Homelessness in Need Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Homelessness in Need - Research Paper Example This research paper describes the homelessness isue that is a big social problem everywhere in the world today. The United States of America are also not an exception. The researcher focuses on analysis of what makes people homeless today. It is stated in the research paper that changing family concepts, unemployment, structural problems individual problems etc are making people homeless in modern world. It is aldo described that homelessness affects children more than anybody else today and it is important task of governmental and other social organizations to decrease the issue of homelessness arounf children and teenagers in the United States. In March 2009 CNN reported that in the United States of America one of every fifty children faces homelessness, meaning that more than 1.5 million children face this problem, "These numbers will grow as home foreclosures continue to rise†. The reasons for homelessness are different in different countries. In the United States, children who suffer from poverty or domestic violence may develop physical and emotional problems as a result of homelessness and instability. Homeless children are sick at twice the rate of other children. They suffer twice as many ear infections, have four times the rate of asthma, and have five times more diarrhea and stomach problems. To conclude, the researcher expresses his hope that government of the United States, social organizations and the individuals combine well and cooperate well can eradicate homelessness permanently from American soil.

The Hiroshima bomb Essay Example for Free

The Hiroshima bomb Essay The Hiroshima bomb, dropped in (insert year, i forget which) was a deadly atomic bomb that drastically affected the lives of Japanese citizens in both novels and in reality. In the fictional novel, The Street of a Thousand Blossoms, written by Gail Tsukiyama, the author portrays a very accurate perspective of the Japanese and their experiences during World War II. The tragedies that are descriptively discussed in this novel similarly resemble the incidents that occurred to the Japanese victims during World War II. The Japanese suffered extremely throughout the few years of the war. They went through periods of starvation and psychological devastation when the economy spiraled downwards.The financial state of the Japanese suffered a terrible blow as a result of the large amounts of invested money put into the military in hopes of expanding the imperialism ideology. In the novel, Hiroshi could not understand why â€Å"Yanaka’s alleyways were crowded with women and children who lined up and waited for hours for meagre rations of rice and salted fish. (Tsukiyama 51)† After the bombing of Pearl Harbour, the American embargoes stopped all the needed resources in Japan. The American oil embargo caused a crisis in Japan. Reliant on the US for 80% of its oil, the Japanese were forced to decide between withdrawing from China, negotiating an end to the conflict, or going to war to obtain the needed resources elsewhere (embedded http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/worldwarii/a/wwiipaccauses.htm). â€Å"†¦Hiroshi couldn’t remember the last time they had any meat or fresh fish to eat. He and Kenji ate more and more slowly, trying to make what little they had in their bowls last longer. (Tsukiyama 69)† All the villagers in Yanaka, including Hiroshi were not accustomed to povertybecause of the luxurious lives they lived before the crisis occured. Now, they â€Å"fear and dread of the war and their increasing hunger weighs heavily on everyone’s minds (Tsukiyama 69)†. Because of the second Sino-Japanese war, the Japanese had to cut down imports of goods to pay for the materials for railway and ship building industries. The American embargoes prevented any goods from being exported to Japan. Therefore, Japan began to have a shortage of food and other necessities. This caused havoc in Japan which was vividly portrayed in the novel, when Hiroshi and his family struggle to survive and ration each of their resources. Satoko Matsumoto, a survivor of the Hiroshima bombing stated, â€Å"One after another, people died, some of them with a cry for water on their lips (Embedded p31 Harris)† Matsumoto’s state was very similar to Hiroshi’s perspective as everyone solely cares about is the hunger that’s assaulting their stomach. As if the starvation running rampant in the country was not devastating enough, the