ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Introduction Writing about culture is a rather specific matter due to the number of reasons. First of all, it is quite difficult due to the fact that cultures are dynamic phenomena, i. e. they always stay in development and can never be the same as they were in the past. Secondly, if a person writes about his own culture it is a bit easier but if the subject of writing is a foreign culture it is much more difficult because one should know the history of the nation whose culture he or she describes and have at least small idea about the language and traditions of that country. What makes it even more difficult and interesting, is when one has to consider the cultures that do not exist any more. Greek and Roman cultures are the brightest examples of the latter, and in this essay we are going to compare them in order to find out their major similarities and differences (Benton, 2008). Greek Culture Greek culture appeared in the world earlier than Roman one. The beginnings of it can be found in the approximately 9 th – 8 th centuries B. C., when first known literary creations and ceramics products were created. The essence of the Greek culture lied in the depiction of heroic deeds of the characters of ancient myths and legend, and in the reflection of the outlook of the world that people who inhabited ancient Greece possessed. The centers of the Greek culture were initially the Island of Crete, but then moved to the continent and developed to the level of one of the greatest cultures in the world’s history in the Greek city-states of Sparta and Athens. Greek culture promoted the cult of a human body and set the standards that are still considered to be ideal for a human being. Sports and fighting skills were also praised by the Greek culture. A special place in the culture was taken by the concept of sexuality, and nowadays it is widely known that homosexuality was a usual thing for Greek culture and day-to-day life (Skinner, 2005). Roman culture On the contrary, Roman culture did not recognize homosexual relations as normal, and moreover there was no cult of sexuality and human body in the Ancient Rome (Skinner, 2005). Romans preferred to praise physical power and fighting skills of a person, and the one who was a skillful warrior faced great respect in the society. An integral part of the Roman culture, as well as Greek one, was the religion and scenes from myths and legends about the heroes from whom all Romans originated. Architecture of Roman culture, the same as in Greece, was a significant part of both ancient civilizations that are considered here. Coliseum, Pantheon, Acropolis and numerous palaces and other buildings in Greece, Rome and in their former lands all over the world demonstrate the greatness and the connection of the two cultures
IKEA Strategies IKEA is considered as the top company according to Fortunes (Center for Management Research 2). It creates convenient furniture facilities that are in high demand among the consumers. The main secret of the company lies in the fact that it is constantly introducing numerous changes to the production process. What is more important, IKEA managers want to improve the image of the company through presenting creative approaches and special programs for their employees. According to this “life balance and diversity” principle, the workers are allowed to spend more time on family and personal life. IKEA’s philosophy, thus, puts a significant emphasis on meeting its employees’ needs. When analyzing this strategy from the point of employ voice theory, there arise many points concerning the strengths and weaknesses of the human resources program (Tripoli 25). The company’s strategies have a positive influence on the employees’ efficiency and productiveness. First, the company leaves spare time for family and children by providing all necessary facilities. That can help workers to feel more comfortable at the working place. Second, the company also provides the policy of open communication where managers and their subordinates can freely share opinions and express their ideas concerning this or that project. This equality principle considerably improves the company’s work and makes the employees more enthusiastic (Center for Management Research 7). According to Tripoli’s involvement system, such provide more opportunities and benefits for both the company and the workers. These programs are also known as voice programs that encourage such systems and provide more freedom for workers (Tripoli 26). Although the contemporary situation in the labor market, IKEA’s policy seems to be ideal; still it has the right to existence. This strategy is also called an “open-door” policy, which seems to be quite accessible (Tripoli 30). Third, IKEA provides the principle of cultural diversity that cultivates the workers’ desire to be more creative in the decision-making process. The analysis of IKEA’s case seems to be promising and rather beneficial for the majority of company members. Still, there are some misconceptions and shortcomings of this involvement system in terms of company goals and effectiveness. In particular, the life balance principle presents a special challenge for managers and employees if considering it in a larger context. By paying more attention to workers’ needs, the company neglects some other more important goals. According to Tripoli’s concept of Employ Voice which determines the goals of a non-union company, the veritable motive of IKEA organization consists in “union avoidance” (Tripoli 27). This program is also called low-level participation providing “the advantage of management by improving productivity, and…disadvantage…by deflecting worker desires for involvement in more strategic decisions” (Tripoli 26). This means that managers pay more attention to the analysis of personal problems rather than to the analysis of organization and production issues. Another disadvantage of IKEA policy lies in its e
