Green Buildings in Hong Kong Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Green Buildings in Hong Kong - Essay Example Energy competence and ecological with the aspire to endorse energy protection and improved building design. The study of "greener" and additional energy proficient buildings was also activating by the quest for improved recital and excellence in the construction industry. A demanding task of building designers and professionals today is to endorse green and energy competent buildings in a cost effectual and environmentally reactive way. This research shows Hong Kong Government is scheduling to set up a green building label system as a way of using market power to endorse ecologically aware buildings. In this regard a several-month consultancy study to expand the technique, identified as "complete ecological recital appraisal system for Buildings". It is supposed the knowledge of the obtainable appraisal methods against barriers will form a helpful surroundings of this study. At the similar time, appraisal of the building regulations is being conducted with the aim to take away barriers to original and green building designs. These initiatives focal point not only on latest buildings but also on redevelopment of old and decrepit buildings in the urban restoration process (ASHRAE. 2001). Barriers against energy efficiency in buildings are serious to attain sustainable development in a so

Attitude, Legislation, Litigation Essay Example for Free

Attitude, Legislation, Litigation Essay Attitudes, legislation and litigation impact the lives of students with disabilities. People have changed their mindset toward mentally disable people from the beginning of time until the 21st century on how they view people with disabilities. Many doors that were closed to them has been open and the laws are constantly changing to make sure that people with disabilities has the same equal right as any other person. In the past, the government attitude were very negative toward individual with a disability because they believe, they were a burden on society and not worthy of living amongst them. In that particular era, they also thought that children who had a disability did not have the right to receive an education and medical attention. The text stated that, â€Å"The German government actively terminated the lives of people with disabilities as a means to â€Å"purify† the human race and put these â€Å"wretched individuals out of their misery† (United States Holocaust Memoral Museum, 2008)† (Hardman, Egan Drew, 2011, p. 4). In 1950, there was an organization developed called the United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) combined with the NARC, National Association for Retarded Children. These groups work hard and fought for the nation to take a stand for people with disabilities, they had good intentions to provide people that are mentally disable with; equal medical treatment, social services and education. The Civil Rights and American Disabilities Acts provided individuals with disabilities the opportunity to equal education and they were not discriminated against because of their physical ability. During the past 50 years people attitude has changed in our society toward individual with disabilities. Social attitudes revealed that people with disabilities were unhealthy and imperfect, for a long period of time society had pity and feared for disable people. Their negative attitude was because individuals were incompetent of partaking in or contributing to society and that they must rely on public assistance or nonprofit organizations. With legislation setting the bar for individuals with special needs, people are more compassion and are not disgrace or have negative feelings towards individuals with special needs. As a result, of the people coming together to help those in need there are many individuals that resides in the community instead of institutions. Due to the changes, during the 1970s and 1980s many of the institutions for people with developmental disabilities were closed. In spite of a person’s ability, everyone deserved an opportunity to participate in normal civilization. People today are more receptive of helping, people that are disabled because of the positive attitude they have toward them; even educators must teach with an attitude of personal commitment to every child (Lecture Note). Our special need students have a bright future ahead of them because of the Supreme Court decision in the 1970s case, Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Citizens (PARC). â€Å"The court ordered Pennsylvania schools to provide a free public education to all children with mental retardation between the ages of 6 and 21† (Hardman, Egan Drew, 2011, p. 6). Today in 21st century life we have in place, The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). This has generated over time which made public education, ensures related services available such as transportation, counseling, and Individual Education Plan (IEP) which is use for academic, social, or physical concerns in a classroom. I am sure that special needs people has a sense of pride with the education that they are entitled to because they have the same opportunity as any other person to learn and develop skills so they can work and live in a community as we do. During my first personal encounter with an individual with a disability, I have to honestly state that I was frightened to go close to the person. I really can not state why I was scared, I just felt something come over me maybe it was fear; as I think about it that is the only way I can describe it. With my knowledge and experience now my response will be receptive of the individuals, I can come in close contact and interact without thinking twice about. I have two cousins that are mentally disabled and over the years being around and having personal relationships with them I have learned a lot and became comfortable within myself and them to want to help others that are physically challenge. With the many challeges that special eeds students face, I predict that educators will have the necessary tools needed to continue to help them strive towards succeed. Educators will be able to teach each student on their individual level and not keep them behind because the school system feels they are not ready to progress forward. The No Child Left Behind standards should not be required for special needs students, they should progress based on their IEP. I believe that the educators should not solely be the blame for student performance, the school leaders have to take some of the blame. We can only teach with what we are provided with, more tools and resources are needed in the classrooms; in order to help the students constantly build on their knowledge. With laws changing every year, to enhance the early intervention programs it will impact the climate of special education. In the future more intervention programs will be included in the schools to help those with special needs to have positive peer influences by the attitudes and behaviors of students. School counselors should guide in assessing school climate in relation to students with disabilities and commencing interventions or advocating for change when appropriate. Thinking has changed tremendously towards students with disabilities since the 1950s era. I do not think there are still people out there that feel that students with disabilities should not live or have the opportunity to enjoy life as a person without a disabilities. I believe that thinking has changed because there are many services available for students with disabilities, if people did not care these services would not be available. You have to have passion to work with a mentally disable person, if you have any negative feelings; I truly do not feel that you can work with or for them for that matter. People attitude has changed toward individual that has disabilities; education has become a right for them due to the people taking a nation wide stand. Many people today are willing to help individual that are mentally challenge, there are many services that are available for them. The laws are updating every year to protect people with disabilities.

Define Normal Book Talk :: essays research papers

What if you had to peer council a person that you couldn't even stand! Would you be mad? Or what would you do if it happened to you? One of the main characters is a girl named Jasmine but they call her Jazz for short. Jazz is basically a goth girl and she has black hair with a little pink on top. She goes to high school and is around the age of 15. Jazz is in a pretty bad mood usually but it just depends on what she is doing. The other main character's name is Antonia. Antonia is a very smart girl and helps other people out with their problems. She is like a councilor. She has about shoulder length dirty blond hair and is pretty average in height for her age. She is usually in a good mood but sometimes she can get mad or sad. The last main character is Antonia's mom. She has pretty good attitudes depending on what she feels like. She is in her mid-30's. Antonia's mom smokes and she has been really sick lately. Her mom is that antagonist in this story because she can't even get out of bed unless she feels good. Since her mom has been sick, Antonia has to take care of everything around the house, including her brother. So one day Antonia was at a freind's house and her mom and brother decide to go on a picnic and when they were done she took her son to a motel, and then left to go to a bar down the road. When she was done at the bar, she went back to the motel and passed out on the floor. So when Antonia got home, nobody was there. About a half an hour later, her brother called and said that their mom had passed out and that they were at a motel. Her brother didn't know the name of the motel so he looked around and remembered the bar. He told his sister the name of the bar that their mom had gone to and then she knew right where they were.

Ap Language Essay

Foskuhl 1 Baxter J. Foskuhl Mrs. Murdock AP Language & Composition November 11, 2012 Our Dream The American Dream is a principle. Our American Dream is not written down, not created by our founding fathers. The American Dream is a set of beliefs that dictate much more societal change than the Government and even the Constitution. Since it is not written down or legalized, it can change, grow, and flourish however the people of this country decide it to. The American Dream does not prejudice by color or origin. It is not constrained by demographics nor can it be classified as a status.The dream cannot be amended, voted for, or killed. The word shalom comes from the language of Hebrew, meaning peace, community, home, love. Similarly, the American Dream is a belief that has multiple connotations: work, equal, freedom, wealth, opportunity. These meanings are constantly being redefined. Over time, however; the American Dream has come to being something different for every generation. The tremendous social changes that have happened within the last forty years have significantly changed the definition of the American Dream. For example, there were roughly 150 million people living in the United States.Since then, multiple recessions, social movements, technological leaps, all along with the current population of roughly 308 million has significantly altered the definition of the American Dream. The classic view of the Caucasian family of two kids, two cars, a white picket fence and a Labrador retriever is far from todays American Dream, and society as a whole. The American Dream does not just consist of white Foskuhl 2 families anymore. It does not fulfill to the assumption that men are allowed to abuse their wives, and keep them at home where they are â€Å"supposed† to be.Also, the American Dream most certainly does not promise the newest Ford every year. The Dream is the couple who recently adopted an adorable Asian baby. The Dream is the recently immigrate d Hispanic family who can breathe fresh air, drink clear water, and live safely. Even more, the American Dream is a principle of hope, from the poor city kid who strives to be a Doctor, to the Hawaiian-born scholar destined to become the leader of the free world. The idea of the American Dream has influenced arts, film, politics, literature, etc. , etc. For example, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses Jay Gatsby to portray the American Dream in the 1920’s.In the novel, Meyer Wolfshiem talks about how he raised Gatsby up from nothing, a key component of the American Dream. Wolfshiem shows this when he says â€Å"’I raised him up out of nothing, right out of the gutters†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Fitzgerald 171). The process of going from rags to riches is one of the core concepts of the American Dream. Fitzgerald also displays the American Dream as money, wealth, the â€Å"better† life. Fitzgerald shows Gatsby as a man wealth when Nick says â€Å"The one on my right was a colossal af fair by any standard- it was a factual imitation of some Hotel de Ville in Normandy†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Fitzgerald 5).The kind of American Dream that Fitzgerald portrays in the 1920’s is one of wealth as achievement and coming up from practically nothing to achieve so. Jay Gatsby was a simple Minnesotan boy with not too much given to him, who, as Fitzgerald would have it, climbed his path and attained a status of wealth. This was the symbol of achievement in the 1920’s. Jay Gatsby’s attainment of wealth represents Fitzgerald’s portrayal of the American Dream in the 1920’s. Foskuhl 3 The portrayal of the American Dream as presented in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s the Great Gatsby does not hold true in today’s society.I believe that the significant difference is while the 1920’s American Dream is one of attaining the quantity of money; the 21st century American Dream values the quality of life, and the equal pursuit of happiness. Currently, I think the American Dream is not about having millions of dollars or a white picket fence with Lassie in the front. A more modern American Dream is one about having the choice to who you love, the opportunity for education regardless of your intellectual ability or income level, and financial security. Today's American Dream is about peace, safety, equality, opportunity, and not trying to become the 1%.

