Is PPACA Constitutional Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Is PPACA Constitutional - Assignment Example There are various initiatives that are part of the PPACA program. Majorly the concept of quality/cost as an initiative is designed to improve the quality of health services and at the same time lowering the costs to enable everyone to access Medicare. Improving the quality and reducing the cost will transform health care by changing how the patients receive Medicare in hospitals and also how the physicians in the hospital get compensated. According to this article, PPACA provides a perfect environment for a better healthcare in the future (Segal, 2009). Most important is the cost reduction by preventive care. In this, it has been noted that most a significant part of the bulk of health spending lies in the treatment as opposed to prevention. Thus OPTUM has been involved in a program to monitor patients and behaviorally influence them regarding their health. And owing to the benefits of large scale, providers have famed the work to OPTUM and this reduces the costs. The preventive care involves the employment, training new programs, development, job designs, and interfacing on the operational modality of the new department. Ethnic specialization is as well a good initiative. Ethnic specialization will help in lowering the total costs of variances that would bring in quality throughout the system. Different ethnicities possess different markers and attributes. The UHG has thus chosen to come up with initiatives to educate the communities and extract information from them. The data can hence be used for various analyses or even be provided as a service to the public. OPTUM will also take an initiative of helping providers and offering clinical services. In this, it shall aid providers who require HITECH funds through the provision of technological solutions to them; this shall include HER/EMR implementation organizations, prescription management, services such as payment or billing as well as collaborative technology payments.

An Undisputed Social Issue in The Philippines Essay Example for Free

An Undisputed Social Issue in The Philippines Essay Poverty is a state of being poor, indigence, lack of material things and finances. Poverty puts people into the lowest level in a society. Poor people, most of the time, are neglected by the government, shunned by the society and not given enough opportunities to prosper. They live in a filthy environment, living among a community of criminals. We can enumerate countless of unpleasant words to define the effect of poverty, and there are countless of reasons and causes for these. Poverty remains the central development issue in the Philippines and, despite the ambitious development goals laid out by the government, the country has not been able to sustain the economic growth required to reduce poverty to acceptable levels. Why Poverty Remains a Social Issue in the Philippines First, there is a fundamental disconnect between Filipino elites and the poor. The political leadership in the Philippines has always been drawn from those elites, and those politicians have traditionally played the role of patrons and benefactors, relying on the pork barrel and personal/family funds (often acquired through corruption) to essentially buy votes. â€Å"The core principle of democracy that representatives should be drawn from those they represent and advocate for the true interests of their constituents has not been operative† (Abueva, 1964). Philippine Presidents in particular have been drawn from the ranks of the wealthy and privileged. How can they relate to what it means to be poor or hungry? Even if their hearts in the right place (which is not all that common), well-photographed visits to squatter settlements are not the answer. Second, the Philippines system is exceedingly politicized. President Arroyo herself is already focused on the 2004 presidential elections. In a sense, you cant blame GMA. Her predecessor, Erap, had a built-in constituency among the masa. But President Arroyo must create such a base, given that she is the daughter of a previous President and has virtually nothing in common with the poor people of her country. Look more:  problems of scarcity essay She has worked hard to develop support among the common folk, dressed in jeans with regularity, and sung on stage with popular recording artists. She has also latched onto fighting poverty as a key policy emphasis. In her State-of-the-Nation (SONA) address on July 22nd, she emphasized the so-called rolling stores trucks loaded with subsidized rice, rice, sugar, and canned meat that ply the streets of Manila as a sterling example of her administrations anti-poverty programs. The only problem was that her remarks had knowledgeable economists practically rolling in the aisles, given that few poor people ever get access to the trucks and only 5% of the nations poor live in Metro Manila. But real poverty alleviation programs where they are most needed say in rural Mindanao would lack the publicity opportunities of the rolling stores on Manila streets. Additionally, several other studies list down the primary causes of poverty in the Philippines in terms of economic state: 1. The basic economic problem in the Philippines is inefficient and very low incomes. 2. The finances of the Government had become steadily worse and were not critical, The Treasury had a large and mounting deficit with taxes covering little more than 60% of the expenditures. 3. The country had an excessive volume of imports. In the meantime, the volume of exports was less than before the war an d could be expected to grow only gradually. 