Children Act 1989 Essay

Task 1 links to learning outcome 1, assessment criteria 1.1. Produce an information sheet which outlines the following:  · the current legislation for home based childcare †¢ the role of regulatory bodies. The two most important pieces of legislation covering home-based childcare are the Children Act (2004) and the Childcare Act (2006(. Children Act (2004) This influential piece of legislation which arose from ‘Every Child Matters’ and identifies five outcomes for all children: * Be healthy * Stay safe * Enjoy and achieve * Make a positive contribution * Achieve economic well-being These outcomes should underpin all practice of a childminder. Childcare Act (2006) This Act introduced the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum into England and Wales, and place a statutory duty on the local authority to work towards ensuring the five outcomes set out in the Children Act (2004) are being met. Other relevant legislation of importance is: Equality Act (2010) The intention of this Act is to combine the fragmented discrimination legislation, bringing together the Sex Discrimination Act (1975), Race Relations Act (1976), and DDA (1995). Promotion of equal opportunities in all settings is essential, and relevant policies and procedures should be developed, monitored and assessed. Education Act (1997) This Act incorporates all previous Acts since 1944. It recognise the rights of parents regarding their children’s education and set a time frame on the legal process for identifying and assessing a child’s needs as set out in the Code of Practice. Public Health (Control of Disease) Act (1984), RIDDOR (1995) and Health Protection Agency Act (2004) All these legislations are focused on protecting people’s health, covering notification and exclusion periods for certain infectious diseases and reporting of certain accidents and incidents. OFSTED is the regulating body for England & Wales. Ofsted is the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills. They report directly to Parliament and are independent and impartial. They inspect and regulate services which care for children and young people, and those providing education and skills for learners of all ages. Their aim is to promote improvement and value for money in the childcare services they inspect and regulate, so that all children and young people, parents and carers, adult learners and employers benefit. OFSTEDs job is to check places where children and young peopleare looked after the people who look after children and young people schools and colleges adult learning and training how teachers are trained

Literature Review on Brand Awareness

Definition of ‘Brand Awareness' The likelihood that consumers  recognize the existence and availability of a company's product or service. Creating brand awareness is one of the  key steps in promoting a product Brand Awareness  is the extent to which a  brand  is recognized by potential  customers, and is correctly associated with a particular  product. Expressed usually as a percentage of  target market, brand awareness is the primary goal of  advertising  in the early months or years of a  product's introduction.Brand awareness is the extent to which the consumer associates the brand with the product he desires to buy. It is the brand recall and the brand recognition of the company to the consumers. Brand recall is the ability of the consumer to recollect the brand with reference to the product where as brand recognition is the potential of the consumer to retrieve the past knowledge of the brand when enquired about the brand or shown an image of the br and  logo.Brand awareness is an essential part of  brand development  which helps the brand to stand out from the others in this monopolistically competitive market Importance â€Å"Awareness, attitudes, and usage (AAU) metrics relate closely to what has been called the Hierarchy of Effects, an assumption that customers progress through sequential stages from lack of awareness, through initial purchase of a product, to brand loyalty. † In total, these AAU metrics allow companies to track trends in customer knowledge and attitudes. [2] Brand awareness plays a major role in a consumer’s buying decision process.The knowledge of an acquaintance or friend having used the product in the past or a high recognition of the product through constant advertisements and associations coaxes the person to make his decision in the favour of the brand. The eventual goal of most businesses is to make profits and increase sales. Businesses intend to increase their consumer pool and encourage repeat purchases. Apple is a brilliant example of how there is a very high recognition of the brand logo and high anticipation of a new product being released by the company.An iPod is the first thing that pops into our minds when we think of purchasing an mp3 player. iPod is used as a replaceable noun to describe an mp3 player. Finally, high brand awareness about a product suggests that the brand is easily recognizable and accepted by the market in a way that the brand is differentiated from similar products and other competitors. Brand building also helps in improving brand loyalty Brand awareness is  an important way of  promoting commodity-related products. This is because for these products, there are very few factors that differentiate one product from its competitors.Therefore, the product that maintains the highest brand awareness compared to its competitors will usually get the most sales. In the study â€Å"Effects of Brand Awareness on Choice for a Common Repeat Purchase-Product† prepared by Wayne D. Hoyer and Steven P. Brown, published by the University of Chicago Press in the journal â€Å"Journal of Consumer Research Vol. 17,No. 2(sep. ,1990) gives an abstract that Results of a controlled experiment on the role of brand awareness in the consumer choice process showed that brand awareness was a dominant choice heuristic among awareness-group subjects.Subjects with no brand awareness tended to sample more brands and selected the high-quality brand on the final choice significantly more often than those with brand awareness. Thus, when quality differences exist among competing brands, consumers may â€Å"pay a price† for employing simple choice heuristics such as brand awareness in the interest of economizing time and effort. However, building brand awareness is a viable strategy for advertising aimed at increasing brand-choice probabilities.In their research ,Brand awareness is defined as a rudimentary level of brand k nowledge involving,at the least, recognition of a brand name. Awareness represents lowest end of continuum of brand knowledge that ranges from simple recognition of the brand name to highly developed cognitive structure based on detailed information. Recognition is taken here to be the process of perceiving a brand as previously encountered(Mandler 1980). Thus the distinction between awareness and recognition is a subtle one,former denting a state of knowledge possessed by the consumer and the latter a cognitive process resulting from awareness.According to Keller (2003) stated that Brand awareness can be referred to as the ability of a consumer to distinguish a brand under various conditions. Keller (2003) also noted that brand awareness is built and increased by familiarity with the brand as a result of repeated vulnerability which eventually leads to consumers experience with the brand. Consumer’s experience of a particular brand could either be by hearing, seeing, or thin king about it and this will help the brand to stick in their memory.Brand awareness can be referred to as the degree of consumers’ familiarity with a brand. Aaker (1991) According to Aaker (1991 p. 62), there are three levels of brand awareness: * Brand recognition: It is the ability of consumers to identify a certain brand amongst other i. e. â€Å"aided recall†. Aided recall is a situation whereby a person is asked to identify a recognized brand name from a list of brands from the same product class. * Brand recall: This is a situation whereby a consumer is expected to name a brand in a product class.It is also referred to as â€Å"unaided recall† as they are not given any clue from the product class. * Top of mind: This is referred to as the first brand that a consumer can recall amongst a given class of product. Many researchers have seen brand awareness as an element that plays a vital role in consumer’s choice of brand. Aaker (1991) prescribed some of the following factors as ways to achieve brand awareness: * Involve a slogan or jingle: a slogan is a visible feature of a brand. There can be a strong link between a slogan and a brand.The slogan and jingle are powerful and can be a great change for a brand. * Be different and memorable: as a result of the similarity between product and their means of communication, product differentiation is important. * Symbol exposure: a known symbol will make it easier to recall and memorize a visible illustration of the brand. A logo that is connected to an existing brand or a developed brand will play a vital role in developing and keeping brand awareness. * Publicity: one of the most important ways to get publicity and create awareness is through advertisement. Event sponsorship: sponsorship of event can also help to create and maintain awareness. * Consider brand extension: one way to increase brand recall is to show the logo or name on the product and make the name popular. Example of t his is coca-cola which is more publicized than the key product. * Using cue: packaging is one of the most significant cues to a brand due to the fact that it is what the purchaser sees when purchasing a product. If the product or brand is not known, the only means of contact to the brand or product is the package. Hankinson and Cowking 1993), indicates in order to achieve the brand acceptance, the relationship between the customer and brand – perception of customer to brand is needed. The customer’s psychological and physical needs and the brand’s symbolic values and functional attributes will be reflect by the strong relationship between customers the brand Brand awareness is essential in buying decision-making as it is important that consumers recall the brand in the context of a given specific product category, awareness increasing the probability that the brand will be a member of the consideration set.Awareness also affects decisions about brands in the con sideration set, even in the absence of any brand associations in consumers’ minds. In low involvement decision settings, a minimum level of brand awareness may be sufficient for the choice to be final. Awareness can also influence consumer decision making by affecting brand associations that form the brand image (Keller1998)

Critique on Gordon Allport (Theories of Personality)

