Saturday, December 28, 2019

What Is a Hominin Reassessing our Ancient Family Tree

Over the last few years, the word hominin has crept into the public news stories about our human ancestors. This is not a misspelling for hominid; this reflects an evolutionary change in the understanding of what it means to be human. But it is admittedly confusing to scholars and students alike. Up until the 1980s, paleoanthropologists generally followed the taxonomic system developed by the 18th-century scientist Carl Linnaeus, when they spoke of the various species of humans. After Darwin, the family of Hominoids devised by scholars by the middle of the 20th century included two subfamilies: the subfamily of Hominids (humans and their ancestors) and that of Anthropoids (chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans). Those subfamilies were based on morphological and behavioral similarities in the groups: thats what the data had to offer, comparing skeletal differences. But debates as to how closely related our ancient relatives were to us heated in paleontology and paleoanthropology: all scholars had to base those interpretations on was morphological variations. Ancient fossils, even if we had complete skeletons, were made up of myriad traits, often shared across species and genus. Which of those traits should be considered significant in determining relatedness of species: tooth enamel thickness or arm length? Skull shape or jaw alignment? Bipedal locomotion or tool use? New Data But all that changed when new data based on underlying chemical differences began to arrive from laboratories like the Max Planck Institutes in Germany. First, molecular studies in the late 20th century showed that shared morphology does not mean shared history. At the genetic level, humans, chimpanzees, and gorillas are more closely related to one another than we are to orangutans: in addition, humans, chimps and gorillas are all African apes; orangutans evolved in Asia. More recent mitochondrial and nuclear genetic studies have also supported a tripartite division of our family group as well: Gorilla; Pan and Homo; Pongo. So, the nomenclature for analysis of human evolution and our place in it had to change. Splitting Up the Family To better express our close relationship to the other African apes, scientists split the Hominoids into two subfamilies: Ponginae (orangutans) and Homininae (humans and their ancestors, and chimps and gorillas). But, we still need a way to discuss humans and their ancestors as a separate group, so researchers have proposed a further breakdown of the Homininae subfamily, to include Hominini (hominins or humans and their ancestors), Panini (pan or chimpanzees and bonobos), and Gorillini (gorillas). Roughly speaking, then--but not exactly--a Hominin is what we used to call a Hominid; a creature that paleoanthropologists have agreed is human or a human ancestor. Species in the Hominin bucket include all of the Homo species (Homo sapiens, H. ergaster, H. rudolfensis, includinging Neanderthals, Denisovans, and Flores), all of the Australopithecines (Australopithecus afarensis, A. africanus, A. boisei, etc.) and other ancient forms like Paranthropus and Ardipithecus. Hominoids Molecular and genomic (DNA) studies have been able to bring most scholars to consensus about many of the previous debates about living species and our closest relatives, but strong controversies still swirl around the placement of Late Miocene species, called hominoids, including ancient forms like Dyropithecus, Ankarapithecus, and Graecopithecus. What you can conclude at this point is that since humans are more closely related to Pan than gorillas, Homos and Pan probably had a joint ancestor who probably lived between 4 and 8 million years ago, during the late Miocene. We just havent met her yet. Family Hominidae The following table is adapted from Wood and Harrison (2011). Subfamily Tribe Genus Ponginae -- Pongo Hominiae Gorillini Gorilla Panini Pan Homo Australopithecus,Kenyanthropus,Paranthropus, Homo Incertae Sedis Ardipithecus,Orrorin,Sahelanthropus Family Hominidae Finally... Fossil skeletons of hominins and our ancestors are still being recovered around the world, and there is no doubt that new techniques of imaging and molecular analysis will continue to provide evidence, supporting or refuting these categories, and always teaching us more about the early stages of human evolution. Meet the Hominins Toumaà ¯ (Sahelanthropus tchadensis)Lucy (Australopithecus afarensisSelam (Australopithecus afarensis)Ardipithecus ramidusFlores man (Homo floresiensis Guides to Hominin Species AustralopithecusDenisovansNeanderthalsHomo erectus and Homo egaster Sources Agustà  J, Siria ASd, and Garcà ©s M. 2003. Explaining the end of the hominoid experiment in Europe. Journal of Human Evolution 45(2):145-153.Cameron DW. 1997. A revised systematic scheme for the Eurasian Miocene fossil Hominidae. Journal of Human Evolution 33(4):449-477.Cela-Conde CJ. 2001. Hominid Taxon and Systematics of the Hominoidea. In: Tobias PV, editor. .Humanity from African Naissance to Coming Millennia: Colloquia in Human Biology and Palaeoanthropology Florence; Johannesburg: Firenze University Press; Witwatersrand University Press. p 271-279.Krause J, Fu Q, Good JM, Viola B, Shunkov MV, Derevianko AP, and Paabo S. 2010. The complete mitochondrial DNA genome of an unknown hominin from southern Siberia. Nature 464(7290):894-897.Lieberman DE. 1998. Homology and hominid phylogeny: Problems and potential solutions. Evolutionary Anthropology 7(4):142-151.Strait DS, Grine FE, and Moniz MA. 1997. A reappraisal of early hominid phylogeny. Journal of Human Evolution 32(1):17-82 .Tobias PV. 1978. The earliest Transvaal members of the genus Homo with another look at some problems of hominid taxonomy and systematics. Zeitschrift fà ¼r Morphologie und Anthropologie 69(3):225-265.Underdown, Simon. How the word hominid evolved to include hominin. Nature 444, Nature, December 6, 2006.Wood, Bernard. The evolutionary context of the first hominins. Nature volume 470, Terry Harrison, Nature, February 16, 2011.

