallelism in a typical abba component arrangement. For example, consider the inverted parallelism of this: The day [a] but shines [b], but glows [b] the night [a]. Figures of speech that enhance through words, sounds , letters, word order and syntax are classified as word schemes, or justschemes.It is clear from this brief explanation of figures of speech that  The Wasteland, with a figure of speech as its very title, will be replete with figures of speech of both kinds,  tropes and schemes. In this format, I can identify a few prominent ones, the first being the title. The Wasteland  is the overarching figure of speech (trope/metaphor) that shapes this entire poetic treatise on the state of the world in Eliot's day. The title of Part I, â€Å"The Burial of the Dead,† is itself a significant figure of speech, also a metaphor, that establishes the central idea of the work.For Eliot, following World War I (1914-1918), Earth itself was ravaged, torn and dead, â€Å"Lilacs out of the dead land †¦. † This figure of speech signifies that death resulting from WWI encompasses the dead who died in battle and the dead who still breath though dead inside from horror and from the lo ss of dead Earth: A crowd flowed over London Bridge, so many, 62 I had not thought death had undone so many. â€Å"Son of man† is another important figure of speech, an allusion and metaphor, as this is to whom portions of Part I are addressed: Son of man, 20You cannot say, or guess, for you know only A heap of broken images, Another important figure of speech (trope/analogy and symbol) found in Part III, â€Å"The Fire Sermon,† is Tiresias, the blind old man who sees â€Å"At the violet hour†: I Tiresias, though blind, throbbing between two lives, †¦ can see At the violet hour, the evening hour that strives 220 Homeward, †¦ This figure of speech is important because it represents Eliot's point and belief that the living dead cannot see, can no longer perceive, what is around them, what is true.This is also an allusion to the Biblical precept that those who see are blind, that is, cannot see spiritual truth. Figures of speech of the  scheme  kind a re also present, though seemingly less prominent and used for elegance and compression rather than for significance. An example is found in Part III: â€Å"the young man carbuncular. † Here the word order is changed so that the adjective modifier â€Å"carbuncular† follows the head noun (â€Å"man†) of the noun phrase. Standard word order would be â€Å"the carbuncular young man. † This sort of rearrangement of word order, with the adjective coming after the noun, is called an  anastrophe