Today, the importance of technology makes many people prefer to scroll through the timeline rather than get a few hours of sleep. Teenagers who are deprived of controlling their free time or filtering information coming from social networks are especially susceptible to this. Absorbing all the information that the Internet introduces, teenagers tend to stop evaluating the acquired knowledge sensibly. This leads to a deterioration of mental state physical health and increases the risk of falling into the hands of fraudsters. Since the spread of the Internet provides easier access to extensive knowledge and carries hidden harm, research has been conducted to analyze the impact of the Internet on adolescents. These studies were aimed at identifying the dangers that teenagers face on the Internet, finding their causes and measures that can help overcome them. This paper examines some of the main effects of new technologies on adolescents and young people, including deterioration of the physical and mental condition, increased risk of becoming a victim of a fraudster, and the gradual loss of moral values in an entire generation. The interest of young people in social networks has specific consequences in the form of mental and physical health problems. For example, sitting in a constantly uncomfortable posture while checking social networks leads to the deterioration of the neck and back, provoking chronic pain in these areas. Moreover, bright light contributes to the damage of vision and sleep disorders, such as lack of sleep or even insomnia. Online interactions affect a teen’s emotional state, which can never be restored when it comes to mental health. Adolescents have l
Introduction The current global business platform comprises of competitive merchants; all of which implement varied policies and strategies in a bid to not only get clients but keep them too. Quite a number of business institutions are faced with tough setbacks that require only rational and unequivocal decisions to put them at the helm of business success. There are numerous business-related drawbacks that must be handled with a lot of expertise and precision in order to achieve organizational goals. For this reason, it is imperative that individuals charged with the responsibility of setting business policies and strategies are highly specialized and experienced in this competitive field. This paper is meant to give a distinctive outline of practical and theoretical underlying principles for global commerce plans. Additionally, the paper is aimed at identifying the most outstanding cultural factors that play an imperative role in influencing certain global business decisions. Also included in this paper is a comprehensive discussion of theories of international strategic business management that are aimed at defining, administering, and coming up with an internationally acceptable and viable business. All the subjects of discussion in this paper are inclined towards social innovation as a mode of revolutionizing international business as respective markets keep changing day by day. The basic cultural factors that influence international strategic business resolutions Culture has been defined in different ways, but the most understandable definition is that it is the sum of all factors that typify the human population. These factors may include norms, beliefs, artifacts or even procedures of carrying out activities. Some people have also described culture as the joint programming of the human brain. Culture is formed on the basis of interaction and socialization of members of a given locality or society. This form of interaction gives rise to quite a number of influences. In this context, business-related influences, brought about by cultural interaction, will form the subject of this discussion (Becker, 2009). There are quite a number of basic cultural factors that are known to influence international strategic business choices. In individual companies, for instance, managers that come from different and perhaps foreign companies have to bear in mind that the native employees may need varied organizational structures including management policies and strategies (Trompenaars, 2004). This comes as a result of the obviously different cultures of the employees. In order to register prosperity and success, the managers ought to implement policies and strategies that conform to the norms and traditions or belief of the native employe
Executive Summary The decline in profitability of Oxford Health Plans Inc. Company representing a loss of $291.3 million coupled with the plunge in the stock price of its shares of up to 80% drop, necessitated changes to improve the company’s financial status. The events arose because of the company’s weak internal financial systems. The company took steps among them, shakeup of its top management and pay cuts with the Ex-CEO getting a 61% pay cut. The company also sought financial bailout to the tune of $700 million to stabilize its financial position. The company also employed motivation to retain its employees through incentives involving share allocation at lower prices. Winslow, the author of the article holds the opinion that despite all these measures, the financial status of the company is not likely to improve. He further argues that the incentive plan of awarding employees shares at lower prices may not be effective, as the value of the shares is not projected to increase and the company’s rating is at its lowest; B-minus as per Standard &Poor. He blames the financial difficulties faced by the company on poor financial systems used by the company However, due to the restructuring and