Nervous Conditions Essay

Nervous Conditions The choice to resist or comply in situations greatly affects the success and personal relationships of Tambu and Nyasha throughout the Nervous Conditions. Tambu arrives at her uncle’s school initially embracing her education and passion for learning, while there she begins to notice the relationships that existed between the settlers and native, males and females in society. Nyasha understood how awful these relationships were as a young girl. She suffers from severe depression and an eating disorder while trying to cope with and understand these relationships.There are many different decisions made with a variety of strategies that either helps them advance or causes them to fall victim to the controls of colonial society. An educated woman was very uncommon in Zimbabwe during the 1980’s. Tambu decided to pursue her education against her mothers will. You notice the generation gap when her mother says ‘’Can you cook books and feed them t o your husband? Stay at home with you mother. Learn to cook, clean and grow vegetables’’(Ma Shingayi, 15). She decided not to follow the traditional path of women and began selling corn at the market with her teacher to pay for her schooling.Tambu decided to resist fait at a very young age and continued not listening to her family throughout the novel. She felt weighed down by the burdens of womanhood and would not tolerate settling into that lifestyle. Nyasha’s resentment for her parents results in her lashing out and developing an eating disorder. When her mother takes the D. H Lawrence book form her without asking Nyasha begins an argument with her at dinner and storms off without eating. This is the first sign of her nervous condition and foreshadows the escalating problem of her eating disorder. The decision to become bulimic is an attempt to control her life.She feels that her parents are preventing her from becoming the person she wants to be. ‘â₠¬â„¢ They’ve done it to me’’ (Nyasha, 200) she says to Tambu. She feels that she can’t become the confident successful young women she knows is inside her until her parents stop treating her this way. Her parents chose to take away her books, force her to eat and beat her for punishment. This created very strong feelings of hostility towards toward them. These feelings of animosity only get worse throughout the novel as her father gets more controlling to in order to fix her problems.Nyasha’s hatred for her mother goes beyond the issue of them controlling her. This extra hatred for her mother comes from her decision to be her husbands ‘’underdog’’ (Nyasha, 119). She doesn’t believe in the idea of surrendering her dreams and lifestyle to the control of a man. She does not respect her mother for doing this and it only adds to the escalating family conflict. After the Christmas dance Nyasha decided to resist the rules set by her father to hang out with Andy. Babamukuru calls her a whore and beats her, threatening to kill her and hang himself.After all of this Nyasha says this to Tambu ‘’ you cant go on all the time being whatever’s necessary. You’ve got to have some conviction, and I’m convinced I don’t want to be anyone’s underdog. It’s not right for anyone to be that. But once you get use to it well, it just seems natural and you carry on. And that’s the end of you. You’re trapped. They control everything you do’’ (Nyasha, 119). This shows the resentment she has for her mother. She disobeys her father to show that she is not going to be controlled like that. In her eyes she is getting a head by doing this but it only makes her father more controlling.As the preparations began for her parents wedding Tambu became resentful towards Babamukru for ‘’having devised this plot which made such a joke of my parents my home and myself’’ (Tambu, 151) She becomes anxious and angry with her uncle for not understanding how torn she was with this situation. Tambu decides not to go to the wedding; this is the first time she has stood up for herself in Babamukru’s house. After the ceremony she has some regret for not going but the fact that she was able to make her own decision made it all worth it. ‘’guilt, so many razor sharp edges of it, slice away at me.My mother had been right; it was unnatural; I would not listen to my own parents, but I would listen to Babamukuru even when he told me to laugh at my parents. There was something unnatural about me. ’’(Tambu, 167) This wedding made her realize how much she had just been just doing everything he said even if it was wrong and this made her feel very week. Making the decision not to go gave her a ‘’newly acquired identity’’(Tambu, 171) and she gladly took the lashings and punishment for it. When the nuns from Sacred Heart came to the mission school to recruit they offer Tambu a scholarship and a position at the school.Maiguru stands up for Tambu when Babamukuru shuts down the idea. She accepts the offer to the Convent School and becomes so focused on her education she fails to see the effects of this situation on her personal relationships with Nyasha and her friends. Nyasha writes her letters revealing her struggles and how she is on a ‘’diet. ’’ Tambu is so caught up in her studies that she chooses not to write back and help her. When she returns to the mission her friends Maidei and Jocelyn will no longer talk to her. They are very resentful that she left them to go to the white catholic school.Tambu seems very caught up in the colonial society and is slowly loosing track of her roots and connection to the homestead. During her first trip home form Sacred Heart her mother warns her of Englishness and how it is the ma in cause of Nyasha’s Problems. She tries to remove that thought from her head but you notice it stayed with her when she says. ‘’ Quietly, obtrusively and extremely fitfully, something in my mine began to assert itself, to question things and refuse to be brain washed, bringing me to this time when I can set down this story it was a long and painful process for me that process of expansion. ’ (Tambu, 208) She starts questioning her decisions and what she has lost or given up as a result of them. Sacred Heart is no longer her main focus; this shows a significant change in how she views life. Through characters like Nyasha and Tambu one can directly see the struggle that colonialism created for women along with the apparent issues between African men and women during this time period.The decisions that were made either got these girls to the next step in their lives or left them stuck in conflict and abuse. Both Tambu and Nyasha are very set on making there own decisions and finally stand up for them selves against Babamukuru. The beating they receive from making some decisions sets them back but they feel as if it rejuvenates them and gives them power over his control. Works Cited Tsitsi, Dangaremba. Nervious Conditions. London: The Women’s Press Ltd, 1988

Distribution At American Airlines Essay

American Airlines is a major United States airline. It was formed in 1930 as a passenger airline and merged with different carriers since its formation. American Airlines’ operations grew rapidly after World War II. In 1921, American‘s corporate predecessor had only five small airplanes for transporting airmail. In 1946, American ordered 220 new planes. 1952 – American introduced the Magnetronic ― â€Å"Reservisor†, a mechanical console installed on each desk to help automate inventory control. The Reservisor offered major productivity improvements: A trial in the Boston reservations office served an additional 200 passengers daily, with 20 fewer reservations staff. American and IBM collaborated on the design of an improved inventory management system, ultimately called the Semi-Automated Business Reservations Environment (SABRE). IBM provided the hardware, while American and IBM jointly built the software. The initial investment was comparable to half a dozen Boeing 707 jet airplanes. Competitors make their own distribution system and later, certain circumstances open the industry to Global Distribution System allowing AA’s own system to be access by those customers of competitors. TIME CONTEXT In year 2006, when American Airlines faced the impending expiration of its three-year contract with its four then existing GDS. POINT OF VIEW Lead negotiator Charlie Sultan and co-lead negotiator Chris Degroot. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM American Airlines was unable to shoulder the fees set by GDS due to struggled with fuel prices and increased competition from new entrants. OBJECTIVES Must: To continue attending to customers’ requirements as well as preserving the relationship with travel agents. To maintain easiness in accessing American Airlines’ services through supporting their existing GDS. To overcome possible threats brought by the changing environment (fuel prices and new airline entrants). Wants: To become the leader company in airline industry. To obtain more profit intended for supporting the database services and other related activity. To preserve the trust given to them by their customers as well as their partner travel agencies. AREAS OF CONSIDERATION (SWOT ANALYSIS) Strengths One of the pioneer airlines to have an electronic distribution system (SABRE). Expertise in airline industry proven by their years of operation overcoming past challenges, Weaknesses Unable to maintain their existing GDS (Global Distribution System) when it comes to its expenses. Not able to anticipate future problems. Opportunities Since they already collaborated with IBM with their SABRE and obtained knowledge in software development, they may expand their business of having an integrated airline services and engage in developing software. Opportunities for growth in the industry. Threats The implementation of Source Premium policy may result to travel agencies’ switching to other airlines. Possible new entrants in the airline industry might be more technology-based and modern allowing American Airlines’ existing customers to consider switching services from them. ALTERNATIVE COURSE OF ACTION ACA#1 – Limiting American Airline GDS Involvement to One. This will enable AA to focus into one GDA only while taking actions into garnering solutions for acquiring funds in supporting the remaining GDS. For the meantime, while AA resolves the insufficiency, the company may not be able to sacrifice the  relationship with its travel agents. ACA#2 – Pushing the Idea of Source Premium Policy. Although the risk will be losing of referrals with travel agencies, the idea is still essential. It is letting the travel agency subscribing to AA shoulder the excess charges set by GDS. Travel agencies, anyway, may pass the charges to customers who is willing fully accept AA’s policy. ACA#3 – Partnerships with Existing and Well-Known Travel Agencies. This will strengthen the relationship between AA and travel agencies and create a mutual understanding. AA’s experience through the years could guarantee the travel agency a continuous growth of the industry. On th e other hand, the travel agency could put trust to AA and be able to work for AA’s continue offering of services. RECOMMENDATION The student recommends ACA#3 Partnerships with Existing and Well-Known Travel Agencies. ACTION PLAN In doing the recommended alternative course of action, the following actions should be fully implemented effectively. 1. Create a plan for the possible business structure that may arise. That may include blueprint on how will be a partnership being structured. 2. Make a draft of possible guidelines on both parties in partnerships. The conditions should include mutual benefit. 3. Seeking of trusted and well-known travel agencies and doing a background check on the prospects. 4. Conducting a meeting with the travel agencies that has been chosen. In a meeting, AA should effectively persuade the agency, stating the mutual benefit. 5. AA should allow the agency to revised or add on the guidelines in setting the conditions for he partnership. 6. Agreeing party should also consider the existing AA business policy. AA should also give a favorable condition to the agencies. 7. Executing the planned structure in the business with the official travel agency partners.