bombing on Hiroshima plunged Japan into further chaos. The bombing of Hiroshima killed hundreds of thousands of innocent Japanese citizens. The survivors were forced to lose many loved ones, and scarring their lives forever. In the {insert novel name}, Kenji and Haru were both present during the dropping of the bomb and their thoughts reflected the same ones as citizens who experienced the catastrophe in reality. The author states, â€Å"Can you imagine a wind so strong that it ripped a man’s face away where he stood? Can you imagine how internal organs exploded, clothes and bodies burst into flames, disintegrated on the spot? Can you envision a mushroom cloud formed by smoke and debris that could be seen for miles by the naked eye, followed by a black rain falling, black tears they called it, radiation spreading in its wake? Those who died were the lucky ones; those who lived through it would never be the same. (Tsukiyama 140)† These memories will always haunt Haru’s mind as even 3 years later, she â€Å"still felt a sharp burning in her palms and the tips of her fingers, and suddenly the three years disappeared and she was twelve years old again, hooking her arm through Aki’s as they ran and ran, their eyes stinging, lungs burning, running through the thick acrid smoke back to the stable, running fast so that her little sister wouldn’t see the burned bodies writhing in agony, pleading for water. (Tsukiyama 181) The fire weakened Haru’s vision and her hands were paralyzed. Her sister Aki suffered hair loss due to the radiation caused by the bomb. As of November 1945, an estimated 130,000 were dead. Both Haru and Aki suffered through the symptoms due to radioactive rays. Aki later died of Leukemia and left Haru behind devastated. Katsuko Horibe was a teacher at Honkawa Elementary School when the incident happened. â€Å"Seven Honkawa students, burning and bleeding, their uniform s in tatters and strips of skin hanging from their bodies, lay crying in agony. The children had been playing hide-and-seek when the bomb found them.† (embedded) The horrific memories of Horibe were concealed in her mind just like Aki and Haru until the day she died. â€Å"Blood was caked on her skin and clothes, as she was starting to feel intense pain.† (embedded) Seven year old Michiko Kodomas classmates were playing outside when it happened. â€Å"Kodoma says what she witnessed next are horrors that no child should ever experience. ‘[There were] people whose eyeballs had popped out their sockets. There were those who held their babies – burnt black; they themselves had no skin. There were those whose intestines had come out of their bodies, and confused they struggled to put them back in.’ (embedded) The visions that Michiko saw were exactly what Haru tried to prevent Aki from witnessing. Uragashira, a survivor of the Hiroshima bombing as well as the Nagasaki bombing 3 days later recalled, â€Å"I still remember the smell of charred bodies and the weak screams of the dying, for water Even if I suffer dementia, I will never forget it.† (Embedded) This proves how gruesome and appalling the disaster was. Tsukiyama graphically portrayed these dreadful and terrifying memories through the words of Haru and the voices of the dead. Her interpretations of the suffrage of the Japanese were very concise and accurate.

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS): Improving Treatments

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS): Improving Treatments Summary ALS is a progressive, fatal motoneurone disease, ultimately leading to paralysis and respiratory failure within 3-5 years. There is currently only one FDA-approved drug, Riluzole, but its lack of disease prolongation combined with the aggressive disease nature means identifying new treatments is essential. This review highlights 3 of the most current and promising research areas. Recent Phase 1 Clinical trials have proven safety of stem cell (SC) implantation in humans. Parallel rodent SC models show positive results in both decelerating disease progression and promoting anti-inflammatory neuronal protection. Supplementary use of growth factors also shows potential regarding motoneurone survival and dendrite length in cultures, and survival rates in mouse models. Knockout of glial xC- glutamate anti-porter significantly reduces excessive glutamate levels in neurones by 70%, compared to xC- +/+ microglia. Knockout also reduces levels of pro-inflammatory markers. These findings highlight vital role of xC- system in reducing neuronal glutamate excitotoxicity. Antisense