System Feedback Loops Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

System Feedback Loops - Essay Example The archetypes identified here are reinforcing loop and balancing loop. The Balancing Loop attempts to move some current state to a desired or reference state though some Action (Bellinger, 2004). A Gap is produced when the desired state interacts with the current state. When the gap is larger, it means the influence is stronger and produces Action which then causes current state to move towards desired state. According to Bellinger (2004), this is done until the Gap is reduced to zero where there is no more influence toward Action. A Reinforcing Loop is a structure which feeds on itself to produce growth or decline (Bellinger, 2004). State 1 either increases or decreases which influences State 2 to move in the same direction. This structure produces growth or decline, hence, it is reinforcing it. Learning Organizations for NutriSystem The increasing demand for healthy diet in U.S. has an impact in weight loss market. NutriSystem has been a leading provider of weight management. Usin g the system feedback loops, events can be affected by determining the patterns observed in behaviors and desired outcomes. These feedback loops illustrate the interactions between events or states. Based on the example of diabetes cases, many people are diagnosed with diabetes and NutriSystem is aiming at promoting health for diabetics. Sytems Feedback Loops 2 Figure 1 - Reinforcing Loop In this diagram, it shows one example of the relationship between diagnosis for diabetes and the number of potential diabetic customers. The more people who are diagnosed with diabetes, the greater the number of potential diabetic customers are for NutriSystem. In other words, the potential diabetic customers increase when more people are likely to be diagnosed with diabetes. The potential diabetic customers can be predicted because the likelihood of people having diabetes is evident. Getting a diagnosis for individuals is likely to be an outcome of predicted potential diabetic customers who are at high risk due to factors such as pregnancy, pre-diabetes conditions, or trends in sugar intake. In 2011, statistics from National Diabetes Fact Sheet show that there are about 25.8 million or 8.3% of U.S. population that have diabetes. There are 18.8 million people diagnosed with diabetes, 7.0 million who are undiagnosed, and 79 million who have pre-diabetes. There are millions of new cases of diabetes every year (American Diabetes Association, 1995-2011). This System Feedback Loops 3 was become an opportunity for NutriSystem to serve diabetics as they have formed a strategic alliance with American Diabetes Association to promote weight loss for people with Type 2 diabetes. A view of benefits of health and nutrition using NutriSystem can be depicted in the following diagram: Figure 2 – Reinforcing Loop NutriSystem offers over 100 food items designed to combine â€Å"good† carbohydrates, proteins and fats (Pechman, 2011) in addition to glycemic index (GI) prepared meal s for diabetics. They provide customers with home delivery meal program that includes balanced, pre-prepared, and portion-controlled meals. (Pechman, 2011). Demand for products such as that of NutriSystem has increased with the growth of obesity epidemic. System Feedback Loops 4 To make a profit, NutriSystem must target potential customers by using new and improved marketing strategies

Stroke Rehabilitation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Stroke Rehabilitation - Essay Example Lack of physical activities, has also been found to affect the recovery process of most patients with strokes. The essay will focus on the importance of activities in the recovery of stroke patients. This will be based on scientific studies that indicate the importance of physical exercises (American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation, 2004). The current studies have mentioned that inactivity and sedentary lifestyles to be common in patients with stroke. This has been associated with the physical deconditioning, a situation that many patients in critical conditions cannot be evade. The physical inactivity can be attributed to age differences, especially in many patients who are above the age of 60. It is also common in patients with negative attitudes and perception about the recovery programs. Patients, who believe that they will recover and become independent, are more likely to participate in physical activities. They respond well to the medical treatment. Several researches also find a correlation between motor coordination and the increased sensitivity of the str oke-impaired limbs with exercises. As a physiotherapist, I have been able to discover the importance of physical activities. I have found that patients who are positive and regularly participate in physical exercise are more likely to respond to drugs. The patients are able to improve their self-esteem and are very positive in life. Only a few patients who have been constantly taking part in physical activities that been diagnosed with the co-occurring ailments. Further, none of the case of recurrent of stroke has been reported. On the contrary, I have had about four patients being diagnosed with hypertension and diabetes mellitus due to inactivity. These patients have refused to continue with the physical exercise program I have made. Hence, my interactions with the patients prove that indeed the physical exercises play an imperative role. As such, I advocate for

