Dr. Brenda J. Little Essays - Mississippi, Electrochemistry

Dr. Brenda J. Little Dr. Brenda J. Little of the Naval Research Laboratory Stennis Space Center is the recipient of the 1995 Women in Science and Engineering Award. This award recognizes specific or special scientific or technical contributions by a woman scientist in the Federal service and specific contributions made by a woman scientist toward encouraging young girls and women to pursue science or engineering careers, or enhance employment, promotional or development opportunities for women scientists in their field. Dr. Little, head of the Microbiologically Influenced Corrosion Section at NRL, has worked on MIC projects for the Department of Energy and the U. S. Army, and has served as a consultant to the U. S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Atomic Energy Laboratory of Canada. In addition to her accomplishments in basic research, Dr. Little also works on U. S. Navy platforms to identify and control MIC. Her research has been used to determine the cause of corrosion failures in weapons systems, seawater piping systems, storage tanks and other U. S. Navy equipment. She is currently investigating fungal growths on wooden spools and corrosion of wire ropes used to transfer people and weapons between ships. In 1988 Dr. Little received a patent award for an innovative dual-cell corrosion measuring device, the only published technique for quantifying the electrochemical impact of microorganisms on metal surfaces. In 1985 she was selected by the National Science Foundation as one of eight American Scientists to attend a workshop on biodeterioration in La Plata, Argentina, and to attend a similar NSF workshop in Paris, France in 1988. Dr. Little is an adjunct professor at the University of Southern Mississippi and Montana State University, and has collaborative research with investigators at Harvard University, University of Southern California, University of South Alabama, University of Tennessee, Texas A&M University, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Naval Undersea Warfare Center, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The Singing River Chapter of the American Business Women's Association selected Dr. Little as one of the ten 1990 Women of the Year on the Gulf Coast for her participation in programs for women in science and technology. She has been keynote speaker for several Women in Science and Technology Conferences for the Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, has participated in career day programs sponsored by the Girl Scouts Chapters of Mississippi, and has presented lectures at honors classes in chemistry and biology and local schools. She is a member of the American Chemical Society, the Adhesion Society, the Electrochemical Society, the National Association of Corrosion Engineers, Sigma Xi, Federally Employed Women, and the Mississippi Academy of Science. She has served the Gulf Coast Chapter of Sigma Xi as secretary, president-elect, president and past president. In addition to numerous performance awards, Dr. Little was selected for "Who's Who in Technology Today" and "American Men and Women in Science" in 1986, received NRL publications awards in 1981 and 1986, received an invention award and Best NRL Patent Award for 1989, and the NRL Alan Berman Research Publication Award in 1994.