Friday, December 20, 2019

Who moved my cheese Essay - 811 Words

Who Moved My Cheese? nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;I agree that fear does drive me everyday. From early in the morning until I go to bed at night. I’m afraid if I stay in bed and don’t go to work, I’ll be fired. I’m afraid if I don’t pretend to like everyone at work that they won’t like me. I’m afraid that if I tell my boss what I really think of his idea, he’ll find a way to fire me. I’m afraid that if I don’t attend the parent meeting at school, they will think I’m a bad parent. These are just a few of the fears that run through my mind. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Sometimes I wonder what life would be like to just tell people what I really think of them, instead of staying silent because I’m afraid of what they’ll think. Sometimes†¦show more content†¦nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;My father left our family when I was around 12 years old and never kept any contact with us. I always wanted to call him or write him and tell him how horrible I thought he was for that. But, of course because of my fear of confrontation, I did not. Instead, I send him Christmas and birthday cards each year and pretend it never happened. It is easier to me than dealing with it. I guess you would call that, a fear of dealing with negative feelings. I will never do that to my children. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Speaking of children, I have lots of fears concerning them. I fear they will make the same mistakes I did and not learn the same valuable lessons. I fear they will be disappointed and not be able to deal with it. I fear they will grow up and not use their minds, as they should. I fear them not choosing the right path. Most of all I fear they will not be happy with themselves. The fears I have about my children are some of my greatest fears. I do not want them to be unhappy. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;I have been at my mother in-laws house before, after a big dinner and I didn’t want to help with the dishes because none my of sister in-laws would. But, I feared they would be angry with me if I didn’t help, so I did. Had I told them what I really thought I might not have to ever go back there again or I might not even be married? Then that brings on anotherShow MoreRelatedWho Moved My Cheese by Spencer Johnson1037 Words   |  4 PagesWho Moved My Cheese? is a motivational book written by Spencer Johnson in the form of a business fable. The book was said to be written to reveal profound truths to individuals and organizations dealing with change. Mr. Johnson has sold over 26 million copies and published his work in 37 different languages putting it amongst the best-selling books of all time. Mr. Johnson saw the discouragement that overcame people after failing to adjust to something that has altered their lives so he was influenceRead MoreWho Moved My Cheese1185 Words   |  5 Pages Who Moved My Cheese Who Moved My Cheese by Spencer Johnson, tells the story of how our surrounding environment changes, how we need deal with these changes instead of adapting to it, and how to succeed in life. In this story there are four characters: two mice, Sniff and Scurry and two litter people Haw and Hem, all of them looking for cheese in the maze to survive. Every day, they put their jogging suit and their running shoes to find their favorite cheese. The two mice use the try error methodRead MoreWho Moved My Cheese?1579 Words   |  7 Pagesprepared for it. Who Moved My Cheese?, by Spencer Johnson, is a short parable about four different characters adapting or not adapting to unexpected change. This story and the lessons it contains, can serve as a guideline to adapting to change in both one’s professional and personal life. But change is a difficult and frightening experience, and resistance to change is often also an undeniable fact of life. The Four Characters There are four characters in Who Moved My Cheese? who can each representRead MoreWho Moved My Cheese817 Words   |  4 PagesIntroduction Who Moved My Cheese is a well-articulated business fable about how to deal with change in organizations, personal life, and in various situations involving changing paradigms. There are four characters identified in the fable and are described in the below figure. It’s important to note that both Sniff and Scurry are mice in the story and Hem and Haw represent two little people. This paper is being written with the objective of identifying the character in the fable whichRead MoreWho Moved My Cheese1896 Words   |  8 PagesIntroduction Who Moved My Cheese? tells a story of change, of how we react to it, and the trouble we can find ourselves in when we dont follow that change. The story is about four characters, two mice, and two little people. The characters live in a maze chasing cheese. The cheese represents anything we chase after in life and believe it will make us happy. The story details the trials and troubles we all have in daily lives. Book Summary Who Moved My Cheese?, by Spencer Johnson, is a parableRead MoreWho Moved My Cheese?817 Words   |  4 PagesWho Moved My Cheese? â€Æ' Ever read a story that relates to your personal life? I just recently read the story Who Moved My Cheese? , By Spencer Johnson. I’m not much of a reader, but this story really made me think. This story makes you think about the way you live your life and how you deal with change in your life. The author could have easily just given the message in a few paragraphs, but he gave the messages in a story involving two mice and two little people stuck in a maze. They all areRead MoreWho Moved My Cheese1509 Words   |  7 PagesAbstract â€Å"Who Moved My Cheese† is a story about the simplicities and complications of life. The differences between the four characters depict each of our emotional states and how we react to change in our lives. Who Moved My Cheese is a story about the simplicities and complications of life. The differences between the four characters depict each of our emotional states and how we react to change in our lives. The four characters are Sniff, Scurry, Hem and Haw who reveal the different stages weRead MoreWho Moved My Cheese?876 Words   |  4 Pages In the video â€Å"Who Moved My Cheese?† the mice that were less complex minded, inventoried their food â€Å"cheese† daily and realized the need for change with situation (shortage). On the other hand, the two little men got comfortable in familiar surroundings, letting their guard down, and not realizing the subtle changes in their environment. The two little men followed their daily route to the food, only to notice the food was gone. â€Å"Hem† one of the two men believed that the cheese would come backRead MoreWho Moved My Cheese?905 Words   |  4 PagesWho Moved My Cheese? is a story of four characters: two mice ( Sn iff and Scurry) and two little people ( Hem and Haw), The characters live in a maze and are in constant search for cheese. Every morning the mice and the humans went their separate ways, through the corridors and hallways of the maze, in search of cheese. One day both groups stumble upon a â€Å"Cheese Station C.† This corridor had more cheese than any other. Pleased with their findings, Hem and Haw started to get more and more comfortableRead MoreReflection on Who Moved My Cheese1731 Words   |  7 PagesWho Moved My Cheese? This book, by Spencer Johnson, reveals the truths about how we deal with change that happens in our lives which effects us in so many ways, either positively or negatively. The book takes an amusing approach to what happens when you don’t adapt to change and what happens when you do. In the book, cheese is used as a metaphor for what you want to have in life. All my life I wanted the nice house, the beautiful wife, the kids, money, the dog, the nice tuck to pull the nice