Gordon Allport- theory review PSY201 Boitumelo Chantelle Mangope ? Introduction Gordon Allport was truly a phenomenal personality theorist who explained what a personality is and he bent most of the rules that were set out by other theorists including the father of personality himself, Sigmund Freud and in addition to that, he considered Freud’s theory of personality as the worst theory of all time. The Life of Gordon Allport Gordon Allport was the first American-born personality theorist and hailed from the state of Indiana, Montezuma.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/allport-1.jpg" alt="allport criticized older theories of personality for" width="340" height="322" />He was born on 11 November 1897 and died a month before his 70th birthday (9 October 1967) due to lung cancer. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts, (majoring in Economics and Philosophy), Masters of Art in 1921 and a PhD (all three at Harvard University) at the tender age of 24. After he completed his degree, he took a g ap year and taught English and Sociology at a university in Istanbul, Turkey. Gordon was lucky to have encountered an experience with Sigmund Freud for when he was returning back to the U.S to start off fellowship to do graduate work in psychology at Harvard, he stopped off at Vienna to visit one of his brothers and wrote to Freud (who was situated there) a letter asking for permission to visit him. The permission was granted and he explained there encounter as an unsuccessful on. He told Freud a story of whereby he met a young boy in a tram car ride who had a dirt phobia and he frantically told his mother not to let a dirty man sit next to him. Freud then went on to insinuate that the little boy was Allport and this caused a misunderstanding between them.This event lead to Allport having to probe further into psychology and the elements of personality because he felt that depth psychology overlooked the important truths. He developed a theory that ignored the unconscious and that w as not scientifically-based thus, stating that in order for one to learn about an individual, they have to be studied and not base the person’s personality on their unconscious motives nor on a study that was based on a group of people and an average which determined that group’s personality was found. During his prime, he held many prestigious positions and received many honors.Firstly, he served as the President of the American Psychological Association (1939) and also president of the Eastern Psychological Association (1943). He was also the editor of the Journal of Abnormal & Social Psychology (1937-1949) and in 1964, he received the APA’s Gold Medal Award for Distinguished Contributions to Psychology. In addition to that, he received another award, i. e. APA’s Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award (1964) and as if that wasn’t enough, he was the first lecturer to teach the first course on psychology (the course was dubbed Personality: Its Psychological & Social Aspects) ever offered in the United States.Work Gordon Allport was one of the first psychologists to focus on the study of personality, and is often referred to as one of the fathers of personality. He believed that one’s personality could not be determined from the support of science and rather, through thoroughly studying an individual. He defined personality as â€Å"the dynamic organization within an individual of those psychophysical systems that determine his unique adjustments to his environment† Allport was a trait theorist who believed that one’s personality was made up from different traits (i. . mental structures which initiate and guide reactions and thus ultimately accounts for the consistency in one’s behavior) and those traits were organized accordingly. To further support this, he said that those traits arise within a given situation e. g. if one has a trait of being aggressive, that trait will be suppressed until the need for it to be exposed to a situation due to a stimulus (e. g. during a quarrel). He rejected the behavioral (which he thought was too deep) and humanistic (which he thought wasn’t deep enough) approaches.He emphasized on the uniqueness of each individual and the importance of the present, as opposed to his/her history, for understanding their personality. From that statement alone, it is clear that Allport was optimistic towards human nature for he further on went to say that there are individual traits, i. e. a unique pattern of traits which are possessed by an individual, and common traits, i. e. traits which are used to describe a group of individuals. One can clearly see that Allport was for human nature and uniqueness and appreciated that each individual had their own pattern of traits which could not be exactly the same as anyone else.He also went on to say that individuals are motivated by present motives and not passed motives and called this concept, t he Functional Autonomy. Major concepts of Gordon Allport Gordon Allport deduced that there are different types of traits being individual traits and common traits. As mentioned earlier, individual traits are those traits which are possessed by a certain individual and common traits are those traits which are shared by several individuals. Allport believed that in order for a personality theorist to succeed in studying an individual, they (the theorist) should focus on the individual traits and not the common traits. Those individual traits are actually a cluster of traits and not just one trait. For example, a pattern of traits which I possess are the humanitarian trait, talkative trait, friendliness trait and many more. This pattern is unique to me for it is rare for any other individual to possess it. Gordon Allport believed in using the idiographic method of research and not the nomothetic method of research because, with an idiographic method, a theorist or analyst uses a single case through intensively studying an individual whereas with a nomothetic method, one studies a group of individuals and deduces an average (i. . traits/ personality) for that group. Allport then went on to identify three types of individual traits (which he later called personal disposition). These were cardinal, central and secondary dispositions/traits. i. Cardinal Trait This trait is the one which dominates an individual and it shapes an individual’s behavior and becomes the dominating theme within a person. An example would be of Mother Theresa, the dominant theme which ran throughout her life was a humanistic theme. It is rare for most people to lack a single theme that shapes their lives. ii. Central traitsThese traits are general characteristics which are found in some degree in every person. These are the basic building blocks that shape up most of our behavior although they are not as dominant as cardinal traits. An example would be a trait of honesty. iii. Seconda ry traits Secondary traits are similar to habits or attitudes but are still more general than either. They must be included in order to provide a complete picture of human complexity. An example would be the types of clothes or food that an individual prefers. Aspects of Gordon Allport’s theory that I liked â€Å"The same fire that softens the butter hardens the egg†.That statement caught my attention when I read it and I went back to read the concept that was supported by it over and over again until I really agreed with it. The concept which supported that saying was Gordon’s concept of trait were he says that since no two people possess the same pattern of traits and that traits respond to an environmental situation (i. e. they are not always present until the need for them arises), if a single stimulus was to be administered to two different people, they would reacted differently to that stimulus. I conquer with this concept for this always happens to me.My best friend and I respond differently to stimuli. For example, I once made her buy my favourite ice-cream (because she didn’t know which one to buy) and she ABSOLUTELY hated it! This goes to show that Allport did in fact appreciate the fact that individuals are different, thus you cannot say that people who had horrible childhoods will turn out as X, Y and Z. I also favoured the â€Å"Letters from Jenny Concept† were Allport believes that one of the best methods to use in order to study an individual is to use personal documents such as diaries, autobiographies and letters.I also conquer with this for most females always write down their feelings through diaries. This has been told to us that it helps us relieve the pain or the stress and if a psychologist was to use one’s diary to determine the traits which that person possesses. There is a consistency which can be picked from a person’s daily entrants that are within their diary. Aspects of Gordon Allpo rt’s theory which I did not like Within Allport’s theory, there is a part whereby he talks about a healthy mature adult and an unhealthy (neurotic) adult.The difference between a healthy and a neurotic person is that is that the motives of an unhealthy person lie in the past whereas the motives of a healthy person lie in the future. I agree with that statement but I did not conquered with him where he mentions that one can swinging back and forth from being an unhealthy to healthy person and back to an unhealthy person (it’s a cycle). According to him, the characteristics of a healthy person are similar to those who have self-actualized (through Abraham Maslow’s theory of motivation) and Maslow states that in order for one to self-actualize, they need to go through a series of stages.So, the question here is that can a man go through important steps which help him build him up then instantly dilapidate and return back to an unhealthy state? Concepts that I would use in my personal theory For my personal theory, I would definitely use the Allport’s concept of trait (whereby he mentions that a stimulus is reacted differently to different people) because it is a concept which is very practical and one goes through it on a daily.Secondly, I would use his components of personality statement whereby he states that personality is constantly (Dynamic Organization) changing. This is evident for I believe that one’s personality cannot be determined whilst they are within their first five years (unlike Sigmund Freud) because that individual is going to go through many trials and tribulations which will influence the person to ensure that they do not step into the same river again thus, they will change to a certain degree to ensure that they do not go through that again.For example, if a naive 17 year old girl has a trait of promiscuity and during her prime time, she gets raped by someone who is totally unexpected two weeks befor e her BGSE exams, she WILL change her ways of living to ensure that she never has to go through that ordeal again. Personal Critique I believed that this theory is researchable qualitatively because it stresses on how one cannot use nomothetic methods of research and should instead, use the idiographic method of research because it involves an intense study for a single case.There are a lot of cases whereby one can do their own primary research to determine whether Allport’s guidelines are in line. Also, there is a lot of secondary data which is available online and even at the library which deal with Allport’s theory. However, there are a lot of people who have criticized Allport’s work by saying that it is impossible for one to ignore the fact that scientific research needs to be done in order for one’s personality to be analyzed and assessed.This leaves a lot of field to do further investigations for someone who is interested in finding out whether All port’s work is feasible by testing his concepts and also taking into consideration everything that the critics have said and ultimately, determining their one findings. I also believe that this theory is of clinical utility because as the saying goes, â€Å"your past does not determine you future†.There are patients who are not naturally expressive of how their past was shaped up (maybe because they may be too embarrassed to voice it out) thus, a clinical psychologist could use any personal documents of the patient to try and determine problems which cannot be voiced out. Also, a clinical psychologist will be able to understand the pattern of traits that their patient has by probing on the matter of knowing what their motives are and ultimately, determine whether they are a healthy adult who is future driven and doesn’t base his/her motives on the past (as of an unhealthy person).However, this theory will not ensure consistence because if three clinical psycholo gists were to analyze one patient, each of them will have a different analysis because they will all have their own opinions thus, they might not all agree on whether the individual is a healthy adult or not. This theory is highly applicable within Botswana’s culture for Batswana are receptive people who are looking for ways in which they can better their futures. Therefore, the healthy and unhealthy concept would work greatly within our land.As a matter of a fact, the theory as a whole would experience high and positive agglutination within Botswana. In order for one to understand the nature of Botswana’s culture, one has to look at it from the following point of view. The culture of Botswana may be looked in two aspects. The older generation practices enculturation* whereby they stand strong on the Tswana morals and beliefs and practice them on a regular, for example, the patlo, kgotla meetings & letlhafula events. The younger generation practices acculturation* whereby they are receptive towards other cultures and eventually practice them for example, following he pop culture of piercing on every part of one’s body and wearing baggy (men and lesbians) and skimpy clothes (females and gays) and the culture of food (Western, Oriental, Italian and Vegetarian). If Allport’s theory was to be practiced within Botswana, it would have to be amongst the receptive group of Batswana who are willing and able to share their future goals (i. e. motives) and allow a psychologist to take a look at their personal documents and this is likely to be the younger generation.This theory is unique in its own way for it truly emphasizes on not using scientific methods when analyzing ones personality thus most theories are not like it. However, since Allport was a trait theorist, it can be noted that he wasn’t the only trait theorist. Raymond Cattell and Hans Eysneck were also trait theorists who believed that one possesses a lot of traits. How ever, they used nomothetic methods of research thus, their beliefs were not the same as Allport’s theory. Allport’s theory does not emphasize on the development of personality at the expense of another.He focuses on personality as a whole and gives a holistic view of it. Since he did not conduct nomothetic research or scientific research, he could not use the backing of those research methods to determine whether when one aspect grows, another suffers on its account. Gordon Allport was truly a man who stood by his word no matter who criticized his work and he backed his concepts with relevant research that even a lame man would understand. He is one of my favorite personality theorists and I believe that his theory is applicable to my life.