Native American Story Telling Essay

Story telling was the heart of Native American culture. The way natives executed everyday tasks and their way of thinking came from what they heard as children from stories that were passed through multiple generations. When White Settlers started tearing tribe by tribe apart and claiming Native American land as their own, a dwindling effect on the rich Native’s culture became noticeable. The sense of unity they once knew so well was becoming an unknown aspect which ultimately left each individual shattered because they were so used to being and acting like one whole. Storytelling became a sort of glue that united and healed the damage done by the White Settlers. Already being the basic guidelines that each Native survived on, stories became even more valued because they were the things that kept the culture from becoming extinct. Storytelling re-taught the natives the way their ancestors taught and spoke, how their surroundings came to be and how to live a good, pious life. It was how they so eagerly grasped for sanity when they were basically stripped from all rights they had from the Colonials. Native American storytelling incorporates many themes and structures, some more evident that others, such as poetic writing styles that include morals, and an explanation of how the world came to be. Morals were a crucial factor why ancestors passed stories down to their offspring, other than just for enjoyment. They incorporated what they thought were major principals of living or not living a good life into stories by writing them in between the lines. A little child that was listening to an elder recalling a story might be listening for the mere amusement but also leaving with a lesson learned. In â€Å"The Sky Tree† from the Huron- Eastern Woodland tradition, the extremes the wife of the old man goes through to save her husband is definitely admirable, regardless if the story is true or not. The moral of trying to do all you can to save a loved one can be taken from this tale. This concept of Native American stories having morals is also found in â€Å"Coyote Finishes His Work† from the Nez Perce tradition. After reading the overly confident coyote correcting the wrongs on earth and then getting punished for his mischief, one can take away the lesson of being humble and not abuse power no matter how capable you are. These texts that heavily included morals helped remind the Natives how to repair and establish a meaningful life, even after being influenced by the White Men. As the Native’s became unsure of how the world even worked anymore when seeing the odd lifestyle of the Whites, storytelling reminded the way their ancestors explained their surroundings. The simplest aspects of life, like how a turtle got its shell, was explained in Native American stories. As said in â€Å"The Sky Tree†, the turtle got its shell when telling all the animals to dive down into a deep pit in order to save the wife of the old man and bring up the soil and place it on his back. This simple explanation showed the thought process of the oldest Native’s and helped bring a sense of unity among the broken ones. Broader ideas, such as how the world came to be, were also included in these tales. According to â€Å"Coyote Finishes His Work†, the coyote gave people names, taught them languages and how to hunt. Some way or another, humans learned how to these perform basic tasks. Native Americans explained how their people achieved these tasks by claiming The Coyote taught them. This concept was easier to take in rather than the Theory of Evolution, especially in an era where science was less developed. Creating stories of how the world worked when confused was what the Native Americans did best. Imagining how utterly lost the Natives were when the colonials came, one can assume that more stories were created. Stories of how strange men with snow skin must have calmed the nerves of scared Indians and settled the uproar. It is human nature to become less agitated of an unknown idea if an explanation was given. In this case, Native Americans produced hundreds of stories so that their people could live in peace without having to consistently question everything in existence. Incorporating basic ideas of how the world functions and principals of being a generally good person in Native American storytelling influenced how Natives lived and perceived the world around them. Without these stories the Indians would have no sense of culture to latch on to as settlers tried to change their ways. Each significant society of people throughout the years had some sort of guidelines on which their people believed. Egyptians having their stories written in hieroglyphics which were carved into walls to Christians having their fundamentals in the Bible. Aside from being the rules people acted upon, maybe each civilization came up with their perspective on life to authenticate their establishments. Whatever the reasoning was behind storytelling, Native Americans definitely did not exclude that factor in their culture. Storytelling was their culture.

Humainstic essays

Humainstic essays When reading through my notes for the class, I have found that the humanistic approach to the development of personality is the most interesting. The book describes humanistic as development through interaction. Every day we come in contact with people who then influence the way we think and perceive ideas. An example in the book given by Carl Rogerss study explains a young girl who perceives she is liked by every one and makes friends easily. Later when she over hears someone talking about how rude she is, she immediately conceives the idea through one of two possibilities. Distortion causes the girl to believe that the people talking about her dont know her very well. Denial makes the girl doesnt allow the girl to realize that they were talking about her. This form of study is extremely interesting. As a child when I played with neighbor children we knew of a child that also had misconceived perceptions. The little boy thought every one liked him, and he was so much fun. When confronted about it, the immediate action was shock, but the next day the same things occurred. I always thought denial played a role in this some how but wasnt educated enough to understand. Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow both had ideas surrounding self-actualization, or the goal to be complete. I think that this goal is acquired through personal experience as defined through the humanistic study personality. Interaction plays a huge role in any species, especially humans with a large development in the brain. The study of self-concept is also very interesting. We all have ideas regarding ourselves but the beliefs we have may be conceived in accurately. How do we know how others think about us? This subject has been something I have been interested in long before I took psychology for 2 years in high school, and even after taking this course, I am still interested! ...

Catch 22, Close reading of Chapter 24 Essays

Catch 22, Close reading of Chapter 24 Essays Catch 22, Close reading of Chapter 24 Paper Catch 22, Close reading of Chapter 24 Paper Essay Topic: Literature Catch 22 is a novel set in World War 2. The universal phrase Catch 22 simply means a situation whereby one is destined to lose. The passage is placed in the setting of Milo and Yossarian engaged in a conversation concerning Milos investment, Egyptian cotton. Milos character is symbolic of what is wrong with capitalism; he lacks morals and consideration for other people and is tremendously selfish. Earlier in the novel, Milos sleeps in luxurious hotels whilst Yossarian and Orr sleep in the plane, which is representative of Milos self centred characteristics, as is this passage. The passage opens with Milo persuading Yossarian to eat the chocolate covered cotton. He declares that he would like to serve it to the men suggestive of good intentions. However, the later account that the men have got to swallow it is a contradiction and serves to illustrate more of Milos forceful and corrupt power. In the passage, Heller directs the reader towards symbolism that denotes Milo as sinful. There are outstanding similarities to the story of Adam and Eve, with Milo sharing similar characteristics to Satan. Both Satan and Milo are corrupting man for their own benefit, Satan to corrupt humankind and Milo to increase his profit. Heller employs a vast amount of biblical references to highlight the connection to the Book of Genesis. Satan uses the tree of life to tempt eve with the apple, whilst Milo stroked the tree affectionately with close inspection suggesting that there is profit to be made. A financial endeavour is central to the character of Milo, signified by the symbolic connotations of the chocolate covered cotton. Milos concern is more about forcing the men to eat the cotton than whether or not they will enjoy it, thus proving Milo as a shrewd businessman caught up in greed. The chocolate covered cotton symbolises the lack of morals in both the military service and the world, hiding corruption beneath an exciting exterior. Milo deceitfully disguises the cotton with chocolate. Similarly, Satan disguises himself as a serpent to deceive Eve. The idea that appearance is deceptive creates another resemblance between Satan and Milo. Whilst Satan preyed on Eves weakness to flattery, Milo heightened the excitement of the cotton by covering it with chocolate. The biblical references in this passage are interesting as there is a lack of religious beliefs in the novel. Yossarian focuses on the bad occurrences in the world and questions God, therefore representing his character as being one of rebellion. His imagination that the chestnut tree is the knowledge of good and evil affords a level of sarcasm. The reader learns a lot about Yossarians character in this passage. Yossarian removes his uniform as he despises all that it symbolises. Sitting naked in the tree could denote Yossarian as crazy, however, there is a suggestion that with his uniform on he is simply another poor kid with a lost identity. Furthermore, the rarity of his Assyrian name represents his alienation, whilst also proposing the idea that he has been dehumanised by the war. In comparison, Milo patriotically wears the coarse olive drab uniform, with the interpretation that due to his corruption within the military service he may aspire to be unknown. However, the language Heller uses to describe the uniform suggests restriction, thus Milos tie knotted tight metaphorically signifies the restrictions that war inflicts. The contrast between Yossarian and Milo sitting in the tree is representational of their characters. Yossarian is defiant, refuses to participate in the war, and does not hide that fact. However, Milo conforms to the war and wears the uniform because he can financially benefit from such tragedies. Milo, like the chocolate covered cotton hides flaws and immorality behind a fai ade to connote oneself as trustworthy. He, like the officers exploits the name of the country to further his own profits. The latter part of the passage is a build up to the scene where Yossarian and Milo witness Snowdens burial. Heller employs the scarlet crested bird to create a metaphor for death. Scarlet denotes danger and blood, whilst the movement of the bird who shot by generates the idea of the gunshot. Finally, the quivering bush represents the fear and death of the soldier. This metaphor may represent Snowdens death and foreshadows the burial, as does the description of inactive nature as the leaves hung motionless. Yossarian and Milo witness the funeral and their dissimilar reactions are significant in displaying their experiences of the war. Whilst Milo points excitedly showing a level of naivety, Yossarian answered slowly in a level voice, thus signifying his remorse that returns. The death of Snowden entirely transformed the meaning of war for Yossarian and it troubles him to watch the burial. For a short while, Milos brown eyes filled with tears but immediately he only mourns the loss of his cotton, communicating that money is more important than life. Yossarian uses the opportunity of Snowdens burial to strengthen the grudge he holds upon Milo for Mudds death. Mudd was killed before he even got into the squadron due to Milo bombing the site to be rid of the Egyptian cotton. The very fact that Milo refuses to take responsibility of Mudds death reinforces him as a greedy, selfish Lieutenant. Mudd is referred to as the dead man in [Yossarians] tent, which reiterates the suggestion that the war dehumanises a person. This is a typical theme of war literature and supports the argument that capital is more imperative than life. In conclusion, this passage contains an interesting amount of themes and ideas that Heller incorporates into Catch 22 to create the dissimilar views and experiences of men at war; we must not assume men at war are homogeneous. Heller seems to be using humour to highlight the futility of war and the way in which it changes a man. Heller touches on events that are significant in displaying both ones character and their experiences. The passage continuously draws dissimilarities between Yossarian and Milo to create a distance of morals amid them.

45 Synonyms for Old and Old-Fashioned

45 Synonyms for Old and Old-Fashioned 45 Synonyms for â€Å"Old† and â€Å"Old-Fashioned† 45 Synonyms for â€Å"Old† and â€Å"Old-Fashioned† By Mark Nichol Our culture’s attitude toward age is reflected in the often-pejorative meanings of words synonymous with old and old-fashioned, though some are neutral or even reverent. Here are forty-five words that refer to people, places, and things that are, or are considered, old or old-fashioned. (Unrelated senses are also listed.) 1. Aged: advanced in age, typical of old age; also, at an age 2. Aging: advancing in age, or the concept of growing older 3. Ancient: aged, old-fashioned, or pertaining to long-ago times, or see venerable 4. Anile: pertaining to or resembling an old woman, or see senile 5. Antiquated: of advanced age, or out of fashion or style 6. Archaic: pertaining to an earlier time 7. Dated: old-fashioned; also, provided with a date 8. Decrepit: infirm because of old age, or dilapidated, run down, or worn out 9. Dà ©modà ©: unfashionable 10. Demoded: see dà ©modà © 11. Doddering: see senile 12. Elderly: pertaining to the late period of life, or old-fashioned 13. Fossilized: see outmoded; also, fixed or rigid, or converted into a fossil 14. Geriatric: old or out of style, or pertaining to older people or to the process of aging 15. Kaput: outmoded; also, broken, or defeated or destroyed 16. Long lived: characterized by a long life span 17. Medieval: see antiquated and outmoded; also, pertaining to the Middle Ages in Europe 18. Moribund: inactive, obsolete, or nearing death 19. Mossy: see antiquated; also, something similar to moss, or covered by moss or something similar 20. Moth eaten: see antiquated and outmoded; also, eaten by moths or their larvae 21. Noachian: see ancient and antiquated; also, pertaining to Noah or the era in which he lived 22. Neolithic: old-fashioned because a holdover from another era; also, a scientific term (always capitalized) referring to the later Stone Age 23. Obsolete: old-fashioned, or no longer useful; also, in biology, flawed or vestigial in comparison to similar features 24. Out of date: see outmoded 25. Outdated: see outmoded 26. Outmoded: out of style, or not acceptable or current 27. Outworn: see outmoded 28. Overage: too old to be of use, or older than normal 29. Over the hill: advanced in age, or past one’s prime 30. Passà ©: past one’s prime, and see outmoded 31. Prehistoric: see outmoded; also, in archaeology and language, from before written history 32. Quaint: old-fashioned; also, odd, elegant, or skillfully designed 33. Retro: see retrograde (however, the short form is from the French term rà ©trospectif, not from retrograde) 34. Retrograde: fashionable nostalgic, or trendily old-fashioned; also, various technical senses of moving backward or contrary to normal motion 35. Rusty: clumsy or slow due to old age or lack of practice 36. Senescent: old, or becoming old; also, the part of a plant’s life cycle from full maturity onward 37. Senile: pertaining to old age, especially to loss of mental faculties 38. Senior: older, or older than another; also, someone in the highest level in an institution or organization or with high rank or status 39. Spavined: see decrepit; also, afflicted with swelling 40. Stone Age: a period or a stage in the development of a field or institution considered old or old-fashioned; also, in archeology, the earliest period of human culture (always capitalized in both senses) 41. Superannuated: older than is typical, disqualified for active duty because of age, or old-fashioned 42. Tottery: infirm or precarious 43. Unyoung: old 44. Venerable: prompting respect because of age and attendant wisdom or skill, or impressive because of age; also, sacred or deserving of reverence 45. Vintage: old or old-fashioned; also, among the best (said of a particular person or thing), or of enduring interest or worth Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Grammar Test 1Taser or Tazer? Tazing or Tasering?How to Address Your Elders, Your Doctor, Young Children... and Your CEO

Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Strategy - Essay Example earch engine today is its ability to be â€Å"integrated into a third party’s website or intranet† (The Economist, 182) that also allows corporate intranets to search company documents. Its search engine also offers services to advertisers to run large campaigns through its search engine, which contributes tremendously to its bottom line. Google’s Adsense and the ability of its search engine appliance to be integrated into a company’s intranet for a charge, synergizes with its basic search engine facility, thus, enhancing the revenue potential of the engine. Its acquisition of YouTube in 2006 also allowed it to receive advertising revenues for ads displayed during internet videos, while its 2008 acquisition of DoubleClick allowed the company to generate advertising revenues through banner ads. Its other business segments such as Gmail, GoogleMaps, Google scholar and several other products and services add to its search engine with each segment complementing the other services. Google’s introduction of the Android operating system also allowed the company to penetrate the growing market of the mobile internet industry. All these capabilities of Google products and services, which work in synergy and complement each other in terms of increased traffic and market reach, illuminate its success. While Google’s basic services, such as its search engine and mail, are free, it is able to derive revenue from other revenue generating services attached to the free ones such as Adsense. The synergy of Google’s product and services increases the traffic and usage of its services, which allows it to reach and penetrate the market deeper. Google’s deeper market reach and penetration translates to its wider market base, which ultimately redounds to enhanced revenue for the company. All these innovative products and services were a product of Google’s talented workforce and its unorthodox corporate set-up. To maintain its innovativeness, Google always

Casinos in Nevada Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Casinos in Nevada - Research Paper Example The first influence comprised of the regulation of The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) and the International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing (Standards) which support the effective accomplishment of the duties in accordance with the guidance laid by the acts governing them. The second influence refers to the authoritarian failure to notice, whether an obligation or a proposal from the supervisory bodies, that an official scheme of in-house controls is implemented, which takes into account the various prerequisites which a certain type of an in-house assessment task is executed at a casino. In several jurisdictions the measures adopted and implemented by the internal audit systems are exclusively governed by such directives. The third and ultimate influence refers to the sustained participation of blatantly dealt casino corporations, which fall under the directive of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as proprietors or workers of the various functions related to the casino. Given that the IIA's Standards direct all assessors, irrespective of the industry to which they belong, this paper focuses on the key influences which govern the money management and accounting part of the casino industry with respect to the Nevada casinos against the background of the regulation 6A and Title 31 acts1. 2. Brief Background Gaming is the one of the chief 'money-making' businesses in the State of Nevada which is also incidentally a major contributor of large amount of returns to the state. The economic accomplishment of the industry is hence, reliant on the successful and methodical licensing of individuals as well as institutions involved in the industry within the State. The contemporary age of gaming can be traced back to its origins in the early 1931 period, with the implementation of the "wide open gaming bill" in Nevada. During the early 1950s, the endeavors to establish strong controls over the industry were accelerated and enhanced. This involved a detailed and in-depth study of the casinos in Nevada ultimately translating into the establishment of the gaming regulatory body which was set up to sanction and manage the swiftly growing industry. The Nevada Gaming Control Board was eventually set up to legalize and sanction the day to day functions of the casinos, together with the compilation, calculation, and settlement of the day to day gaming proceeds besides upholding the veracity of the games on the casino floor2. The Nevada Gaming Commission is entrusted with the responsibility of managing punitive issues and ratifying gaming regulations within the state of Nevada3. As each state or ethnic venture has characteristically formed an authoritar ian structure with the introduction of gaming, there is a simultaneous introduction of a wide range of practices and audit requirements. While every gaming regulatory organization characteristically comprises of numerous sections, there are three most important divisions with which internal

Portrait of a Women with a Man at a Casement by Fra Filippo Lippi Research Paper

Portrait of a Women with a Man at a Casement by Fra Filippo Lippi - Research Paper Example Also the couple shown is believed to be Ranieri Scolari and Angiola di Bernardo Sapiti. The portrait was painted in 1440 and the couple is recorded to have been married in 1936; therefore the interpretation that the portrait is a commemoration of a wedding is plausible. Barnet asserts that in the formal analysis of portraits, one needs to consider how do the background, the angle of the tilt of the head, the furnishings etc help to develop the overall impression of the figure (2008). When scrutinizing this portrait, one can appreciate that the bride is laden with lavish clothes and jewelry typical of a newly-wedded woman. The laws of Florence required that a woman, unless she was the wife of a foreigner, knight or a doctor, would only wear expensive dresses for a limited period of time (The City Review 2009); therefore a special occasion is shown in the portrait. The overdress has fur lining its edges whereas the underdress has loops of gold embedded in the sleeves. The headdress, se lla, has pearls embellished into it and are also present throughout her dress. The pattern in which they are embedded makes the word lealta, meaning loyalty. The couple glances in an expressionless way although the gazes do not interlock (The Metropolitan Museum of Art 2011). Another interpretation of the portrait is that it may represent the birth of a child.

The New Intelligence Community Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The New Intelligence Community - Essay Example Critics of the new intelligence community set up maintained that the system is so complex that it became hard to manage; hence doubts on its effectiveness continue to spread. According to an article by Priest and Arkin (2010) in the Washington Post, the intelligence community is enormous, with redundant agencies and tons of reports generated every day that many end up being ignored, resulting to waste of resources and effort. Consequently, the complexity of the intelligence community only causes the ODNI to lack focus on it various agencies. In addition, the President’s Intelligence Advisory Boards stressed that the ODNI must be â€Å"downsized but strengthen by transferring certain functions to other agencies† (Best, 2010, p. 6) because it cannot supervise and assume responsibility to the massive department on its own. The support of the Congress to the development of ODNI is also essential in strengthening the role of the latter, its functions and extent of authority in order to effectively lead the different intelligence agencies under its wing. Nevertheless, the new role of the ODNI is still being developed. With just a few years of operation, the new intelligence system continues to face challenges in cooperating among agencies while sorting out critical reports on terrorism. It is too early to claim that the ODNI is a failure. Given the support of the Congress in defining its role, power and responsibilities, the ODNI can eventually learn how to manage its agencies more successfully. It should also consider reviewing the agencies doing the same work and identify critical reports to efficiently use its resources and

The Health and Safety Laws in the USA Assignment

The Health and Safety Laws in the USA - Assignment Example Consultation Paper on Civil Liability for Unsafe Products presented by The Law Reform Commission of Hong Kong, Product Liability sub-committee (1998) under 2.10 states, â€Å"Provided the consumer has a direct contractual nexus with the seller, the consumer is entitled to damages if the other party has broken an express or implied term of the contract.† In the present case, though the assurance of Edward, â€Å"rich people from the PRC had a plan to purchase classical oil paintings from Hong Kong in the near future for resale in the PRC† was not included in the agreement, it is implied that the oil painting is of merchantable quality. According to section 11(2) of the Control of Exemption Clauses Ordnance, even the liability for breach of implied condition of merchantable quality cannot be excluded or restricted by a contract term. Edward further said that there would be a very great demand for this particular classical oil painting owned by him and thus an appreciation of at least three times in value within 6 months. Eventually, no rich people from the PRC purchased the classical oil painting. The classical oil painting in fact depreciated in value. Therefore, there is a case for liability for breach of implied condition of merchantable quality. Also, Edward has induced Fred to buy the oil painting through his assurance and forecast which could be construed as negligence in giving assurance or forecasting appreciation in the value of the oil paintings.   In addition to the implied condition of merchantable quality, the Control of Exemption Clauses Ordinance (Cap. 71) also deals with liability in tort for negligence.

The New Intelligence Community Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The New Intelligence Community - Essay Example Critics of the new intelligence community set up maintained that the system is so complex that it became hard to manage; hence doubts on its effectiveness continue to spread. According to an article by Priest and Arkin (2010) in the Washington Post, the intelligence community is enormous, with redundant agencies and tons of reports generated every day that many end up being ignored, resulting to waste of resources and effort. Consequently, the complexity of the intelligence community only causes the ODNI to lack focus on it various agencies. In addition, the President’s Intelligence Advisory Boards stressed that the ODNI must be â€Å"downsized but strengthen by transferring certain functions to other agencies† (Best, 2010, p. 6) because it cannot supervise and assume responsibility to the massive department on its own. The support of the Congress to the development of ODNI is also essential in strengthening the role of the latter, its functions and extent of authority in order to effectively lead the different intelligence agencies under its wing. Nevertheless, the new role of the ODNI is still being developed. With just a few years of operation, the new intelligence system continues to face challenges in cooperating among agencies while sorting out critical reports on terrorism. It is too early to claim that the ODNI is a failure. Given the support of the Congress in defining its role, power and responsibilities, the ODNI can eventually learn how to manage its agencies more successfully. It should also consider reviewing the agencies doing the same work and identify critical reports to efficiently use its resources and

Reformists or Fundamentalists for Iran Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Reformists or Fundamentalists for Iran - Essay Example This difference leaves the citizen with a choice to make in a democratic nation like Iran (Koontz 98). No party is said to be perfect in their ideas since, in either side, there are both positive and negative effects. However, having compared the goals ideologies and their take on religion, I will advocate for the reformists. This paper seeks to examine the main agenda of the reformists compared to those of the fundamentalists by analyzing their respective ideology, theocracy and religion. The goals that the reformists seek to achieve make them distinct from the fundamentalists. Their main objective is to preserve theocracy in the country. They put emphasis on the need of bringing certain democratic reforms into existence (Koontz 25). Every Iranian should be aware of his or her right accordingly and no one should be discriminated in regards to the gender or the tribe. For instance, in this years elections’ campaigns the reformists who had found refuge in the West due to p ost-election repression of 2009, had come up with a competing discourses as to what reform should be composed of and how an Islamic Republic should look like (Seifzadeh 254). This, according to me makes reformists admirable than the fundamentalists, who base their theocracy on the belief that not all people are equal. To illustrate the theocracy of the fundamentalists, we examine on their belief about the nature of women and men and their roles in society. They argue that, in Iran, women are inferior to men both mentally and physically. Their duties were restricted to child bearing and nurturing prescribed by their biological determinism. They were also to ensure comfort and satisfaction to their husbands. The Fundamentalists sought to suppress the roles performed by women and enhanced control of men over women. They ensured that their visibility in public was not guaranteed. This is not a true picture of a democratic country