Lack of communication on relationships Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Lack of communication on relationships - Essay Example However, this practice leads me to exhaustion and I slowly started to dislike the place. It could have been over easily, however, lack of communication on my behalf led me to a point where I considered quitting that job. Also, once while working there, I started noticing that my manager had started being a bit rude and strict to me. And although, he didn’t use to say much, it led to start of a rumor that I was going to be fired. That not only made me uneasy emotionally, but also affected my motivation at work. However, sometime later it became clear that his behavior was due to his personal problem and not due to my work. Lack of communication often leads to a conflict or in other cases worsening of a conflicting situation (Conflict Research Consortium). It is important to communicate in order to prevent conflict and maintain a clean and clear environment all

Moral luck Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Moral luck - Essay Example Concepcion (2002) describes the "standard view of responsibility" whereby "it is unjust to hold a person morally responsible for that which she did not control. Agents deserve to be morally appraised or held liable only for that which they controlled" (455). The problem this poses is that at some level it can always be argued that a situation was outside of a person's control. There will invariably be some uncontrollable factor that, when joining the confluence of other factors over which a person did have control, it can be argued was the cause of any given scenario. For example, if a person driving a vehicle strikes a child who suddenly runs into the road, it might be argued that the person could have been paying closer attention and thereby braked sooner, or should have been driving more slowly. On the other hand it could be argued that a reasonable person under the circumstances could not have predicted the child running into the road, and therefore this was just bad luck and the driver should not be held responsible. This epitomizes the concept of moral luck. To what extend does a random, uncontrollable occurrence relieve a person of moral responsibility for a harm done Concepcion goes on to argue that accepting the standard view of responsibility "is tantamount t... never morally responsible, show that luck is not ubiquitous or at least that ubiquitous luck is not moral, or show that ascriptions of responsibility can retain justice despite the omnipresence of luck" (455). The implication is that it does not make sense to avoid assigning responsibility simply because luck played a role in the moral dilemma, since luck will virtually always be a factor to some degree. This would logically mean that nobody is ever morally responsible for anything. Paradox of Moral Luck and Moral Responsibility The paradox, as Thomas Nagel (1979) describes it, is that individual moral responsibility is possible even though luck is ubiquitous. We hold a person responsible for actions taken within a scenario he/she did not bring about. It is possible for a person to be morally blameworthy even though the bulk of the circumstances bringing about a scenario were entirely outside of that person's control. Degrees of control are virtually irrelevant, as proximate causation of uncontrollable variables fails to offer any relief from a person's moral responsibility for actions taken within any given situation. Consider the case of a soldier who voluntarily enlists in the U.S. Marine Corps in the hopes of being deployed in Iraq to fight in the war on terror. This person, after months of grueling patrols in Baghdad watching his fellow marines get killed by improvised explosive devices, decides to take revenge by entering the nearest civilian residence and shooting up the women and children inside. Then consider the kid who had his sights set on college but was instead drafted into the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War and becomes so worn down by the war and numbed to killing that he partakes in a massacre of civilians at Mai Lai. The former soldier chose to

Stroke Rehabilitation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Stroke Rehabilitation - Essay Example Lack of physical activities, has also been found to affect the recovery process of most patients with strokes. The essay will focus on the importance of activities in the recovery of stroke patients. This will be based on scientific studies that indicate the importance of physical exercises (American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation, 2004). The current studies have mentioned that inactivity and sedentary lifestyles to be common in patients with stroke. This has been associated with the physical deconditioning, a situation that many patients in critical conditions cannot be evade. The physical inactivity can be attributed to age differences, especially in many patients who are above the age of 60. It is also common in patients