Decreasing Catheter Associated Urinary Tract Infections Essay

Urinary Tract Infections are one of the most well-known medical clinic procured contamination and many are related with an inhabiting catheter. For every day a catheter is set up the danger of building up a CAUTI increments 3%-7% (Kahnen, Flanders, and Magalong, 2011 ). Albeit inhabiting urinary catheters are generally utilized in hospitalized patients and can give a fitting methods for restorative administration, they are frequently utilized without clear signs putting the patient at a hazard for inconveniences during their hospitalization. Difficulties identified with a urinary catheter incorporate physical and mental inconvenience to the patient, bladder calculi, renal aggravation and most much of the time CAUTI (Bernard, Hunter, and Moore, 2012, 32(1)). Not exclusively does the urinary catheter cause inconveniences to the patient and put them at a higher hazard for grimness and mortality they additionally increment the medical clinic costs. In this manner CAUTIs are considered by the Medicare and Medicaid Services to speak to a sensibly preventable entanglement of hospitalization and as such won't give any extra installment to emergency clinics for CAUTI treatment (American Association of Critical Care Nurses, 2012). A lot of consideration has been put on improving nature of care and limiting preventable damages that are happening in the social insurance setting. With the entry of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 and the execution of the Final Rule in October 2008 the CMS, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, will no longer compensation clinics for the extra expense of care coming about because of emergency clinic obtained conditions, for example, CAUTI (Palmer, Lee, and Wroe, 2013, 33(1)). Urinary tract contaminations can prompt bacteremia which can create fever, chills, disarray, hypotension and leukocytosis, yet more genuinely can prompt the patient getting septic (Palmer, Lee, and Wroe, 2013, 33(1)). In excess of 13,000 passings happened in 2002 related with UTI and expanded the expenses of clinic visits by an extra $600 per CAUTI scene by expanding the length of the medical clinic remain, tests required and anti-infection agents controlled (Meddings, Reichert, and Rogers, 2012). Guid elinesâ have been built up and CAUTI anticipation packs have been actualized all through medical clinics to help in the decrease of CAUTI. These packs layout a gathering of proof based mediations planned for lessening generally speaking use of inhabiting urinary catheters, empower ideal expulsion of catheters not, at this point clinically demonstrated, and outlines disease avoidance procedures to follow when catheters are set up (Kahnen, Flanders, and Magalong, 2011 ). Signs for utilization of an inhabiting catheter for a momentary period, which means under 30 days, incorporate urinary maintenance, obstacle of the urinary tract, close observing of the pee yield of basically sick patients, urinary incontinence that represents an extraordinary hazard to the patient due to arrange 3 or more noteworthy ulcer to the sacral territory, and for comfort care of the in critical condition tolerant (Bernard, Hunter, and Moore, 2012, 32(1)). Despite the fact that there are rules to follow urinary catheters are regularly positioned for wrong or ineffectively archived reasons with aggregates near half not being required (Bernard, Hunter, and Moore, 2012, 32(1)). Most of superfluous urinary catheters are put in the crisis division without a specialist request or if there is a request there is no documentation of the requirement for the catheter. This absence of recorded method of reasoning has end up being a progressing issue. Different components identifying with catheters are that the evaluation of the proceeded with requirement for the catheter is regularly neglected and the catheters stay unblemished without appropriate signs. Urinary catheters are regularly utilized for individual inclination of the nursing staff and even with the best nursing care, every day a catheter is available the hazard for contamination goes up 3%-10% (Burnett, Erikson, and Hunt, 2010). Proof based techniques are utilized to diminish the utilization of inhabiting urinary catheters. A portion of these methodologies are nurture driven and incorporate the charge medical caretaker or staff nurture evaluating the requirement for the catheter after a timeframe and talking about with the specialist the finding or following a standing request for the catheter. Information was gathered on this procedure for a multi month time period and demonstrated that the dynamic intercession of day by day counsel and survey of the requirement for a catheter essentially diminished the quantity of inhabiting urinary catheter days out of every month just as the quantity of CAUTIs (Bernard, Hunter, and Moore, 2012, 32(1)). Another investigation as indicated by Fakih et al. (2008) usedâ quasi-exploratory plan that utilized medical caretaker drove multidisciplinary adjusts. The attendants were given training rules on the signs for urinary catheters dependent on proposals by the CDC, Centers f or Disease Control and Prevention (Fakih, 2008). During the day by day adjusts of the medical attendant if there were no signs for the proceeded with utilization of the catheter the medical caretaker would contact the doctor for a request to stop. This procedure radically decreased the quantity of days the catheter was utilized and furthermore the level of catheters being used (Fakih, 2008). As indicated by the American Association of Critical Care nurture the normal act of a medical caretaker to diminish CAUTIs is that preceding the position of the catheter evaluate the patient for any acknowledged signs and options, stick to aseptic procedure for situation and upkeep of the catheter, archive all occasions of the catheter including the inclusion date, sign and evacuation date. Medical attendants ought to likewise expeditiously suspend the urinary catheter when the signs terminate. So as to follow the best practice there ought to be composed rules for the catheter including signs and that lone patients meeting these necessities have urinary catheters set (American Association of Critical Care Nurses, 2012). Have accessible in the office gadgets, supplies, and procedures that permit elective courses (American Association of Critical Care Nurses, 2012). A few different activities are suggested, for example, evaluating consistently the requirement for the catheter, create f rameworks to guarantee brief expulsion of the catheters, execute disease observation projects to gauge the days and paces of CAUTI, and build up an activity intend to address required enhancements (American Association of Critical Care Nurses, 2012). Reconnaissance information proposes that 4.5 out of 100 hospitalized patients get emergency clinic obtained contaminations with 32% of them having a urinary tract source related with a catheter (Meddings, Reichert, and Rogers, 2012). One evaluation made in the exploration was that clinics with higher CAUTI rates might not have a higher frequency of CAUTI than another revealing emergency clinic they may make a superior showing reporting the consequences of inhabiting catheter use. By 2015, paces of emergency clinic gained occasions will be utilized to report emergency clinics exhibitions and analyze them across the nation causing a decrease in the paymentsâ made by Medicaid. References American Association of Critical Care Nurses. (2012). Cathter-Associated Urinary Tract Infections. AACN Bold Voices, 13. Bernard, M., Hunter, K., and Moore, K. (2012, 32(1)). Survey of techniques to diminish the length of inhabiting urethral catheters and decrease the rate of catheter related UTI. Urologic Nursing, 29-37. Burnett, K., Erikson, D., and Hunt, A. (2010). Procedures to keep Urinary Tract Infection from Urinary Catheter Insertion in the Emergency Department . Diary of Emergency Medicine, 546-550. Fakih, M. D. (2008). Impacts of medical attendant drove multidisciplinary adjusts on lessening the pointless utilization of urinary catherizations inhospitalized patients. Contamination control and medical clinic the study of disease transmission, 815-819. Kahnen, D., Flanders, S., and Magalong, T. (2011 ). CAUTI: Making them Matter. Institute of Medical Surgical Nurses, 4-7. Meddings, J., Reichert, H., and Rogers, M. (2012). Impacts of delinquency for medical clinic gained CAUTI . American College of Physicians, 305-312. Palmer, J., Lee, G., and Wroe, P. (2013, 33(1)). Counting Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infections in the 2008 CMS Payment Policy: A Qualitative Analysis. Urologic Nursing, 15-24.

