Examine the character of Sir Gawain as shown in the romance Sir Gawain Essay

Examine the character of Sir Gawain as shown in the romance Sir Gawain and the Green Knight - Essay Example seem to contain elements that are anti-Arthurian, ultimately the story should be probably best be taken as a stepping stone toward parody; that is, the story of Gawain exists in relation between the traditional tales and the contemporary retellings as a method for humanizing the impossible ideal of chivalric knighthood while at the same time retaining the heroic qualities inherent in them. The stories of King Arthur and his knights have been around so long, and been burned so insistently into human consciousness that even today a movie called King Arthur can be advertised with the tagline â€Å"The Untold True Story That Inspired The Legend† (Internet Movie Database) and nobody bats an eye. While legend is generally thought to be based upon a long forgotten fact, the specifics of the legend rarely correspond to any actual fact. In a sense, Gawain may be representative of this split between the fact and the fiction. The story seems more infused with supernatural qualities than most stories of the Arthurian legend and are also clearly meant to be read with an eye toward Christian allegory, such as the beginning of the story taking place around Christmas, Gawain’s solitary trek into the wilderness to face evil, and other aspects (Andrade). If the story is meant to be taken as Christian allegory, then Gawain’s reduction toward simple humanity rather t han chivalric ideal makes perfect sense. The Christian religion does not allow for perfection among humanity; that right is reserved solely for God. Yet, we are all inspired to reach for perfection and that is what Gawain tries to do throughout the story. In his celibacy and in his sacrifice of himself for the honor of the court, Gawain is very much trying to attain a Christ-like position. That he fails by yielding to minor temptations makes him all the more human, yet also delivers him from the fate of parody. and the Destruction of Ideals† Koster compares the story of Gawain to the film Monty Python and

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Physics Instrumentation

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Physics Instrumentation TITLE : MRI IMAGE ARTIFACTS MOHAMAD AL-HAFIZ BIN IBRAHIM Name of Student: Mohamad Al-Hafiz bin Ibrahim TABLE OF CONTENTS (Jump to) LIST OF FIGURES 1.0 INTRODUCTION 2.0 MRI ARTIFACTS 2.1 RF leakage 2.2 Aliasing 2.3 Patient motion 2.4 Gibbs Truncation 2.5 Chemical Shift 2.6 Magnetic Susceptibility 2.7 Flow Motion 3.0 CONCLUSION 4.0 REFERENCES LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Zipper Artifact may appear as horizontal line across the image Figure 2: The part of the body that outside the FOV is mismapped within the FOV. Figure 3:The appearances of ghost lines at the anterior to the abdominal wall Figure 4: Image shown the effect of head movement or motion during MR scanning Figure 5: Bright and dark lines are visible in image Figure 6: Arrow show dark line at the interface of fat and water . Figure 7: MR image shown massive distortion of magnetic field . Figure 8: (a) CSF pulsation-related artifact in the phase encoding direction in T2-weighted image while (b) show reduction of flow artefact 1.0 INTRODUCTION Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is one of the medical imaging and diagnosis technique which widely used due to its capability to produce high resolution of cross- sectional anatomical images and high tissues contrast. Eventhough MRI has various advantageous features, but still there are numerous sources of artifacts either patient-related, signal processing-dependent and hardware (machine) related (Erasmus, Hurter, Naudà ©, Kritzinger, Acho, 2004). Definitely, artifacts can degrade the image quality and may mimicking pathology or obscure the abnormalities which can lead to misdiagnosis of MRI images. The MRI artifact can be defined as a structure or feature appearing in MRI image produced by artificial means which is not originate within the scanned object (Erasmus et al., 2004). Commonly, MRI artifacts can be caused by RF leakage, aliasing, patient motion, Gibbs, truncation, chemical shift, magnetic susceptibility and flow motion. 2.0 MRI ARTIFACTS 2.1 RF leakage Cause This artifact also known as Zipper artifact. It occurs when there are leakage of RF or electromagnetic energy generated from certain equipment into MRI system (Stadler, Schima, Ba-Ssalamah, Kettenbach, Eisenhuber, 2007). This extrinsic RF came at a certain frequency then interferes with MRI signal produced by patient. The potential sources of the extrinsic RF are due to penetration of the RF into the shielded scanning room especially when the door is open during images acquisition (Ruan, 2013). After that, the RF will be picked up by the receiver chain of the image sub system (Zhuo Gullapalli, 2006). This RF perhaps generated by radio, illumination or electronic device such as monitoring equipment in the surrounding (Stadler et al., 2007). Remedy In order to overcome this artifact, the operator should identified and eliminate the possible source of the penetration. It can be done by ensure the door of the MR room remain closed during scanning, use only MR compatible MR monitor equipment, and remove the external RF source from the surrounding (Ruan, 2013). Figure 1: Zipper Artifact may appear as horizontal line across the image (Allen, n.d.). 