Environmental Problems and Role of International, European Community, Essay

Environmental Problems and Role of International, European Community, and Domestic Laws for Environment Protection - Essay Example The paper tells that today, it is an era of various environmental issues that have emerged in our society because of the technological advancement, man has made for ease and comfort. There are numerous environmental problems, which have become a part of our world today causing other hazardous situation for the people living in the society. Environmental laws have been proposed by the concerned authorities to address the problem in most efficient manner. Problems relate to environment are not only confined to local regions, but this problem has reached up to global level adding complexities in daily routine of people and imposing further health related issues at other side. Environmentalists and experts from all over the world have considered it an important issue that could create more problems for all living organisms. They have suggested various suitable methods and strategic tools to deal with the problems of environment without increasing risk factors for any other problem. Conce rned professionals have made environmental laws, comprise of crucial interlocking figures in the form of treaties, rules, conventions, and other statutes that organized and maintain a bond between people and the natural atmosphere, where they live. All environmental issues have resulted from human activities and inventions. At one side, there are several problems related to environment, but the core issue is termed as pollution, an undesirable and intolerable situation around living environment, which gives birth to various other problems in the society by polluting air, water, and land. 1. Apart, from pollution other environmental issues involve the challenges of saving plants, animals and countless natural resources along with specific areas of human life from hazardous influences of those conditions that are responsible for destroying and eroding living and non-living both components of the world2. Other than human activities, climate change in the form of global warming is anoth er major factor that contributes to cause many environmental changes in an inverse direction. But, the changes in earth`s climate is also a result of human inventions and use of technology, made to create fastest production of goods, communication and travelling. For instance, burning of fossil fuels, woods, and elimination of greenhouse gases from industries are influencing our environment dangerously3. The elimination of these toxic gases in the air is polluting our surroundings and making it difficult for every living organism to breathe in fresh air from the environment containing mixtures of many gases, which are dangerous for human`s skin, brain and heart4. Maintaining life of animals and plants and other precious creatures of the world is another vital concern of environmental problem. It is mainly because changes in earth`s temperature and polluting of air present in the atmosphere are not the only matters related to environmental issues, but the forests and marine life is a lso suffering equally5. Researchers have found that global warming is resulting in increasing sea level and its temperature as well, which cause death to many tiny marine animals and plants present on the upper surface of the sea level. In addition, man is consuming trees and plants to burn wood and manufacture required products along with the preparation of other goods as well such as, rubber, glue, medicines, food, and many more6. In this way, methods of deforestation are contributing to remove those natural sources that purify our environment by

Deliberate vs. Emergent Strategy in Marketplace Essay

Deliberate vs. Emergent Strategy in Marketplace - Essay Example The study performed a systematic analysis of the competitors and the performance of the market and the strengths of the organizations to overcome these challenges. However, the group experienced low demand, and we decided to operate within the initial plan and make changes whenever possible. We opted for an ideological strategy. We realized strategies cannot necessarily be deliberate (Mintzberg and Waters, 1985). The ideological approach enabled us to predict our market with enough accuracy to pursue our intended strategy (Mintzberg and Waters, 1985). Thus, the plan offered us a clear business purpose and an opportunity to incorporate desirable actions when the deliberate action did not yield the intended results. Operating within the initial plan enabled a clear communication between the actors. Each actor understood his or her role very well. The decision to incorporate other actions was out of the realization that the market can be unstable sometimes. The organization had to tolerate the low demand while strategies to counter it were formulated. The tolerance to challenges emanated from analysis of the past demand patterns and thus the low demand did not come as a surprise (Mintzberg and Waters, 1985). Additionally, the learning from the market and previous analysis also enabled us to develop corrective actions that developed in strange ways. The corrective measures were implemented in quantum leaps and orientation that allowed the organization to regain its feet (Mintzberg, 1987). These measures enabled the group to stay on track and within its business objectives. In conclusion, emergent strategy acts best as a compliment of the deliberate strategy as witnessed in our