technologies effectively reduced SOD1 protein and mRNA levels, consistent in CSF and brain of SOD1 rodent cortices. This supports SOD1 as a good biomarker for future antisense studies. Overall, there is promising research being conducted. However improvements in clinical trial techniques must be addressed in order to reliably compare findings from future studies, and allow identification of a cure in the future. Summary word count: 213 Introduction Also known as ‘Lou Gehrig’s Disease’, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) involves loss of upper and lower motoneurones from the brainstem and spinal cord. Symptoms progress from difficulty in limb movement to paralysis, and finally respiratory failure, the biggest cause of death in ALS. With a prevalence of approx. 2:100,000 and average onset age of 55 years, death usually occurs 3-5 years after onset. Although first identified in 1869 by Jean-Martin Charcot, there remain no conclusive disease causes. The disease is classified into 2 types: Familial ALS (fALS), the inherited form, is responsible for approx. 10% of all cases. There are a handful of genetic mutations linked to fALS, including: C90RF72, TDP-43, FUS, Ubiquilin-2, and currently most relevant in disease-models, Cu2+/Zn2+ Superoxide Dismutase (SOD1). Sporadic (sALS) form comprises the majority of cases, and this unknown nature of the disease makes targeted treatments challenging. Riluzole is currently the only FDA approved treatment for ALS, increasing life expectancy by 2 months. In 2011, ‘Nuedexta’ was also approved as a treatment for pseudobulbar effects in ND diseases. Patients must otherwise rely on palliative care to improve quality of life. This review will focus on the most current and widely researched areas. Proposed mechanisms of disease are beyond the scope of this review, but can be found in a review by Cleveland and Rothstein (2001). Stem Cell Therapy Due to its infamous potential, stem cell (SC) therapy is perhaps the most widely researched treatment area. SC therapy aims to improve symptoms rather than cure the disease, by either targeting re-growth of neurones or promoting their survival. Here we will focus on clinical and pre-clinical SC trials in the last 5 years. Direct neuronal replacement One proposed treatment method is to replace dying motoneurones with SCs. Recent Phase 1 Clinical Trials by Glass et al., (2012) and Feldman et al., (2014) studied the safety of lumbar and cervical SC injections, respectively. Both trials found good patient tolerance and sufficient safety to continue with future trials. Feldman et al. also used histochemical analysis to address concerns over unpredictable SC migration, by highlighting successfully transplanted SCs in spinal cord slices, Figure 1. Figure 1. B) Cross-section of spinal cord highlighting non-native cells C) Close-up shows morphology of cells consistent with pre-implanted SCs, indicative of successful transplantation into spinal cord. [Adapted from Feldman et al., 2014] Despite multiple limitations to the experimental technique, such as absence of a control group, results indicated early SC transplantation has a good chance of slowing disease progression in ALS patients, as 50% of patients showed improvement in 6-15 month post-trial check-ups. The corresponding Phase II Trial commenced in September 2013, and is due for completion this month. Figure 2 shows a previous study by Karussis et al., (2010) where SC injection leads to a significant increase in immune-regulatory cells (CD4+/CD25+) and an overall decreased immune response. Figure 2. Levels of neuronal cell inflammatory markers following injection of SCs [Adapted from Karussis et al., 2014] Reduction in immune response over 24hrs was in fact greater than seen in immunomodulatory medicines, suggesting additional mode of action for SC therapy. Neuronal survival via growth factor delivery Unsuccessful trials in the late 1990s to treat ALS with growth factors (GFs) prompted further studies into appropriate CNS targeting. Development of the SOD1-mutant rat model allowed Suzuki et al., in 2008, to address these delivery issues in a study using SCs as GF vectors. They found GF delivery to mid-stage SOD1 rodents showed increased neuromuscular connections, and a lifespan increase of 28 days, possibly due to reduced neuronal loss. Viral vectors for trophic factors (TFs) provide an alternative delivery route, and in 2010, Dodge et al., carried out mouse embryonic-SC motoneurone studies in which expression of TFs IGF-1 and VEGF-165 using viral