Pinochets Medical Report Essays - RTT, Augusto Pinochet

Pinochets 'Medical Report' Essays - RTT, Augusto Pinochet Pinochets 'Medical Report' pinochets 'medical report' Senator Pinochet has a complex medical history, but the main active medical problems at present are diabetic peripheral neuropathy and recently progressive cerebrovascular brain damage. The diabetic neuropathology is contributing to difficulties in walking and to the observed tendency to postural hypertension. The diabetes will also have predisposed to arterial disease as will a past history of smoking The cerebrovascular disease has manifested partly as minor strokes and transient asthmatic attacks but also causes progressive damage without acute symptoms. There is clinical evidence of extensive damage to the brain. This includes bilateral damage to pyramidal tracts to cause spasticity symptoms and to the basal ganglia producing features of parkinsonism. The presence of primitive reflexes indicates damage to the frontal lobes and the memory defecit is comparable with bilateral damage to temporal lobe structures. Difficulties in comprehension are secondary to the memory deficit. While much of the damage is attributable to areas of the brain served by the basilar artery (shown to be calcified, in the CT scans) the frontal lobe impairment indicates more generalised arterial disease. Fitness for trial Physically: Senator Pinochet would at present be able to attend a trial but as features of cerebrovascular damage have progressed despite optimal treatment (with good control of diabetes and blood pressure and antiplaseler agents) further deterioration in both physical and mental condition is likely. Mentally: It is our view that Senator Pinochet would not at the present be mentally capable of meaningful participation in a trial. We base this opinion on: 1. Memory defecit for both recent and remote events. 2. Limited ability to understand complex sentences and questions owing to memory impairment and consequent inability to process verbal information appropriately. 3. Impaired ability to express himself audibly, succinctly and relevantly. 4. Easy fatiguability With these impediments he would be unable to follow the progress of a trial sufficiently to instruct counsel. He would have difficulty in understanding the content and implications of questions put to him and would have inadequate insight into his difficulty. His memory of remote events is impaired. He would have difficulty making himself heard and understood in replying to questions. We are satisfied that the impediments we have identified are due to brain damage, as they are coherent in nature and consistent in manifestation and formal neuropsychological testing showed none of the features of deliberate exaggeration of impairment. In particular those neuropsychological tests indicative of original intelligence and educational levels (such as the vocabulary scale of the WAIS)show superior performance. At present, Senator Pinochet shows no evidence of clinical depression. Situational stress, as likely to be occasioned by trial, produces physiological responses that could accelerate the progression of vascular disease. We were told, however, that Senator Pinochet has in the past shown notable personal abilities in managing stress. We therefore do not feel able to express any useful opinion on the possible effects on his health of undergoing trial. The major episodes of damage seem to have occurred in a cluster of thromboembolic events during September and October 1999. There has been sufficient time for the great majority of any expected spontaneous recovery from these events to have taken place. Although some day to day fluctuation in functional abilities is characteristic of brain damage due to cerebrovascular disease we consider further sustained functional improvement of a significant degree unlikely. Background - the rest of the report: Professor Sir John Grimley Evans, Dr M J Denham, and Professor Andrew Lees undertook a clinical consultation with Senator Pinochet at Norwick Park Hospital on January 25th 2000. The consultation was undertaken in Spanish. Also present: Dr Henry Olivi (Observer) Prof. D J Thomas (Observer) Nurse Shelley Cape, Manuel Cerda (Senator Pinochet's valet) Recent Medical History: Following surgical decompression of lumber spine in 1998 Senator Pinochet was troubled for some weeks by severe headache across the brow. This resolved spontaneously. For the last 8 to 9 months he has noted difficulty in walking and now can only cover 200 yards before his legs become too weak to continue. He now walks with a stick. Numbness of the soles of his feet has also progressed over that time. Over the last ten months he has noticed a gradual

Outdoor Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Outdoor Education - Essay Example Gender is arguably the most ubiquitous individual difference that is attracting considerable interest in the outdoor education field. In spite of this trend, there is a lack of critical reviews of the anecdotal and research literature. This paper examines the impact of gender on outdoor education experiences in areas which were chosen to be pertaining to staffing ratios, participant ratings of outdoor leaders, group processes and program outcomes. This paper is primarily a review of the research literature on the effect of gender on people's outdoor education experiences because while a reasonable body of research exists, there is a rarity in reviews of the research literature which draw on insights from the anecdotal literature. Although a comprehensive understanding of the impact that gender differences have in outdoor education is not yet developed, the interest in the filed is increasing and answers to such questions are starting to become available. With this research, it is hope that outdoor educators can make adjustments to their programs to account for gender differences. Preliminary research indicates that there are two types of literature on the influence of gender in outdoor education. The first type comprises articles and books based mostly on accumulated experience and anecdotal evidence of outdoor education practitioners. ... 2.0 Review of Related Literature 2.1Types of Gender Literature in Outdoor Education Preliminary research indicates that there are two types of literature on the influence of gender in outdoor education. The first type comprises articles and books based mostly on accumulated experience and anecdotal evidence of outdoor education practitioners. In the 1960's and 1970's, the literature pertained mostly about outdoor education for delinquent boys but the 1980's and the 1990's registered a shift in emphasis as the works became mostly authored by women who tended to focus on expressing and explaining females' experiences of the outdoors in single-sex and mixed-sex settings. The second type of gender literature in outdoor education is research studies which use qualitative and/or quantitative methodologies. The majority of these studies does not investigate the role of gender in outdoor education but mentions gender as a variable in studies of the processes and outcomes of outdoor education. While the dichotomy is not clear for many the outdoor education, the two sources of literature are distinct and make surprisingly little use of each other. As an example, in her introduction to a recent book "Women's Voices in Experiential Education", Angelou (1996) commented that: "I find it noteworthy that no authors in this volume use quantitative justification as a basis for their essays...the experiences and voices of women are the foundation for hypothesis and analysis for contributors to this text" (p.4). On the other hand, the literature remarkably lacks a critical analysis in its reporting of gender-related outdoor education findings with the results often presented in a couple of sentences while the discussions rarely utilize the