down sizing, more revenue will be generated and costs reduced. The financial loans will help the company to return to solvency. Already the company shares have shown signs of increase in value and the proposed junk bond offerings of $350 million will contribute to improvement of financial status of the company. The incentives to employees will serve to motivate them and lead to a raise in volume output. Cost Cutting The company must balance between cost reduction and the retention of talented employees. In the Oxford Health Plans Inc. Company, the management sought to increase cuts in the bonuses of top executives (Winslow, 1998, p.B8). Most of these executives did not get any bonuses because of the losses incurred by the company. Outsourcing is another strategy that is useful in cost cutting. A new management team to replace the current team with less pay package is useful in cost cutting like in the case of Oxford Health Plans company, the ex-CEO, Wiggins was paid more than the expected pay of the new CEO, Norman D. Payson. On the other hand, employees’ retention through share allocations acted as an incentive. Employee Retention and Work Incentives Good business management requires the productivity of the staff to increase
Living in a fast and overcrowded world, people usually act in the condition of constant stress and tense. The cases of abnormal behavior and some other disorders have increased recently in society. Considering the abnormal behavior of people, the following disorders may be identified, such as anxiety, mood or affective, and dissociative or somatoform, which have different diagnoses, symptoms, and criteria, which may be analyzed from the point of view of biological, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral perspectives. People’s abnormal behavior is usually characterized as “behavior that significantly differs from some consensually agreed upon norm and that is in some way harmful to the differently behaving person or to others” (Meyer, 2006, p. 1). The main behavioral disorders, which are identified among others, are anxiety, mood or affective, and dissociative/somatoform disorders. All these disorders have biological, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral characteristics, which have some specific identities if to consider them from the point of view of different disorders. Considering anxiety, the definition of this disorder may be given as follows: anxiety is the emotional suffering, which bothers people by means of fears and anxious behavior. Anxiety may be discussed from different perspectives, such as behavioral, emotional, cognitive, and biological, and the symptom, which these perspectives identify, may be helpful in the diagnosis implementation. The specific diagnosis, from the cognitive perspective, is the difficulty in concentration, problems with memorizing things, and concentration on different things and conversations. Turning to emotional diagnoses, the following issues may be pointed out, abnormal worry, which is characterized by feelings of unexpected worry and anxiety without any visible reasons, and restlessness, constant worry, and inability to relax. Sleep disturbance, which is found out by sleeplessness and unexpected wakes up at night, and irritability, the main features of which are nervousness, inability to calm down, and crying and hysterics without any reason, are the behavioral perspective of the problem. The biological component, which may be identified in the discussed case, is muscle tension, which is characterized by the constant pain and stress of the whole body in muscles (Hansell & Damour, 2005). The combination of all these symptoms may never function in one person, so t
The life of married couples all over the world involves numerous positive and negative events. Even though people can be sincere when speaking their wedding vows, divorce does not belong to extraordinary events since many factors are affecting the health of marital relationships. Classifying the causes of divorce can be difficult since they are unique in every single case, and not all couples state them explicitly. However, based on the character of events preceding the divorce, it is possible to single out three categories of causes such as domestic abuse, infidelity, and other types of disappointed expectations. It often happens that divorces occur due to spouses’ bad relationships and infidelity. The first category of reasons to file for divorce includes a large number of cases related to infidelity. Although many couples that would like to obtain a divorce due to one or both sides’ infidelity prefer to keep it out of the public eye, breakups related to this category are quite common. Divorces that are fully or partially caused by marital unfaithfulness can be divided into numerous sub-categories. For instance, they can take place due to one or both spouses’ extramarital affairs. Also, it is possible to single out some subcategories based on the character of adulterous affairs, be it one-night sexual encounters, long-term extramarital relationships, or even having “secret” children. Apart from the violations of oaths related to fidelity, divorces can be caused by several situations referring to abuse and violence in relationships. Thus, the second group of causes explaining people’s willingness to get divorced refers to numerous circumstances dealing with domestic violence and abuse. In modern society, the perceptions of individuals who experience abuse sometimes involve victim-blaming and other harmful tendencies. With that in mind, it is valid to say that some people filing for divorce due to their spouses’ violence want to keep the situation a secret if it does not involve danger to health or life. This category is comprised of a large number of sub-categories referring to different forms of violence. Speaking about the most common of them, it is necessary to list such aspects of domestic violence as physical, emotional, financial, and sexual abuse (marital rape). The next category of reasons for divorce is quite broad and refers to the conflict of reality vs expectation as it relates to family life. The so-called “unmet expectations” can be called a separate category since particular causes that fall into it do not involve criminal or morally condemnable acts as in the case with the previous categories. Concerning the sub-categories and examples, spouses can fail to meet each other’s expectations in a variety of ways. In some situations, even people’s appearance can become a point of dispute. For instance, one spouse’s weight issues or aesthetic problems after pregnancy, illnesses, or traumas can sometimes contribute t
