How The Rich Benefit From The Poor Essays (5454 words) -

How The Rich Benefit From The Poor How the Rich Benefit From the Poor The United States is the most developed capitalist economy in the world. The markets within the economy provide profit-motivated companies endless potential in the pursuance of pecuniary accumulation. Throughout the twentieth-century competitive companies have implemented modernized managerial procedures designed to raise profits by reducing unnecessary costs. These cost-saving procedures have had a substantial effect on society and particularly members of the working class. Managers and owners of these competitive and self-motivated companies have consistently worked throughout this century to exploit the most controllable component of the production process: the worker. The worker has been forced by the influence of powerful and affluent business owners to work in conditions hazardous to their well being in addition to preposterously menial compensation. It was the masterful manipulation of society and legislation through strategic objectives that the low-wage workers were coerced into this position of destitute. The strategies of the affluent fragment of society were conceived for the selfish purpose of monetary gain. The campaigns to augment the business position within the capitalist economy were designed to weaken organized labor, reduce corporate costs, gain legislative control and reduce international competition at the expense of the working class. The owners have gained and continue to gain considerable wealth from these strategies. To understand why the owners of the powerful companies operate in such a selfish manner, we must look at particular fundamentals of both capitalism and corporation strategy. Once these rudiments are understood, we will more clearly relate the perspective of the profit-seeking corporations of America. Legal discussion will also be included to show how the capital possessing elite operate through political parties to achieve their financial objectives. It is the synergist effect of these nu merous strategies that have lead to the widening income gap in America, persistent attempts of contraction in workers rights and increased corporate political influence. These campaigns have come at an expense to Americans and will only continue to benefit the affluent society. Creating Corporate Value The United States is a capitalist economy. In a capitalist economy individuals who wish to gain wealth can invest their capital into markets in hopes of future returns. If this investment gains in value then the investor has earned a return, which can be reinvested. This creates a cycle of investing and reinvesting for potential future return. This wealth creating cycle is a fairly simple concept to understand, but wealthy individuals have learned to fabricate this cycle into different situations. A common form of investment is purchasing and selling of corporate stocks. The stock market works like all markets on the fundamental theory of supply and demand. The more demand for a stock the higher it is valued and conversely the less demand the less it is valued. Corporations are legal entities which issue stock to investors who purchase them and become shareholders of the company. The risk taken by investors is that when they buy stocks it is possible that the individual company will not do well, or that stock prices will generally weaken. At worst, it is possible to lose entire investments, but no more then that. Therefor, shareholders of a corporation are not responsible for corporate debts. So, a corporation would be a very attractive type of investment for potential investors to consider. Corporations compete against each other in markets in the United States and around the world. These corporations have employees who perform various functions that contribute to successful strategic goal completion. Corporations often will offer stock incentive plans strategically to employees in positions of importance. The enticement to employees is to work in a manner that will increase the value of the company and their shares of stock. These incentive plans were strategically developed by major shareholders because the corporate executives felt that people would be motivated to increase their own wealth. Most employees are motivated by money and will work harder when the chance is given for more money. The very nature of this strategy consolidates all the employees to act as one self-motivated entity in the pursuit of monetary accumulation. In Piven and Clowards Regulating the Poor, this point is illustrated: Capitalism, however, relies primarily upon

