Childhod Depression essays

Childhod Depression essays Most adults and many children and adolescents have a few bad days here and there, sometimes three or four in a row. When this happens, your mood is bad, you feel like jumping on people for nothing. You sleep, but you do not rest. You eat, but you are not hungry. Your life is one big chore. Everything that was fun is work and what usually is work is like walking with lead boots. Often you have stomach aches, headaches, aching, dizziness and other symptoms, but the doctors can not find anything wrong. When family and friends want to talk, you do not listen. If you can, you stay alone and wish they would all just go away. And you think about what you have got to do, and you wish you could put it off for ever. And about what you have done, and about what could go wrong, and how you could never live like this for 30 more years. Of course not everyone has all those symptoms every time. When people are clinically depressed, they have this for weeks, months, and often years. Nearly everyone knows someone who has been severely depressed as 6% of the world's population has had an episode of severe depression like this. Suicide occurs in 15% of depressed people. Depression in school-age children may be one of the most overlooked and under treated psychological disorders of childhood, presenting a serious mental health problem. Depression in children has become an important issue in research due to its many emotional forms, and its relationship to self-destructive behaviors. Depressive disorders are of particular importance to school psychologists, who are often placed in the best position to identify, refer, and treat depressed children. Procedures need to be developed to identify depression in students to avoid allowing those children struggling with depression to go undetected. Depression is one of the most treatable forms of disorders, with an 80-90% chance of improvement if individuals receive treatment (Dubuque, 1998). On the other ...

Early Action Schools Complete List of EA Colleges

Early Action Schools Complete List of EA Colleges SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Would you like to know where you'll be going to college as soon as possible? If you apply early action, then you might have your plans all set by winter break of your senior year. That's a big leap forward compared with waiting for regular notifications in March or April! A large number of schools offer an early action deadline in addition to a regular decision deadline. This guide will go over what you need to know about applying early action and give you a comprehensive list of all the schools that offer it. To start, how does early action work? What You Need to Know About Early Action Early action can be a great option if you've done your college research and have prepared all the different parts of your applicationby the November deadline. Data shows that a greater percentage of early action candidates get accepted than regular decision candidates. However, this higher admission rate might reflect the competitiveness of early action applicants rather than suggest that applying early gives you a special advantage. A good rule of thumb to go by is this: apply early if you're organized and have a strong application ready to go. Wait until regular decision if your application would be stronger with a couple more months of preparation. Remember, your highest priority should always beto send the best application you can. The most common deadlines for early action are November 1 and November 15.You'll typically hear back from these colleges in mid-December. Hopefully, the news makes for a happy New Year! Even though you hear back early, you're not obligated to respond to an offer of acceptance any earlier than the national response date, which is May 1.So feel free to hang onto that acceptance letter as you wait to hear back from the rest of the colleges you applied to. You can then compare offers and financial aid packages once you've received all your admissions decisions. Just like with regular decision, your application may be accepted or denied. But there's also a third option: getting deferred. This means that your application will be pushed into the regular decision pool to be reviewed again in February or March. If you're deferred and remain very interested in the school, you could send along mid-year grades or test scores if you think they'll help your application. You could also call the admissions office to find out whether there's anything you can send to strengthen your candidacy. For the most part, you can apply to as many early action collegesas you want; however, a few schools have restrictive or single-choice early action,which means that you can't apply early action anywhere else. (Note that you can still apply regular decision elsewhere.) Schools with restrictive early action policies includeHarvard, Princeton, Stanford, and Yale. Besides these four universities, though,what colleges offer early action deadlines? Want to build the best possible college application? We can help. PrepScholar Admissions is the world's best admissions consulting service. We combine world-class admissions counselors with our data-driven, proprietary admissions strategies. We've overseen thousands of students get into their top choice schools, from state colleges to the Ivy League. We know what kinds of students colleges want to admit. We want to get you admitted to your dream schools. Learn more about PrepScholar Admissions to maximize your chance of getting in. Can't wait to find out which campus you'll be admiringfall foliage on? Applying early action might be for you! Complete List of Early Action Schools by State Below is the complete list of schools withearly action, organized alphabetically by state. Some popular schools include Caltech, MIT, Georgetown, UNC, the University of Chicago, the University of Michigan, Notre Dame, UVA, and Villanova. Search for your school of interest by state, or use the ctrl + F function on your keyboard to type in the first few letters of the school and be brought right to it. Note: There are currently no schools in Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, South Dakota, or Wyoming with Early Action admissions. We'll be sure to update this article if this changes. Alabama Auburn University Birmingham-Southern College Arkansas Hendrix College University of Arkansas California Azusa Pacific University Biola University California Baptist University California Institute of Technology (Caltech) California Lutheran University Chapman University Concordia University Irvine Loyola Marymount University The Master's University Menlo College Mills College Mount Saint Mary’s University Point Loma Nazarene University Saint Mary's College of California Santa Clara University Simpson University Soka University of America Stanford University University of the Pacific University of Redlands University of San Francisco Vanguard University of Southern California Westmont College Whittier College Colorado Colorado College Colorado State University University of Colorado Boulder University of Denver Connecticut Fairfield University Sacred Heart University United States Coast Guard Academy University of New Haven Yale University Delaware Delaware College of Art and Design District of Columbia Catholic University of America Georgetown University Howard University Florida Eckerd College Lynn University University of Miami University of Tampa Georgia Agnes Scott College Emmanuel College Georgia College and State University Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) Georgia State University Mercer University Morehouse College Oglethorpe University Spelman College University of Georgia Georgia Tech (Davidhermanns/Wikimedia Commons) Idaho College of Idaho Northwest Nazarene University Illinois Augustana College DePaul University Illinois College Illinois Wesleyan University Knox College Lake Forest College School of the Art Institute of Chicago University of Chicago University of Illinois at Chicago Wheaton College Indiana Butler University DePauw University Earlham College Grace College Hanover College Purdue University Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology University of Evansville University of Notre Dame Wabash College Iowa Coe College Cornell College Wartburg College Kentucky Bellarmine University Centre College Transylvania University University of Kentucky Louisiana Centenary College of Louisiana Tulane University Maine Maine Maritime Academy Saint Joseph’s College of Maine Thomas College Unity College University of Maine University of Maine at Farmington University of Maine at Machias University of New England Maryland Goucher College Loyola University Maryland McDaniel College Mount St. Mary's University Salisbury University St. John's College University of Maryland University of Maryland, Baltimore County Washington College Massachusetts Assumption College Babson College Bay Path University Becker College Berklee College of Music Bridgewater State University Clark University Curry College Dean College Emerson College Emmanuel College Framingham State University Gordon College Hampshire College Harvard University Hellenic College Lasell College Lesley University Massachusetts College of Art and Design Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Massachusetts Maritime Academy Merrimack College Montserrat College of Art Northeastern University Regis College Salem State University Simmons College Stonehill College Suffolk University University of Massachusetts Amherst University of Massachusetts Boston University of Massachusetts Dartmouth University of Massachusetts Lowell Wheaton College Worcester Polytechnic Institute Worcester State University Michigan Central Michigan University College for Creative Studies Kalamazoo College Michigan State University University of Michigan University of Michigan in Ann Arbor Minnesota College of Saint Benedict Gustavus Adolphus College Hamline University Minneapolis College of Art and Design Saint John's University Mississippi Millsaps College New Hampshire Saint Anselm College Southern New Hampshire University University of New Hampshire New Jersey Bloomfield College Caldwell University Felician College Georgian Court University Kean University Monmouth University Princeton University Rider University Saint Peter's University Seton Hall University William Paterson University New Mexico St. John's College New York Adelphi University Bard College College of Mount Saint Vincent College of Saint Rose Columbia University, School of General Studies Concordia College New York Fordham University Hofstra University Iona College Ithaca College Le Moyne College LIM College LIU Brooklyn LIU Post Manhattanville College Marist College Molloy College New York Institute of Technology Niagara University Pace University Parsons School of Design (The New School) Pratt Institute The Sage Colleges Siena College SUNY Albany (University at Albany) SUNY Binghamton (Binghamton University) SUNY Buffalo (University at Buffalo) SUNY Cortland SUNY New Paltz SUNY Oneonta SUNY Polytechnic Institute SUNY Purchase (Purchase College) Utica College Wells College North Carolina Elon University High Point University Lees-McRae College Lenoir-Rhyne University North Carolina State University Queens University of Charlotte University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University of North Carolina at Charlotte University of North Carolina at Wilmington Warren Wilson College Western Carolina University Ohio Case Western Reserve University Cleveland Institute of Art College of Wooster John Carroll University Miami University Ohio State University Ohio Wesleyan University University of Akron University of Cincinnati University of Dayton Wittenberg University Oklahoma University of Tulsa Oregon Eastern Oregon University George Fox University Lewis Clark College Linfield College Oregon State University University of Oregon Willamette University Pennsylvania Duquesne University La Salle University Lycoming College Saint Joseph's University Susquehanna University Temple University University of Scranton Ursinus College Villanova University Washington Jefferson College Westminster College Rhode Island Bryant University Providence College Roger Williams University Salve Regina University University of Rhode Island South Carolina College of Charleston Furman University Presbyterian College University of South Carolina Wofford College Tennessee Rhodes College Sewanee: University of the South Texas Abilene Christian University Austin College Baylor University Southern Methodist University Southwestern University Tarleton State University Texas Christian University Texas Lutheran University Trinity University University of Dallas University of St. Thomas Baylor University in Waco, Texas Utah University of Utah Vermont Bennington College Marlboro College Saint Michael's College Sterling College University of Vermont Virginia Christendom College Christopher Newport University George Mason University Hampden-Sydney College Hampton University Hollins University James Madison University Longwood University Old Dominion University Patrick Henry College Radford University Randolph College Randolph-Macon College Sweet Briar College University of Mary Washington University of Virginia University of Virginia's College at Wise Washington Cornish College of the Arts Gonzaga University Northwest University Seattle Pacific University Seattle University Whitworth University West Virginia Shepherd University Wisconsin Beloit College Carthage College Lawrence University As you can see, there are a lot of early action schools. But does it give you an advantage to apply early to a school? The short answer is yes. Applying early can communicate your enthusiasm for the school and highlight your commitment to going there. Moreover, schools tend to accept more early action applicants than they do regular decision applicants so they can geta higher yield.Yield refers to the percentage of students who accept their offers of admission. Since early action applicants are serious about attending that school, they're more likely to accept an offer of admission. In terms of yield, the more students who accept their offers of admission, the higher a school's yield will be. And the higher a school's yield is, the easier it will be to predict enrollment numbers and avoid having to make a waitlist. At the same time, applying early doesn't necessarily make poor grades or low SAT/ACT scores look better, especially since early action students tend to be some of the strongest applicants. Timeline for Applying Early Action to College If you choose to apply early action, then you have to immerse yourself in college planning a few months earlier than you would for regular decision deadlines (though either way, you'll benefit from preparing early!). The parts that require especially early planning are theSAT/ACT, your recommendation letters, and your personal essay.In the fall, you'll also want to submit your transcript request form to your guidance office and take your time filling out the Common Application or school's individual application. Here's a brief timeline showing you how to apply early action. Step 1: Take the SAT/ACT For the SAT/ACT, it's a good idea to leave yourself plenty of SAT/ACT test dates. Students almost always improve when they retake the SAT/ACT, especially if they do focused, targeted test prep in-between test dates. If you apply early action, your last opportunity to take the ACT is September, while your last chance to take the SAT is October (both during your senior year). Since this is right up to your early action deadline, you probably won't be able to view your scores before deciding whether or not to send them. With all the other busy things going on in the fall of your senior year, there's no doubt it's better totake the SAT/ACT earlier than this. We suggest taking the SAT/ACT first in the fall of yourjunior year, again in the spring of your junior year, and a third time (if needed) in the summer or fall after your junior year. Think about how much time you can devote to test prep and how many times you'd like to take the tests to achieve your SAT/ACT target scores. As you can see, planning out your SAT/ACT could start more than a year before your actual early action deadline! Step 2: Ask for Letters of Recommendation In terms of recommendation letters, give your teachers and/or counselor at least one month to write your letter. This means you should ask for your recs before October 1 your senior year. It can be a good idea, too, to ask at the end of your junior year, since these teachers will remember you most clearly at this point. They'll likely appreciate how on top of college applications you are! Step 3: Plan and Begin Writing Your College Essay Just like with letters of rec, you want to spend some time planning and writing your personal essay and any other supplemental essays. I recommend working on it over the summer.Even reading essay prompts can help you begin brainstorming potential topics. You can then spend a few months drafting, getting feedback, and revising your essay until it's ready for submission. Step 4: Finish Your Application Finally, in September and October, you can work on the rest of your application, proofreading all the information in it and writing about your extracurricular activities in a compelling manner. By startingthe application process in the spring of your junior year (earlier including the SAT/ACT), you should be ready with a thoughtful and well-executed application by November for sure! Want to build the best possible college application? We can help. PrepScholar Admissions is the world's best admissions consulting service. We combine world-class admissions counselors with our data-driven, proprietary admissions strategies. We've overseen thousands of students get into their top choice schools, from state colleges to the Ivy League. We know what kinds of students colleges want to admit. We want to get you admitted to your dream schools. Learn more about PrepScholar Admissions to maximize your chance of getting in. What's Next? Do you have your sights set on the Ivy League? Learn what it takes to get into Harvard and other highly selective schools from this Harvard alum. Now that you know which schools offer early action, check out this guide on all the early action deadlines!It goes over the most popular early action schools and offers acomprehensive list of all the colleges with early action deadlines. Are you also interested in early decision? This guide covers all early decision schools and their deadlines. Want to improve your SAT score by 160points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