Segmented Marketing and Branding Big Mac Research Paper

Segmented Marketing and Branding Big Mac - Research Paper Example This paper focuses upon Big Mac, a hamburger which was introduced by McDonald’s in Pennsylvania in the year 1967 with a selling price of 45 cents. It was promulgated on a national scale in 1968. The burger was created to contend with Big Boy sandwich, a similar type of item with a bread slice in between with the purpose of holding together the stuffing and averting spill out. Over the years, it has become a signature product of the company with an exceptional brand name. It consists of two layers of beef patties merged with molten cheese and mouth watering sauce along with an onion and munch of pickle, served together in a delicious three division sesame seed bun. Iceberg Lettuce is also a core ingredient of the burger. The Big Mac is popular all over the world and is often regarded as an icon of American capitalism. In fact, the Big Mac Index is used as an indicative factor for contrasting the cost of living in countries around the world since its availability is common. This index is also considered to be Burgernomics. There exist several branding theories which identify brand as a unique feature of value proposition of a company. A branding promotion initiates with the development of a value proposition and relies on inspired apparatus along with a combination of consistency, continuity and commitment. The brand of Big Mac, ever since its establishment, has not looked back. It has been able to build its reputation not only in the United States but across 119 countries in the world. The brand of Big Mac is not just a name or a symbol. It has become a vital component of the relationship which McDonald’s has established with its consumers. For the consumers of McDonald’s in general, Big Mac, as a brand, has set its place in the hearts and minds of the consumers. For any brand, its real value exists in its ability and power to retain customer’s brand loyalty by influencing their preferences. The brand strategy of Big Mac has been so s uccessful that it has been thriving in the market as the leading hamburger choice for quite sometime. Being a powerful brand in its own domain, the brand equity of Big Mac is significant. It has been able to develop a positive differential effect upon its consumers and consequently, create a value for itself among people in different continents. McDonald’s have always made use of Big Mac’s classical taste and enriched quality in setting up its Brand Positioning. In this manner, the company has been able to devise such a competitive combination attributes, benefits, beliefs and values for the brand Big Mac that they have been able to develop the image of it in the minds of their consumers in the manner in which they wanted. Likewise, another core brand strategy

Deliberate vs. Emergent Strategy in Marketplace Essay

Deliberate vs. Emergent Strategy in Marketplace - Essay Example The study performed a systematic analysis of the competitors and the performance of the market and the strengths of the organizations to overcome these challenges. However, the group experienced low demand, and we decided to operate within the initial plan and make changes whenever possible. We opted for an ideological strategy. We realized strategies cannot necessarily be deliberate (Mintzberg and Waters, 1985). The ideological approach enabled us to predict our market with enough accuracy to pursue our intended strategy (Mintzberg and Waters, 1985). Thus, the plan offered us a clear business purpose and an opportunity to incorporate desirable actions when the deliberate action did not yield the intended results. Operating within the initial plan enabled a clear communication between the actors. Each actor understood his or her role very well. The decision to incorporate other actions was out of the realization that the market can be unstable sometimes. The organization had to tolerate the low demand while strategies to counter it were formulated. The tolerance to challenges emanated from analysis of the past demand patterns and thus the low demand did not come as a surprise (Mintzberg and Waters, 1985). Additionally, the learning from the market and previous analysis also enabled us to develop corrective actions that developed in strange ways. The corrective measures were implemented in quantum leaps and orientation that allowed the organization to regain its feet (Mintzberg, 1987). These measures enabled the group to stay on track and within its business objectives. In conclusion, emergent strategy acts best as a compliment of the deliberate strategy as witnessed in our