Paper 5

Paper 5 Paper 5 Sarah Goodman Ms. Redden ENG W233-12 11 November 2014 Stress With College Students â€Å"How am I going to get all of this homework and studying done by Tuesday?† I said to my freshman-self as I sat at my cluttered desk on a Friday night after finishing a shift at work. I felt so inexperienced and immature. â€Å"I won’t always feel like this†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I thought while looking at five assignment sheets at once, â€Å"surely I will get used to this workload eventually.† Little did I know I would experience this same overwhelming feeling of stress that filled me in my first year of college, almost every day of my college career. The type of question I asked myself that night is one that I still often find myself asking throughout the span of each passing semester. Constant thoughts of assignments, exams, work schedules, countless deadlines, and not to mention, when I plan to sleep, fill my mind every minute of every day. I felt, and still frequently feel, so overpowered by negative emotions regarding all of the responsibilities that come with being a successful college student. I am not alone with these negative feelings toward stress. Among most college students that I know and have been in contact with, all say that they endur e tremendous amounts of stress that are related to their college careers. Most times, this stressful feeling that students experience is the result of factors such as, overcrowded schedules due to work and classes, as well as all of the work that must be completed in order to do well in college courses. For most college students, stress is something that is inevitable and is difficult to treat or overcome. Today, more and more students attend college universities and with this, arises a significant increase in stress among this generation of college attendees. With today’s college students being plunged into very intellectually and physically demanding courses, majors, and classroom atmospheres, stress has become a common idea that is associated with everyday college student life. When facing this ongoing stress almost everyday, students do not often realize the negative effects that can influence them mentally and physically. While students do not always consider these adverse consequences, they still exist, and have been researched widely by many concerned academics and specialists. The past research done on this topic has shown that stress and its negative effects are both increasing problems among college students and the means of treatment for stress are widespread and still significantly unused. Although research has touched on many elements of stress with college students, not all results stemming from the research is clear in answering certain questions. Can college students actually treat their stress? What are the best ways to treat stress for college students? Can college students turn stressful factors into positive ones? Do different demographics of people including gender, age, and race; have different ways of treating stress? In this generation of students, the issue of stress and its negative effects is relevant to everyone attending college and to the families and friends of those attending college. These unfavorable outcome s can considerably impact students’ overall health and wellbeing. It is important for everyone to be aware of the increasing problem of stress in college student lives and how the negative effects of it may impact their health. In order to actively support and improve the health and knowledge of college students, this issue must be considered. There are several key terms that will be used throughout this argument that have a specific meaning linked to the topic of stress. Stressors are closely related to the negative aspects of stress in that they are all of the people, things, and situations that cause one’s stress and the negative effects from it. Stressors can vary from things such as schoolwork, relationships, jobs, and pressure to do well. Coping

Dorothy Parker, The Waltz Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Dorothy Parker, The Waltz - Research Paper Example She reveals the reality of the treatment of women by men and shows how they were trapped in a male-dominated society during the twentieth century. It is an autobiographical account of her experience which involved sexism and how she conforms to the expectations of the society. The opening lines express the relationship between man and woman which is that of hatred yet there is a sense of dependence both inherent and induced through social pressure. In response to a simple question â€Å"would you like to dance?† a woman is often heard to reply in the affirmative. However the opening lines tell the reader that the female character is unwilling to do so. In fact her sentiments are so strong that it appears that she is completely frustrated with the cliched gestures that women show towards men as a weaker sex: â€Å"I don’t want to dance with him. I don’t want to dance with anybody. And even if I did, it wouldn’t be with him. He'd be well among the last ten. I've seen the way he dances. Just think, not a quarter of an hour ago, here I was sitting, feeling so sorry the poor girl he was dancing with. and now I'm going to be that poor girl.† (Parker 1942) As one reads on through the story he realizes that it is rather a satirical parody of women’s attitude towards men. ... The monologue, through which the entire story is narrated, is a true expression of the speaker which is not only outright but also comforting. The language used is very concrete and feminine. It not only parodies the feminine language but also the masculine aspect of it making it all the more interesting. The rhetorical question that the story poses is about the possible response a female can give to a man who is offering her to dance with him (Pettit 241). For Parker, being smart and cute were the only two available attitudes for her as a woman in the early twentieth century. This shows that the story has a quasi-autobiographical discourse. The way she incorporates the textual environment of the early 1930s is a remarkable achievement of the author who accepted and resisted using the language of popular literature in all her works. The complex parodic paradigm of the use of language in the short fiction is an aspect which drives more attention to the story than just its appearance i n a particular magazine in a particular time period (Bennett112). The question â€Å"would you like to dance?† is a unique speech act which lies somewhere between a command and a genuine question. The face value of this question is a freedom of choice for the women but it is the situation where she is asked that she is compelled to reply in affirmative even if she does not want to. She does have the freedom to decline but she is also elated by the fact that someone at least asked her. The story suggests that women find an agency through humor and the speech-act that it allows is a limited agency. Parker combines and represents the words of the women which allows for them to share the humor which leads to a