Netflix: A Case Analysis Essay

Netflix offers a variety of product services to its customers. The company offers traditional DVD rental by mail, instant streaming of DVD content through home PCS, and streaming on Netflix-ready devices that could be hooked up to one’s TV. Netflix has a subscription based model, which allows customers to utilize their products/services through a per month fee rather than a pay as you go rate. Although the company offers eight different subscription packages, it derives its largest revenues from its $8.99, $13.99, and $16.99 subscription plans that include unlimited DVDs per month, 1-3 titles out at one time, plus unlimited streaming of online content. The Netflix Strategy Netflix’s strategy so far has been to focus on not just one or two aspects of their customer base, but to focus themselves in a number of directions in order to build upon and capitalize on a growing subscriber base. Their main strategy has been to build and maintain the most comprehensive selection of DVD titles in the industry, and they have done so by creating mutually beneficial relationships with a number of entertainment video providers. Their second main strategy has been focused on product differentiation- not only how customers receive content and consume it, but also how customers choose what to watch. Netflix’s number one competitive advantage is their unique software that takes what a customer has seen or rated, and based upon that information builds a list of suggested titles similar to ones they have just watched. While other companies like Blockbuster had begun to leak into the rent-by-mail niche category that Netflix had started, no other company had cus tomer profiling software quite like Netflix. U.S. Movie, TV, & Video Game Rental Market (2006-2009) Consumer Movie Rental Market Revenue ($ million) 2006 2007 2008 2009 In-store Rentals $7,030 $6,215 $5,674 $5,118 Vending Machine Rentals 79 198 486 917 By Mail Rentals 1,291 1,797 1,949 2,114 VOD (cable, digital, & subscription) 993 1,077 1,365 1,684 Between 2006 and 2009, the film rental market underwent a major shift. The in-store rental market declined by nearly $2 million, while vending machine rentals increased tenfold and by-mail rentals nearly doubled. However, VOD services through cable, digital, and subscription also saw major increases. All of these changes meant companies like Blockbuster and Movie Gallery had to either reorganize and make a complete business model shift- or face bankruptcy. Meanwhile, the increases in by-mail rentals and VOD subscription, two services that Netflix offered, meant that the number of Netflix subscribers more than doubled in that same time frame. Purchase decisions from customers were focused on convenient access, price, variety of DVD offerings, ease of return/return fees. Therefore, the key success factors within the U.S. DVD rental industry were quickly becoming: 1) A variety of distribution channels (mail, online streaming, streaming to TV, vending machine, etc) 2) Superior video libr aries (including new releases,  classics, hard to find) 3) Little to no fees associated with renting or returning DVDs 4) Ease of use (in terms of returning) 5) A strong network of entertainment video providers, i.e. suppliers Customers like variety; a video rental store that only stocks the newest releases will not appeal to all markets. Increasingly, customers are becoming more nostalgic in their movie preferences, searching for titles long past premiere. Customers have also become increasingly busy, often not having the time to go to a store to pick out a movie or remembering to return their rentals on time. We live in a world of instant gratification, where being able to click a few buttons and watch the latest Jennifer Aniston rom-com or an old cult classic like Rocky Horror is extremely important. Customers also do not like fees. More and more companies today are offering free shipping/return shipping, and the same is true in the DVD rental industry. Five Forces Analysis of the Industry Rivalry among competing sellers: High. Buyer costs of switching brands is low and product offerings are weakly differentiated. The number of competitors is growing and rivals have diverse strategies for providing their services. Competitive pressure from buyer bargaining power: Medium to high. The cost of switching to competing products is low, as well as the level of convenience for switching. Products are for the most part undifferentiated. Competitive pressure from supplier bargaining power: Low to medium. There are a large number of suppliers within the industry and a variety of ways in with to gain access to the needed material. However, most sellers cannot self-manufacture these movie titles; whereas the suppliers could easily begin offering these services themselves. Competitive pressure from substitute products: Low. The cost per DVD to buy is greater than that to rent or stream a movie. Buyer demand for purchasing DVDs is decreasing due to the lack of disposable income creat ed by the financial crisis, as well as the practicality of owning a vast collection of physical DVDs. Potential of new entrants: High. The market is growing at an ever increasing pace and barriers to entry are low. Buyer demand continues to increase as well, and existing industry members are looking to expand their market reach. (See Appendix 1 for a visual representation). There are a number of drivers of  change affecting the movie retail industry. As mentioned previously, there has been a shift in consumer’s willingness to go out of their way for certain products or services. The consumer climate has shifted to an instant gratification model, in which if acquiring a movie to watch requires more effort than clicking a few buttons, then it is no longer worth the consumer’s time. This force is somewhat unfavorable in terms of competitive intensity because it will drives firms within the industry to compete in a never ending sprint to offer the most titles in the shortest amount of time, which will eventually hit its peak and taper off. However, this force will also positively impact future industry profitability since the more streamlined the process becomes, the more users and more uses the industry will gain. Another force driving change is the switch from buying physical DVDs and acquiring movie collections to accessing them online as needed. This saves consumers valuable time and money, and they no longer need to worry about keeping their DVDs in good condition. This force will positively affect future industry profitability because it will reduce the number of distribution plants needed to sustain video libraries, thus significantly reducing operating costs. Not having to stock multiple copies of millions of DVDS will mean that companies will no longer have to spend money on: Multiple large plants Staffing said plants with a large labor force Operating said plants in terms of rent, utilities, etc Postage (in terms of Netflix specifically) DVD maintenance Mailing and location software One more force that is affecting the movie rental industry is the introduction and proliferation of VOD services offered directly from cable networks and providers. Barriers to entry for these already existing firms is extremely low, and if all networks chose to offer these services, a large portion of profits would be cannibalized from outside companies such as Netflix or Hulu. This force will negatively affect competitive intensity, but positively affect future industry profitability. If the large supplier companies (cable networks & providers) all started offering their own VOD, competition from smaller independent renting firms would disappear. Yet  profitability would increase due to the ease of access to entire network libraries. Mapping the Movie Retail Industry The competitive characteristics that differentiate firms within the movie retail industry are as follows: Use of distribution channels Product line breadth Price Geographic coverage Ease of access/use In conducting my analysis of the strategic positioning of firms within this industry, I chose to focus on price and use of distribution channels (See Appendix 2). Netflix and VOD providers are positioned most favorably on the map because both offer moderately priced subscription packages for access to a comprehensive list of movie and TV show offerings using a variety of distribution channels. Netflix is positioned most favorably due to its relative low cost compared to the variety of products it offers access to. Redbox is priced well, but it only offers one method of distribution. Whereas Blockbuster is priced higher than average, but has begun to offer streaming and mail rental options in addition to in store rentals. A Financial Analysis of Netflix Overall, Netflix has fared fairly well over the past several years, even surviving the financial crisis. They continue to generate a profit, and their revenue has grown at a steady rate indicative of the growth of the mail rental & online streaming movie retail market. The company has been growing at an average rate of 20% over the last four years. However, from 2007 to 2008, Netflix only grew at a rate of 13.22%. This noticeable fluctuation in their growth rate can most likely be contributed to the financial crisis that swept the nation during that year. Aside from that dip, Netflix can be expected to continue to grow at a rate indicative of the continued growth of mail and digital movie rental industry. Product costs for Netflix have remained relatively stable over the last four years at over 60% of revenue, fluctuating only by 4% or less. This is  despite the fact that revenues for the company have been steadily increasing. This clearly shows an inability to control manufacturing & operating costs. As Netflix expands, so does its physical DVD inventory and size/number of distribution plants. Although one of their strategies is transition subscribers to streaming delivery as opposed to mail delivery, it is obvious that they have yet to be truly successful in that endeavor. Netflix’s ROA hit an all-time high of 17.05% in 2009, which is somewhat surprising given that the company is deriving most of its revenues from a nubile market. The mail and digital movie rental industry is still growing, so to have an ROA that high is quite an accomplishment. It is clear that the company’s investments in new assets are succeeding in generating returns. (See Appendix 3 for a complete financial analysis of Netflix from 2006-2009). SWOT Analysis of Netflix’s Standing within the Market Strengths Opportunities Netflix cornered the market on direct mail renting before anyone else offered it Has a wide geographic coverage and the fastest turnaround rate Known for its 1 month free trials The brand has a following across a wide variety of consumer segments Their strong relationship with a large network of entertainment video providers Top management realizes the importance/emergence of the digital environment and is trying to shift subscriber use accordingly Netflix has developed unique and comprehensive movie selection software that customizes the consumer experience by capitalizing on their movie tastes and making accurate suggestions Netflix offers the most detailed movie information including customer reviews, critic reviews, etc The increasing demand for digital streaming is clearly an opportunity The shift from by mail rental to digital streaming gives Netflix an opportunity to restructure its subscription packages and price them even more competitively The firm can look at joining forces with some of the networks that are beginning to offer VOD streaming Weaknesses Threats Netflix is a market leader in by mail rental, which has now capped off and started to become a declining category The company’s comprehensive DVD libraries and distribution centers are eating up a large chunk of their revenues Unlike other movie rental/streaming companies, Netflix does not offer access to newly released films Changing subscriber preference towards online streaming will affect Netflix’s current portfolio mix The increasing intensity of competition from other companies, such as Hulu with their Hulu Plus program will eat into Netflix’s consumer base Increasing number of networks that are beginning to offer free streaming of content on their websites For the moment, Netflix’s overall situation is fairly attractive. Being the first company to introduce a new niche in a market is a huge asset. A company cannot simply ‘buy’ cornering the market on a good or service. Since Netflix already offers unlimited direct streaming, that puts it ahead of some of its competitors. However, Netflix will need to restructure and reevaluate the profitability of its by mail rental service in the near future. Compared with Blockbuster and VOD Providers, Netflix has the highest level of competitive strength at 46 points. Netflix by far has the most comprehensive number of products and distribution channels, given that consumers can either rent DVDs by mail or stream them on their PC or TV. The number of distribution channels factors into the company’s ease of use, as does the fact that their DVDs come with prepaid return envelopes. VOD Providers are a similar ease of use to Netflix given that consumers can just click a few buttons on the TV and instantly be watching their chosen film. Blockbuster is ranked lowest in terms of price & fees because their prices are based on a per DVD cost, and when sales began to decrease, the company increased its prices. Not to mention that there are late fees associated with renting, whereas with Netflix you can keep a DVD for as long as you like without incurring fees. Blockbuster also scores lower in terms of the number of products because their l ibrary is limited by store space, whereas Netflix and VOD Providers can have a virtually unlimited library of titles spanning the entire duration of the movie industry. Performance Concerns Overall, Netflix’s performance is quite satisfactory. The company persevered through the financial crisis and has managed to hold on to market majority despite growing competition from rival firms. a) My main concern for Netflix is the amount of revenue that is currently being eaten up by product costs. Despite steadily increasing revenues, Netflix’s COGS continues to take up more than 60% of said revenue. In the coming years when the market shifts entirely to direct streaming, Netflix will be left with millions of  DVDs and operating costs associated with the large distribution centers required to house these DVDs. If the company takes too long to phase out this aspect of its product/service portfolio, it could lose out on major profits and potentially wind up in debt. b) A second issue I see for Netflix is that more and more companies are beginning to offer streaming of their own content either for free to the public, or free to subscribers of certain cable companie s. Since Netflix has a cost associated with it, its customer base could be cannibalized by these new entrants. Recommendations a) Given that by mail renting is on the decline, Netflix should work quickly to phase out this service from its current offerings. Right now there are still companies out there willing to take on extensive DVD libraries- five or so years from now, that may not be the case and Netflix will have lost out on an opportunity to avoid a significant loss. b) Netflix needs to look at restructuring and re-pricing their current subscription packages. The number of packages and their prices that the company offers are no longer relevant to demand. With more and more entrants into the market, Netflix is losing its competitive pricing advantage. In sum, in order to remain competitive Netflix needs to restructure both its product offerings and pricing strategy. The company should be looking ahead to see what the next big thing in movie rental/streaming will be and capitalize on that, while other firms are still entering the market and developing what Netflix already has.