Telecommuting Essay Example for Free

Telecommuting Essay Telecommuting or telework allows employees of a company to work from home or any other remote location other than an office. Telecommuting requires employees to be able to access all of the computer applications they have available to them at work in order to perform their jobs adequately. The company should provide Internet access to employees at their homes and make sure they have the appropriate equipment to run and access company provided software. While some experts argue telecommuting is more cost-efficient, may increase productivity and create a better work/life balance, others say the cost of decreased face time co-workers, effect it has on workers left at the office, and its failure to live up to some of its expectations could make it a less attractive option. By implementing telecommuting, a company has the possibility to save significantly. Because of telework, employees will be able to work from remote locations and will not have a need to come into the office. This will eliminate the need for a physical location for most employees, which will result in a large savings per month. Each employee can use their computer at home or be provided one by the company. By implementing telecommuting, it would prevent the need to expand physical locations in the future. Savings would also increase based on the lack of utility bills associated with the physical location, cancelling T1 lines, and landline phones. Each employee can communicate with each other and customers via their company cell phone, which usually is already provided to them or their home landline phone if they wish. The company will then be responsible for their Internet connection in the form of a reimbursement. The figure above outlines the total costs of each arrangement. It is clear that telecommuting has the potential to save a company more money almost immediately after implementation. This is true only if every person in the company telecommutes. As some companies telecommuting policies say, the employee who telecommutes must report to a centralized workplace for a portion of time each week. If this is true, telecommuting is not as cost efficient as it seems. Transportation costs are also drastically reduced for employees. Because they would no longer need to commute to the office everyday, costs associated with a daily commute would be drastically reduced. This would also save money for the company. The federal government offers tax incentives to companies who make efforts to reduce their carbon footprint. By implementing telecommuting, any company would be eligible for the tax incentives the very next year. In a study conducted at the Kentucky American Water Company, performed from 1998-2003, it was concluded that a significant savings could be made per employee (Butler, Aasheim, Williams, 2007). The article points out that for the Kentucky American Water Company, â€Å"savings include reduced expenses for office space and parking, and a reduction in complaints handled by the managers. † In a chart produced in the study, it compares the costs and savings of implementing the telecommuting process in the call center portion of the company. Their conclusion, on average, was telecommuting will save KAWC $1,361 per employee (p. 102). Research has shown that telework is related to higher job satisfaction and a variety of positive employee outcomes,† writes Karen Fonner for the Journal for Applied Communication Research (Fonner Roloff, 2010, p. 340). Telework helps employees manage their personal and work lives more effectively than working in an office setting. By releasing employees from the constraints of a physical office, they are empowered to create their own schedules to accomplish work more effectively. This empowerment enables employees to take ownership of their position and will otivate them to perform to the best of their abilities. With the ability of employees to create their own schedules around the clock, it will benefit companies by allowing the employee to have a flexible schedule to adapt to the demanding schedules of business in the new millennium. Another benefit of telecommuting is less absenteeism at work. If an employee has a doctor’s appointment, they can set their work schedule around the appointment and include it in their schedule around both personal and work appointments. If they were to report to a physical location and be forced to be stationary for a set amount of time in an office, the employee would be inclined to take the entire day off for the doctor’s appointment. With the flexibility of telework, the employee would not be inclined to call off and would still be able to work before and after the appointment. The same is true for employees who require creativity breaks in between sessions of working. The flexibility of telework enables more frequent breaks so that employees can use the time set aside for work to be most efficient. Telecommuting also takes employees out of the stressors of the office. Office politics plays a huge role in stress at work and is a huge distraction for