An Account of the Retail Manager's Duties Essay

An Account of the Retail Manager's Duties - Essay Example Some businesses find it very hard to register high number of sales. This usually results in losses to the business or profits that are not exactly up to the levels that had been set previously. Such sales are recorded as very low returns by the businesses and thus this may result in the business closing down. When a business is recording such low returns in the sales that it is making, it is said to be under-achieving (Cox & Britain, 2004). The Retail Manager’s Account in Context Under-achieving businesses are usually in a gradual process towards witnessing a major downfall. It something is not done about these businesses, the levels of the losses that are incurred are set to continue affecting the running of the business. For a small chain store such the one I am managing, the under-achieving sales are very dangerous. This might actually result in the eventual closure of the business as a result of poor sales (Taleo.net, 2012). These poor sales are usually witnessed because o f the poor marketing that is being done by the store. In order to increase the sales of a business, it is important that the consumers are made aware of the products that the business is selling or the services that it is offering. This way, the consumers will be more knowledgeable about these products and thus their purchases will increase the sales of the business. For my store, there are a number of factors that have played a role in causing it to become an underachieving store. This position of the store is not just as a result of a single factor. The store has got a number of issues that it is facing. These issues are very crucial and affect the sales recorded at the store. One of the major factors affecting the store is the number of staff and their payroll costs. Much as the store is a small chain, the number of employees at this store is not up to the required figures. It is important that these members of staff be in the required number in order for them to work efficiently (Cox & Britain, 2004). The current number of members if staff in the stories less than the required number. Thus, the business activities in the store have been slowed down. Clients and customers are not getting the necessary services on time and this puts most of them off. Another issue that needs to be dealt with in my store is the sales plan. Looking at the reports indicating the achieved sales, it is clear that the store needs to improve on the sales plan. The strategies put in place are not giving the required feedback to the store. The sales plan is a very important and key factor in improving the sales witnessed by a business. It is this strategies that lay down the ways through which businesses can actually attract new clients and also be able to retain the previous ones. The sales plan also gives the management of the business an idea of how it should control its marketing and the areas where it needs to pay a lot of attention in. this is important for any business in orde r to give it a sense of direction. For the store under my management, the sales plan needs to be improvised if at all an increase in profits is going to be witnessed. This is one area that I have to put a lot of concentration in (Stanley, 1999). Key Performance Indicators for Improving the Business In order to improve the sales of an underachieving business, it is very important to

International Law Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

International Law - Case Study Example In the give case, a totalitarian president, Barmy has invaded the adjacent sovereign state Whiteland using muscle power. Neither the people of Whiteland nor the political regime of the Whiteland, has not done anything wrong to provoke Barmy or the Redland. Moreover, the Redland president Barmy has not cited any reasons for his action and the annexation of the Whiteland. The above case has lot of similarities with the Saddam Husain's seizure of Kuwait. Kuwaiti people never liked the intrusion of Saddam into the Kuwait territories. Saddam's claim over Kuwait was unjustifiable and it was just an excuse Saddam put forward for attacking the neighboring state. By capturing Kuwait, Saddam has violated all the international laws regarding the sovereignty of a country or state. Sovereignty is one of the fundamental rights of each country. It is the claim of having supreme, independent authority over a territory which is recognized by the United Nations. All the nations irrespective of what political ideologies they follow should respect the sovereignty of other independent states. Muscle power and forces should never be exercised upon a sovereign state without proper reasons. Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter states that the use of force is justified under only two circumstances: in individual or collective self-defence, as outlined in Article 51, or pursuant to a Security Council resolution, as outlined in Article 42" (The War on Iraq: Legal Issues, 2003)1. In the given case, Barmy or the Redland was not at all under any threats from the Whiteland and Barmy's action cannot be justified. Nobody wants to be ruled by an autocratic or totalitarian administration. Such administration will use iron fist for suppressing the interests of the people. Freedom of expression or any other basic human requirements will definitely be denied by a totalitarian ruler. When Saddam captured Kuwait, the international community and the Kuwaitis shouted against Saddam because of their fear against such totalitarian approach from Saddam Husain. Barmy was a totalitarian ruler and under his administration the Whiteland people will become slaves having their freedom cut down to a big zero. Whiteland public has every right to decide about their administration and a civilized country will never wish to be under the administration of a totalitarian ruler at present. International law is an arcane subject for those at all levels of opinion, ranging from the general public to top opinion leaders (Perry, 1998). It is not possible for countries to progress by violating international laws. In a civilized society like the present one, integration of the interests of the people on a global basis is required. Globalization and Liberalization are policies aimed at the integration of the global public and the collective economic growth. Invading other countries for expanding the territories is a barbarian act which was prevalent in the ancient societies. But the advancements in science and technology and the earlier lessons learned from international conflicts like the world wars have drastically changed the social views about the expansion of territories. In short, capturing Whiteland, Barmy has violated all the international laws regarding the sovereignty, freedom, and legal rights of a country to select their administra