International Legal and Ethical Issues in Business IP Week 4 Essay

International Legal and Ethical Issues in Business IP Week 4 - Essay Example Competition law and the antitrust laws are examples of such regulations. The laws are set of rules and regulations designed to enhance competitive environment in the business environment. This paper evaluates an example of a merger between two major telecommunication companies. Some issues arise due to generic competition. Generic competition stems from producers who do not incur costs in research before they launch a product to market. It results in the original manufacture imposing some restrictions to protect their brands. This paper will address legal barriers in introducing a new product to market and possible dilemmas. Key words: competition, legal, mergers, antitrust and law. International Legal and Ethical Issues in Business Introduction The antitrust laws were put in place by the federal and state governments in United States to regulate businesses. The laws ensure that companies do not become too big and they do not fix their prices. The law also ensures that there is perfe ct competition in market so that the consumer welfare is maintained. The federal governments are also mandated in reviewing potential mergers to attempt to prevent market concentration. The antitrust laws apply to businesses and individuals. The laws were enacted to stop businesses that go too large from blocking competition and abusing their power (Baker, 2004). The antitrust law is aimed at ensuring perfect competition. ... It is estimated that pharmaceutical companies spend an average of $800-1 billion and between eight and sixteen years to research a new drug (Crandal & Clifford, 2003). Research need to be conducted to ensure that the drug introduced to the market can compete perfectly. The drug should also meet the target population needs; it should be in a position to solve their problems. As a result, an extensive research should be conducted to make sure that the brand conforms to set standard and market needs. Due to this, high cost is incurred. Legal Barriers to Market Entry Legal requirements have to be followed by the drug manufacturers to ensure that they enter the market with legal approval. There are legal barriers that control the entry of drugs to the market in the United States. In 2003, President Bush signed into law the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of Approval. The act has had major impact on the entry of generic pharmaceutical drugs to the market. The 2003 act contains three rules that control the entry of the drugs to the market. The act allows a minimum of one 30- month stay per generic application, clarifies the types of patents that must not be submitted to Food and Drug administration for listing in the orange book, revises the information required to be submitted on patents, and consolidates all patent information on declaring forms to ensure that the submissions are more informative and precise. In addition to the 30 month stay per application, the FDA tightened control on the types of patent claims submitted by the innovator company. The law ensures that the innovator drug companies would no longer be able to submit patents claiming packaging, metabolites and

Periodic Table Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Periodic Table - Essay Example Mercury is one of the noble metals. It appears near the bottom of the activity series and is very inactive. It is not affected by oxygen of the air at ordinary temperatures, but if heated to about 300oC it slowly combines with oxygen to form mercury (II) oxide. It does not dissolve in the monoxidizing acids, but dissolves readily in nitric acid to form mercury (II) nitrate (King, Caldwell and Williams 604).. Mercury was known to the ancient Chinese and Hindus and has been found in 3500 year old Egyptian tombs. Mercury is not usually found free in nature and is primarily obtained from the mineral cinnabar (HgS). Spain and Italy produce about half of the world's supply of Mercury (Gagnon). The element mercury is a metal which is liquid at room temperature. Mercury is a bit like lead but it's liquid. You can hold it in your hand. Heavy (density 13.6), in fact so heavy that objects such as bricks, cannonballs, and lumps of lead or iron will float in Mercury. Gold doesn't float in mercury - it behaves more like sugar in tea! Mercury does not stick to magnets, so if it gets into your carpets or under your floorboards it will be a long-term problem. Mercury vapour makes nice bright lights but is not for breathing. The highly reflective surface of the Mercury makes it the stuff of mirrors. It's also used for thermometers, barometers, electrical devices, etc. However the problem is the cumulative poisonous nature. In the pure metal form it's relatively inert, so not so deadly, but in compounds such as mercuric chloride. Mercury is a liquid it is not wet. It has a negative coefficient of surface tension, which means that the meniscus on the surface is the other way up from no rmal, or to put it another way it does not soak into material but more runs off in the style of "water off a duck's back (The Element Mercury). Mercury vapor and its salts are poisonous, though the free metal may be taken internally under certain conditions. Because of its relatively low boiling point (629.88 K or 356.73oC or 674.11oF) and hence volatile in nature, free mercury should never be allowed to stand in an open container in the laboratory. Evidence shows that inhalation of its vapors is injurious (King et al. 605). When it comes to versatility, mercury is number one. It has many used for today's common man and mad scientist. Being the only metal which is liquid at room temperature mercury has some specialist uses: It is used in thermometers because it has a large thermal expansion which is constant over a large temperature range although it is being phased out in favour of safer liquids. It is also used in barometers and manometers due to its high density. From this it has also become a way of measuring pressure in millimetres of mercury. Mercury can be used to make thermometers, barometers and other scientific instruments. Mercury conducts electricity and is used to make silent, position dependent switches. Mercury vapor is used in streetlights, fluorescent lamps and advertising signs. Mercury is also a good thermal conductor, making it an excellent shield and coolant in nuclear reactors. Mercury vapor is used instead of steam in the boilers of some turbine (Encyclopedia Britannica). Mercury easily forms alloys with other metals, such as gold, silver, zinc and cadmium. These alloys are called amalgams. Amalgams are used to help extract gold from its ores. Some mercury is used in the preparati on of dental amalgams of silver and gold for filling

Advanced emergency care - a critical evaluation Essay

Advanced emergency care - a critical evaluation - Essay Example ribed by Kouwenhoven et al as a means to resuscitate hearts that stopped beating, the intent was to use the procedure for sudden unexpected cardiac arrests in patients who were otherwise in good physiological condition. Kouwenhovens method of closed-chest cardiac compression improved the outcome of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) dramatically. In his first report of 20 patients undergoing CPR, Kouwenhoven had a 70% success rate (survival up to discharge). During the 40 years since the introduction of modern cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR), there have been many advances in the field of emergency cardiovascular care (ECC). Contrary to Kouwenhoven’s report, recent research has shown that people who experience traumatic cardiac arrest rarely survive outside the hospital. If the person has suffered blunt trauma, cardiac arrest prior to reaching the hospital carries a 99% mortality rate in spite of ongoing efforts at resuscitation after arrival at the hospital(Perina, 2005) . Approximately 1% to 6% of patients suffering out-of-hospital cardiac arrest ultimately survive the event, and although survival rates are somewhat better for in-hospital arrest patients, a recent comprehensive report observed that only 17% of these patients were discharged alive( Engdahl J,2002) Unsatisfactory results of cardiopulmonary resuscitation procedures have for the most part attributed to its indiscriminate use. Various individual factors interfere with recovery from cardiopulmonary arrest. Despite the fact that the prediction of an individual outcome of such resuscitation is of great medical, ethical, and socio-economic interest, doubts about the decision whether or not to resuscitate a given patient, as well as about the consequences of either attitude, persist (Rogov, 1995). This decision should not be made only at the moment of cardiopulmonary arrest, but should also take the previous medical condition of the patient into account (Landry, 1992). Cardiopulmonary