Thursday, December 12, 2019

Accounting Theory and Current Issues Positive Accounting Research

Question: Discuss about theAccounting Theory and Current Issuesfor Positive Accounting Research. Answer: Introduction The present study is based on critical evaluation of Half a Defence of Positive Accounting Research written by Paul V Dunmore for Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand. In this research paper, positive approach to accounting is examined in a broader sense in order to understand cause and effect relationship. This article aims to develop casual explanations of human behaviour in accounting settings. The objective of present literature critique is to assess the relevance of present article in the field of positive accounting. For this aspect, an initially summary of the article will be provided by focusing on its main argument. It will be followed by research questions and theoretical framework to develop an understanding of its literature review. By considering literature review, significance and limitation of the article will be evaluated in order to draw a valid conclusion. Summary of The Article Positive accounting theory is one of the crucial segment of academic accounting research which aims to evaluate and forecasts actual practices in accounting. This approach is in contrast with the normative accounting which is focused on the description of optimal accounting standards. Half a Defence of Positive Accounting Research had evaluated ontology and epistemology of positive research by considering deficiencies of present practices of accounting research. Further, it also determines ways to improve approach of present accounting to promote better practices that can be followed by individuals. A foremost argument in the article is that positive accounting requires better theoretical models which are highly specific and vulnerable. The article states that inappropriate progress in positive accounting is due to ad hoc quantitative models which are restricted to expected sign of a relationship between two variables. These models are not structured in a proper manner due to which i t cannot be operationalized. In the contemporary era, there is a need for effective measures to which theoretical models can be tested rigorously. It is because accounting concepts are to be operationalized carefully in support of interesting concepts which are beneficial and significant for businesses. Policy makers are required to focus on consideration of appropriate functional form with can be form better linear relationship with the existing accounting concepts. Study of Paul V Dunmore shows that after the establishment of reliable manner for measuring a concept then it will be considered standard for further studies. This approach will prevent reinvention of measurement of each study and promote improvement in standards. A further argument in this article is about transference in attention away from the testing of hypotheses towards an approximation of parameters. For this aspect, confidence intervals for parameters is needed to be compared with theoretical predictions or with comparable measurements of those parameters from other relevant studies. In accordance with the present article, there is a need for data archives of measurements of important concepts for the testing of particular theories and contribute to the archive. It is because forming of cautious measurements is a substantial skill for which results are to be acknowledged as part of the discipline in research activity. These measurements work as resources as well as constraints for future theoretical advances. In last, there is a necessity for widespread replication, in order to draw valid conclusions from hypothesis testing. This will assist in confirmation of accuracy of measurements and for exploring the limits of applicability of research findings. Research Question Considered article is focused on the critical evaluation of positive accounting research, and its research questions are enumerated as below: What is required for a successful positive research program? What are the vulnerable models that are tested stringently What are the ways of analytical modelling? Whether should be focused on measurement instead of testing? To determine the viability of existing results in order to explore limits of applicability of previous findings? Theoretical Framework The review reveals severe drawbacks in the performance of positive accounting research which holds it back from giving an effective involvement in broad-based projects. A basic requirement of a significant qualitative research is that the conceptual outlines maintain the standards of testing in order to limit their applicability in the research. Such theories must be formulated with tests against each other for reaching an appropriate conclusion. The need for extensive replication of the research may arise in order to verify the conclusions driven from the testing of hypothesis. A shift in focus is also required to develop a conceptual framework. This shift should be from theory testing towards ascertainment of the basic outlines of the research. Better measurement tools are the need of an accounting research to be perfect. This may result in better evaluation and testing of the models developed so far. In addition, the models which form the basis of hypothesis testing must be developed. These models must be clearly stated and must be free from environmental vulnerability. Some good research has been considered for illustrating the examples. Major criticism outlined in the article by Paul V Dunmore are enumerated as below: Positive accounting does not provide any prescription as it explains and predicts what would happen instead of clarifying what ought to happen. This aspect does not satisfy major aim of positive accounting theory. Theory of positive accounting is not value-free as it merely focused on the explanation of what people might do by ignoring the aspect that what are they are actually required to do. In this theory assumption is made that each action of management and shareholders have their self-interest with the primary goal of maximising their own wealth without consideration of its adverse aspects. According to Kuhn normal science appropriately fits to be used in positive accounting research instead in actual sciences. An accounting research which is positive in all aspects has a significant contribution towards understanding the behaviour of humans. This is because positive accounting research included some behavioural patterns. Kuhn also argues that a model is replaced only when it can no longer support the concept of normal science, and it incurs some revolutionary crises in some forms. Due to some reason it has been analysed that social system does not remain stable is not but adoption of amended system appropriately suited to advance knowledge will not lead to any crises. The concept of normal science suggests that core characteristic features of the collective communal system included in positive accounting research are noticeable and practical drawbacks of the research. The objective of this social system is to furnish some queries related to human behaviour to the researchers. Thus, it assists them to have solutions to these queries with a very little effort. The social system may not necessarily add to our already formulated information related to human behaviour in the context of accounting. The stability of the social system remains in doubt for an extended period of time. But this does not imply adoption of a new system every time a new crisis is addressed in the research, which best suits the existing information. Thus, Kuhn views normal science as an enlightening activity, authenticated by the participating group. He describes normal science in a corrective context area of the set of practices, beliefs, and attitudes that are well modified to adjust to the needs of the group and solve a number of queries related to the matter of accounting research. If all the theories are formulated in a way that they have some amount of truth in them, then they could serve a wide variety of economic interests. They also emphasise the importance of measurement of hypothesis testing rather than just testing of hypothesis. Watts and Zimmerman (1978, 1986, 1990), almost patented Positive Accounting Theory; however it can be said that their theory was much narrow in comparison to the broad-based concept of positive research. They had put forward the idea that accounting events occur because of the functions performed by parties that enter into competent contracts of work with some particular objective. These functions comprise of not only specific accounting operations but also other decisions which are related to pricing and other important functions of the management (De Angelo, 1981) Positive accounting research is a social system which is well-established for contribution in the research projects. However, the purpose of each research may be different from another. The notion of the disciplinary matrix used by Kuhn (1970) advises that positive research may be an example that can be optimally used for solving puzzles, irrespective of its contribution in the social system. The potential of accounting research can be attained only by anticipation of future crises and opportunities in it.. Many other areas of positive accounting research are not based upon these theoretical models. The significance of these important literature models attempts to derive their inferences from the prices that the users of accounting information use as a base to their decisions. Further research has been conducted to develop a controlling system that seeks to understand the factors which cause adoption of some theories (Davila and Foster, 2007). These approaches presuppose the rational behaviour of humans (Fukuyama 1995, p. 13). These approaches of theories also suggest that the primary model of balanced, self-focused behaviour of humans is accurate. Some accounting research also evaluates the performance without the presupposing the behaviour of humans (Gibbins, 1984). These examples are not comprehensive when taken as a whole, but they attempt to demonstrate that the entire positive research program is much broader concept than the theory of accounting research. Any research which promotes a better understanding of the environment and causes related to a particular occurrence of accounts in the aspects of human psychological theory meets the criteria of a positive accounting theory. The purpose of an accounting research is to extend the understanding the applicability of various theories in various accounting research. A better approach is to ascertain the validity of the findings of the research. Significance and Limitations of The Article Research paper provided by Paul V Dunmore has a valuable contribution to offer to the wider project for understanding human behaviour. It is because of its inimitable setting used in the research regarding the particular range of behaviours that accounting encompasses. Provided research paper, will assist policy makers in future research for developing better theories by working on existing cons in models of positive accounting. However, there is a significant limitation in the analysis section. In current practice main outputs contains statistically significant coefficients but its interpretation cannot be made for connecting suspect measurements which are inconsistent with sample and theories which are not challenged and whose applicability is presumed instead of evidenced. Study of Flick (2015), shows that tools and models which are supposed to be used in the analysis must be appropriate to the objective of study else it will adversely affect the reliability of the study due to inadequacies related to hypothesis and qualitative research Limitations and benefits of the research article are cited in the study but it is not clear from a reader perspective. Constraints identified in the study affects the validity of research due to which it can be considered for further studies (Creswell, 2013). Theoretical conclusions drawn by the Paul V Dunmore by research analysis is viable as it is supported by proper justification, facts and previous research studies. Conclusion Present literature critique concludes that this article has exposed a wide gap between how positive accounting research is actually practised and what would be required for. The study shows clear the fact that development of rigorous theories is not an easy task, and most of the existing theories will fail when properly tested. The present article will assist policy makers in developing better theories by working on existing cons in models of positive accounting. The present article was presented in clear and concise manner to answer research questions and to draw valid findings. In present research article, there is a requirement for widespread replication, in order to draw valid conclusions from hypothesis testing. By this aspect, there will be confirmation of accuracy of measurements through which researcher can explore the limits of research findings of the study. References Books and Journals Creswell, J.W., 2013. Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. Sage. Davila, A., Foster, G., 2007. Management control systems in early-stage startup companies. The Accounting Review 82 (4), 907-937. Flick, U., 2015. Introducing research methodology: A beginner's guide to doing a research project. Sage. Fukuyama, F., 1995. Trust, the Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity. Free Press, New York. Gibbins, M., 1984. Propositions about the psychology of professional judgment in public accounting. Journal of Accounting Research. 22 (1), 103{125. Kuhn, T. S., 1970. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, 2nd Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago. Watts, R. L., Zimmerman, J. L., 1990. Positive accounting theory: A ten year perspective. The Accounting Review 65 (1), 131-156. Watts, R., Zimmerman, J., 1978. Towards a positive theory of the determination of accounting standards. The Accounting Review 53, 112{134. Watts, R., Zimmerman, J., 1986. Positive Accounting Theory. Prentice Hall.