Inter-racial Face Recognition Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Between racial Face Recognition - Research Paper Example The members were advised toward the start of the analysis, and were questioned after the investigation. Remembering that the issue of between racial recognizable proof could be touchy (for example members may feel awkward on the off chance that they neglect to perceive a portion of the appearances) the members were advised about the opportunities for them to pull back their information at whatever point they wish, and furthermore that, on the off chance that they wish, their outcomes can be expelled from the ultimate result information of the examination. Table 1 shows that the Caucasian race is delayed in face acknowledgment than the Black race. This implies the Caucasians have a few challenges in perceiving appearances of each individual they met in their life. This additionally suggests the Caucasian have a few issues in acclimation. Table 2 shows the Black Recognition time (second and checks) Black officially dressed (impartial appearances) have figured F estimation of 206.640, and the white Recognition time (second and tallies) Black officially dressed (nonpartisan countenances) have processed estimation of 52.414 and the even estimation of F measurements 247. This implies we acknowledge Ho on the grounds that the processed estimation of F measurements is not as much as its organized worth. This additionally implies white people are more delicate to Cross-racial weakness than Black people. This infers white people may have visual issues associated with the cones of the eyes which are answerable for fine detail identification and shading acknowledgment. Informative supplements Relapse of Black Recognition Factors Entered/Removed(b) Model Factors

Waterfall Camping in Shenandoah National Park

Waterfall Camping in Shenandoah National Park Shenandoah National Park houses 200,000 acres of forests, rocky outcrops, meadows, stunning outlooks, and dramatic waterfalls so, we werent about to settle for an official camping site. We parked outside the first ranger station, and filled out backcountry permits. The park ranger on duty reminded us to string up our food away from our tents, in case it drew interested bears. She also (very matter-of-factly) informed us that this was black  bear mating season, and that black bears usually only attack people when its to protect their young. Right on cue, shortly after we hopped in the car and took off along the scenic drive, the vehicle in front of us decelerated. We all craned our necks to see why; a big black bear was standing on the side of the road, and ambled into the forest as we pulled up. Survive bear encounter: check! A couple minutes later, we reached the first of 75 overlooks; Raphael (the driver) pulled our car off  Skyline Drive, and  turned the ignition key. The car didnt turn off. He turned the key clockwise again, then counterclockwise, then clockwise, then counterclockwise with a bit more gusto. Nothing. Well, thats interesting, he said. He got out of the car, opened the hood, Fiddled With Stuff, then got back in the car and slammed his fist against the dashboard. The car turned off. I was a little spooked, but over-protective mating bears and minor car malfunction werent going to prevent us from enoying the scenic overlook. With courage in our hearts, we hopped out and took some pictures. Heres the crew (Jennifer, Queen Victoria III, Raphael, Me): And more scenery: After we got back into the car, Raphael rolled down the windows, opened the sunroof, and put on a truly unique soundtrack. Trees and blue sky rustled by while some Australian men sang (very well!) from the car speakers that we should Consider Having Sex With a Bearded Man (a 2011 single), that If Your Dad Doesnt Have a Beard, Youve Got Two Mums and A wizard needs a beard A pirate needs a beard A hippy needs a beard And you, you need a beard While  The Beards insisted that there is No greater crime against the human race / Than when a father takes a razor to his own sons face, we cruised up to a high flat area called  Big Meadows. Apparently, Roy Sullivan spent time as a park ranger there. With him in mind, and a wary eye on some nearby dark storm clouds, Queen Victoria III, Jennifer and I wandered around the meadows while Raphael fiddled more with the car and examined the park map. Me and Queen Victoria III (not pictured: the eight billion gnats swarming around us) The ravenous bugs eventually persuaded us to retreat to the car. We finished Skyline Drive, and looped around the park on the highway, which (en route back to the park) took us through a pictureque town called Sperryville. While Raphael, Queen Victoria III and Jennifer hid from the heat inside a pizza store, I took a walk, expecting to find Absolutely Nothing and finding instead a Civil War historical trail, which took me over a lovely little creek. The path was littered with signs about famous generals and armies and a slave named Caroline Terry. In case youre interested: As I approached a quaint red-walled antique store, my watch told me that Raphaels pizza was done. I jogged back to meet the others and, feeling very fond of Sperryville, watched the corner store and Rudys Pizza (best pizza in Sperryville!) and the Thornton River Grille and Caroline Terrys old haunts disappear out the rear window. Eventually, the road led us back to the edge of the park. Raphael performed some impressive parallel parking feats, and after hauling on backpacks filled with tents and sleeping bags and water bottles and trail mix, we hiked to the White Oak Canyon waterfalls. We set up camp at the lower falls: Jennifer stayed behind to watch our bags, while Raphael, Queen Victoria III and I started off on the steep, 3/4-ish mile climb to the upper falls. Aware that sunset was looming and feeling particularly energetic, I took a few pictures then scampered up ahead of my friends. One of those pictures: The ground was gravelly. I hopped on rocks even when there was flat ground to walk on. I had been accumulating sweat all day from the Virginia humidity, and the faster I moved the more refreshing the breeze; enjoying this alone time, I hurtled around a corner and there,  a couple of meters ahead, a snake at least the thickness of my forearm lay stretched over the path. I stopped. I thought: That snake is at least six feet long. I thought: I wonder what kind of snake that is. I thought: I wonder whether its poisonous. I thought: I wonder whether I should move. I thought: I dont think Ive seen a snake that big, except maybe in the zoo. Or in the first Harry Potter movie. I remembered a field trip to the Singapore zoo way back in the day, when a little green tree snake slithered over my foot. I also remembered that if a snake chases you, youre supposed to run in a zigzag pattern. While I stood there staring at the snake and trying to come to terms with my dreadful survival instincts, Raphael caught up. As someone whose survival instincts are more obviously a product of natural selection,  he spent 0.00 minutes reminiscing about anything; he saw me, saw the snake, grabbed my arm, said come on. quickly. walk., and yanked me back around the corner and down until we bumped into Queen Victoria III. Your Majesty, Raphael said. Theres a six-foot snake over there. We should go back down. Her Majesty insisted on seeing the snake, though, so while Raphael hung back with a very concerned look on his face, she and I peeked back around the corner to catch a glimpse. It had moved; we finally spotted it lying a few feet off the path. All of us were content to take this as A Sign that it was time to keep Jennifer company, so we turned around and skidaddled back to camp. As the sun set, we cooked dinner using Raphaels stove and fuel (this is the kid who drove 2548 miles from Montana with a full set of outdoor survival equipment. He came prepared.) I took a hike to find a secluded place to pee, stung my leg on some nettle, and watched as the sun disappeared and the fireflies grew bright.  I was shocked at how many there were; the air lit up with yellows and oranges that completely eclipsed the stars. The next morning, I woke up to the sound of Queen Victoria IIIs HELLO? outside my tent. Shocked at how late Id slept in (it was 9) I threw on the same clothes I wore the previous day (yay camping!) and stumbled outside. After cooking and eating breakfast, we played in the waterfall. I scooted on my butt over the rocks, tempting fate, letting the water gush past my legs until WHOOSH-the coefficient of friction was too low to support my butt, and with a shriek I went careening down into the lake. And so began the use of the waterfall as an exhilarating (if slightly terrifying) slide. Jennifer got a picture: Time ticked on, the sun continued to rise, and eventually we hauled on our packs and hiked back to the parking lot. On the way back to Charlottesville, Jennifer peed for the first time in something like 24 hours (seriously.) and we nearly locked Raphael in a grocery store toilet by accident. That evening, I saw 127 Hours for the first time, and was very glad that I saw it after and not before our hiking trip. Now, Im back in the office. I got up at 6:45am, and Diana picked me up at 7 we drove to a cafe and studied for the GRE for two hours before heading to the NRAO. Its been an infuriating day; stuff is just NOT working, so I typed this up in a fit of desperation to do ANYTHING other than look at another frequency/amplitude/pulse phase plot. Apparently Im not the only one whos having attention issues, because a coworker from across the hall just rolled into our office in her wheelie chair. Blogging is therapeutic. Writing is therapeutic. I feel much calmer now (thinking about waterfalls and fireflies does that to you) so back to work :)

Essay on The Glass Menagerie and the Life of Tennessee...