Table 1 – Gender Inequality Index 2013. The values on the Gender Inequality Index of the three GCC countries in the Table 1 The Gender Inequality Index is the term that refers to the measure of gender inequalities, as well as the losses to human development of a particular nation caused by those. The index can take values from zero to one, where zero stands for no disparities between women and men, and one implies the total inequality. Three countries I have chosen for the analysis are the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia. According to the table, the United Arab Emirates is the 40th country in the GII Ranking 2012 (the first country on this list has the lowers GII value while the last one is associated with the greatest gender inequality in the world). The GII of the UAE is 0.241. In Kuwait, the situation is slightly worse. The GII there is 0.274, and the country goes 47th on the list mentioned above. As for Saudi Arabia, it is one of the several nations located at the bottom of the GII Rank. It goes under the number 145 on the list, where the maximum number is 148. Only three more countries have higher Gender Inequality Indexes. Those are Niger (0.707), Afghanistan (0.712), and Yemen (0.747). Saudi Arabia has not gone far from those, and its GII is 0.682. The reasons for the differences in the values of the index in the three GCC countries First of all, differences between GIIs of these three countries are caused by divergences in values that constitute the Gender Inequality Index as such. There are three of them: reproductive health, particularly maternal mortality, empowerment, made up by the percentage of women in the parliament and the percentage of those with secondary education, and, finally, the labor market participation that is determined by the proportion of women in the labor force. These values for the United Arab Emirates are the following: maternal mortality per a hundred thousand women is 12, the percentage of females in the parliament is 17.5%, 73 women out of a hundred have secondary education, and almost the half (43.5%) of the labor force is constituted by women. As for Kuwait, maternal mortality rate and the percentage of females in the labor force are mainly the same as those of the UAE: 14 women per 100,000 and 47% respectively. However, the ratio of women in the parliament is noticeably lower (7.7%), and that explains why the GII of Kuwait is slightly higher than the one of the UEA. Finally, parameters that determine the GII of Saudi Arabia differ significantly. Maternal mortality in this country is rat
Introduction The detailed investigation of clinical cases is a critical necessity for a health care system interested in improving the quality of life of the population and improving public health. It should be understood, however, that as far as the patient is concerned, their diagnosis is not always obvious, as it is often associated with subjective experiences of their own deteriorating health, feelings of stigma, and any possibility of inaccurate clinical tests. It is true that laboratory tests are a scientifically reasonable practice to refine the diagnosis as much as possible, but the possibility of human or instrumental error is never ruled out. Therefore, a comprehensive approach to clarifying the diagnosis, using a synthesis of scientifically based and subjective aspects of the course of the disease. This paper consistently evaluates an example of such a comprehensive approach, describing a case study of HIV infection. Background Information Although it is not a societal issue, especially in light of COVID-19, humanity is exposed to several pandemics on a daily basis. One of these pandemics is HIV, as a huge number of individuals are exposed to this infection: according to statistical studies, the number of HIV-positive patients will exceed 37.7 million globally by 2020 (UNAIDS, 2021). People from every continent are exposed to the disease, which gives it pandemic status. HIV itself is an infection caused by the human immunodeficiency virus – during this disease, a pathogen from the class of retroviruses affects the patient’s immune T and B lymphocytes, resulting in lowered immunity. It is true that HIV has never been the cause of a person’s death, but instead, death occurs due to critical immune suppression and the development of opportunistic diseases. Purpose The purpose of this study is to determine a comprehensive approach to diagnosing HIV in a hypothetical patient. Question Can HIV infection in a suspected patient really be detected comprehensively? Hypotheses  1. HIV infection can be detected by obtaining laboratory tests alone.  2. The use of the comprehensive method increases the reliability of the diagnostic results. Procedure Equipment Used   * History questionnaire.   * Rapid ELISA test kit.   * PCR test kit.   * Sanitary kit for physiological and clinical examination. Procedures  1. A hypothetical patient comes to see a general practitioner and talks abo