Wednesday, December 4, 2019

Foundation of Taxation Law Taxable Capital Gains

Question: Describe about the Foundation of Taxation Law for Taxable Capital Gains. Answer: 1. It can be observed from the given information that Fred who is Australia resident for tax purposes has received capital gains from sale of his capital asset i.e. house. The objective is to determine the net taxable capital gains for Fred for the current income year. Fred has purchased the capital asset in March 1987 i.e. after September 20, 1985 which acts as the threshold date for application of CGT on the derived capital gains from sale of capital assets (Woellner, 2014). Discount method and indexation methods are the two alternative methods to determine the taxable capital gains (Barkoczy, 2015). Discount methods is valid for long term assets and provide 50% exemption on the capital gains and the other 50% would be used for levying of the CGT liability (Section 115-25) (Sadiq et. al., 2016). Indexation method is used when the cost base of the capital asset is adjusted based on the inflation rate differential between September 1999 and time of purchase of the capital asset i.e. September 1987. In such cases, there would not be any discount that is applicable on the capital gains derived (Section 114-1).(Gilders et. al., 2016). However, discount method would be preferable to determine the taxable capital gains. As it will provide a lower value of capital gains tax for the taxpayer as compared to the capital gains tax calculated from indexation method (Nethercott, Richardson Devos, 2016). In this case there is no inconsistency because the enactment of the contract and contractual payment made are in the same income year. The enactment of contract and the settlement of the requisite payment is not required to take place simultaneously for the recognition of capital gains but it should ideally be in the same financial year (Hodgson, Mortimer Butler,2016). The cost base is the essential element to calculate the net capital gains for the taxpayer. It is the cost calculated from the addition of actual purchasing cost of the asset to the capital cost and the incidental cost occurred in way of stamp duty, fees in legal formalities, advertising for the asset to find the potential buyer and the expenses incurred for value addition to the existing asset or in maintaining possession and ownership of the asset (Section 110-25) (Deutsch et. al., 2015). ny previous year capital loss would be accumulated in the current years capital gains. However, the nature of the asset should be similar for adjusting the accumulated capital loss against the current year capital gains. If the capital loss has occurred from different asset, than these would not be offset against the capital gains. In such cases, the capital loss would be shifted to next financial year (Barkoczy, 2015). Capital gains for Fred Acquisition price of house $100,000 Proceeds received from sale of the capital asset $800,000 Incidental cost during buying and selling (stamp duty + total legal fees+ commission) (2000+2100+9900) $14,000 Capital cost (cost due to building of the garage) $20,000 Cost base (Acquisition price+ Incidental cost+ Capital cost) (100000+14000+20000) $134,000 Capital gains (Receipts from sale - Cost base) ($800000-134000) $666,000 Capital loss accumulated due to sale of shares $10,000 Net capital gains (capital gains capital loss) (666000-10000) $656,000 Taxable capital gains based on discount method (50% of the net capital gains) (0.5*656,000) $328,000 Capital loss occurred from sale of Antique vase The net capital gains in this case would be different because this loss is from sale of the antique vase, which will not be accommodated against the capital gains earned from sale of the home and hence would be shifted to next year and will only adjust against the capital gains earned from the antique vase in the future (Gilders et. al., 2016). Taxable capital gains (50% of the capital gains) (0.5* 666000) $ 333,000 2. It is apparent from the information provided that Emma as an employee has potentially received fringe benefits on account of car, loan and bathtub. The relevant discussion in regards with these is carried out below. Car fringe benefit Fringe Benefit Tax Assessment Act (FBTAA), 1986, Section 8 tends to state that car fringe benefit would arise only when employer owned car is being used by employee in his/her personal use. In the given situation, the car owned by the employer is used by Emma for satisfying his personal needs and hence the employer has extended car fringe benefit to Emma (Woellner, 2013). Now that it is apparent that car fringe benefit has indeed been extended, the taxable value of this benefit needs to be established. One of the key inputs required in this endeavour is the gross up factor which varies with regards to the good being classified as Type 1 or Type 2. Since the car attracts GST liability, hence it would be termed as Type 1 good and the applicable value for FY2016 is 2.1463 (Gilders et. al., 2016). The relevant formula for estimation of car fringe benefit value is in accordance with Section 39F , FBTAA, 1986 and stated below (Wilmot, 2012). The various input values in the formula shown above are discussed below. Capital value of Car = Money spent by employer to purchase the car Expenses incurred= (33,000 550) = $ 32450 The statutory percentage is determined by the two following critical inputs. Year in which car purchases Distance travelled for personal usage by the employee With regards to the applicable norms, for any vehicle purchased after 2011 and the annual distance travelled not exceeding 15,000 km, 20% is the statutory percentage to be deployed. The car used by Emma in the given case fulfils both the above conditions and hence statutory percentage to be considered is also 20% (Deutsch et. al., 2015). Days for which car was available to Emma = 366 (FY2016 days count) 30 (Car given to Emma only on May 1, 2015) 5 (Unavailability caused by repairs) = 331 days It is noteworthy that there has been no deduction for a period of ten days when the car was idle in the parking as it was available for use as it was in working condition but Emma was not present. Taxable grossed up value (CFB) = $ 32450 20% (331/366) 2.1463 = $ 12,631.95 The applicable FBT rate for FY2016 stands at 49%. Hence, FBT payable by employer on account of CFB = 12,631.95 *0.49 = $ 6,190 Loan fringe benefit This fringe benefit is considered when the employer extended financial help to the concerned employee at an interest rate lower than the RBA statutory rate. The relevant statutory RBA rate has been prescribed by TD 2015/8 and amounts to 5.65% pa (Sadiq et. al., 2016). However, the extension of loan to Emma by Periwinkle has been done at 4.45% pa and it is lesser than 5.65% pa, hence loan fringe benefit would result in the given case (Wilmot, 2012). It is noteworthy that the loan facility has been extended to Emma not at the start of the financial year but on September 1, 2015 and hence adjustment would be made to reflect the same (Barkoczy, 2015). The amount of interest savings reaped by Emma in FY2016 would be the value of the loan fringe benefit Loan Fringe Benefit (LFB) = 500000*(5.65% - 4.45%)*(213/366) = $ 3,491.8 Since, no GST is applicable on the interest component, hence the relevant gross up factor is 1.9608. Taxable value of Loan Fringe Benefit (LFB) = 3,491.8*1.9608 = $ 6,846.72 Hence, FBT payable by employer on account of LFB = 6,846.72*0.49 = $ 3,355 Bathtub related fringe benefit Based on the given information, Emma has been sold a bathtub of retail value $ 2,600 for a net consideration of $ 1,300 and thus has been provided at a discount of 50% which would constitute as an expense fringe benefit as the bath tub is an item of personal usage by the employee (Hodgson, Mortimer Butler,2016). It is known that bathtub sale attracts GST, thus it would be classified as a Type 1 good with the corresponding gross value factor of 2.1463. Taxable value (Expense Fringe Benefit (EFB)) = (2600-1300)*2.1463 = $ 4,078 Hence, FBT payable by employer on account of EFB = 4078*0.49 = $ 1.998 Use of $ 50,000 by Emma Impact on FBT For any loan component that is deployed by the employee for producing income, the employer can claim deduction on the same (Wilmot, 2012). In the given case, instead of $50,000 being used by the husband, it would not be deployed by Emma for generation of gains or income from indulgence in share trading. Therefore, there would be lowering of tax burden for the employer i.e. Periwinkle since incremental deduction is permissible Value of the incremental deduction allowed = 50000*(5.65% -4.45%) = $ 600 References Barkoczy,S 2015.Foundation of Taxation Law 2015,7th edn, CCH Publications, North Ryde Deutsch, R, Freizer, M, Fullerton, I, Hanley, P, Snape, T 2015. Australian tax handbook, 8th edn, Thomson Reuters, Pymont Gilders, F, Taylor, J, Walpole, M, Burton, M. Ciro, T 2016. Understanding taxation law 2016, 8th edn, LexisNexis/Butterworths. Hodgson, H, Mortimer, C Butler, J 2016, Tax Questions and Answers 2016, 5th ed., Thomson Reuters, Sydney, Nethercott, L, Richardson, G Devos, K 2016, Australian Taxation Study Manual 2016, 4th ed., Oxford University Press, Sydney Sadiq, K, Coleman, C, Hanegbi, R, Jogarajan, S, Krever, R, Obst, W, and Ting, A 2016,Principles of Taxation Law 2016,8th edn, Thomson Reuters, Pymont Wilmot, C 2012, FBT Compliance guide, 6th edn, CCH Australia Limited, North Ryde Woellner, R 2014, Australian taxation law 2014, 8th eds., CCH Australia, North Ryde

