The effects of Sarbanes-Oxley Act 2002 on the accounting profession Research Paper

The effects of Sarbanes-Oxley Act 2002 on the accounting profession - Research Paper Example Sarbanes-Oxley Act 2002 was one such measure intended to set standards to guarantee the accuracy of financial reports published by organizations irrespective of big or small. This paper briefly explains the impacts of Sarbanes-Oxley Act 2002 on accounting profession. Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act 2002 (SOX) mandates creation of an internal control structure, and assessment of its effectiveness. This control structure involves controls on internal financing reporting and auditing (Bergen, 2005). Many companies have reported that the introduction of SOX and the increased internal control structure was more expensive than anticipated. The external costs have been increased a lot for many companies because of SOX and this increase especially at in a period of recession was too difficult for the companies to handle. At the same time, most of the costs needed to strengthen the internal control were one-time expenses only and the corporate and the investor public would be beneficial from that in the long run. Section 409 of SOX mandates that a company must disclose to the public any information that is of material value that affects the organizations financial condition or operations. This section was a real challenge for the accounting professionals since most of the companies used Excel spreadsheets for keeping much of their financial data and linking these data in a timely manner with the financial reporting systems were too much difficult. The non compatibility of ordinary Excel spreadsheets with the other financial reporting systems forced the companies to change their accounting software to the much advanced and expensive software like SAP and Oracle or to incorporate new technologies such as off the shelf applications and spreadsheet templates with macros to convert data into a format that can be readily integrated into the organization’s financial reporting system (Jyoti, 2005). Earlier some of

Compare and contrast federalism in Canada during the Keynesian era and Essay

Compare and contrast federalism in Canada during the Keynesian era and federalism in the neoliberal era - Essay Example ion’s flexibility has been responsible for finding solutions to public policy along with assisting it to rise to the challenges faced (â€Å"Canadian Federalism†, 2007). To put it simply, the country’s federation has been a common strength in identifying divergences and overcoming them thereby constructing a stronger nation (â€Å"Canadian Federalism†, 2007). The two centers of focus of the Canadian federal experience signify cultural dualism, the desire and ability of French and English speaking Canadians to survive as such along with the use of institutions of the government which they respectively dominate, and the other is public action to satisfy the material aspirations of individuals and groups living within an economy in which burdens and benefits are ascertained by the economic policies of successive federal administrations (Smiley, 1965). Canadian federalism exhibits the trend of decentralization (Lecture 17, n.d.). In spite of facing huge challenges the Canadian federation has made it work towards this trend (Lecture 17, n.d.). Early judicial decisions showed an inclination towards provincial power in Canada after 1867 (Lecture 17, n.d.). The election victory of 1896 marked he reversal of Macdonald’s centralism by Laurier (Lecture 17, n.d.). Both World War I and World War II brought interruptions in the movement (Lecture 17, n.d.). However, it spite of some federal states opting to move more towards centralized over time, Canada has remained persistent in its trend of decentralization of authority (Lecture 17, n.d.). Due to the influence of Great Depression (1929-1939), the Rowell-Sirois Commission revealed inclination towards economic management and social welfare from provinces to federal level (Lecture 17, n.d.). Reorganization of taxing functions was advised to favor federal assumption of new spending priorities and to enhance redistributive measures to offer national standards from coast to coast (Lecture 17, n.d.). However, the orders of the

The Gypsies And Their Journey Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Gypsies And Their Journey - Essay Example It constitutes the greatest impediment to civilization [sic]" (81). The treatment of the Gypsies in Europe is paradigmatic of the deleterious effects on civilization as a result of this instinctual disposition toward violence and aggression. There has been a paucity of recognition regarding the plight of the Gypsies, even after the Holocaust, when Hitler and his Nazi minions were responsible for the destruction of 1.5 million Gypsies (Wallia). The forgetting and abnegation of this tragedy in stark contrast to the attention given to the then concurrent predicament of the Jews have allowed for a continued and nearly unchecked level of violence against Gypsies. One work that has attempted to uncover the current attitudes and treatment of the Gypsies in Europe is Isabel Fonseca's Bury Me Standing: The Gypsies and their Journey. This paper will briefly examine how Freud's thesis regarding aggression is exemplified by Fonseca's presentation of Gypsies in Europe.  In a chapter entitled "A Social Problem," Fonseca examines the nature of conflicts and the uneasy existence between Romanians and Gypsies. She begins to note, however, interesting and oddly similar social phenomena occurring in both cultures, namely, getting swindled. Fonseca surmises, "But in truth swindling was so common in Romania that it was remarkable that the Gypsies, or anyone else, had managed to gain a reputation for dishonesty" (158). The subtle differences between Gypsy-swindles and Romanian ones are emblematic of the type of conditions that are sufficient for engendering racial hatred and conflict. In situations where adjoining territories or in this case, plots of land, are populated by different communities with some other similarities besides geographical, constant feuding, ridicule and violence are easily promulgated by what Freud terms, "the narcissism of minor differences" (72).