4. There had been inequalities in the level of income of people. While the standard of living of a great segment of the population remained below that of the pre-war level, the profits of businessmen and large landowners had risen considerably. Under the circumstances, the continued rise in the prices of commodities tended to transfer real income from the poor to the wealthy and; 5. The inefficiency and corruption in the government led the people to lose their faith and confidence in the ability of the government â€Å"to protect the interest of all the people. † The result was demoralization of the people. According to history, â€Å"the destruction of the national economy as a result of the war posed serious problems of subsistence and of peace and order† (Agoncillo, 1990). In such circumstances the leaders if the nation could only rely on the United States for financial and other material aid. The hundreds of millions of dollars given t the Philippines by the United States in the form of cash and surplus properties were used to rehabilitate agriculture, commerce, trade and industry. Some of it, however, went to the pockets of dishonest officials. There were marked increases in the gross national output and income, but the cost of living, as a whole, continues to soar or, at least, to remain static on the basis of the immediate post-liberation years. At the same time, labor grew and continues to grow, demanding increases in wages and better living conditions. The total picture of the national economy has improved, but the improvements are not sufficient to bring down cost of living, which has remained one of the highest in the world. Agricultural production – The destruction caused by the last war told heavily on the productive capacity of the people and their standard of living (Agoncillo, 1990). With financial help from the United States, however, the government, in the first ten years of the Republic, had succeeded in at least partially solving the minor economic problems. Thus, for instance, crop production from 1946 and 1956 increased from 3, 507, 200 metric tons to almost double the amount of 6, 274, 900 metric tons. This increased production was the upshot of the expanded area planted to food crops and the application of improved means of increasing the yield per hectare, such as the use of fertilizer, irrigation, the use of better seeds, and the effective use of chemicals against plant pests and diseases. Production of export crops also increased tremendously from 315, 000 metric tons in 1956, with copra and sugar leading all export crops. Other exports like abaca, tobacco and their by-products have not so far completely recovered from the effects of the last war (Martin, 1999). However, some are blamed upon the things done by irresponsible individuals from high to low profile individuals such as population growth – some Filipinos believe that it is natural for every married woman to bear a child in their wombs because they are with their husbands (Friedman et al. , 1977). And this are very wrong beliefs since if you will be reasonable enough, you will realize that having a child is always together with great responsibility that has no end. And that you will realize that having more and more children will cause great scarcity in your family such as you would not be able to send your children to school and you would not be able to provide enough foods so that you children will be healthy and do good in school. Population growth is also the reason for a number of malnourish children in the Philippines. Unemployment is also a very common cause of poverty in the Philippines since there are several Filipinos who are unemployed plus the fact that there are many companies that are affected of the global economic crisis. And the least thing that you can do about unemployment is to find a best way on generating money like you can accept laundry services, plumbing services, or electrical repair services if you are skilled enough to do the job. Then, you could start a certain profitable business like food house or a small store that does not require you much capital so that you will not find it hard to save enough money from the services that you are offering. Governance concern is still deemed as one of the main reasons of poverty in the Philippines because of the activities of the corrupt government officials. They are using the money of the people to achieve the power and authority that they wanted to have and once they have it they will automatically take advantage of their power to the point that they will neglect the yoke of the people and set aside their promises when they are just campaigning and try to convince the people to vote for them. Agricultural problems also pose as the natural cause of the poverty in the Philippines because of the wrong activities of people. They ruin the treasure of the nature for their own sake without any idea that the nature they are destroying is the main source of almost all the products that exist in this world. Some of the examples of destroying the nature are the irresponsible disposal of wastes and trash, dynamite fishing, illegal logging and more. Another cause is said to be disability – this is also one of the possible causes of poverty in the Philippines since more and more people nowadays become disabled because of several illnesses and diseases that arise like AH1N1 virus, SARS, dengue, and more. Disability may be also caused by uncontrolled population growth, for instance, you have ten kids in the house, and can you imagine attending to their needs everyday? Well, definitely not so the tendency is that they are prone to accidents that will cause them to be disabled since they are at very young age that are typically playful. Starvation has also been one of the primary effects of poverty in the Philippines. Eating is necessary for us to survive. As humans we need to eat three times a day or more. Unfortunately, not all of us can afford this kind of living. Many people, children and families in this world, suffer from hunger due to lack of finances for their everyday needs. Based on the record of UNICEF, more than half of the children all over the world are malnourished. Most of them came from countries that are less abundant. Apparently, research shows that education has also been a problem in the Philippines. It