HRD Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

HRD - Research Paper Example This paper seeks to provide a synthesis of academic/scholarly literature written on work-life initiative, and give a literature review on the work-life initiative. This paper will focus on eldercare as a work-life initiative. Traditionally, elderly care is a responsibility of members of a family, and is provided in the homes of the extended family. However, in modern states, care for the elderly is provided by charitable institutions or state. This is due to the decreasing size of families, geographical dispersion of families, greater life expectancy, and tendency of women to work outside homes and access to education. Various countries provide differing forms of elderly care, rapidly changing. This is because there are various regional differences regarding taking care of the elderly. It has been noted that globally that elderly care consume majority of health expenditures compared to other age groups. Increasing large proportion of the elderly has also been accounted for globally ( Petterson, Donnersvard, Lagerstrom & Toomingas, 2006). In most of the western countries, facilities of elderly care are within residential family care homes, continuing care retirement communities, nursing homes, and freestanding assisted living facilities. These facilities have supervisory and support staff that provide board and room, rehabilitation services, and personal care in a family environment. Evidence shows that eldercare programs are a care service that provides free, confidential assistance to senior citizens: the elderly. The programs offer a wide range of services including informative lectures and workshops; confidential, free counseling, assessment, consultation, and referral to both long distance and local facilities; and periodic group meetings with caregiver support (Denton, 2012). There are different benefits of eldercare initiatives depending on different countries. However, in most western nations, senior citizens receive social security and eldercare benefits . Social security and Medicare are long term benefits that the elderly receive. Receiving such benefits often begin at 65 and continue until death. This is a long time approach paid out in many years (Ansah, Matchar, Love, Malhotra, Chan & Eberlein, 2013). Eldercare services are normally paid for by the working class. Money is taken out of every paycheck until the retirement age when such people begin to receive money every month to survive on. Senior citizens make the majority of those receiving social security. This is termed as elder care benefit and benefits people who live up to the qualified age to receive it. Long term eldercare is a relief to the population of senior citizens as it lasts for years of receiving monthly payment to live on. However, government has a way to ensure beneficiaries qualify for the benefits (Ansah, Matchar, Love, Malhotra, Chan & Eberlein, 2013). Apart from social security, there are other long term benefits that come with the eldercare program. Prog rams like Medicare and Medicaid are available to the elderly at the age of retirement. These two programs supplement the eldercare program with accessible and affordable health programs, and limited co-pay. The programs help the elderly with all sorts of care they require so as to live and keep their places of living without

Nursing research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 15

Nursing research - Essay Example Secondly, a researcher can establish criterion validity by measuring the tool against itself. In this case, a researcher can establish the criterion-based validity by investigating the way that the tool will be able to predict measures in the future. There are four forms of reliability. Among these four forms of reliability is internal consistency reliability, which investigates the level to which disparate instruments that are investigating the same phenomenon produced results that were different. Consequently, this form of reliability is further divided into two sub-types with one of the sub-types known as split-half reliability. As the name suggests, spilt-half reliability is achieved through splitting into two halves the items in a test whose intention is to establish an investigation in the same area of knowledge. In effect, this forms two sets of items that will undergo testing in order to establish the reliability of the tool. In this case, the two sets of items undergo the testing with similar tools with their scores then computed, and the researcher finally obtains the split-half reliability by a correlative determination of the ‘set’ scores between this set of