Global Warming Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 6

Global Warming - Essay Example The threat here is that the polar ice caps would soon be melting because of global warming, which would increase the level of oceans to side. People living on coastal lines would have to evacuate their homes and move to other places, causing overcrowding and security concerns (Michaels & Balling, 2009). The rise in ocean levels can cause floods, destroying crops and creating drought in countries. Citizens of the developed countries are aware of this growing problem because there have been many documentaries about global warming and researches done in the developed world, where environmentalists and scientists have explained the consequences of global warming to the people. The people living in developing countries are responsible for making sure that the human activities which trigger global warming, are prevented from happening and people act more responsibly (Black & Weisel, 2010). There are also more responsible because they have more resources to make people aware, as compared to the underdeveloped countries. The United States and other countries are responsible in a way, that they should create awareness in underdeveloped countries, and create programs to make people responsible for their actions and the way they treat the environment. However, not all responsibility lies in the hands of the developed countries, underdeveloped nations feel the climate change and the impact of globalization too. The government should be responsible for preventing activities which harm the environment.

Eight Important Duties of an Agent Towards the Principal Essay Example for Free

Eight Important Duties of an Agent Towards the Principal Essay 1. Duty to follow principal’s directions or customs (Sec. 211): The first duty of every agent is to act within the scope of the authority conferred upon him and perform the agency work according to the directions given by the principal. When the agent acts otherwise, if any loss be sustained, he must make it good to the principal, and if any profit accrues, he must account for it.   Illustrations: (a) Where the principal instructed the agent to warehouse the goods at a particular place and the agent warehoused them at a different warehouse which was equally safe, and the goods were destroyed by fire without negligence, it was held that the agent was liable for the loss because any departure from the instructions makes the agent absolutely liable (Lilley vs Doubleday). (b) An agent being instructed to insure goods neglects to do so. He is liable to compensate the principal in the event of these being lost (Pannalal Jankidas vs Mohanlal). If the principal has not given any express or implied directions, then it is the duty of the agent to follow the custom prevailing in the same kind of business at the place where the agent conducts business. If the agent makes any departure, he does so at his own risk. He must make good any loss so sustained by the principal. Illustrations (Appended To Sec. 211): (a) A, an agent, engaged in carrying on for B a business, in which it is the custom to invest from time to time at interest, the moneys which may be in hand, omits to make such investments. A must make good to B the interest usually obtained by such investments. (b) B, a broker, in whose business it is not the custom to sell on credit, sells goods of A on credit to C, whose credit at the time was very high. C, before payment, becomes insolvent. B must make good the loss to A, irrespective of his good intentions. 2. Duty to carry out the work with reasonable skill and diligence (Sec. 212): The agent must conduct the business is generally possessed by persons engaged in similar business, unless the principal has notice of his want of skill. Further, the agent must act with reasonable diligence and to the best of his skill.   If the agent does not work with reasonable care, skill (unless the principal has notice of his want of skill) and diligence, he must make compensation to his principal in respect of ‘direct consequences’ of his own neglect, want of skill or misconduct. But he is not so liable for indirect or remote losses. Illustrations (Appended To Sec. 212): (a) A, a merchant in Kolkata, has an agent B, in London, to whom a sum of money is paid on A’s account, with orders to remit. B retains the money for a considerable time. A, in consequence of not receiving the money, becomes insolvent. B is liable for the money and interest from the day on which it ought to have been paid, according to the usual rate, and for any further direct loss such as loss by variation of rate of exchange, but nothing further. (b) A, an agent for the sale of goods, having authority to sell goods on credit, sells to B on credit, without making the proper and usual enquiries as to the solvency of B. B, at the time of such sale, is insolvent. A must make compensation to his principal in respect of any loss thereby sustained. 3. Duty to Render Accounts (Sec. 213): It is the duty of an agent to keep proper accounts of his principal’s money or property and render them to him on demand, or periodically if so provided in the agreement. 4. Duty to communicate (Sec. 214): It is the duty of an agent, in cases of difficulty, to use all reasonable diligence in communicating with his principal, and in seeking to obtain his instructions, before taking any steps in facing the difficulty or emergency. 5. Duty not to deal on his own account (Sees. 215 and 216): An agent must not deal on his own   account in the business of agency; i.e., he must not himself buy from or sell to his principal goods he is askedto sell or buy on behalf of his principal; without obtaining the consent of his principal after disclosing all material facts to him. If the agent violates this rule, the principal may repudiate the transaction where it can be shown that any material fact has been knowingly concealed by the agent, or that the dealings of the agent have been disadvantageous to the principal. The principal is also entitled to claim from the agent any benefit which may have resulted to him from the transaction. Illustrations: (a) A, directs B to sell A’s estate. B buys the estate for himself in the name of   . A, on discovering that B has bought the estate for himself may repudiate the sale, if he can show that B has dishonestly concealed any material fact or that the sale has been disavantageous to him. [Illustration (a) Appended to Section 215 ( b)A directs, B, his agent, to buy a certain house for him. B tells A that it cannot be bought and buys the house for himself. A may, on discovering that B has bought the house, compel him to sell it to A at the price he gave for it. [Illustration appended to Section 216] 6. Duty not to make any profit out of his agency except his remuneration (Sees. 217 and 218): An agent stands in a fiduciary relation to his principal and therefore he must not make any profit (secret profit) out of his agency. He must pay to his principal all moneys (including illegal gratification, if any) received by him on principal’s account. He can, however, deduct all moneys due to himself in respect of his remuneration or/and expenses properly incurred. If his acts are not bonafide, he will lose his remuneration and will have to account for the secret profit to his principal. 7. Duty on termination of agency by principal’s death or insanity (Sec. 209): When an agency is terminated by the principal dying or becoming of unsound mind, the agent must take, on behalf of the representatives of his late principal, all reasonable steps for the protection and preservation of the interests entrusted to him. 8. Duty not to delegate authority (Sec. 190): Subject to six exceptions stated earlier (under the heading Delegation of Authority), an agent must not further delegate his authority to another person, but perform the work of agency himself.