is not prioritized by the government because only the privileged can have access to basic education in the sense that most of the children in the Philippines could not afford the needs of a student such as food, clothing, school materials and even fares used for transportation. There are also schools which offer free education like the government schools and private schools which accept scholarships, but still, lack in financial support is their main dilemma. These are just some of the reasons why most of the students from different levels take education for granted. Instead of going to school, they spent their time working in order to help their families make a living. The masses have multiplied extremely. Increase in opportunities for employment has not yet overcome the rapid increase in population, resulting in the multiplication of the number of jobless proletariat. When one considers that a large number of school children become â€Å"school orphans† that is, they leave school before or after finishing Grade IV, and that they eventually become peasants or laborers, one ceases to wonder why the base of the triangular structure of society has widened considerably. The strong contrast between the upper classes and the lower classes is that the former are earning more and more and the latter less and less. In other words, the distribution of wealth is one-sided as to make society top heavy. In the countrys present situation, the economy of the Philippines is struggling. The government has a huge debt from the World Bank and those money which the government borrowed where not used in projects which could alleviate poverty but were where lost to corruption. Thats why many Filipinos blame the government for the slow progression of our country. The Philippines was even given a tag as one of the most corrupt countries in Asia. Many people also blame the government because regardless of scarcity that all of us are experiencing, the government still manages to increase the prices of the merchandise in the markets. Conclusion True anti-poverty programs take a long time to bear fruit, and the politically-driven nature of Philippine government sector programs almost ensures that the emphasis will continue to be on quick fixes or interventions that provide high visibility and political payoffs (Warner Harris). This is unfortunate given the seriousness of the situation and the implications for the country if concerted action is not taken. Poverty and malnutrition are already at alarming levels in this country, and the countrys too-rapid population growth is magnifying the strain on limited budgetary resources. The rapidly growing population is jeopardizing the quality of basic social services, contributing to the ongoing decline in quality of basic education, and limiting access to health care (especially primary health care, reproductive health/family planning, immunization, and feeding programs). Achieving any significant reduction in poverty will require rapid economic growth, growth of a magnitude not seen in recent years. Further, addressing issues of inequality will require significant investments in human capital, especially in improving the quantity and quality of primary education. The result of such unbalanced development of society is discontent and grave social problems such as poverty. The extreme poverty has given rise to starvation in some communities an to criminality, The unequal distribution of material possessions, in which the rich wlallow in wealth and the poor in filth is one of the reasons for the rise in criminality. Poverty has alos given rise to a new class known as squatters. References Abueva, J. V. Bridging the Gap Between the Elite and the People in the Philippines, Philippine Journal of Public Administration, October 1964, pp. 325-347; Agoncillo, T. V. (1990). History of the Filipino People Eighth Edition. (pp. 503-512. ) Quezon City: Garotech Publishing. Faith, R. (1996). Poverty, A History Of. Journal of Rural Studies, 12(2), 212-214. Friedmann, B. , Coy R. , Wilson, L. (1977). Emergences: Gender struggles for livelihood in Latin America. Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Center Publications, University of California. Martin, A. A. (1999) Philippine Land Reform: Perpetuating US Colonial Policy. Philippine Studies, Volume 47, Second Quarter 1999; Warner, J. , Harris, R. (n. d. ). Problems with poverty in third world countries. In M. B. Duran (Ed. ), Poverty and identity: studies in self and culture (pp. 39-58). Amsterdam: Daryl Benjamins Publishing Company.

Crops and vegetables Essay Example for Free

Crops and vegetables Essay Contribution of Crops in 1995-96 was 15. 03, in 1997-98 was 14. 59, in 1999-00 was 14. 59, in 2001-02 was 13. 75, in 2003-04 was 13. 23, in 2005-06 was 12. 19. Contribution of crops and vegetables is decreasing year by year. Though production of crops has increased our land has decreased, so our total production has decreased and thus contribution of crops on economy is decreasing. Contribution of Crops and Vegetables in total agriculture in 1995-96 was 58. 53%, in 1997-98 was 57. 58%, in 1999-00 was 57. 04%, in 2001-02 was 57. 32%, in 2003-04 was 57. 32%, in 2005-06 was 55. 99%. From these percentage amounts we can easily say that among the total agriculture sector, contribution of crops and vegetables is most and it is more than 5o% in each year. If we can not increase our crops production then it will have no contribution on GDP. Livestock Contribution of Livestock in 1995-96 was 3. 36, in 1997-98 was 3. 19, in 1999-00 was 3. 02, in 2001-02 was 2. 96, in 2003-04 was 2. 91, in 2005-06 was 2. 93. Though many firms are being established day by day livestock is not contributing enough on GDP. Contribution of Livestock in total agriculture in 1995-96 was 13. 08%, in 1997-98 was 12. 59%, in 1999-00 was 11. 81%, in 2001-02 was 12. 34%, in 2003-04 was 12. 61%, in 2005-06 was 13. 