2.2 Aliasing Cause Aliasing or wrap around artifacts can be describe as an artifacts that caused by anatomy that lies outside of field of view (FOV) mismapped within the FOV (Westbrook, Roth, Talbot, 2011). This is because of improper selection of parameter in MR systems especially FOV. The FOV in MRI means the anatomical area that should be covered or imaged during scanning (Morelli et al., 2011). When the selected FOV is smaller than the size of area that should be imaged means the data are under-sampled (Ruan, 2013). Therefore, there are high chances for signals from the outside FOV falsely detect then create an interference with signal within FOV and encode on the reconstructed images thus ‘wrap around’ to the opposite side of image which become aliasing artifacts (Erasmus et al., 2004). Westbrook et al., (2011) state that aliasing artefact can happen along frequency encoding axis (frequency wrap) and phase encoding axis (phase wrap). Remedy Basically, this aliasing artifacts can be eliminated through increase the sampling rate or oversampling along the frequency direction (Westbrook et al., 2011). However, high pass and low pass filter should be used as well in order to filter out frequency outside the FOV which can increase noise in image (Hiroshi, Schlechtweg, Kose, 2009). Besides that, selection of receiver coil which unable to excite or detect the signals from anatomical tissues that lying outside the FOV also important to minimise the artifacts (Ruan, 2013). Lastly, No Phase Wrap (NPW), Phase oversampling or Fold Over supression techniques is also preferred to avoid aliasing artefact by oversamples in phase direction, thus, the phase curve get to extends and cover wider signal producing structures (Westbrook et al., 2011). Figure 2: The part of the body that outside the FOV is mismapped within the FOV and located at the opposite side of the image (Prashant, 2014). 2.3 Patient motion Cause Patient motion artifact is a very most common artefact in MRI. It is caused by movement of anatomical structure during imaging sequence (Zhuo Gullapalli, 2006). There is a broad range of examples of structure movement such as heart or arterial pulsations, respiration process, peristalsis, tremor (Parkinson’s disease) and gross movement of patient (Stadler et al., 2007). Hence, if there is a scanned anatomical part moved during the scanning, the phase gradient cannot predict and encode the signal, thus, that structures will be misplaced in phased encoding direction. As a result, it will causes MR images shown the appearances of mismapping, blurring and ghosting artefact within it (Westbrook et al., 2011). Remedy There are several ways to eliminate or avoid the patient motion artifacts. The remedies are nullifies signal by applying pre-saturation pulses over the area which have potential to produce artifacts (Stadler et al., 2007). This way is more effective to prevent ghosting during patient swallowing. Besides that, Westbrook et al (2011) proposed that attaching a set of bellows over patient’s chest in respiratory compensation which is also known as respiratory ordered phase encoding (ROPE) might help to minimize ghosting in longer sequences while in short sequences, cooperation from patient to hold their breath during scanning is preferred. Next,cardiac gating also plays role in reducing this kind of artefact. For example, electrocardiogram (ECG) gating used to monitors cardiac motion that trigger the excitation pulse. Hence, each excitation pulse in each slice can be timed and acquired at the same phase of cardiac cycle (Westbrook et al., 2011). In the other hand, asking for patient cooperation for keeping still, clear explanation about procedures, and optimize the patient’s comfortability are important to make them immobilize during scanning (Hiroshi et al., 2009). Figure 3:The appearances of ghost lines at the anterior to the abdominal wall indicate as motion artifact because of breathing (Zhuo Gullapalli, 2006). Figure 4: Image shown the effect of head movement or motion during MR scanning (Hornak, n.d.) 2.4 Gibbs Truncation Cause Truncation artefact also can be called as Gibbs Ringing artefact (Czervionke, Czervionke, Daniels, Hauhgton, 1988). Its happen as result of It is causes by abrupt undersampling of data that results in incorrect representation of high and low signals interfaces (Westbrook et al., 2011). That problems lead to visibility of fine lines in MR image and also respectively caused by incomplete digitization of the echo (Ruan, 2013). However, according to Erasmus et al.,(2004), alternating dark and bright lines may visible in image due to a sharp transition in signal intensity. Remedy In order to correct this type of artefact, there are several ways that can be used. For example, increase the matrix size, 256 x 256 instead of 256 x 128 (Westbrook et al., 2011). Next, applying various filters to k-space data before Fourier transform also should be considered (Erasmus et al., 2004). Besides that, provide more phase encoding steps also preferred to make truncation or gibbs artifacts less intense and narrower (www.mr-tip.com, n.d.). Figure 5: Bright and dark lines are visible in image parallel and adjacent to the outer convexity of calvaria (Prashant, 2014). 