The Reality Of Platonic Relationships Sociology Essay

The Reality Of Platonic Relationships Sociology Essay Romantic relationships are characterized by feelings of passion, emotional reactions and physical attraction; and platonic relationships are characterized by the absence of physical attraction, passion or sex (Sippola, 1999). These two characterizations are very important for the scope of this paper because both are crucial to answer the question, Can men and women really be just friends? In the magazine Psychology Today, Clifford Lazarus wrote an article with an explanation to this question. Lazarus contends, for the most part, purely platonic relationships for heterosexual men and women are a myth (Lazarus, 2010). To support his contention, he refers to the reflexive nature of men and the reflective nature of women. Lazarus refers to a sexual desirability reflex, which men demonstrate towards women in prime reproductive age. This reflex suggests the immediate thoughts of males when first encountering females are whether or not he would like to have sex with her (Lazarus, 2010). Although, it is argued that females may exhibit the same thoughts, although not as frequently as with males, they tend to quickly move past this reflex. On the other hand, women generally want to determine the suitability of a potential partner. This suitability is referred to as a desire to look for potential long term, socioeconomic stability with a partner (Canary Dindia, 1998). Women therefore, tend to be more sexually reflective and choosier than males, while males tend to be more sexually reflexive than women. These reflexive and reflective drives can be linked to evolutionary theories. Males have an indefinite amount of sperm while females only have a predetermined amount of eggs for her life span (Lazarus, 2010). This suggests an explanation of why males may exhibit the above mentioned reflex more than females, and why females exhibit a determinable reflective drive. This article therefore concludes that purely platonic relationships in cross-sex friendships do not exist. The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast the conclusion of the Psychology Today article with scholarly research to determine if purely platonic cross-sex friendships can exist between heterosexual men and women. It is important to indicate that the articles conclusion assumes that a purely platonic relationship exists when both people in the relationship have never considered having a romantic relationship with each other. Through sexually charged flirtatious behavior and evolutionary theories, the first part of this paper will provide support for the articles conclusion that purely platonic cross-sex friendships are not possible. However, the second part of this paper will present evidence denouncing the preceding hypothesis by means of costs, romantic intentions and reasons to stay platonic. Flirtatious Behavior Both romantic and platonic relationships report flirtatious activity although frequencies in flirtatious behavior may differ (Egland, Spitzberg, Zormeier, 1996). Some examples of flirtatious behaviors include looking your friend or partner up and down, gazing in their eyes and smiling suggestively. When comparing results of the platonic cross-sex relationships to the romantic cross-sex relationships, platonic relationships engaged in flirtatious activity nearly as much as romantic relationships (Egland, et al., 1996). This finding bolsters the view that even in platonic relationships, flirtatious behavior is expressed. Furthermore, flirtatious behavior may be sexually charged. According to Henningsen, Braz, and Davies (2008), people engage in flirtatious behavior for six main reasons. First is sexual motivation, referring to ones desires to engage in sexual acts. Second, an individual may be relationally motivated, with the intention of moving from a platonic relationship to a romantic relationship. Third is fun motivation, referring to flirting to gain sexual excitement or thrill. Fourth is exploring motivation, referring to flirtatious behavior of platonic relationships to explore and see if positive feedback comes from the other person. Fifth is esteem motivation, which remarks on how gaining positive feedback from flirting may boost self esteem or arousal. And finally people flirt for instrumental motivation, which is flirting for possible access to rewards. Flirting is the primary apparatus to signal sexual and romantic accessibility (Guererro Chavez, 2005). All of the reasons people may flirt are charged with motives other than being platonic. Flirtation can be described as a subcategory of social-sexual communication (Henningsen, et al., 2008, p. 2). These social-sexual communications carry the connotation of being sexually charged, suggesting one person may have had sexual or romantic thoughts at one point in time in the relationship. This suggests that flirting is associated with sexual desire, or reasons other than what constitutes a platonic friendship (Henningsen, Braz, Davies, 2008). Flirtatious behavior is often intended to be interpreted in a way that carries sexual motive (Henningsen, et al., 2008). This implies that those in platonic relationships have an intended purpose or conscious motive to engage in it. For instance, platonic relationships that do not want to turn romantic voluntarily do not engage in flirtatious behavior (Guerrero Mongeau, 2008). This suggests that platonic relationships may be conscious of flirting, thus indicating that people engage in flirting through a particular motivation; in these instances a sexually charged motivation. Since platonic relationships do engage in flirtatious behavior with one another, there is reason to believe that the flirtatious behavior is sexually charged Furthermore, men may interpret expressed behavior from women differently than from what women intend. If women are not voluntarily trying to give flirtatious signals or signs of flirtatious