Health Improvement Essay Example for Free

Health Improvement Essay To address this challenge, the world’s governments committed themselves at the United Nations Millennium Summit to the Millennium Development Goals, including the overarching goal of halving extreme poverty by the year 2015. Yet, our planet’s capacity to sustain us is eroding. The problems are well-known – degrading agricultural lands, shrinking forests, diminishing supplies of clean water, dwindling fisheries, and the threat of growing social and ecological vulnerability from climate change and loss of biological diversity. While these threats are global, their impacts are most severe in the developing world – especially among people living in poverty who have the least means to cope. Is this environmental decline inevitable in order for poverty to be reduced? We argue not. Indeed, quite the opposite is true. If we do not successfully arrest and reverse these problems, the world will not be able to meet the Millennium Development Goals, particularly the goal of halving extreme poverty. As this paper demonstrates, tackling environmental degradation is an integral part of effective and lasting poverty reduction. The 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) provides the international community with a pivotal opportunity to redirect the global debate, and to forge a more integrated and effective global response to poverty and environmental decline. To succeed, we need to focus on the most important links between poverty, the environment and sustainable development. For many, ensuring sound environmental management means curtailment of economic opportunities and growth, rather than their expansion †¦ too often; it is viewed as a cost rather than an investment. Prepared as a contribution to the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development focuses on ways to reduce poverty and sustain growth by improving management of the environment, broadly defined. It seeks to draw out the links between poverty and the environment, and to demonstrate that sound and equitable environmental management is integral to achieving the Millennium Development Goals, in particular eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, reducing child mortality, combating major diseases, and ensuring environmental sustainability. Four priority areas for sustained policy and institutional change are highlighted: ?Improving governance for pro-poor and pro-environment policies, institutions and services, with particular attention to the needs of women and children; ?Enhancing the assets of the poor and reducing their vulnerability to environment-related shocks and conflict; ?Improving the quality of growth to protect the asset base of the poor and expand opportunities for sustainable livelihoods; ?Reforming international and industrialized country policies related to trade, foreign direct investment, aid and debt. Policy opportunities exist to reduce poverty and improve the environment The environment matters greatly to people living in poverty. The poor often depend directly on natural resources and ecological services for their livelihoods; they are often the most affected by unclean water, indoor air pollution and exposure to toxic chemicals; and they are particularly vulnerable to environmental hazards such as floods and prolonged drought, and to environment-related conflict. Addressing these poverty-environment linkages must be at the core of national efforts to eradicate poverty. Many policy opportunities exist to reduce poverty by improving the environment – but there are significant and often deeply entrenched policy and institutional barriers to their widespread adoption. The past decade of experience since the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio reveals some important lessons that help point the way forward. Three broad lessons are highlighted here: ?First and foremost, poor people must be seen as part of the solution – rather than part of the problem. Efforts to improve environmental management in ways that contribute to sustainable growth and poverty reduction must begin with the poor themselves. Given the right incentives and support – including access to information and participation in decision-making – the poor will invest in environmental improvements to enhance their livelihoods and well-being. At the same time, however, it is essential to address the activities of the non-poor since they are the source of most environmental damage. The environmental quality of growth matters to the poor. Environmental improvement is not a luxury preoccupation that can wait until growth has alleviated income poverty, nor can it be assumed that growth itself will take care of environmental problems over the longer-term as a natural by-product of increasing affluence. First, this ignores the fundamental importance of environmental goods and services to the livelihoods and well-being of the rural and urban poor. Second, there are many examples of how bad environmental management is bad for growth, and of how the poor bear a disproportionate share of the costs of environmental degradation. Ignoring the environmental soundness of growth – even if this leads to short-run economic gains – can undermine long-run growth and its effectiveness in reducing poverty. ?Environmental management cannot be treated separately from other development concerns, but requires integration into poverty reduction and sustainable development efforts in order to achieve significant and lasting results. Improving environmental management in ways that benefit the poor requires policy and institutional changes that cut across sectors and lie mostly outside the control of environmental institutions – changes in governance, domestic economic policy, and in international policies. Improving governance ?Integrate poverty-environment issues into nationally-owned poverty reduction strategies, including macroeconomic and sect oral policy reforms and action programmes, so that they can become national sustainable development strategies. Engage poor and marginalized groups in policy and planning processes to ensure that the key environmental issues that affect them are adequately addressed, to build ownership, and to enhance the prospects for achieving lasting results. Address the poverty-environment concerns of poor women and children and ensure that they are given higher priority and fully integrated into poverty reduction strategies and policy reforms – for example, the growing burden of collecting scarce water and fuelwood supplies, and the effects of long-term exposure to polluted indoor air. Implement anti-corruption measures to counter the role of corruption in the misuse of natural resources and weak enforcement of environmental regulations – for example, the destructive impacts of illegal logging and unregulated mining, or the preference for construction of new power and water investments over increasing the efficiency of existing investments. ?Improve poverty-environment indicators to document environmental change and how it affects poor people, and integrate into national poverty monitoring systems. This should be complemented by measures to improve citizens’ access to environmental information. Enhancing the assets of the poor ?Strengthen resource rights of the poor by reforming the wider range of policies and institutions that influence resource access, control and benefit-sharing, with particular attention to resource rights for women. This includes central and sub-national government, traditional authorities, the legal system, and local land boards, commissions and tribunals. Support decentralization and local environmental management – land, water and forest resource management, and provision of water supply and sanitation services – by strengthening local management capacity and supporting women’s key roles in managing natural resources. ?Expand access to environmentally-sound and pro-poor technology, such as crop production technologies that conserve soil and water and minimize the use of pesticides, or appropriate renewable energy and energy e fficient technologies that also minimize air pollution. This includes support for indigenous technologies, and the need to address the social, cultural, financial and marketing aspects of technical change. ?Promote measures that reduce the environmental vulnerability of the poor by strengthening participatory disaster preparedness and prevention capacity, supporting the formal and informal coping strategies of vulnerable groups, and expanding access to insurance and other risk management mechanisms. Reduce the vulnerability of the poor to environment-related conflict by improving conflict resolution mechanisms in the management of natural resources and addressing the underlying political issues that affect resource access. Improving the quality of growth ?Integrate poverty-environment issues in economic policy and decision-making by strengthening the use of environmental assessment and poverty social impact analysis. Improve environmental valuation at both the macro and micro level, in order to highlight the full cost of environmental deg radation for the poor in particular and the economy in general, and to improve economic decision-making. ?Expand private sector involvement in pro-poor environmental management to maximize the efficiency gains from private sector participation, while safeguarding the interests of the poor. This requires capacity within government to negotiate with the private sector – for example, to ensure that utility privatization benefits the poor – and to forge effective public-private partnerships that enhance the poor’s access to environmental services. ?Implement pro-poor environmental fiscal reform including reform of environmentally-damaging subsidies, improved use of rent taxes to better capture and more effectively allocate resource revenues, and improved use of pollution charges to better reflect environmental costs in market prices. Reforming international and industrialized country policies ?Reform trade and industrialized country subsidy policies to open up markets to developing country imports while avoiding environmental protectionism, and to reduce subsidies that lead to unsustainable exploitation – such as subsidies for large-scale commercial fishing fleets that encourage over-harvesting in developing country fisheries. . Make foreign direct investment more pro-poor and pro-environment by encouraging multinational corporations to comply with the revised OECD Code of Conduct for Multinational Enterprises, and to report on the environmental impact of their activities in line with the UN Environment Programme’s Global Reporting Initiative. ?Increase funding for the Global Environment Facility as the major source of funding for global public goods in the environment, such as a stable climate, maintenance of biodiversity, clean international waters and the protective ozone layer. These benefit the whole world as well as the poor themselves – so the rich world must pay a fair share for their maintenance. ?Enhance the contribution of multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) to national development objectives by strengthening developing country capacity to participate in the negotiation and implementation of MEAs (for example, to ensure that the Clean Development Mechanism promotes investments that benefit the poor). Also, improved coordination is needed between MEAs so that scarce developing country capacity is used most effectively. ?Encourage sustainable consumption and production – industrialized country consumers and producers through their trade, investment, pollution emissions and other activities affect the environmental conditions of developing countries. Making rich country consumption and production more sustainable will require a complex mix of institutional changes – addressing market and government failures as well as broad public attitudes. Enhance the effectiveness of development cooperation and debt relief with more priority for poverty-environment issues, particularly for the poorest countries where aid and debt relief continue to have a valuable role to play in helping governments to make many of the changes recommended above. Mainstream environment in donor agency operations through staff training, development and application of new skills, tools and approaches, and revisions to the way resources and budgets are allocated. Transparent monitoring of progress against stated objectives and targets is needed in order to hold development agencies accountable and to ensure that a commitment by senior management to addressing poverty-environment issues is put into practice throughout the organization. Conclusion This paper looks ahead with some degree of hope and optimism for the future – there are sometimes win-win opportunities, and there are rational ways of dealing with trade-offs. Environmental degradation is not inevitable, nor the unavoidable result of economic growth. On the contrary, sound and equitable environmental management is key to sustained poverty reduction and achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. There are significant policy opportunities to reduce poverty and improve the environment, but more integrated and pro-poor approaches are needed. The World Summit on Sustainable Development is an opportunity to focus on what is most important and to forge a coherent framework for action, with clear goals and achievable targets backed-up by adequate resources and effective and transparent monitoring mechanisms. There can be no more important goal than to reduce and ultimately eradicate poverty on our planet. PART 1 Why the Environment Matters to People Living in Poverty â€Å"Water is life and because we have no water, life is miserable† (Kenya) â€Å"We think the earth is generous; but what is the incentive to produce more than the family needs if there are no access roads to get produce to a market? † (Guatemala) â€Å"In the monsoons there is no difference between the land in front of our house and the public drain. You can see for yourself† (India) In their own words, the environment matters greatly to people living in poverty. Indeed, poor people’s perceptions of well-being are strongly related to the environment in terms of their livelihoods, health, vulnerability, and sense of empowerment and ability to control their lives. Figure 1 provides a simplified framework for understanding how environmental management relates to poverty reduction, and why these poverty-environment linkages must be at the core of action to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and related national poverty eradication and sustainable development objectives. Environmental management for poverty reductionDimensions of povertyDevelopment goals Part 1 of the paper focuses on the poverty-environment relationship by examining how environmental conditions in both rural and urban settings relate to three key dimensions of human poverty and well-being: ?Livelihoods – poor people tend to be most dependent upon the environment and the direct use of natural resources, and therefore are the most severely affected when the environment is degraded or their access to natural resources is limited or denied; Health – poor people suffer most when water, land and the air are polluted; ?Vulnerability – the poor are most often exposed to environmental hazards and environment-related conflict, and are least capable of coping when they occur. We also are concerned with the relationship between growth and the environment and how it affects the poor and efforts to reduce poverty. The environmental soundness of growth matters considerably to the poor, and countries with similar levels of income and growth can have quite different levels of environmental performance. While Figure 1 illustrates the main pathways between environmental conditions and dimensions of poverty, in reality these linkages are multi-dimensional, dynamic and often inter-connected: ?Poverty is now widely viewed as encompassing both income and non-income dimensions of deprivation – including lack of income and other material means; lack of access to basic social services such as education, health and safe water; lack of personal security; and lack of empowerment to participate in the political process and in decisions that influence one’s life. The dynamics of poverty also are better understood, and extreme vulnerability to external shocks is now seen as one of its major features. Environment refers to the biotic and abiotic components of the natural world that together support life on earth – as a provider of goods (natural resources) and ecosystem services utilized for food production, energy and as raw material; a recipient and partial recycler of waste products from the economy; and an important source of recreation, beauty, spiritual values and other amenities. The nature and dynamics of poverty-environment linkages are context-specific – reflecting both geographic location and economic, social and cultural characteristics of individuals, households and social groups. Different social groups can prioritize different environmental issues (Brocklesby and Hinshelwood, 2001). In rural areas, poor people are particularly concerned with their access to and the quality of natural resources, especially water, cro p and grazing land, forest products and biomass for fuel. For the urban poor, water, energy, sanitation and waste removal are key concerns. Poor women regard safe and physically close access to potable water, sanitation facilities and abundant energy supplies as crucial aspects of well-being, reflecting their primary role in managing the household. ?Environmental management, as used in this paper, extends well beyond the activities of public environmental institutions. In relation to poverty, environmental management is concerned fundamentally with sustaining the long-term capacity of the environment to provide the goods and services upon which people and economies depend. This means improving environmental conditions and ensuring equitable access to environmental assets – in particular land and biological resources, and safe and affordable water supply and sanitation – in order to expand poor people’s livelihood opportunities, protect their health and capacity to work, and reduce their vulnerability to environment-related risks. This broader conception of poverty and environment, and of environmental management, is essential to understanding the linkages between them and to identifying appropriate policy and institutional options for improving these linkages. There have been some impressive gains since the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment – the first global conference devoted to environment and development issues. There has been a proliferation of environmental policies and institutions at national and sub-national levels, and environmental issues are firmly placed on the agendas of governments, civil society and the private sector. Major global environmental agreements have been forged and global environmental organizations established. Environmental sustainability has become a core concern of bilateral and multilateral development cooperation, and billions of dollars have been spent on environment-related programmes and projects. Tangible progress also has been achieved ‘on the ground’, although the picture is usually mixed. For example, in the 1990s some 900 million people gained access to improved water sources. However, this was merely enough to keep pace with population growth, and about 1. 2 billion people are still without access to improved water sources, with rural populations particularly under-served (Devarajan et al, 2002). Another example is the productivity of soil used for cereal production, which increased on average in developing countries from 1979-81 to 1998-2000. However, it fell in some 25 countries, most of them in Africa, with land degradation being one factor behind the decline (World Bank, 2002c). Despite these gains, pressure on the environment continues to mount worldwide, posing major challenges to the prospects for poverty reduction and human development in developing countries, in particular the least developed countries.