Needs and Critical Aspects of Small and Medium Enterprises Essay

Needs and Critical Aspects of Small and Medium Enterprises - Essay Example On the other hand, marketing is also a key element. Although it is easy to market an innovative idea, it doesn't usually happen. Many novel ideas are only found practicable when someone faces problem years later, only to find that the solution had been there years ago. Other inputs that are crucial is the entrepreneur's ability to take measured risks, how adaptable he is, ability to identify a need in the market as well as find a niche or a universal selling proposition in order to make this product appealing to the consumer in the marketplace. We as humanity have come a long way, progressed from the stone ages into the new millennia via information superhighway. But time doesn't end here and nor will the need of mankind to prosper, thrive and flourish! Discuss the relationships among entrepreneurship, innovation, and marketing in the SME new venture context. It is important to use both academic theory and research to support your arguments. You should include up-to-date research from journals; however, you must not just quote the research, as you are expected at a university to show that you can also analyze and comment on the implications of the research. Include in your assignment good examples from business (and personal experience if possible) of this relationship, remembering to give examples of notable successes as well as failures, and the lessons that can be learned from them both academically and entrepreneurially. Since ages, man has always wanted to engage in new endeavors and look for innovative ways to prosper. This is how; he usually tries to maximize profit by investing his intellectual capital. This urge has always brought novel accomplishments for themselves as well as their countries. However, this has not always been a successful activity. And this is the point that brings us to our discussion regarding 'Relationship among entrepreneurship, innovation, and marketing in SME new venture context.' SMEs are an essential driving force that keeps economies operating; they play a crucial role in the generation of employment. However, in order to secure such a position a minimum level of innovativeness within these companies needs to be maintained. A research on factors for winning innovations can give a much efficient strategy from these organizations as well as the public sector in developing motivating surroundings. Since the fall of Rome to the eighteenth century, there was 'no' escalation in per capita wealth creation in the west. However, with the start of entrepreneurship, per capita, wealth generation and earnings in the West rose interestingly by 20 percent in the 1700s and kept on increasing to 740 percent in the1900s (Drayton, 2004). This was some exemplary growth. All through this time, entrepreneurial thinking has evolved by random twist and turns and reflective developments offering new conceptualizations of what it means for something to be entrepreneurial. It is now widely accepted by both Academy and in business schools globally that the management field has changed its vision and perspective on entrepreneurship. In past 5 years, the Academy of Management's Entrepreneurship Division has "dramatically outpaced the growth of every other division" by 77 percent (Shaver, 2004).

Economic policy and global environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Economic policy and global environment - Essay Example The reduction in the government spending in 2012 has resulted in falling growth rates over the last three quarters. The shutdown of the government has greatly impacted the government spending. Though these workers will be paid their salaries retroactively, their better halves in the private sector cannot expect the same and this will lower consumption spending in the festive season. The uncertainty in the political environment is likely to affect the investments in the country, which will further result in the weaker growth. Governments Fiscal Policy: Past and Present perspective Historically, the fiscal policies, adopted by the government at state, local or federal levels, have mostly been tailwind for the economy. This implies that it has tried to boost the economy (International Monetary Fund, 2013). This has drawn references from the history that whenever the economy is in recession, the government follows an expansionary fiscal policy. This can be explained with the help of the following graph. Figure 1: Expansionary Monetary Policy (Source: Burnt Hills-Ballstan Lake, n.d.) If the government follows an expansionary policy, either by raising the level of government spending or reducing the level of the taxes, there is an outward expansion of the aggregate demand curve. This is represented by the shift of the curve from AD0 to AD1 (Burnt Hills-Ballstan Lake, n.d.). In this range of the SRAS, there is almost no effect on the rate of inflation which is measured by the price level, measured in the y-axis of the graph. The rationale working here is that during sluggish economic performance, the revenue that can be earned from taxes falls and the level of government spending has... This essay presents a comprehensive economic analysis of the effectiveness of the fiscal policy carried out by American government in 2013 year. Fiscal policy measures are the methods which are applied by the government to adjust the levels of government spending and tax rates that directly influence the growth of an economy. The fiscal policy is used in combination with the monetary policy to control the economic growth. The monetary and fiscal policies can directly affect the rate of inflation and determine whether the country will face conditions of growth or recession In designing the fiscal policies, the government has faced formidable challenges and hence, decided to reduce the level of spending. The rising age of the population, along with rising costs of health care, makes expansionary fiscal policies non-feasible in long run. The rising expenditure by the government would have soon surpassed the revenue earned by government and The analysis has revealed that the government had changed its fiscal policy from expansionary to contractionary for dealing with the recession in the present time. It has been observed that the recent federal shutdown, though for a short period, has slowed down the pace of recovery of the economy. The direct impact was the reduction of the GDP on account of the lay-off of the federal workers. The indirect impact came from the multiplier effects of the government spending cuts. The employment figures were also affected owing to the shutdown and resulted in the loss of investor confidence.

Reasons for Selecting Joanna Eberhart as a Representative in the Film Essay

Reasons for Selecting Joanna Eberhart as a Representative in the Film Stepford Wives - Essay Example During the year 1975 when the movie Stepford Wives was first released, it was widely regarded just as one of the chilling parables about men’s fears of feminism at the same time it was considered as a tale of horror which worked as a one of the social satire on bigotry. For sure, it struck a few women’s liberationists as a ham-fisted tried to cash in on the movements. Therefore it is curious that the term ‘Stepford’ wives that have really enjoyed such a strong meaning in our culture, is rarely used during a critique of sexism. The term has usually signified the kind of feminine perfectionism that is greatly evidenced in the domestic realm, though not necessarily in the services offered by husbands.   This clearly evokes the existing critique freak rather than hopeless submission that women have over their husbands as seen in the new 2004 film. Therefore, Eberhart Joanna is chosen to clearly bring out the subject of the story to show how men transform thei r wives into some cookie-baking robots. On the other hand, another most sticking thing regarding the original Stepford Wives, both the movie and the novel is generally how children occupy a small place. The protagonist Eberhart Joanna and her husband move out of Manhattan to a suburban Connecticut partially due to the reason that schools were much better there, though there is nothing else much about that fact is made. A Stepford Wives that acts as a satire today would definitely be different from its predecessor. It would be just as less about the project of trying to perfect children like that of perfecting wives. At the same time, it would be the collaboration between the ambitious mothers and fathers who always believe so much in the meritocracy as well as doing whatever it takes in order to rig it in the attention of their own offspring’s Ivy League prospects. This would be about shameless kind of string-pulling so as to get kids into the right nursery schools.  

Analysis and Evaluation of Current Curricula to Improve Student Coursework

Analysis and Evaluation of Current Curricula to Improve Student Learning and Success - Coursework Example nificant impacts to the overall development of the students both academically and socially, hence the need for the assessment and the need for simultaneous transformational within the institution’s curriculum. As such, this manuscript will assess the curriculum of Centervale University, and evaluate the diversity aspects of the courses, and thereby propose transformational measures, endeavored at improving diversity. The manuscript will look into the community college section of the institution. The college section’s mission is to produce competent graduates that are well acquainted with academic, as well as social aspects, suitable for the job market. The institution’s vision is to advance its courses that include sciences, arts and other courses while incorporating the social aspects that promote diversity to place them for employment (Lindsay & Blanchett, 2011). The document employs the Comprehensive Curriculum Assessment Plan (CCAP) model to review both the academic and other curricula aspects of the college, in its endeavor to improve diversity. From the assessment, various elements are critical within the organization. It is evident that numerous universities across the region (including Centervale build their curricula, with a key consideration of the local students. This aspect disregards the facts that, owing to development and expansion, these institutions ought to grow, thereby creating a significant gap for the diverse students they ought to enroll (Basit & Tomlinson, 2012). This creates significant challenges to the foreign students and gives unwarranted advantages to the locals. As such, the foreign students experience bias, and this elicits discrimination, and hinders diversity, as it is evident in Centervale University. The University of Centervale does not incorporate enough courses that promote the diversity through the open admission of its various schools. This has critically affected diversity and equally among its growing number of