behavior, men are much more readily apparent to interpret non-flirtatious signals as flirtatious (Canary Dindia, 1998). Therefore, even in an apparently platonic friendship, men may be misinterpreting these non-flirtatious signals as flirtatious, and therefore sexual as well, even if there is no intension to communicate flirtatious behavior. This implies even in some apparently platonic relationships, certain behaviors may signal signs of sexual desire unintentionally. CHECK THESE PRECEDING 3 PARAGRAPHS Evolutionary Views According to evolutionary theories, flirtatious behavior is contingent upon a desire to procreate (Canary Dindia, 1998). As mentioned in the article, men have a type of reflexive drive and women have a type of reflective drive (Lazarus, 2010). From an evolutionary stance, a look into interactions between men and women will reinforce these reflexive and reflective drives. Reflective and Reflexive Behavior Women are more likely to choose a partner or mate who exhibits status and resources, therefore being more reflective than males (Lazarus, 2010). Women are generally more interested in men with high resource potential (Canary Dindia, 1998). This indicates why women focus on a long term stable relationship; one which is able to support their offspring. On the other hand, men are much more likely to approach women who display more signs of flirtatious behavior (Canary Dindia, 1998). This indicates mens reflexive drive, indicating sexual thoughts or interest upon initial encounters (Lazarus, 2010). Interests of men and women vary depending on age group. Males prefer younger women, while women prefer older males as age ascends. Women tend to be more fertile when they are younger, while men tend to be more economically sufficient and successful as they grow older (Alterovitz Mendelsohn, 2009). This suggests men being more concerned with the fertility of women by preferring younger mates, while women reported being more concerned with male socioeconomic status, indicated by selecting older men (Alterovitz Mendelsohn, 2009). Parental Investment Theory Additionally, the female perception of older males having the resources to provide for their offspring and males having the impression to mate with a fertile female is consistent with the evolutionary theory of parental investments. Under parental investment theory, the investments of men and women differ. For example, a women needs to carry the offspring. On the other hand, men could technically end their investment of the offspring immediately after conception. As referenced by Tafoya (2006), womens potential for reproduction after conception is inhibited, while on the other hand men as quoted by Lazarus (2010), have their sperm constantly replenished. Furthermore, because of the paternity uncertainty hypothesis, a man can never know with absolute certainty that a child is his. On the contrary, even though the mother may not know who the father of her child is, this hypothesis holds that she will know for certain that she will pass her genes on to her offspring (Tafoya, 2006). Considering this hypothesis and the theory of parental investments, the reflexive nature of men and reflective nature of women are explained. A males reflexive drive can be explained since males never know if the child is theirs with absolute certainty and their investment need not go beyond conception (Tafoya, 2006). Therefore, males seem to exhibit lesser commitment, reinforcing their reflexive tendencies. Additionally, men are more likely to accept a short term mate of any overall quality than women. For instance, it is more probable that men rather than women select a short term mate whose overall qualities such as wealth, status and attractiveness are lacking. Men are also more likely than women to have a one night stand or participate in an affair (Li Kenrick, 2006). On the other hand, women know their genes will be passed on and are making more of a sacrifice from an evolutionary standpoint by the cessation of their potential reproduction. This indicates that females may be more selective about their mates as indicated in the article by reflective drives. Furthermore, women prefer resources and status when looking for a short term mate more than males. In fact, women prefer the same qualities in their short term mates as they do in their long term mates (Li Kenrick, 2006). This implies women exemplify this reflective drive in support of a potential parental investor, that being the potential mate. It is shown that mating as well as parenting is essential to success of offspring, which helps to explain the characteristics of these reflexive and reflective drives (Tafoya, 2006). However, evolutionary views not limited to parental investment theory. Friends with Benefits and Biosocial Theory Evolutionary theories are evident in friends with benefits relationships. Friends with benefits refer to non-romantic or platonic relationships who engage in sexual activities (McGinty, Knox, Zusman, 2007). Friends with benefits is not just a trend, but also is commonly engaged in. Nearly 60% of undergraduates reported having had an experience with a friends with benefits relationship (McGinty et al., 2007). This reinforces the instinctive sexual activity and sexual behavior with the opposite sex. Biosocial theory of evolution may inquire more deeply as to why friends with benefits occurs. Biosocial Theory predicts human behavior by looking to a persons genetic predisposition and their environment. Women show to be more emotionally involved in a friend with benefits relationship than men. Because women emphasize emotional attachment, it is argued that women do so in order to have a stable relationship (McGinty et al., 2007). In having a stable relationship, women need to rear their offspring, thus suggesting why women are more emotionally concerned with friends with benefits relationships than men. On the other hand, men are more sexually focused with the relationship. At times, men