LIGHT BEER vs. FULL FLAVOR BEER :: essays research papers

There are always two sides to every argument. While both sides of any argument generally hold some truths, somewhere in the middle is where each side must meet, if only to agree to disagree. what it really comes down to is the perspective of the individual. The following perspective on this subject of light beer versus full flavor beer is an on-going argument that all beer drinkers have taken part in at one time or another. Once the truth had been discovered about light beer in this age of staying slim, many have traded in their full flavor beer for the light beer. One might bring into question the subject of such trivial importance, but one would think that if people cannot openly discuss a subject as trivial and inconsequential as beer, then how could they be expected to discuss something on a grander and more important scale such as child-welfare or the war in Iraq? The great thing about light beer is that it has the same amount of alcohol as full flavor beer, but it has less than half the calories of its counterpart. That in its self should be enough to persuade anyone. Light beer will not give one that bloated feeling nor does it send one to the restroom as much, which allows one to spend more time drinking his or her beer instead of the toilet drinking it. Full flavor beer is better than no beer at all and one would most certainly drink it if that is all that is available. Full flavor beer tends to leave people with hangovers that will last throughout the following day, while light beer rarely, if ever causes hangovers unless, those light beers have chased down a tequila shot, but then the hangover would have been caused by the tequila and not the light beer which, is the point that is being made.. With the advancement in brewing technology in the last five years, the mega-breweries have been able to produce a light beer with a more full bodied flavor without adding any additional calories. In fact, just recently Michelob has claimed to be able to produce a beer with one third fewer calories of light beer. They have appropriately named â€Å"Ultra†. Most would agree that is an amazing feat. Now that the reader has had a chance to view this subject from another perspective, surely they would agree that the advantages of drinking light beer far out-weigh the advantages of drinking a full flavor beer. LIGHT BEER vs. FULL FLAVOR BEER :: essays research papers There are always two sides to every argument. While both sides of any argument generally hold some truths, somewhere in the middle is where each side must meet, if only to agree to disagree. what it really comes down to is the perspective of the individual. The following perspective on this subject of light beer versus full flavor beer is an on-going argument that all beer drinkers have taken part in at one time or another. Once the truth had been discovered about light beer in this age of staying slim, many have traded in their full flavor beer for the light beer. One might bring into question the subject of such trivial importance, but one would think that if people cannot openly discuss a subject as trivial and inconsequential as beer, then how could they be expected to discuss something on a grander and more important scale such as child-welfare or the war in Iraq? The great thing about light beer is that it has the same amount of alcohol as full flavor beer, but it has less than half the calories of its counterpart. That in its self should be enough to persuade anyone. Light beer will not give one that bloated feeling nor does it send one to the restroom as much, which allows one to spend more time drinking his or her beer instead of the toilet drinking it. Full flavor beer is better than no beer at all and one would most certainly drink it if that is all that is available. Full flavor beer tends to leave people with hangovers that will last throughout the following day, while light beer rarely, if ever causes hangovers unless, those light beers have chased down a tequila shot, but then the hangover would have been caused by the tequila and not the light beer which, is the point that is being made.. With the advancement in brewing technology in the last five years, the mega-breweries have been able to produce a light beer with a more full bodied flavor without adding any additional calories. In fact, just recently Michelob has claimed to be able to produce a beer with one third fewer calories of light beer. They have appropriately named â€Å"Ultra†. Most would agree that is an amazing feat. Now that the reader has had a chance to view this subject from another perspective, surely they would agree that the advantages of drinking light beer far out-weigh the advantages of drinking a full flavor beer.