Birchfield Bread and Breakfast Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Birchfield Bread and Breakfast - Essay Example This essay stresses that there are some small lodging facilities in this region which have the blessings to be established in the beautiful places of Honolulu. Birchfield can acquire these to expand its business at a large scale. This has been recommended considering the projected increase in the tourist arrivals in the next years. Moreover, in such a way Birchfield would be able to remove some of its competition. At the same time, by acquiring these small lodging establishments it can compete against the large establishments in this region. This paper makes a conclusion that Birchfield Bed and Breakfast has been in operation for the last two years. However, recently it has been experiencing a slowdown in its guest arrivals. As a consequence, in the last year the company experienced a considerable amount of loss in its operation. It is high time for the company to pull off all its resources to enhance its services by offering its customers a comfortable luxury experience with all required amenities. Moreover, the establishment is required to be more focused on its marketing and promotional activities as the competition in this industry is real high. It is very much important to make people aware of the quality services, delicious food and beverages offered by Birchfield. The establishment must drive its resources to carry out a well developed marketing plan to retain its customer base and at the same time to ensure new arrivals.

HUMAN CAPITAL MANAGEMENT - Labor Laws and Unions Essay

HUMAN CAPITAL MANAGEMENT - Labor Laws and Unions - Essay Example The Company’s mission is to â€Å"connect people with their world everywhere they live, work and do it better than anyone else†. AT & T Inc has been accused of inhuman treatment of their employees and overtime payment row to their middle managers in a number of states (Sterling Attorneys, 2011). In the first case, AT&T was accused of requiring employees to stand all day when attending to customers in newly acquired stores notwithstanding the extended hours of operation to 12-13 hours a day. AT&T was in breach of The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) which stipulates the minimum wage and overtime pay. It is not only individuals that enjoy a wide range of benefits arising by virtue of being a member of a trade union but also organizations. For instance, organizations stand a better chance of identifying challenges faced by their workers owing to liaison with workers representatives. This gives an opportunity to tackle the problems faced by employees in due time. The Unionization process begins with gathering information about whether there is an existing union in the organization. If there is an existing union then an individual will contact them for further information. In case no union exists in the organization then employees will have to build their own union by coming together to sign an â€Å"Authorization† card. The next step involves making the union official by holding a secret ballot election under the supervision of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The workers can also make their union official by asking the employer to voluntarily recognize the association. The trade unions tend to bargain through collective bargain whereby the union agents on behalf of the unionized employees, petition the employer to take into consideration a particular interest of the employees such as pay rise or improved working condition. Unions bring about serious implications on employers. In case the union disagrees on

Financial analysis of Autonomy Corporation Essay

Financial analysis of Autonomy Corporation - Essay Example The present study would focus on the Autonomy Corporation is a global enterprise that has dual corporate headquarters in Cambridge, United Kingdom and San Francisco, USA. The company has a presence in four continents: North America, South America, Europe, and Asia Pacific. The firm has more than 400 major clients including Oracle, IBM, HP, and Novell which are users and supporters of the firm’s technological products. This paper will analyze the financial standing of the company based on the use of financial and ratio analysis. In fiscal year 2010 Autonomy Corporation generated $870.36 million in sales (Morningstar, 2010). The sales total of the company increased by 17.66% in comparison with the previous fiscal year. The average selling price of the company was $790,000 which is a stable metric in this industry. The firm achieved a net profit of $296.21 million in 2010. The profitability of the company in 2010 is outstanding due to the fact the net margin of the company was 34 %. The net margin of the company was very impressive considering the fact that the industry net margin in the software industry is a very low 1.7%. The net margin is a financial ratio that measures the absolute profitability of the business. The net margin of Autonomy Corporation in 2010 was 32.3% higher than the industry average. The gross margin of the company was an outstanding 87%. The gross margin is a broad measure of profitability. The stockholders of the company benefited from the great earnings of the company. The earnings per share of the firm in 2010 was $1.11. Earnings per share tend to have an effect on the market price per share, as reflected in the price earnings ratio (Garrison & Noreen, 2011). The common stocks of Autonomy Corporation are traded in the London Stock Exchange. The firm’s website claims that the stock symbol of the firm is AU.L. Upon further research at various financial websites it appears that Autonomy Corporation’s stock are being trad ed in the London Stock Exchange under the symbol 5053.L; the current stock price of Autonomy Corporation is $2,549 per share (Yahoo, 2011). The revenue per employee of the company in 2010 was $463,000 which is 5% better than in 2009. During 2010 one of the highest expense accounts of the company was its research and development expense. The company spent $114.75 million in R&D. During the last five years the company has more than double its R&D expenses. This is a good sign because investing in research and development allows companies to develop new products and technologies. Patents are born out of the efforts of the R&D team. Two additional financial ratios are the return on assets (ROA) and return on equity (ROE). Return on assets measures how well assets have been employed by management, while return on equity when compared to return on assets measures the extent to which financial leverage is working for or against common stockholders (Garrison, et. al, 2003). The return on as sets of Autonomy Corporation in 2010 was 9.02%. The ROA of the company is better than the industry average of 6.9% (Dun & Bradstreet, 2011). The return on equity of Autonomy Corporation in 2010 was 14.33%. The ROE of the firm is 6.17% below the norm in the software industry. The current ratio measures a company’s ability to pay off its short term debt. The current ratio

Social Psychology - Exprerimental Psychology Essay

Social Psychology - Exprerimental Psychology - Essay Example Experimental psychology, Patrick McGhee has decribed as the most dominant form of psychology in north America and Europe. Whether or not this dominance is desirable, secure or important is another issue. In the perspective of experimental social psychology, the most scientifically efficient, intellectually rigorous method for understanding human social behaviour makes for the making of three assumptions viz: Experimental psychology can be viewed as the first of the three individual "visions" of social psychology. This "vision" when applied in to the understanding of Liv Ullman does not really explain anything about her success as a film star, but then goes to make us understand her person to the point of why she did what. When put under experimental psychology, the social psychology of Liv Ullman can be understood. The reasons for her being a committed UNICEF goodwill ambassador who has also travelled wide for the organisation can be explained. She is Norweigian, born in Tokyo and has a half Swedish daughter with Swedish Ingmar Bergman. Her vast travel experience may have contributed to her being multi-lingual which may have been useful to her in her many travels across the globe in furtherance of her humanitarian service as a UNICEF goodwill ambassasdor. The fact that she has continued in th... The fact that she has continued in the movie industry as a director (even after retiring as an actress) is a confirmation of the experimental psychology. She will definitely be more comfortable in the movie industry than any other industry. Her role in the movie Scenes from a Marriage, which turned her into a feminist and cultural icon in the 1970s and also placed her as one of the most respected actress of her time was directed by Ingmar Bergman. The position the film put her may have influenced her going into humanitarian service. Her cross-cultural background- born in Tokyo; raised in Norway; married and worked with a Swede, whom she has a child for; and now married to an American- have all contributed to explain her many travels on humanitarian purposes as a UNICEF goodwill ambassador. Looking at this first "vision" of social psychology, it can be said that in understanding Liv Ullman, it is useful. But there are questions that it does not exactly provide answers to. Like how she became so good an actress and so much critical acclaim that has not yet been seen since the 70s. Her sense of security, even when she is not with the ones she loves, or in strange land have not been explained using this "vision". The second "vision" is humanistic and experiential. What this seeks to do is to blend the study of personal and social life in the actualities of lived experience. It tries to look at the lived world and the behavoiur of an individual to the experiences of this world. This vision regards people's experience and the meanings they attach to their actions and that of others. It believes behaviour has to be interpreted to be made meaningful. Thus the behaviour which is objectively observable and analysable is

Small and Medium Entreprises in an international context Essay - 1

Small and Medium Entreprises in an international context - Essay Example he play of market dynamics and the intensity of competition to get set up, operate, overcome problems and manage to survive is the overall background of this research paper, signifying the basic interest of customer orientation of SME, extending to how it is done by the owner / managers, trends and success. In this section of introduction, the reader will encounter a general idea of SME’s, what are they, SME’s in the UK, and further focus on the region of Yorkshire and Humberside (which is the base region of this research paper). Then it states about the position and perception of this study the researcher is going to take the interest in the topic. Last but not the least, is the research structure that how I am going to do the research, tools to be used, systematic procedure in relation to the guidelines stated out, its limitations and advantages. Designing a method so as to favour investment, in SMEs, innovation training and clusters of enterprises, elements that are considered particularly important in the context of economic development, modernisation and employment prospects and standard of living, innovation and entreprenureship and growth. In the United Kingdom, it has remained one of the main destinations of FDI inflows. The ability of the region to attain and retain investment and skilled people reflects on the quality of life and environment and perceptions of the region as a good place to live and do business. The U.K. labour govt. have made it known that the future U.K. economy will become increasingly reliant upon SME’s with the formulation: -National Skill Task Force. (The opportunity to networks and access to world class value-adding information.) This region is clearly defined sub-regions, West and North Yorkshire, Humber and South Yorkshire. This region has experienced significant economic upheaval in the last decade, running down of the coal industry, decline in heavy industry, restructuring of steel industry. The majority of SME