Quality Leadership and the Technology Manager Research Paper

Quality Leadership and the Technology Manager - Research Paper Example From the discussion it is clear that  technology Management refers to a class of management principles that permit organizations to have control of their technological essentials to dictate competitive power. Typical ideas exercised in technology control normally follow as technology plans – a sense or task of technology within an organization. The other ideas follow as technology forecasting. This refers to noting of probable appropriate technologies for an organization, possibly through technology inspection. The second idea follows as technology road mapping; this means mapping technologies to businesses plus market requirements. Technology project portfolio falls as the third idea; it refers to a set of projects under expansion.  This report  will explain in details the materials used in research. The research used seven sources to come up with its findings. Below follows a detailed review of the seven sources of the research material. Quality management: creating an d sustaining organizational effectiveness stands as the leading book in the research. The author named Donna Summers compares a business to a kaleidoscope. He says that destructing the nature of the patterns of a kaleidoscope mirrors will only form a new pattern. This links to a business in the logic that managers set patterns to bring achievement and if a destruction or failure occurs it means that new pattern is formed. The second book talks about the fundamental values of total quality and stress on high performing management practices. It gives examples of wealthy existing leading organizations throughout the globe. The writing portrays quality as it emphasizes the practical aspects of managerial focus and relevant technical topics. The book covers most of the knowledge needed for management certification. It stands as everything managements would require, at the present and throughout their operations, this will make sure quality management comes to succeed. The third writing, authored by Robert Emerson referrers to as Business Law; the book written in Barron's Business Review Series focuses on the significances of legal assumptions in the day to day business sector, referring to such topics as tort responsibility, government policy, contracts, ecological law, product accountability, consumer protection, and international law, among many other subjects. Also, discussed in details are the legal aspects of franchises, partnership and corporations, and exceptional topics that comprise of business misdemeanors, property as a lawful concept, rational property, plus similar, relevant topics. The book c

A comparative analysis of international business environment in china Essay

A comparative analysis of international business environment in china and russia to determine which of these countries is in better position to succeed in the new global economy - Essay Example In light of this, globalization refers to the progression towards unifying business interactions across the global platform as opposed to within a given country or organization’s locality. It is the framework upon which international business is structured, and is the direction that business transactions are taking in recent times. However, there are various conditions that define the international business environment, and as such, this affects the success rates of various nations in succeeding in the new global economy. To this end, a comparative evaluation between Russia and China can highlight their viability in the new global economy. As such, Russia stands a better chance of succeeding in the international business environment and being the future of the new global economy when analyzed against China. For a start, Russia’s foray into the international platform started with its rich history as highlighted by its supremacy during the cold war. The cold war was a period of military and power tussle between the countries of the eastern and western blocks after the end of the 2nd World War (Bellacqua 2010, p. 99). The Western Bloc was largely represented by the United States while the Eastern Bloc was represented by Russia, then known as the USSR, and its allies. The cold war was largely psychological and never developed into a full-blown war. However, by being part of it, Russia gained a lot of exposure and experience in worldly relations and overall familiarity with international participation in matters of both national and international interest (Levin 2008, p. 154). As such, this gives it a much needed head start in being a globalization and international business powerhouse, as it has better experience in international relations. In order to succeed in globalization, inte rnational relations is of particularly significant importance as international business involved relations between nations and regions in