The Glass Menagerie and the Life of Tennessee Williams The Glass Menagerie closely parallels the life of the author. From the very job Tennessee held early in his life to the apartment he and his family lived in. Each of the characters presented, their actions taken and even the setting have been based on the past of Thomas Lanier Williams, better known as Tennessee Williams. Donald Spoto described the new apartment building that Williams and his family relocated to in St. Louis, Missouri as having only two small windows, one window in the front of the apartment and another in the rear. A fire escape blocked the smoky light that might have come in from the window facing the back alley (16). In The Glass Menagerie, the†¦show more content†¦As Tom emphatically stated in the play, Id rather somebody picked up a crowbar and battered out my brains - than go back mornings! I go!.... For sixty-five dollars a month I give up all that I dream of doing and being ever! (Williams 1874-1875) In The Glass Menagerie, Tennessee Williams expressed through Tom the entrapment and hopelessness he felt while working in the shoe factory instead of following his dreams of writing. Tennessee Williamss mother, Edwina, and Amanda were also closely paralleled. Edwina Williams had been accepted into the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (D.A.R.). She was occupied with the acting D.A.R. secretary, handling the national correspondence, and with their social events (Spoto 52). Williams described his mother as a woman whose endurance and once fine qualities continued to flourish alongside a narrowness of perception and only the dimmest awareness of human feeling (Spoto 121). Amanda Wingfield also had a narrow life and no perception of the feelings of her two children. Amandas life was centered around her perception of the proper station in life she wanted her children to achieve and her work as a D.A.R. officer. Amanda pushed Tom to work at the acceptable job of the shoe factory and to give up his dream of being a writer and experiencing any adventure. The Scene IIIShow MoreRelatedEssay Tennessee Williams Life and The Glass Menagerie1643 Words   |  7 Pages Tennessee Williamsamp;#8217; Life and The Glass Menagerie The Glass Menagerie first opened on March 31, 1945. It was the first big success of Tennessee Williamsamp;#8217; career. It is in many ways about the life of Tennessee Williams himself, as well as a play of fiction that he wrote. He says in the beginning, amp;#8220;I give you truth in the pleasant disguise of illusion; (1147). The characters Tom, Laura, and Amanda are very much like Williams, his sister Rose, and his mother Edwina. 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The prospective of the plays identify that we have family members, like Amanda, as overprotective, or like Mama, as overseers

The Ethics Of The Health Care Leaves Students With The...

The days of training health care professions, such as nurses, in hospitals have gone, shifting the focus of ‘practice-oriented’ to ‘professionalised’ (Rolfe, 2009). The change of focus on the study of health care leaves students with the challenge of gaining academic writing styles, which many lack. An affective academic paper is presented in a certain way with a set structure, with a specific purpose and formed through a structured process. If students do not know how to correctly form and present an essay, problems may occur in the form of plagiarism, leaving the academic paper ineffective. An academic essay with no structure is as ineffective as one without the right process, both are need for an academic paper to be successful. Many institutions and credible literature have their own definition of what an academic essay is. The guidelines in Dartmouth College describe an essay as being similar to a newspaper editorial in the way that it has a particular writing genre, containing set rules and conventions to communicate the argument clearly. Others may view The Australian Oxford Mini Dictionary (2006, p.169) definition of â€Å"a short piece of writing on the given subject,† as a better description. Despite having many classifications they all have a common point, an academic essay is a particular idea discussed though research and discovery in a structured form. 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The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove Chapter 26~27 Free Essays

Twenty-six Val and Gabe entered the bar, then stepped out of the doorway and stood by the blinking pinball machine while their eyes adjusted to the darkness. Val wrinkled her nose at the hangover smell of stale beer and cigarettes; Gabe squinted at the sticky floor, looking for signs of interesting wild life. Morning was the darkest part of a day at the Head of the Slug Saloon. We will write a custom essay sample on The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove Chapter 26~27 or any similar topic only for you Order Now It was so dark that the dingy confines of the bar seemed to suck light in from the street every time someone opened the door, causing the daytime regu-lars to cringe and hiss as if a touch of sunshine might vaporize them on their stools. Mavis moved behind the bar with a grim, if wobbly, determin-ation, drinking coffee from a gar-goyle-green mug while a Tarryton extra long dangled from her lips, dropping long ashes down the front of her sweater like the smoking turds of tiny ghost poodles. She went about setting up shots of cheap bourbon at the empty curve of the bar, lining them up like soldiers before a firing squad. Every two or three minutes an old man would enter the bar, bent over and wearing baggy pants – leaning on a four-point cane or the last hope of a painless death – and climb onto one of the empty stools to wrap an arthritic claw around a shot glass and raise it to his lips. The shots were nursed, not tossed back, and by the time Mavis had finished her fir st cup of coffee, the curve of the bar looked like the queue to hell: crooked, wheezing geezers all in a row. Refreshments while you wait? The Reaper will see you now. Occasionally, one of the shots would sit untouched, the stool empty, and Mavis would let an hour pass before sliding the shot down to the next daytime regular and calling Theo to track down her truant. Most often, the ambulance would slide in and out of town as quiet as a vulture riding a thermal, and Mavis would get the news when Theo cracked the door, shook his head, and moved on. â€Å"Hey, cheer up,† Mavis would say. â€Å"You got a free drink out of it, didn’t you? That stool won’t be empty for long.† There had always been daytime regulars, there always would be. Her new crop started coming in around 9 A.M., younger men who bathed and shaved every third day and spent their days around her snooker table, drinking cheap drafts and keeping a laser focus on the green felt lest they get a glimpse of their lives. Where once were wives and jobs, now were dreams of glorious shots and clever strategies. When their dreams and eyesight faded, they filled the stools at the end of the bar with the day-time regulars. Ironically, the aura of despair that hung over the day-time regulars gave Mavis the closest thing to a thrill she’d felt since she last whacked a cop with her Louisville Slugger. As she pulled the bottle of Old Tennis Shoes from the well and poured it down the bar to refill their shot glasses, a bolt of electric loathing would shoot up her spine and she would scamper back to the other end of the bar and stand there breathless until her stereo pacemakers brought her heartbeat back down from redline. It was like tweaking death’s nose, sticking a KICK ME sign on the head of a cobra and getting away with it. Gabe and Val watched this ritual without moving from their spot by the pinball machine. Val was cautious, just waiting for the right moment to move to the bar and ask if Theo had called. Gabe was, as usual, just being socially awkward. Mavis retreated to her spot by the coffeepot, presumably out of death’s reach, and called down to the couple. â€Å"You two want something to drink, or you just window-shopping?† Gabe led them down the bar. â€Å"Two coffees please.† He looked quickly to Val for her approval, but she was fixated on Catfish, who was seated across from Mavis near the end of the bar. Just beyond him was another man, an incredibly gaunt gentleman whose skin was so white it appeared translucent under the haze of Mavis’s cigarette smoke. â€Å"Hello, uh, Mr. Fish,† Val said. Catfish, who was staring at the bottom of a shot glass, looked up and forced a smile through a face betraying hangdog sorrow. â€Å"It’s Jefferson,† he said. â€Å"Catfish is my first name.† â€Å"Sorry,† Val said. Mavis made a mental note of the new couple. She recognized Gabe, he’d been in with Theophilus Crowe a number of times, but the woman was a new face to her. She put the two coffees in front of Gabe and Val. â€Å"Mavis Sand,† Mavis said, but she didn’t offer her hand. For years she’d avoided shaking hands because the grip often hurt her arthritis. Now, with her new titanium joints and levers, she had to be careful not to crush the delicate phalanges of her customers. â€Å"I’m sorry,† Gabe said. â€Å"Mavis, this is Dr. Valerie Riordan. She has a psychiatric practice here in town.