employees. â€Å"By working remotely the majority of the time, teleworkers can avoid or ignore some of the unjust practices within the organization, such as cronyism, self-interested behavior, and pressure against speaking out against those in power,† writes Fonner (Fonner, 2010, p. 361). Without the politicking at work, employees who work from home can use their downtime for more productive personal task that don’t induce more stress on their job. In a survey conducted at the telcom company Ericsson in July of 2006, respondents were asked a series of questions related to telecommuting. Employees who were not currently telecommuting were asked what important factors would persuade them to telecommute in the future (Borjesson Markus, 2006, p. 526). The most rated saving time as the most influential reason to adapt telecommunication with increasing efficiency, reducing stress, and having more independence in their daily life as the top four reasons (Borjesson Markus, 2006). Ironically, reducing traveling costs had the smallest amount of supporters. Employees at Ericsson put more emphasis on empowerment as their main reason to choose telecommuting over monetary reasons. Plus, its an important tool for attracting a younger generation of employees who expect that flexibility and greater sense of control over their lives, says Danette Campbell, senior adviser for telework with the U. S. Patent and Trademark Office in Washington when speaking about telework in the article â€Å"Washington Tapping Into Telework For More Flexibility† (Silver, 2010, p. 0). Adding telecommuting as a workplace option will make any company a more attractive employer. The Kentucky American Water Company study proved telecommuters are more productive workers than their on-site employees (Butler, Aasheim, Williams, 2007, p. 101). The study measured productivity based on four factors, â€Å"amount of work; intensity of work; efficiency of work; and adjustments for additional costs associated with telecommuting (such as expenses for equipment, technology support, training, managerial support, and so forth)† (2007, p. 101). The study found, â€Å"the average productivity of telecommuters in the 13 months immediately after the â€Å"go live† period increased by 154%, while the average productivity of in-office agents fell by 13. 3%. Because overall customer service improved considerably (the percentage of abandoned calls decreased from 12. 2% to 3. 6%)† (p. 102). Understanding that all jobs at the KAWC call center can be performed using telecommunication, parallels can still be drawn from call center work and the type of work performed by most companies. The majority of daily work performed by most employees consists of communicating with clients and co-workers. All communication in most jobs does not rely on an employee being in a centralized workspace. By allowing employees to telecommute, they will be free to meet with customers and clients during any time of the day, thus allowing them to be more productive and available to them. Many clients and customers have problems meeting during a normal â€Å"9-to-5† workday because they are also at work. By implementing telecommuting, employees will be free to meet with them in the evening when they usually wouldn’t be at â€Å"work† if they worked in a centralized location or during business hours if they need to. Telecommuting also requires the use of technology to perform work from remote locations. â€Å"People who use more IT in their work are more productive, and by its very nature telecommuting requires more use of IT,† writes Ralph Westfall in his article â€Å"Does Telecommuting Really Improve Productivity? † (Westfall, 2004, p. 95). By implementing telecommuting at a company, they will be forced to update their technology and train people to use the new technology effectively. In doing this, employees will be forced to become more productive based on their new knowledge and the use of new technology. An argument against telecommuting is the lack of human interaction involved with the â€Å"Employees who worked away from their offices for three or more days a week reported worsening of their relationships with coworkers,† stated Pam Willenz for the American Psychological Association (Willenz, 2007). Employees may seem disenfranchised from their co-workers who report to an office, which has detrimental effects on employee morale to all employees. Telecommuting also could have detrimental effects on promotions for employees. The idea behind â€Å"out of sight, out of mind† plays a large role in the fear that employees who telecommute have less likely of a chance to get promoted from their current position because of their lack of face time with superiors. The lack of office politicking could be a double-edged sword where employees don’t have the chance to mingle with co-workers that could potentially advance their careers. Telecommuting had negative effects on the employees that are â€Å"left behind† in a centralized workplace. In-office employees took less satisfaction in their jobs and felt less of a relationship and obligation to their company