Global communication Essay Example for Free

Global communication Essay The explosion of the internet has improved global communication and created a significant impact in our lives. With the advent of broadband wireless internet access in Singapore, our adolescents are spending intensive hours in cyberspace everyday and everywhere to meet their educational, entertainment, social and emotional needs. While they are going through this transitional stage of their life in seeking the ‘Who am I’ answers, this article reviews and seeks to understand what they do on the internet. It was discovered that both U. S. and Singapore adolescents enjoy interactive cyber communication with their peers and sharing common interest such as on-line games and audio/video downloading. An action research on a group of 35 adolescents in Singapore has revealed some interesting patterns in their internet engagement. This emerging engagement cannot be ignored by parents and teachers as we discuss our roles in protecting and nurturing our adolescents. Literature Review Introduction The Singapore Government is systematically and strongly promoting the use of information technology. One of its strategies is to make it compulsory that 30% of the school curriculum to have an information technology component and to be computer-based by 2002 (Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore, 2000). Naturally, the advocacy of Internet use is part of this omnipresent attempt. Young Singaporeans are placed right in the midst of all these changes and soon Internet use will be commonplace given the Governments ubiquitous promotion. As an academic staff in the Polytechnic, my objective is to study what our adolescent students do on the internet. By having a better understanding of their engagement on the internet, it would help us as facilitators to identify their interests, needs and to understand what motivates them. This literature review covers some surveys on adolescents conducted in the United States, studies on the impact of the internet on adolescents’ behaviour and a regional governmental conference on cyber endangerment. United States Adolescents’ Engagement on the Internet As the U.S. adolescent internet usage grew exponentially in the last decade, a number of correspondent expectations have emerged (Gross, 2000). Gross performed a research to identify the activities that adolescents in suburban California engaged in on the internet and why they perform them. She discovered the following: (1) that gender predicts usage, i.e., boys spend more time online, surfing the web and playing violent games, while girls chat or shop online; (2) that internet use causes social isolation and depression, especially for teens; and (3) that adolescents use the internet for anonymous identity experimentation. By means of highly detailed daily reports of adolescents’ home internet usage and peer-related adjustment, the present research sought to compare these expectations with the actual experiences of early and mid-adolescents in 2000 and 2001. For the most part, adolescent boys’ and girls’ online activities have become more similar than different. On average, boys and girls alike described their online social interaction as (1) occurring in private settings such as e-mail and instant messages, (2) with friends who are also part of their daily, offline lives, and (3) devoted to fairly ordinary yet intimate topics such as gossiping with friends (Gross, 2000). This is an interesting article that relates the conflicts faced by adolescents. According to Erikson, adolescents are experiencing a transitional stage of their life between childhood and adulthood where they need to deal with the conflict between identity attainment and identity diffusion (Berk, 2002). Gross(2000) discovered that adolescents need to explore their identity through identity play and role experimentation. Apparently, the internet serves as an ideal platform for them to play an anonymous role in their email and instant messaging (IM) communications. They tend to take on a role of an older character in attempt to explore their future self and identity (Gross, 2000). Another of their interest at this stage is to relate to their peers more than their parents or teachers. They could engage in intimate and private relationship with their peers on the internet interactively and instantly. Escober-Chaves, Tortolero, Markham, Low, Eitel and Thickstun (2005) attempted to study the effects of the internet on adolescent sexual behaviours. It was triggered by the fact that adolescents in the United States were engaging in sexual activity at early ages and with multiple partners. The mass media have been shown to affect a broad range of adolescent health-related attitudes and behaviours including violence, eating disorders, and tobacco and alcohol use. The authors wanted to explore the factors that contribute to adolescents sexual activity. It was found that the mass media plays a very influential role in shaping adolescents’ attitudes and behaviour towards violence, eating disorders, tobacco, alcohol and sex. Based on their survey, the internet is a significant media that the U.S. adolescents engage in (Escober-Chaves, Tortolero, Markham, Low, Eitel Thickstun, 2005). In 2003, 60.8% of the U.S. household have at least one desktop computer at home. The adolescents spend 2 hours online each time for 4 days per week. Of the contact time on the internet, 61% of it is spent on surfing the internet. It is interesting to note that the adolescents consider 14% of what they do in the internet as activities they would not want their parents to know. The authors have summarised some pre-studies of the effects of media on adolescents. They have collected some useful statistics that describe the breakdown of adolescents’ exposure to the media, from radio, television, internet to magazines. The statistics in adolescents’ sexual behaviours have supported their linkages to adolescents’ exposure to sexuality in the media. Regardless of the measure of the correlation, one thing that is apparent is that the media does pose a significant impact on adolescents’ attitude and behaviour in various areas, including violence, eating disorder, tobacco, alcohol and sex (Escober-Chaves, Tortolero, Markham, Low, Eitel Thickstun, 2005). How the adolescents were influenced by the media were also analysed in this article. Adolescents learn their behaviour through imitating a character they aspire to be (Bandura’s social learning theory). Other supporting theories include arousal, motivation and super-peer theory. In the latter, adolescents have a tendency to model people older than themselves. This resonates with the earlier findings by Gross (2000) that adolescents like to explore their self and future identity. Singapore Adolescents’ Engagement on the Internet The above studies have surfaced couple of gaps that I could address in my research. Firstly, we need to do a study in Singapore’s context. Secondly, I can learn from the challenges that the authors have shared. It would be an upstream task to measure the specific effects of the media on adolescents. Hence, the key objective of my research would be focusing on finding out and understanding adolescents’ usage of the internet. Moving closer to this region, Singapore’s Senior Minister of State and chairman of the Inter-Ministry Committee on Youth Crime, Associate Professor Ho Peng Kee talked about the internet and its impact on Asia (Ho, 2005). He suggested that as nations and governments become increasingly wired, its youths naturally become more in tune with the cyber world and its hosts of activities. Our youths surf the Internet for information and resources for their schoolwork. They play online games with faceless opponents for their leisure; or to enhance their social life, they may enter chat rooms and journal their thoughts in blogs and make new friends in cyberspace. These are creative and healthy online activities if done with the right motivations and values, and in moderation. But, as our youths become increasingly cyber-savvy, they are also becoming increasingly cyber-endangered. Hence we need to be cautious of the dark side of internet (Ho, 2005). Besides cyber addiction, we need to be aware that exposure to unhealthy materials on the internet such as violence imageries may lead to increasing violence and anti-social behaviour amongst youths. Apart from preparing our youths to be cyber-savvy and protecting them from becoming victims, we should also be mindful that they are susceptible to the temptations of cyber vices and may end up committing cyber crimes themselves. Once online, a whole new cyber world greets them. Therefore, proper education and programmes need to be in place in society in order to help our youths cope with making informed online decisions, and learning to surf the internet safely and moderately. Professor Ho has started a discussion on the double-edged impact of the internet on our youths. While the internet is a valuable resource basin for their learning and development, it could also pose a threat to their safety, social, emotional and moral developments. There is a need to protect and educate our youth on how they could use the internet safely and responsibly. He shared an important statistic in our youths’ usage of internet. 68% of Singapore youths have frequent access to the internet; that is 18% higher than the regional average of 50% (Ho, 2005). Hence it is critical that we take the leadership role in understanding our youths’ engagement in the internet and taking proactive measures to promote cyber wellness. Research Question The Research Question: What do Singapore adolescents do on the internet? Purpose Why do I want to understand adolescent usage on the internet? Firstly, it is the desire of adults including parents, teachers and mentors, to improve our communication with adolescents. By understanding what they do on the internet, we would be able to identify their interest and needs. According to Ho (2005), it is important that we understand the potential threat based on the activities they engage on the internet. Besides promoting their cyber wellness, it is also our desire as adults to determine effective channels to influence them positively and to support their development. Benefits The results of this survey would be useful for me as an academic staff whose primary role is to facilitate their learning and development in the polytechnic. By understanding their interest and internet activities, it would help me to improve my communications with them and strengthen facilitator-student bonding. I believe that this would in turn increase my effectiveness in preparing them for the industry as they graduate from the polytechnic. The second group of adults that would benefit much from this research are their parents. In the same way, by understanding the paradigm that their children live in, parents could better connect with them and improve family bond. Methodology Research Paradigm Our nation has arrived at this era where youths are playing a more critical role in leading our country. That is why our Ministry of Community Development has added in Youth as an additional portfolio that deserves increased focus and attention. In the recent general election in 2006, the incumbent People’s Action Party has recruited significant number of young leaders who were born after our independence in 1965 (Balakrishnan, 2004). The key reason is to equip the party with leaders who are closer to our youths and adolescents in communication and understanding of their needs and ideology. This group of citizens plays a pivotal role in shaping our future nation as they would be exercising their voting power in future elections, getting involved in national policies and ultimately replacing our current aging population in the long term. With the emergence of information technology and the internet, the learning curve of our adolescents has risen exponentially. As far as communication and information exchange is concerned, the size of our globe has shrunk and distances between countries have become irrelevant with the click of the computer mouse. The internet has emerged to be a major channel of media, especially among the adolescents. The researches done in the U.S. as discussed above have shown that internet pose a significant impact on adolescents. Considering the higher internet penetration in Singapore compared to the U.S. per household, we would not expect the impact of the internet on our adolescent to be any lower. Scope As discussed in the review of Article, it is important that I set a realistic scope of study considering the limited time and resources. As this is the first research, I would be focusing on finding out the activities that adolescents engage in on the internet. I have designed a survey that captures what adolescents use the internet for, the activities they engage in, how much time they spend on them. There were some qualitative question to understand their preferences, interest and reasons for engaging in the internet activities. Subjects and Materials The stakeholders were adolescents. I managed to survey 35 adolescents in my network, of which most of them are polytechnic students between 18 to 19 years old. The materials required for this survey were basically printed copies of the survey questionnaires. They spent about ten minutes each to complete the survey forms. Procedures As this is my first research on the adolescents, it would be practical for me capture a broad span of their activities as a foundation for future or follow-up focused activities. The model of action research used must support continuous improvement and leverage on past findings with an interpretive approach. Hence, the model which I choose to adopt is the Zuber-Skerritt’s spiral model. The steps of Zuber-Skerritt’s spiral model are: (1) develop a plan of critically informed action to improve current practice. The plan must be flexible to allow adaptation