46%. From these above percentage amounts we can say that though our livestock production is not increasing. But contribution of livestock on total agriculture is increasing in recent years. Forestry As we are cutting down more trees to meet our daily need our forestry is gradually decreasing day by day and thus contribution of forestry on GDP is also decreasing. Contribution of Forestry in 1995-96 was 1. 90, in 1997-98 was 1. 89, in 1999-00 was 1. 88, in 2001-02 was 1. 88, in 2003-04 was 1. 83, in 2005-06 was 1. 79. Contribution of Forestry in total agriculture in 1995-96 was 7. 52%, in 1997-98 was 7. 46%, in 1999-00 was 7. 35%, in 2001-02 was 7. 84%, in 2003-04 was 7. 93%, in 2005-06 was 8. 22%. As other sub-sector is decreasing more than forestry, contribution of forestry on total agriculture has increased in recent years. Agriculture and forestry Fisheries Contribution of Fisheries in 1995-96 was 5. 36, in 1997-98 was 5. 67, in 1999-00 was 6. 09, in 2001-02 was 5. 40, in 2003-04 was 5. 11, in 2005-06 was 4. 86. We see that contribution of fisheries on GDP was increasing from 1995-96 to 1999-2000, but after that it has been decreasing. Though the contribution of fisheries is not much on GDP of Bangladesh, this sub-sector has become an important and major source of agriculture. Contribution of Fisheries in total agriculture sector, in 1995-96 was 20. 87%, in 1997-98 was 22. 38%, in 1999-00 was 23. 81%, in 2001-02 was 22. 51%, in 2003-04 was 22. 14%, in 2005-06 was 22. 32%. Which is more than livestock and forestry. Sector/ Sub sector 95-96 96-97 97-98 98-99 99-00 00-01 01-02 02-03 03-04 04-05 05-06 Crops 15. 03 15. 21 14. 59 14. 33 14. 59 14. 7 13. 75 13. 43 13. 23 12. 51 12. 19 In ( % ) 58. 53 58. 80 57. 57 56. 68 57. 03 58. 72 57. 31 57. 22 57. 32 56. 14 55. 99 Livestock 3. 36 3. 27 3. 19 3. 12 3. 02 2. 95 2. 96 2. 93 2. 91 2. 95 2. 93 In ( % ) 13. 08 12. 64 12. 58 12. 34 11. 80 11. 78 12. 33 12. 48 12. 60 13. 24 13. 45 Forestry 1. 93 1. 91 1. 89 1. 9 1. 88 1. 87 1. 88 1. 86 1. 83 1. 82 1. 79 In ( % ) 7. 51 7. 38 7. 45 7. 51 7. 34 7. 47 7. 83 7. 92 7. 92 8. 16 8. 22 Fisheries 5. 36 5. 48 5. 67 5. 93 6. 09 5. 51 5. 4 5. 25 5. 11 5 4. 86 In ( % ) 20. 87 21. 18 22. 37 23. 45 23. 80 22. 01 22. 50 22. 36 22. 14 22. 44 22. 32 Total 25. 68 25. 87 25. 34 25. 28 25. 58 25. 03 23. 99 23. 47 23. 08 22. 28 21. 77 Contribution of Agriculture in Employment The linkage between the agricultural sector and the economy in general is in terms of employment generation. This is especially important because agriculture is by far the largest employer of poor people, and therefore has a key role in poverty alleviation. According to the 1981 census, total employment was approximately 24 million people (Table 2. 7). Of these, more than 60 per cent were employed in the agricultural sector, representing 14. 5 million people. This figure represents those directly working in agriculture and does not include employment in agricultural-related manufacturing industries. According to the 1991 census, the number of employed in agriculture increased to 16. 3 million. While this figure shows that the share of agriculture in total employment declined over the 10-year period, agriculture still provided employment for well over half the total workforce (again excluding employment in agriculture related industries). Statistics of the Labor Force Survey (LFS) in 1989 and again in 1991 show a similar pattern, although they indicate a more significant role for agriculture in employment generation. The main difference between the two surveys is that the LFS includes household-based economic activity, and therefore perhaps provides a better picture of actual employment patterns and trends. According to the 1989 LFS, almost three-quarters of the all employment were derived directly from the agricultural sector, with 34 million employed. The 1991 survey showed that agriculture continued to provide a livelihood for the vast majority of Bangladeshis, although its share dropped slightly in comparison to non-farm employment. According to the last census which is took place in 2002-2003 the labor force working in agriculture is 51. 7% of the total labor force of the country. Women participation in Agriculture In the socio-economic context of Bangladesh, involvement of women in agriculture is very important. It would be easier to control rural-urban migration by engaging women in agricultural activities to a greater extent. Considering women. s involvement in agriculture, the following programmes will be taken up for enhancing their role under the scope of the National Agriculture Policy: Agriculture related activities like post harvest operations, seed preservation, nursery business, jute stripping, vegetable cultivation, homestead gardening, floriculture, production of horticultural seeds, establishment and management of cottage industries based on locally produced agricultural commodities, etc are very suitable for women. Extensive training programmes will be conducted and capital support will be provided to encourage women’s interest and improve their skill in such activities. the women are always a major employment force of agriculture. A large majority of the households in Bangladesh depend upon agriculture and related activities like livestock rearing, fisheries and forestry. In 1992-93, crops accounted for 77. 7% of the total agricultural production, fisheries 7. 8%, livestock 7. 7% and forestry 6. 7%. The agricultural sector accounted for nearly 36% of Gross Domestic Product . Despite their routine domestic work, women are very actively involved in agricultural production in Bangladesh. Women in rural Bangladesh are in general responsible for most of the agricultural work in the homestead. They traditionally undertake home gardening. Farm activities in the homesteads, ranging from selection of seed to harvesting and storing of crops, are predominantly managed by women. Despite womens important role in agriculture, the traditional social norms and customary laws combined with the purdah system deprive Bangladeshi women of equitable economic opportunities and access to resources.