MIDTERM QUESTIONS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

MIDTERM QUESTIONS - Essay Example The mass media is able to effectively set almost any political or public agenda and frame how media consumers view a particular topic. For instance, an overall majority of information that is presented to the consumers against gay marriage would set a public agenda that suggests that everyone is and should be against gay marriage. The agenda-setting and cultivation theories come into play here and have a direct relationship with setting the public agenda. Gatekeeping is a process that all media stories go through internally within the specific media outlet to determine what information is allows to be presented to the public and in what way. Writers and reporters typically are given specific assignments and told to write them from a particular viewpoint. After the work is written, the editors will comb through the work to make sure that it is void of errors and presents the appropriate message for the general public. Because media outlets frame messages, the editors are directly responsible for ensuring that the messages are properly framed and presented in a clear, understandable format. The potential problem that this presents is that the consumer may not be able to peel apart the framing of the mass media. In other words, the consumer is only going to hear a specific message and not always the entire story. This does not mean that the media is lying about the story, but it simply means that the way it is portrayed is framed in a specific manner so that the consumer perceives it in a particular way. Many consumers do not think objectively about a news story and accept what they view to be true. The media can easily take advantage of the ignorance of the general public. The mass media can cultivate an individual’s attitude or perceptions based on the type of message and the specific details of the message that are being portrayed. Cultivation

Jewish marriage ceremony Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Jewish marriage ceremony - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that marriage has different meanings for different societies. For some societies, marriage is associated with social and legal implications. Other societies attach strong cultural and religious traditions to marriage. In the Jewish society, marriage is not a mere social arrangement or a contractual engagement. It amounts to a bonding of spiritual nature, which is meant to fulfill what the Jews refer to a mitzvah, which is perceived as a highly divine dictum. It involves complete devotion of the bride’s life to the groom and vice versa and, as Kabbalists would put it, the two souls, upon marriage, are automatically integrated into one, which exists in two different bodies. In the traditional sense, a Jewish marriage cannot be said to happen by chance in any way – it involves what people from western countries do not seem to embrace, referring to it as the old-fashioned way. As such, the first step that defines the uniqueness in Jewish marriages is referred to as matchmaking or shidduch. The meet-up process is not spontaneous and does not rely purely on external influences; it is planned by a person who is close enough to the young man or woman seeking a partner to know the kind of person that he or she would want to be with and suggest a meeting. All of which has to go according to plan. This is an important step in an effort to ensure that the two are compatible with each other.

Latin America and the Church Essay Example for Free

Latin America and the Church Essay The Catholic Church has been regarded as one of the most powerful institutions in the world. The beginnings of its authority can be rooted in the European continent wherein the development of the Catholic religious belief took place. Nevertheless, the numerous changes that happened in the world paved the way for the Catholic Church to extend their influence. At present, Europe is no longer regarded as the center of the Roman Catholic Church in terms of the number of people who adhere to this faith because the Latin American region has long been the most Catholic continent in the world. As a result, Catholic doctrines and beliefs play a very important role in the development of the Latin American continent. The influence of the Catholic Church goes beyond the mere spiritual well being of the people because it also has a huge impact in the areas of their life. The influential role of the Catholic Church is clearly observable in the cultural, social, and even political areas of the society. Being the case, it can be said that the Catholic Church has a substantial and advantageous contribution to the Latin American society. The Catholic Church has appositive influence in the Latin American region, which can be proven by four important points. First, much of the culture of the countries within Latin America is derive from the Catholic Church. Catholicism started in Latin America during the 1500’s. The Iberian monarchs are the one responsible in propagating the Catholic faith in the Latin American region through the holy crusade that they waged in their new dominion. One of the main objectives of the Iberian monarchs in converting the Latin American people into becoming Catholics is for the Church to have a comprehensive in the society. This is related to their belief that every area of an individual’s life is related to his or her salvation. Thus, the Church established connection to every sector of the society and every part of an individual’s life. As a result, the distinction between the sacred or the secular is observable in Latin America wherein the Church plays an active role in the various areas of community life. This kind of adage is clearly exemplified in the family dynamics of most Latin American countries such as: Brazil, Chile, and Cuba. Due to the teachings of the Catholic Church, the Iberian monarchs were able to instill the value of close-family ties in Latin America. As a result, the family as the basic unit of society is given due importance. This makes the people very family oriented, which almost every individual acquires and later on pass to the succeeding generations. Moreover, the family structure in Latin America is mostly patriarchal because of the authoritative society that the Christendom has propagated (Patterson 18). It gives importance to the fact that the father is the head of the family. Having such role entails that he is the main decision-maker in the household. The male dominion or superiority is not merely confined within the four corners of their houses but rather it is also seen in work-related opportunities. Men still have control of many occupational areas especially in terms of job that are regarded to be the domain of men like politics. However, the changes in time that the Catholic Church sometimes adheres to have also revolutionized the political dynamics of Latin America. In the call of the Church for greater equality in the society, they have also supported women empowerment in terms of giving them more opportunity to develop their skills and participate in the society. This could be proven by the case of Chile wherein the country elected its first female president. President Michelle Bachelet holds the highest position in Chilean politics. This only goes to show that the Catholic Church has a substantial influence in the culture of Latin America especially with regards to its family values. Second, The Catholic Church heavily influences the social fields in Latin America especially in the realm of education. The mission of the Catholic Church that came together with the Iberian invasion of the region is focused on the creation of highly selective and academic educational foundations. The colonial territories were controlled and administered in towns and cities. The central features of these places are the schools, seminaries, and universities. During the nineteenth century, the formative influence that plays a vital role in the educational system of Latin America was that of Napoleonic France. This kind of education is characterized by hierarchical responsibility that includes national to regional to local scale of territorial administration. Each of these levels also extended in both the urban and rural sectors (Brock and Lawlor 2-3). The influence of the Catholic Church in the educational system is seen in Brazil’s public life. The Brazilian Catholic Church took part in implementing a conservative program in order to strengthen it internal hierarchy by means of providing education and other social services. In the same manner, Catholicism also has a huge impact in the educational institution of Cuba. Despite the fact that Cuba is regarded as a Communist state, which means that the government has the main and greater responsibility in making decisions and distributing the resources of the country, the Catholic Church still manage to influence the country’s education. In Cuba, the government delivers the vast majority of social services. Nevertheless, the emergence of other actors also exists and one of the most notable is the Catholic Church. This is clearly exemplified by the Caritas Cubana, a non-governmental organization that is affiliated with the Catholic Church. Caritas Cubana provides social services and distributes medications. Some of their programs are funded through the help of international non-governmental organizations. The services that they render are providing academic support for the children and others (Uriarte 62). Third, the Church is a highly structured organization in a region that is experiencing low and slow development. The Catholic Church is recognized as one of the strongest institution that is established in the world. The network of churches that adhere to the doctrines and teaching of the Roman Catholic is observable in various parts of the world and this also includes the Latin American region. The important role that the Church has in this part of the South American continent can be rooted from the very organizational strength of the Catholic Church. In relation to this, the reality that most countries in Latin America experienced and are still facing political instability make the influence of the Catholic Church greater than ever. This is mentality is due to the sentiment of the people wherein they need a strong governing body that they can hold into in times of hardships and trials. The Catholic Church emerged as the stable organization that most people can believe and lean on. The weaknesses and shortcomings of the most Latin American government to address the pressing problems of the people like threats to peace and order as well as the sustenance of basic needs like food, shelter, education and public health care. Being the case, the Catholic Church takes a bolder role in giving hope to the people especially those who are living in dire poverty. The political turmoil in the Latin American region is observable in countries like Brazil, Chile, and Cuba. In the case of Brazil, its weak government during the 1960s caused a coup d’etat and the establishment of a totalitarian state in the country. However, there was significant resistance to the ouster of the civilian government that attributed to the major split of the Brazilian Communist Party. Due to this, a number of small urban and rural guerilla groups were formed, which aim to provoke the government by creating a domestic atmosphere of repression that will force the people to rebel (Train, 1994). In the same manner, Chile also has its own set of political problems that is very evident during the Pinochet regime. Augusto Pinochet was able to obtain the seat of power in Chile through a military junta. Most of the citizens supported the coup because they want to overthrow the administration of Salvador Allende. Many people believed that the army would bring back order and then call elections. However, General Pinochet disabused them as he asserted that in order to eliminate communism democracy must be ended. He unleashed violence that has no precedent in Chile (â€Å"Augusto Pinochet†). Cuba also has its political concerns especially those that the country experience under the authority of Fidel Castro. During those times, Cuba was regarded as an isolationist country that is against its close neighbor, the United States. The situation of the country was further worsened by U. S. political and diplomatic hostility (Falcoff). In these instances, the people turn toward the Catholic Church instead of their government because the Church clearly shows organization and stability as compared with the government that usually changes political leaders due to civil unrest. Fourth, the influence of the Catholic Church has extended up to point of being politically active. The Catholic Church has the power to create popular movements because they have a huge influence in motivating the people to participate. The Church can promote the political mobilization of the poor and marginalized people society. In line with this, poor and marginalized parishioners in Latin American sometime require the help and support of their religious leaders in order to change their political an economic condition. The responsibilities as well as the reputation that the Catholic Church has in the society have prompted them to become politically active. The Church involvement in politics is not simply confined in giving advices or their stand on certain issues but rather they also established their own political parties. This is proven in the case of Brazil wherein it has Christian democratic parties that support traditional Catholic principles like hierarchy, paternalism, and corporate identity (Trejo). The Catholic Church indeed has a positive influence in the Latin American region. This is proven by the four major tenets that are discuss above that the Catholic Church contribute to the development of Latin America’s culture, social fields, citizen’s strength amidst political turmoil, and greater political participation. These only show that an individual’s religious belief has a huge role in the development of the other aspects of his or her life as well as the evolution of the society as a whole. Works Cited â€Å"Augusto Pinochet. † 2007. The Economist Newspaper and The Economist Group. 30 July 2009 http://www. economist. com/obituary/PrinterFirendly. cfm? story_id=8406905. Brock, Colin. , Lawlor, Hugh. Education in Latin America. New York: Routledge, 1985. Falcoff, Mark. â€Å"Cuba’s Future – or Futures. † 21 December 2004. American Experience. 09 March 2009. http://www. pbs. org/wgbh/amex/castro/sf viewsfalcoll. html. Patterson, Eric. Latin America’s Neo-reformation: Religion’s influence in Contemporary Politics. New York: Routledge, 2005. Train, Brian. â€Å"Urban Guerillas in Brazil. † 1994. MIT Western Hemisphere Project. 18 July 2007 http://web. mit. edu/hemisphere/events/mnm03-1m/brazil-train. shtml. Trejo, Guillermo. â€Å"Religious Competition and Popular Mobilization: Evidence from Mexico’s Regions. † 2006. 08 March 2009 http://cas. uchicago. edu /workshops/cpolit/papers/trejo. doc. Uriarte, Miren. Cuba Social Policy at the Crossroads: Maintaining Priorities, Transforming Practice. † Oxfam American Report. Boston: Oxfam America, 2002.