for unforeseen effects or constraints; (2) the group members act to implement the plan which must be deliberate and controlled; (3) this action is observed to collect evidence which allows thorough evaluation. The observation must be planned and the action process and its effects within the context of the situation should be observed individually or collectively; (4) reflection of the action recorded during observation is usually aided by collaborative discussion among the group members. Group reflection can lead to a reconstruction of the meaning of the social situation and provides a basis for further planning of critically informed action, thereby continuing the cycle. I designed a survey questionnaire and printed out multiple copies to the adolescents. Participation was purely based on voluntary basis and their identities were all anonymous. I explained the objectives of my survey clearly to them through both direct verbal communication and highlighting them on the survey form in print. Results and Discussions The Survey forms were given to adolescents in my network as planned. They responded positively and completed the survey with ease. The feedback was that the questions were clear. There were total 35 adolescents who participated in the survey. The gender groups were well represented with 16 males and 19 females. There were some triangulations of the reflection stage of this research as I spent some time after the survey to talk to some of the adolescents to clarify certain information pertaining to some websites or online games which I was not familiar with. It was a meaningful session as they were very open to share with me their interest such as why the males like to play challenging online games like Dota and Warcraft. I then compiled that information gathered into a spreadsheet and studied the pattern of their engagement in the internet. Activities on the Internet It is interesting to note that the adolescents spend more than one-third (an average of 9 hours per day) of their time on the internet. This is supported by the fact that internet access is highly available both at school and at home. First of all, the Polytechnic provides the infrastructure to support the use of Information Technology (IT) in learning. Every student is required to own a notebook computer for administration, curriculum-related communication, research, performing on-line tutorials and submissions of assignments. The entire campus is enabled to provide wireless broadband access. In line with the national adoption of internet access, all the students here have internet access at home. Internet access and cost of IT equipment have become so affordable that most of them (26 out of 35) have wireless broadband access in their homes. [pic] Note: IM : Internet Messaging Games: On-line games on the internet Blog : blogging on the internet Surf : Internet search for information Music : Downloading of audio files Video : Downloading of video files and watching video on-line Chart 1 : Adolescent Internet Usage It is apparent that the adolescents spend most of their time on the internet messaging and chatting. Comparing with the adolescents in the U.S. (Gross, 2000) who spend about 40 minutes in IM per day, Singapore adolescents spend 4.75 hours per day. That is an astounding seven times more. Next in line would be surfing the internet, followed by entertainment such as video and music downloads. Why do they spend almost 5 hours per day internet messaging? Based on the survey, the adolescent revealed that IM is the most convenient and fastest way for them to communicate with their classmates and friends. Besides, it is interactive and free. This is in line with Gross’s analyses of the rationale for adolescents’ affinity to IM (Gross, 2002). Adolescents like to move fast and do not have much patience to wait for response especially when they want to relate to their peers. IM is real-time. They could instantly chat with their peers online and express their emotions immediately. Similar to adolescents in the U.S. as studied by Gross (2000), I also discovered that the adolescent here do not use their real names in their IM image. They like to use emotive roles such as â€Å"I am so scared†¦test is coming†. This also reflects Erikson’s theory on adolescent anonymous identity which teenagers enjoy relating their emotions to their peers in role exper imentation (Suler, 2005). The second most common activity the adolescents engage in is in surfing the internet for information. This is not surprising as they are required to research for information as part of the requirement in projects and assignment in class. [pic] Chart 2 : Favourite Website With reference to Chart 2, it is not difficult to explain the frequent usage of Google and Yahoo as search engines for their studies. However, it is unanimous that Friendster is the most popular website that the adolescent visit. The reasons quoted for visiting this website are to connect with their friends and to update each other of their latest profile. This is in line with Suler’s findings on peer intimacy (Suler, 2005). During adolescence, humans experiment intensely with new intimate relationships, especially opposite sex relationships. They look for comrades and new groups where they can feel a sense of belonging. All these relationships become a big part of exploring ones own identity. Through communication website like Friendster and Livejournal, there is an almost limitless array of people and groups to interact with all kinds of people and groups with all kinds of personalities, backgrounds, values, and interests. The adolescents here are curious in discovering both their identity and that of their peers. To reinforce adolescents’ interest, Blogspot and Blogger take up 13.4% of the total favourite websites count. Of the 35 adolescents surveyed, 7 of them have their own blog site and 10 of them are active blogger. They enjoy expressing their emotions and sharing their social life with their peers. One popular site they like to visit, especially among the females is that of a flamboyant 21-year old female XiaXue. The girls like to her blog because it is funny and she shares her social life openly. This confirms that adolescents prefer to interact with people they can identify with (Berk, 2002). Another interest that is significant is that of video watching on the Youtube website. The adolescents’ favourite videos are humorous and entertaining like those of XiaXue and Mr. Brown who is famous for his local political jokes. Gender Comparison [pic] Chart 3: Gender Comparison of Internet Usage Chart 3 above is essentially a breakdown of Chart 1 by gender. It is interesting to note that males spend more time than females in IM. This is also related to their indulgence in on-line games and video downloading. Because of these common interests among their peers, the males derive a sense of achievement as they share information of the latest on-line games and videos using IM. In fact, the more knowledgeable or competent males would co-teach their peers on how they could excel in the on-line game. This phenomenon was highlighted by Suler(2005) in his study. He suggested that adolescents love the sense of mastery and accomplishment as they engage in peer teaching. While females prefer fantasy on-line games like Maple Story and Audition, males indulge in war, strategy and shooting games like Warcraft and Dota. The key reasons are that the males enjoy challenge and like to take risk. Besides, they are also intrigued in connecting with and challenging people in other parts of the world. Males spend substantial time in downloading video over the internet. Their favourites are comedy movies. For females, their favourite are MTVs of their idols. This resonates with the study done by Gross (2000) on adolescents’ tendency in pretending to be someone else. By idolising an older person such as a superstar, they are exploring their future identity (Gross, 2000). Recommendation First of all, as part of the Zuber-Skerritt’s spiral model in action research, I would recommend a follow-up to the above research. We have achieved our objective of gaining a general understanding of what adolescent do on the internet. Of the various activities they engage on the internet, the most significant is in IM. Hence, I would propose to do a further action research on why and how they use IM. In doing so, adults could understand them better and even use IM in improving adult-adolescent relationship. Secondly, I would recommend to adults including parents and teachers of our adolescents to be aware of the above findings and take proactive actions to build strong bonding with our adolescents and to protect them from the potential cyber danger. As is true of all adolescent activities, they need at least some supervision to stay on track and avoid trouble (Suler, 2005). Getting involved doesnt just mean supervising in order to avert trouble. The world of computers also can become an excellent way for parents and adolescents to have fun together, to get to know each other better. There will be a part of the adolescent maybe even a part that they try to hide that will love this. Suler suggested a few anecdotes which I think could be applied in Singapore. First, adults could get knowledgeable of the internet and join in with the adolescents. To be most effective in supervising the adolescents cyberspace activities, the parent needs to know something about the topic. Parents could talk to their kids about cyberspace and join them in some of their online activities. They could even communicate occasionally with their adolescents through IM to keep in touch with them. It is encouraging to note that our government is supporting the formation of cyber wellness centre such as the PlanetCRuSH which was launched by TOUCH Community Services in August 2006 (Seow, 2006). During the official launch of the centre by Associate Professor Ho Peng Kee, some parents and their adolescents were playing on-line games together in the E-sports Carnival competition to promote family ties (Seow, 2006). Secondly, adults need to acknowledge the merits and threats of the internet. We should not vilify cyberspace that will only alienate the adolescent. Instead, we could talk to them openly about both the pros and cons. We should show an acceptance of their cyber life, but discuss some of the dangers and what steps they should take if they encounter unsavoury situations or people. Thirdly, adults should advocate and encourage a balance in cyberspace time and other activities. If theres something they really enjoy on the Internet, find a way to expand that activity into their in-person life. The idea is to integrate cyberspace into the rest of their life, and encourage them to develop non-Internet activities too. Conclusion Through the above article review and action research, I see Erikson’s psychosocial theory of adolescents’ behaviour in action. What adolescents do on the internet are manifestation of their identity experimentation and exploration, peer intimacy and belongings, separation from parents and venting frustrations. The common activities that both U.S. and Singapore adolescents engage in are IM, emails, audio/video downloads and online games. However, in terms of the length of engagement, Singapore adolescents spend 7 times more than their counterparts, especially in IM. This could be due to the higher broadband internet access rate and availability in Singapore. A further study on how adolescent use the IM is recommended to understand this intense engagement of activity. As parents and teachers, we need to be aware of the intensity of adolescent engagement in the internet and take proactive measures to protect them from cyber danger and be jointly involved in some of their internet activities such as IM and on-line games. By expressing our interest in their lives and communicating with them via their preferred platform, not only could we create a positive impact in their internet experience, we could also foster strong adult-adolescent bonding. Reference List Balakrishnan, V. (2004). Youth Mentoring Convention: Speech by Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan, Ag Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports. In MCYS [on-line]. Available WWW: http://app.mcys.gov.sg/web/corp_speech_story.asp?szMod=corpszSubMod=speechqid=863 [2006 November 15]. Berk, L. E. (2002). Infants, Children, and Adolescents (4th ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Escobar-Chaves, S. L., Tortolero, S. R., Markham, C. M., Low, B. J., Eitel, P., Thickstun, P. (2005). Impact of the Media on Adolescent Sexual Attitudes and Behaviors. In Pediatrics [on-line]. Available WWW: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/116/1/S1/303#F1 [2006 Sep 29]. Gross, E. F. (2000). Adolescent Internet use : what we expect, what teens report. In UCLA Digital Media Centre [on-line]. Available WWW: http://www.cdmc.ucla.edu/downloads/Adolescent%20Internet%20usepdf.pdf [2006 Sep 29]. Gross, E. F., Juvonen, J., Gable, S. L. (2002). Internet use and well-being in adolescence. Journal of Social Issues, 58, 75–90 Ho, P. K. (2005). The Youth.Net: Developing Cyber Wellness In Conjunction With Asean + 3 Seminar On Urban Youth Work III at Orchard Hotel Speech by Associate Professor Ho Peng Kee, Senior Minister of State (Law And Home Affairs) And Chairman of the Inter-Ministry Committee on Youth Crime (IMYC), 26 July 2005. In [emailprotected] [on-line]. Available WWW: http://www2.mha.gov.sg/mha/detailed.jsp?artid=1614type=4root=0parent=0cat=0 [2006 Sep 29]. Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (2000). Broad-based approach to make Singapore the location for infocomm manpower and savvy workforce. In IDA [on-line]. Available WWW:http://www.ida.gov.sg/Website/IDAContent.nsf/dd1521f1e79ecf3bc825682f0045a340/7f1eda7f3c633fd1c825689800580dc9?OpenDocument Seow, E. (2006, September 30). Safe Fun and Games at New Cyber Wellness Centre. Keeping in Touch, p. 5.