vector, AAV4, allowed successful delivery of TFs to entirety of CNS. This slowed MN decline and increased mouse survival. Figure 3 shows initial culture studies using mouse-derived embryonic motoneurone SCs, showing clear protective action on neurones. Figure 3. A) 70% of motoneurones died in control, GFP-CM, compared to high survival with IGF-1-CM/VEGF-CM. B,C) IGF-1-CM/VEGF-CM treated motoneurones showed increased neurite length and survival rates compared to control. [Image from Dodge et al., 2010] Subsequent mouse studies showed increased survival and decelerated reduction in hindlimb grip-strength and stamina on the rotarod, seen in Figure 4. Figure 4. A,C,E) Mouse studies depicting neuroprotective action of TFs, IGF/VEGF vs control. [Image adapted from Dodge et al., 2010] It is worth noting that combined delivery of both TFs showed no synergistic effect, probably due to their affecting the same pathway. Subsequently, in 2013, Krakora et al., modified human mesenchymal SCs to further investigate synergistic effect of combined GFs. A synergistic effect between GDNF + VEGF was seen due to their action on different signalling cascades. This shows promise for future studies into improved neuronal survival. SC conclusions Phase-1 clinical-trials have shown safety of SC injection into CNS with promising, if unreliable, patient outcomes. The mechanism of improvement still unidentified, but hints at inflammatory regulation in neural protection may open an interesting avenue. GF application shows further potential based on rodent/mice studies with a proven effect at slowing disease progression and neuronal loss. SCs make suitable GF vectors as can be made to express/over-express GFs. Combining GF models with SC vectors for targeted delivery requires further exploration. Future trials must consider frequency, dose and administration technique. Neuronal Excitotoxicity Mouse ALS models by Beers et al., (2011) and Liao et al., (2012) indicate microglia conversion from M2 (anti-inflammatory) to M1 (pro-inflammatory) state during disease. Believed to be due to glutamate toxicity, therapeutic work should focus on reducing excessive neuronal glutamate level, and reducing resultant pro-inflammatory response. In 2014, Mesci et al., studied the xC- system; a glial antiporter exchanging cysteine for glutamate release, causing increased neuronal glutamate. The study aimed to show blocking xC- would reduce excessive glutamate release and affect M1/M2 state, to reduce inflammation. xCT (transporter gene) -/- mouse microglial studies demonstrated a significant 70% reduction in glutamate release compared to XC- +/+. Furthermore, Figure 5 shows significantly increased pro-inflammatory factors in xC- +/+ mice microglia compared to -/-, hinting at a shift towards the M1 microglial phenotype via xC-. Figure 5. A-E) Levels of M1 pro-inflammatory factors in xCT -/- vs +/+ mouse microglia [Image from Mesci et al., 2014] Interestingly, Mesci et al., also noted a 10-fold increase in anti-inflammatory M2 marker levels at pre-symptomatic phase in -/- mice which drops off at disease onset, indicating M1/M2 shift upon disease onset. Encouragingly, -/- microglia showed significant increase in motoneurone survival in -/- vs +/+ microglia, at 45% and 35% survival, respectively. This is indicative of a less neurotoxic environment. Finally, xC- -/- SOD1 mutated mice showed an overall deceleration in disease progression, shown by increased survival rates following advanced disease stage (20% weight loss) in Figure 6. Figure 6. Survival in advanced ALS in xC- +/+ and -/- SOD1 mice Neurotoxicity conclusions These anti-excitotoxicity findings are consistent with the action of Riluzole. Future drugs may target xC- system, however current antagonists are poorly specific and available to brain. Identification of a more suitable antagonist would be a good priority before further clinical trials. Antisense Technologies Antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) bind to specific mRNA sequences to cause mRNA degradation. In 2013, Leah et al., conducted studies in SOD1 rodents and human subjects with neurodegenerative diseases. SOD1-targeting ASOs were introduced to subjects to reduce SOD1 levels. They found both SOD1 mRNA and protein fell by 69Â ±4% and 48Â ±14%, respectively, in rodent cortices. Interestingly, this matched reduced protein levels by 42Â ±14% in rodent CSF, indicating CSF levels are a good measure of levels in brain. Unfortuntely, SOD1 cannot be a specific ALS marker due to its presence in other neurodegenerative