Robust Face-Name Graph Matching Essay Example for Free

Robust Face-Name Graph Matching Essay 1. Login In this module is going to explain the Robust Face-Name Graph Matching for Movie Character Identification designing and how we did the face detection and recognition in this project. The images will explain about the facial fetching details. After that admin going to login with the details which needed for the login page. 2. Detection In this module we are going to detect the face of the movie characters. In this module we are using the emgu cv library we must install the emgu cv library. After installing the emgu cv lib in our project we need to add reference with the name emgu.cv, emgu.cv.util, emgu.cv.ui. When you will complete the references you will get the emgu controls in the toolbox. 3. Recognition In this module we are going to recognize the face of the movie characters which is we previously stored on the face database. We just found that the give the real name of it. This is going to be done here. Here we are using the With the help of these eigenObjectRecognizer we are going to recognize the face. Chellangess In This Methodology :- 1. We detect the face in minute this is a big challenge for us because exiting system take more time for detection. 2. More challenging problem due to the huge variation in the appearance of each character. 3. It is increase speed of matching character and identify the character. Objectivies :- The Robust Face-Name Graph Matching for Movie Character Identification designing and how we did the face detection and recognition in this project. In this project we present two schemes of global face-name matching based framework for robust character identification. It is use in movies, video, cartoons. Problem Analysis :- 1. It is difficult to Complex character changes are handled by simultaneously graph partition and graph matching. 2. Many character are not easily matching and identification face in movies. 3. It is hard to be increase speed of matching character and identify the character. Existing Work :- This project is used to detect the face of movie characters and recognize the characters in minute process and the existing system are taking the too much time to detect the face. But this one we can do it in a minute process. Proposed Work :- In this Robust Face-Name Graph Matching for Movie Character Identification is used to detect the face of movie characters and the Proposed system is taking the minimum time to detect the face. In this One we can do it in a minute process. Robust Face-Name Graph Matching for Movie Character Identification Jitao Sang, Changsheng Xu, Senior Member, IEEE Abstract—Automatic face identification of characters in movies has drawn significant research interests and led to many interesting applications. It is a challenging problem due to the huge variation in the appearance of each character. Although existing methods demonstrate promising results in clean environment, the performances are limited in complex movie scenes due to the noises generated during the face tracking and face clustering process. In this paper we present two schemes of global face-name matching based framework for robust character identification. The contributions of this work include: 1) A noise insensitive character relationship representation is incorporated. 2) We introduce an edit operation based graph matching algorithm. 3) Complex character changes are handled by simultaneously graph partition and graph matching. 4) Beyond existing character identification approaches, we further perform an in-depth sensitivity analysis by introducing two types of simulated noises. The proposed schemes demonstrate state-of-the-art performance on movie character identification in various genres of movies. Index Terms—Character identification, graph matching, graph partition, graph edit, sensitivity analysis. Fig. 1. Examples of character identification from movie â€Å"Notting Hill†. I. INTRODUCTION A. Objective and Motivation The proliferation of movie and TV provides large amount of digital video data. This has led to the requirement of efficient and effective techniques for video content understanding and organization. Automatic video annotation is one of such key techniques. In this paper our focus is on annotating characters in the movie and TVs, which is called movie character identification [1]. The objective is to identify the faces of the characters in the video and label them with the corresponding names in the cast. The textual cues, like cast lists, scripts, subtitles and closed captions are usually exploited. Fig.1 shows an example in our experiments. In a movie, characters are the focus center of interests for the audience. Their occurrences provide lots of clues about the movie structure and content. Automatic character identification is essential for semantic movie index and retrieval [2], [3], scene segmentation [4], summarization [5] and other applications [6]. Copyright (c) 2010 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. However, permission to use this material for any other purposes must be obtained from the IEEE by sending a request to pubs [emailprotected] ieee.org. This work was supported in part by the National Program on Key Basic Research Project (973 Program, Project No. 2012CB316304) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 90920303, 61003161). J. Sang and C. Xu (corresponding author) are with the National Lab of Pattern Recognition, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China; and also with the China- Singapore Institute of Digital Media, Singapore, 119613 Character identification, though very intuitive to humans, is a tremendously challenging task in computer vision. The reason is four-fold: 1) Weakly supervised textual cues [7]. There are ambiguity problem in establishing the correspondence between names and faces: ambiguity can arise from a reaction shot where the person speaking may not be shown in the frames 1; ambiguity can also arise in partially labeled frames when there are multiple speakers in the same scene 2. 2) Face identification in videos is more difficult than that in images [8]. Low resolution, occlusion, no rigid deformations, large motion, complex background and other uncontrolled conditions make the results of face detection and tracking unreliable. In movies, the situation is even worse. This brings inevitable noises to the character identification. 3) The same character appears quite differently during the movie [3]. There may be huge pose, expression and illumination variation, wearing, clothing, even makeup and hairstyle changes. Moreover, characters in some movies go through different age stages, e.g., from youth to the old age. Sometimes, there will even be different actors playing different ages of the same character. 4) The determination for the number of identical faces is not trivial [2]. Due to the remarkable intra-class variance, the same character name will correspond to faces of huge variant appearances. It will be unreasonable to set the number of identical faces just according to the number of characters in the cast. Our study is motivated by these challenges and aims to find solutions for a robust framework for movie character identification. B. Related Work The crux of the character identification problem is to exploit the relations between videos and the associated texts in order 1 I.e., the name in the subtitle/closed caption finds no corresponding faces in the video. 2 I.e., multiple names in the subtitle/closed caption correspond to multiple faces in the video. Fig. 2. Framework of scheme 1: Face-name graph matching with #cluster pre specified to label the faces of characters with names. It has similarities to identifying faces in news videos [9], [10], [11]. However, in news videos, candidate names for the faces are available from the simultaneously appearing captions or local transcripts. While in TV and movies, the names of characters are seldom directly shown in the subtitle or closed caption, and script screenplay containing character names has no time stamps to align to the video. According to the utilized textual cues, we roughly divide the existing movie character identification methods into three categories. 1) Category 1: Cast list based: These methods only utilize the case list textual resource. In the â€Å"cast list discovery† problem [12], [13], faces are clustered by appearance and faces of a particular character are expected to be collected in a few pure clusters. Names for the clusters are then manually selected from the cast list. Ramanan et al. proposed to manually label an initial set of face clu sters and further cluster the rest face instances based on clothing within scenes [14]. In [15], the authors have addressed the problem of finding particular characters by building a model/classifier of the character’s appearance from user-provided training data. An interesting work combining character identification with web image retrieval is proposed in [17]. The character names in the cast are used as queries to search face images and constitute gallery set. The probe face tracks in the movie are then identified as one of the characters by multi-task joint sparse representation and classification. Recently, metric learning is introduced into character identification in uncontrolled videos [16]. Cast-specific metrics are adapted to the people appearing in a particular video in an unsupervised manner. The clustering as well as identification performance are demonstrated to be improved. These cast list based methods are easy for understanding and implementation. However, without other textual cues, they either need manual labeling or guarantee no robust clustering and classification performance due to the large intra-class variances. 