Education System Essay Example for Free

Education System Essay The education system of India is very old. It has started from the ancient times. The Vedas, puranas, ayurveda, yoga represent some forms of education. There are evidences of imparting formal education in ancient India under the Gurukul system. Under the Gurukul system, young boys who were passing through the Brahmacharya stage of life had to stay at the Guru or the teachers home and complete their education. Earlier women and people of lower castes didnt have a right to educate themselves. But Jainism, Buddhism and Sufi movements had some liberating effects. The Britishers can be credited for bringing a revolution in the Indian education system because it is the English language and the reformation movements of the 19th century that had the most liberating effect in pre-independent India. India Education Present Condition  After independence, making education available to all had become a priority for the government. As discrimination on the basis of caste and gender has been a major impediment in the healthy development of the Indian society, they have been made unlawful by the Indian constitution. The 86th constitutional amendment has also made elementary education a fundamental right for the children between the age group- 6 to 14. According to the 2001 census, Total literacy rate 65.38%. The female literacy rate 54.16%. Only 59.4% of rural population is literate as against 80.3% urban population according to the 2001 census. Read more: http://www.ukessays.com/essays/education/education-system-of-india.php#ixzz2KBxKSaq0

Anti-cancer Drug Targeting AFR Receptor

Anti-cancer Drug Targeting AFR Receptor Results 1a 1b Figure 1 Cell viability data based on the use of the XTT assay Two different lung tumor cell lines were tested: one expressing the mutated AFR receptor (blue line) and one that expresses wild-type AFR (orange line). Figure 1a represented AFR lung cancer cell line with Drug X and figure1b represented AFR lung cancer cell line with drug Y. Cells were seeded in wells of a 96 well plate at 3 x 10*4 cells/well before treatment with the drugs at the indicated concentrations for 72 hours (triplicate samples at each concentration). XTT assay reagent was then added to the wells and the absorbance measured at 450 nm. Control wells (no cells) contained medium but no cells. The Cell Proliferation XTT assay is a colorimetric assay for the nonradioactive analysis of cellular proliferation, viability, quantification of cytotoxic and cytostatic compounds like anticancer drugs and pharmaceutical compounds, evaluation of growth-inhibitory antibodies and physiological mediators that able to inhibit cell growth (Sigma-Aldrich, 2016). Sample is adherent or suspension which cultured in 96-well microplates. A fictional receptor (AFR) was targeted by anti-cancer drug to inhibit the mutated AFR function, causing an anti-proliferative effect and even cell death. XTT ((2,3-bis-(2-methoxy-4-nitro-5-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium-5-carboxanilide)) assay was used to measure cell viability in the two different lung tumor cell lines, one expressing the mutated AFR receptor (AFR mut) and one that expresses wild-type AFR (AFR wt). Drug Y was observed to hinder cancer cell growth dose dependently (Figure 1). The amount of observed absorbance increases with cell number and incuba tion time for 72hours when a maximum absorbance level is reached. The plot of the XTT assay data should create a curve with a linear part. This area exhibits the highest sensitivity to changes produced by the experimental parameters. Establishing the XTT assay data for treatment of AFR mutated and AFR wild-type lung cancer cell line with drug X from 0nm to 1600nm (Figure 1a), It was illustrated that the cell viability of mutated AFR increased considerably from 1.1 to 1.3 between 0nm and 800nm and then became steady at approximately 1.4 from 800nm to 1600nm. Compared with the wild type of AFR (Figure1a), the trend of the line was similar to the mutated one but the cell viability was first rised from 0.9 to 1.2 between 0nm and 800nm and finally exhibited a loss of linearity when greater than 800nm. The lung cancer cell line with drug X represented a cell proliferation assay because the absorbance values of the mutated one were greater than control conditions, representing an increase in cell proliferation and viability. On the other hand, investigating the XTT assay data for treatment of AFR mutated and AFR wild-type lung cancer cell line with drug Y from 0nm to 1600nm, It was indicated that the cell viability of m utated AFR started off at about 1.1 from 0nm to 50nm and then occurred a dramatic drop from 1.1 to 0.1 between 50nm to 400nm and finally lied on 0.03 at 1600nm (Figure1b). Compared with the wild type of AFR (Figure1b), the line was also decreasing but showed a completely different trend. The cell viability decreased from 0.89 to 0.88 between 0nm and 800nm stably and then exhibited a significant drop when greater than 800nm and finally lied on 0.8 of 1600nm. The lung cancer cell line with drug Y represented a cell apoptosis assay as the absorbance values were lower than control conditions, showing a decrease in cell proliferation and resulted from cellular necrosis or apoptosis. From the data analysis, drug Y was successfully tested to inhibit the function of mutated AFR which have an anti-proliferative effect to cause cell death and drug Y could be put forward for further testing. Figure 2 Flow cytometry apoptosis data: Annexin V -FITC (x axis) and propidium iodide (Y axis)   Ã‚   The proapoptotic effect of drug X and Y. The AFRmut cell line was treated with each drug at a concentration of 800 nM for 24 hours. The cells were harvested, resuspended in buffer and then treated with Annexin V-FITC and propidium iodide. Cytograms of annexin-V-FITC binding against PI uptake show three populations: (i) viable cells (low FITC and low PI signal) in gate Lower Left; (ii) early apoptotic cells (high FITC and low PI signal) in gate Lower Right and (iii) cells that lost membrane integrity which results in late apoptosis (high FITC and high PI signal) in gate Upper Right. The percentage of cell death increases in the tumor cancer cell line of drug Y, as demonstrated by incorporation of Annexin V. The inhibition of cell proliferation caused by AFRmut was related to the apoptosis induction. Apoptosis is programmed as cell death which is important in development, in normal function of certain tissues and in the response to the damage. Apoptosis involves events which results in the destruction of cell. Annexin V -FITC is a protein that binds to phosphotidylserine which can be labelled and used to detect apoptotic cells. The flow cytometry apoptosis data was plotted on a dot plot and the lower left was represented the viable cells while the upper right and the lower right were represented the dead cells and the apoptotic cells respectively. From the apoptosis data (Figure2), it was observed that the untreated condition showed 77% viable cells and 21% of apoptotic effect. When AFRmut was treated with drug X, the viable cells were increased by 19% and the apoptotic effect was largely decreased to 3%. In contrast, the incorporation with drug Y lead to considerable anti-proliferative effect where 58% of apoptotic cells were observed and viable cells only remained as 40%. Related to the induction of programmed cell death, the majority of cells from the two tumor cell lines were alive upon carrier treatment, the use of AFRmut lead to the entrance of these cells into apoptosis with incorporation of Annexin V. The treatment of drug Y showed a significant apoptotic effect than the drug X, which has a potential to inhibit the function of mutated AFR and results in anti-proliferative effect. Figure 3 Flow cytometry cell cycle data: x-axis shows propidium iodide fluorescence and y-axis shows the number of cells The AFRmut cell line was treated with drug X and Y at a concentration of 800 nM for 24 hours and then fixed with ethanol and stained with propidium iodide before analysis in a flow cytometer. Treating with drug Y showed no cells in G2/M phase. The inhibition of cell proliferation induced by AFRmut was correlated with cell cycle which was evaluated with propidium iodide by flow cytometry. Cell cycle demonstrated the cell progression through a division cycle which result in cell growth and separation into two daughter cells. Live cell observation of cellular DNA and distribution of cell cycle are valuable to regulate apoptosis, and also the tumor behavior and suppressor gene systems. Cells would be distributed into three phases of cell cycle: G0 /G1 phase (2N), S phase (DNA synthesis with various DNA), and G2 /M phase (4N) to identify apoptotic cells with partial DNA content desirably   (Krishnakumar R, Kraus W ,2010). Propidium iodide fluorescence was needed in these actions to bind DNA. From the flow cytometry results by histogram (figure 3), the untreated condition showed 42% of cells in G0/G1 phase while 31% in S phase and 27% in G2/M phase. When the AFRmut was treated with drug X, the cell number in G1 phase dropped by 7% while there was increase of 6% in S Phase. DNA replication occurs more effectively during S phase. Tumor cells with a higher proportion of cells in S phase as tumors were growed faster and more aggressive in that phase so drug X induced proliferation of mutated AFR. However, the addition of drug Y caused effective anti-proliferation effect by increasing the cell numbers in G1 phase from 42% to 86% since the cell has left the cycle and has stopped dividing. There was increase in the cell numbers and grow in size. The decrease from 31% to 14% for S phase indicated the ineffective DNA replication. Moreover, there was no cells observed in G2/M phase when treated with drug Y which represented the increasing numbers of apoptotic cells and the G2/M pha se arrest, which failed the mitosis progression. Discussion Drug Y can be an effective anticancer drug which targets mutated AFR and inhibit its function to lead an anti-proliferative effect. In the present study, two lung tumor cell lines, mutated AFR receptor (AFRmut) and wild-type AFR (AFRwt), Drug Y was found that it could inhibit the growth of the AFR in vitro. The IC50 values of AFRmut and AFRwt were with the same range of 450nm. Additionally, the cell cycle revealed that Drug Y arrested mutated AFR at S phase and G2/M phase. Furthermore, the data demonstrated that Drug Y induced apoptosis in the mechanism assessed by 3 different methods: cell viability assay, apoptosis assay and the cell cycle of flow cytometry. Taken together, these results suggest that the inhibitory effect of Drug Y on cell proliferation in mutated AFR is mediated through induction of cell cycle arrest and apoptotic cell death. The limitation is the flow cytometry are only authorize the relative abundances of cell cycle phases compared to another (Dick FA, Dyson NJ, 2002). These actions can be examined by evaluating a coordinate sample of cells with mitotic inhibitor like nocodazole or G1/S inhibitor like aphidicolin. As these drugs establish a prevalent arrest in M-phase or early S-phase accordingly, moderately proliferating cells will gather at the drug inferred arrest location. For instance, cells arrested in G1 BY pRB expression will stay in G1 phase regardless of nocodazole treatment even regulating cells will accumulate in M-phase[13] Overall, the data demonstrated drug Y is able to develop an anti-cancer drug that targets a receptor called AFR (A Fictional Receptor) to block its activity. Drug Y successfully inhibits the function of mutated AFR by evaluating the cell viability assay, apoptosis assay and the cell cycle of flow cytometry. The assays showed an anti-proliferative effect and even cause cell death, which explains its significant antitumor activity in the various experimental investigations that have assessed. Thus, further studies about the way of administration, dose limiting toxicities and recommended doses are needed for the preclinical development of drug Y to evaluate the potential of the compound as an anticancer drug. References Dick FA, Dyson NJ, 2002. Three regions of the pRB pocket domain affect its inactivation by human papillomavirus E7 proteins. J. Virol.2;76: 6224-6224. Krishnakumar R, Kraus W, 2010. The PARP side of the nucleus: molecular actions, physiological outcomes, and clinical targets. Mol Cell. 39:8-24 Matthew J., et al, 2012. Analysis of Cell Cycle Position in Mammalian Cells  (59): 3491. Sigma-aldrich, 2016. Cell Proliferation Kit II (XTT) [online] Available at: http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/catalog/product/roche/11465015001?lang=enregion=GB Wang, G., et al, 2005. Antitumor effect of ÃŽÂ ²-elemene in non-small-cell lung cancer cells is mediated via induction of cell cycle arrest and apoptotic cell death. Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences CMLS 62.7-8: 881-893.

THE BLACK PRINCE Essay -- Essays Papers

THE BLACK PRINCE Edward was born the eldest son of Edward III, king of England. For most of his life he was know as Edward of Woodstock, but we know him as the Black Prince. He was created duke of Cornwall in 1337, the first duke to be created in England, and prince of Wales in 1343. In 1355, he joined his father in the campaigns of the Hundred Years War, as his father's lieutenant. He established his reputation for valor at the battle of CrÈcy (1346) for his command of the right wing of the English army. At this time he was only the age of 16. It was probably the French who called him the Black Prince, because he wore black armor. This is assumed because the name was not recorded in England until the 16th century. In 1355 the Black Prince led an expedition into Aquitaine, and in 1356 he defeated and captured John II of France in the battle of . Edward became ruler of the newly created English principality of Aquitaine in 1363. In 1367 he went to the support of the Spanish king and temporarily restored him to his throne by the victory of NÂ ·jera. However, the expenses of the wa...