as the number of telecommuting coworkers grew,† in a study that David Chartier reported in the article, â€Å"Study: Telecommuting makes work worse for non-telecommuters† (Chartier, 2009). Many of the workers that are left behind perceived that more work was left for them and are forced into other difficulties posed by telecommuting such as, building strong working relationships and finishing group work. Telecommuting is not appropriate for every job. There are still many jobs that cannot be performed through telecommuting. Contemporary Business states, â€Å"the cubicle- filled office will likely never become obsolete† (Boone, p. 22). Many jobs will never be able to completely translate over to a telecommuting environment so many workers will still have to report to a centralized workplace. Many face-to-face customer service jobs cannot be performed via telecommuting and many workers will still have to report to work therefore telecommuting is not an alternative to every job. Since telecommuting is so new, many employers are still experimenting with it and require that the employees who telecommute have to report to the office at least one day a week. Telecommuting is difficult to implement in situations where workers are paid on an hourly basis. The old adage, â€Å"Time worked equals time paid,† does not necessarily translate into the telecommuting environment very well. In hourly positions that can be transferred to telecommuting settings, clocking in and clocking out will be at the discretion of the worker with no oversight available. Employees who are compensated on an hourly basis would have to change their pay scale to a salaried position in order for telecommuting to be fair (Boone, 2010). If that is not the case, truant workers would be enabled by the lack of supervision and can â€Å"run the clock† more easily than if they reported to a centralized workspace (Boone, 2010). Telecommuting also puts company assets and information in an uncontrolled environment where it is difficult to keep track of how and for what they are used. It raises some questions where company information and assets could be compromised in a telecommuting situation. Many employees would easily be put in a situation where they could steal or copy customer information and use it outside of their work (Boone, 2010). Telecommuting is cost effective depending on how it is implemented and can save a company a lot of money only if every employee telecommutes in order to alleviate the need for a centralized workplace. Research supports these benefits of implementing telecommuting saying it will alleviate many stressors on employees by reducing time spent getting ready for work, commuting to an office on a daily basis, and office politics. There are negatives aspects, however, to telecommuting. It cannot be implemented for every job and there will still be a need for a centralized workspace so it may not be as profitable as expected. Telecommuting also puts company property and information inside someone else’s home. Truant workers are enabled to â€Å"run the clock† in a telecommuting setting since there is no oversight on when they are actually working. Telecommuting does have its strengths, but it also has weaknesses. The future will open up doors for telecommuting as technology improves and our culture becomes more technologically savvy. For now, telecommuting in most situations is a hybrid of some workdays reporting to work and others worked from home.

Eating Behaviour and Perceptions of Body Image in School

Eating Behaviour and Perceptions of Body Image in School Eating behavior and perception of body image in school children Background Body dissatisfaction, which is defined as the discrepancy between perceived and ideal body image, can start during childhood (Smolak 2004) and can lead to eating and weight problems in adolescence (Stice 2002; McKnight 2003). Specifically, Stice 2002 reported that when an adolescent presents with body dissatisfaction the probability of engaging to dieting and eating habits that are precursors of eating disorders was increased. Besides that body dissatisfaction was linked to bulimia (Stice 2002). Moreover, McKnight 2003 suggested that school children who presented with thinner preoccupation were in greater risk of developing an eating disorder (McKnight 2003). In addition, body dissatisfaction has been associated with obesity, since obesity is an eating disorder risk factor (Fairburn, Welch et al. 1997; Mustillo, Worthman et al. 2003) and body image is a moderator of the risk of developing eating disorders (Dounchis, Hayden et al. 2001). Except from body dissatisfaction, eating proble ms in early childhood can lead to eating disorders in adolescence and early adulthood (Kotler, Cohen et al. 2001). A number of studies have focused on the relationship between eating styles that precede the development of eating disorders, and the perception of body image in various age groups like school children, adolescents and university students and have reported that individuals with high EAT and ChEAT scores were more likely to choose a thinner ideal