A Marketing Analysis Of Air Asia Marketing Essay

A Marketing Analysis Of Air Asia Marketing Essay In order to make sure that the slogan of Now Everyone Can Fly, Airasia had launched Low Fare Campaign in order to attract the customers to fly with a low fare. The objectives of this campaign are to offer low fares to customer to travel and offer discounts to the public in order to encourage more people to fly with Airasia. Moreover, this will lead to new market entry of first-time user. (Thestar, 2007) 2.0 Airasia Market analysis 2.1 PESTEL analysis Political Factor Airasia airline had planned to build a new single-runway airport in Labu, Negeri Sembilan with the Sime Darby in 2009 and been approved by the government. However, the plan has been cancelled due to the Stated-owned Malaysia Airports had tried to stop to build the new terminal and disagreement with former Prime Minister, Tun Mahathir. (Flightglobal, 2009) Economic Factor In 2010, Malaysia Government had introduced one government policy which is 10 Malaysia Plan to the public in order to unleash the growth of economic. The Airport development is one of the plans as Malaysia Government expects the passengers amount will increase to 62 million in 2015. A new low cost terminal will be built by the in Kuala Lumpur International Airport for Airasia and has larger terminal. (Midfresearch, 2010) Social Cultural Factor Malaysia is the country which has 3 ethnics and the cultures are unique. Airasia believes that the communities are expecting that the airline can treat every ethnic equally. In order to do that, Airasia is practicing the meritocracy culture whereby the employees hired not based on the age and ethnic. (Airasia, 2009) Technological Factor Airasia has implemented information technology in running the operations of the airline to save the costs. The information technologies that implemented are yield management system and computer reservation system. The systems can help the airline to save the costs by recording on revenue and transactions in daily operations. (Management of Technology, 2009) Environmental Factor Airasia has invested in the latest technology and full utilization of the aircraft in protecting the environment and A320 airbus which is more efficient to operate and more save fuel is used. Airasia ticketless system and near paperless office are the strategies to cut down the waste of paper. (Airasia, 2009) Legal Factor In order to operate in Malaysia, Airasia must apply the Air Service License from the Malaysia Civil Aviation. The regulations such as Civil Aviation Act 1969 and Aviation Offences Act 1984 must be followed. (Airasia, 2004) 2.2 SWOT analysis Strength Analysis Low Cost Carrier business model is one of the strength of Airasia in order to compete in the airline industry. The second is Airasia has a very strong relationship with the government and the airline industry leaders. The third is well established of brand name in Asia Pacific. (Management of Technology, 2009) Weakness Analysis The Airasia main weakness is the airline more reliable on the out sourcing workforce. The other weaknesses are the service resource is limited and the airline is receiving many complaints on the no-refundable of the ticket canceled and the delay of flight. (Management of Technology, 2009) Opportunity Analysis The first opportunity is the ever-increasing oil price which enables Airasia to compete with other low cost airline. (Management of Technology, 2009). ASEAN Open Skies agreement that achieved which is allows Airasia to run unlimited flights among ASEANS regional is also an opportunity. (Wong, 2009) Threat Analysis The first threat is the services rates (airport departure, security charges) are controlled by the airline. The other threats are other entrance of low cost airline and the operation cost is increase due to the services that added. (Wong, 2009) 2.3Trend and Current Position 2.3.1 Airasia Trend In 2009, the low-cost carrier airline that established well had proved that has sufficient power to operate across the region in different market and economic. Airasia airline is the fast-growing and profit earning steadily airline which had increased the profit for the past. Airasia is also able to grow the market share in the Southeast Asia and had introduced the low-cost long-haul carrier whereby can offering the passenger cheaper fare. Airasia has started to have partnership with other low cost airline to reduce the airline operation costs such as ground-handling services. (Flightglobal, 2010) 2.3.2 Airasia and Competitors Current Position In Malaysia, the main competitor of Airasia is the Malaysia Airline System (MAS) which is Malaysias National Airline. In order to compete with Airasia, MAS had launched the first low cost airline which is Firefly. The airline is the test-bed in running low-cost operation. In March 2007, Malaysia Airline System had launched the first community and low cost airline which is Firefly to compete with other low cost airline. The Firefly airline is the test-bed of Malaysia Airline System in running the low-cost operation instead to test for new market segmentation and the Malaysia Airline System will adapt and expand it into national carrier if the operation of Firefly is proven success and gain stability. (Datamonitor, 2008). Due to the existing of new competitor, Airasia Malaysia has two competitors in Malaysia. However, the prices of airline ticket in Airasia is the main advantage and able to maintain current position as low-cost carrier. Particular Malaysia Airline Airasia Firefly Airfare Non RM15 RM130 Service Charge RM9 Non Non Surcharge RM76 RM47.50 RM51 Total RM85 RM62.50 RM181 (Prices Comparison for one person one way ticket to Pulau Langkawi during promotion) (Reference: Amdtaufik, 2008) 3.0 Objective 3.1 Corporate Objective The first objective of Airasia is to become the largest low cost airline organization in Asia by provide services to 3 billion people. Second objective is to attain with the lowest cost and lead to everyone can fly. The third objective is to maintain the product quality and reduce the costs. 