with negative attitudes and perception about the recovery programs. Patients, who believe that they will recover and become independent, are more likely to participate in physical activities. They respond well to the medical treatment. Several researches also find a correlation between motor coordination and the increased sensitivity of the str oke-impaired limbs with exercises. As a physiotherapist, I have been able to discover the importance of physical activities. I have found that patients who are positive and regularly participate in physical exercise are more likely to respond to drugs. The patients are able to improve their self-esteem and are very positive in life. Only a few patients who have been constantly taking part in physical activities that been diagnosed with the co-occurring ailments. Further, none of the case of recurrent of stroke has been reported. On the contrary, I have had about four patients being diagnosed with hypertension and diabetes mellitus due to inactivity. These patients have refused to continue with the physical exercise program I have made. Hence, my interactions with the patients prove that indeed the physical exercises play an imperative role. As such, I advocate for

Moral luck Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Moral luck - Essay Example Concepcion (2002) describes the "standard view of responsibility" whereby "it is unjust to hold a person morally responsible for that which she did not control. Agents deserve to be morally appraised or held liable only for that which they controlled" (455). The problem this poses is that at some level it can always be argued that a situation was outside of a person's control. There will invariably be some uncontrollable factor that, when joining the confluence of other factors over which a person did have control, it can be argued was the cause of any given scenario. For example, if a person driving a vehicle strikes a child who suddenly runs into the road, it might be argued that the person could have been paying closer attention and thereby braked sooner, or should have been driving more slowly. On the other hand it could be argued that a reasonable person under the circumstances could not have predicted the child running into the road, and therefore this was just bad luck and the driver should not be held responsible. This epitomizes the concept of moral luck. To what extend does a random, uncontrollable occurrence relieve a person of moral responsibility for a harm done Concepcion goes on to argue that accepting the standard view of responsibility "is tantamount t... never morally responsible, show that luck is not ubiquitous or at least that ubiquitous luck is not moral, or show that ascriptions of responsibility can retain justice despite the omnipresence of luck" (455). The implication is that it does not make sense to avoid assigning responsibility simply because luck played a role in the moral dilemma, since luck will virtually always be a factor to some degree. This would logically mean that nobody is ever morally responsible for anything. Paradox of Moral Luck and Moral Responsibility The paradox, as Thomas Nagel (1979) describes it, is that individual moral responsibility is possible even though luck is ubiquitous. We hold a person responsible for actions taken within a scenario he/she did not bring about. It is possible for a person to be morally blameworthy even though the bulk of the circumstances bringing about a scenario were entirely outside of that person's control. Degrees of control are virtually irrelevant, as proximate causation of uncontrollable variables fails to offer any relief from a person's moral responsibility for actions taken within any given situation. Consider the case of a soldier who voluntarily enlists in the U.S. Marine Corps in the hopes of being deployed in Iraq to fight in the war on terror. This person, after months of grueling patrols in Baghdad watching his fellow marines get killed by improvised explosive devices, decides to take revenge by entering the nearest civilian residence and shooting up the women and children inside. Then consider the kid who had his sights set on college but was instead drafted into the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War and becomes so worn down by the war and numbed to killing that he partakes in a massacre of civilians at Mai Lai. The former soldier chose to

Vancouver-Hollywood North vs the Loss of Canadian Identity Essay Example for Free

Vancouver-Hollywood North vs the Loss of Canadian Identity Essay Introduction: 1 Vancouver is being called â€Å"North Hollywood† because a vast of film producers decide to set up their shooting places at BC, Canada. Vancouver is deserved to be rewarded as this special title because it’s unique beauty of the diverse sceneries and the sophisticated filming technologies. These inputs have already attracted by Hollywood and lead the U.S. film industry entry into making the huge quantity of runaway production era. The 2001 Report concluded that the 1998 Canadian production incentive programs were very successful in attracting production from the U. S.A(StephenM.Katz, 2006, p.1). question has been brought into the public attention and this paper will mainly focus on: why does Canada not encourage their own domestic film industry, but would rather give foreign film industry tax incentives. Additionally, due to the growing number of American movies crushed into the Canadian entertainment market, this paper will also discuss both the positive and negative effects emerged under this issue. The tax incentive given by the Canadian government cannot be denied for one of the reason to turn BC as well known asNorth Hollywood: â€Å" Foreign production companies will see the Production Services Tax Credit jump to 25%, with an unchanged 6% bonus for work done outside the Vancouver area.