Implementing Effective Job Delegation in the Units Essay

As a supervisor on our medical surgical unit, our hospital patient satisfaction scores for the past two years have been going down and there is a great need to improve patient satisfaction scores, particularly in the area of effective job delegation. Research (2011) has shown that a leader who does not delegate might likely feel stressed and overloaded. Although it might seem the best way for work to get done, is to do it yourself, but it’s not a good long-term solution. Feedback and review remain helpful and important, although the relationship is more likely one of mentoring, rather than coaching. The Question In order to improve patient satisfaction score in hospitals, the first question that health care providers should ask is what can be done to improve the quality of care given to our patients, and the second question is, how can effective job delegation improve our patient satisfaction score in our hospital? Will the creation of a policy on implementation of effective job delegation, encourage collaboration between the nursing staff and personnel to ensure that all personnel are not stressed or overworked? On our medical surgical unit, nurses struggle to deliver all the care their patients need, but are unable, due to stress and overwork. Good delegation saves time, develops people, grooms a successor, and motivates. Poor delegation will cause frustration, discouragement and Confusion, as such the delegated person will fail to carry out the delegated task. Effective job delegation will improve our patient satisfaction scores, even if most nurses would prefer to deliver all the care their patients need, but can’t, due to overwork and stress. The delegated task may be small, but has a large overall impact for all those involved. Nursing is a demanding profession, often nurses feel as though there are not enough hours in the day to complete all tasks, delegation of job will help nurses complete all the jobs allocated, this will help improve patient’s satisfaction scores. In the medical field today there is shortage of nurses, but still nurses are still expected to provide safe and effective care for their patients, by elegating some aspects of care to others this goal can be archived. Evidenced-Based Studies Many studies have been performed on effective job delegation. An article by American Nurses Association: Research and expert opinions suggest that effective job delegation frees up Nurses to do what they have been educated to do and coordinate patient care (ANA, 2020). It explained that delegating jobs help improve collaboration between healthcare workers, by delegating some aspects of care to others. Another article in the ADVANCE web site published by trustworthy researchers, who did the research on: why it is significant for healthcare workers to delegate job: since they decided what patient care intervention is necessary and how, when, and by whom these interventions need to be provided. The article narrated how effective job delegation will improve patient satisfaction scores; though most nurses would prefer to deliver all the care their patients need (Juno, 2010). An advanced research was carried out by nursing expert, who explained, that effective job delegation will improve patient satisfaction scores due to nurses shortage and the need to lower medical cost. The article describes how good job delegation saves time, develops people, grooms a successor, and motivates workers, while Poor job delegations causes frustration and overwork to nurses, making the task of healthcare workers difficult to give safe healthcare to their patients ( Juno, 2010). It explained that delegating jobs help improve collaboration between workers. An international research in South Africa discovered that there is a large disparity in service levels workload, between private and public sectors. The research point out that effective job delegation is necessary for both private and public sectors for jobs to be carried out efficiently (AFN, 2012). The organization Advocate for Nurses carries out a research and found out that the provision of health care in America has been compromised by the loss of trained health workers due to over work and stress, the article explained that when Managers or leaders engage in effective job delegation in the health care organization, Nurses will not leave the profession because of overwork and stress. It explained that poor job delegation lead to pressure and work overload, because most nurses think they can provide all the care their patient need, which is impossible to do, as such leaving one tressed, unhappy, and feeling that you’re letting your profession down, the solution to prevent this feeling is effective job delegation (AFN, 2012). They also explained why health care worker have to delegate, because of changes in healthcare delivery, they stressed the fact that task delegation is here to stay at least for the foreseeable future. Job delegation is crucial to cost containment a nd Job delegation is important; as such health care professionals should take it as an expected professional nursing activity (AFN, 2012). The Proposal The outcome of creating a policy is something that is realistically obtainable in a professional practice: Access to the hospital policies, meeting with floor managers/unit leaders and Identifying problems in our hospital have shown that our nurses and managers are stressed and overworked. The task of a competent manager is not to do all the work on his or her own, but to smartly deliver within the given parameters of budget and timeline I propose that all managers must make sure that the delegated person understands the importance of the task, the responsibility it brings and the long-term consequences. Once they are clear about the task it becomes easy for the job to be accomplished. Managers should make sure, those who are delegated, feel they are contributing to the success of the organization rather than standing on the periphery, and they must ensure that the job being delegated is handed to the appropriate individual, because if the task is not done, the person who delegated the job as well as the delegated person are responsible for non-performance of the job. Delegation is transferring a competent individual the authority to perform selected tasks in a selected situation. Effect job delegation facilitates success and trust among nurse, who then be able to deliver safe and satisfactory care of patients, as a result improve patient’s satisfaction scores. Conclusion Effective delegation involves achieving the desired results, managing the demanding deadlines, empowering and equipping the team. Ultimately, the responsibility of getting delegated job accomplished remains with the manager. Researchers have shown that leaders who do not delegate feel stressed and overloaded with work. Good delegation saves time, develops people, grooms a successor, and motivates. Poor delegation will cause frustration, discouragement and confusion. Effective job delegation strategies incorporated into health care practice can provide health care workers with more time for professional nursing roles, and enhance job satisfaction in the areas of decision-making and promotional opportunity.

Government policies Essay

Describe, with examples, the impact of government policies on different public services P5 Identify how society is affected by government policies In the UK, policies are in place in order to protect us and help enforce diversity and equality. Sometimes they are not always positively impacted on our society and public services; they can be negative as well. In this assignment, I will cover both the impacts of government policies on the public services and how society is affected. Human Rights The most commonly known policy that has affected all of the services is the human rights policy. This act was passed in the UK in 1998 which protected us and gave us the right to life, education, liberty and security and freedom of expression. Whenever these rights are violated, the victim may take the service or person to take and challenge the actions of the violator. A Police Officer was accused of violating someone rights after hitting a student (Tony Jones) in the face. They violated freedom of assembly and association, freedom of expression and freedom of thought. Just like many cases- This one was also dismissed and the Officer wasn’t charged for the suspected violation. Equal Opportunities Very similar to Human Rights- Equal Opportunities also protect us. While this has been around for a while, the equality act was republished in 2010 which terminates any discrimination against â€Å"age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion and belief, sex and sexual orientation.† If for example you are applying for the Public Service and you are bisexual then the service cannot refuse your application because of your sexual orientation. If you are a male Sikh and you wanted to join the Force, you are allowed to wear a blue police turban with the badge of your force being displayed. This policy stops people from becoming more ‘important’ than others which allow everyone to be treated fairly and not the same. Civilianisation As part of the financial cut back on the Public Services, more civilians are doing non-operational work. This includes more civilians working in the  communication control centre which dispatches emergency services to 999 calls. A key reason for civilianisation is because it is a lot cheaper than employing trained employees who can do the same but with little training or experience. Fire Station Closures Fire Station closures is apart of the Government’s plan to increase savings. In London alone, 10 Fire Stations have been forced to shut down which has led hundreds of Firefighters jobless. Even the oldest serving Fire Station in Clerkenwell has been shut down. This means- For anyone who dials 999 and asks for the Fire and Rescue service, the fire fighters will take longer to arrive to the scene compared to before where there might have been a Fire Station nearby. As a consequence, Communities are not feeling safe which results in protests. Increased use of Technology The use of advanced technology being used during modern warfare has not only saved our armed services from being killed or injured, it also allowed us to get surveillance over areas that we would have never been able to. Drones and satellites have allowed us to spy over our enemies and also kill them. Metal Detectors allowed the frontline to find improvise explosive device (IED) which would have saved hundreds of lives alone. Unfortunately, it isn’t always as expected. Drones are also responsible for thousands of civilians’ life during the Afghanistan War and they have even taken our lives (Green on Blue). In the UK, increase use of technology has also saved lives and helps prosecute criminals. The increase of CCTV in the UK allowed us to record and catch criminals and serves them justice. While some people believe they violate their privacy, some people feel a lot protected within communities. Examples of society affected by Government Policies They’re many policies that affect us both positively and negatively. Examples of a few are; Tuition fees VAT rises Sales of Council Houses Tuition Fees Tuition fees are probably one of the negatives about attending  further-education. If you’re attending University then expect an expensive fee after your course that you are required to pay back each month. Many graduates are still paying their fees even after 5-10 years. The main reason why society is affected by the fees is because less people are attending university purely because it’s too costly. Even after graduation, you are not guaranteed a job so some people become jobless while having to pay back the debt. VAT rises Every item you purchase legally has a VAT which increases the overall cost of the item. This is normally a 20% increase which is quite costly- depending on the item. If you were to buy a computer for  £500(no VAT) then the final price would be  £600. This means many families are forced into poverty while they have to struggle on surviving on minimum wage. Sales of council houses Selling of council houses is becoming an increasing issue in the UK as people and even businesses are buying the house out. This means hundreds of family homes are now owned by private landlords or individual people. As a consequence, families are finding it difficult to find family-homes to live in. How Society is affected by Government Policies When Society does not agree with a new policy that the Government put into place, it normally results in protests near Governmental Buildings with signs criticising the work of Government. However, protests are both peaceful and violent. There are several types of protests such as: -Sit-ins -Marching -Legal Action -Striking -Violating Laws Sit in This is one of the common types of protests. This means staying in one location while refusing to leave. An example of a previous sit-in is the protest outside the United Nations (U.N). Marching This involves walking from different locations while holding signs and normally shouting. One of the most famous marching was led by Martin Luther King in 1963. This protest was to promote civil rights and equality for the ethnic minority. Legal Action Though this isn’t a mass-protest, it is still a form which people still use. This involves taking a person or company to court in order to press legal charges against them. In 2012, the Democratic Party sued Florida because of the presidential election results. Striking This is commonly scene among Teachers who believe they are not paid enough or the Government plan on cutting their pay check. Striking means refusing to cooperate with your employer till your demands are met. This is normally a mass-protest since you are highly likely to be fired if you general didn’t listen to your Boss. Violating Laws (Riots) Riots are normally as a result of the Public feeling angry against the Government’s decision. Riots involve people burning down buildings, looting, criminal damage and even murder. During the 2011 Riot, 5 people were murdered, over 100 Police Officers injured and over 10 protesters injured.