Introduction To The Perfect Competition

Introduction To The Perfect Competition Microeconomics is about economizing choices among alternatives uses of scarce resources. The choices are made up by the individuals. businesses, and government units. Scarcity can be say as the central of the economic theory. Economic analysis is fundamentally about the maximization of leisure time, wealth, health, happiness, these are all commonly reduced to the concept of utility subjects to constraints. These constraints or scarcity define a trade off. For example, we can have more money by working harder, but less time because there are only so many hours in a day, so time is a scarce. Microeconomics, which deals with individual agents, such as households and business and macroeconomics that is considered the economy as a whole, in which case it considered aggregate supply and demand for money, capital and commodities. In short, microeconomics is to study about the economics behavior of individual consumers, firms, and industries and the distribution of production and income amon g them. It can be considers individuals both as supplier of labour and capital and as the ultimate consumers of the final product. Beside that, it can be use to analysis both firms both as suppliers of products and as consumers of labour and capital. Microeconomics also helps to seek analyze the market or the types of mechanism that establish relative prices among the goods and services or allocates societys resources among their many alternative uses. Microeconomics is a very important knowledge in the study of economic theory, it has both theoretical and practical implications. Microeconomics is a great help that are efficient in managing the limited resources available in the country and it is helpful to understand the work of the free enterprise economy where there is no central control. Microeconomics is the basis of welfare economics, it is used to construct the economic models for the better understanding of the actual economic phenomena. Microeconomics also explains how thro ugh market mechanism goods and services produced in the community are distributed. Microeconomics is utilized to explain the gains from international trade, balance of payments disequilibrium and the determination of foreign exchange rate. 2.0 Introduction to Monopoly Monopoly is the market structure that exist a single seller and a very large amount of buyers and selling products that have no close substitution and also have a very high entry and exit barrier. In our country, the example of monopoly market are the TNB, Indah Water, and Telekom Malaysia (TM Berhad). If people want to subscribe home telephone services they only can go to the Telekom Malaysia ( TM Berhad ), because Telekom Malaysia (TM Berhad ) is a monopoly. The word monopoly is a latin word, where mono means single and poly means sellers. Monopoly have firms that it is the only supplier in the market, and there will be no close substitute towards the output so monopoly have no treat of competition. 2.1 Characteristics of Monopoly There are some characteristics of monopoly market. According to (www.economicsonline.co.uk) monopolies have the ability to maintain a very normal profits in the long run. As with all firms, profits are maximized when Marginal Cost ( MC ) = Marginal Revenue (MR). In overall, the profit level are well depend upon the degree of the competition in the market, which for a pure monopoly is zero. At the profit maximization, MC = MR, and the output is Q and the price is P. Given that the price ( AR ) is above ATC at Q, supernormal profits are possible ( area P,A,B,C ). Super-normal-profits Monopoly exists when there is only one seller of a product. Monopoly is the firm that only exist in the industry selling a product that has no close substitution. Monopoly market is the place where the monopoly firm operates. In short, there is no difference between a firm and an industry in monopoly as there is only have one seller. A monopolist is a price maker, price maker are defined as firm which has the market power to control the prices. Since there is only one seller or producer so they have the power to control the price of their products in the market. Monopoly firm only sell product that has no close substitute, so that consumers or buyers could not find any substitute for the product that they require. For example, electric supply from our country can only found in TNB which has no close substitute for it. In the monopoly market, there is also some strict barriers to the entry of new firm. Barriers to entry are most likely natural or legal restrictions that restrict the e ntry of new firms into the industry because it is very high cost to enter a market that can support only one business example: TNB, Indah Water and Telekom Berhad. So a monopolist faces no competition because of the barriers of entry because other producer cannot compete with them due to they dont have the resource at their disposal. Business in monopoly firm may have the copyright for its own product so it will be illegal for other producer to duplicate its product. In short, barriers to entry are designed to block potential entrants from entering a market profitably because barriers to entry are to protect the monopoly power of existing firms and therefore it maintain the supernormal or abnormal profits in the long run. Advertising in monopoly market are depend on the products that the producer sold because if products are luxury goods such as imported car, then the monopoly needs some advertisement to promote their goods so that the consumers are informed about it. Local public u tilities such as water, electricity and home phone services do not require advertisement because consumers will know where to obtain it because there is only one to get the products. 2.2 Conclusion for Question 1 In conclusion, we have learned about monopoly is a market structure that is only single seller and a large numbers of buyers and products that have no substitution. And also there is a very strict barrier of entry and exit to the monopoly market. 3.0 Introduction to The perfect competition Perfect competition is a type of market where there are large number of buyers and sellers, the sellers sell identical or homogeneous product. There is also free entry and exists of the firms. Both of the buyers and sellers have perfect knowledge of the market. 3.1 Characteristics of The perfect competition There are some necessary conditions or requirements in order to be in a perfect competition market. Being with the perfect competition market, there is an important feature of perfect competition is the existence of the large number of buyers and sellers. The market is so small compared to the overall industry where a single seller sells in the market. For example, in the poultry industry, there are thousands of duck producers in Malaysia and each firm produces only a small fraction of the total poultry industry. Another conditions for perfect competition market is that the firm must sell homogenous or standardized product because the buyers do not differentiate the products of one seller to another seller. For example, the buyers cant differentiate about the ducks that is selling in the Firm A and Firm B. Hence, the firm cant charge different prices for the same product in the market. Once the buyers notice the difference of the quality, packaging, colour or design of different sell ers, then this market is no more in the state of perfect competition market. Even the products are similar but if there is a difference in terms of the packaging and quality then the product is not a homogenous or standardized product anymore. Under the perfect competition market, there is no restriction on entry of new firms to the industry or exit of the firms from the industry. A firm can enter the perfect competition easily and exit the perfect competition anytime if the firm wants. For example when he/she has the necessary factors of production like land, labour and capital then he/she can operate the business already. If the firm suffers from losses it can leave the industry without any rules and regulations or restrictions. 