†(BC Announce 35% Film Incentive Credit, 2008). Actually, not only BC is doing such things but also New Zealand. Newman illustrates The film and television production industry is significant in both New Zealand and British Columbia. Governments in both localities provide substantial support for the industry through government agencies and tax  incentives.(Newman.D,2005,abstract).Currently, BC is directly toward into a service-oriented country by providing the U.S. big financial profits. This strategy seems to become a really effective approach to enlarge their awareness toward the global without promoting their own film industry but rather borrowing their beauty to U.S. Takaki and Shoot explains that some of the U.S. Film associations like SAG (Screen Actors Guide) and FTAC (Television Actions Committee) already had an unpleasant attitude toward the Canadian federal governments tax incentive legislation (Takaki,MillieShoot, FilmTelevision,2001). They are not encourage the U.S. film industry to do the runaway productions in order to persist the U.S. rights and promoting their own movie domestically. Currently, there are a lot of such top-grossing movies include:X men, Silent Hill, Mean girls,etc(Chris Hamilton, 2008) . Apparently, there are both advantages and disadvantages behind the runaway production for both U.S. and Canada. Take the employment issue as instance:the loss of the job opportunities would be one of the serious concern towards the Americas because the film producer would prefer to hire the local employers rather than bring the workers all the way to B.C. This is aiming of saving appropriation expenditure. Many people like Pendarkur M hold the belief of: â€Å"creating employment is more important than fighting for better wages and working conditions†(Pendarkur, 1998). Basically, this idea is fairly straight forward which stand for its way much better to  have a job rather than getting a better wages and working conditions provided by their boss. In this way, the employment is seen as the priority of one country. Nevertheless, we still cannot deny the advantages and disadvantages it brought to BC and U.S. The optimistic effects might probably cause a decrease unemployed rate for the Canadians. In another words, more Canadians would find a job under the help of the U.S. film industry.On the other hand, there would be a high unemployed rate for the Americans. Other than the job opportunities we get, Vancouver is successfully known as North Hollywood currently and it helps to promote Canadians film industry. After that, it widen the opportunities for the TV producer to do the movies and help to  expose the beauty of diverse BC sceneries to the whole world. Eventually, he ended up with the solution that:† This type of thinking has resulted from the weakened position of Canadian and international unions, which has placed them in a struggle for survival and left them unprepared to negotiate with the powerful and expanding entertainment industry†(Pendarkur, 1998). After getting the great job opportunities, BC is actually facing a further serious problem which is the lack of capability to get rid of the domination of U.S. and build their own entertainment industry. The longer period people adopted into something, the harder for them to leave it behind and build a new industry. Actually, there is a far long period when the U.S. Corporation first started dominated some of the Canadian entertainment market. According to Pendarur M: 4 Paramount Famous-Lasky, the leading vertically integrated firm in the United States, dominated the Canadian feature film market through its subsidiary, Fomous Players Canadian Corporation,(Pendakur, M. 1990). The Canadians were influenced and dominated by the U.S. Industry for such a long period already. This situation lead the Canadian get more adopted to U.S. Entertainment world rather than building up their own film industry. This lead to the consideration of the loss of local audiences once the government decide to promote their local film market. Moreover, audience fragmentation is another concerns about why Canadian not encourage making its own movies.If people randomly walk into a cinema, it is obviously to find out the U.S. movies took over a great percentage of movie products on the Canadian cinema. Also, it gets a fairly good feedback among the audiences which makes the Canadian cinema become prosperous. In order to let it remain the same situation and let it survive, the Canadian film industry realize to spend more time and attract more foreign powerful film-making countries is significant rather than creating their own domestic film. Through David Skinners research., he claimed that:these definitions are all based on a concern that the