2.5 Chemical Shift Cause This type of artifact commonly found in MRI image of abdominal and spine imaging. Since fat and water each consist of hydrogen protons but different combination of molecules, fat contain hydrogen binds with carbon,while in water, hydrogen combine with oxygen (Westbrook et al., 2011). Hence, that different chemical environment exist shown that there are different precession frequency between fat and water which fat has lower precessional frequency rather than water (Erasmus et al., 2004). Based on the Larmor equation, precessional frequency is proportional to the strength of magnetic field (Westbrook et al., 2011). Therefore, this chemical shift can become artifact due to that difference of the precessional frequency between fat and water at higher field of magnetic strengths during the frequency encoding or slice-select directions (Ruan, 2013). That frequency is basically used to encode their spatial positions, thus, any chemical shift can lead to spatial misregistration of the MR si gnal (Morelli et al., 2011). MR images will show the bright or dark outlines at fat-water interfaces as the artefact. Remedy To avoid this artefact , a few remedies should be considered such as perform scanning at low magnetic field strength, increase the receive bandwidth in keeping with good signal-noise-ratio (SNR) (Westbrook et al., 2011) . It is also suggested to use minimum FOV as possible. Lastly, swapping phase and encoding direction also may useful to reduce this artefact (Hiroshi et al., 2009). Figure 6: Arrow show dark line at the interface of fat and water indicate as chemical shift artefact (Javan, Rear, Machin, 2011). 2.6 Magnetic Susceptibility Cause Susceptibilty can be refer as characteristic of substance which be magnetized when exposed to magnetic field (Gary, n.d.). MRI physics explain magnetic susceptibility artifacts normally happens because of substance or material especially ferromagnetic materials and also at air-tissues interface which have different degree of magnetic susceptibility that can distort the external magnetic field when placed in large magnetic field. Besides that, the differences also lead to magnetic field inhomogeneity at the scanner region resulting in spins dephase faster and frequency shift between surrounding tissues (Zhuo Gullapalli, 2006). Artifacts in the image will appear as bright and dark areas with spatial distortion of anatomical structures (Stadler et al., 2007). Remedy Generally, these artifacts can be reduced by ensure all metal objects that attached to the patient has been removed before the scan. Next, spin echo sequences are more preferred to be used instead of gradient echo because it use 180 ° RF rephasing pulse which ideal at compensating for phase differentiation between fat and water (Westbrook et al., 2011). Since fast spin echo techniques also contribute in reduction of this type of artefact, hence, short TE is used along with spin echo (Stadler et al., 2007). Metal Artefact Reduction Sequence (MARS) technique can be used in order to minimize the size and intensity of this artifact which developed by magnetic field distortion by introducing an additional gradient following the slice gradient during frequency encoding gradient is used (Olsen, Munk, Lee, 2000). Figure 7: MR image shown massive distortion of magnetic field due to implanted dental retention system (Schubert, 2012). 2.7 Flow Motion Cause Flow artefact can be categorized as one kind of motion artefact which mainly caused by natural motion of liquids such as blood or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in the body. For example, hydrogen nuclei in blood flow within the scanned slice may trigger excitation from an incoming RF pulse, however, the signal perhaps cannot be readout due to possibility of that flowing blood have left the slice (Hiroshi et al., 2009). As a result, vessels image appear empty or low signal intensity (less bright). Generally, there are reasons of low signal intensity such as intravascular signal void by time of flight effects, first echo dephasing and fast flow (Hiroshi et al., 2009). Nevertheless, this artifacts also can appear bright or high signal intensity. This is because of the slow blood flow (flow related enhancement), even echo rephrasing and diastolic pseudogating (Hiroshi et al., 2009). Remedy The preferred solutions as remedies for flow motion artifacts are by reduction of phase shifts using flow compensation in order to produce gradient moment nulling, suppress the blood signal by apply saturation pulses parallel to slices and synchronization of imaging sequences with cardiac cycle using cardiac triggering (Zhuo Gullapalli, 2006). Figure 8: (a) CSF pulsation-related artifact in the phase encoding direction in T2-weighted image while (b) show reduction of flow artefact with gradient moment nulling (Morelli et al., 2011). 3.0 CONCLUSION It is important for all operators, radiologist and engineers in MRI are able to recognize common MRI artifacts because there are a broad of range of cause that contributing to artefact. Eventhough, artifacts are unable to be totally eliminated but it can be minimized or avoided with specifics remedies in order to improve the MR image quality (Morelli et al., 2011). Therefore, basic knowledge of MRI artifacts should be learned and all MRI system operators should familiar with their MRI unit in department. 4.0 REFERENCES Allen, E. D. (n.d.). Zipper and Related Artifacts. Retrieved May 9, 2015, from http://mri-q.com/zipper-artifact.html Czervionke, L. F., Czervionke, J. M., Daniels, D. L., Hauhgton, V. M. (1988). Characteristic features of MR truncation artifacts. American Journal of Roentgenology, 151, 1219–1228. http://doi.org/10.2214/ajr.151.6.1219 Erasmus, L. J., Hurter, D., Naudà ©, M., Kritzinger, H. G., Acho, S. (2004). REVIEW ARTICLE: A Short Overview of MRI Artefacts. SA Journal of Radiology, 8(August), 13–17. http://doi.org/10.1021/jp1019944 Gary, P. L. (n.d.). What is MRIà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¯? Magnetic Resonance Imaging ( MRI ). Hiroshi, Y., Schlechtweg, P., Kose, K. (2009). Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Imaging of Arthritis and Metabolic Bone Disease:Expert Consult Online and Print, p34–48. http://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511549854.007 Hornak, J. P. (n.d.). The Basics of MRI: Image Artifacts. Retrieved May 9, 2015, from https://www.cis.rit.edu/htbooks/mri/chap-11/chap-11.htm Javan, R., Rear, J. R. O., Machin, J. E. (2011). Fundamentals Behind the 10 Most Common Magnetic Resonance Imaging Artifacts with Correction Strategies and. European Society of Radiology, 1–78. http://doi.org/10.1594/ecr2011/C-1248 Morelli, J. N., Runge, V. M., Ai, F., Attenberger, U., Vu, L., Schmeets, S. H., †¦ Kirsch, J. E. (2011). An image-based approach to understanding the physics of MR artifacts. Radiographicsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¯: A Review Publication of the Radiological Society of North America, Inc, 31, 849–866. http://doi.org/10.1148/rg.313105115 Olsen, R. V, Munk, P. L., Lee, M. J. (2000). Metal Artifact Reduction Sequence: Early Clinical Applications. Radiographicsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¯: A Review Publication of the Radiological Society of North America, Inc, 20, 699–712. Prashant, M. (2014). Aliasing artifacts. Retrieved May 11, 2015, from http://radiopaedia.org/cases/aliasing-artifacts Ruan, C. (2013). MRI Artifactsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¯: Mechanism and Control. Personal Conclusion, 1–9. Schubert, R. (2012). Magnetic susceptibility artifact. Retrieved May 9, 2015, from http://radiopaedia.org/cases/magnetic-susceptibility-artifact Stadler, A., Schima, W., Ba-Ssalamah, A., Kettenbach, J., Eisenhuber, E. (2007). Artifacts in body MR imaging: Their appearance and how to eliminate them. European Radiology, 17, 1242–1255. http://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-006-0470-4 Westbrook, C., Roth, C. K., Talbot, J. (2011). MRI In Practice (4th Editio, pp. 225–260). United Kingdom: Blackwell Publishing Ltd. www.mr-tip.com. (n.d.). MRI Artifacts. Retrieved May 8, 2015, from http://www.mr-tip.com/serv1.php?type=artsub=Gibbs Artifact Zhuo, J., Gullapalli, R. P. (2006). AAPM/RSNA physics tutorial for residents: MR artifacts, safety, and quality control. Radiographicsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¯: A Review Publication of the Radiological Society of North America, Inc, 26, 275–297. http://doi.org/10.1148/rg.261055134

The Importance of Exile in the Poetry of Seamus Heaney Essay -- Biogra

The Importance of Exile in the Poetry of Seamus Heaney   Ã‚   To be a poet in a culture obsessed with politics is a risky business. Investing poetry with the heavy burden of public meaning only frustrates its flight: however tempting it is to employ one's poetic talent in the service of a program or an ideology, the result usually has little to do with poetry. This is not to condemn the so-called "literature of engagement"; eye-opening and revealing, it has served its purpose in the unfinished story of our century, and now is certainly no time to call for the poet's retreat into the "ivory tower" of the self. Preserving the individual voice amidst the amorphous, all-leveling collective must be the first act of poetic will, a launching board from which each poet must start the effort of poetry. A mere glance at recent Irish history suffices to show a place where this preservation is particularly difficult. The pressures that the bifurcated Irish society exerts on its poets are enormous: taking a political stance is no longer a temptation (this implies a certain luxury of choice on behalf of the tempted) but rather an inescapable reality imposed by the agora of public discourse. Thus the condition of exile becomes the poet's only way out, the sole means of retaining the autonomy of his poetic voice. More than merely a survival tactic, however, it is a strategy of finding home "elsewhere," whether in the original language of the island (and today's minority), as in the case of Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill, or in the larger reality of poetic imagination. Seamus Heaney, who occupies the precarious position of being Ireland's most famous and accomplished living poet while refusing to become its bard, calls our attention to the role of exi... ...Beckett, Samuel. Murphy. New York: Grove Press, 1957. Haviaras, Stratis, ed. Seamus Heaney: A Celebration. A Harvard Review Monograph. 1996. Heaney, Seamus. Crediting Poetry: The Nobel Lecture. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1995. ---. The Government of the Tongue: Selected Prose 1978-1987. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1989. ---. Selected Poems 1966-1987. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1990. Kiberd, Declan. Inventing Ireland: The Literature of the Modern Nation. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1995. Malloy, Catharine and Phyllis Carey, ed. Seamus Heaney: The Shaping Spirit. Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1996. Said, Edward W. "Intellectual Exile: Expatriates and Marginals." Grand Street 47 (1993): 113-124. Welch, Robert. Changing States: Transformations in Modern Irish Writing. London: Routledge, 1993.