3.2 Introduction to The monopolistic competition Monopolistic competition is a market structure that have large numbers of small sellers selling differentiated products but these are close substitute products and also have a easy entry into and exit from the market. Compare to perfect competition, monopolistic competition market produce different and sold different but the goods are close substitutes for one another. There are many products in the world represent monopolistic competition such as clothes, shoes, books and other items. 3.3 Characteristics of The monopolistic competition The characteristics of monopolistic competition market are quite similar with the perfect competition. Similar to perfect competition, there are large numbers of sellers and buyers under the monopolistic competition market. There are large number of firms existing in the monopolistic competition market but it is less as compared to the perfect competition market. Since the size of the firms are small, there is no individual firm can influence the market price. But, if each firm in monopolistic competition market produces different or unique products then they will have some control over the prices. Hence, each firm follows an independent price-output policy. For example, in wax industry, the prices of a 100ml wax range among brands such as gasby, mudwax, spiky and other firms as well. Product differentiation means that the product in the firm is selling or producing are not identical. In monopolistic market competition, the firms that producing the goods are different from its compet itor. Each seller will use different methods to differentiate their product from other sellers to attract the buyers and consumers. Product differentiation will gone through the packaging, design, labeling, advertising and brand name. For example, if the firm sold eggs that is in the open shelf, then the eggs will category in perfect competition market. But if the firm packaged their egg in a packaged box and labeled as Best Protein Egg, then this egg is in the monopolistic competition market. In monopolistic competition market, there is no entry and exit barriers in monopolistic competition. However, the entry and exit into the monopolistic competition market is not as easy as the perfect competition market because of the products differentiation. If any new firms that enter the industry, they have to find some differentiation with the existing brands. For example, if Chicken A1 wants to enter the soup industry, then the firm must find some difference in term of quality, taste, lab eling, and packaging in order to be in the monopolistic competition market. In the monopolistic competition market, there will be stiff competition with other firms for their products and not for the price of the product. Monopolistic competitive firms do not compete using the prices because of the products in the market are having a lot of substitutes. So, the producers or sellers uses various methods to attract the customers to buy their products. Types of non-price competition practices in monopolistic competition market are advertisements, promotion, discounts, free gifts, after-sales service and others. 3.4 Introduction to The oligopoly Oligopoly is the market structure that there are only a few enough firms selling either standardized or differentiated products and it is very restricted to enter the entry and exit from the market. Under the market structure, some or all the firms in the industry can earn abnormal profits in the long run. This is because of the entry of new firms is difficult or impossible. The oligopolistic firms can impose barriers to the entry in terms of patents or access to a certain technology in the market. The purpose of it is to control excess the production of output, which is unprofitable for the oligopolistic firms. The example of the oligopoly markets are cigarettes, automobiles, electrical equipment and cement. 3.5 Characteristics of The oligopoly The characteristics of oligopoly market are having few numbers of firms. Under oligopoly, the number of firms is small but the size of the firms is large. The market share of each firm that is large enough to dominate the whole market. Few firms control the overall industry under oligopoly. But there is also no specific numbers to control the market before becoming oligopolistic. The main important criterion to become oligopolistic is to have mutual interdependence between these firms. Under the situation like this, firms will considered the reactions of its rivals in decision making to create strategic interdependence. There will be strong interdependence among all the firms in the oligopolistic market as the number of the firms will become smaller. But if the number of the firms become larger, then the interdependence between these firms will diminish. In oligopoly market, a product that is sold under oligopoly can be either a homogeneous or a differentiated product. Example, cemen t or electrical appliances produced by one firm are identical to another firm. Firms that is in oligopolistic market always consider the reaction of other firm rivals when both are choosing price, sales target, advertising budgets and other business policies. This is the important characteristic of an oligopoly firm that differs from other market structures. Because of the number of firms is small, changes in price or output by one firm can have direct effect on another firm. Under the situation of oligopolistic market, there are plenty barriers to entry that is similar to monopoly. The oligopoly firms have restricted new entrants into the markets. The barriers are to control the certain resources, ownership of patent and copyright, exclusive financial requirements and other legal barriers. In short, large firms may take drastic actions in order to prevent the entry of new firms by flooding the market. These large firms will produce the output at excess production capacity, which wo uld drive the price down. That means new firms that is newly set up will not survive because sometimes the price are set by these large firms is below the cost price. Once the new firms are out of the market, the large firms will reduce the production capacity and increase the product price. 3.6 Introduction to The monopoly Monopoly is a market structure where there is only one firm in the industry and there is no substitution to it. Monopoly have a very high entry and exit barrier because it is very high cost to enter a market that can support only one business. Monopoly is also a price maker, which has the market power to control the price. 3.7 Characteristics of The monopoly Monopoly is just the only seller of the product. The monopoly firm will be the only firm industry that is selling product that has no close substitution at all. Which means consumers can only find the only firm that is selling the only product, consumers could not find any substitute for the product. Besides that, monopoly market have a very strict barriers to the entry of the new firm. Advertising in monopoly market is actually depend on the product it sold. Normally public utilities such as water, electricity and home phone services do not need advertisement because people will know where to go for the product unless it is luxury goods like imported car then it will be needed advertisement to let consumers know about it.