dominant corporate media do not adequately represent the interests of all members of society(David, 2010, p.221). These definitions on the above quote are actually stand for the idea of  Ã¢â‚¬Å"alternative media† . The dominant corporate media cannot be fully satisfied by one hundred percent of the audiences because different people from the various social status have their own interests. To be  more specific, even though the Canadian government invest expenditure to promote the real Canadian movie,the audience fragmentation still exists. To consider this issue in a further financial perspectives, it better and easier to support the U.S. runaway productions in order to keep the Canadian cinema industry alive and have a large number of audiences really buy the tickets. Moreover, a more serious situation would happen derived from the previous sequences. The dominant corporate might only provide the pastime for those of them who have the ability to access media. Nevertheless, the rest of them might remain the same living style as what they were before because they dont have the capability to access them like some remote areas. The new technologys exist give people a new sight to understand the world. The powerful invention of these new media going to influence how we think and how we behave. After that, it causes the huge gaps between the one who can get into the cinema and who are not capable to use that. Its hard for a whole nation to unite together and figure out what their real interests are. The Canadian government provide the tax incentives undoubtedly created benefits for both of them financially but seems ignore the further concern of creating a â€Å"real Canada† consists of it’s real identity. What kind of movie we watch has a direct impact to shape Canadian itself. Specifically, someone who makes the film affect what kind of messages they get. It impacts the Canadian identity in several various aspects. Particularly, there is not  doubt that Canada and U.S. overlap a lot of similarities like the languages. However, there is one significant factor cannot be denied on this context which is the â€Å"unique identity†. The Canadians do have its own unique identity including the enthusiasm to the national hockey, the still existing of First Nation’s unsophisticated lifestyle and other factors make Canada become a unique nation and really help the Canadians to define who they are. Along with the tendency of growing proportion U.S. film start to shoot  movies in Canada, the Canada seems have less time to promote their own film. Some of the U.S. identities are being shown during the films and this is going to directly injected into Canadians mind. Consequently, they would not be able to have a strong nationality traits. In conclusion, this paper mainly explored the reasons for the Canadian government intentionally turn Vancouver into north Hollywood instead of investing the film producer to shoot the real domestic movie with real local identity in it. Also, this paper looked at the profits and drawbacks from both U.S. film associations perspective and Canadian governments point of view. Next, it emphasis the significant role of one countrys entertainment industry. The film industry has no longer simplly provide an entertainment way for people to have a pastime but it become a nations symbol and reflected the countrys real identity. The elements being made during the scenes potentially injected into audiences mind and they behave toward the invisible messages being created by the film. As time passes, it definitely  going to influence how Canadian behave and how they communicate between each other. This paper concluded that the creation of one countrys identity is far more significant compared with governments financial concern. References David, Skinner. (2010) â€Å"Minding the Growing Gaps: alternative media in Canada† In Leslie R.S(ed.) Mediascapes. Nelson College Indigenous Press. Famous Movies Filmed in Canada | Cinemaroll. (n.d.). Cinemaroll | film making, from the viewers perspective. Retrieved March 24, 2011, from http://cinemaroll.com/cinemarolling/famous-movies-filmed-in-canada/ Newman, D. (2005). Regions And Runways: Film Assistance In New Zealand British Columbia, 1990-2005. Media International Australia Incorporating Culture Policy, (117), 11-30. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Pendakur, M. M., Sussman, G. G., Lent, J. A. (1998). Hollywood north: film and TV production in Canada. In , Global Productions: Labor in the Making of the Information Society (pp. 213-238). Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Pendakur, M. (1990). Canadian Dreams American Control: The Political Economy of the Canadian Film Industry. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. 9 Stephen M. K. (2006). The Global Success of Production Tax Incentives and the Migration of Feature Film Production From The U.S. to the World Year 2005 Production Report[Adobe Digital Editions version]. Takaki, MillieShoot,( 12/14/2001). Dispute Heats Up Over Runaway Tariff Proposal. Film Television Literature Index with Full Text (Vol. 42, Issue 50) Vancouver Film. Net: BC Announces 35% Film Incentive Credit. (n.d.). Vancouver Film. Net. Retrieved March 24, 2011, from http://www.vancouverfilm.net/2008/01/bc-plans-35-film-tax-credit.html