Huge Inflammatory Myofibroblastic Tumor in Teenager

Huge Inflammatory Myofibroblastic Tumor in Teenager Abstract Background: Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor (IMT) is a rare benign neoplasm. The huge IMT of chest is even rarely observed and there is few literatures described the disease. Case presentation: A 17-year-old girl who suffered from a dry cough with right chest pain. Contrast-enhanced CT showed a huge heterogeneous mass with calcified plaques. A surgical management strategy was successfully undertaken. Increasing physician awareness of this entity should facilitate recognition of its clinical characteristics and laboratory findings. Conclusions: This case suggests that a rarely huge and surgically treated IMT in a teenager and concerned with the radioclinical, histopathological, therapeutic aspects of this disease. Keywords Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor, Lung, Surgery Background Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor (IMT) is a rare benign tumor that often affects children. It has been first described by Brunn in 1939 [1] and it accounts for 0.71% of all lung tumors. [2, 3]. The origin of the IMT is unknown, but recent studies have shown that it is a true tumor rather than a reaction process [4]. Different terms used to describe IMT include inflammatory pseudotumor, cellular inflammatory pseudotumor, plasma cell granuloma and inflammatory fibrosarcoma. This lesion consists of inflammatory cells and myofibroblastic spindle cells [5, 6]. We report a case with a rarely huge and surgically treated IMT in a teenager and concerned with the radioclinical, histopathological, therapeutic aspects of this disease. Case presentation A 17-year-old girl was referred to our hospital with a 15 days history of right chest and cough without sputum. She denied the following symptoms including the presence ofhoarseness, hemoptysis, anddyspnea. Her medical history and family history were uneventful. Physical examination revealed normal breath sounds in both of the lung fields. The results of laboratory examinations, including arterial blood gases, hematology tests and biochemistry tests, were within normal limits. Her Pulmonary function tests and cardiovascular examination revealed normal performance. Contrast-enhanced chest computed tomography (CT) showed an 18Ãâ€"16Ãâ€"15 cm heterogeneous mass with calcified plaques invading the entire right hemithorax and mediastinal shift to the left (Fig 1A, 1B). However, the patient refused to have the bronchoscopic examination and fine-needle biopsy of the mass. As diagnosis was not established through imaging, surgery was scheduled. Under general anesthesia with selective intub ation, a huge mass (measuring 20Ãâ€"17Ãâ€"17 cm and weighing 2010g) with inferior vena cava and right pericardium invasion was found and the right middle and lower lobes bronchus appeared encased by the mass. At last, the neoplasm was completely excised. The patient underwent a right middle and lower lobectomy, inferior vena cava angioplasty and partial resection of pericardium. Mediastinal lymph node dissection was also accomplished. The feeding vessels of the mass were ligated and the mass was removed without tumor spillage or capsular injury. After that, reexpansion of the right upper lobe was observed and a chest tube was placed to drain the pleural cavity. A postoperative roentgenogram of the chest showed that the mediastinum had returned to its normal position and the right lung was well expanded. Microscopic examination revealed a proliferation of regular spindle cells arrayed in fascicles, admixed with lymphocytes, plasma cells and eosinophils. Additional immunohistochemis try with anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-1 and smooth muscle actin (SMA) revealed positive and the translocation of the ALK gene was found by fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH). The results for desmin, S-100, CD99, CD34, Myogenin, EMA and pankeratin were negative. Ki-67 proliferative activity was 8%. Based on these data, the diagnosis of inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor was retained. Histologic diagnosis showed a negative bronchial margin and lymph nodes free of malignancy. The patient made an uneventful postoperative recovery and was followed up for two months without evidence of recurrence to date. Conclusions Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor (IMT) is a rare massforming lesion characterized by fibroblastic or myofibroblastic spindle cell proliferation with varying degrees of inflammatory cell infiltration. The World Health Organization (WHO) classified IMT as a distinct entity in 1994 [7]. However, the huge inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor of chest is even rarely observed and there is few literatures described the disease (Table). The cause of IMT tumors is unclear, but an immunological response to an infectious agent or noninfectious agent remains possible [8]. Whereas some reporters demonstrated that IMT tumors are true neoplasms and some believe the IMT tumors to be a low-grade sarcoma with inflammatory cells as it has a potential for local recurrence, infiltration, multicentricity, and rarely metastases [9]. Also, ALK positivity is detected in 36% to 60% of cases and the presence of chromosomal aberrations in these tumors suggests that IMT is a neoplastic proliferation of clonal or igin [10]. In our case, there was no evidence of infection or inflammatory response and no history of trauma in her chest. The tumor was single and circumscribed, and movable. The IMT affects both sexes, at any ages, with a slight predominance in children and young adults [4, 11]. Most patients are asymptomatic and the tumor is discovered incidentally on a chest X-ray performed for another reason [4, 11].From the table, all of the four patients were young adults and were referred to the hospital