Improving Patient Safety by Utilizing Information Technology Essay Example for Free

Improving Patient Safety by Utilizing Information Technology Essay As the push towards patient safety increases with regulatory agencies such as the Florida Agency for Healthcare administration (ACHA) and The Joint Commission (TJC), formerly the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), highlighting the need for higher qualities of standard, hospitals such as Memorial Hospital Pembroke in Hollywood Florida are interested in finding ways of achieving optimal patient care standards and propel themselves up the list of top performers on key quality measures. Of equal importance is the need to optimize the cost effectiveness of this quality of care by reducing length of hospital stay and reducing instances of readmissions for the same or related complaints. Individual department such as pharmacy, radiology and laboratory each have computerized systems specifically aimed at task completion within the department taking no thought of the dissemination of that information across the spectrum of not only medical departments but also to administrative and clerical departments. With the advent of care possesses such as computer physician order entry(CPOE) and electronic medication administration record systems(EMARs) aimed at both quality and cost effectiveness the necessity exist to provide all needed information including medical records, radiological imagery such as CT scans, MRIs, and laboratory results at the immediate disposal of the practitioner. Administrative departments such as billing, medical records, medical supplies, and social services requiring real time updates on care administered, supplies expended in administering this care and follow up required in order to complete the continuum of care. There is therefore the need to integrate all these various clinical and administrative processes into a single efficient hospital based system of delivery of care. Electronic Health Record systems (EHRs) are not only designed to provide such services but also information to patients and stores and manages data collected on patients. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 provided $34 billion via Medicare and Medicaid for the implementation and use of EHRs. Two such systems EpicCare and HCS eMR respectively define themselves as follows. â€Å"The EpicCare Inpatient Clinical System spans all hospital departments and specialties, giving providers the tools they need to deliver safe, high-quality care. EpicCares role-based navigators simplify relevant information access for physicians, nurses, therapists, dietitians and any other provider in the hospital setting† â€Å"HCS eMR meaningful use software is a Workflow Driven / Focused solution focused on high User Adoption. HCS eMR works for your hospital because it: Builds on existing processes such as Medication Reconciliation †¢ Integrates with existing technology to streamline processes †¢ Leverages sophisticated rules and timely alerts to drive success †¢ Can be implemented quickly and is fully adopted †¢ Is economical â€Å" Organizational and individual barriers to proposed change Several potential barriers exist to the implementation of an integrated electronic health records system (EHRs), these include structural, financial/business, technical/professional, and cultural. Structural Memorial Hospital Pembroke is not a standalone hospital rather it is one of five hospitals in the Memorial Hospital System (MHS) formerly known as the South Broward Hospital district of Florida, as such much consideration has to be given to the eventual implementation across the system not only to Pembroke itself. Diversity in buyers and payers of supplies and services across the system would impact heavily on integration. There are also different providers of information technology in various departments that would have to be modified to enable integration via a central system of informatics. Financial and business The infrastructural implementation of EHR systems requires initial high dollar investment which in the current economic environment may require budgetary restraints on other services and supplies. Although the intent is clear and the potential promising, there is limited evidence of the economic benefits of EHR systems in healthcare mainly because it is in its infancy, the hospital board of governors may require extensive due diligence studies prior agreeing to any such change. Cultural The cost-benefits across the continuum of providers e. g. octors, nurses and recipients e. g. patients of healthcare have yet to be realized and as such much caution and resistance is to be anticipated. Clinicians inclusive of nurses envision health informatics particularly EHRs as being time consuming and takes away from, autonomy, actual time spent with patients, also old habits are hard to break, and question what personal benefits are to be gain from this intrusive system. Not to be ignored is the additional scrutiny as all processes will be documented at time of process and provides a permanent record, errors cannot be deleted. Departments who previously had autonomy on how information is transferred and disseminated from the individual department to other practitioners may show reluctance to â€Å"opening up† to the scrutiny of others. Patients also will be required to accommodate intrusion, as with the availability of previously restricted information at the bedside from computers on wheels (COWs) more time may be spent at the bedside by practitioners instead of doing time consuming reviews and making notes prior to patients’ rounds. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) which provides federally regulated protection of patients health information held by healthcare professionals, is another possible barrier that impact the implementation of the proposed change, and care has to be taken to limit the unnecessary access of patient’s data. Factors influencing proposed change Important factors that may affect whether implementation of an EHR at Memorial Pembroke is employed include, how receptive management and staff are to the change, the existence of available EHR systems providers versus in-house creation of a system, Cost of purchasing, implementing and maintaining a system and if funding is available, real benefits to be attained, are they measurable, and structural, cultural and financial readiness of the organization for the change. Receptiveness of management and staff If the existing system works for staff or is perceived to work then many questions arise among the participants why does there need to be this intrusive change. Can the proposed benefits to be realized justify the overhaul and inconvenience to come and am I going to be remunerated for my efforts? Available EHR systems There are many systems already on the market including EPICare inpatient-core; HCS eMR and ChartAcess which are ready for implementation have a system of support and maintenance. Although these are expensive systems, to build an in-house system replicating these would be time consuming and require extensive developmental processes that would certainly result in delay in implementing such a system. Cost May be divided into acquisition and maintenance, acquisition cost include cost of software, training, installation, paper to electronic conversion and implementation productivity loss, which may not be measurable. Maintenance cost includes upgrades, replacement of hardware and internal and external support cost. Acquisition cost will be significant and may impact on the ability of the organization to meet other budgetary demands. Maintenance cost are spread out over time and may not be as impacting, also the possibility exist that cost savings from the use of the EHRs employed may offset maintenance cost. Factors influencing organizational readiness There are certain basic requirements of readiness which Memorial Pembroke must meet in order to be ready for health IT without which failure is almost assured. These are Organizational culture, Management and leadership, Operational and Technical readiness. Organizational culture defined as an assessment of how the organization perceives EHR, general staff and physicians’ perceptions and patient involvement. Does Memorial Pembroke view EHR as a liability or as an asset, is the staff open to what is better for the patient or are they more concerned about turf protection, are nurses prepared to record even the most minor detail if it means a better overall picture of the state of the patient. Management and leadership – does the organization have the management that appreciates the importance of the change to the overall goals of the organization and is there a readiness to apply necessary resources to include human resources, financial resources and information and to manage these resources not only for current but also future EHR needs. Is there an executive team, a strategic plan, quality improvement and care management, and sound financial management? Operational readiness – takes into consideration, protocols, operational procedures, staffing needs for the implementation, training plans and programs, preparedness of project managers and IT staff for the implementation. Technical readiness– considers the organizations technical environment and information technology capabilities to deal with and absorb the change. Is there adequate server capacity, a rational process of procurement also potential for growth and development of the department? In short can they handle it? Theoretical model related to proposed change The model best related to this organizational change which seeks to enhance the institution as a whole in the furtherance of improved quality of care for patients as also to optimize the organizations ability to be effective in the administrative process and other peripheral processes involved in this change is organizational development. Organizational change targets the entire organization and creates a climate of open discussion with valued feedback which helps to reinforce or modify to the change. It depends on the utilization of process consultants to facilitate interventions and to manage the change. Internal and external resources to support change Within the organization several resources may be found which may facilitate or enhance the change to be implemented, these include competent senior management who portray a sense of confidence and facilitate dialogue with staff thus enabling them to be active participants, a strong human resource department that arranges and implement training programs aimed at preparing staff for the change. A vibrant IT department with competent personnel knowledgeable in IT systems that can facilitate incorporation of new technology to its network. Staff that are trainable and who understand the dynamism of the organization and of change and are willing to adapt in order to meet organizational goals. Externally advantage has to be taken of a proven provider of EHRs that has the experience and support infrastructure that will facilitate attainment of the organizational goals. Independent consultants who are experienced in the change to be implemented, and who are able to monitor and manage the change at each stage of implementation. Research data that provide information aimed at making informed decisions, provided by research specialist and not ad hoc pieces of information.