2) Category 2: Subtitle or Closed caption, Local matching based: Subtitle and closed caption provide time-stamped dialogues, which can be exploited for alignment to the video frames. Effingham et al. [18], [3] proposed to combine the film script with the subtitle for local face-name matching. Time-stamped name annotation and face exemplars are generated. The rest of the faces were then classified into these exemplars for identification. They further extended their work in [19], by replacing the nearest neighbor classifier by multiple kernel learning for features combination. In the new framework, non-frontal faces are handled and the coverage is extended. Researchers from University of Pennsylvania utilized the readily available time-stamped resource, the closed captions, which is demonstrated more reliable than OCR-based subtitles [20], [7]. They investigated on the ambiguity issues in the local alignment between video, screenplay and closed captions. A partially-supervised multiclass classification problem is formulated. Recently, they attempted to address the character identification problem without the use of screenplay [21]. The reference cues in the closed captions are employed as multiple instance constraints and face tracks grouping as well as face-name association are solved in a convex formulation. The local matching based methods require the time-stamped information, which is either extracted by OCR (i.e., subtitle) or unavailable for the majority of movies and TV series (i.e., closed caption). Besides, the ambiguous and partial annotation makes local matching based methods more sensitive to the face detection and tracking noises. 3) Category 3: Script/Screenplay, Global matching based: Global matching based methods open the possibility of character identification without OCR-based subtitle or closed caption. Since it is not easy to get local name cues, the task of character identification is formulated as a global matching problem in [2], [22], [4]. Our method belongs to this category and can be considered as an extension to Zhang’s work [2]. In movies, the names of characters seldom directly appear in the subtitle, while the movie script which contains character names has no time information. Without the local time information, the task of character identification is formulated as a global matching problem between the faces detected from the video and the names extracted from the movie script. Compared with local matching, global statistics are used for name-face association, which enhances the robustness of the algorithms. Our work differs from the existing research in threefold: Regarding the fact that characters may show various appearances, the representation of character is often affected Fig. 3. Framework of scheme 2: Face-name graph matching without #cluster pre-specified. by the noise introduced by face tracking, face clustering and scene segmentation. Although extensive research efforts have been concentrated on character identification and many applications have been proposed, little work has focused on improving the robustness. We have observed in our investigations that some statistic properties are preserved in spite of these noises. Based on that, we propose a novel representation for character relationship and introduce a name-face matching method which can accommodate a certain noise. Face track clustering serves as an important step in movie character identification. In most of the existing methods some cues are utilized to determine the number of target clusters prior to face clustering, e.g., in [2], the number of clusters is the same as the number of distinct speakers appearing in the script. While this seems convinced at first glance, it is rigid and even deteriorating the clustering results sometimes. In this paper, we loose the restriction of one face cluster corresponding to one character name. Face track clustering and face-name matching are jointly optimized and conducted in a unique framework. Sensitivity analysis is common in financial applications, risk analysis, signal processing and any area where models are developed [23], [24]. Good modeling practice requires that the modeler provides an evaluation of the confidence in the model, for example, assessing the uncertainties associated with the modeling process and with the outcome of the model itself. For movie character identification, sensitivity analysis offers valid tools for characterizing the robustness to noises for a model. To the best of our knowledge, there have been no efforts directed at the sensitivity analysis for movie character identification. In this paper, we aim to fill this gap by introducing two types of simulated noises. A preliminary version of this work was introduced by [1]. We provide additional algorithmic and computational details, and extend the framework considering no pre-specification for the number of face clusters. Improved performance as well as robustness are demonstrated in movies wit h large character appearance changes. C. Overview of Our Approach In this paper, we propose a global face-name graph matching based framework for robust movie character identification. Two schemes are considered. There are connections as well as differences between them. Regarding the connections, firstly, the proposed two schemes both belong to the global matching based category, where external script resources are utilized. Secondly, to improve the robustness, the ordinal graph is employed for face and name graph representation and a novel graph matching algorithm called Error Correcting Graph Matching (ECGM) is introduced. Regarding the differences, scheme 1 sets the number of clusters when performing face clustering (e.g., K-means, spectral clustering). The face graph is restricted to have identical number of vertexes with the name graph. While, in scheme 2, no cluster number is required and face tracks are clustered based on their intrinsic data structure (e.g., mean shift, affinity propagation). Moreover, as shown in Fig.2 and Fig.3, scheme 2 has an additional module of graph partition compared with scheme 1. From this perspective, scheme 2 can be seen as an extension to scheme 1. m1) Scheme 1: The proposed framework for scheme 1 is shown in Fig.2. It is similar to the framework of [2]. Face tracks are clustered using constrained K-means, where the number of clusters is set as the number of distinct speakers. Co-occurrence of names in script and face clusters in video constitutes the corresponding face graph and name graph. We modify the traditional global matching framework by using ordinal graphs for robust representation and introducing an ECGM-based graph matching method. For face and name graph construction, we propose to represent the character co-occurrence in rank ordinal level [25], which scores thestrength of the relationships in a rank order from the weakest to strongest. Rank order data carry no numerical meaning and thus are less sensitive to the noises. The affinity graph used in the traditional global matching is interval measures of the co-occurrence relationship between characters. While continuous measures of the strength of relationship holds complete information, it is highly sensitive to noises. For name-face graph matching, we utilize the ECGM algorithm. In ECGM, the difference between two graphs is measured by edit distance which is a sequence of graph edit operations. The optimal match is achieved with the least edit distance. According to the noise analysis, we define appropriate graph edit operations and adapt the distance functions to obtain improved name-face matching performance. 2) Scheme 2: The proposed framework for scheme 2 is shown in Fig.3. It has two differences from scheme 1 in Fig.2. First, no cluster number is required for the face tracks clustering step. Second, since the face graph and name graph may have different number of vertexes, a graph partition component is added before ordinal graph representation. The basic premise behind the scheme 2 is that appearances of the same character vary significantly and it is difficult to group them in a unique cluster. Take the movie â€Å"TheCurious Case of Benjamin Button† for example. The hero and heroine go through a long time period from their childhood, youth, middle-age to the old-age. The intra-class variance is even larger than the inter-class variance. In this case, simply enforcing the number of face clusters as the numberof characters will disturb the clustering process. Instead of grouping face tracks of the same character into one cluster, face tracks from different characters may be grouped together. In scheme 2, we utilize affinity propagation for the face tracks clustering. With each sample as the potential center of clusters, the face tracks are recursively clustered through appearance-based similarity transmit and propagation. High cluster purity with large number of clusters is expected. Since one character name may correspond to several face clusters, graph partition is introduced before graph matching. Which face clusters should be further grouped (i.e., divided into th e same subgraph) is determined by whether the partitioned face graph achieves an optimal graph matching with the name graph. Actually, face clustering is divided into two steps: coarse clustering by appearance and further modification by script. Moreover, face clustering and graph matching are optimized simultaneously, which improve the robustness against errors and noises. In general, the scheme 2 has two advantages over the scheme 1. (a) For scheme 2, no cluster number is required in advance and face tracks are clustered based on their intrinsic data structure. Therefore, the scheme 2 provides certain robustness to the intra-class variance, which is very common in movies where characters change appearance significantly or go through a long time period. (b) Regarding that movie cast cannot include pedestrians whose face is detected and added into the face track, restricting the number of face tracks clusters the same as that of name from movie cast will deteriorate the clustering process. In addition, there is some chance that movie cast does not cover all the characters. In this case, pre-specification for the face clusters is risky: face tracks from different characters will be mixed together and graph matching tends to fail. 3) Sensitivity Analysis: Sensitivity analysis plays an important role in characterizing the uncertainties associated with a model. To explicitly analyze the algorithm’s sensitivity to noises, two types of noises, coverage noise and intensity noise, are introduced. Based on that, we perform sensitivity analysis by investigating the performance of name-face matching with respect to the simulated noises.