body image and consequently had body dissatisfaction (Edlund, Halvarsson et al. 1996; Nishizawa, Kida et al. 2003; Gonà §alves, Silva et al. 2012; del Mar Bibiloni, Pich et al. 2013; Kutlu and Civi 2013). In more detail, Kutlu and Civi (2013) investigated the association between symptoms of eating disorders and body perception by using the Eating Attitude Test (EAT-40) in university students and found that individuals who perceived themselves obese reported higher scores in the EAT-40 and thus demonstrated a relation between eating disorders and body image perception. Similar results were presented in a study that investigated the association between self-physique and symptoms of anorexia nevrosa in high school individuals in Japan and showed that students with an eating disorder often chose the thinnest ideal body image when compared to the students who did not have an eating disorder (Nishizawa, Kida et al. 2003). Additionally, Edlund et al. 1996 investigated the relation between the ChEAT, DEBQ questionnaires and body image in school girls and observed that girls with high ChEAT scores were more likely to diet and engage to restrained eating and these girls had a higher discrepancy between ideal and perceived body image. Other studies have focused on eating behaviors like restrained and emotional eating and the relation with perception of body image (Kapka-Skrzypczak 2012; Wiedemann and Saules 2013; Ohara, Kato et al. 2014). Ohara et al. 2014 investigated the association between eating behavior, by using the DEBQ questionnaire, and discrepancy of body image in Japanese university students and suggested that restrained eating was negatively associated with body dissatisfaction in both males and females. In addition, university female students with emotional eating had higher levels of discrepancy of body image. This pattern was not observed in males (Ohara, Kato et al. 2014). Wiedemann and Saules (2013) suggested that the positive association between emotional eating and weight problem perception, another term for body image perception, could be explained by the fact that individuals that perceive themselves as overweight engage to emotional eating because they experience strong emotions like anger, d epression or anxiety more often than individuals who are satisfied with their body image. Kapka-Skrzypczak (2012) studied the relationship between dietary habits in adolescents and young adults and reported that students that weren’t on a diet were more satisfied with their body image as compared to students that tried to lose weight. Another important fact that arises from the existing literature is that the majority of studies are cross-sectional and examine the association between eating disorders symptoms or eating behavior and body dissatisfaction in a specific point in time. This results in a lack of longitudinal data studying the exact pathway that connects eating behavior and the discrepancy between perceived and ideal body image. Moreover, most of the studies that were found during the literature search included adolescents and university students and only two studies investigated this relationship in school children (Edlund, Halvarsson et al. 1996; Gonà §alves, Silva et al. 2012). Therefore, the objective of this study is to explore the association between eating behavior of school children (9 year old), reported by mothers, and the discrepancy of body image. For this purpose data from the Generation R study will be used. Additionally, eating behavior will be assessed by the Children’s Eating Beh aviour Questionnaire (CEBQ) and the perception of body image by the Children’s Body Image Scale (CBIS). In conclusion, future studies should focus on younger ages, between 4-9 years old, because currently it is not known whether the association that is demonstrated by the aforementioned studies for adolescents and university students is present at this age group too. Furthermore, longitudinal studies investigating whether eating behavior of preschool children is a predictor of the perception of body image are needed and besides the individual and parental factors, sociocultural factors should be taken into consideration. Generation R Generation R is a population-based prospective cohort study from fetal life to young adulthood (Jaddoe, van Duijn et al. 2012). This study aims to investigate the causes (environmental and genetic) and the pathway that contribute to a normal or abnormal growth and consequently the state of health throughout fetal life, childhood and adulthood. In Generation R there are certain areas of research interest: maternal health, growth and physical development, behavioral and cognitive development, respiratory health and allergies, diseases in childhood, and health and healthcare for children and their parents. Generation R invited all pregnant women living in Rotterdam and were expected to deliver between April 2002 and January 2006. Furthermore, follow-up studies included children born by mothers that participated in the study. Participants had to sign a written informed consent in order to be able to participate