are shown to be involved in multiple friends with benefits relationships, thus strengthening the point that men exhibit a reflexive drive (McGinty et al., 2007). Furthermore, Schneider Kenny (2000) surveyed how rewarding and costly people see an opposite-sex platonic friendship. Sexual access was reported as a potential benefit of being in a cross-sex friendship, as well as a reported cost. For example, men may be friends with women as a means to gain sexual access, however, men report having less sexual access than women. This suggests men are more concerned with sexual access than women (Bleske Buss, 2000). This reinforces the idea of the reflexive nature of men. However, women are reported to be benefited when protected by an opposite sex friend. Though this is not shown to what extent this suggests a positive cue for women as mate potential, it has been suggested in a comparative study that males who protect their friends actually gain more sexual access. This was evident in a study of baboons, where the males protect the feeding grounds, and in return the female gives them periodic sexual access; therefore suggesting mens evolutionary drive for protecting women (Bleske Buss, 2000). Flirtatious behavior and evolutionary views support the reflexive and reflective tendencies of males and females, respectively. This suggests that men and women in platonic cross-sex friendships engage in sexually charged behavior. The preceding information also supports, as the article contends, that platonic relationships may not be feasible simply because of evolutionary drives (Lazarus, 2010). Although these findings reinforce the idea that purely platonic relationships do not exist, there is information to believe otherwise. The following research in categories of similar costs, romantic intent, and reasons to stay platonic indicate evidence against the preceding research, contending there may be reasons platonic relationships can exist without having intent for or a transition to romantic relationships. Similar Costs and Status Males and Females do not differ in how costly it is to be denied sex from the person in the friendship; the potential for rejection is perceived as low in cost for both sexes (Bleske Buss, 2000). This suggests that men and women may be able to be friends without worrying about sexual access. However, this information does support males and/or females think about sex. Since the potential cost for rejection was low, this implies the male and females evaluated each other before making the decision to become romantic (Bleske Buss, 2000). Therefore, this seems to be more closely related to the conclusion in the article, and more supportive of reflexive and reflective behavior than not. Even so, the status of the relationship may have an effect on the friendship. Although, ex-romantic partners report wanting a platonic relationship to turn romantic once again, a friend who has always been platonic would not want the relationship to turn romantic (Schneider Kenny, 2000). This indicates that how a relationship is initiated may have an actual impact on the relationship. Platonic friendships therefore, may exist depending on past experiences with the individual. This undermines the contention that platonic cross-sex friendships can never be platonic, since past experience can have an impact. Romantic Intent Romantic intent was not classified in the above article Why Men and Women Cant be Just Friends. Romantic intent can vary and impact relationships differently. In the strictly platonic relationships, cross-sex friends reported less contact, flirtation and activity compared to romantic relationships. Arguably, strictly platonic friendships do not flirt, touch and spend as much time with one another relative to mutually romantic relationships, possibly because doing so may jeopardize the friendship (Guererro Chavez, 2005). Furthermore, long term strictly platonic friendships can move past initial romantic intent. Friendships in the long term are shown to use maintenance behaviors such as less contact and flirtation as a means to not potentially ruin the platonic friendship (Guererro Chavez, 2005). These finding suggests strictly platonic and mutually romantic relationships do vary with romantic intent, and thus may not perceive one another as anything more than platonic friends. Reasons to Remain Platonic There are six motives as to why relationships should remain platonic. To safeguard the relationship, lack of or no attraction, network disapproval, third party, risk aversion and timeout. This order with safeguarding the relationship being most important implies that there is an intrinsic reason for relationships to remain purely platonic. The rewarding nature of the relationship may be seen as more rewarding than a relationship moving towards one that is romantic or sexual. For instance, a reward in a platonic relationship is the ability to share emotion and/ or gain support about external situations; the ability to disclose in the relationship. On the other hand, less rewarding factors may direct people to remain platonic as well. For example, one may feel that the friend in the relationship is not attractive, or one may not want to expose oneself to possible emotional instability (Messman, Canary, Hause, 2000). Thus, research suggests cross-sex platonic relationships may have str ong reasons for existing. Furthermore, all platonic friendships may not be sexually charged. The sexual challenge in cross-sex friendships, which refers to men and women being hardwired to be sexually attracted to one another, is said to only occur in a minority of cross-sex friendships. Furthermore, the sexual challenge may be linked to attraction of the spirit, rather than of the body. Thus, reinforcing that sexual challenges may not be accurately represented when referring to the sexual desire of men and women (Messman et al., 2000). Conclusion Flirtatious behavior and evolutionary theories strongly support the idea