People Are Getting Overly Dependent on Technology

Running head: IS IT BECOMING OUR PRIMARY NECESSITY? 1 Is information technology becoming the primary necessity of our existence; as we are getting dependent on it? Raisa Sadat Sharmin Brac University IS IT BECOMING THE PRIMARY NECESSITY OF OUR LIFE? 2 Abstract This paper explores four published articles that surveys and gathered information on about the usage of information technology. the articles, however gives various data about the statistics of using internet from different groups of peoples. Another reflected the development of Google within last ten years, and also about the expenditure on information technology. One of the article deals with the facts that young students are addicted towards sexting. And lastly one paper deals with the decrease of printed materials. In fact this paper is a research work on the dependency and independency of humans on the information technology. IS IT BECOMING OUR PRIMARY NECESSITY? 3 Is information technology becoming the primary necessity of our existence; as we are getting dependent on it? â€Å"Could you please hurry up? I’m getting late† a customer in a renowned super shop is becoming restless due to the long queue in the payment desk. But what happened? Why has everything halted suddenly? It was just a case of system failure, which stopped all the works inside the shop and the cashier was unable to make the bills, as the bar code reader and all other software were not responding. As a result, the waiting list got longer and created chaos inside the shop. Look, how such a simple system failure is creating so much of distraction in our life. The above situation was just an example from a super shop, but it is not the only thing based on information technology. In fact, most of the things in our country are now based on information technology. Even if the world recognizes Bangladesh to be a poor, developing country with many people living below the poverty line, the usage of technology is considerably high. In a report published in Internet world statistics, the author (2010) stated that the number of mobile phone usage increased from 100,000 to 995,560 with the rate expanding from 0. 1% to 0. 6%, during 2000 to 2010. Nowadays, cellular phone usage has become very common amongst the lower class in our country. Also offices and stores are relying on technology for storing their records and dealings. Moreover, students have become dependent on the Internet for searching essential information. Why are we using this information technology? Because these technology makes our life easier, for example it enables us to communicate with others at a distance within a second, IM and video conferencing are allowing us to be in touch with our relatives staying abroad, and that also for free; only the line rent is enough to let us exchange few words with our relatives. In addition information on the Internet are allowing us to get updates in a matter of seconds. Even if it is providing us with ample benefits, it is giving rise to dependency. I strongly believe that people are getting over dependent on technology, as these facilities are making us inefficient in manual work procedure, handicapped without technology, and it is also becoming a main reason for wastage of money in the case of the young generations, though IT is providing us a less time consuming lifestyle, low cost communicating facility and a digital way of refreshment. IS IT BECOMING OUR PRIMARY NECESSITY? 4 Just recall the previous times, when we were not touched by the digital life system; what happened in that time? Students did not got any help from the internet for their assignments, in spite of that they did their assignments and other works, they were not thrown out of the institutes for getting bad grades. Scientists, doctors, engineers were born previously; they also did their research works, as well as new inventions. They worked hard, without looking for something simpler they went through the printed books, to gather information for themselves; but nowadays students cannot even think of doing their papers without the help of the technology, they are becoming inefficient to go through the manual working procedure. As time changes, we are getting new technologies to improve our lifestyle, as for example, now assignments, projects and other brainstorming works are easier today. Just type the word and click to search anything about the related topic in Google (the most efficient search engine). According to Dingle (2010), Google did a revolution in the business sector by starting its journey of giving free service to search information in its sites, and day-by-day Google is expanding its services. Google obviously makes our life easier, and that is why students tend to rely upon it for their academic purpose. Zillien and Hargittai (2009) did a survey on different types of Internet usage on the various classes of people in the society; the most common usage amongst all the group of peoples was email and search engine usage. From higher class to lower class, everyone is dependent on Google, as almost 86% of the sample replies to it, and above 90% responds to the email usage. Karen et al. (2010), says students are getting dependent on the electronic and search engine sources mostly within 1996 to 1999, as between those years, the number of printing sources like books decreases. All these experts are telling us about the efficiency of IT in our lives, where we are actually becoming more inefficient. Most of the companies and offices are using IT to maintain all their documents, records and dealings. They said that IT is helping them to maintain all the complex works in a simpler way. For example, Apollo Hospital is a worldwide chain hospital, which has opened in to our country recently. An employee of the hospital was asked about the system maintenance of the hospital, and he answered that from the appointment to pharmacy billing, every single thing are maintained by the IT system. They have interred linkage within the computers throughout the hospital, and everything is monitored centrally. All the patients and staff have got different ID IS IT BECOMING OUR PRIMARY NECESSITY? 5 numbers and servers where all information about them is saved. Then the question arises, what would happen if the system fails for one day? The employee become silent, and says we cannot even think the system failure for one hour, and it is impossible to run a day without these systems. The employee was also asked whether there is manual system, in case of emergency in the hospital, he says no; by chance if there is any system failure, nothing can run on that building, patients would have to wait for getting prescription as well as their appointment. He also said that, â€Å"we are handicapped without technology†, as they cannot perform any of the action without computers. Though IT allows them to maintain all the things very swiftly, it also makes them to be dependent o it. The most surprising fact is that, humans invent technology, and now they cannot proceed without the technologies. Nowadays, almost every people confess his or her dependency on IT, while in a survey people of different ages were asked about this dependency, and according to the figure 7, 62. 