Thursday, November 28, 2019

Describe the teachings about the sanctity of life according to Christianity and Islam Essay Example

Describe the teachings about the sanctity of life according to Christianity and Islam Essay The word sanctity literally means sacred, special or precious. The phrase sanctity of life is the concept that human life is extra-special and precious, and should be protected in every possible way.According to the teachings of Christianity, all life belongs to God. As we can see in the Christian story of creation (Genesis), God created the first man, Adam, and then created the first woman, Eve.Then the lord God took some soil from the ground and formed a man out of it, he breathed life-giving breath into his nostrils and the man began to live. (Genesis 1:27)Christians believe that God, as the creator of all, is the only one who has the right to take or give human life in any circumstance.The lord kills and restores to life, he sends people to the world of dead and brings them back again. (I Samuel 2:6)In many sections of the bible, we can see Jesus performing miracles to help people. This supports the idea that not only human life itself is precious, but also the quality of human l ife is also very important in the eyes of God and his son, Jesus.Throughout the bible there are several demonstrations of human life being protected by Jesus. An example of this is where Jesus stops a woman who has committed adultery from being stoned to death. This implies that although the woman has actually sinned by breaking one of the Ten Commandments, he still values her life to the extent where he is willing to persuade people to spare her. Such actions can only support the Christian idea that life belongs to God and no other human has the right to take a life.Despite the obvious inclination towards the protection of human life in the New Testament, there appears to be a few contradictions to this in the Old Testament.Anyone who commits murder shall be put to death The principle is a life for a life. (Leviticus 24:17-18)In the Old Testament, there appears to be more of an inclination towards the idea of retribution anyone who has committed a murder shall be murdered themselv es, for example.A possibility as to why this could be is that the attitudes towards death at the time of the writing of the Old Testament were quite different to what they were at the time of the New Testament. During the time of the Old Testament, the people were still quite primitive and the writings perhaps are a reflection of the violence during that particular period. God would have accepted that a religion being introduced with ideas so radical that they would attempt to change the whole attitude of society completely would probably not be accepted. However, during Jesus time, people were more accepting of the message of Christianity and more ready for a peaceful environment and less violent society.Murder defiles the land, and except the death of the murderer there is no way to perform the ritual of purification for the land where a man has been murdered. (Numbers 35:33)This quote could be used to argue that life was still regarded as being precious and sacred because murder was seen as something punishable only by death, which is probably the most severe penalty anyone could pay.The biggest and perhaps most important suggestion that life is sacred according to the bible is one of the Ten Commandments, issued by God himself.Thou shalt not kill. (Exodus 20-21)This is a very definite statement which clearly supports the idea that if a human takes another humans life they are going against the will of God. From this perspective, if God is so against killing that he issues it as one of the ten rules for every human to live by, He obviously sees human life of uppermost importance.Within Christianity today there is the concept of Just War. For any war to be considered just in the eyes of Christianity, it must comply with all of the conditions of Just War. The conditions of Just War suggest that life in general is sacred, but in certain circumstances it can be justified to kill. Although it could be argued that Just War is going against the teachings about the sanctity of life in Christianity, it also has to be recognized that in some situations in the modern world killing has to be performed in order to save the life of others. Just War tries to reflect the attitudes towards death and murder today as well as comply with the teachings of Christianity, just as the Old Testament reflected the attitudes towards violence during its time and the New Testament reflected attitudes towards life and death in its time.Dont you know that you yourselves are Gods temple, and that Gods spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys Gods temple, God will destroy him; for Gods temple is sacred, and you are that his temple. (I Connthians 3:16,17)This quotation demonstrates clearly that God considers human life to be extremely precious and valuable. It also shows that according to the bible, each person has a little bit of God in themselves and that by murdering another human we are in fact conflicting directly with God. Obviously to conflict with God is not som ething a true Christian would wish to do.We can also see that the quotation supports the idea that because God made all human life and put a little bit of his own spirit into each human, it is much more valuable than the life of any other animal on this planet. As humans we are the children of God and he obviously values our lives much more than he does any other life because in ourselves we have a little bit of him.One aspect of Christian belief that suggests that human life is extra-special is that if a human follows the Christian faith they will eventually gain eternal life with God in Heaven. Obviously, God would not allow a human soul to enter heaven if he did not consider their lives to be of great worth.According to the teachings of Islam, human life is sacred. Islam supports the teachings of the Old Testament, and so its ideas that God created life would be the same as those within Christianity.