Mineral Particles Derived From Rocks Environmental Sciences Essay

Chapter 2LITERATURE REVIEW2.1. IntroductionDirts are composed of five chief constituents ( Sinha and Shrivastava, 2000 ) : mineral atoms derived from stones by enduring ; organic stuffs – humus from dead and disintegrating works stuff ; dirt H2O – in which alimentary elements are dissolved ; dirt air – both C dioxide and O ; and populating beings including bacteriums that help works decomposition. Soils differ in their birthrate degrees, because they have different proportions of these constituents and because the mineral atoms have been affected to different grades by enduring. Age of dirt minerals, predominating temperatures, rainfall, leaching and dirty physico-chemistry are the chief factors which determine how much a peculiar dirt will endure ( Sinha and Shrivastava, 2000 ) . Soil therefore, is of import to everyone either straight or indirectly. It is the natural organic structures on which agricultural merchandises grow and it has delicate ecosystem ( Sinha and Shrivastava, 2000 ) . South Africa ranks among the states with the highest rate of income inequality in the universe ( Aliber, 2009 ) . Compared to other in-between income states, it has highly high degrees of absolute poorness and nutrient insecurity menace ( FAO, 2009 ) . As portion of this, a possible subscriber to nutrient security might be small-scale agricultural production. Aliber ( 2009 ) indicated that input support aiming smallholder husbandmans could hike production and nutrient security. Use of uncultivated cultivable lands and subsistence agribusiness might be one option to lend to incomes and/or nest eggs, every bit good as to promote nutrient variegation ( Altman et al. , 2009 ) . Land with high agricultural suitableness is considered to hold greater long-run security with respects to both agricultural production and development. From a planning position, high agricultural flexibleness is hence considered an appropriate step of high quality agricultural land that is extremely productive and fertile. Merely a little proportion of universe ‘s dirts have a really good degree of birthrate, most of which have merely good to medium birthrate and some have really low birthrate, and are frequently referred to as fringy dirts ( Ashman and Puri, 2002 ) . Well-known fertile dirts are deep alluvial dirts formed from river clay, organic matter- rich dirts on loess stuff, alimentary rich Vertisols and volcanic dirts ( Brady and Weil, 2004 ) . Under hapless direction, dirt birthrate can be earnestly depleted and dirts may go useless for agribusiness. 2.2. SOIL PHYSICO-CHEMISTRY Soil is a natural medium on which agricultural merchandises grow and it is dependent on several factors such as birthrate to be considered productive ( Shah et al. , 2011 ) . The birthrate of the dirt is depended on concentration of dirt foods, organic and inorganic stuffs and H2O. These soil physico-chemical belongingss are classified as being physical, chemical and biological, which greatly influence dirt birthrate ( Ramaru et al. , 2000 ) . To pull off dirt birthrate, cognition and apprehension of these belongingss is required ( as discussed below ) .2.2.1. Physical dirt belongingss( I ) Dirt textureSoil texture refers to the comparative proportions of the assorted size groups of single atoms or grains in a dirt ( Rowell, 1994 ) . It is dependent on the mixture of the different atom sizes present in the dirt. Based on these different sizes, dirt atoms are classified as sand ( 0.05- 2mm ) , silt ( 0.002-0,5mm ) and clay ( & lt ; 0,002mm ) ( Rowell, 1994 ) . Soil texture is arguably the individual most of import physical belongings of the dirt in footings of dirt birthrate, because it influences several other dirt belongingss including denseness, porousness, H2O and alimentary keeping, rate of organic affair decomposition, infiltration and cation exchange capacity ( Moberg et al. , 1999 ) . Clay particles keep larger measures of H2O and foods, because of their big surface countries ( Brady and Weil, 1999 ) . This belongings causes the puffiness and shrinkage of clay dirts, but merely those with smectitic group of clay minerals. The big surface country of clay atoms gives foods legion adhering sites particularly when the surface charge denseness is high, which is portion of the ground that mulct textured dirts have such high abilities to retain foods ( Velde, 1995 ) . The pores between clay atoms are really little and complex, so motion of both air and H2O is really slow ( Brady and Weil, 1999 ) . Clay atoms are negatively charged because of their mineralogical composing. Dirts with such atoms normally have high CEC and can retain H2O and works foods ; therefore such dirts are considered to be fertile and good for works growing ( Brady and Weil, 1999 ) . The cognition of the proportions of different-sized atoms in dirts is critical to understand dirt behaviour and their direction. Since sand atoms are comparatively big, so are the nothingnesss between them, which promote free drainage of H2O and entry of air into the dirt ( Brady and Weil, 2002 ) . The deduction of free drainage in flaxen dirt is that dirt foods are easy washed down into the dirt and go unaccessible for usage by workss ( Brady and Weil, 2002 ) . Sandy dirts are considered non-cohesive and because of their big size, have low specific surface countries and therefore have low alimentary keeping capacity ( Rowell, 1994 ) . Sand atoms can keep small H2O due to low specific surface country and are prone to drought, hence have a really low CEC and birthrate position ( Petersen et al. , 1996 ) . The pores between silt atoms are much smaller than those in sand, so silt retains more H2O and foods ( Rowell, 1994 ) . Soils dominated by silt atoms hence have a higher birthrate position than sandy dirts and provides favourable conditions for works growing when other growing factors are favourable ( Miller and Donahue, 1992 ) .( two ) Dirt constructionThe term dirt construction refers to the agreement of dirt atoms into sums ( Six et al. , 2000 ) . Dirt construction is affected by biological activities, organic affair, and cultivation patterns ( Rowell, 1994 ) . It influences soil H2O motion and keeping, eroding, alimentary recycling, sealing and crusting of the dirt surface, together with aeration and dirt ‘s structural stableness, root incursion and harvest output ( Lupwayi et al. , 2001 ) . Dirt construction can be platy, prismatic, farinaceous, crumbly, columnar and blocky ( RCEP, 1996 ) . An ideal dirt construction for works growing is frequently described as farinaceous or crumb-like, because it provides good motion for air and H2O through a assortment of different pore sizes and it besides affects root incursion ( RCEP, 1996 ) . An ideal dirt construction is besides stable and immune to eroding ( Duiker et al. , 2003 ) . Organic affair and humification procedures improve structural stableness, and can reconstruct debauched dirt constructions ( Brady and Weil, 1999 ) . Therefore it is critical to return or add organic stuff to the dirt and to keep its biological activity in order to heighten dirt construction for works growing. Favorable dirt construction and high sum stableness are hence critical to bettering dirt birthrate, increasing agronomic productiveness, heightening porousness and diminishing erodibility.( three ) Water keeping capacityWater keeping capacity refers to the measure of H2O that the dirt is capable of hive awaying for usage by workss ( Brady and Weil, 1999 ) . Soil H2O is held in, and flows through pore infinites in dirts. Soil H2O can be described into the undermentioned phases: gravitational, capillary, and hygroscopic, based upon the energy with which H2O is held by the dirt solids, which in bend governs their behaviour and handiness to workss ( Rowell, 1994 ) . Water keeping capacity is an of import factor in the pick of workss or harvests to be grown and in the design and direction of irrigation systems ( Brady and Weil, 1999 ) . The entire sum of H2O available to workss turning in field dirts is a map of the rooting deepness of the works and amount of the H2O held between field capacity and wilting per centum in each of the skylines explored by the roots ( Brady and Weil, 1999 ) . Field capacity is the sum of dirt wet or H2O content held in dirt after extra H2O has drained off and the rate of downward motion has materially decreased, which normally takes topographic point within 2-3 yearss after a rain or irrigation in pervious dirts of unvarying construction and texture ( Govers, 2002 ) . The ability of the dirt to supply H2O for workss is an of import birthrate characteristic ( RCEP, 1996 ) . The capacity for H2O storage varies, depending on dirt belongingss such as organic affair, dirt texture, bulk denseness, and dirt construction ( RCEP, 1996 ) . This is explained by the grade of dirt compression, where jobs will originate if inordinate compression occurs which would consequences in increased majority denseness, a lessening in porousness and aeration and hapless H2O drainage ( Gregory et al. , 2006 ) , all ensuing in hapless works growing.( four ) Electrical Conductivity ( EC )Soil electrical conduction ( EC ) , is the ability of dirt to carry on electrical current ( Doerge, 1999 ) . EC is expressed in milliSiemens per metre ( mS/m ) or centimeter ( cm/m ) . Traditionally, dirt scientists used EC to gauge dirt salt ( Doerge, 1999 ) . EC measurings besides have the potency for gauging fluctuation in some of the dirt physical belongingss such as dirt wet and porousn ess, in a field where dirt salt is non a job ( Farahani and Buchleiter, 2004 ) . Soil salt refers to the presence of major dissolved inorganic solutes in the dirt aqueous stage, which consist of soluble and readily dissoluble salts including charged species ( e.g. , Na+ , K+ , Mg+2, Ca+2, Cla?’ , HCO3a?’ , NO3a?’ , SO4a?’2 and CO3a?’2 ) , non-ionic solutes, and ions that combine to organize ion braces ( Smith and Doran, 1996 ) . Salt tolerances are normally given in footings of the phase of works growing over a scope of electrical conduction ( EC ) degrees. EC greater than 4dS/m are considered saline ( Munshower, 1994 ) . Salt sensitive workss may be affected by conductions below 4dS/m and salt tolerant species may non be impacted by concentrations of up to twice this maximal agricultural tolerance bound ( Munshower, 1994 ) . Electrical conduction is the ability of a solution to convey an electrical current. The conductivity of electricity in dirt takes topographic point through the moisture-filled pores that occur between single dirt atoms. Therefore, the EC of dirt is determined by the undermentioned dirt belongingss ( Doerge, 1999 ) : . Porosity, where the greater dirt porousness, the more easy electricity is conducted. Soil with high clay content has higher porousness than sandier dirt. Compaction usually increases dirt EC. . Water content, dry dirt is much lower in conduction than damp dirt. . Salinity degree, increasing concentration of electrolytes ( salts ) in dirt H2O will dramatically increase dirt EC. . Cation exchange capacity ( CEC ) , mineral dirt incorporating high degrees of organic affair ( humus ) and/or 2:1 clay minerals such as montmorillonite, illite, or vermiculite hold a much higher ability to retain positively charged ions ( such as Ca, Mg, K, Na, NH4, or H ) than dirt missing these components. The presence of these ions in the moisture-filled dirt pores will heighten dirt EC in the same manner that salt does. . Temperature, as temperature decreases toward the stop deading point of H2O, dirt EC decreases somewhat. Below freeze, dirt pores become progressively insulated from each other and overall dirt EC declines quickly. Plants are harmfully affected, both physically and chemically, by extra salts in some dirts and by high degrees of exchangeable Na in others. Dirty with an accretion of exchangeable Na are frequently characterized by hapless tilth and low permeableness and hence low dirt birthrate position, doing them unfavourable for works growing ( Munshower, 1994 ) .