Persuading on Genetically Modified Food Essay

The article called Genetically Modified Foods, has a style that is use to grab an audience emotion while still putting some facts. Right away in the first paragraph you will find ethos. Per Pinstrup-Anderson plays a key role in the article, he is the H. E. Babcock Professor of Food, Nutrition and Public Policy at Cornell University. Giving Per Pinstrup-Anderson a creditability, and having the audience attention. This is the only time in the article when ethos is being used to help their argument. In the next two paragraphs, Pathos and logos are used. It shows some facts as well as getting into the audience emotion. The way this was done was by talking about helping farmers in developing countries produce more food, making it more affordable to buy food, as well as not harming the environment. It goes on to say, â€Å"Many millions of people do not have access to sufficient calories and many more suffer from micronutrient deficiencies†. Another quote is, â€Å"which avoided mass starvation and helped millions out of poverty and hunger†. Notice they never gave an exact statistic on how many people are suffering from poverty and hunger, letting the audience see that it is so many people affected, and not just a specific number. It gives it more of a feel then would be given an exact number. In the next paragraph it goes back to logos, in the paragraph it is said science is the answer to fixing the hunger. It describes action that must be taken an order to be able to start helping starving people, as well as how will science help farming, like drought tolerance, mitigation of negative climate change, and pest resistance in crops. Those are just a few of what the paragraph claims to be able to do with a little investment for the technology. The way this paragraph is phrase is by letting the audiences see the processes that have to be done in order for an action to start. That way the audiences may start to have an opinion. At the end of this article it starts to talk about how long test must be done, and how the longer we wait the more expensive food will be as well as leaving millions to die. This passage is using pathos for its persuasiveness. It’s getting the audience that deep emotion of people waiting and starving. It goes on to say that anti-science ideology and the failure of the government brought the food crisis in the first place. This paragraph points a finger to show they are right, as well as preceding to say we have to change if something is not working. In the second article of, â€Å"The Failure of Gene-Altered Crops†, Vandana Shiva is presented as the ethos in this paragraph; she is the founder of Navdanya in India which is the movement of seed keepers and organic farmers. She written many books on how genetically modified foods are failing and how they will affect us. This grabs the audience attention because she’s a strong believer on organic substance. In the next paragraph it says we need biodiversity intensification that can work with nature instead of going against it, it doesn’t give a specific details as to why. The only argument made was when Doug Gurian-Sherman of the union of concerned scientist published a studied, â€Å"Failure to Yield†. In the study it is closely evaluated on the genetically modified for 20 years to see if they would increase yield or to just see better progress. In the end it showed that the experiment failed to increase yields as well as it failed to engineer crops to be insect-resistant nor herbicide tolerance. In this paragraph it was use ethos and logos. Ethos was Doug Gurian-Sherman and his research study, â€Å"Failure to Yield†. Logos was the bits of facts that came from Doug Gurian-Sherman research study. In the next to paragraph, it is shown by the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development [IAASTD] has concluded that genetic engineering did not seem very promising in the future. IAASTD found that the small farms that based on agri-ecology would produce much more food. This paragraph had also ethos, being IAASTD. As for the logos was what IAASTD found in the 4 years on figuring out what genetic engineering could hold in the future. The article makes a lot of tactics with logos and ethos to reach the audience, giving a great amount of facts from other credited people. The next three paragraphs have ethos as well as logos. In the passages, the book, â€Å"Soil, Not Oil† is brought as an example to give that industrial monocultures are more vulnerable to climate changes since the soil kept in organic plants help keep moisture making them less likely to die in draughts. In the next passage it is brought up the false statement by genetic engineering industry that it’s only possible to respond to climate change with modified food. Vandana Shiva made a statement on crops evolved to be better resilient to climate, as well Vandana has helped create seeds for drought resistance, and flood resistance as well as salt tolerance. This give the audience the idea that genetically modified food isn’t always needed when nature can just evolve. The last two passages gets more in depth on how genetically modified food and organically produced food will take us in the future. The passage give the audience a since of the future that genetic engineer for modified food is a waste a time, it does not give a sense of food security in the future and it will cause small farmers to go dept. As for Vandana Shiva Navdanya, it is a conserving biodiversity that tries to not be wasteful in water at the same time make much more food per acre. The best article that is persuasive is the second article, â€Å"The Failure of Gene-Altered Crops. The first article was very persuasive, but it never made it secure enough to make it believable that it close to happening. It produce more emotion then logic tactics, making it very hard to determine whether it is a dream that the nation wishes to reach or something that could be accomplish for the future. Great syntax on making it very emotional with pathos, but argument stance it would be weak. The first article could have been stronger if it talked about other countries that are already doing genetically modified foods. Korea has been doing genetically modified food for years, about 20 countries including the European Union, Japan, Australia and New Zealand have already a labeling system for genetically modified foods, (Hae-Yeong Kim 132). Another good point would be to bring up Matin Qaim, â€Å"Vitamin A deficiency is a serious nutritional problem, causing multiple adverse health outcomes. Simulations for India show that Golden Rice could reduce related health problems significantly, preventing up to 40,000 child deaths every year. (552) In India Bt cotton has reduce some poverty and actually help small famers, now some in China and South Africa, Bt cotton are a first-generation of genetically modified technology. As for the second argument, many ethos and logos were presented. One being Doug Gurian-Sherman published study on how genetic industries isn’t really going anywhere, it has great facts, it was a 4 year study so it showed what was being done in long term. A lot of facts on how genetic industry is failing on making modified food was claimed, but not many on how it could do more harm as well as it would bankrupt some small farmers for even trying to use modified seeds. The plant evolving had a great way point in Gebre Egziabher, Tewolde B( The Use of Genetically Modified Crops in Agriculture and Food Production, and Their Impacts on the Environment – A Developing World Perspective) â€Å"Scientists believe that species evolved from a common ancestor through competition and natural selection. They also believe that changes in genes occur in all species owing to mutation, with the probability of mutation of each gene remaining constant under the same environment†. (11) Giving this quote would remind the audience that life has a way of fixing itself and just because the technology is here does not give scientist right to use a different approach but instead try harder to help organic farming when it has been secure food source. Cite American Medical Assoc. Gebre Egziabher T. The Use of Genetically Modified Crops in Agriculture and Food Production, and Their Impacts on the Environment – A Developing World Perspective. Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica: Section B, Soil & Plant Science [serial online]. December 2, 2003;53:8-12. Available from: Science & Technology Collection, Ipswich, MA. Accessed April 27, 2012. American Medical Assoc. Hae-Yeong K, Jae-Hwan K, Mi-Hwa O. Regulation and detection methods for genetically modified foods in Korea. Pure & Applied Chemistry [serial online]. January 2010;82(1):129-137. Available from: Science & Technology Collection, Ipswich, MA. Accessed April 27, 2012. American Medical Assoc. Qaim M. Benefits of genetically modified crops for the poor: household income, nutrition, and health. New Biotechnology [serial online]. November 30, 2010;27(5):552-557. Available from: Science & Technology Collection, Ipswich, MA. Accessed April 27, 2012.

Marketing Financial Services Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 3

Marketing Financial Services - Essay Example The following marketing areas would be considered in the discourse: the marketing tools used by the organization, the customers of the organization, including issues such as customer care, the current issues faced by the organization, and the control systems used by HSBC. HSBC Bank has been operating in England and Wales at the registered office located at 8 Canada Square, London E14 5HQ. It offers a diverse portfolio of financial instruments including savings and current accounts, investment accounts, credit cards, loans, mortgages, insurance and international services. It supports a wide range of education projects and initiatives throughout the communities where they do business. In addition, â€Å"HSBC supports a wide range of projects and initiatives that underline their commitment to UK businesses.† (HSBC, 2010, 1) The management of HSBC promotes diversity and equality of opportunities through programs where they establish partnerships with other business organizations. Accordingly, â€Å"representatives of HSBC Bank plc can provide advice on investment and pension products from selected providers, including companies within the HSBC Group, and on life insurance products from HSBC Life (UK) Limited.† (HSBC, 2010, 1) With the extent of drastic effects that the financial crisis have wrought, HSBC Bank remains strong in the market due to its strengths, as presented: (1) diversity of financial portfolio; (2) a strong customer relations skills; (3) a competent and professional management; (4) extensive global reach; (5) substantial resources. The multitude and variety of products and services enable HSBC to tap a wider range of clientele base from children to retirees. Their strong customer relations skills make their management and staff adept and competent to address customer relations issues and impending threats in the environment. An extensive global reach is a plus factor to tap potentials in diverse

Trokosi as a Form of Modern-day Slavery Term Paper

Trokosi as a Form of Modern-day Slavery - Term Paper Example The term â€Å"trokosi† was derived from the local Ewe dialect in Ghana and Togo, meaning â€Å"wives of the gods" (Kankpeyeng, 2009). The virgin girls are regarded as wives of the symbolic god who is feared, respected and honored at various traditional places of worship. Trokosi and voodoo are similar in the sense that both bank on some magic to woo and retain the followers. From the 16th century, the Ewe is believed to have been expelled from the Niger River delta towards the west. During this tumultuous era their gods of war assumed great title and significance, projecting fetish priests above the chiefs in terms of influence. They continue to be the most feared, respected and influential individuals in the better part of the rural West Africa. Practically, the priests use fetish slaves as concubines in the perceived holy places. The slaves must respect his command and be ready to make sacrifices, sometimes in pain (Alford, 2005). If they object, they are punished in the fields to produce valuable goods for sale by the priests. Sometimes they are ordered to serve the priests sexually for free. In addition, the victims do not stand a chance to receive any mercy and are cut off from the rest of the population. Trokosi is a general term used in reference to both the religious practices or the organization and the victims of the traditional form of occultism. According to Bales, Trodd and Williamson (2011) the fact that the occult movement is premised upon mystery is itself a shared attribute with Trokosi. Joining Trokosi is non-negotiable to the potential victims and their respective families. In addition, settling the dues of a Trokosi is a unilateral decision of a priest or the entirety of the shrine of the African traditional religious movement through a process referred to as "atoning." As Alford (2005) said, the fact that the religion is keen on appeasing the spirits of a male ancestor, a kin or a relative is similar to occultism since both are

Snyder v. Phelps Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Snyder v. Phelps - Assignment Example Therefore, the congregation picketed in military funerals to demonstrate their beliefs. On this occasion, Phelps led his flock to picket at Marine Lance Corporal Matthew Snyder’s funeral. He died while in battle in Iraq in 2006. Through the event, protesters displayed placards with thematic messages like, acknowledging God for 9/11 event, thanking God for the death of the soldier and asking the public not to pray for America. Furthermore, church members recounted Bible verses and resonated hymns. Snyder later sued Phelps and the church on the basis that their actions caused him severe emotional distress. However, Phelps defended and sought protection of the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution. Bhakhama (2012) affirms that the case took an interesting twist as jury in Maryland settled the claims and awarded Snyder a reasonable compensation. However, the Supreme Court reversed the decision in favor of the church because the protestors addressed Americans fate, homosexuality, and moral conduct. In justification of the decision, the Supreme Court emphasized that First Amendment offered exceptional shield for speech on civic issues. Hence, the court maintained that Westboro Baptist Church members who picketed adjacent to the funeral site expressed legal acts. Thus, the demonstrators’ engaged in accordance with provisions of state-law. On the contrary, the church never committed purposeful cause of emotional misery, meddling, and civil intrigue. Fighting words doctrine comprised of speeches with a possibility to make a recipient commit an act of violence. However, First Amendment never prohibits expression of similar speeches especially when addressing common concerns, yet opposes subset of abusive words and violence. Thus, this is a personal analysis and thoughts about application of the doctrine in relation Chaplinsky versus New Hampshire. Generally, the Supreme Court’s verdict presented a major dilemma. Critics still argue

Response Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 28

Response - Essay Example Amusing enough there has never been a record of a buffalo infecting cattle with brucellosis. Webster is concerned about the animals where she lives. This is the reason she is against individuals building their big houses where the animals live. She says,† The home builders are as large a danger to wildlife just as hunters are." She is not concerned as much with homebuilders that construct what they require for their family; rather she is more concerned with homebuilders who are overbuilding. Even when they are educated concerning what they are doing, the homebuilders keep wrecking the animals habitat. Other than teaching the home builders, the main other move activists can make is by asking the administration to establishing moratorium on building permits. She requests Americans to wind up more dependable with their activities and asks Americans to change their dialect. Webster believes that Americans substitute the words "harvest" with "slaughter" and "environment" with "home, they will embrace the habit of conserving the environment for the wild animals instead of harming them and exploiting their habitat. in response to The Fashion Punk Paradox by Andrew Hyde, the author tries to portray the real picture in the united states in the course of the instabilities of the time. The united state had experiences enormous and dangerous activities in fight for mutual understanding. Responding to the book, "Warfare Is Only an Invention-Not a Biological Necessity by Margaret Mead." The author discharged the conception that war is the inevitable consequence of â€Å"basic, competitive, aggressive, warring human nature." Her theory is challenged, she illustrated, by the plain fact that not all societies wage war. For instance, she utters that war has never been experimental among a Himalayan people called the Lepchas or the Eskimos. Actuality, neither of these groups, when questioned by early ethnographers, was