† Mavis stepped back and Val could see the apparatus in the woman’s eye focusing – when the light from over the snooker table caught it right, the eye appeared to glow red. â€Å"Pleased,† Mavis said. â€Å"You know Howard Phillips?† Mavis nodded to the gaunt man at the end of the bar. â€Å"H.P.,† Gabe added, nodding to Howard. â€Å"Of H.P.’s Cafe.† Howard Phillips might have been forty, or sixty, or seventy, or he might have died young for all the animation in his face. He wore a black suit out of the nineteenth century, right down to the button shoes, and he was nursing a glass of Guinness Stout, although he didn’t look as if he’d had any caloric intake for months. Val said, â€Å"We just came from your restaurant. Lovely place.† Without changing expression, Howard said, â€Å"As a psychiatrist, does it bother you that Jung was a Nazi sympathizer?† He had a flat, upper-class British accent, and Val felt vaguely as if she’d just been spat upon. â€Å"Ray of sunshine, Howard is,† Mavis said. â€Å"Looks like death, don’t he?† Howard cleared his throat and said, â€Å"Mavis has come to mock death, since most of her mortal parts have been replaced with machinery.† Mavis leaned into Gabe and Val as if guarding a secret, even as she raised her voice to make sure Howard could hear. â€Å"He’s been cranky for some ten years now – and drunk most of that time.† â€Å"I had hoped to develop a laudanum habit in the tradition of Byron and Shelley,† Howard said, â€Å"but procurement of the substance is, to say the least, difficult.† â€Å"Yeah, that month you drank Nyquil on the rocks didn’t help either. He’d drop off at the bar stool sittin’ straight up, sit there asleep sometimes for four hours, then wake up and finish his drink. I have to say, though, Howard, you never coughed once.† Again Mavis leaned into the bar. â€Å"He pretends to have consumption sometimes.† â€Å"I’m sure the good doctor is not interested in the particulars of my substance abuse, Mavis.† â€Å"Actually,† Gabe said, â€Å"we’re just waiting for a call from Theo.† â€Å"And I think I’d prefer a Bloody Mary to coffee,† Val said. â€Å"Ya’ll ain’t goin to talk me into chasin no monster, so don’t even try,† Catfish said. â€Å"I got the Blues on me and I got some drinkin to do.† â€Å"Don’t be a wuss, Catfish,† Mavis said as she mixed Val’s cocktail. â€Å"Monsters are no big deal. Howard and me got one, huh, Howard?† â€Å"Walk in the proverbial park,† Howard said. Catfish, Val, and Gabe just stared at Howard, waiting. Mavis said, â€Å"Course your drinking started right after the last one, didn’t it?† â€Å"Nonstop,† Howard said. Theo It occurred to Theo, as he tried to keep a safe distance from the sheriff’s Caddy turning into the ranch, that he had never been trained in the proper procedure for tailing someone. He’d never really followed anyone. Well, there was a sixth-month period in the seventies when he had followed the Grateful Dead around the country but with them, you just followed the trail of tie-dye and didn’t have to worry about them killing you if they found out you were behind them. He also realized that he had no idea why, exactly, he was following Burton, except that it seemed more aggressive than curling into a ball and dying of worry. The black Caddy turned through a cattle gate onto the section of the ranch adjacent the ocean. Theo slowed to a stop under a line of eucalyptus trees beside the ranch road, keeping the sheriff in sight between the tree trunks. The grassy marine terrace that dropped to the shoreline was too open to go onto without Burton noticing. He would have to let the Caddy pass over the next hill, nearly half a mile off the road, before he dared follow. Theo watched the Caddy bump over the deep ruts in the road, the front wheels throwing up mud as it climbed the hill, and suddenly he regretted not having driven the red four-wheel-drive truck. The rear-wheel-drive Mercedes might not be able to follow much farther. When the Caddy topped the hill, Theo pulled out and gunned the Mer-cedes through the cattle gate and into the field. Tall grass thrashed at the underside of the big German car as rocks and holes jarred Theo and threw Skinner around like a toy. Momentum carried them up the side of the first hill. As they approached the crest, Theo let off the gas. The Mercedes settled to a stop. When he applied the gas again, the back wheels of the Mercedes dug into the mud, stuck. Theo left Skinner and the keys in the car and ran to the top of the hill. He could see more than a mile in every direction, east to some rock outcrop-pings by the tree line, west to the ocean, and across the marine terrace to the north, which curved around the coastline and out of sight. South, well, he’d come from the south. Nothing there but his cabin and beyond that the crank lab. What he could not see was the black Cadillac. He checked the battery in his cell phone and both pistols to see that they were loaded, then he set out on foot toward the rocks. It was the only place the Caddy could have gotten out of sight. Burton had to be there. Twenty minutes later he stood at the base of the rock outcroppings, sweating and trying to catch his breath. At least maybe he’d get some lung capacity back, now that he wasn’t smoking pot anymore. He bent over with his hands on his knees and scanned the rocks for any movement. These were no gentle sedimentary rocks formed over centuries of settling seas. These craggy bastards looked like gray teeth that had been thrust up through the earth’s crust by the violent burp of a volcano and the rasping shift of a fault line. Lichen and seagull crap covered their surfaces and here and there a creosote bush or cypress tried to gain a foothold in the cracks. There was supposed to be a cave around here somewhere, but Theo had never seen it, and he doubted that it was big enough to park a Cadillac in. He stayed low, moving around the edge of the rocks, expecting to see the flash of a black fender at every turn. He drew his service revolver and led around each turn with the barrel of the gun, then changed his strategy. That was like broadcasting a warning. He bent over double before peeking around the next corner, figuring that if Burton heard him or was waiting, he would be aiming high. The vastness of what Theo didn’t know about surveillance and combat techniques seemed to be expanding with every step. He just wasn’t a sneaky guy. He skirted a narrow path between two fanglike towers of rock. As he prepared to take a quick peek around the next turn, his foot slipped, sending a pile of rocks skittering down the hill like broken glass. He stopped and held his breath, listening for the sound of a reaction somewhere in the rocks. There was only the crashing surf in the distance and a low whistle of coastal wind. He ventured a quick glance around the rock and before he could pull back, the metallic click of a gun cocking behind his head sounded like icicles being driven into his spine. Molly Molly was sorting through the piles of clothing the pilgrims had left by the cave entrance. She had come up with two hundred and fifty-eight dollars in cash, a stack of Gold Cards, and more than a dozen vials of antidepressants. A voice in her head said, â€Å"You haven’t seen this many meds since you were on the lock-down ward. They have a lot of gall calling you crazy.† The narrator was back, and Molly wasn’t at all happy about it. For the last few days, her thinking had been incredibly clear. â€Å"Yeah, you’re helping a lot with my mental health self-image,† she said to the narrator. â€Å"I liked it better when it was just me and Steve.† None of the pilgrims seemed to notice that Molly was talking to herself. They were all in some trancelike state, stark naked, seated in a semicircle around Steve, who lay in the back of the cave, where it was dark, with his head tucked under his forelegs, flashing sullen colors across his flanks: olive drab, rust, and blue so dark that it appeared more like an afterimage on the back of the eyelid than an actual color. â€Å"Oh yeah, you and Steve,† the narrator said snidely. â€Å"There’s a healthy couple – the two greatest has-beens of all time. He’s sulking, and you’re robbing people who are even nuttier than you are. Now you’re going to feed them to old lizard lick over there.† â€Å"Am not.† â€Å"Looks like none of these people has had any sun or exercise since high school gym class. Except for that guy who came in Birkenstocks, and he has that Gandhi-tan vegetarian starvation stare that looks like he’d slaughter a whole kindergarten for a Pink’s foot-long with sauer-kraut. You feel okay about making them strip and prostrate themselves before the big guy?† â€Å"I thought it would make them go away.† â€Å"The lizard is using you.† â€Å"We care about each other. Now just shut up. I’m trying to think.† â€Å"Oh, like you’ve been thinking so far.