3.2 Communication and Marketing Objectives The first communication objective of Airasia is to promote the organization, services and products through the effective communication program to the customers. The second objective is to make sure that there is a communication relationship between the Airasia and the customers and the relationship can be strengthen through the campaign awareness and brand reputation. The third objective is to expand the communication and media strategy in order to create brand or product awareness to the customers in order to achieve the organization goal. The last communication objective is to maintain the good relationship with the customers and keep updating customers with organization informations. (JobDB, 2011) 4.0 Marketing Communication Tool Low Fare Campaign 4.1Advertising In order to communicate with the target audience, Airasia is using advertising as a tool in introducing the products and services. One of the important advertising media that frequently used is the social media. The advantages of using social media are the internet enable the interactive capabilities, high selectivity by the users and the cost is low. In Airasia, the organization strongly agrees that social media is playing an important role in order for the organization to do advertising and build a consumer group that contributing trust to brand and value. Nowadays, the internet had made the people able to connect with the whole world people easily and more time is spending for online. By using social media, the messages of the products and services can be reaching out and able to share out the content of message effectively. Besides that, the social media is able to provide a channel of communication for the organization to run the activity such as low fare promotions, new product launching and news announcement. Moreover, the social media able to create a communication platform for the Airasia to connect with the people and enable the people to have more understanding on the organization. (Airasia,2009) Airasia had started the corporate blog (www.blog.airasia.com) in 2008 and Facebook (www.facebook.com/AirAsia) in 2009. The effectiveness and efficiencies of the social media enable Airasia to reach the number of fans and creating a strong relation community. For the community, they are able to get the latest information about the campaign that launched by Airasia through the social media. (Airasia, 2011) Another method of Airasia to run the advertising is using the Airspace advertising whereby the unique and effective way of advertising can be done to reach all the customers who take the flight. With the new approach of advertising and more cost saving, the messages can be reaching to large coverage of passengers.   This allows the messages of the campaign directly communicate with the passenger and can across effectively whether on the ground or in the sky. The advertisements of the campaign can be placed in the auto boarding pass, the information counter, sales office and on the passengers seats. (Airasia, 2010) Besides that, Airasia use newspaper as advertising media. By using the newspaper, the messages of the campaign can be more flexible to access to the different coverage of markets and the target audiences are different. The newspaper medias that used by Airasia in Malaysia are Star, Sin Chew Daily, China Press, Berita Harian and others. (Lee and Johnson, 2005) 4.2 Direct marketing Direct marketing is an interactive system that can helps the organization to personalized communications between them and the customers. With the help of computer and internet development nowadays, the organization is able to run two way communications for their products and services. (Lee and Johnson, 2005) In order to increase the awareness of the organization to the customers, Airasia is using direct marketing in order to encourage the interactions between organizations and allow users to be more understanding on the brand. One of the direct marketing tool that used by Airasia is the Yahoo Mobile. Airasia is promoting and sending the messages to the customers by using other website. Airasia has corporate with Yahoo Mobile whereby the organization allows Airasia mobile website to put the banner advertisement on the Yahoo mobile homepage, yahoo mail and yahoo search. The mobile users just need to access to the Yahoo Mobile and click to the Airasia banner, the link will automatically connect to the Airasia Website. By this, the customers can book the flight tickets, checking the ticket booking status and access to the promoting campaign. These services and information assessment through mobile technology has lead to the increasing in awareness of the organization and campaign promotion. Moreover, this direct marketing method had lead to the good responses from the users whereby the total click to the website is 108,405 clicks and the rate is 1.78 percent after 28days launching. (Mobilemarketer, 2009) 4.3 Public Relation There are many activities that can be carried by the public relation in order to communicate to the related party. In Airasia, one of the activities that carried out by the Public Relation is the Corporate Social Responsibility. The features in this concept are the organization shares the values and joyfulness in with the related parties. Airasia is celebrating the times of joy with the communities, practicing the communities value and traditions and delivering cares to them. There are few area that focused by the Airasia in caring out this activity. The first area is the organization work place. Airasia is practicing the meritocracy culture and the employees are hired due to their performance and ability. The elements like gender, creed, age and ethic are not considered in the hiring process. By practicing the meritocracy culture, Airasia believe that they can strive to exceed the communitys high expectation and provides equally treatment to all the communities. The second area that focused is helping the communities to pass the hard time. There was an earthquake happened in 2009 and had shocked many communities in Indonesia. At that moment, the Airasia decided to lend a hand and running the charity flight to help the victims to go out from that place. Moreover, the Airasia in Malaysia is also helping out in providing the cargo space to deliver the goods for the victims. Airasia always help the victims of disaster and providing joyfulness and hope to them. The last area that focused is minimizing the environment impact in creating greener environment. The first thing Airasia do is promoting the recycle concept to the work place environment and encourage paperless system office to be run. Moreover, self service check-in options is encouraged by the organization in order to helps in reduce the need for expensive airport infrastructure. The efficient and simple ground environment is the main policy in protecting the environment. (Airasia, 2009) 5.0 Airasia Marketing Strategies 5.1 Pull and Profile Strategy Airasia is using the Pull Strategy to deliver the low fare campaign information directly to the end-user customers. The purposes of the messages delivered are to increase the campaign awareness, encourage the customers involvement and to influence the customer perception. By these, the customer behavior and perception may be changed and lead to the purchasing of the products. Moreover, Airasia use this strategy to encourage and attract the customers to purchase airline through the website channel. For Airasia to complete and deliver the pull strategy, the method that use