Jacques Cousteau And The Ocean Film Studies Essay

Jacques Cousteau And The Ocean Film Studies Essay Imagine a world without oxygen. A dangerous world few have seen and few will ever see. A world filled with colors as bright as a rainbow and blackness as dark as any cave. A world with strange, never before seen creatures everywhere, waiting to be discovered. This is the Ocean. This is the world of Jacques Cousteau. Cousteau worked hard to make this ocean world more accessible to the world. He created movies, books, and films to allow everyone to see what lies beneath the oceans surface. He even invented new devices to allow people to go there. Making major advances in scuba diving and raising the publics awareness are just two of the ways Jacques Cousteau revolutionized ocean exploration. Jacques Cousteau made major advancements in scuba diving. Of his advances, his greatest was the invention of the Aqua-Lung. Before Cousteaus invention, diving gear consisted of airtight suits with lead boots, steel helmets, and an air hose that was attached to a ship at the surface (King). With this setup, divers had very little freedom of movement. Cousteau wanted to create a new system that would allow divers to move freely and allow divers to stay underwater for longer periods of time. He soon attempted this project and was unsuccessful. He tried using a gas mask, rubber tubes, and bottles of oxygen. Cousteau learned the hard way that pure oxygen becomes toxic to the human body at great depths. Cousteau had a seizure on a dive after breathing the pure oxygen for only four minutes. He decided that compressed air was a better choice, and went to his father for more advice (Cullen). Regular compressed air consists of 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and 1% other gasses (Cullen). His father was an executive for a company that sold gasses, and Cousteau knew his father would be able to help. Cousteaus father said that a self-regulating valve would work best. The valve would allow divers to inhale and exhale through one mouthpiece without exhaling into their fresh air supply (Cullen). After hearing his fathers advice, Cousteau met with an engineer from his fathers gas company named Émile Gagnan in December, 1942. Together, they modified a self-regulating valve. They traveled to the Marne River and tested the valve with compressed air. At first, the valve did not quite work right. The valve only worked when the diver was horizontal. Within a few weeks, the pair finished their project. They called it the Aqua-Lung, and applied for a patent. Their finished Aqua-Lung weighed about 50 lbs., but still allowed divers to move freely in the water (Cullen). This invention changed the sport of diving forever, and Cousteau knew his invention could change the world as well. Soon after his invention of the Aqua-Lung, Jacques Cousteau began to set the limits for safe diving. Cousteaus First dive with his finished Aqua-Lung took him to a depth of about 60 feet (Charton). He knew that his new invention would bring many new dangers with it, so he soon began to set the limits for safe diving. Cousteau also tried using different gas mixtures with different ascension rates to find what worked best (Cullen). Soon, Cousteau began to push the limits of his Aqua-Lung. He wanted to see how deep he could safely dive. In 1947, Cousteau was able to reach a depth of 297 feet (Cullen). Cousteau began to discover new dangers that could threaten divers. Cousteau soon began feeling the symptoms of nitrogen narcosis. Nitrogen narcosis affects divers on deep dives and has many effects on the mind. One of its main effects is not allowing a diver to think clearly and could cause the diver to make mistakes while diving that could be fatal (Cullen). He also learned of decompressi on sickness when a man diving with Cousteau died while he was ascending. Cousteau set the safe diving limit at 300 feet after this event (Cullen). These guidelines for safe diving would protect the lives of thousands of divers for many years to come. Cousteaus invention of the Aqua-Lung in 1942 created many new possibilities for divers. The Aqua-Lung made it possible for divers to explore parts of the ocean that had never before been seen, such as underwater caves. Marine scientists were also able to study ecosystems in deeper parts of the ocean more efficiently. They saw things they could never before see (Cullen). The Aqua-Lung also had many more uses. These include finding and disarming German mines during WWII, clearing debris from ports, underwater photography, exploring caves and shipwrecks, and ocean research (Cullen). Cousteau even thought that the Aqua-Lung could be used as a way for specially trained soldiers to swim into enemy harbors and plant explosives on the hulls of ships (Madsen). The Aqua-Lung gave divers many more possibilities in the underwater world. Jacques Cousteau played a major part in raising public awareness for the ocean. He created many books, films, and T.V. programs throughout his life. All of these were used by Cousteau to make the world more aware of the oceans and showed how important ocean conservation was. Cousteau became interested in moviemaking when he was very young. He was amazed by the way cameras worked and also enjoyed taking them apart and rebuilding them. This interest followed Cousteau throughout his life, and he went on to make many award-winning films and movies (Cullen). Cousteau began to waterproof his cameras and began taking cameras with him on his dives. He soon released his first film, Eighteen Meters Down, which was very popular at the Cannes Film Festival in 1943 (Cullen). Cousteau began to improve his cameras. He built them to withstand the water pressure they would have to take during deeper dives. Using his improved cameras, he created many new films. He also tried color film and artificial light in his films for the first time (Cullen). The later years of Cousteaus life were spent creating film series and television specials. These include The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau, Cousteau Odyssey, and Cousteau Amazon. Viewers were amazed by the images in these new films, and Cousteau received over 40 Emmy nominations (Cullen). By publishing The Silent World in 1953, Cousteau continued to educate the public about the ocean. The book was made popular because of its color photos and stories from Cousteaus dives (King). It also included Cousteaus first explorations of shipwrecks and underwater caves. The Silent World was instantly successful and became a best-seller (Cullen). The book was so successful that it was published in 22 languages and sold worldwide (King). A film version of The Silent World was released three years later, in 1956 (Cullen). The year of its release, the film won the highest award at the Cannes Film Festival, the Palme dOr. It was the first document ary to win this award, and only one documentary has won the award since (Collins). The following year, in 1957, the film also won an Oscar award (Cullen). Cousteau knew that in order to continue his research, he needed a research vessel. He soon found what he needed. Cousteau purchased the Calypso, a 400-ton minesweeper. The ship was converted into a floating laboratory filled with modern equipment and underwater television cameras (OLeary and OMeara). The Calypsos first expedition started on November 24, 1951. The mission was to research the Red sea. The Calypso was used to create many of Cousteaus films and documentaries. While researching the Red sea, the Calypsos crew filmed coral reefs, islands, volcanic basins, new plant and animal species, and recorded a new record depth of 16,500 feet. The new films created from the Calypso expedition amazed scientists, naturalists, and most importantly, the National Geographic Society, who agreed to finance one of Cousteaus future expeditions aboard the Calypso (Cullen). While onboard the Calypso, Cousteau created over 70 films and television specials (Cullen). The Calypso was also used as a w ay to document and record pollution and other human caused problems affection the ocean (OLeary and OMeara). At this time, few people were aware of how their pollution was affecting the ocean. Cousteau dedicated a large part of his life to promoting ocean conservation. He knew the importance of the ocean as a source of food, water, and minerals. In 1973 he founded the Cousteau Society. The society was created to teach public the importance of ocean conservation. The mission of the Cousteau Society is to understand, defend, and communicate about the Water Planet, and in doing so, protect the rights of future generations,(Jacques-Yves Cousteau). The Cousteau Society continues its mission, and still teaches ocean conservation today. Jacques Cousteau worked hard and put a lot of effort into raising support for the organization (Cullen). He gave his entire life to speaking out for the ocean, and convinced people around the world to take better care of the ocean. Cousteau achieved this goal through his films, books, and the Cousteau Society (OLeary and OMeara). In an interview for a magazine, Cousteau said, Our way of managing the Earth is wrongà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ the oceans are sic k, but theyre not going to die. There is no death possible in the oceans there will always be life but theyre getting sicker every yearà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ We need to outline what is possible and what is impossible with the nonrenewable resources on Earth, ( ).

A Revolution of the Distressed Essay -- Shining Path Peru Peruvian His

A Revolution of the Distressed   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The world today is faced with many obstacles concerning all the peoples of the world. The issues range from globalization to the state of the environment with every political, economic, and human interest lying in between. It is these human interests that will be brought to light by examining the revolutions of the Incan indigenous beginning in the early part of the twentieth century. Running parallel to their North American neighbors, the native peoples of Peru have lived in seriously impecunious conditions as the result of ethno racial discrimination handed them by their colonial occupiers; Spanish speakers. These revolutions, namely Shining Path, would eventually define the gap between the rich and the poor, the 1st and 3rd worlds, and those peoples struggling with the effects of a traditional world falling into the hands of modernity. Unfortunately Shining Path, the dominant revolutionary organization, would be widely regarded as a terrorist organization as op posed to a liberation movement. This negative attitude toward Shining Path can be directly attributed to their misrepresentation of these native peoples and also to their style of warfare which has made Shining Path the great example of an ideology gone astray; leaving the hopes of its followers and the fate of the Peruvian people in the dust and rubble of its destructive wake. While the constituents of left and right wing political parties would battle each other for both power and affect throughout the first half of the twentieth century, neither end of the ideological spectrum would effectively bring about change in regard to the interests of the native Peruvian peoples. This is due largely in part to the marginalization of left wing parties as a result of their own military weakness and also the outright indifference on the part of conservatives to make serious, or even arbitrary, reforms to early constitutions. The reign of President Augusto B. Leguia came to define the first thirty years of Peruvian politics in the twentieth century. Leguia ruled as a typical right winger; his economic plans overwhelmingly benefited the states oligarchic class, leaving action in the interest of the native Incan populations to a minimum. In fact, treatment of this sector of the population was no more than sub-human in nature. Socially, he made attempts to incorporate i n... ...1992. Degregori, Carlos Ivan â€Å"The Conquest that Failed: The War for the Center-South† Shining and Other Paths: war and society in Peru, 1980-1995. Ed. Steve J. Stern. Duke University, 1998. Gall, Norman â€Å"Peru: The Master is Dead† 1971 Ed. Steve J. Stern. Duke University, 1998. Gorriti, Gustavo. â€Å"Statement of Gustavo Gorriti, Senior Associate, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.† P 19-24 The Shining Path After Guzman: The Threat and the International Response. Congressional Hearing U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington 1992. McClintock, Cynthia â€Å"Prepared Statement of Cynthia McClintock, Professor of Political Science, George Washington University.† P 25-27 The Shining Path After Guzman: The Threat and the International Response. Congressional Hearing. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington 1992. Smith, Michael L. â€Å"Taking the High Ground: Shining Path and the Andes† The Shining Path Of Peru. Ed. David Scott Palmer. St. Martins Press, New York. 1992. Stern, Steve J. Shining and Other Paths: war and society in Peru, 1980-1995. Duke University,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1998. Strong, Simon Shining Path: Terror and Revolution in Peru. Times Books Random House. 1992. A Revolution of the Distressed Essay -- Shining Path Peru Peruvian His A Revolution of the Distressed   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The world today is faced with many obstacles concerning all the peoples of the world. The issues range from globalization to the state of the environment with every political, economic, and human interest lying in between. It is these human interests that will be brought to light by examining the revolutions of the Incan indigenous beginning in the early part of the twentieth century. Running parallel to their North American neighbors, the native peoples of Peru have lived in seriously impecunious conditions as the result of ethno racial discrimination handed them by their colonial occupiers; Spanish speakers. These revolutions, namely Shining Path, would eventually define the gap between the rich and the poor, the 1st and 3rd worlds, and those peoples struggling with the effects of a traditional world falling into the hands of modernity. Unfortunately Shining Path, the dominant revolutionary organization, would be widely regarded as a terrorist organization as op posed to a liberation movement. This negative attitude toward Shining Path can be directly attributed to their misrepresentation of these native peoples and also to their style of warfare which has made Shining Path the great example of an ideology gone astray; leaving the hopes of its followers and the fate of the Peruvian people in the dust and rubble of its destructive wake. While the constituents of left and right wing political parties would battle each other for both power and affect throughout the first half of the twentieth century, neither end of the ideological spectrum would effectively bring about change in regard to the interests of the native Peruvian peoples. This is due largely in part to the marginalization of left wing parties as a result of their own military weakness and also the outright indifference on the part of conservatives to make serious, or even arbitrary, reforms to early constitutions. The reign of President Augusto B. Leguia came to define the first thirty years of Peruvian politics in the twentieth century. Leguia ruled as a typical right winger; his economic plans overwhelmingly benefited the states oligarchic class, leaving action in the interest of the native Incan populations to a minimum. In fact, treatment of this sector of the population was no more than sub-human in nature. Socially, he made attempts to incorporate i n... ...1992. Degregori, Carlos Ivan â€Å"The Conquest that Failed: The War for the Center-South† Shining and Other Paths: war and society in Peru, 1980-1995. Ed. Steve J. Stern. Duke University, 1998. Gall, Norman â€Å"Peru: The Master is Dead† 1971 Ed. Steve J. Stern. Duke University, 1998. Gorriti, Gustavo. â€Å"Statement of Gustavo Gorriti, Senior Associate, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.† P 19-24 The Shining Path After Guzman: The Threat and the International Response. Congressional Hearing U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington 1992. McClintock, Cynthia â€Å"Prepared Statement of Cynthia McClintock, Professor of Political Science, George Washington University.† P 25-27 The Shining Path After Guzman: The Threat and the International Response. Congressional Hearing. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington 1992. Smith, Michael L. â€Å"Taking the High Ground: Shining Path and the Andes† The Shining Path Of Peru. Ed. David Scott Palmer. St. Martins Press, New York. 1992. Stern, Steve J. Shining and Other Paths: war and society in Peru, 1980-1995. Duke University,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1998. Strong, Simon Shining Path: Terror and Revolution in Peru. Times Books Random House. 1992.