5% of the people said that they are dependent on the information technology; and figure 5 says that 100% of the people cannot imagine themselves without their cell phone or laptop. So, we can say that IT is making us handicapped, as often we cannot work on their unavailability. The young generations of today are now up to date with all the latest technology available. They are getting dependent, and wasting money to buy different gadgets. Dingle (2010) gathers information from the research firm Gartner, where the author found that Global IT has spent US$1,4 trillion, from where a huge amount of money went for both hardware and software, which in turn helps us by increasing the availability of computers in almost every corner of our lives. We are progressing, and new inventions are coming everyday; companies like Apple, Nokia, Blackberry and etc. are contributing a lot to serve the necessity of the young generations. Dingle (2010) cites the research of Gartner who expects that the customers will spend quiet about US$6 billion to get mobile applications. Teenagers and also adults are now using huge amount of money to satisfy their hunger for getting latest technology. As in figure 5, while in a survey, 96. 7% people said that they spend money on IT, whereas only 3. 3% said that they do not spend money for the usage. Many students, who lives abroad, works for hours to receive extra payments, by which they can fulfill their needs. All this factors are pointing out that IS IT BECOMING OUR PRIMARY NECESSITY? 6 our young generations are getting dedicated towards the IT, and wasting lots of money to get their needs. Computer invention is believed as a revolution in world, it was made for human beings, to make their life easier, faster and more comfortable. Many people believed that before we wasted most of our times by being in a manual system, where as those works can be done within a moment. From figure 7, we can see that 76% of the people said that information technology is making our life easier and faster. Students from different universities and institutes say that without information technology it would be much harder for them to complete the assignments and other research works. These technology are allowing them to communicate experts throughout the worldwide, whenever they need they can go to the web sites and gather their required information. The students argued that, they have lots of works to do, for which they need to be multi tasking. And information technology is giving them a route to be successful in their live. But if we consider about the ancient times, people were also successful at that times, scientists, engineers, researchers also did their challengeable jobs at those times. Without the help information technology, they did work hard and become successful in their lives. Again students said that on that time, life was not that much competitive, and for this current and present situation no one can work without the help of IT. While aged peoples said that, young generations do not want to work harder as they can get anything they want within a second. Nowadays it is familiar to get everything done by sitting in a computer, even products can be ordered in internet, so our young generation is becoming lazy and inefficient because of IT. From Figure1 we can see that, 64% of the people surveyed says that information technology is making us inefficient. What is the use of that life, which is making us unproductive to work of our own? â€Å"Time and tides wait for none†, especially in this competitive world of ours, we cannot even think about wasting a single second from our lives. Everyone is in the struggle to do well in their life and in order to get establish, people are getting away from their close ones, sometimes they are going abroad to study or for job. Information technology helps us to communicate with our loved ones from a long distance, and that is also with a very lower cost. Facebook, twitter, all other IM and video conferencing services do not even let us to feel that we are away from our IS IT BECOMING OUR PRIMARY NECESSITY? 7 connections. Though it is letting us to communicate freely, it is also hampering teenagers and even the adults. Corbett (2009) concludes the popularity of cell phone amongst the teenagers and young adults. A survey conducted by the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA) amongst 2000 teens, were found that, their parents gave them mobile phone for their safety, and specially to be in contact with the teens while they are out of their house. But quiet about 57% of the teenagers said that they use cell phone to communicate with their friends. Not only that, the awesome features of taking pictures in cell phone and uploading instantly in Facebook or Twitter is quiet famous among them. Text message and multimedia message are also a very popular way of communicating with peers. Corbett (2009), says about â€Å"sexting†, that is, while in a relation, girls send their nude pictures to their boyfriends, and after they break up, the boy upload those pictures on the internet, and in this way teenagers are affected by the impact of technologies. Usually it is seen that, adolescents use IT for most of their works, most of them are unaware of the intentions of their friends, and this is how IT is affecting our teenagers and adults. Lastly, adults and teenagers cannot even think of themselves without their mobile, computers, and all other entertaining devices. They believe that, life is becoming so busy, they did not get extra time to communicate with others, and there are also no extra time to play outdoor games, or to hangout with friends randomly. As from Figure 3, we can see that 75% of the people says that they use IT also for their personal purpose rather than academic or officials, and in Figure 4, 82. 5% people said that in this current situation IT is needed in every step of our life. Due to the lack of time, most of the peoples are now relying on the digital form of entertainment. As I have mentioned above that, students are willing to spend money for buying gadgets for them. Movies, games music is now considered as a form of entertainment. Students are found to do chatting in messenger, while they are in class. In order to get all this facilities they often buy expensive mobile phones. Many people believe that this way of communication is decreasing the intimacy and values between ones relation. Expenditure on the technologies is increasing, which in fact is reducing the development of all other sectors. For example, Bangladesh is a poor country, we have an unequal distribution of wealth, many times higher class people supports the lower class peoples for their survival. But as they are now up to new technologies everyday, they are spending much money for their own. Even the students and IS IT BECOMING OUR PRIMARY NECESSITY? 