with a common symptom of cough. In our patient, the tumor was discovered at an early age and the only symptoms were dry cough and right chest pain. Radiological aspects are capricious. Chest radiographs are the most generally performed imaging study to evaluate the neoplasm. Most patients have a mass or a pulmonary nodule, generally measuring 1 to 6 cm in diameter [12]. On CT scans, these tumors shows typically heterogenous attenuating enhancement [6]. Sometimes the tumor can extend towards the hilum, mediastinum, pleura or diaphragm [1, 3]. As recorded in the table, all the sizes of masses were huge and two of them were observed the invasion of the mediastinal or the chest wall. There is also a word of caution in our case that the representative calcifications were observed in the centure of heterogeneous mass and it invaded the inferior vena cava and right pericardium. Microscopically the IMT tumor consists of spindle shaped cells that are mixed with a chronic inflammatory component that consists of plasma cells, lymphocytes, and occasional histiocytes. Immunohistochemistry for ALK discovered cytogenetic abnormalities on chromosome 2p23 is relatively specific for IMF tumor among the spectrum of fibroblastic-myofibroblastic tumors and other potential mesenchymal mimics of IMF tumor [13]. The recent WHO classification of soft tissue tumors recognizes 3 basic variants of IMT: (1) loosely organized myofibroblasts in an edematous myxoid background with plasma cells, lymphocytes, eosinophils, and blood vessels, resembling nodular fasciitis; (2) dense aggregates of spindle cells arrayed in a variable myxoid and collagenized background and admixed with a distinctive inflammatory infiltrate, diffuse clusters of plasma cells, and lymphoid nodules, resembling fibrous histiocytoma or fibromatosis; and (3) collagen sheets with scattered plasma cells and eosinop hils resembling a scar or desmoid tumor [14]. The differential diagnosis of IMT is follicular dendritic cell tumor and inflammatory pseudotumor. Follicular dendritic cell sarcoma (FDCS), which was first reported by Monda et al. in 1986, is a rare neoplastic proliferation that exhibits the morphological and immunophenotypic features of FDCS that are among the accessory cells of the lymphoid system. The tumor cells exhibited positive immunohistochemical staining for vimentin, CD21 and CD35 as well as negative staining for ALK-1 and SMA. Inflammatory pseudotumors are benign tumors commonly found in the lung and they are characterized by proliferation of spindle cells (fibroblasts and myoblasts), with variable numbers of mitoses, and inflammatory cells infiltration, particularly plasma cells. More recently, the presence of anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK 1) staining in some cases has been postulated to be of value in the confirmation of IMT and in its distinction from other entities. A series of studies found the translocation of th e ALK gene by fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) in IMT (16). In our case, the mass was spindle cell lesion with severe atypism and some mitosis. As shown in Fig 2 (A, B, C), ganglion-like cells were present and the immunohistochemistry result for ALK-1 shows strong positivity of tumor cytoplasm and translocation of the ALK gene. Based on these findings, her tumor may be very aggressive. Despite IMT is a benign tumor, it is considered by some authors as a low grade tumor because of malignant features such as local invasiveness, recurrence or malignant transformation. Complete surgical resection is the appropriate treatment for IMT. Cerfolio and colleagues reported an excellent prognosis in patients undergoing complete resection of pulmonary IMT, with a 5-year survival rate of 91.3%. However, a 60% recurrence rate in those receiving incomplete resection has been reported in the same study [15]. Corticosteroid monotherapy may result in rapid resolution of the disease and sustained remission (17, 18). Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents (NSAIDs) as solitary therapy may be extremely efficacious and anecdotal response to chemotherapy has also been reported (19). As the literature reviewed in the table, three patients had the operations by a standard posterolateral thoracotomy. Among them, two patients had the lobectomy and the other had the complete resection with two through fourth ribs. The patient whose neoplasm invaded superior vena cava, heart atrium and right pulmonary vein underwent chemotherapy with bleomicin, etoposide and cisplatin. After two cycles of chemotherapy, the tumorslightly reduced in size and the patient only survived for 12 months. In summary, inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor is a rare benign tumor. Because of its local invasiveness and its tendency to recur, IMT tumor can be confused with malignant lesions. Because the treatment of IMT tumor is conservative surgery, preoperative recognition is important to avoid radiation therapy, and intensive multi-agent chemotherapy that would be appropriate treatments for soft tissue sarcomas. Clinical and radiological presentation is variable and nonspecific and the diagnosis is rarely made before chirurgical management. Also, because the tumor with cellular atypia, ganglion-like cells, ALK and SMA reactivity has a more aggressive clinical behavior, a careful follow-up is required. Figure legend Figure 1: CT features of the case. A and B: Contrast-enhanced CT showed a huge heterogeneous mass with calcified plaques. Figure 2: Histological and immunoistochemical features. A: Hematoxylin-eosin staining demonstrating spindle cells sprinkled, with a predominance of plasma cells and lymphocytes. (X400) B: Immunohistochemical staining showing strong reactivity for anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-1(X400) C: Immunohistochemical staining showing strong reactivity for smooth muscle actin (SMA) (X400) 1