Essay --

â€Å"Awaking on Friday morning, 20 June 1913, the South African Native found himself, not actually a slave, but a pariah in the land of his birth† (Gish 18). Desmond Tutu is one of the greatest rabble-rousers for peace that there ever was. He maintains huge political and religious influences even to this day. Most people in South Africa and many more countries hear his voice. His impact on fixing the apartheid system in South Africa was a major one. This apartheid system was very segregated towards whites and blacks in South Africa. Blacks were being forced to move to so-called â€Å"homelands.† The blacks had very little land to live with such many people. These people were being oppressed only because they had a different skin color then white people. Despite growing up in the poverty of South Arica, Desmond Tutu used his religious and political influences to help black South Africans that were being segregated by the government of South Africa. Born is Klerksdorp, Transvaal, South Africa, Desmond Tutu was born under the name Desmond Mpilo Tutu. He attended multiple schools throughout his life, including Johannesburg Bantu High School. Tutu’s father was a schoolteacher while his mother was a domestic worker. Nowadays, Tutu rarely discusses his ethnic roots. While Tutu was in his early years, the government passed the Natives Land Act. Less than eight percent of the country was dedicated as â€Å"reserves† for blacks. The black peoples only had this land to live off of. On top of this, Desmond caught polio as a young kid. Polio is a very deadly disease, so hid life hung by a thread. Luckily, he survived but with long-lasting effects. To this day, his hands still shake due to having polio as a kid. â€Å"Life was actually quite full. It was fun†¦al... ... and degrees in his lifetime, and the Nobel Peace Prize was one of them. This among many other medals shows his influence on the world. Desmond Tutu grew up in the poverty communities of South Africa. He overcame this to become on of the most influential man through both religion and politics. He can make his voice louder than many others, and he can voice his opinions throughout the world. He holds a major role in the religious community, having been archbishop in many places. Many strong and powerful government officials believe what Tutu has to say, and they voice his opinion through politics. Desmond Tutu is still alive today. He still strives to help the world become a better place. He was a major key in fixing the South African apartheid system. Maybe even without him, that system would still be present today. Desmond Tutu is a very influential and great man.

Essay --

In Philip Larkin’s poem â€Å"High Windows† the speaker displays mixed emotions towards the invention of modern birth control and its integration into society during the 60’s. Larkin composed poems during a period of political turmoil and instability and expresses a desire to escape the apparent chaos; he describes both the sexual and religious freedoms of the time. Nevertheless, â€Å"High Windows†, presents a small background of sexuality and culture that is about social change. Yet, during this time period using birth control was looked down upon by the previous conservative generations because the kids were rejecting the previous generations’ morals. In addition, opponents of the birth control pill were concerned that because many were using birth control, it would be used as an excuse to engage in premarital relationships. However, birth control â€Å"Pill† was an innovative invention that brought about a positive cultural change to soc iety because it allows couples to plan for wanted children, establish relationships, financial stability, and women to pursue professional lives with more freedom. In the time period that Larkin wrote â€Å"High Windows†, there were intense changes in matters referring to sex and birth control methods. Sexual practices that were previously considered inappropriate for discussion were openly discussed. New methods of contraception allowed men and women to be able to control their own reproduction. Larkin captures this sense of a new age of sexual freedom in his poem, â€Å"High Windows†. Larkin expresses the desire to escape a constantly changing world due to sexual freedom in order to achieve some type of fulfilling personal relationship. â€Å"Larkin was a life-long bachelor; he had several sexual relationships, but was n... ...Marks). Therefore, the key development of the pill is the freedom of choice one has. â€Å"It frees the woman from the burden of involuntary childbearing that has traditionally made her a poor risk to employers and assigned her a secondary role in society. Now, three out of five working women were married† (Marks). Nonetheless, birth control allows couples to plan for the conception of children and take charge of their life. Birth control has brought about a positive cultural change to society. Women were now able to consider having careers and attending college, rather than worrying about raising a family. The past decade has witnessed significant changes in the culture of society due to the introduction of the birth control movement. The â€Å"Sexual Revolution† of the United States is believed to be part of the aftermath of the widespread use of the birth control pill.

Meaning of Justice in Islam Essay

Meaning of justice in islam In the Islamic worldview, justice denotes placing things in their rightful place. It also means giving others equal treatment. In Islam, justice is also a moral virtue and an attribute of human personality, as it is in the Western tradition. Justice is close to equality in the sense that it creates a state of equilibrium in the distribution of rights and duties, but they are not identical. Sometimes, justice is achieved through inequality, like in unequal distribution of wealth. The Prophet of Islam declared: â€Å"There are seven categories of people whom God will shelter under His shade on the Day when there will be no shade except His. [One is] the just leader. †(Saheeh Muslim) God spoke to His Messenger in this manner: â€Å"O My slaves, I have forbidden injustice for Myself and forbade it also for you. So avoid being unjust to one another. † (Saheeh Muslim) Thus, justice represents moral rectitude and fairness, since it means things should be where they belong. The importance of justice The Quran, the sacred scripture of Islam, considers justice to be a supreme virtue. It is a basic objective of Islam to the degree that it stands next in order of priority to belief in God’s exclusive right to worship (Tawheed) and the truth of Muhammad’s prophethood. God declares in the Quran: â€Å"God commands justice and fair dealing†¦ † (Quran 16:90) And in another passage: â€Å"O you who believe, be upright for God, and (be) bearers of witness with justice!†¦ † (Quran 5:8) Therefore, one may conclude that justice is an obligation of Islam and injustice is forbidden. The centrality of justice to the Quranic value system is displayed by the following verse: â€Å"We sent Our Messengers with clear signs and sent down with them the Book and the Measure in order to establish justice among the people†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Quran 57:25) The phrase ‘Our Messengers’ shows that justice has been the goal of all revelation and scriptures sent to humanity. The verse also shows that justice must be measured and implemented by the standards and guidelines set by revelation. Islam’s approach to justice is comprehensive and all-embracing. Any path that leads to justice is deemed to be in harmony with Islamic Law. God has demanded justice and, although He has not prescribed a specific route, has provided general guidelines, on how to achieve it. He has neither prescribed a fixed means by which it can be obtained, nor has He declared invalid any particular means or methods that can lead to justice. Therefore, all means, procedures, and methods that facilitate, refine, and advance the cause of justice, and do not violate the Islamic Law are valid. Equality in justice The Quranic standards of justice transcend considerations of race, religion, color, and creed, as Muslims are commanded to be just to their friends and foes alike, and to be just at all levels, as the Quran puts it: â€Å"O you who believe! Stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allah, even if it be against yourselves, your parents, and your relatives, or whether it is against the rich or the poor†¦ † (Quran 4:135) According to another Quranic passage: â€Å"Let not the hatred of a people swerve you away from justice. Be just, for this is closest to righteousness†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Quran 5:8) With regards to relations with non-Muslims, the Quran further states: â€Å"God does not forbid you from doing good and being just to those who have neither fought you over your faith nor evicted you from your homes†¦ † (Quran 60:8) The scholars of the Quran have concluded that these rulings apply to all nations, followers of all faiths, as a matter of fact to all humanity. In the view of the Quran, justice is an obligation. That is why the Prophet was told: â€Å"†¦If you judge, judge between them with justice†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Quran 5:42) â€Å"We have revealed to you the scripture with the truth that you may judge between people by what God has taught you. † (Quran 4:105) Furthermore, the Prophet was sent as a judge between peoples, and told: â€Å"†¦Say: I believe in the Scripture, which God has sent down, and I am commanded to judge justly between you†¦ † (Quran 42:15) The Quran views itself as a scripture devoted mainly to laying down the principles of faith and justice. The Quran demands that justice be met for all, and that it is an inherent right of all human beings under Islamic Law. The timeless commitment of the Quran to the basic standards of justice is found in its declaration: â€Å"And the Word of your Lord has been fulfilled in truth and in justice. None can change His Words. † (Quran 6:115) To render justice is a trust that God has conferred on the human being and, like all other trusts, its fulfillment must be guided by a sense of responsibility beyond mere conformity to set rules. Thus, the Quran states: â€Å"God commands you to render trusts to whom they are due, and when you judge between people, judge with justice†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Quran 4:58) The reference to justice which immediately follows a reference to fulfillment of trusts indicates that it is one of the most important of all trusts. Justice and the Self The Quranic concept of justice also extends justice to being a personal virtue, and one of the standards of moral excellence that a believer is encouraged to attain as part of his God-consciousness.