8 workers in abroad, they work hard to get all the latest inventions, they are not concern about their future, instead of saving money for themselves they are wasting money by buying devices. We really feel proud to be Bangladeshi, after a long struggle, we became independent, and only within a age of 40 years we developed a lot. May be the development is much less compared to the outside world, but we cannot deny that we recovered a lot. Most of the companies and systems in our country, rather than the public ones are running with the help of information technology. So, I think that IT is taking over humans, by working more efficiently, making us â€Å"handicapped† and also because we love to spend money for it, though it needed in our life for less time consuming lifestyle, for giving more options for interacting on the go, and also for our recreations. Small stores to big ones are using IT for their convenience; according to the example mentioned earlier IT can also create chaos for us. Human being can be rectified with in a moment, but a system failure cannot be adjust within a few seconds. We need time to fix certain types of error. So we can use IT for our convenience, but there should be an alternative for a system failure. If the super shop had a manual operating system, then that would not cause that much harm to them. Also IT is hampering our young generations, while asking the solution of this problem, 17% people answered that there should be more restrictions on the teenagers, and 83% says that there should not be any misuse of technology, this results are shown in Figure 10. We invented information technology, and it is for our convenience. Human being are considered as the most prominent creation of God, no other thing can be compared with us, but all the above research and survey says that people are now getting inefficient. So I think people should use IT, but should not be that much dependent on it that it will be making them handicapped when there are no facility of IT. We should not consider ourselves incapable of doing any work that IT can do for us, it is us who makes computers, and no computer can work like humans. IS IT BECOMING OUR PRIMARY NECESSITY? 9 Reference list: Corbett, Don. (2009. ) â€Å"Let’s talk about sext: the challenge of finding the right legal response to the teenage practice of â€Å"sexting†. Journal of Internet Law 13, no. 6: 3-8. Business Source Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed March 20, 2011). Internet world statistics (2011) from (http://www. internetworldstats. com/asia/bd. htm). Retrieved: 20th march, 2011. Naufel, Karen Z. , Katherine E. Briley, Lacey K. Harackiewicz, Amanda S. Johnson, Kristin P. Marzec, and Michael E. Nielsen. (2010. ) â€Å"How do Psychology Students Use Web-Based Information? Trends and Implications from a Descriptive Study. † North American Journal of Psychology 12, no. 1: 1-14. Academic Source Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed March 20, 2011). Zillion N. and Hargittai E. (2009) â€Å"Digital distinction : Status-Specific types of internet usage† Social Science Quarterly, 90, 284. Dingle S. (2010) â€Å"Clean state† Finweek 14-19. Sample questionnaire: Name: _______________________________ Sex: ____________ Age: ____________ 1. Do you support or like the invention of information technology for communicating? a. Yes- its excellent b. Yes – its good c. Yes – its needed d. Yes- but it is making us inefficient e. No – it is not needed 2. How many times do you use your mobile, email or browser in a day? a. Never b. 1-5 times c. 6-10 times d. 11-15 times e. More than above 3. Do you use technology only for official or academic purpose? a. Yes b. No 4. Do you agree that, in this stage of life we need information technology in every step? a. Strongly agree b. Agree c. Neutral d. Disagree e. Strongly disagree 5. Do you think that it is necessary to spend money for on the use of information technology? a. Yes b. No 6. Can you imagine yourself without your cell phone or laptop? a. Yes b. No c. No comment 7. What is your opinion about the contribution of information technology in our daily life? ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ______________________ 8. Do you think that you are getting overly dependent of this technology? ———————————————— ____________________________________________________________ __________ 9. In your point of view, what are the impacts of information technology that are affecting our society and the young generations? ____________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ ____ ______________________ 10. Give your suggestion regarding the issue of getting dependent and other impacts of information technology. ____________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ _____________________ Thank you for your participation and cooperation Survey result 1. Do you support or like the invention of information technology for communicating? FIGURE: 1 2. How many times do you use your mobile, email or browser in a day? FIGURE: 2 3. Do you use technology only for official or academic purpose? FIGURE: 3 4. Do you agree that, in this stage of life we need information technology in every step? FIGURE: 4 5. Do you think that it is necessary to spend money for on the use of information technology? FIGURE: 5 6. Can you imagine yourself without your cell phone or laptop? FIGURE: 6 7. What is your opinion about the contribution of information technology in our daily life? FIGURE: 7 8. Do you think you are getting overly dependent on this technology? FIGURE: 8 9. In your point of view, what are the impacts of information technology that are affecting our society and the young generations? FIGURE: 9 10. Give your suggestion regarding the issue of getting dependent and other impacts of information technology. FIGURE: 10

Benefits to having a CFO as CEO Essay