diseases. However, its observed constant levels over time supports SOD1 as a good biomarker in indicating efficacy of antisense technologies and its effective targeting by ASOs may be useful in measuring brain SOD1 levels via CSF levels in future studies. A Phase 1 Clinical Trial by Miller et al., (2013) to determine safety of single-dose intrathecal injection of ASOs found no safety concerns. However, liver cancer and neuropathy was previously seen in cases of chronic low SOD1 levels (Elchuri et al., 2005), so long-term dosage effects must be carefully monitored. Conclusions This review was restricted to three main research areas, but areas such as susceptibility gene identification, oxidative stress and protein misfolding, are also being explored. Current research shows promise, especially in SOD1 rodent models and positive safety data from Phase 1 Trials. SCs continue to have vast potential, and when combined with GFs have shown encouraging effects on disease progression in rodent models. Reliability of these studies, however, must be improved in order to draw accurate conclusions and compare findings from related studies. Ideally, a ‘standard trial protocol’ should be implemented. Trials must also consider long-term effects of reduced SOD1 levels (in antisense techniques) and immunosuppressant use (with stem cells). Some issues may possibly be alleviated by recent development of new autologous SC models (Meyers et al., 2014). In short, current ALS treatments remain palliative care and Riluzole, but with new developments continuously emerging there is definitely an exciting research landscape ahead. In October 2014, ALSA requested Phase II Trial proposals to accelerate work in this area, meaning that the race is on to find suitable ALS treatment that may help patient prognosis in the future. Word count: 1573 119/09/2016

The Impact of Education on the Renaissance Essay -- European Renaissanc

The gigantic effect that education had on Renaissance society was greatly stimulated by the new development of humanism. Humanism was responsible for the curiosity of many intellects during the Renaissance, which ultimately led to the discoveries and developments that made the Renaissance such a remarkable time. It proposed a different way of thinking, unprecedented by scholars. Without humanism and the educational interest that it brought about, the Renaissance would not be known as the explosion of culture that it is considered today. Humanistic belief that ?the church should not rule civic matters, but should guide in only spiritual matters? (The Humanist Philosophy) led to the expansion in education that the Renaissance is known for. Because Italian humanists believed that they should become knowledgeable and apply that knowledge for the benefit of civilization in general, a huge boom in education, seperate from that taught by the clergy, occurred (The Humanist Philosophy). For the first time in modern years, the philosophy of ancient Greeks such as Plato and Socrates were studied widely so as to better understand the thinking behind those of ancient times, an era greatly admired by the Italians of Renaissance times. These studies were a bridge to more mathematical thinking than the objective thinking of the past, thoughts were backed up by reasoning. This kind of thought and study eventually led to the opposition to the Church teachings about subjects such as Indulgences, which were not proven to be true by an y known document, including the Bible (Renaissance - Humanism). Without the new thoughts brought about by education during the Renaissance, society may very well still be dominated by the Church. The study of the s... ...the Renaissance allowed for new thoughts on the theory of gravity as well as other significant topics important to learning about the way the universe functions. Without the educational boom brought about by humanism, these important understandings might still be unknown today (Renaissance ? Science in the Renaissance). Humanism was the main factor behind the immense increase in educational interest in a society that is best known for its intellectual advancements. Without this newfound thirst for knowledge felt by many during the Renaissance, this time period would have been lost in the deep pool of European history. Education, and therefore humanism, made it the exceptionally well regarded era that it is. We owe the inventions, discoveries, and general advancements that came from this period to the expansion of fascination in education during the Renaissance.