Sunday, November 24, 2019

Current Research on Medications used in the Treatment of Schizophrenia Essay Example

Current Research on Medications used in the Treatment of Schizophrenia Essay Example Current Research on Medications used in the Treatment of Schizophrenia Paper Current Research on Medications used in the Treatment of Schizophrenia Paper 1996), and the proportion had increased to 64. 4% by 2000 (Wong et al. , 2005). However, little is known about the process by which these medications are adopted, i. e. , whether there is a simple switch to a new medication or a more complex process of trial and error. Literature Review The history of antipsychotic drug development is closely linked to the dopamine (DA) hypothesis of schizophrenia. This hypothesis postulates that schizophrenia is associated with a disorder in DA neurotransmission based on several observations: 1. Dopamine agonists, such as d-amphetamine, bromocriptine, and l-DOPA can exacerbate symptoms in schizophrenic patients and can produce psychotic symptoms in non-schizophrenic persons. 2. All currently used antipsychotic drugs share the common property of D2 dopamine receptor blockade both in vivo and in vitro. 3. A correlation exists between D2 dopamine blocking potential and clinical antipsychotic efficacy (Creese et al. , 2006). An increase in D2 dopamine receptors in the drug-naive schizophrenic brain has been reported but this finding has not been replicated (Wong et al. , 2005). In contrast, it has been shown that the D2 dopamine receptor and its gene are reported to be normal in schizophrenia and the antipsychotic drugs can only control symptoms and cannot cure the disease. While this hypothesis provided a rationale for the development of new drugs, there are still many unresolved problems. Not all schizophrenic symptoms can be explained by excess of dopamine. The positive symptoms of schizophrenia are related to a hyperdopaminergic state in the mesolimbic and mesocortical areas (Crow, 2005), and the negative symptoms to a hypodopaminergic state in the medial prefrontal cortical area (Merriam et al. , 2000). Therefore, a dopamine blocking agent cannot logically be the most suitable drug to improve both the positive and negative dimensions of schizophrenia. Current Pharmacological Treatment of Schizophrenic Patients Clinical Goals of Treatment Antipsychotic therapy focuses on four primary symptom domains in schizophrenia – positive symptoms, negative symptoms, cognitive impairments, and disturbance of mood and affect (Tandon et al. , 2005). Positive symptoms are prominent during acute exacerbations of illness, and often precipitate hospital admission. Negative symptoms include both primary and secondary components, due to either the illness itself or due to other factors such as depression, environmental deprivation, or parkinsonian side effects of antipsychotic medications (Miller et al. , 2000). Although they rarely precipitate hospitalization, they frequently worsen during acute psychotic episodes, and typically do not fully resolve after the episode. Negative symptoms are moderately associated with functional impairments between acute episodes of illness. Cognitive symptoms include deficits in all four major areas of neuropsychological function – memory, attention, language, and executive function. Although cognitive functions often show significant premorbid impairment, there is evidence that they continue to decline after the onset of illness, especially during acute episodes of illness. These symptoms are largely due to the underlying pathology of schizophrenia, but are also worsened by secondary factors, such as depression or pharmacologic treatment. Cognitive symptoms are highly correlated with lifetime functional impairment in schizophrenic patients (Bilder, 2007). Mood and affective symptoms common in schizophrenia include depression, anxiety, agitation, and behavioral dyscontrol. These symptoms contribute to subjective distress, functional impairment, and hospitalization, and are appropriate targets for pharmacologic intervention. The remarkable heterogeneity of schizophrenia is attributable in part to the relative contributions of each of these domains of pathology to individual cases of the disorder. Furthermore, the quality and severity of each type of symptom varies over the course of illness in the individual patient, creating a unique mosaic of symptoms over time. Antipsychotic treatment has usually been focused on positive symptoms, which respond most dramatically to pharmacologic interventions. Modest symptom improvement in other domains typically follows reduction in psychosis. There are two major reasons to focus more intently on negative, cognitive, and mood symptoms. First, they are highly correlated with patients’ functional status and quality of life. Second, because they are difficult to treat once they occur, it is critical to avoid the progression of these symptoms, which is usually associated with acute episodes of illness. Thus, prevention of acute episodes benefits the patient not only by avoidance of hospital admission, but also by minimization of the functional deterioration associated with progression of negative and cognitive symptoms. General Principles Antipsychotic medications have been the mainstay of the pharmacologic treatment of schizophrenia. AAP drugs show levels of antipsychotic efficacy comparable with the conventional agents, but are somewhat more effective in the treatment of negative, cognitive, and mood symptoms, and they carry a greatly reduced risk of EPS and TD (Meltzer, 1993). Clozapine is unique in its antipsychotic efficacy, effective treating 30% to 50% of patients who do not respond to other medications (Kane et al. , 1998). Because of its associated risk for agranulocytosis, seizures, hypotension diabetes and weight gain, clozapine is not considered a first-line agent, and is reserved for treatment-refractory cases. In treating a schizophrenic patient, two factors – the temporal and dimensional – need to be considered. Temporal factors include emergency, acute, chronic and rehabilitation treatments and dimensional factors include the positive, negative, cognitive and mood target symptoms. Acute Treatment Acute patients generally enter treatment through the emergency room and, if needed, may get admitted into the psychiatric ward of a hospital. The removal of the patient from the stressful environment, if any, is itself positive. In an acute setting, antipsychotic monotherapy is the most useful line of treatment, and AAP drugs are preferred because of the lack of acute EPS. Antipsychotic drugs are used in therapeutic doses and in most instances, use of high doses is not needed. There is no evidence that schizophrenic patients respond to any one specific medication and the response depends on the individual. Intramuscular preparations are sometimes required to treat acute patients; both haloperidol and ziprasidone are available in intramuscular formulation. Occasionally, lorazepam intramuscularly either alone or with haloperidol is administered to decrease agitation (Salzman, 1988). The goal in acute treatment is to prevent harm to self or others by decreasing excitatory symptoms. When to Expect improvement Positive symptoms improve first. Of the positive symptoms, psychomotor excitement improves in a day or two and sometimes in a few hours. Akathisia and dystonia also occurs most often with in the first 48 hours to a week, and patients need to watched carefully during this period. Hallucinations and delusions take about 3 months to improve and, in some instances, may continue unabated. Thought disorders improve gradually. There is variability in how an