can be deliver the message through the social media or website by offering the low fare promotion to the customers. (Fill , 2006) Airasia is using the Profile Strategy which is using different messages in target all the stakeholders that related. The stakeholders of Airasia are customers, employees, regulators and the local communities. This strategy is including the pull selling which is requires high promoting to attract the customers and push strategy which is forces from the organization to increase the customer demand. By using this strategy through different marketing communication tools to deliver different message, Airasia is able to build up the awareness of the low fare campaign and the perception of communities toward the campaign. (Fill , 2006) 5.2 Unique Selling Propositions In order to be unique selling proposition, the strategy that used by Airasia is low cost carrier and has come out the vision of in becoming the largest low cost airline in Asia and makes the dream of average income people to fly happens. The slogan that implement for the strategy is Now Everyone Can Fly whereby the tickets prices are lower. To become differently from others airline, Airasia has implementing few strategies in order to make sure that the low fare model is possible to run. The first strategy that Airasia apply is the Safety First strategy on the maintenance of the airplane. The organization is follow the others world airline operation safety strategy and partnering with the worlds recognize repairing and maintenance manufacturer. The second strategy is the High Aircraft Utilization where the Airasia implementing the fastest turnover time in make sure the cost can be lower and productivity is high.   The third strategy is low fare and no frill whereby providing the services without promises on the quality. The last strategy is providing more different distribution channels such as Airasia Mobile and booking website for the customers to check the booking and the flight schedule informations. (Airasia, 2010) 6.0 Airasia Communication Campaign Cost Outline Cost 2008 2009 Revenue RM 2,81,526,000 RM3,072,049,000 Marketing Communication Campaign Cost (Avdertising, Direct Maketing and Public Relation) RM 5,630,520 RM 61440980 (Reference: Airasia, 2009) Airasia is using 2% of the yearly avenue to invest in the marketing communication campaign in order to create awareness of products and services among the communities. (Low, 2010) The costs that spend for 2008 are RM 5,630,520 and RM 61440980 for 2009. 7.0 Methods of measuring the effectiveness of the marketing communication There are few methods that Airasia can use to measure the effectiveness of the marketing communication in the Zero Fare Campaign. The first method is the Pre-Testing whereby the marketing communication concept, targeting group and behaviour are pre-test before the launching of campaign. This test can be done by the qualitative and quantitative method which is giving out survey forms and collect opinions. The second method is Post-Testing whereby the effectiveness of marketing communication is evaluated after the campaign launching. Airasia can use the behavioural test to measures the responses and perception of consumer on the marketing communication after Zero Fare campaign was launched. Moreover, Airasia can also use the sales test which is the measures on the sales and then will get result on the marketing communication effectiveness. The third method is Tracking Studies which is the study is involves the collection data of the consumer perception toward the campaign. Airasia can use the interview method to collect the data of consumer perception on the marketing communication of the campaign and what message that gets from the campaign. By this, the organization is able to more understand on the consumer perception and a good record for future marketing communication plan. The fourth method is Likeability test which is testing the level of consumer enjoyment on the marketing communication of the campaign. The result will lead to the sales result and the consumer satisfaction result. (Fill, 2006) Total word count: 2986 words

High Prevalence of Hepatotoxicity on HIV Patients under TDF First Base

In this cross-sectional study, our data demonstrate a high prevalence of hepatotoxicity 21.65% (225). Among 1039 HIV infected individuals, 8.2% (85) were on NVP based regimen, 38.8% (403) were on EFV based regimen, 26.18% (272) were on PI based regimen and 9.8% (102) were on raltegravir based regimen; of which only 2.4% experienced severe hepatotoxicity (n=25). This is in contrast with the previous findings, as many previous studies conducted so far have reported high prevalence of severe hepatotoxicity. For example a study conducted by Ferdinand et al., reported grade 4 hepatotoxicity in 7.9% patients [8], a retrospective study conducted at Duke University Medical Center (DUMC) and Durham VA Medical Center (DVAMC) Infectious Diseases Clinics have reported 10.7% incidence of severe hepatotoxicity [9]. However, a recent study conducted on Ethiopian cohort have reported grade 3 and grade 4 hepatotoxicity among 1.84% of HIV infected patients [10]. The reason why the higher incidence was found among other cohort studies might be our study excluded patient with HBV/HCV infection. Among the 225 patients, 12.31% of them were on first line ART regimen. However SH among patient on first line ART was found to be present in 1.82%, this is similar with the previous finding that, among those receiving first line ART 1.7% had SH. However many finding states that overall rate of SH was between (4.2% - 8.9%) [11-13].In addition by analyzing further we found that SH was found to be higher in NVP (19.35%) than EFV (14.4%) based NNRTI, this is in line with the previous findings. The proportion of hepatotoxicity among HIV infected individuals is found to be 3.84%, 2.21%, 0.96% for patients who are ART naà ¯ve, on PI based regimen and raltegravir based ... ...transformed for statistical analysis. CD4 T-cell measurement was performed using flowcytometer FC 500, (Beckman Coulter, Pasadena, CA, USA), ALT and AST level were measured in Olympus AU400 Chemistry analyzer (Beckman Coulter, Pasadena, CA, USA). Statistical analysis: Baseline characters were recorded as median and interquartile range for continuous variables and as percentages for categorical variables. Differences in demographic characters between 4 groups were compared using Kruskal-Wallis Test for continuous variables and Pearson chi-square and Fisher’s exact test for categorical variables. Time to event between the groups was compared using Kaplan-Meier estimates and log rank test. Association between the risk factors and hepatotoxicity was computed using Odds Ratios (ORs). All statistical analysis was performed in Vasserstats: Statistical computation website.