( V ) Bulk Density ( BD )Soil majority denseness is defined as the mass of dry dirt ( g ) per unit volume ( cm3 ) and is routinely used as a step of dirt compression ( Gregory et al. , 2006 ) . The entire volume includes atom volume, inter-particle nothingness volume and internal pore volume ( Gregory et al. , 2006 ) . Bulk denseness takes into history solid infinite every bit good as pore infinite ( Greenland, 1998 ) . Therefore soils that are porous or well-aggregated ( e.g. clay dirt ) will hold lower majority densenesss than dirts that are non aggregated ( sand ) ( Greenland, 1998 ) . Plant roots can non perforate compacted dirt every bit freely as they would in non-compacted dirt, which limits their entree to H2O and foods present in sub-soil and inhibits their growing ( Hagan et al. , 2010 ) . Compacted dirt requires more frequent applications of irrigation and fertiliser to prolong works growing, which can increase overflow and food degrees in overflow ( Gregory et al. , 2006 ) . The majority denseness of dirt depends greatly on the dirt ‘s mineral make up and the grade of compression. High bulk denseness normally indicate a poorer environment for root growing, reduced aeration and unwanted alterations in hydrologic map, such as decreased infiltration ( Brady and Weil, 1999 ) . The presence of dirt organic affair, which is well lighter than mineral dirt, can assist diminish bulk denseness and thereby heightening dirt birthrate ( Hagan et al. , 2010 ) .2.2.2. Soil Chemical belongingssSoil chemical belongingss which include the concentrations of foods, cations, anions, ion exchange reactions and oxidation-reduction belongingss, but for the intent of this survey focal point will be based on belongingss that have an deduction on dirt birthrate including:( I ) Soil pHSoil pH is an of import dirt belongings that affects several dirt reactions and procedures and is defined as a step of the sourness or alkalinity of the dirt ( Bohn, 2001 ) . It has considerable consequence on dirt procedures including ion exchange reactions and alimentary handiness ( Rowell, 1994 ) . Soil pH is measured on a graduated table of 0 to 14, where a pH of 7.0 is considered impersonal, readings higher than 7.0 are alkalic, and readings lower than 7.0 are considered acidic ( McGuiness, 1993 ) . Most workss are tolerant of a pH scope of 5.5-6.5 which is near impersonal pH scope ( Bohn, 2001 ) . Soil pH is one of the most of import features of dirt birthrate, because it has a direct impact on alimentary handiness and works growing. Most foods are more soluble in acid dirts than in impersonal or somewhat alkalic dirts ( Bohn, 2001 ) . In strongly acidic soils the handiness of macronutrients ( Ca, Mg, K, P, N and S ) every bit good as Mo and B is reduced. In contrast, handiness of micronutrient cations ( Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu and Al ) is increased by low dirt pH, even to the extent of toxicity of higher workss and micro-organisms ( Bohn, 2001 ) . The pH of a dirt is besides reported to impact so many other dirt belongingss ( Brady and Weil, 1999 ) , including alimentary handiness, effects on dirt beings, Fungis thrive in acidic dirts, CEC and works penchants of either acidic or alkalic dirts. Most workss prefer alkaline dirts, but there are a few which need acidic dirts and will decease if placed in an alkaline environment ( Brady and Weil, 1999 ) .( two ) Cation Exchange Capacity ( CEC )Cation exchange capacity is defined as the amount of the sum of the exchangeable cations that a dirt can keep or adsorb ( Brady and Weil, 1999 ) . A cation is a positively charged ion and most foods cations are: Ca2+ , Mg2+ , K + , NH4+ , Zn2+ , Cu2+ , and Mn2+ . These cations are in the dirt solution and are in dynamic equilibrium with the cations adsorbed on the surface of clay and organic affair ( Brady and Weil, 1999 ) . Clay and organic affair are the chief beginnings of CEC ( Peinemann et al. , 2002 ) . The more clay and organic affair ( humus ) a dirt contains, the higher its CEC and the greater the possible birthrate of that dirt. CEC varies harmonizing to the type of clay. It is highest in montmorillonite clay, lowest in to a great extent weathered kaolinite clay and somewhat higher in the lupus erythematosus weathered illite clay ( Peinemann et al. , 2002 ) . Sand atoms have no capacity to interchange cations because it has no electrical charge ( Brady and Weil, 1999 ) . CEC is used as a step of dirt alimentary keeping capacity, and the capacity to protect groundwater from cation taint ( Brady and Weil, 1999 ) . It buffers fluctuations in alimentary handiness and dirt pH ( Bergaya and Vayer, 1997 ) . Plants obtain many of their foods from dirt by an electrochemical procedure called cation exchange. This procedure is the key to understanding dirt birthrate ( Rowell, 1994 ) . Foods that are held by charges on a dirt are termed ‘exchangeable ‘ as they become readily available to workss ( Rowell, 1994 ) .The higher the CEC of a dirt, the more foods it is likely to keep and the higher will be its birthrate degree ( Fullen and Catt, 2004 ) .Factors impacting cation exchange capacityThe factors impacting cation exchange capacity include the undermentioned ( Brady and Weil 1999 ) , dirt texture, dirt humus content, nature of clay and dirt reaction. Soil texture influences the CEC of dirts in a manner that it increases when dirt ‘s per centum of clay additions i.e. the finer the dirt texture, the higher the CEC as indicated in Table 2. CEC depends on the nature of clay minerals present, since each mineral has its ain capacity to exchange and keep cations e.g. the CEC of a dirt dominated by vermiculite is much higher than the CEC of another dirt dominated by kaolinite, as vermiculite is high activity clay unlike kaolinte which is low activity clay. When the pH of dirt additions, more H+ ions dissociate from the clay minerals particularly kaolinite, therefore the CEC of dirt dominated by kaolinite besides increases. CEC varies harmonizing to the type of dirt. Humus, the terminal merchandise of decomposed organic affair, has the highest CEC value because organic affair colloids have big measures of negative charges. Humus has a CEC two to five times greater than montmorillonite clay and up to 30 times greater than kaolinite c lay, so is really of import in bettering dirt birthrate. Table 2.1: CEC values for different dirt textures ( Brady and Weil, 1999 )Dirt textureCEC scope ( meq/100g dirt )Sand 2-4 Sandy loam 2-12 Loam 7-16 Silt loam 9-26 Clay, clay loam 4-60( three ) Organic MatterThe importance of dirt organic affair in relation to dirty birthrate and physical status is widely recognized in agribusiness. However, organic affair contributes to the birthrate or productiveness of the dirt through its positive effects on the physical, chemical and biological belongingss of the dirt ( Rowell, 1994 ) , as follows: physical – stabilizes dirt construction, improves H2O keeping features, lowers bulk denseness, dark colour may change thermic belongingss ; chemical – higher CEC, acts as a pH buffer, ties up metals, interacts with biological – supplies energy and body-building components for dirt beings, increases microbic populations and their activities, beginning and sink for foods, ecosystem resiliency, affects dirt enzymes. Soil organic affair consists of a broad scope of organic substances, including populating beings, carboneous remains of beings which one time occupied the dirt, and organic compounds produced by current and past metamorphosis of the dirt ( Brady and Weil, 1999 ) . Soil organic affair plays a critical function in dirt procedures and is a cardinal component of incorporate dirt birthrate direction ( ISFM ) ( Brady and Weil, 2004 ) . Organic affair is widely considered to be the individual most of import index of dirt birthrate and productiveness ( Rowell, 1994 ) . It consists chiefly of decayed or disintegrating works and animate being residues and is a really of import dirt constituent. Benefits of Organic affair in dirt harmonizing to Ashman and Puri, ( 2002 ) include: increasing the dirt ‘s cation exchange capacity and moving as nutrient for dirt beings from bacteriums to worms and is an of import constituent in the food and C rhythms. Organic affair, like clay, has a high surface country and is negatively charged with a high CEC, doing it an first-class provider of foods to workss. In add-on, as organic affair decomposes, it releases foods such as N, P and S that are bound in the organic affair ‘s construction, basically copying a slow release fertiliser ( Myers, 1995 ) . Organic affair can besides keep big sums of H2O, which helps foods move from dirt to works roots ( Mikkuta, 2004 ) . An of import feature of organic affair in dirt birthrate is C: N ratio. The C: N ratio in organic affair of cultivable surface skylines normally ranges from 8:1 to 15:1, the average being near 12:1 ( Brady and Weil, 1999 ) . The C: N ratio in organic residues applied to dirts is of import for two grounds: intense competition among the microorganisms for available dirt N which occurs when residues holding a high Degree centigrade: N ratio are added to dirts and it besides helps find their rate of decay and the rate at which N is made available to workss ( Brady and Weil, 1999 ) .( four ) Plant FoodsPlants require 13 works foods ( Table 2.2 ) ( micro and macro foods ) for their growing. Each is every bit of import to the works, yet each is required in immensely different sums ( Ronen, 2007 ) . Essential elements are chemical elements that workss need in order to finish their normal life rhythm ( Scoones and Toulhim, 1998 ) . The maps of these elements in the works can non be fulfilled by another, therefore doing each component necessity for works growing and development ( Scoones and Toulhim, 1998 ) . Essential foods are divided into macro and micronutrients as illustrated in Table 3. Macronutrients are those that are required in comparatively high measures for works growing and can be distinguish into two bomber groups, primary and secondary 1s, ( Uchida and Silva, 2000 ) . The primary macro-elements are most often required for works growing and besides needed in the greatest entire measure by workss. For most harvests, secondary macro foods are needed in lesser sums than the primary foods. The 2nd group of works foods which are micronutrients are needed merely in hint sums ( Scoones and Toulhim, 1998 ) . These micronutrients are required in really little sums, but they are merely every bit of import to works development and profitable harvest production as the major foods ( Ronen, 2007 ) . Categorization Component Function in works growing Beginning Lack symptoms and toxicities Macro foods – Primary Nitrogen ( N ) Chlorophyll and Protein formation Air/Soil, applied fertilizers Slow growing, stunted workss, greensickness, low protein content Phosphorus ( P ) Photosynthesis, Stimulates early growing and root formation, hastens adulthood Dirt and applied fertilizers Slow growing, delayed harvest adulthood, purple green colour of foliages Potassium ( K ) Photosynthesis and nzyme activity, amylum and sugar formation, root growing Dirt and applied fertilizers Slow growing, Reduced disease or plague opposition, development of white and xanthous musca volitanss on foliages Macro foods – secondary Calcium ( Ca ) Cell growing and constituent of cell wall Dirt Weakened roots, decease of workss ‘ turning points, unnatural dark green visual aspect on leaf Magnesium ( Mg ) Enzyme activation, photosynthesis and influence Nitrogen metamorphosis Dirt Interveinal greensickness in older foliages, curling of foliages, stunted growing, Sulfur ( S ) Amino acids, proteins and nodule formation Dirt and carnal manure Interveinal greensickness on maize foliages, retarded growing, delayed adulthood and visible radiation viridities to yellowish colour in immature foliages Micronutrients – necessity Iron ( Fe ) Photosynthesis, chlorophyll synthesis, component of assorted enzymes and proteins Dirt Interveinal greensickness, yellowing of foliages between venas, twig dieback, decease of full hitch or workss Manganese ( Mn ) Enzyme activation, metamorphosis of N and organic acids, formation of vitamins and dislocation of saccharides Dirt Interveinal greensickness of immature foliages, step of picket green colour with darker colour next to venas Zinc ( Zn ) Enzymes and auxins constituent, protein synthesis, used in formation of growing endocrines Dirt Mottled