† Molly shook her head violently to try and dislodge the narrator from her mind. Her hair whipped about her face and shoulders and stood out in a wild mess. The narrator was quiet. Molly pulled a compact out of one of the pilgrims’ purses and looked at herself in the mirror. She certainly couldn’t have looked much crazier. She braced for the narrator’s comment, but it didn’t come. She tried to get in touch with the warm feeling that had been running through her since Steve had appeared, but it just wasn’t there. Maybe the pilgrims were using up his energy. Maybe the magic had just passed. She remembered sitting on a deck in Malibu, waiting for a producer who had just made love to her, only to have his Hispanic maid show up with a glass of wine and an apology that â€Å"The mister had to go to the studio, he very sorry, you call him next week please.† Molly had really liked the guy. She’d broken her foot kicking his spare Ferrari as she left and had to eat painkillers through the filming of her next movie, which eventually put her in detox. She never heard from the producer again. That was being used. This was different. â€Å"Right,† said the narrator sarcastically. â€Å"Shhhhh,† Molly said. She heard someone scuffling on the rocks outside the cave. She snatched up the assault rifle and waited just inside the cave mouth. Twenty-seven Val Val was wishing she had a video recorder to preserve the gargantuan lie that Mavis Sand and Howard Phillips had been telling over the last hour. According to them, ten years ago the village of Pine Cove had been visited by a demon from hell, and only through the combined effort of a handful of drunks were they able to banish the demon whence it came. It was a magnificent delusion, and Val thought that she could at least get an aca-demic paper on shared psychosis out of it. Being around Gabe had ignited her enthusiasm for research. When Mavis and Howard wrapped up their story, Catfish started in with his tale of being pursued through the bayou by a sea monster. Soon Gabe and Val were spouting the details of Gabe’s theory that the monster had evolved the ability to affect the brain chemistry of its prey. Tipsy after a few Bloody Marys and taken by the momentum of the tale, Val confessed her replacement of Pine Cove’s supply of antidepressants with placebos. Even as she unburdened herself, Val realized that her and Gabe’s stories were no more credible than the fairy tale Mavis and Howard had just told. â€Å"That Winston Krauss is a weasel,† Mavis said. â€Å"Comes in here every day acting like his shit don’t stink, then overcharges the whole town for something they ain’t even gettin. Should’a known he was a fish-fucker.† â€Å"That’s in strictest confidence,† Val said. â€Å"I shouldn’t have mentioned it.† Mavis cackled. â€Å"Well, it ain’t like I’m gonna run tell Sheriff Burton on you. He’s weasel with a capital Weas. Besides, girl, you increased my business by eighty percent when you took the wackos off their drugs. And I thought it was old Mopey down there.† Mavis shot a bionic thumb toward Catfish. The Bluesman put down his drink. â€Å"Hey!† Gabe said, â€Å"So you believe that there really is a sea monster on that ranch?† â€Å"What reason would you have to lie?† said Howard. â€Å"It would seem that Mr. Fish is an eyewitness as well.† â€Å"Jefferson,† Catfish said. â€Å"Catfish Jefferson.† â€Å"Shut up, you chickenshit,† Mavis spat. â€Å"You could have helped Theo when he asked you. What’s that boy think he’s doing following that sheriff out to the ranch anyway? It’s not like he can do anything.† Gabe said, â€Å"We don’t know. He just left and told us to come here and wait for his call.† â€Å"Ya’ll some heartless souls,† Catfish said. â€Å"I lost me a good woman because of all this.† â€Å"She’s smarter than she looks,† Mavis said. â€Å"Theo has my Mercedes,† Val added, feeling out of place even as she said it. Suddenly she felt more ashamed of looking down on these people than she did about all of her professional indiscretions. â€Å"I’m getting worried,† said Gabe. â€Å"It’s been over an hour.† â€Å"I don’t suppose you thought about calling him?† Mavis asked. â€Å"You have his cell phone number?† Gabe asked. â€Å"He’s the constable. It’s not like he’s unlisted.† â€Å"I suppose I should have thought of that,† said Howard. Mavis shook her head and one of her false eyelashes sprung up like a snare trap. â€Å"What, you three got thirty years of college between you and not enough smarts to dial a phone without a blueprint?† â€Å"Astute observation,† Howard said. â€Å"I ain’t got no college,† Catfish said. â€Å"Well, cheers to you for being just naturally stupid,† Mavis said, picking up the phone. The daytime regulars at the end of the bar had snapped out of their malaise to have a laugh at Catfish. There’s nothing quite so satisfying to the desperate as having someone to look down on. Theo The gun barrel was pushed so hard into the spot behind Theo’s ear that he thought he could hear bone cracking. Burton reached around and took the .357 and tossed it aside, then he took the automatic from Theo’s waistband and did the same. â€Å"On the ground, facedown.† Burton kicked Theo’s feet out from under him, then put his knee in the constable’s back and handcuffed him. Theo could taste blood where his lip had split hitting the rock. He turned his head to the side, raking his cheek on some lichen. He was terrified. Every muscle in his body ached with the need to run. Burton smacked him across the back of the head with his pistol, not hard enough to knock him out, but when the white-hot light of the blow faded, Theo could feel blood oozing into his right ear. â€Å"You fucking stoner. How dare you fuck with my business?† â€Å"What business?† Theo said, hoping ignorance might buy his life. â€Å"I saw your car at the lab, Crowe. The last time I talked to Leander he was on his way to see you. Now where is he?† â€Å"I don’t know.† The pistol smacked Theo on the other side of the head. â€Å"I don’t fucking know!† Theo shrieked. â€Å"He was at the lab, then he was gone. I didn’t see him leave.† â€Å"I don’t care if he’s alive or dead, Crowe. And it doesn’t make any difference to you either. But I need to know. Did you kill him? Did he run? What?† â€Å"I think he’s dead.† â€Å"You think?† Theo could feel Burton rearing back to hit him again. â€Å"No! He’s dead. He’s dead. I know it.† â€Å"What happened?† Theo tried to think of a plausible explanation, something that would buy him a minute, a few more seconds even, but he couldn’t clear his head. â€Å"I’m not sure,† he said. â€Å"I?CI heard gunfire. I was in the shed. When I came out, he was gone.† â€Å"Then how do you know he’s dead?† Theo couldn’t see any advantage to telling Burton that Molly had told him. Burton would track her down and put her in the same shallow grave that he was going to end up in. â€Å"Fuck you,† Theo said. â€Å"Figure it out.† The pistol whipped across the back of Theo’s head and he nearly passed out this time. He heard a ringing in his ears, but a second later he realized that it wasn’t in his ears at all. His cell phone was ringing in his shirt pocket. Burton rolled him over and put the barrel of the gun on Theo’s right eyelid. â€Å"We’re going to answer this, Crowe. And if you fuck up, the calling party is going to hear a very loud disconnect.† The sheriff bent down until his face was almost touching Theo’s and reached for the phone. Suddenly a series of deafening explosions went off a few feet away and bullets whined off the rocks like angry wasps. Burton rolled off Theo and into a shallow crevice just below them. Theo felt someone grab his collar and pull him to his feet. Before he could see who it was, a dozen hands closed on him and dragged him out of the sun. He fell hard on his back and the gunfire stopped. His phone was still ringing. A cloud of bats was swirling above him. He looked up to see Molly Michon standing over him with a smoking assault rifle, and in that second, she looked like what he had always ima-gined an avenging angel might look like, except for the six naked white guys standing behind her. â€Å"Hi, Theo,† she said. â€Å"Hi, Molly.† Molly pointed to the phone in his shirt pocket with the barrel of her rifle. â€Å"You want me to get that?† â€Å"Yeah, it might be important,† Theo said. There was a gunshot and a bullet whined off the edge of the cave entrance and ricocheted into the darkness. Theo could feel the roar that rose up out of the back of the cave vibrating in his ribs. The Sheriff Burton reached over the edge of the crevice and fired a shot in the general direction of the cave, then braced himself for return fire from the AK-47, but instead he heard a roaring that sounded like someone had dropped the entire cast of The Lion King in a deep fryer. Burton was not a coward, not by any means, but a man would have to be insane not to be frightened by that noise. Too much weirdness, too fast. A woman in a leather bikini and thigh-high boots firing an AK-47 while six naked guys dragged Crowe into a cave. He needed time to regroup, call in backup, drink a fifth of Glenlivet. It seemed safe here for the time being. As long as he didn’t move, no one could get a firing angle on him without making a target of himself. He pulled his cell phone from his jacket pocket, then paused, trying to figure out who to call. A general officer-in-trouble call could bring anyone, and the last thing he needed was television helicopters hovering around. Besides, his goal wasn’t to arrest the suspects, he needed them silenced for good. He could call in the guys from the crank lab, if he could get hold of them, but the vision of a bunch of untrained illegal immigrants running around on this hill with automatic weapons didn’t seem like the best strategy either. He had to call SWAT, but only his guys. Eight of the twenty men on the SWAT team were in his pocket. Again, he couldn’t go through dispatch. They’d have to be called in on private lines. He dialed the number that rang into the information center deep in the basement of the county justic e building. The Spider picked up on the first ring. â€Å"Nailsworth.