in the study. Physical examinations and questionnaires were included in the a ssessments, where the majority (86%) of the questionnaires were filled out by parents. Generation R has been approved by the Medical Ethical Committee of the Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam. More information and details of Generation R can be found elsewhere (Jaddoe, van Duijn et al. 2012). Children’s Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (CEBQ) The CEBQ was developed in order to assess the eating behavior of children and study which eating styles lead to obesity and overweight (Wardle, Guthrie et al. 2001). Children’s eating behavior is reported by parents and consists of 8 eating behavior items: food responsiveness, enjoyment of food, emotional overeating, desire to drink, satiety responsiveness, emotional undereating and fussiness. In order to measure these items a 5-point Likert scale is used and ranges from 1 to 5, where 1 denoted â€Å"never† and 5 â€Å"always† (Wardle, Guthrie et al. 2001). Children’s Body Image Scale (CBIS) The CBIS is an instrument that is used to assess the perception of body size in children (Truby and Paxton 2002). CBIS consists of 7 figures which have different versions for males and females. These 7 figures range from the thinnest body shape to the fattest (3rd to 97th NCHS percentiles) (Truby and Paxton 2002). Usually, children have to choose between these 7 figures the one that represents the perceived and the one that denotes the ideal body image. Covariates Child BMI, gender, ethnicity, maternal BMI and education will be included in the regression analysis as potential confounding variables (Gonà §alves, Silva et al. 2012; Baillie and Copeland 2013; Bergmeier, Skouteris et al. 2014; Sukariyah and Sidani 2014). It has been demonstrated that female high school students had higher scores on emotional eating and binge eating than males (Sukariyah and Sidani 2014). Additionally, Baile and Copeland (2013) observed that women had higher score on the Body Shape Questionnaire. An different pattern was reported in Goncalves et al. (2012), where boys who were not satisfied with their body image had higher score in the ChEAT questionnaire, a pattern that was not seen in girls who participated in the same study. Moreover, another study in Korean adolescents found that males had higher percentage of body image distortion and thus were in greater risk of developing an eating disorder than females (Hyun, Jung et al. 2014). BMI has been associated with body image dissatisfaction, since individuals with a higher BMI are more likely to be dissatisfied with their body image and engage to restrained eating (Jones and Crawford 2005; OHaver, Melnyk et al. 2009; Gonà §alves, Silva et al. 2012). Furthermore, differences in the magnitude of body image dissatisfaction concerning ethnicity have been suggested by some studies (Gluck and Geliebter 2002; Baillie and Copeland 2013). Glunk and Geliebter (2002) reported that Caucasians and Asians had a higher discrepancy of body image than African Americans and Caucasians scored higher on the eating disorder questionnaire than Asians and African Americans. Baillie and Copeland (2013) observed that Caucasians had a greater body dissatisfaction with their body image than Chinese but no differences were found concerning the scores on the eating disorder questionnaire (EAT-26). Lastly, maternal BMI and education have been associated with food fussiness in children (Bergmeier, Skouteris et al. 2014). Besides that, Goncalves et al. (2012) found that higher maternal BMI was associated with higher scores on the ChEAT questionnaire. Research question(s) Is there an association between eating behavior and the discrepancy between perceived and ideal body image? In case an association is present, which items from the CEBQ questionnaire are related with the discrepancy between perceived and ideal body image? Hypothesis This study will not be based on a specific hypothesis. Instead an exploration of the association between eating behavior and discrepancy of body image will be conducted in 9 year old children from the Generation R study. Methods Subjects In this study data were collected from both mothers and their children. Firstly, mothers provided information on their child’s eating behavior by filling out the CEBQ questionnaire, when their children were at the age of 9. Secondly, children at the age of 9 filled out the CBIS for the assessment of the perception of body image. In total data from approximately 4000 children are available at this point. Statistical Analysis CBIS provides ordinal data but usually it is treated as interval data (Collins 1991). From the CBIS questionnaire the variable discrepancy of body image will be created. Discrepancy of body image is defined as the difference of perceived-ideal body image. Plots to check whether the variables of interest are normally distributed will be done. Descriptive statistics will be performed for eating behavior items and body image (ideal, perceived and discrepancy of perceived-ideal) (mean scores and standard deviations). For this