individual patient responds. Adjunct medications, increase in antipsychotic medication dose, addition of another antipsychotic drug, or changing the antipsychotic agent within a month is unwise. Maintenance Treatment Continuing antipsychotic medication treatment after acute symptoms are controlled reduces the likelihood of a relapse (Davis, 1995). The antipsychotic medication should be continued indefinitely. Depot injections decrease relapse rates better than oral medications and are indicated in certain circumstances. Tardive dyskinesia is a major risk with CAP drugs, occurring in about 5% of the haloperidol treated patients per year. In older patients, in one year 27 % of patients develop tardive dyskinesia (Jeste Caligiuri, 1993). It is the risk of tardive dyskinesia which is partly responsible for the popularity of AAP drugs as the first choice for treatment. Dose of the medication is an unsettled issue. With regard to antidepressant therapy, the dose that helped a person to improve is the same dose used as maintenance dose. With antipsychotic drugs, there is a need to use the minimum amount necessary to prevent relapses. What the minimum dose is, is a clinical decision. The maintenance antipsychotic treatment has to be flexible to suit the individual needs with a positive risk-benefit ratio. Discussion The introduction of chlorpromazine a half century ago clearly revolutionized the treatment of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders. Unfortunately, neither this drug nor other typical antipsychotic medications are uniformly or optimally effective in the treatment of individuals with schizophrenia. These agents do not reduce psychotic symptoms in all patients and have limited efficacy against other clinical features of the illness (e. g. , negative symptoms and cognitive deficits). In addition, the different side effects associated with these medications have both contributed to problems with compliance and introduced additional sources of morbidity. The availability of atypical agents, such as clozapine, olanzapine, and risperidone, promised advantages in both efficacy and tolerance but raised very important questions, such as, 1) Which antipsychotic medication used is best for a given profile of symptoms of schizophrenia? and 2) just how much advantage in treatment efficacy, especially for negative symptoms, do the current atypical medications actually provide? Clear answers to these questions have been difficult to obtain from the existing literature because the available studies evaluated only a subset of the medications of interest, used different experimental designs and outcome measures that hinder comparisons across studies, and examined primarily acutely ill subjects, making it difficult to determine whether clinical improvement reflected reductions in not only secondary but also primary negative symptoms. In addition, a number of the comparative studies that have been published were developed and sponsored by the pharmaceutical companies whose medications were being evaluated, raising concerns about potential sources of bias in experimental design or interpretation of outcomes. The study by Papanikolaou and colleagues provides compelling new data that address these important issues. These investigators recruited 157 inpatients who had a diagnosis of chronic schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder and a history of suboptimal treatment response to adequate duration and doses of one or more typical antipsychotics. The patients were randomly assigned to receive clozapine, olanzapine, risperidone, or haloperidol in a 14-week, double blind trial. Total Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale scores were significantly improved for all three patient groups treated with atypical agents but were unchanged for the haloperidol treated group. This finding would be expected for individuals who were selected for study because 1) they had not responded adequately to previous treatment with typical antipsychotics and 2) they had not failed previously to respond to treatment with atypical agents. When compared with haloperidol treatment (with conservative corrections for the performance of multiple statistical tests), only clozapine and olanzapine demonstrated statistically significant improvement in negative symptoms. In addition, none of the three atypical antipsychotics produced a statistically significant improvement in positive symptoms or general psychopathology compared with haloperidol. In considering the significance of these findings, several aspects of this study are worthy of note. First, the importance of such double-blind direct comparisons of therapeutic agents is rivaled by the difficulties involved in conducting such studies. For example, achieving the optimal dose for each agent can be a major challenge; as noted by the authors, the dose of risperidone was probably too high, presenting one limitation to the study. In addition to the complexity involved and time required to conduct these types of studies, the staged introduction of new medications produces problems in making direct comparisons across medications. In the study by Papanikolaou et al. , the comparison of haloperidol, clozapine, and risperidone was designed and implemented when olanzapine became available commercially. To enhance the relevance of their study to clinical practice, the investigators subsequently added an olanzapine treatment arm. However, the later addition of olanzapine-treated subjects meant that assignment to treatment with olanzapine was not completely random with the other three medications, creating the possibility of a cohort effect. This raises the question of whether subjects who entered the study later, and received olanzapine, were somehow different from the subjects who entered the study earlier, and received the other drugs, in a way that would account for any differential response (or lack thereof) to a given treatment. The authors have thoughtfully addressed this question and provide reasonable arguments for the absence of such a cohort effect, but they acknowledge that the possibility cannot be completely excluded. Second, the study was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), contributions of medications from four pharmaceutical corporations, and supplemental funding for the olanzapine arm (equal to about 18% of the total cost of the project) from Eli Lilly and Company, the manufacturer of olanzapine. This arrangement, a realistic compromise that made possible the direct comparison of four drugs, nonetheless raises concerns about potential bias, given that olanzapine proved to be more effective than other drugs on some measures. However, in contrast to investigations that are initiated and controlled by industry, the authors had complete independence in the design, conduct, analysis, and interpretation of the study. In some ways, this study may represent a model approach for the support of clinical trials; that is, the study was designed and conducted by independent investigators, principally funded by the federal government, and supplemented by contributions from, but without undue influence by, the pharmaceutical industry. Indeed, such government/private collaborations for investigator-initiated research have been encouraged by NIMH. Third, despite achieving statistical significance, the differences in efficacy across the medications examined in this study were, as noted by the authors, modest and their clinical significance limited. Thus, the disappointingly small added value of atypical antipsychotics in this patient population clearly underscores the need for the identification of more effective treatments. In this regard, the study by Leucht et al. (1999) in this months Journal provides an informative lesson. These authors conducted a meta-analysis of amisulpride, an atypical atypical antipsychotic that has been used clinically in France for the past decade. Leucht et al. found that amisulpride was superior to typical antipsychotics in improving global symptoms and negative symptoms in acutely ill patients with schizophrenia and more effective than placebo (but not than typical antipsychotics) in patients with predominantly negative symptoms. However, as in the study by Papanikolaou et al. , the additional improvement provided by amisulpride was relatively small. For example, the mean effect size was 0. 