that there cannot be purely platonic relationships as indicated in the article. However, alternative research suggests platonic friendships may be possible; similar costs, subjective romantic intent, and reasons to remain reasons to remain platonic are evidence that friendships have some incentive to remain purely platonic. Although there is support for both sides, the underlying question is whether men and women together can have purely platonic friendships. Flirtatious behaviors as well as the evolutionary theories of biosocial and parental investment demonstrate that cross-sex platonic friendships are challenging. The majority of the information in the Why Men and Women Cant be Just Friends article does give credence to the majority of these findings. Although in light of these findings, the article seems to be narrow in its evaluation. The main point of the article contends that platonic relationships do not exist because of evolutionary reasoning based on reflexive and reflective drives (Lazarus, 2010). On the other hand, the article does not account for romantic intent, a significant part of relationships. The article assumes based on the first meeting of men and women that there are uncontrollable biological reactions which occur. Although these reactions tend to happen, the article should still account for the past and present status of the relationship, as well as each persons intent to whether or not they want a platonic or romantic friendship. Since the article fails to account for this romantic intent of a males and females, it therefore neglects the possibility of differences in perception; that is, how people view each other based on their past experience with that person (Messman et al., 2000). Moreover, long term platonic friendships vary in their romantic intent depending if maintenance behaviors are used. For instance, in a relationship that has always been platonic, both persons will use more maintenance behaviors to preserve their platonic friendship, in order to safeguard the friendship from moving towards romanticism. However, maintenance behaviors are also shown not to be useful. For instance, one of the people in the relationship may be denied a desired sexual progression (Guererro Chavez, 2005). Although there can be changes made to the article, the underlying argument is supported by the majority of research. Assuming a purely platonic relationship to be a cross-sex friendship where neither party has the thought of addressing a romantic relationship, or having desire for sexual activities; the existence of purely platonic relationships is slim. Platonic relationships engaging in flirtatious behavior carry a sexual connotation (Egland, et al., 1996). This implies that males and females even in platonic relationships may exhibit these reflexive and reflective drives. Furthermore, the differing parental investments for males and females bolster the sentiment regarding reflexive and reflective drives; this concerns why males invest less in their relationships while females invest more in their relationships (Li Kenrick, 2006; Tafoya, 2006). Additionally, the biosocial theory suggests evolutionary underpinnings consistent with reflexive and reflective behavior; these include se xual behavior in friends with benefits relationships and behaviors of rewards and costs. Therefore, the article and the preceding findings suggest that the existences of purely platonic cross-sex heterosexual relationships are unlikely.

Limitations And Advantages Of A Directional Antenna

Limitations And Advantages Of A Directional Antenna Abstract A discussion of directional antennas and performance, the limitations or drawbacks and advantages of using directional antennas compare to omnidirectional antennas. INTRODUCTION The definition for directional antennas is antennas which radiates in one or more directions that allowing to increases the performance on transmit, receive and reduce the interference from other sources, or in another way to say is the antennas that receives or sends signals most effectively in a particular. The Radio Frequency (RF) energy can be diverted in a particular direction to father distance. Therefore, it has long range coverage but the effective beam width decreases. Due to the size of directional antennas, the frequencies used are above 200 to 300 MHz. The antennas wideband property depends on the type of the antennas and the directional properties of the antennas are a function of their electrical size. Figure 1 : Directional Antenna with 6 zones. [6] Each zone is a wedge with radius r spanning à Ã¢â€š ¬/3 radians. Zone 1 always faces east. The dashed circle shows the omnidirectional communication radius. A few types of directional antennas are available. [5] Fixed Beam Fixed beam antenna has fixed gain profile with a primary lobe pointing in a single direction. We only can steering the beam by changing the orientation of the antenna physically , which permit relatively slow changes at best. This kind of antenna does provide high gain for their cost and are widely deployed in practice. Figure 2 : Fixed Beam antennas gain pattern Sector In sector antennas, there is multiple fixed beams antennas where each of these beam antennas aims in different direction. Each has covering different area and total 360 ° coverage. Packets may be sent on any sector. Switching between antennas is done electronically and allows the choice of sector to occur on a per packet basis. Figure 3 : Sector Antenna Gain Pattern Analog Phase Array Analog Phase Array antennas work by calculates phase shifts into the signal at antennas elements. There will be individual signals after from phase shifts interfere constructively and destructively with each other in order to form a particular gain pattern. Figure 4 : Analog Phase Array Antenna Gain Pattern Digital Phase Array Another description for Digital Phase Array is smart antenna uses digital signal to accomplish phase shifting. Even the additional power