P&G Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

P&G - Essay Example It is equally important, if not more so, that innovation is cost-effective, aligned with consumer demands and addresses a perceived gap in the market. In other words, not only is the strategy for corporate survival continued product development and innovation, but the cost-effective development of innovative products which market research indicates will attract the consumer market. Proctor and Gamble has resolved the seemingly complex equation of cost-effective continued product development and equation through its "connect and develop" strategy. Indeed, P&G's approach to product development and innovation has the potential to serve as a critically valuable lesson to corporations across the world. The hurdles to new product development are cost and innovation. As Huston and Sakkab (2006, p. 60) write, "Most companies are still clinging to what we call the invention model, centered on a bricks-and-mortar R&D infrastructure and the idea that their innovation must principally reside within their own four walls." Confining product development to the company and to individuals working in the company often means that development will be a costly and time-consuming process. The reason, as Huston and Sakkab (2006) illustrate through reference to a case study, is that when a company begins the R&D process with an idea for a new product or an innovation to an existing product, it may not have the technology to translate the idea into a reality. The company's in-house Research and Development team will then have to experiment with several technologies to bring the idea to life and, of course, may and may not succeed. Even if they succeed, success comes at high financial cost. Furthermor e, as Brown and Eisenhardt (1995) argue, because the process is often a length one, there is always the risk that a competitor may beat them to the market with the technology and product. In this case, the return on the new product research and development investment may not be realized. Hence, a financial risk factor enters into the equation. Proctor and Gamble stumbled across a high radical approach for new product development and innovation when it found itself confronting numerous technological obstacles to the manufacturing of their innovative Pringle line of imprinted chips. Initially relying on in-house talent for the development of the required technology, Proctor and Gamble soon found the process excessively costly, unrealistic and unfeasible in terms of implementation. It was at this point that P&G decided to look outside its walls for a solution and, with that in mind, developed and circulated a technology brief which outlined the problem. The response was positive and the company was approach by a baker in Italy who had already developed the technology in question. Proctor and gamble obtained the rights to the use of the technology, developed it to suit their specific needs and were, as a result, able to successfully produce their new line of Pringle chips at a fraction of the cost they would have otherwise run into. Huston and Sakkab (2006) concede to the fact that the approach adopted by Procter and Gamble is a radical one. As new product development, inclusive of research and development, often functions as a firm's competitive edge, corporations generally tend to prefer to keep all research, development and product

Taking a Stance on Capital Punishment Essay Example for Free

Taking a Stance on Capital Punishment Essay Who are we to decide who should live and who should die? Who are we to decide that the punishment should not fit the crime? Who are we to consider mercy for the merciless? These are just a few questions I would love to be able to ask someone like Carrie Marie Scott, Janna Bruce, or Sheila Whalen but I can not, they all were murdered by Stephen Peter Morin. Stephen was one of the â€Å"botched† executions by lethal injection. It took the technicians almost 45 minutes to find a suitable vein to administer the sentence. I wonder how long it took his three victims to die as he raped and tortured them in a van he sound proofed. As for the time he suffered on the table getting needles stuck in him, I hope it does not happen to anyone that did not torture and kill three innocent people. Where is the humanity for the victims? Then there is the botched execution of John Wayne Gacy. This man tortured and killed over 25 people after his first conviction of child molestation in 1968; yet it is inhumane that his execution took 18 minutes longer to complete than normal because of a clogged IV tube? Perhaps we should ask the family of his victims if it took longer than 18 minutes for them to get over the death of their loved ones. Where is the humanity for the victims? What of the Hodges family? Richard Hodges and his 75 year old mother Mildred were both murdered by suffocation by Bert Leroy Hunter and Tomas Ervin. On December 15th, 1988; Hunter and Ervin broke into the Hodges’ family home at gun point to rob them. The Hodges’ were bound with duct tape and had plastic bags put over their heads causing them to suffocate. Death by suffocation can take upwards of eight minutes to happen; try holding your breath for a minute and you will realize the agony of this death. When hunter was executed his body convulsed violently; but this is the inhumane aspect of this entire ordeal. I feel that I would be cheating the family if I did not mention that this crime was committed after Hunter got out of jail for his first conviction of murder and in jail is where he met his accomplice Ervin. Where is the humanity for the victims? What is a lethal injection? It is a very basic process where Sodium Thiopental is used to put the person to sleep, then Pancuronium is administered to paralyze the muscles, and Potassium Chloride is used to stop the heart; if this is not given the person would die of asphyxiation from the Pancuronium. The person has an IV in both arms although one is only used as a backup in case the main fails. The person on the execution table will always have one right that he or she did not allow their victim to have; the right to die with their dignity. When you look at the very basic facts of this, that no one should take a life; everything is very simple. When people say that â€Å"this poor person died on the execution table in a horrible way;† it is really easy to take a stance and say that it is wrong. The problem is that this is a heavily flawed perspective based on initial reactions without digging further and finding the details about how the ended up on that execution table in the first place. It all comes down to protecting the ones we are supposed to protect; the people who do NOT break the law and their rights have far been overlooked for rights of the ones who victimized them. So you ask for a stance and I will take one: Killing people is wrong, but the people who have killed people should not have a voice in their treatment of way they die; their victims did not. I support lethal injection and capital punishment. So long as people are willing to kill other people in cold blood; I am willing to see them off to their demise and not stand in the way.