† â€Å"It’s Burton. Listen, don’t talk. Call Lopez, Sheridan, Miller, Morales, O’Hara, Crumb, Connelly, and LeMay. Tell them to come in full SWAT to the Beer Bar Ranch north of Pine Cove, the northern access road. There’s a cave here. Pull up whatever maps you need and give them directions. Do not use open channels. They are not to log in or report to anyone where they are going. There are at least two suspects in the cave with automatic weapons. I’m pinned down about ten yards from the west-facing entrance. Have them meet south of the rocks, they’ll see them, then have Sheridan call me. No aircraft. Find out if there’s another entrance to this cave. I need everyone in place ASAP. Can you do it?† â€Å"Of course,† the Spider said. â€Å"It’s going to take them a minimum of forty minutes, maybe more if I can’t find them all.† Burton could hear the Spider’s fat fingers blazing on his keyboard already. â€Å"Send whoever you can find. Tell them to come in separate cars. Tell them to avoid sirens if possible on the way up, definitely once they hit the ranch.† â€Å"Do you have descriptions of the suspects?† â€Å"It’s Theophilus Crowe and a woman, five-eight, one twenty, twenty-five to forty years old, gray hair, wearing a leather bikini.† â€Å"Twenty-five to forty? Pretty specific,† the Spider said sarcastically. â€Å"Fuck you, Nailsworth. How many women do you think are running around these hills wearing a leather bikini and shooting an AK? Call me when they are on the way.† Burton disconnected and checked the battery on the phone. It would last. Since the roaring sound had come from the cave, it had been quiet, but he didn’t dare peek over the edge of the crevice. â€Å"Crowe!† he shouted. â€Å"It’s not too late to work this out!† Theo The naked guys were standing over Theo, wearing dazed smiles, as if they’d all just shared a big pipe of opium. â€Å"Jesus, was that it?† Theo asked, Steve’s roar still ringing in his ears. â€Å"Him,† Molly corrected, holding up a finger to shush Theo as she pressed the answer button on his phone. â€Å"Hello,† she said into the phone. â€Å"None of your business. Who is this?† She covered the mouthpiece and said, â€Å"It’s Gabe.† â€Å"Tell him I’m okay. Ask him where he is.† â€Å"Theo says he’s okay. Where are you?† She listened for a second, then covered the mouthpiece again. â€Å"He’s at the Slug.† â€Å"Tell him I’ll call him right back.† â€Å"He’ll call you back.† She disconnected and tossed the phone in the pile of clothing by the door. Theo looked up at the naked guys. He thought he recognized a couple of them, but didn’t want to acknowledge that he did. â€Å"Would you guys back off a little?† Theo said. They didn’t move. Theo looked at Molly. â€Å"Can you tell them to go somewhere? They’re making me nervous.† â€Å"Why?† â€Å"Molly, I don’t know if you’ve notice, but all these guys are in a – a state of arousal.† â€Å"Maybe they’re just glad to see you.† â€Å"Would you tell them to back off, please?† Molly motioned for the naked guys to move away. â€Å"Go. Go. Back to the back of the cave, guys. Go. Go. Go.† She poked at a couple of them with the assault rifle. Slowly they turned and ambled farther back into the cave. â€Å"What in the hell is wrong with them?† â€Å"What do you mean, wrong? They’re acting like all guys do, they’re just being more honest about it.† â€Å"Molly, seriously, what did you do to them?† â€Å"I didn’t do anything. That’s how they’ve been acting since they saw Steve back there.† Theo looked to the back of the cave, but could only see the partially lit backs of a group of people sitting on the cave floor. â€Å"It’s like they’re in a trance or something.† â€Å"Yeah, isn’t it cool? They came to help me get you when I asked, though. So they’re not total zombies. I’m, like, in charge.† Blood was dripping out of Theo’s scalp, matting his hair and leaving spots on his shirt. â€Å"That’s great, Molly. Could you get these handcuffs off me?† â€Å"I was going to ask you about those. Every time I see you, you’re in handcuffs. Do you have a fetish or something?† â€Å"Please, Molly, there’s a key in my front pocket.† â€Å"He gave you the key?† â€Å"It’s my key.† â€Å"I see,† Molly said with a knowing smile. â€Å"Handcuffs all use the same key, Molly. Please help me get out of these.† She knelt and reached into his pocket, keeping her eyes locked on his through the process. His head throbbed when he rolled over so she could get to the cuffs. As she pulled them off, they heard Burton call from outside. â€Å"Crowe! It’s not too late to work this out!† Once his hands were free, Theo threw his arms around Molly and pulled her close. She dropped her rifle and returned his embrace. Another roar emanated from the back of the cave. A couple of the pilgrims shrieked and Molly let go of Theo and stood up, gazing back into the darkness. â€Å"It’s okay, Steve,† she said. â€Å"What in the hell was that?† Burton shouted from outside. â€Å"That was Steve,† Molly shouted back. â€Å"You were asking what happened to Joseph Leander. Well, that was it. Steve ate him.† â€Å"How many of you are in there?† Burton asked. Molly looked around. â€Å"A bunch.† â€Å"Who in the hell are you?† â€Å"I am Kendra, Warrior Babe of the Outland.† She shot a silly grin at Theo, who was trying to follow what was going on up here, while listening to some disturbing stirring noises going on in the back of the cave. â€Å"What do you want?† Burton asked. Without a beat, Molly said, â€Å"Ten percent of the gross on all my films, retroactive fifteen years, an industrial-strength weed-whacker with gas, and world peace.† â€Å"Seriously. We can work this out.† â€Å"Okay. I want sixty peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, a couple of gallons of Diet Coke, and†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She turned to Theo, â€Å"You want anything?† Theo shrugged. Hell, as long as they were stalling. â€Å"A new Volvo station wagon.† â€Å"And a new Volvo station wagon,† Molly shouted. â€Å"And we want it with two cup holders, you bastard, or the deal’s off.† She turned and beamed at Theo. â€Å"Nice touch.† â€Å"You deserve it,† Molly said. Suddenly her eyes went wide as she looked past Theo. â€Å"No, Steve!† she screamed. Theo rolled over to see a huge pair of jaws descending over him. How to cite The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove Chapter 26~27, Essay examples

Corporations and Securities Legislation Council †MyAssignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about the Corporations and Securities Legislation Council. Answer: Introduction The present report is developed for analysis and examination of the accounting and financial environment of a selected organization. This is done to evaluate the implications of the financial environment of an organization on the investment decisions of end-users. In this context, the report aims to presents an analysis of annual report of JB Hi-Fi Limited for evaluating its financial planning to support the decision-making process of end-users. The report for analyzing the financial position of the company has presented its brief summary describing its details such as industry sector, primary activities and its current performance. The details regarding the board of directors emphasizing on its composition, expertise and other information such as gender, age, education, career history and remuneration. In addition to this, it examines the financing decisions made by the company and its corporate governance policies. Also, it discusses the external audit function of the company in ac cordance with the ASX corporate governance. The measures taken by JB Hi-Fi for ensuring its business operations are in accordance with high level of ethical principles is also discussed in the report. Also, it evaluates the ownership stake of JB Hi-Fi and its financial statements through the help of ratio analysis. The JB Hi-Fi Limited is involved in retailing of home consumer products in Australia and New Zealand. The company operates in highly competitive retail sector of Australia and has achieved a recognized position in the sector through retailing of consumer goods such as DVDs, CDs, electronics and home appliances, blue-ray disc, musical instruments and many others. In addition to this, the company is also involved in providing information technology and consulting services. The company owns about 60 home branded