Film Contributions of the Sixties Essay -- essays papers

Film Contributions of the Sixties Beginning roughly with the release of Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Stopped Worrying and Loved the Bomb in 1964, and continuing for about the next decade, the â€Å"Sixties† era of filmmaking made many lasting impressions on the motion picture industry. Although editing and pacing styles varied greatly from Martin Scorcesse’s hyperactive pace, to Kubrick’s slow methodical pace, there were many uniform contributions made by some of the era’s seminal directors. In particular, the â€Å"Sixties† saw the return of the auteur, as people like Francis Ford Coppola and Stanley Kubrick wrote and directed their own screenplays, while Woody Allen wrote, directed and starred in his own films. Kubrick, Coppola and Allen each experimented with characterization, narrative and editing techniques. By examining the major works of these important directors, their contributions become more apparent. Dr. Strangelove (1964), an adaptation of Peter Bryant’s novel Red Alert, although still bearing the usual traits of a Kubrick film, is something of a departure for him in terms of editing and spatial strategies. The film’s run-time more or less corresponds with the fictional or represented time in the story. This direct correspondence between fictional and real time adds to the sense of temporal compression induced by the film’s insistent editing patterns. Although Dr. Strangelove employs many long takes, it contains the shortest average-shot-length of any Kubrick film. The film consists of roughly 700 shots and has a run time of 94 minutes for an average-shot-length of 8 seconds. Despite the rather short average-shot-length, Dr. Strangelove still resorts to crucial long takes to slow down the rapid momentum of the story (Falsetto, 35). Several spatial and temporal procedures are at work in Dr. Strangelove, such as the use of the long take. Conversely, the B-52 sequences, often accompanied by various versions of â€Å"When Johnny Comes Marching Home,† employ different editing patterns than the rest of the film. These edits reinforce the film’s theme of inevitability. Through editing, the B-52 sequences display a strong cinematic rhythm. The shots are generally shorter than the other sections of the film, and they significantly contribute to the film’s shorter average-shot-length, despite Kubrick’s deliberate use of long takes (Falset... ...ng shots, all three experimented with elements of characterization. Kubrick used both subjective and objective points of view quite deliberately in his films. Coppola took the Mafia, and humanized them more so than previous gangster movies, in addition to redefining what a sequel should be. Woody Allen took comedy back to its roots, and in the process, was able to created some of the most groundbreaking comedy since Charlie Chaplin. In addition, this return of the auteurs paved the way for many of today’s prominent filmmakers. Without Kubrick or Coppola, there would be no Quentin Tarantino, and without Woody Allen, there would be no Kevin Smith. Coppola, Kubrick and Allen have each made enduring films, and continued to do so well after the â€Å"Sixties† had ended. Bibliography: Falsetto, Mario. Stanley Kubrick: A Narrative and Stylistic Analysis. Greenwood Press, Westport, CT. 1994. Girgus, Sam B. The Films of Woody Allen. Cambridge University Press, New York, 1993. Johnson, Robert K. Francis Ford Coppola. Twayne Publishers, Boston, 1977. Mast, Gerald and Bruce F. Kwan. A Short History of the Movies. Allen & Bacon, Boston, 2000.

Free Catcher in the Rye Essays: The Highly Overrated Catcher in the Rye :: Catcher Rye Essays

The Overrated Catcher in the Rye The Catcher in the Rye is probably the most frequently taught book in American high schools and colleges in the second half of the twentieth century. I am not too sure, though, if the novel deserves the position it has held for so long. The book sees the narrator, Holden Caulfield, a seventeen-year-old boy from New York City, tell the story of three days in his life. The whole narrative is a kind of therapeutic coming-to-terms-with-the-past story, since Holden obviously tells it from a psychiatric institution. It is the adult world that has made him a "madman," as he often characterizes himself. He just cannot relate to anyone except for his kid sister Phoebe. Everything and all other people seem "phony" to him. He flunks out of three boarding schools in a row, the latest of them Pencey Prep, which is also where the first part of the story takes place. One Saturday night, after some last experiences with his history teacher "Old Spencer," his roommate Stradlater and the boy next door, Robert Ackley, Holden decides to leave Pencey four days early for Christmas break. He knows that he cannot return and that his parents will get a letter about his suspension on Wednesday. He spends the night and the following two days wandering around New York in a kind of aimless quest: He stays at a cheap hotel for one night, goes to two night clubs, dances with older women, often talks and thinks about sex, even has a callgirl come up to his room, but cannot get himself to perform the act. Finally, he gets beaten up by the callgirl's pimp. The next day, he talks with some nuns about literature and has a date with his former girlfriend Sally Woodruff. They go to a theater show and ice-skating together. When he asks her to run away with him, she gets mad and they part. He is "depressed," thinks about and even talks to his dead bro ther Allie a lot and finally sneaks into his parents' apartment at night to talk to his sister. He tells her about his dream to be a "catcher in the rye," and that he wants to run away. He then leaves to meet his former teacher, Mr. Antolini. They have a good talk, but Holden leaves in a hurry when his host makes a sexual advance on him.