Impact of Globalisation on Terrorism

Impact of Globalisation on Terrorism While globalisation has brought significant changes in social life, the 21st century is the main gate of violence that has led to transformations from limited effectiveness to widespread or globalised effectiveness in the globe whether it was politically, culturally, economically and so on. On the other hand, amongst cultures and states, terrorism has been significantly developed and expanded in the early 21st century due to the globalisation processes. Yet, terrorism has become one of the most controversial issues in the new era of the modern world. Although it may be complicated to describe and illustrate the relationship between globalisation and terrorism, the definition of globalisation with terrorism is widely open to different subjective interpretations. However, this essay will describe and illustrate the impacts of globalisation on terrorism in the modern era of the post globalised world. According to Baylis, Smith, and Owens, (2014), it has been outlined four different types of terrorist groups based on the source of motivation of each group. Namely, right-wing terrorists, left-wing terrorists, ethnonationalist or separatist terrorists, and religious terrorists. These types of terrorist groups are currently acting in the world and they have different aims and ways of acting. In addition, old terrorism is vary from modern terrorism. For example, the term terrorism was first used in the French Revolution describes the use of terror and violence by government against the revolutionaries in 1789 in France (Nassar, 2010). Furthermore, it was used to describe people who were acting individually against colonial states in the eighteenth century (Neumann, 2009). In other words, according to Giddens and W. Sutton, (2013, p.1044), Old-style terrorism is found where there are nations without states and where terrorists are prepared to use violence to achieve their ends. However , modern terrorism is often associated with technological advances which were brought by globalisation such as the strength of Al Qaedas network system. This terrorist organisation has become a global phenomenon due to its worldwide activities. Although the old and modern styles of terrorism have different goals, technological advances have increased the capabilities of modern terrorism due to globalisation. For instance, Al Qaeda has received a worldwide recognition after the attack on the world trade towers on 11 september 2001 (Baylis, Smith, and Owens, 2014). As a result of the events of 2001, United States of America has invaded Afghanistan in the name of the war on terrorism. Nevertheless, Some experts argue that the attacks of 2001 were politically designed by USA as a justification for resisting the dominance of Soviet Union in Afghanistan (Nassar, 2010). According to Nassar, (2010, p.18), he identified terrorism associated with the globalisation processes as a political lab el given to people who are perceived to be planning or carrying out acts of violence for political objectives. Naturally, the most significant change between old and new terrorism is political change associated with globalisation in order to achieve worldwide political goals. Moreover, political changes associated with globalisation have become more significant alongside technological advances for terrorist organisations in which they have utilised the advantages of globalisation for achieving their aims and influencing as much people as they can by their ideologies across their boundaries in different parts of the world. Efforts have been conducted explain the global phenomenon of modern terrorism in three different aspects namely culture, economics, and religion explanations as stated by Baylis, Smith, and Owens, (2014). Cultural explanations for terrorism indicate that terrorist groups seek to preserve their own culture and identity from western dominance such as western secular system. As a result, social changes associated with globalisation in the world have increased the process of cultural exchanges between nations. Hence, some cultures in underdeveloped countries are threatened of being exist by the western identity which provokes the terrorists motivation to turn to violent acts against those who seek for changes. On the other hand, economic aspects suggest that the motivation factor for terrorist groups to act violently is the lack of opportunities within their countries such as inequality in education systems. In other words, individuals who have ambitions and do not have the chances to im plement their ideas due to the imbalanced systems in their countries are eventually turn to violence against their own governments to fulfill and interpret their demands. Although the dominance of western capitalist economies in the world aim to privatise the industries in order to provide opportunities and make competitive businesses available for individuals, terrorist groups believe that capitalist economies are attempting to control the global market and monopolise the opportunities in underdeveloped countries (Baylis, Smith, and Owens, 2014). Eventually, terrorist groups have inspired different terrorist organisations across the globe by these ideologies in favour of their orders (Hobsawm, 2008). However, it can be confidently said that religion is seen as the most significant motivating factor for terrorist groups, used to influence the youth of Muslims by giving them promises of rewards in the afterlife (Baylis, Smith, and Owens, 2014). In addition, terrorist groups are seein g religion as a beneficial weapon, by interpreting the word Jihad as a holy war which creates new type of terrorists called jihadi terrorists (Nassar, 2010). Despite the word jihad according to Islamic teaching means the internal struggle for purity spiritually, radical terrorist groups have the opposite understanding of what the actual meaning says. Furthermore, social, cultural, technological and economic changes associated with globalisation have significantly created the world more interconnected. Based on these changes, the new global Jihad orders are obtaining political power, and implementing the Sharia law in the globe (Baylis, Smith, and Owens, 2014). Although the cultural, economic, and religious aspects give necessary explanations for global terrorism, individually, they are insufficient. However, it can be assumed that the most significant impacts of globalisation on terrorism are technological advances (Neumann, 2009). According to Baylis, Smith, and Owens, (2014), technological advances have enhanced the capability of global terrorist organisations in proselytising, coordination, security, mobility, and lethality. Proselytising and Mobility are often associated with global internet and the virtual world. For instance, terrorist groups have utilised virtual methods such as the internet to spread their ideologies by promoting propagandas for their sympathisers in order to make the motivation more effective, and creating their own worldwide websites which allows them to influence as many individuals as they can in the globe. Technological advances associated with globalisation have been utilised by terrorist groups for planning and conducting their operations independently. In other words, they utilised the technology to plan their activities tactically and strategically in undercover operations to ensure the success of their missions. For example, the 9/11 hijackers used specific prepaid cards for communication during their attack on the world trade towers (Baylis, Smith, and Owens, 2014). On the other hand, terrorist organisation are characterized by their developed security systems. By creating surveillance techniques, terrorist cells can identify each other by specific codes, therefore no one allowed to recognise them. Despite technological advances associated with globalisation have developed modern terrorism capability in the modern era of the post-modern world, the most dangerous factor is the advanced weapons. The rapid development in technologies associated with globalisation have increased the terrorist ambitions to obtain mass destruction weapons and hence it would allow fewer terrorist groups t o conduct catastrophic attacks in different part of the world. Combating terrorism may be the most difficult part for experts in finding adaptive ways to resist its expansion in the modern era and most importantly in the future. For instance, one of an adaptive way by United Nation to ensure security in airlines from hijacking terrorist attacks is the adopted convention by the establish of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). The main aim of the organisation is to ensure the safety in airlines between legal international cooperations (Baylis, Smith, and Owens, 2014). Furthermore, it has been suggested by some experts that in order to combat the global phenomenon of terrorism in the modern era and in the future, states should establish a global unification supported by worldwide governments (Guelke, 2009). On the other hand, Some experts disagree with the term (War on Terrorism) such as the conspiracy theorists (Baylis, Smith, and Owens, 2014). Conspiracy theorists however, believe that there is a link between terrorist organisat ions and political changes in which these terrorist organisations aim to achieve political goals (Hobsawm, 2008). Although there are disagreements in how to deal with global terrorism, Nassar (2010), indicates that war on terrorism is an ideological war. In other words, in order to combat radical Islamic terrorist groups, Islamic states should expand the education opportunities for the youth for better understanding of the religion and improving their awareness within their boundaries. To some up, it may be difficult to predict the future international security especially when it comes with the rapid changes associated with globalisation. Moreover, it is possible to say that the rapid changes associated with globalisation have significant impacts on the modern global terrorism. Similarly, modern terrorism is more dangerous than old terrorism due to the globalisation processes. In essence, it can be possibly said that globalisation may affect the future international security to some extent, and it may increase the ability of global governments to combat the future terrorism. References Baylis, J., Smith, S. and Owens, P. (eds.) (2014) The globalization of world politics: An introduction to international relations. 6th edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (Baylis, Smith, and Owens, 2014) Nassar, J.R. (2010c) Globalization and terrorism: The migration of dreams and nightmares. Second Edition edn. United States of America: Rowman Littlefield Publisher, INC. (Nassar, 2010) Giddens, A. and W. Sutton, P. (2013) SOCIOLOGY. 7th Edition edn. Cambridge: Polity Press. Giddens and W. Sutton, (2013), Hobsbawm, E. (2008) Globalisation, democracy and terrorism. LONDON: Abacus. (Hobsawm, 2008) Guelke, A. (2009) The new age of terrorism and the international political system. London: I.B.Tauris Co Ltd, United Kingdom. (Guelke, 2009) Neumann, P.R. (2009) Old and new terrorism: Late modernity, globalization and the transformation of political violence. Cambridge: Polity Press. (Neumann, 2009) Ritzer, G. (ed.) (2007) The blackwell companion to globalization. Blackwell Publishing Ltd. ]Accessed on 24 of February 2017[