stores out of which four are in New Zealand and has more than 190 physical retail stores in Australia and New Zealand. The company is recently emphasizing on establishing approx 75 home stores in Australia and New Zealand and as such is largely investing in its supply chain activities and training programs for employees. This is done by the company to support its plan of business expansion and thus supporting its long-term growth and development plan (JB Hi-Fi, 2017). The company has reported sales of about $3.95 billion in the year 2016 realizing an increase in sales of about 8.3% as compared to the previous year. In addition to this, the net profit after tax and earnings per share reported an increase of about 11.5% in the FY 2016 in comparison to the previous year. Also, the total divided also recorded a rise of about 10 per cent and gross profit of about 8.4 per cent. The company has achieved a competitive advantage in the highly competitive retails sector of Australia through reducing its operational costs by 15.2% in comparison to the proviso year. The balance sheet of the company has recorded a growth in strength with decrease in financial and operating leverage. Thus, it can be said that the company present financial condition is strong as reported from its recent annual report (JB Hi-Fi limited Annual Report, 2016). Board of Directors Details The Board of directors of the company holds the major responsibility of promoting long-term value of shareholders. The board holds the composition for ensuring that its members provide a range of expertise, skills, diversity and knowledge for promoting the long-term growth of the company (JB Hi-Fi limited Annual Report, 2016). The varying members of the board and their details can be explained through the use of a table as follows: Board Members Name Gender Designation Education Career History Remuneration Greg Richards Male Mr. Richard is presently working as Chairman Non-Executive Director of Board. He is also chairman of the remuneration committee of the company and of the audit and risk management committee. B.Ec (Hons) Mr. Richard before joining the company has worked in the banking industry. He possesses over 25 years of experience in the banking sector and also worked in Goldman Sachs JBWere for more than 19 years before joining the company. Mr. Richard ahs also worked in equity capital markets and is presently engaged in voluntary activities of serving various non-profit companies. $290,000 Richard Uechtritz Male Presently appointed as a non-executive director of the company - Mr. Uechtritz has over 20 years of experience in retail and is regarded to be the co-founder of photo chains of Rabbit Photo and Smiths Kodak Express. Also, he has remained a director of Kodak from where he resigned in the year 2010 before joining the board team of JB Hi-Fir in the year 2011. $130,000 Beth Laughton Female Presently working as non-executive director of the board of JB Hi-Fi B.Ec, FAICD, FCA Mrs. Laughton is a Chartered Accountant and has experience of over 25 years in corporate finance. She has also served as a board member of GPT Funds Management Limited and a non-executive director of the Sydney Ferries from the year 2004 to 2010. $166,093 Wai Tang Female Non-Executive Director BAppSC, MBA, GAICD Has carried out senior executive roles in Just Group and was also a general member of business development for Pacific brands. $115,201 Richard Murray Male Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director B.Comm, CA, GDipAppFin (Sec Inst), ASIA Chartered Accountant with over 20 years of experience in retail and finance sector. $2,750,596 Stephen Goddard Male Non-Executive Director MSc, BSc (Hons) Having 30 years of experience in retail and has carried out the role of senior executives in some of renowned retail companies in Australia - (Source: Jb Hi-Fi Limited , 2017) Assessment on the characteristics of the Board The Board of JB Hi-Fi holds the responsibility of promoting shareholder growth and is directly accountable to the shareholders. As such, the board members have the responsibility of monitoring and controlling the operations of the company on the shareholders perspectives. The board develops and implements the corporate governance policies for the company in order to ensure that business operations are carried out in honest, open and ethical manner (Henderson et al., 2015). The Chief Executive Officer is accountable to the board and carries out the responsibility of managing, directing and promoting the profitability of the company. The Board composition consists of various executive and non-executive directors that are appointed through the use of most adequate search process. This is done to ensure that board members having different skills, capabilities, backgrounds and gender for promoting diversity and thus facilitating effective decision-making (Weygandt, Kieso and Kimmel, 2010) . The board of the company has maintained that it promote diversity among its members in order to operate effectively. The board composition is reviewed regularly and currently have majority of non-executive directors on its board composition. The board composition currently consists of six directors, five non-executive directors including Chairman and a non-executive director. The board has maintained that its entire team members carries out their responsibility independently and acts in best interest of the company (JB Hi-Fi limited Annual Report, 2016). The directors of the company regularly discuss the issues facing the company for developing an effective resolution. The Board also seeks suggestions from the directors for resolving nay situation of conflict of interest in the company. The board members continually meet in order to discuss the issues faced by the company and the board papers are presented to the directors for reviewing. The board members have varying expertise as discussed in the above section and therefore are regarded to be component for effective resolution of problems faced by the company. The board members on the basis of their expertise can bested to be highly competent for promoting the sustainable growth of the company. The board members have developed various committees for monitoring and controlling the business operations (Horngren et al., 2012). The board committee includes audit and risk committee, remuneration and nomination committee. The audit and risk committee holds the responsibility of providing assistance to the board on the matters of financial management, financial disclosures, overseeing business performance and reviewing of company policies regarding risk assessment and management (Stickney et al., 2009). The remuneration committee provides suggestions to the Board regarding the remuneration structure of the key management personnel. On the other hand, the nomination committee holds the responsibility of developing formal procedures for selection of the board members and directors (JB Hi-Fi limited Annual Report, 2016). Investment or financing decisions made by JB-Hi-FI Ltd As analyzed form the directors review in the annual report of the company for the FY2016, the company is currently focusing on opening new home stores in both Australia and New Zealand. This is aimed by the company for supporting its plan of business expansion in order to improve its profitability position in highly competitive retail market of Australia. The home appliance market in Australia is currently regarded to have a value of about $4.6 billion that is greater in comparison to many other retail categories. Thus, the investment decisions made by JB Hi-Fi in home sector can be regarded to be appropriate as it will help in promoting the long-term growth of the company. The company is presently emphasizing largely on innovation and technology for supporting the growth of its home appliances sector. This will prove to be useful for the company for meeting its significant opportunity of growth in home appliance sector in future (JB Hi-Fi limited Annual Report, 2016). ASX CGC Principle Recommendations Delegation of adequate role to board and management The companies should effectively develop the board functions and management Effective Board Composition Maintaining the independency of Directors Promoting ethical decision-making Developing code of conduct Financial reporting Integrity Companies should develop audit committee for achieving integrity in financial processes Timeliness Develop written policies for their continues disclosures Protecting Shareholder Rights Promoting effective communication policies between companies and shareholders through arranging meetings Managing Risk Developing Risk committee Fair Remuneration Developing Remuneration committee for fair remuneration to the employees (Source: ASX Corporate Governance Council, 2014 ) Audit Firm of JB Hi-Fi Limited The auditing function of the company is carried out by Deloitte. The auditing firms as per the Corporations Act 2001 have declared that directors have maintained independency in carrying out their roles and responsibilities. The auditor report ha stated that the general purpose