foliages, dieback branchlets, lessening in root length Copper ( Cu ) Enzyme activation, accelerator for respiration Dirt Scrawny growing, hapless pigmentation, wilting of foliages Boron ( B ) Reproduction Dirt Thickened, curled, wilted and greensick foliages ; reduced blossoming Molybdenum ( Mo ) Nitrogen arrested development ; nitrate decrease and works growing Dirt Stunting and deficiency of energy ( induced by nitrogen lack ) , searing, cupping or turn overing of foliages Chlorine ( Cl ) Root growing, photosynthetic reactions Dirt Wilting followed by greensickness, inordinate ramification of sidelong roots, bronzing of foliages Extra foods Carbon ( C ) Component of saccharides and photosynthesis Air/ Organic affair Hydrogen ( H ) Maintains osmotic balance and component of saccharides Water/Organic affair Oxygen ( O ) Component of saccharides and necessary for respiration Air/Water/ Organic affair Table 2.2: Essential works elements, their beginnings and function in workss ( Ronen,2007 ) Lack of any of these indispensable foods will retard works development ( Brady and Weil, 2004 ) . Deficiencies and toxicities of foods in dirt present unfavourable conditions for works growing, such as: hapless growing, yellowing of the foliages and perchance the decease of the works as illustrated in Table 3 ( Ahmed et al. , 1997 ) . Therefore proper alimentary direction is required to accomplish upper limit works growing, maximal economic and growing response by the harvest, and besides for minimal environmental impact. In add-on to the foods listed supra, workss require C, H, and O, which are extracted from air and H2O to do up the majority of works weight ( Brady and Weil, 1999 ) . Achieving balance between the alimentary demands of workss and the alimentary militias in dirts is indispensable for keeping dirt birthrate and high outputs, forestalling environmental taint and debasement, and prolonging agricultural production over the long term.2.2.3. Soil Biological belongingss( I ) Soil beingsSoil beings include largely microscopic populating beings such as bacteriums and Fungis which are the foundation of a healthy dirt because they are the primary decomposer of organic affair ( Brady and Weil, 1999 ) . Soil beings are grouped into two viz. soil micro-organisms and dirt macro beings ( Table 2.3 ) . Table 2.3: Dirt Macro and micro-organisms and their function in works and dirt ( Brady and Weil, 1999 ) Categorization Organisms Function in works and/or dirt Beginning Microorganisms Bacterias Decomposition of organic affair Soil surface and humus atoms Actinomycetes Beginning of protein and enhance dirt birthrate Surface beds of grass lands Fungus kingdoms Fix atmospheric N and enhance dirt birthrate Soil ( without organic affair ) Alga Add organic affair to dirty, better aeration of swamp dirts, and repair atmospheric N Moist dirts Macro-organisms Nematodes They can be applied to harvests in big measures as a biological insect powder Dirt and works roots Earthworms Enhance dirt birthrate and structural stableness Aerated dirts Ants and white ants Soil development Dominant in tropical dirts Dirt can incorporate 1000000s of beings that feed off disintegrating stuff such as old works stuff, mulch & A ; unrefined compost ( Ashman and Puri, 2002 ) , Microorganisms constitute & lt ; 0.5 % of the dirt mass yet they have a major impact on dirt belongingss and procedures. 60-80 % of the entire dirt metamorphosis is due to the microflora ( Alam, 2001 ) . Micro-organisms, including Fungis and bacteriums, affect chemical exchanges between roots and dirt and act as modesty of dirt foods ( Kiem and Kandeler, 1997 ) . Soil organic affair is the chief nutrient and energy beginning of dirt micro-organisms ( Ashman and Puri, 2002 ) . Through decomposition of organic affair, micro-organisms take up their nutrient elements. Organic affair besides serves as a beginning of energy for both macro and micro beings and helps in executing assorted good maps in dirt, ensuing in extremely productive dirt ( Mikutta et al. , 2004 ) . Macro-organisms such as insects, other arthropods, angleworms and roundworms live in the dirt and have an of import influence on dirt birthrate ( Amezketa, 1999 ) . They ingest soil stuff and relocate works stuff and signifier tunnels. The effects of these activities are variable. Macro-organisms improve aeration, porousness, infiltration, aggregative stableness, litter commixture, improved N and C stabilisation, C turnover and carbonate decrease and N mineralization, alimentary handiness and metal mobility ( Amezketa, 1999 ; Winsome and McColl, 1998 and Brown et al. , 2000 ) . The assorted groups of dirt beings do non populate independently of each other, but form an interlocked system more or less in equilibrium with the environment ( Brady and Weil, 1999 ) . Their activity in dirt depend on wet content, temperature, dirt enzymes, disintegration of dirt minerals and dislocation of toxic chemicals. All have a enormous function in the development of dirt birthrate ( Alam, 2001 ) . Their actions involve the formation of structural systems of the dirts which help in the addition of agricultural productiveness ( Alam, 2001 ) .2.3. SOIL CLAY MINERALOGYThe clay fraction of dirt is dominated by clay minerals which control of import dirt chemical belongingss including sorption features of dirts ( Dixon and Schulze, 2002 ) . Minerals are of course happening inorganic compounds, with defined chemical and physical belongingss ( Velde, 1995 ) . Minerals that are formed in the deepnesss of a vent are called primary minerals ( Pal et al. , 2000 ) . Feldspar, biotite, vi treous silica and hornblende are illustrations of primary minerals. These minerals and the stones made from them are frequently non stable when exposed to the weathering agents at the surface of the Earth ( Dixon and Schulze, 2002 ) . These stones are broken down ( weathered ) continuously into little pieces by exposure to physical and chemical weathering procedures ( Dixon and Schulze, 2002 ) . Some of the elements that are released during weathering, reform and crystallise in a different construction organizing secondary minerals ( Melo et al. , 2002 ) . Secondary minerals tend to be much smaller in atom size than primary minerals, and are most normally found in the clay fraction of dirts ( Guggenheim and Martin, 1995 ) . Soil clay fractions frequently contain a broad scope of secondary minerals such as kaolinite, montmorillonite and aluminium hydrated oxides, whereas the sand or silt atoms of dirts are dominated by comparatively inert primary minerals. The clay fraction is normally dominated by secondary minerals which are more chemically active and lend the most to dirty birthrate ( Melo et al. , 2002 ) . Two major secondary mineral groups, clay minerals and hydrated oxides, tend to rule. These groups can look in assorted mixtures frequently in association with dirt organic affair ( Brady and Weil, 2004 ) . Clay minerals are hydrated aluminum phyllosilicates, sometimes with variable sums of Fe, Mg, alkali metals, alkalic Earth metals and other cations, ( Joussein et al. , 2005 ) . They are derived from enduring of stones and are really common in all right grained sedimentary stones such as shale, mudstone and siltstone and in all right grained metamorphous slate and phyllite ( Van der Merwe et al. , 2002 ) . There are besides non-clay minerals such as vitreous silica and calcite which are derived from enduring of pyrogenic stones, ( Van der Merwe et al. , 2002 ) . Clay minerals are indispensable stages in dirt chemical science and play highly of import functions in ion exchange reactions ( Brigatti et al. , 1996 ; Barrow, 1999 ) . Soils which are texturally and chemically similar may differ in productiveness or birthrate due to the presence or absence of little sums of peculiar clay minerals ( Van der Merwe et al. , 2002 ) . For illustration, smectite clays are various and strong cationic money changers and their presence can greatly act upon the mobility of potentially toxic elements. Vermiculite has been widely used in the survey of short- to medium-term fluctuations ( seasonal and one-year ) in dirt procedures ( Monterroso and Macias, 1998 ) . Soil clay mineralogy plays a critical function in dirt birthrate since mineral surfaces serve as possible sites for alimentary storage ( Tucker, 1999 ) . However, different types of dirt minerals hold and retain differing sums of foods ( Velde, 1995 ) . Therefore, it is critical to cognize the types of minerals that make up a dirt so as to foretell the grade to which the dirt can retain and provide foods to workss. Knowledge of the clay mineralogical composing and the different clay minerals present in dirt is of import in understanding usage, and direction of the dirt, and in finding the agricultural potencies of dirts.2.3.1. Happening of clay and clay mineralsClaies and clay minerals occur under a reasonably limited scope of geologic conditions ( Velde et al. , 2003 ) . The environments of formation include dirt skylines, Continental and marine deposits, geothermic Fieldss, volcanic sedimentations, and enduring stone formations ( Joussein et al. , 2005 ) . Most clay minerals form where stones are in contact with H2O, air, or steam ( Hillier, 1995 ) . Examples of these state of affairss include enduring bowlders on a hillside, deposits in sea or lake undersides, profoundly inhumed deposits incorporating pure H2O, and stones in contact with H2O heated by magma ( liquefied stone ) ( Hillier, 1995 ) . A primary demand for the formation of clay minerals is the presence of H2O. Soil clay minerals ‘ formation occurs in many different environments, including the weathering environment, the sedimentary environment, and the digenetic-hydrothermal environment ( Brady and Weil, 1999 ) . Clay minerals composed of the more soluble compounds e.g. smectites are formed in environments where ions can roll up ( e.g. in a dry clime, in a ill drained dirt, in the ocean, or in saline lakes ) ( Velde 1995 ) . Clay minerals composed of less soluble compounds ( for illustration, kaolinite and halloysite ) signifier in more dilute H2O such as that found in environments that undergo terrible leaching ( for illustration, a brow in the wet Torrid Zones ) , where merely meagerly soluble elements such as aluminium and Si can stay ( Brady and Weil, 1999 ) . Illite and chlorite are known to organize copiously in the diagenetic-hydrothermal environment by reaction from smectite ( Brady and Weil, 1999 ) . 2.3.2. Weathering of mineralsThe minerals ‘ parent stuffs form in the crystallization of liquefied stone stuff: these are known as primary minerals, and include olivine, quartz, feldspar and hornblende. Primary minerals are non stable when exposed to H2O, air current and extremes of temperature ( Hillier, 1995 ) . Some of the elements that are released during enduring reform and crystallise in a different construction: these are the secondary minerals, and include vermiculite, montmorillonite and kaolinite ( Hillier, 1995 ) . Secondary minerals tend to be much smaller in atom size than primary minerals, and are most normally found in the clay fraction of dirts. As minerals weather, they lose Si ( as soluble silicic acid ) , taking to increasing proportions of aluminates in weather-beaten clays, such as kaolinite. Aluminium hydrated oxide species are amphoteric. The rate and nature of the enduring procedure really much depends on climatic conditions. Intense enduring produced in a hot and damp clime can take to major alterations in mineral construction and the transition to hydrated oxides. There are four stages to be considered in the system that model the formation of clay minerals by the weathering of flinty stones as the clays have a definite composing: K-feldspar, Muscovite ( illite ) , Kaolinite and gibbsite: 3KAlSi3O8 ) +2H+ +12H2O i‚ «2K+ +6Si ( OH ) 4 +KAl3Si3O10 ( OH ) 2 ( K- Feldspar ) ( Illite ) †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ [ Eqn. 2.1 ] 2KAl3Si3O10 ( OH ) 2 + 3H2O + 2H+ i‚ «2K+ + 3Al2Si2O5 ( OH ) 4 ( Illite ) ( Kaolinite ) †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ . [ Eqn. 2.2 ] Al2Si2O5+ ( OH ) 4 5H2O i‚ «iˆ 2Si ( OH ) 4 + 2Al ( OH ) 3 ( Kaolinite ) ( Gibbsite ) †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ . [ Eqn. 2.3 ]