Business Requirement Analysis Essay

Introduction On my paper, I will be discussing the analysis of an e-commerce function of General Electric website. I chose to do General Electric because they are well established and have diversified services, technology, and manufacturing. General Electric is a company that is committed to being an industry leader world side and is striving to be the example for the world to follow its leadership of its businesses. Currently Forbes has ranked GE as the world’s second largest company with over 287,000 employees around the world. Jeffery Immelt is the chairman of the board and chief executive officer of General Electric. He was selected by the General Electric Board of Directors in 2000 after Jack Welch retired. Before Jack Welch retired, he announced that General Electric will become the leader in global internet business. He saw what the internet is capable of and saw that it was critical for General Electric to lead the pace in the internet business. During Jack Welch tenure, he has developed values that are taken seriously within the General Electric organization. Jack Welch used what he called the 4 E’s of leadership, which are Energy, individuals with energy love to â€Å"go, go, go†. These people possess boundless energy and get up every day ready to attack the job at hand. High energy people move at 95 miles-per-hour in a 55 mile-per-hour world, Energizers, know how to spark others to perform. They outline a vision and get people to carry it out. Energizers know how to get people excited about a cause or a crusade. They are selfless in giving others the credit when things go right, but quick to except responsibility when things go awry, Edge, those with edge are competitive types. They know how to make the really difficult decisions, such as hiring, firing and promoting, never allowing the degree of difficulty to stand in their way, and Execute, the key to the entire model. Without measurable results, the other â€Å"E’s† are of little use. Executers recognize that activity and productivity are not the same and are capable of converting energy and edge into action and results. Jack Welch took twenty years to develop his leadership model. For General Electric to have a successful implantation of the e-commerce tactics, they had to overcome some cultural issues. General Electric had also to ensure that their operations would run smoothly and to be able to build good relationships with their customers. What General Electric has done in the past was they would keep a large sales staff to help customers with their purchase of General Electric products. With the introduction of the internet and General Electric new e-business, the sales staff had become worried that they might lose their jobs because of the internet and they feeling not needed. What General Electric did to help overcome this misconception, they offered bonuses to anyone on the sales staff that helped the customers buy over the internet. They help make the staff understand how the internet can benefit them and the company as a whole and this calmed down the sales staff. With the sales of home appliances, it has become a very completive market with sales and reduce pricing on most to all appliance that anyone sales and a web presence is essential to have within this market. In today’s market though, having just one centralized website will not due and General Electric understood this and General Electric wanted to give each store the ability to sell on the internet to their customers in there general location. With each store having its own website, they should be able to manipulate the website to reflect their own personal pricing of the appliances along with advertising and home delivery terms and conditions. General Electric decided that the website drive by the postal code, meaning customers find their local General Electric store by their postal zip code. Once you are on that particular website, the website offers the traditional search and select stores, gives product details, you can compare modes and so on, but you would be offered that particular store price and specials. The websites for the stores have an user friendly, easy to use website editor where the store can change the data to reflect their current prices and sales and they can change their store banners and graphics. With this type of interface, store owners are able to reflect their website to exactly what is happening in the store. The two requirements that I have selected from the list is as followed: 1) Develop and implement a new website or enhance an existing website to include customer service. This might include features for self-service or use of real-time customer support. 2) Add Internet-based advertising capabilities such as pop-up ads, banner ads, and pop-overs. Now what we will do is discuss the two topics in more detail. The first topic I picked was Develop and implements a new website or enhances an existing website to include customer service. This might include features for self-service or use of real-time customer support. With today’s completive and customer driven market, whether you are a local small town shop or a huge e-commerce business, customer satisfaction is your number one priority as a business. Customers rules that market and the key to be successful and to grow in this world today, your business needs to provide the best customer care money can buy and you need to have better customer care then your competition. With e-business, it can be tough to make it customer friendly because of the lack of face to face contact, but to make e-business customer friendly, it will be necessary to upgrade or enhance the current