Personal Reflection on Learning Outcomes of Professional Practice

Personal Reflection on Learning Outcomes of Professional Practice In order to reflect upon my learning throughout this module, I will identify and critically discuss three Module Learning outcomes that reflect the range of possible issues of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) Proficiencies (2004). I will then identify appropriate literature and reflect on my learning and experience. This will enable me to identify personal strengths and areas for further development. The first learning outcome is: Recognise the importance of reflective practice and understand the process of reflection. The second outcome chosen is: Discuss the difference between data and information?. The third outcome is: Demonstrate appropriate non-verbal and verbal skills, including the use of silence, open and closed questions and summarising, to gather information. *Please note that the names of the patients mentioned in this essay have been changed in order to protect their identity for confidentiality reasons. 1 Recognise the importance of reflective practice and understand the process of reflection This outcome relates to the NMC Proficiency of Demonstrate the responsibility for ones own learning through the development of a Record of Achievement of practice and recognise when further learning is required. Reflection is a new method of learning for me. With regard to nursing, the term reflection and reflective practice has been defined by many academics, resulting in various models and theories being developed. The Oxford Mini-dictionary for Nurses (2008) describes reflection as the careful consideration of personal actions, including the ability to review, analyse and evaluate situations during or after events. It is an essential part of the learning process that will result in new methods of approaching and understanding nursing practice. Johns (2000) defines reflection as a window through which the practitioner can view and focus self within the context of his/her own lived experience in ways that enable him/her to confront, understand and work towards resolving the contradictions within his/her practice between what is desirable and actual practice. Schon (1983) proposed that reflection occurs on action or in action. The first occurs after the incident whereas the latter occurs during the incident and is said to be the hallmark of the experienced professional (Somerville Keeling, 2004). The more traditional theories and models base reflection on critical incidents. Love (1996) states that a critical incident does not have to be negative or dramatic but should provide deep thought and raise a professional issue. Gibbs (1988) developed The Reflective Cycle. The model divides the reflective process into sections; Description, Feelings, Evaluation, Analysis, Conclusion and Action Plan (see Appendix 1). Johns (2000) developed a Model of Structured Reflection (MSR) (see Appendix 2) As with Gibbs (1988) Reflective Cycle, the MSR uses a series of questions to guide an individual through the reflective process. Johns model is based on five cue questions; Description, Reflection, Influencing Factors, Could I have dealt with it better? and Learning. The volume of studies and models on reflection demonstrates the value that is placed on this tool. Newell (1992) described the process of reflection to be a cornerstone of nursing professionalism. Gustafsson and Fagerberg (2004) support the notion that reflection is a vital tool and advantageous in terms of the improvement of a nurses professional development and patient care. Many consider journal writing to be an effective reflection strategy (Johns 2000; Paterson, 1995; Cameron Mitchell, 1993; Lauterbach Becker, 1996). Journal writing is considered to offer writers the opportunity to become participants/observers of their own learning, to describe a significant experience and to reflect on that experience to see what they can learn from having had it (Weisberg and Duffin, 1995). While in clinical practice, I have written a journal of my experiences. I recognise its value to aid reflection as I feel that the act of writing things down is important. This is supported by Somerville and Keeling (2004). To demonstrate my understanding of reflective practice, I will now reflect on an incident that occurred while on placement when I was feeding a patient, named Tom*. I will utilise Gibbs (1988) model as this is my first experience of using reflection and feel that it is concise and appropriate at this stage. Tom had dementia and had recently suffered a stroke, which had left him confined to bed. As Tom had difficulty feeding himself, I offered to assist him; he smiled, agreed and appeared to recognise me. Halfway through the meal, Tom became agitated and asked if the food was mackerel. I told him that it was turkey. He shouted aggressively that he wanted mackerel and then became verbally abusive towards me. I was unable to calm him so I left the room with an assurance that I would be back soon. I then asked a senior nurse for help. This was the first time that I had fed a patient but felt comfortable. I knew Tom well and felt that I had built up a rapport with him. I was pleased that he seemed happy and relaxed. When he shouted I felt shocked, worried and conscious of other peoples reactions; they may think that I had done something wrong. Even though Tom was disabled he did have some use of one arm so I was afraid that he might become violent. I was upset that I had to stop feeding him and leave the room. When I left I felt relieved but also anxious that I may have contributed to the way Tom was feeling. When evaluating and analysing the incident, I was pleased initially with the way the task started as on admission he had a poor appetite. The negative side of the situation was that Tom became angry and didnt finish his meal. I realise that dementia is a complex progressive illness and there may be times when a patient experiences sudden mood changes. I believe that I would now do things differently if a similar situation arose. With hindsight, I questioned whether I should have just agreed with Tom that the turkey was mackerel then this incident may not have occurred. However, this raises ethical issues such as whether it can be acceptable to not tell the truth. A report published by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics (2009) discusses the ethics of dementia care and states that ethical dilemmas arise on a daily basis for all those providing care for people with dementia. Research suggests that challenging someone with dementia could be detrimental and cause unnecessary distress (Shellenberger, 2004). Naomi Feil developed validation therapy between 1963 and 1980 as a technique to communicate with patients with dementia by recognising and accepting their view of reality of people with dementia in order to provide them with empathy and respect (The Validation Training Institute, Inc). In the future I could use this technique; for exa mple, when Tom asked if it was mackerel he was eating I could have replied by asking him if he liked mackerel which would have avoided giving a direct answer. With regard to strengths and areas of development, I feel that I have reflected successfully on this incident. However I would like to strive to reflect in action as opposed to on action as this is the most effective. In terms of development, I believe that it would be beneficial to patients and myself to learn more about caring for patients with dementia. The Dementia UK Report (2007) published by The Alzheimers Society states that there are currently 700,000 people with dementia in the UK. The report also predicts that by 2025 there will be over 1 million people with dementia so it is inevitable that I will be caring for many dementia patients in my career. In summary, although the models of reflection span over 20 years and vary slightly, the principle of reflection is very similar, which implies that reflection is a robust tool and still applies to modern nursing. I have learnt that reflective practice is a vital tool, particularly when associated with journal writing. Continuous reflection will allow me to develop skills and knowledge to enable me to provide the best care possible for patients and their families. 2 Discuss the difference between data and information This learning outcome links to the NMC proficiency of Demonstrate literacy, numeracy and computer skills needed to record, enter, store, retrieve and organise data essential for care delivery. As a student Im not involved in using my computer skills on the ward but eventually will be involved in audit and data entry. My literacy and computer skills are demonstrated throughout my portfolio and assignment. I demonstrate my literacy and numeracy skills when writing patient evaluations, calculating fluid balance and assisting with drug calculations. There are many examples of data and information used within nursing care. Due to the broad nature of this area I have focused on a particular type of data and information to demonstrate my understanding of these terms. My focus is data collected from patients vital signs and the information that relates to this. I will demonstrate how the process of giving information to patients rather than just data is an essential part of nursing. Gathering, giving and recording both data and information accurately is vital. Data can be described as facts and statistics used for reference or analysis. The term information can be defined as the meaning applied to the data (Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 2008). Observation data collected from patients includes pulse rate and rhythm, blood pressure, respiration rate, temperature and oxygen saturate percentage. These measurements are taken on admission as it is important to gain base-line readings to which future readings can be compared. It is necessary to apply meaning to this data to form information to be able to judge a patients condition. Throughout the module I have learnt what data means in terms of acceptable values. As I now have the information about the data I can make judgments about data. For example, I now know that the information I can get from the blood pressure data of 160/110 mmHg is high (Blood Pressure Association). However, this information needs to be put into context to allow use of the information to make a judgement. For example, if a patient has just completed cardiovascular exercise, this may account for a high blood pressure reading. With this information, the plan would be to wait for 30 minutes before repeating to gain more accurate data. Readings can vary temporarily due to a number of reasons; for example, medication, an existing health condition, fluid intake, exercise and alcohol consumption. However, a change in blood pressure can indicate deterioration in condition, which alerts health care professionals to investigate. In order to show my understanding of the difference between data and information I will now give an example of an incident that occurred while on placement. During observations of a 70 year-old lady named Eileen*, I noticed that her systolic blood pressure had dropped from 127 to 90 mmHg. Her other observations remained consistent. I informed a senior nurse who asked a doctor to review the patient. I discussed her fluid intake with her as this could have had an adverse effect on her blood pressure. As she had only drank a small amount I encouraged her to drink more and continued monitoring. Eileens blood pressure eventually returned to her baseline. This example shows how data, such as blood pressure readings, prompts gathering information which, in turn, enables problem solving. As demonstrated, I need to have an understanding of the information gathered from the data but additionally I feel that it is important that patients understand what the data means. Bastable (2006) defined patient education as the process of assisting people to learn health related behaviours so that they can incorporate those behaviours into everyday life and achieve a goal of optimal health and independence in self care. I will now provide an example of my experience of patient education: During a blood pressure check on Paul*, who was hypertensive and took multiple medications, I asked him whether he would like to learn about blood pressures. He gladly agreed so I explained what the reading was and what can affect blood pressure. I explained that exercise, healthy eating, low salt intake and weight control would have a beneficial effect on his blood pressure. He was unaware of how his current lifestyle could have a detrimental effect on blood pressure and said that he now intended to make some lifestyle changes. Research supports my thoughts about the benefits of giving patients information about aspects of their health rather than just the data. Florence Nightingale, who has been described as the founder of modern nursing, recognised the importance of educating about adequate nutrition, personal hygiene and exercise in order to improve well-being (Bastable, 2006). The Department of Health (2009) states that giving people relevant, reliable information enables them to understand their health requirements and make the right choice for themselves and their families. (Bastable, 2008). Partridge and Hill (2000) found that patients who are well informed are better able to manage their health, have improved psychological outcomes, have fewer exacerbations of their condition and less hospital admissions. Glanville (2000) states that if clients cannot maintain or improve their health status when on their own, we have failed to help them reach their potential. Abbott (1998) reported that by involving patients in their state of health by keeping them informed has been proved to improve patient satisfaction and concordance. However, there is research to suggest that providing information may not result in a change in health outcomes (Kole, 1995; Sherer et al. 1998). They found these reasons to be that patients dont understand the information, are unable to absorb it due to pain, anxiety, or that they choose not to act upon it. Additionally, absorption of information is decreased when there is too much information; therefore health outcomes remain unchanged. The question is how much is too much information? This is difficult to determine. In terms of personal strengths, I felt very satisfied that I had initiated this conversation which resulted in Paul considering lifestyle changes. On reflection, this incident highlighted the importance of patient understanding and has encouraged me to take time to educate patients where possible. It has emphasised the need for continuous learning so that I am able to answer questions and educate patients. Additionally, I am aware of my limitations and when to seek advice or refer patients to others. I also need to develop confidence in speaking to patients about sensitive issues such as weight management by researching this area. 3 Demonstrate appropriate non-verbal and verbal skills, including the use of silence, open and closed questions and summarising, to gather information This outcome relates to the NMC Proficiency of Engage in, develop and disengage from therapeutic relationships through the use of appropriate communication and interpersonal skills. Communication is a reciprocal process that involves the exchange of both verbal and non verbal messages to convey feelings, information, ideas and knowledge (Wilkinson 1999; Wallace 2001). In nursing, communication and information gathering is essential to provide quality care. Sheldon, Barrett Ellington (2006) report that Communication is a cornerstone of the nurse-patient relationship. Information gathering commences from when the nurse greets the patient. In order to communicate non-verbal and verbal cues are used. Non-verbal skills are portrayed with body language and impact on communication (Hargie Dickson 2004). These include posture, facial expressions, head movement, eye contact and hand gestures showing active listening. Verbal skills include the use of silence, open and closed questions and summarising. The tone of voice and rate of response are significant. The emphasis is on effective communication; the way we communicate can hinder or enhance the information we gather. Sheldon et al. (2006) state that the power of effective nursing care is strengthened and enriched by good communication. Maguire and Pitceathly (2002) suggest that clinicians with good communication skills identify patients problems more accurately, patients are more satisfied with their care and are less anxious. It has been reported that that ineffective communication can lead to patients not engaging with the healthcare system, refusing to follow recommended advice and failing to cope with the psychological consequences of their illness (Berry, 2007). The scenario below demonstrates my understanding of appropriate verbal and non-verbal cues. It is part of a conversation with a patient on admission regarding current medical history. When meeting Arthur*, a 78 year old, I smiled, introduced myself and explained the purpose of our conversation. I asked Arthur Do you have any chest problems? he answered Yes. I then asked What chest problems do you have and how do they affect you? he answered I have emphysema causing wheezing and a cough. I also get breathless when walking and have oxygen at night I left a brief silence at this point. Arthur then disclosed I cough up a lot of horrible phlegm in the morning which is embarrassing. He then asked will I get a chest x-ray. I asked Have you any particular worries about your chest? to which he replied well I am quite worried about lung cancer. I told him that I would pass on his concern to the doctor and then summarised our conversation. With regard to verbal responses, I initially asked a closed question as I wanted a specific answer. Silverman et al. (2005) supports the theory that closed questions are appropriate when wanting to narrow the potential answer. Due to Arthurs response I asked an open question to encourage him to go into more detail. An open question often results in a lengthy answer, so I used fillers such as mmm throughout, to show active listening and to encourage him to continue. The brief pause was successful as it enabled Arthur to disclose his embarrassment. I summarised his response in order to clarify what Arthur had said for my own benefit but also to give the patient confidence that I had understood and opportunity to correct me if not. With regard to my non-verbal communication, I kept an open posture with eye contact and leant forward slightly to show that I was listening. I also ensured that my facial expressions were appropriate. For example, when greeting Arthur I smiled, but during descriptions of distressing symptoms my facial expression was one of concern. Egan (2002) supports the notion that conveying these non-verbal cues in this way will facilitate emotional disclosure and encourage the patient to talk more freely. Egan derived the acronym SOLER to portray awareness of the non-verbal responses; facing squarely, maintaining an open posture, leaning slightly forward, having appropriate eye contact and being relaxed. There are approximately 700,000 different non-verbal cues that may or may not have meaning (Birdwhistell, 1970; Pei, 1997). As nurses, we must be aware of our use of non-verbal cues as they can convey unintentional meaning. In addition to awareness of our responses it is imperative to be aware of patient cues, as this is part of the information gathering process. Arthurs hesitancy indicated to me to remain silent to encourage further disclosure. Being aware of patients verbal responses is more straightforward than what their non-verbal responses convey and it may be that patients body language contradict the spoken word (Miller, 1995). Barriers to communication include anxiety, language, hearing, sight or speech impairment. During communication, I would like to think that I am non judgemental. According to Underman Boggs (1999) most of us have personal biases regarding others that are based on previous experiences. In relation to my scenario, Fuller (1995) suggests that health care professionals may underestimate the verbal capacity or abilities of older people, which results in their conversations being undervalued. In terms of personal strengths, I feel fairly confident with the use of verbal and non-verbal cues and how these can deter or catalyse communication. I feel that I used silence successfully as Arthur disclosed embarrassment and mentioned about an x-ray, which he may not have done otherwise. I was able to reassure him that we would provide a disposable sputum pot and acknowledged his fear of cancer. I realise that it can be difficult communicating about sensitive information and this is an area of development for me, which I feel will improve with experience. Although at this stage of training I would not be expected to lead consultations for diagnostic purposes, it was informative to research consultation models. I intend to become more familiar with these models in order to utilise some of the communication skills (Newell, 1994). To form an overall conclusion, I feel that through theoretical learning and clinical experience I have demonstrated my achievement of the NMC Proficiencies (2004). I have critically discussed and concluded each learning outcome in turn throughout the essay but to summarise; patient focus and effective communication are paramount. I feel that in terms of reflection, self-awareness is key (Rowe, 1999). This will enable me to look at my skills to recognise strengths and areas of development to ultimately provide best practice in patient care. I realise that I will gain experience and confidence as my training progresses. Word Count: 3289 References Abbott, S. A.(1998) The benefits of patient education Gastroenterol Nursing. 1998 Sep-Oct;21(5):207-9. Bastable, S. (2006) Essentials of Patient Education. London. Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Bastable, S. (2008) Nurse as Educator: Principles of Teaching and Learning for Nursing Practice. Third Edition. London: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. 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(2004) as cited in Nursing Times http://www.nursingtimes.net/nursing-practice-clinical-research/a-practical-approach-to-promote-reflective-practice-within-nursing/204502.article [30th October 2009] Underman Boggs, K. (1999) Communication styles. Interpersonal Relationships: Professional Communication Skills for Nursing. Third edition. Philadelphia PA, WB Saunders. Validation Training Institute Inc. http://www.vfvalidation.org/web.php?request=index [10th December 2009] Wallace, P. R. (2001) as cited in The Royal Marsden Hospital Manual of Clinical Nursing Procedures. Student Edition, Seventh Edition. London: Wiley-Blackwell. Weisberg, M. Duffin, J. (1995) Evoking the moral imagination: using stories to teach ethics and professionalism to nursing, medical and law students. Change, 22. Wilkinson, S. (1999) as cited in The Royal Marsden Hospital Manual of Clinical Nursing Procedures. Student Edition, Seventh Edition. London: Wiley-Blackwell. APPENDIX 1 Gibbs (1988) model of reflection