The Global Fast Food Industry External Remote Environment Analysis

StakeholdersA stake holder of a company is any group or an individual who can have an effect or is affected by the success of the company’s goals. For the company to easily achieve its corporate business objectives (goals) , it must have a good connection with its external parties. This means that if the company’s relationship with its stakeholders is not strong, the company is bound to fail in achieving it’s corporate business objectives. This is because their interest to the corporation influences the corporation’s achievements.The company’s strong relationship with stakeholders is measured based on confidence, trust and cooperation. This means that the stakeholders’ interest to the company will be high if there is high trust, respect and good team work. This is majorly primary strategic management. For a company to maintain its competitive advantage and remain relevant, it should clearly identify its stakeholders and other external parties and strengthen its association with them. Stakeholders will include shareholders, employees, customers and suppliers.  It’s difficult to clearly identify the other external parties because there is no clear formula to define it. But because of advertisements, different people are becoming stakeholders depending on different factors. This involves global impacts of an industry such as climate change or cultural due to marketing and advertising.CUSTOMERThis is an individual or group which receives or consumes the final product or services of the company. For the company to increase and maintain its level of clients, it must produce high and good quality products or services. This will ensure that customers demand will be loyal and high. Also because of competition in the market, the corporation should be dynamic in its activities and the price for the product should be fair as different people have different perceptions to price hence should set fair prices to accommodate al l customers. The company communicates through advertisements, trade exhibitions & promotions, giving free samples, cash discounts, offering credit facilities among others. This increases customer awareness of the product or service.SuppliersThese are short term financiers of the company. Their confidence in the company depends on how prompt the corporation honors their credit facilities and how regular they carry on their businesses. The company communicates to this group through cheques, when they make payments, purchase orders.SHAREHOLDERSThey are the owners of the company. Their shares form the equity capital of the company. For them to retain their interest they must receive good dividends from the profits of the company and their investments must keep on appreciating in that company. This will increase the value of the shares and the company’s’ reputation. The company communicates to is shareholders through the Annual General Meeting, AGM which is convened yearly. These people are important to the company because if they have no confidence in the company, the value of shares will reduce in stock market, investors will withdraw their investments from the company and no new investors will invest, creditors will stop offering their services, employees will not receive their salaries, sales will go down and the hence the corporation will collapse.EmployeesThese are the managers of the company. The receive salary from the company and they are motivated if their working conditions in the company is good. the company communicates to the employees through holding meetings, letters of appointments, letters of dismissal and journals.The importance of the employees in the company is to ensure that the resources of the company are taken care of to achieve high results. This will increase sales and improve the reputation of the company. Also investors will be high and hence the value of the shares will increase.ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSISEconomic environmenta lWorld financial market is being affect by Middle East crisis the and US sub prime crisis and there is a global impact on consumer spending worldwide. At first sight this would seem a disproportionate reaction but banks all over the world are exposed to US debt. Sub-prime lending was lending at higher interest rates as a means of helping American consumers of lower incomes and poorer credit records obtain mortgages. These loans were then sold on, in complex ways, to other institutions including hedge (higher risk higher return) funds. The treatment of sub prime loans by the banks is likely to have far reaching effects including, possibly, a slowdown in the US economy and a confidence linked decline in US consumer spending. The Middle East crisis has affected the world economy because Middle East is the source of oil. Although there are alternative sources of energy still oil remains the most important source of energy. Crisis in the energy sector the world is affected.Fact is that U S retail sales rose only 0.3% in August 2007 suggesting increasing caution of the crisis ahead. US retail sales are a major driver of economic growth and may be viewed as an early response to a housing slump and financial market turmoil. Over the past 12 months, retail sales rose by 3.9% excluding autos. However, the level of spending did not indicate recession tendencies though analysts expect growth to decline in the near future. There were modest increases in sales for furniture (0.5%), electronics (0.4%), sporting goods (0.3%), and health care (0.3%) compared with the same month a year ago. Thus, this national economic problem might have a small effect on the food sector because some foods are usually priced higher than regular food (Xinhua News Agency, 14 September 2007).Technological TrendsNearly half of all Americans have broadband Internet connections in their homes, according to the annual survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project in July 2007. The number of home b roadband users nationwide now equals the total number of Americans with any type of Internet connection in 2000, the first year the survey was conducted. Four out of 10 African-American adults have broadband access at home, compared to 15% two years ago. Nearly one-third of rural Americans have home broadband connections, compared to about half of Americans living in urban areas and the suburbs. According to Pew, income and race are becoming less important differentiators in US broadband adoption.Also, according to a May 2007, 67% of US consumers favor making purchases at a traditional store. Some 69% said they used the Internet to comparison shop, and 58% said they go online to locate items before going to the store to make a purchase. Only 13% said the Internet had not improved their patronizing experience. The conclusion is that, instead of replacing brick and mortar stores, the Internet is an extension of consumers' patronize experience, providing a resource to research product and price. When asked what the most powerful influencer was concerning purchasing decisions, 60% said word of mouth, followed by advertising (47%) and online information (43%). In view of the technological trend of consumers being reliant on the Internet for information, KFC should consider setting up a website to have an edge against their competitors.This will assist in the increasing of profitability of fast food industry through advertising in the internet, website development which will list the products of the firm. The future of the firm is predicted with little degree of certainty.Socio-Political TrendsAccording to a survey by Light speeds Research, 70% of US adults support government actions like restricting TV ads for food. Women are more supportive than men of such measures, with 73% reporting support of government actions versus 63% of men.According to a nationwide telephone survey conducted by Research! America and The Endocrine Society in December 2006, some 27% of res pondents prioritized obesity as the top health issue for children, followed by lack of health care/insurance (16%) and nutrition/unhealthy diet (9%). According to Health Day News, the research, which was released on Dec. 13, also found that 52% of respondents regard obesity as a public health issue that society should help solve with 46% regarding it as a private issue. According to the National Center for Health Statistics at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 66% of American adults aged 20-74 and 17% of children aged 2-19 are overweight or obese.In some countries, health regulation requires nearly   restaurants to post calorie information on their menus. This means all these developments in the national and local level are beneficial for food vendors because the growing concern about healthy eating would surely boost their sales. In some countries and religions beliefs and values determines the type of food being sold in the market. Take for example in th e Muslim world some meaty foods will not be sold because of the beliefs. This applies to the east and the west. Foods taken in Japan can strange in Africa Europe and other places and the converse is true.REFERENCESAnonymous.(2007);   A Not So Great 2008: Emerging Trends Report.  National Real Estate Investor (Online Exclusive).Armstrong G. & Kotler P. (2007). Consumer Markets: Influences on consumer behavior, Principles of Marketing.Business Insights. (2003); The Health Food And Drinks Outlook To 2006: Consumer Insight, Market Dynamics & NPD. London: Business Insights Ltd.ICMR Case Studies and Management Resources. (2007). Consumer Behavior. Retrieved January 20, 2008 from http://www.icmrindia.org/courseware/Consumer%20Behavior/CBC03.htlmDonatelle, Rebecca J.(2005); Nutrition Eating for Optimum Health, Health: The Basics,New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.Freeman R. E.,(1984) strategic management, pitman books, Boston, Mass.Hillman A.J. Keim G.D.(2001);   Shareholders Value, Stakeholde rs management, and social issues: what is the bottom line?   Strategic management journalKotler, P. (2005); Principles of Marketing. New York.Melbourne PressRivera, Ray.(2007);   Fight to put calories on menus may widen.(Metropolitan Desk). The New York Times.Schaik J.L., (2002); The Task of Marketing Management; J.L. van Schaik (Pity) ltdSchiffman, Leon G., and Leslie L. Kanuk. Consumer Behavior. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007.Television & Health. Retrieved January 21, 2008 from http://www.csun.edu/~vceed002/health/docs/tv&health.htmlWilson M.,(2003); Corporate Sustainability: what is it and where does it come from? , Ivey Management Services.Winer, R.S. (2007). Marketing Management, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.