Depreciation of the Candaian Dollar :: essays papers

Depreciation of the Candaian Dollar Canada has been increasing its prestige as a high-tech, industrial, society since the end of World War II. In many ways it resembles very closely its southern North American cousin, the United States. Some of those similarities are residing in its market-orientated system, pattern of production, and its high standard of living. Most years following the war up to the present, Canada has experienced some kind of continued growth as a prosperous and developed country. However, during the year of 1998, Canada experienced an unexpected large depreciation in their dollar relative to the United States. Late in August of that year, in fact, the value reached an all-time low. During this paper, I will try to present some of the possible economic factors that may or may not have led to this change in Canada’s exchange rate. I will also examine some additional analysis and theories as to why the trend possibly occurred. Exchange Rate As the year 1998 approached, the trend for the Canadian dollar was on a steady decrease in value in relation to the U.S. dollar. With each passing year the dollar lost some value as the table below demonstrates. Year 1990 1995 1996 1997 1998 Exchange Rate 1.16 1.38 1.36 1.38 1.48 All data tables extrapolated from the Cambridge Forecasts Country Report, unless otherwise noted. It took an exceptional hit during the year, moving the rate from 1.38 U.S. dollars to 1.48 in U.S. dollars. The plunge is better exhibited in Appendix 1, with the sharp decrease of the dollar illustrated graphically and more specifically, with Appendix 2 showing the drop throughout the year of 1998 alone. Growth Rate In terms of growth rate, the years leading up to the exchange rate drop in 1998 showed very typical numbers. There was nothing out of the ordinary, or anything to hint at a sharp decrease in the value of the Canadian dollar. As highlighted below, up to 1998, the economy was growing at a slow but steady rate each year. Both the Total Gross Domestic Product and percentage of GDP real growth were increasing overall. Year 1990 1995 1996 1997 1998 GDP (bill. of U.S. $) 573966 584044 611602 631193 603978 Year 1990 1995 1996 1997 1998 GDP Real Growth (%) N/A 2.3 1.6 3.7 3.1 However as the numbers for 1998 indicate, the depreciation of the dollar definitely took a significant chunk out of the Total Gross Domestic Product, dropping it below 1996’s levels.