required to do this had increase the cost and complexity greater than the Analog Phase Array, but there is some significant function had been added. Lobes and nulls may be steered very precisely to amplify desired signals and eliminate extraneous ones and angle of arrival information for packets may be obtained as well. Multiple patterns may be realized simultaneously using the same set of elements. Figure 5 : Digital Phase Antenna Gain Pattern THE GAIN OF DIRECTIONAL ANTENNAS [1] The definition for directivity according to [7], The directivity of a wireless antenna is given by the ratio of maximum radiation intensity (power per unit solid angle) to the average radiation intensity (averaged over a sphere). The directivity of any source, other than isotropic, is always greater than unity. Both omnidirectional antennas and directional antennas have directivity but the difference between these two antennas is the coverage pattern. For omnidirectional antennas, the coverage pattern is torus-shaped. The directivity in directional antennas case in higher than the omnidirectional because of its ability to focus the beam. Because of the greater gain in the directional antennas, compare to onmidirectional, the signal transmitted with some power will be able to reach wider distance than the signal transmitted in the omnidirectional antennas. LIMITATION S OF DIRECTIONAL ANTENNAS Deafness [1] Deafness is one of the problems happen when using the directional antennas and it had limited the network performance. Deafness is the problem of failed to hearing from the others. In omnidirectional antennas, all neighboring node are capable of listening to all ongoing transmission but not in directional antennas. The node may be turned into particular sector while receiving and the node said to be locked. In this situation, all the signals that arrive in other sectors cannot be received by the nodes. The nodes said to be Deaf in all other sectors. Figure 6 : Deafness In the figure 2 above, it shows that Node A is communicating with Node B. During the communication, Node A is facing to Node B and turned away from Node C. When Node C is sending a transmission to node A, Node A failed to hear for the transmission unless it is available. Node A can be said Deaf towards Node C . The implement of directional antennas said to reduce the interference but it has increase the ratio of packet loss. Multiple retransmissions may also cause the node to misunderstanding that the connection is lost due to mobility and triggering for route discovering search. In another way to say, it causes the destructive interactions with the upper layers. Drawbacks Specific to Directional MAC (DMAC) The above layer in OSI model does not seem to harness the features of the model even there is some or specific changes in the physical layer. Reusing the same approaches as that omnidirectional MAC, DMAC has created or bring new problems which were not exists in omnidirectional MAC. There is a few drawbacks : Heightened hidden terminal When a node transmits a signal that may affect an ongoing transmission, the hidden terminal problem will be arise. The Ready to send and clear to send are not reaching all the neighbor nodes and this will cause those nodes unaware of ongoing transmission. Head of line blocking- The queuing mechanism used is the First-In-First-Out (FIFO). So the node with antennas will pick the first packet in the queues to transmit. The node will send the packets if the channel in the direction that the node wish to communicate with. If the channel is not idle, the node has to wait until the channel is idle and then transmit the packet. There is still has others packet in the queue waiting to transmit, and there is possible that the channel is not idle. Because of the first packet is still waiting for transmission, it blocks all the packets that can be transmitted. Imperfect virtual carrier sensing Nodes often do not listen to all the signals around them due to the deafness problem. This causes an incomplete Directional Network Allocation Vector (DNAV) table which doest not consistently store the state of the channel in different directions. This leads to imperfect virtual carrier sensing. Effect of mobility [1] Figure 7 : Effect of mobility The reach-ability due to higher range (Position 1) In the communication between two nodes, Node X to Node Y, the coverage using omnidirectional antennas is in circle pattern while the coverage pattern using directional antennas is in lobes pattern. If the Node Y moves out of the circle area, it will unable to receive any packet transmitted by Node X. Since the gain of directional gain is more higher, it is possible that Node Y is still in the directional range X and hence, Node Y still able to receive the packet transmitted. If not, Node Y still will be unable to receive the packet transmitted. Reach-ability in different sector (Position 2) In any area inside the circle area when using omnidirectional antennas, the Node X will be able to reach the Node Y. While using directional antennas with DMAC, Node X failed to reach the Node Y using the same sector. It is because Node Y has gone out of the range of the signal that is transmitted in that sector. Un-reach-ability due to omni-discovery (Position 3) Node X tries to send the packet in its old direction. After failing to reach it after Directional retransmit limit, Node Y will tries to send an omnidirectional signal. Since the Node Y is unreachable by directional signal, Node X cannot discover the Node Y and thus, Node X will assume that the Node Y is unreachable. Node X will never tries to reach the Node Y using different sector even though it is be done by transmitting directional signal in different sector. Node X will reports the error to the above routing layer and drops the packet due to no route. In fact this problem can be solved by transmitting the packet directionally in another sector. Totally unreachable (Position 4) This is another case where