11 in acutely ill patients, indicating 11 percentage points more improvement in Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale total score with amisulpride than with typical antipsychotic medications. In addition to clarifying the clinical efficacy of amisulpride, the findings of Leucht and colleagues are informative regarding the pharmacological basis for the atypicality of antipsychotic medications. Although it shares the clinical properties (e. g. , reduced extrapyramidal symptoms at therapeutic doses) that characterize other atypical agents, amisulpride is unusual in that it lacks the combination of activity at dopamine D2 and serotonin 5-HT2 receptors that has been proposed to account for the efficacy and side effect profile of atypical antipsychotics (1). In contrast, amisulpride is a highly selective antagonist of dopamine D2/D3 receptors. Thus, the superiority of amisulpride in terms of clinical response and reduced extrapyramidal symptoms suggests that activity at the serotonin 5-HT2 receptor is not required for atypicality. As a consequence, these findings may indirectly support the hypothesis of Seeman and Kapur (1996) that fast dissociation from the dopamine D2 receptor accounts for the distinctive features of atypical antipsychotic medications. Conclusion The findings of both studies may further enhance the ability of clinicians to make informed, evidence-based decisions regarding the antipsychotic medication that is most likely to be effective in individual patients. However, the modest differences in clinical efficacy of a given atypical medication relative to typical antipsychotics, and especially in comparison with other atypical antipsychotics, both warrant caution in the face of marketing claims of superiority for a given drug and underscore the continued need for the types of basic research that can contribute to the development of novel and more effective medications for the treatment of schizophrenia. REFERENCES Bilder RM. (2007). Neurocognitive impairment in schizophrenia and how it affects treatment options. Can J Psychiatry; 42: 255-264. Creese I, Burt DR, Snyder SH. (2006). Dopamine receptor binding predicts clinical and pharmacological potencies of antischizophrenic drugs. Science; 192: 481- 83. Crow T. (2005). The two syndrome concept: Origins and current status. Schizophrenia Bull; 11: 471-86. Davis JM (1995). Overview: maintenance therapy in psychiatry: I. Schizophrenia. Am J Psychiatry; 132(12): 1237-45. Denckner S (2001). The need for long-term neuroleptic treatment in schizophrenia. Acta Psychiatric Scand Suppl; 291:29-43 Jeste DV, Caligiuri MP (1993). Tardive dyskinesia. Schizophrenia Bull 1993; 19(2): 303- 315. Kane J, Honigfeld G, Singer J, Meltzer H. (1988). Clozapine for the treatment-resistant Schizophrenic: a double blind comparison with chlorpromazine. Arch Gen Psychiatry; 45: 789-796. Leucht S, Pitschel-Walz G, Abraham D, Kissling W. (1999). Efficacy and extrapyramidal side effects of the new anti psychotics olanzapine, quetiapine, risperidone, and sertindole compared to conventional anti psychotics and placebo: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Schizophrenia Res; 35:51- 68. Meltzer HY (1993). New drugs for the treatment of schizophrenia. Psychiatry Clinical North Am; 16: 365-385. Merriam AE, Kay SR, Opler LA, Kushner SF, van Praag HM (2000). Neurological signs and the positive-negative dimension in schizophrenia. American Journal of Psychiatry 28: 181-92. Miller DD, Tandon R. (2000). The Biology and Pathophysiology of Negative Symptoms. In: Keefe R, McEvoy J. Eds, Negative Symptom of Schizophrenia. Washington, DC, American Psychiatric Press; 163-186. Nasrallah HA Eds. (2005). Contemporary Issues in the Treatment of Schizophrenia. Washington, DC, American Psychiatric Press; 109-124. Papanikolaou, Wiesel FA, Stone-Elander S, Halldin C, Nordstrom AL, Hall H, et al. (1990). D2 dopamine receptor in neuroleptic naive schizophrenic patients. Arch Gen Psychiatry; 47: 213-19. Remington, G. , and Chong, S. A. (1999). Conventional versus novel antipsychotics: Changing concepts and clinical implications. Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, 24:431-441. Rosenheck R, Cramer J, Xu W, Thomas J, Henderson W, Frisman L, Fye C, Charney D. (1997). (Department of Veterans Affairs Cooperative Study Group on Clozapine in Refractory Schizophrenia): A comparison of clozapine and haloperidol in hospitalized patients with refractory schizophrenia. N Engl J Med ; 337:809-815 Salzman C. (1988). Use of benzodiazepines to control disruptive behavior in inpatients. J Clinical Psychiatry; 49(suppl): 13-15. Seeman P, Lee T, Chau-Wong M, Wong K. (1996). Antipsychotic drug doses and neuroleptic/dopamine receptors. Nature; 262: 717- 19. Tandon R, Jibson M, Taylor SF, DeQuardo JR. (2005). Conceptual models of the relationship between positive and negative symptoms: Implications for pathophysiology and treatment. Wong DF, Wagner HN Jr, Tune LE, Dannals RF, Pearlson GD, Links JM, et al. (2005). Positron emission tomography reveals elevated D2 dopamine receptors in drug naive schizophrenics. Science; 244: 1558-63 Worrel, J. A. ; Marken, P. A. ; Beckman, S. E. ; and Ruehter, V. L. (2000). Atypical antipsychotic agents: A critical review. American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy, 57:238-255.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Criticism on Management by Objective (MBO) Approach Essay

Criticism on Management by Objective (MBO) Approach - Essay Example One of the major flaws within the MBO technique is the failure to address motivational factors effectively. Although the MBO approach allows the managers and subordinates to align their short-term goals with organizational objective, individual motivational components are not adequately addressed. According to Levinson, the MBO technique fails to incorporate emotional components of motivation into the system hence creating more pressure in the employees (1). In particular, employees are not emotionally motivated in achieving the set goals and hence the development of the conflict between the managers and subordinates. MBO technique does not provide means of achieving the set objectives. Ideally, in the MBO technique, the managers and subordinates formulate timely and measurable objectives within the organization (University of San Francisco 4). However, in this technique, the required sets of behavior in order to achieve set objectives are not stipulate. This causes confusion and challenge to the employees, especially the one who is not accustomed to the organizational process. In conclusion, the MBO technique has been criticized because of several flaws within the system. It is clear from the above discussion that failure to provide behavioral means of achieving objectives and lack of emotional motivation form the basis of criticism for the technique. Therefore, the manager using this approach should try to incorporate the discussed aspects in order to get the good outcome.