Telecommunication :: essays research papers

Fuzzy Sets and Systems Lotfi A. Zadeh, The founder of fuzzy logic comp.ai.fuzzy New fuzzy archive by thread. Fuzzy Logic Tools and Companies. General sources of fuzzy information. Maintained by Bob John. Conferences and Workshops on Fuzzy Systems: 1990-2001 From the Parallel and Distributed Processing Laboratory of the Department of Applied Informatics, University of Macedonia, Thessaloniki, Greece World Federation on Soft Computing Artificial Intelligence-related Frequently Asked Questions Professional Organizations and Networks International Fuzzy Systems Association (IFSA) IFSA is a worldwide organization dedicated to the support and development of the theory of fuzzy sets and systems and related areas and their applications, publishes the International Journal of Fuzzy Sets and Systems, holds International conferences, establishes chapters and sponsors other activities. Japan Society for Fuzzy Theory and Systems (SOFT) Established in 1989. SOFT has 1,670 individual members and 74 company members, publishes an official bimonthly journal and organizes fuzzy systems symposiums. There are 8 regional branches and 8 research groups in SOFT. Berkeley Initiative in Soft Computing (BISC) BISC Program is the world-leading center for basic and applied research in soft computing. The principal constituents of soft computing (SC) are fuzzy logic (FL), neural network theory (NN) and probabilistic reasoning (PR), with the latter subsuming belief networks, evolutionary computing including DNA computing, chaos theory and parts of learning theory. North American Fuzzy Information Processing Society (NAFIPS) As the premier fuzzy society in North America established in 1981, our purpose is to help guide and encourage the development of fuzzy sets and related technologies for the benefit of mankind. Please mail questions/comments to the NAFIPS president (president@nafips.org) or to the NAFIPS web site maintainer (webmaster@nafips.org). Spanish Association of Fuzzy Logic and Technologies Promotes and disseminates the methods, techniques and developments of Fuzzy Logic and Technologies; Establish relations with other national or international Associations with similar aims; Organizes seminars and round tables on Fuzzy Logic and Technologies. Fuzzy Research Groups in Spain. The European Society for Fuzzy Logic and Technology (EUSFLAT) Established in 1998. The main goal of EUSFLAT are to represent the European fuzzy community of IFSA. To become a member of EUSFLAT please fill in the registration form. Hungarian Fuzzy Society Established in 1998. Honorary president: Tibor VÃ ¡mos. President: Imre Rudas. EUROFUSE Working Group on Fuzzy Sets of EURO Established in 1975. The purpose of EUROFUSE is to communicate and promote the knowledge of the theory of fuzzy sets and related areas and their applications. Telecommunication :: essays research papers Fuzzy Sets and Systems Lotfi A. Zadeh, The founder of fuzzy logic comp.ai.fuzzy New fuzzy archive by thread. Fuzzy Logic Tools and Companies. General sources of fuzzy information. Maintained by Bob John. Conferences and Workshops on Fuzzy Systems: 1990-2001 From the Parallel and Distributed Processing Laboratory of the Department of Applied Informatics, University of Macedonia, Thessaloniki, Greece World Federation on Soft Computing Artificial Intelligence-related Frequently Asked Questions Professional Organizations and Networks International Fuzzy Systems Association (IFSA) IFSA is a worldwide organization dedicated to the support and development of the theory of fuzzy sets and systems and related areas and their applications, publishes the International Journal of Fuzzy Sets and Systems, holds International conferences, establishes chapters and sponsors other activities. Japan Society for Fuzzy Theory and Systems (SOFT) Established in 1989. SOFT has 1,670 individual members and 74 company members, publishes an official bimonthly journal and organizes fuzzy systems symposiums. There are 8 regional branches and 8 research groups in SOFT. Berkeley Initiative in Soft Computing (BISC) BISC Program is the world-leading center for basic and applied research in soft computing. The principal constituents of soft computing (SC) are fuzzy logic (FL), neural network theory (NN) and probabilistic reasoning (PR), with the latter subsuming belief networks, evolutionary computing including DNA computing, chaos theory and parts of learning theory. North American Fuzzy Information Processing Society (NAFIPS) As the premier fuzzy society in North America established in 1981, our purpose is to help guide and encourage the development of fuzzy sets and related technologies for the benefit of mankind. Please mail questions/comments to the NAFIPS president (president@nafips.org) or to the NAFIPS web site maintainer (webmaster@nafips.org). Spanish Association of Fuzzy Logic and Technologies Promotes and disseminates the methods, techniques and developments of Fuzzy Logic and Technologies; Establish relations with other national or international Associations with similar aims; Organizes seminars and round tables on Fuzzy Logic and Technologies. Fuzzy Research Groups in Spain. The European Society for Fuzzy Logic and Technology (EUSFLAT) Established in 1998. The main goal of EUSFLAT are to represent the European fuzzy community of IFSA. To become a member of EUSFLAT please fill in the registration form. Hungarian Fuzzy Society Established in 1998. Honorary president: Tibor VÃ ¡mos. President: Imre Rudas. EUROFUSE Working Group on Fuzzy Sets of EURO Established in 1975. The purpose of EUROFUSE is to communicate and promote the knowledge of the theory of fuzzy sets and related areas and their applications.