the Node Y moves to out of range for both and directional. Node X will be unable to reach the Node Y both in omnidirectional and directional. This case of mobility will lead to disconnection and cannot be recovered. ADVANTAGES OF USING DIRECTIONAL ANTENNAS Security Issue Use directional antennas to prevent Wormhole attack [6] Figure 8 : Wormhole attack where the adversary controls nodes X and Y and connects them through a low-latency link. Wormhole attack means that a forwarded packet from attackers through a high quality out-of-band link and replays those packet at another locations. The attackers will replay the packet received by node A at node B and vice versa. A more intelligent attacker may able to replace the wormhole endpoints at particular locations and this may disrupt nearly all communications to or from a certain node and to all the nodes in the communications. In directional antennas, based on the signal received, a node can get the approximate direction information. Thus, an attacker cannot execute the wormhole attack if the wormhole transmitter is recognized as a false neighbor, that is not the real neighbor and so ignore the messages. There are three increasingly affective protocols to help to prevent the wormhole attacks. As bidirectional information is added, it is more difficult to allot the attacker to launch the wormhole attack successfully. The three protocols are Directional neighbor discovery protocol, that is does not rely on any cooperation between nodes and cannot prevent many wormhole attacks. Verified neighbor discovery protocol, that is preventing wormhole attacks where the attacker control any two endpoints and the victim nodes are at least two hops distant. Strict neighbor discovery protocol where to prevent wormhole attacks even when the victim nodes are nearby. To Support Symmetric traffic services In Time Division Duplex (TDD) Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) [2] Code Division Multiple Access comprises of two operations , that are Time Division Duplex and Frequency Division Duplex, which to provide two-way simultaneously. A pair of frequency bands is used for uplink and downlink transmissions in FDD. In TDD, the uplink sand downlink transmissions are multiplexed into time slots on the same frequency band, the system is its capability of flexibly to adjusting the uplink and downlink bandwidth by allocating different numbers of time slots. It is more suitable for applications with asymmetric traffic suck as Internet Browsing and file transfer compare to FDD. However, Cross-slot Interference which may seriously degrade the system capacity may happen in TDD-CDMA system during the transmission of asymmetric traffic from adjacent cells. Cross-slot interference is the interference due to opposite direction transmissions between two adjacent cell. In the [2], this paper has shown that the by applying developed interference analysis framework how the interference between virtual cells can be suppressed due to the directivity of directional antennas and thus proposed a virtual based interference resolving algorithm to support asymmetric traffic services in TDD-CDMA Systems. In this paper, it stated that how the directional antennas take effect in supporting the asymmetric system in TDD-CDMA. By using directional antennas in a trisector cellular system can restrict the strong base-base interference into a hexagon and consequently, it is possible by just coordinating the switching points of downlink and uplink bandwidth ratio in only three sectors for TDD-CDMA. The cross-slot-interference level in the omnidirectional case is larger if compare with the directional antennas case. This is due to the transmissions power from a mobile station in omnidirectional cellular system is greater than the trisector cellular system. The reason is because the smaller antennas gain. In ad hoc network Spatial reuse factor Figure 9 : Spatial reuse in directional antenna In figure 9, Node A want s to have communications with Node B , Node C and Node D. In omnidirectional case, the communication between Node C and Node D is not allowed if there is packet sending from Node A and Node B. This is to avoid that the packet from Node C to interfere with Node A to Node B communications. If we using directional antennas, then the sender may focus the beam towards to the receiver. It allows that the coomunications between Node A to Node B and Node C to Node D go on currently. As conclusion, if the nodes use directional antennasthen neighboring nodes that are not in the direction of the signal can go ahead with their transmission. Multiple transmissions can be initiated by different nodes instead of a single transmission if they are not interfere with one another. This increasing the spatial reuse factor. Extended Range and Energy Savings Figure 10 : Extended range in directional antenna In the figure 10, the Node A want to communicate with Node C. in omnidirectional case, the communications cannot reach in single hop. Node A has to transmit the packet to Node B and Node B will transmit the packet to Node C. When using directional antennas, there is larger directional gain. Hence, Node A is able to reach the Node C in single hop. With higher directional gain, focused beam can travel larger distance than those unfocused beam in omnidirectional beam. The sender can reach to receiver with farther away and this has increase the transmission range. Also with higher directional gain, the power required to reach a maximum distance is less than the power used in omnidirectional antennas. This reduce the energy spent by nodes for transmission and reception. Conclusion As conclusion, directional antennas have those benefits that is not exist or stronger or solve the problem exist in using omnidirectional antennas but there is also a few problem that occur only in using directional antennas. There is a few solution proposed to reduce the problem but there is still have a lot of space for improvement.