purpose statistical tests, parametric (ANOVA, χ2) and non-parametric tests for not normally distributed data will be done. Check correlation between confounding variables, eating behavior and body perception. Multiple linear regression will be performed where eating behavior (in the form of CEBQ scores) will be the outcome variable and discrepancy of body perception will be the independent/explanatory variable. Sensitivity analysis will be performed for the participants that didn’t have any missing values, in order to check whether individuals with missing data are different from individuals without missing data. Multiple imputation techniques will be used in order to check for missing data and avoid bias. Statistics SPSS 21 Period of thesis/internship 1 April 2015 – 31 August 2015 Investigation scheme: 1-24/04: Conducting literature search and writing research proposal 27/04-01/05: First acquaintance with dataset 04-08/05: Preparation of data analysis 11/05-05/06: Statistical Analysis and writing part of the report 08-12/06: Interpretation of results for the data analysis 15/06-22/07: Writing report 23/07-09/08 Holidays 10-17/08: Correcting and improving manuscript 18-21/08: Outline and submit report 24-31/08: Preparation of presentation and presentation References Baillie, L. E. and A. L. Copeland (2013). Disordered eating and body image in Chinese and Caucasian students in the United States. Eating Behaviors 14(3): 314-319. Bergmeier, H., H. Skouteris, et al. (2014). Child temperament and maternal predictors of preschool children’s eating and body mass index. A prospective study. Appetite 74(0): 125-132. Collins, M. E. (1991). 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Gonà §alves, S., M. Silva, et al. (2012). Disordered eating among preadolescent boys and girls: the relationship with child and maternal variables. Nutrients 4(4): 273-285. Hyun, M.-Y., Y.-E. Jung, et al. (2014). Factors associated with body image distortion in Korean adolescents. Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment 10: 797. Jaddoe, V. W. V., C. M. van Duijn, et al. (2012). The Generation R Study: design and cohort update 2012. European journal of epidemiology 27(9): 739-756. Jones, D. C. and J. K. Crawford (2005). Adolescent boys and body image: Weight and muscularity concerns as dual pathways to body dissatisfaction. Journal of Youth and Adolescence 34(6): 629-636. Kapka-Skrzypczak, L. (2012). Dietary habits and body image perception among Polish adolescents and young adults-a population based study. Annals of Agricultural and Environmental Medicine 19(2). Kotler, L. A., P. Cohen, et al. (2001). Longitudinal relationships between childhood, adolescent, and adult eating disorders. 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Physics of Cycling :: physics sport sports cycle bicycle

Almost the entire spot of cycling is based on physics. Some aspects are obvious, like torque and other basic forces, although others do not come to mind as easily. Things like aerodynamics are playing an increasingly larger role in the sport, along with other things like damped harmonic motion (think mountain bike suspension), and efficiency. A lot of the detailed things would be beyond this paper, but the basics, which are the most import parts, will be talked about. Torque is what makes the wheels on the bike go round. Great research has been but into the sport in order to figure out how to increase the torque applied by the rider to the rear wheel, wile decreasing the torque required to make the wheel turn. Torque is produced the rider using a device called a crank. The torque in the series of parts that drive the bicycle forward (called the drive train) is dependant on the size of the chain ring (the large gears mounted on the crank) being used, and the size of the rear cog being used. When the chain is on the smaller chain ring, the force through the chain must be greater because the chain ring is closer to the axis of rotation and must apply a larger force to equal the torque produced by the pedals. Likewise, if a larger cog is used in back on the wheel, an larger torque is exerted on the wheel, and so produces a larger forward force at the tire. These higer-torque gears are good for climbing, where large forward forces are need at low speeds, but for flats and downhills, different gearing is needed, because the lower gearing does not provide much forward rotation (the rear wheel will not rotate as much for a single stroke of the pedal). Detail of the drive train on a bicycle. The smaller the gear on the crank combined with a large gear on the wheel will produce large amounts of torque and large forward forces. Work and Power Although torque does have a lot to do with the bike and how it works, professionals and people in the know don't usually refer to torque the rider applies to the wheels. Usually, they'll talk about power. This makes much more sense, because cycling, in general, is a sport that requires you exert yourself for a relatively long amount of time, instead of just trying to exert the largest force you can (this isn't weight lifting).