financial statement of the company is prepared in accordance with the AASB standards and Corporations Act 2001. The financial reports have thus provided a true and fair view of the accounting activities of the company (Australia, 2011). The auditors report ahs also declared that development of consolidated statements of the company as per the IFRS standards. The remuneration report of the company developed under the supervision of directors is also reviewed by auditors. The auditors have regarded that remuneration reports are developed as per the section 300A of the Corporations Act 2001. The Board has also maintained an effective internal control over the business operations through development of adequate bu siness polices and procedures (Weil, Schipper and Francis, 2013). The auditors ahs also stated that auditing of the company is carried out by maintaining independency as per the requirements of the Corporations Act 2001 (JB Hi-Fi limited Annual Report, 2016). The overall remuneration received by the auditors for the FY 2016 is $ 421,016 that comprises of remuneration recued or airing and reviewing of group and subsidiary financial statements and also of its IT services that can be depicted as follows: The company in order to ensure that business operations are carried out in honet and trspnect manner has adopted a Code of Conduct. The Code of Conduct is developed by the board members for promoting the adoption highest ethical standards in business operations (Palepu et al., 2007). The Code of Conduct provides guidance to the directors, executives and employees of the company about the acceptable behavior so that they carry out their responsibilities as per the ethical norms and policies. The key elements of the code of conduct of the company are respecting employees dignity, providing a safe and healthy workplace, recognizing the employees achievements, securing the confidential information of the customers, suppliers and employees and complying with the legal laws. The company has also provided specific guidelines to the employees for guiding them to implement the Code of Conduct in practices while carrying out their daily job activities (JB Hi-Fi limited Annual Report, 2016). Top five investors of JB-Hi-FI and their Ownership Stake As illustrated above, the major investors of the company are HSBC, JP Morgan, Citicorp, national Nominees and BNP. They hold the largest number of equity shares of the company and thus regarded to be major shareholders of JB Hi-Fi. In this context, it is essential for the company to carry out its business activities as per the interests of its shareholders for achieving long-term growth (Bazley, Hancock and Robinson, 2014). The Board of Directors in this context should ensure that company aims to maximize the shareholder returns through implementing sound business policies and activities (JB Hi-Fi limited Annual Report, 2016). The analysis of the financial statements of any company helps to interpret its financial performance in that year and also allows making comparison. In this section financial statement of year 2016 of JB HI FI are analyzed using the ratio analyses technique in order to report on the financial performance of the company. Liquidity analyses mean short term financial capability of the company to pay the short term or current liabilities. Current ratio and quick ratio is used to check the liquidity of the company. Current Ratio: This ratio calculates times the current assets is available with the company to pay the current liabilities. Current liabilities are those liabilities that are due in one year time period whereas current assets are assets that can be converted into cash and cash equivalents in very short period of time. The current asset of the company in year 2016 is 1.57 that indicates that there are sufficient current assets to deliver the amount of current liabilities as and when it is arises (JB HI Fi Limited Annual Report, 2016). Quick ratio: This ratio is similar to the current ratio the only difference is that it ignore the current assets that cannot be converted into cash and equivalents in short period of time like inventory and prepaid expenses. This ratio is termed as the true measure of liquidity position of the company. The quick ratio of the company is 0.57 times that shows that company actually has only 57% assets to the liabilities that can be used to pay them (JB HI Fi Limited Annual Report, 2016). Therefore it can be said that liquidity position of the company is very bad in year 2016 (Weygandt, Kieso, and Kimmel, 2010). This analysis provides the effectiveness of the company to use their resources to make the sales. Asset Turnover Ratio: This ratio provides the times the assets have been used to convert them into sales. It calculates the efficiency of the management on the allocation of assets in the cash generating units to earn more and more revenue. The asset turnover ratio of the company is 3.98 times that shows that company has able to uses the assets almost 4 times to earn that much sales. So it is worth saying that management has performed very well to earn high sales revenue (JB HI Fi Limited Annual Report, 2016). Leverage or Solvency analysis The leverage analysis shows how much debt capital is used by the company to finance the assets and process in the company. Debt Equity ratio: This ratio tells the times the debt capital employed by the management as against the equity capital. This ratio is really helpful in decision the capital structure of the company. Higher amount of debt capital is not good for the company as it generates the fixed charge on the company profits and decreases the overall profit of the company (JB HI Fi Limited Annual Report, 2016). The debt equity of the JB HI Fi Company is 1.45 times that clearly indicates that debt capital is almost 1.5 times the equity capital. This shows that capital of the company is not sound and company needs urgent attention to this (Weil, Schipper and Francis, 2013). This analysis provides capability of the company to earn the profits using the resources employed by the company. Net Profit Ratio: This ratio tells the percentage of net profit after tax earned on the total sales of the company. The net profit of the JB HI Fi Company is 3.85% that shows that company earned a profit which is less than the overall cost of capital of the company (JB HI Fi Limited Annual Report, 2016). Return on assets: This ratio calculates the percentage of profits earned using the total assets. The return on assets ratio of JB HI Fi Company is 15.33% that is above expectation of the management. So it can be said that profitability of the company is relatively weak as expected by the management (Palepu, 2007). The cash flow to sales ratio of the company is 4.68% that shows that company generates short of 5% cash of total sales from the operations (JB HI Fi Limited Annual Report, 2016). The EPS of the JB HI Fi Company is 153.76 cents per share and it has increased as compared to previous year (Stickney, 2009). Conclusion Thus, it can be summarized from overall analysis of annual report of JB Hi-Fi that the company is currently having a good financial position. The company operates in retail sector of Australia but has attained a competitive advantage through minimizing its operational costs. The board of Directors composition has ensured that the company has maintained high level of expertise in its board diversity for effective decision-making. The company is recently planning to invest in its home sector growth as Australian home sector is presently in a state of ongoing growth. Thus, the financing decision of the company to invest in home sector is appropriate for promoting its sustainable growth. The company has also adopted sound corporate governance policies as per the ASX Corporate Governance Council guidelines and recommendations. This ensures that the company carries out is operations in ethical manner and thus securing interest of its major shareholders. The auditor report has also declared the financial reports of the company to be in effective compliance with AASB and Corporations Act. At last, the ratio analysis of the company has indicated its sound financial growth in the current and future period of time. References ASX Corporate Governance Council. 2014. [Online]. Available at: https://www.asx.com.au/documents/asx-compliance/cgc-principles-and-recommendations-3rd-edn.pdf [Accessed on: 12 October 2017]. Australia. 2011. Australian Corporations Securities Legislation 2011: Corporations Act 2001, ASIC Act 2001, related regulations. CCH Australia Limited. Bazley, M., Hancock, P. and Robinson, P. 2014. Contemporary Accounting PDF. Cengage Learning Australia. Henderson, S. et al. 2015. Issues in Financial Accounting. Pearson Higher Education AU. Horngren, C. et al. 2012. Financial Accounting. Pearson Higher Education AU. JB Hi-Fi limited. 2016. Annual Report. JB Hi-Fi. 2017. [Online]. Available at: https://www.jbhifi.com.au/General/Corporate/Consumer-Matters/About-Us/ [Accessed on: 12 October 2017]. Palepu, K. et al. 2007. 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