Napoleon Bonaparte Essay -- History Biography Biographies Essays

Napoleon Bonaparte   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Napoleon Bonaparte is considered to be one of the greatest conquers and captains of modern times. In history perhaps no one person has ever aroused so many intense opposite emotions. Perhaps no one had ever claimed as much of the admiration, fear, and hatred of all men as did Napoleon. Napoleon was a man with many sides. He started many of his challenging voyages and defeats as a young child and they continued throughout his life. He had many accomplishments and many defeats that affect the world in which we live. Napoleon plays a very big part in history.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Napoleon Bonaparte was born on August 15, 1769, at Ajaccio, in Corsica. His parents were Charles Marie Bonaparte and Marie-Letizia Ramolino who also lived in Corsica.. Although Corsica was Napoleon's home most of his schooling was conducted in France. On December 15, 1778, at the age of nine, Napoleon left Ajaccio to go and study the French Language at a school in Brienne. Later, at the age of sixteen, Napoleon decided to enter the artillery so that maybe his brains and industry would balance his lack of outward advantages. On October 28, 1785 he joined the LA Fere located in Valence. A little over ten years later he decided to get married to Joshephine de Beauharnais from Martinique in the Indies. After many years of marriage, Napoleon realized that his wife was getting older and he had no heirs, so in 1809 he divorced her to look for a younger bride. In 1810 he met and married Archduchess, Marie Louise the eighteen-year-old daughter of Emperor Francis I of Austr ia. During their marriage Napoleon and his new wife conceived one child, a boy also named Napoleon.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Napoleon was a man known for his greatest powers and successes as a leader. One of the many successful things Napoleon did early in his life was develop a highly successful military strategy. His tragedy consisted of starting a battle with an enemy while holding his forces back. He would then look for the enemies weakest points and throw all his strength against that point. This newly developed strategy helped him to win many of his attacks such as his attack on and defeat in Italy against Austria and his battle and defeat in Egypt against the Turks.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After Napoleon's defeats in Egypt he returned to France where he seized control of the French government in November 1799. After ten years of revolut... ...n hands. However, in the states he created, Napoleon granted constitutions, introduced law codes, abolished feudalism, created efficient governments, and fostered education, science, literature, and arts. Napoleon still remains one of the outstanding figures of his time even though he was selfish in his power and had some occasional defeats.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Today in the world in which we live many people look back at Napoleon as a legend. Although he has many lasting affects on the world and holds a very important part in history, today that kind of aggressive dictatorship would not be tolerated. When people look back at Napoleon's leadership they think of all the needless wars and lives that were lost due to his obsession with power. Today, people would not want to live under the strict control of any form of government like dictatorship. When many people think of this form of government they are very cautious because with dictatorship comes a very restricted life. People do not want any one individual to have all the power because bad decisions are made sometimes and the people have to pay. People would rather have control of their own government instead of it having control of them.

Judaism Essay -- Religion, Jews, Christians

I learned a lot of facts about Judaism that I had previously been ignorant to. I had no idea that we (Christians & Jews) maintained the same bible (The Old Testament) but that we interpreted certain events differently, such as Adam and Eve. â€Å"In Judaism, each and every human being is free to choose good or evil because each person stands before God in the same relationship that Adam and Eve did† (Esposito 77). I was unaware that Judaism did not believe in â€Å"original sin.† I had no knowledge of the fact that Jews did not believe that Christ was resurrected from the dead. I found it interesting how Jews have split into separate groups – Reform Jews, who believe that Judaism is a cultural inheritance and that neither the laws nor beliefs are necessary. The Conservative Jews, who believe in strict obedience to most laws, but that belief in God is not the point. The Orthodox Jews, who believe in the literal reading of the Torah and strict obedience to the laws . Finally there are the ultra-Orthodox Jews, a radical group, that have attempted to separate from the non-Jewish and secular worlds because they refuse any type of compromise with modernity. â€Å"In the eyes of the ultra-Orthodox, their secular, Reform, and Conservative brethren are not really Jews, and Orthodox Jews are not orthodox enough† (Esposito 80). I found it amazing how the world was trying to get rid of the Jews but in doing so they helped them to survive by keeping them together. â€Å"Jews were forced to live in segregated quarters called ghettos† (Esposito 106). I was also unaware as to the horrific past Jews have suffered. I knew of the Holocaust but I was unaware of the other atrocious historic events that have marred their life such as the Crusades where Jews were forced t... ...vivid reminder of Christianity’s early hostility toward Islam† (Esposito 256-257). I found it even more distressing that the history of Christian deceit did not end their. Muslims remember hearing of freedom and independence but in all actuality, â€Å"†¦it was an independence of artificial creations† (Esposito 266). No one was really concerned with their independence as much as they were concerned with controlling their oil. Muslims also are unable to forget â€Å"†¦the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, now often called the Six-Day War† where â€Å"The Arabs experienced a massive loss of territory†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Esposito 267). It is amazing to me the history of these three religions and how completely uneducated most people are to all three of the religions. How can we be expected to be tolerant of one another and our differences if we do not fully understand and appreciate the history of each other?