webpage for the company with a dedicated page for customer support. This page needs to be easy to find on any page within the website and it should be easy to read for the customer with numbers and addresses clearly labeled for customer support. There are several features that helps with the organization and layout of the webpage to make things easier for the customer to na vigate. The first feature should be to make sure there are multiple selections for the customer to have to reach the customer service if there are any issues that should arise. The second feature would to include a customer satisfaction form where they can send information about the experience and/or troubles with the products. The third feature is a new feature that is making its way into the e-commerce market and that would be a live chat. With a live chat, customers can get real time customer service and assistance with the issue they are having with customer representatives. The company should be able to provide these options to the customers with a customer support staff that is experienced and able to resolve the issue for the customer. Just as with the phone support, any support that is requested on the website should be handled and resolved quickly and with accurately. This would be the same for the staff that is online helping to resolve issues, they all should understand the company, policies, products, and services and they should have to keep getting refresher training throughout their time with the company. With web chat, it can be very difficult to get logged on and get help and this can frustrate the customers even more before they even get any help. to keep this from happening, the web chat should use the best web technology so that the customer can log on easily and get into a chat session. The chat window should not take much time to load and there should be little wait time to reach a representative. The customer support staff should be provided with CRM software to make sure that all problems are understood and that all the information they need to solve the customers issue are within hands reach. The use case for the customer service process 1. Customer calls the toll free number, fills out an online survey, or logs into the online web chat 2. The customer then lets the customer support knows there grievance/issues with the company or product. 3. If this customer is on the phone, the phone representative will have CRM software so that they have the information available to them. If the issue requires the representative to find out additional information, then the representative will place the customer on hold to get the answers to solve the issue and then get back with the customer. If the customer submits an online form, the representative handling the form will get the issue/problem resolved as quickly as possible and email the user with the solution to resolve the issue. If it is a chat session, the representative will help the customer as soon as they let the representative know the issue. They will also use CRM software to help the customer or get help from their fellow co-workers. 4. Once the issue or problem has been resolved, the representative will ask the customer if all issues or questions have been taken care of. If the customer stats that they have had all there issue resolve, the task is complete. The reason for such an in-depth customer service section and service are because customer service is because customer service is the driving key for any company’s success for its e-business and is vital for the company to continue to enhance its corporate image by providing the best customer service. The second topic that I picked was to add Internet-based advertising capabilities such as pop-up ads, banner ads, and pop-overs. Another important factor that is missing in internet advertising is search engine optimization; I will include this component within this category. Search engine optimization has become the most important component to internet advertising and without search engine optimization; no business will stand out in the hoard of businesses out there that is using search engine optimization. What search engine optimization does is it helps your website get to the top of a list within search engines. When using internet search engines like Google.com, we type in what we are looking for and a long list of search results that come back. The sites that come first have better search engine optimization technique then the sites towards the bottom, thus making them the first sites that are seen by the customers. To put it plainly, search engine optimization techniques are tools that help your website to become the first choice to appear, in turn increasing the traffic to your website which helps enhance your brand name which will increase your web traffic even more. There are several internet and marketing programs which will help with your search engine optimization but the most popular one today is Google’s Ad words program. When using this service, it will allow your website to be among the first few search results on a search engine such as Google. Use case for advertising and marketing process. 1. The prospect types their inquiry within a search engine such as Google.com or Bing.com 2. The search engine results appear for the inquiry, which will also display the company’s website link within the first few results as long as the search inquires is related to the company. 3. Once all the results have displayed, the customer then clicks on the company’s web link and reaches the homepage for the company. 4. Once the customer has directed their attention to the company’s website, the task is successfully completed.