Part IIn today’s complex business environment, more and more companies are turning to Chief Finance Officers (CFO) to assume the premier position of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company. However, the qualities required of a CEO are not always in line with the training and experiences of a former CFO. Yet the CFO can bring many qualities to the CEO position to help a company succeed. What are the benefits to having a CFO as CEO, and what are the required qualities of a CEO that may hamper the CFO’s success in this position?As the leader of a corporation, the CEO must be a well rounded leader. The CEO’s key responsibility is â€Å"making critical strategic decisions and creating conditions for those to be well-executed† He must have the people skills to motivate and build consensus both among the employees, shareholders, and board members. He must be able to develop a strategy and swiftly and effectively implement it. â€Å"A CEO must think at a higher level of abstraction – more inductively and less deductively. A CEO must be more willing and able to act on key decisions with fewer facts, relying more on grounded assumptions. And a CEO must be able to communicate effectively to a broader constituency – in particular, he must be far more politically attuned.† John Dasburg, CEO of Burger King and former CFO of Marriott International IncGenerally the CEO is more concerned with the â€Å"Big Picture† of the company, and can not afford to immerse themselves in the details of any specific area. They are the motivators and leaders. Often the CEO can be successful simply by selling his vision and strategic plan, while letting others such as the CFO work out the details. In contrast, people expect the CFO to be detailed and analytical, even critical in their examination of the strategic plan, by examining it for financial flaws. Probably the biggest barrier preventing CFOs from succeeding as CEOs is that of management skills. The CFO is an expert in the financial underpinnings of the company, but often is not required to display skill in people or project management. CEOs often make decisions based on the analytics, as well as intangibles learned from these skills; intuition, personal knowledge of those involved, and consumer opinion for example. In addition, the CEO is often required to make decisions with limited time to examine the details,  something the CFO is trained to specifically not do. The CFO is trained collect and analyze all the data before coming to a decision. They look at different factors, from NPV to the timing of cash flow and returns; then calculate the risk of the investment. The CEO will often look at the same data, yet will not give the hard numbers the same weight as the CFO. Instead, those intangibles may weigh heavily in the making of the decision. The CEO is often willing to accept take more risk than the CFO. The transition to being able to make the hard decision without all the data may be a difficult one for the analytically oriented CFO to make. Another functional area the CFO will have little experience in is marketing. Sales and marketing will always be an important part of business. Many CFOs are hired to cut costs to increase the efficiency of a company. Marketing is generally a favorite target of the cost cutters. In a sluggish market, this may be effective, but in a growth market such as seen in recent years, focusing more on marketing can led a company to success. CFOs rarely have experience or understanding of marketing and sales, and their relationship to the market. This lack of dedicated experience can harm a company when it needs to grow to succeed. However, the recent economic down-turn, to include the fall of the dot-coms and telecommunications companies, the numerous high-profile scandals that have racked prominent companies and the global growth that continues in all business has led to financial expertise being a top priority for a new CEO. The CFO can bring many skill sets to the CEO position to mitigate the complexity and public, and government, oversight prevalent in today’s business environment. By definition, CFOs are more focused on the finances than a CEO normally is. However a financial background can greatly help a CEO to understand the status of the company, and can lead to enhanced success, while at the same time staying out of the scandals. The responsibility for regulatory compliance is the domain of the CFO. They are trained in the details required to keep the company within the legal bounds. As stated by Deborah Thomas, head of treasury at Michael Page International:†The CFO has had to pick up responsibility for responding to regulatory changes. And with regulation, compliance and corporate risk at the forefront of everyone’s minds, the CFO makes the perfect choice for CEO†By the time a person is promoted to CFO, they possess an innate understanding of the regulations, legal requirements, and a comprehensive knowledge of the financial status of the company. These are all skills that a CEO needs to possess to be successful. As a CEO, the CFO may be capable of managing the regulatory complexities, while still finding opportunities for growth. Today’s CFO is better-rounded than those in the past. Partly due to the recent scandals, the CFO works closely with the CEO in developing and executing strategy. It is often the CFO who is now the face of the company, managing the daily relationships with the shareholders. Today’s CFO is invested in the daily operations of the company, and will now come to the CEO seat with a full understanding of operations and strategy. With business becoming increasingly complex, due to increased public oversight, regulation, and global growth; it is imperative that a CEO have a strong financial background. Having the financial background can lead a company to increased success. Rather than trusting those intangibles, the CFO may make decisions based more higher probabilities of success. He may avoid the big risks, and subsequent big payoffs, but will often show a steady growth and return. In fact, according to a study by Duke University, companies that are run by optimistic, dynamic CEOs often run a higher level of short-term debt and attempt to time the debt market, a sign of taking risks. Whereas companies run by former CFOs tend to have higher debt to equity ratios, an indication of stability. It is this ability to negotiate the risks that places the CFO as a highly  desirable CEO candidate. The CFO is able to assess the risks and their impact on financial performance. The CFO seems to perform well overall as a CEO. So well that the trend is growing, according to CFO Magazine in 2005, 20 percent of Fortune 100 CEOs were once CFOs, up from 12 percent in 1995. The key to success for the CFO seeking to become a CEO is to round out their experiences. They will possess they technical expertise to perform the job, they just need to be able to supplement that skill with the management and visionary skills requisite for a good CEO. References 1. Durfee, Don. SAY YES TO DR NO: New research suggests that CFOs are an essential counterweight to optimistic CEOs. CFO Asia, 7 Sep 2006http://www.cfoasia.com/archives/200609-07.htm2. Favaro, Paul. Making the Leap from CFO to CEO. Financial Executives Online. November 2001http://www.favaro.net/publications/cfo-to-ceo/CFOtoCEO.htm3. Durfee, Don. The Top Spot: Why more companies are tapping their finance chiefs for CEO. CFO Magazine. 1 October 2005http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/44444684. Corporate Finance. CFO to CEO1 April 2005http://www.cristassociates.com/press/CorpFin_CFOtoCEO_040105.pdf