Swot of Taobao

Business: Taobao online trading platform Strengths: 1. The leading individual trading online platform in Asia provided B2C and C2C e-commerce business model. 2. Create (Lead) a convenient and easy online shopping channel for consumer without using traditional retail channels. 3. Connect with a reliable payment method and online trading & paying system (Alipay ) 4. A well-known brand for online trading platform in business field that can attract businesses to join and be the alliance with Taobao. 5.Gather millions of domestic businesses, personal customers, global businesses and global customers (users) to trade and access to a variety of products and services (in a lower price) without constrains of time and distance. 6. Self-help system is promoted to make users have better personal trading place. 7. Strategies like 7-day/30-day Safety Guarantee for Shopping and Shipping/ Shopping Insurance, in Taobao build up customers’ confidence. 8. Rich human resources to have a better de velopment for the business.Weaknesses: 1. There are many counterfeit and pirated goods appeared in Taobao as the supervision is poor. It damages the confidence of the buyers who have bought the fake one while the sale of sellers who are selling genuine is also affected. 2. Credit evaluation system is not comprehensive with poor management while sellers can easily delete a bad comment or evaluation from users (or they can pay and hire someone to evaluate positive comments). It provides low reference values for users. 3.Without effective control, Thousands of online advertisement increased causes the falsity of the advertising also increased. 4. The trading models of Taobao are easily being copied. For example, the Group buying nowadays in Hong Kong was originally started in Taobao. 5. Businesses might withdraw from Taobao and to have their own trading and shopping platform/ they will distribute their resources in different online trading platform when they expand to a certain busines s scale. Then those businesses will become the competitor of Taobao. . Personal information leak may happen, including names, phone numbers and home addresses when businesses get all these information. 7. Taobao does not provide a natively English version for the platform. It limited its expansion in global market. Opportunities: 1. The increasing usage of the Internet and technology development helps the expansion of Taobao. 2. The smartphone technology increases the efficiency and convenience of online shopping and builds up an efficient network business culture.People are confident and motivated to buy more. 3. Government launched a lot of policies to standardize the operation and development of different industries. It indirectly provides an elastic and loose developing environment for online trading platform. 4. Different banking system corporates with Taobao (alipay) to launch different system to provide more services for online users, such as bills payment, insurance or auto paying expenses. 5. The growing economy in China encourages people’s consumption on online shopping platform.Threats: 1. Different competitors in Asia is following behind Taobao and sometimes that its position is threatened, such as QQ Mall, 360buy, Amazon. cn etc. 2. There are many new online paying platforms appeared to challenge the position of Alipay, such as Tenpay (by Tencent) , Baifubao (by Baidu) as they fail to corporate with some third parties (banks, insurance companies) . 3. The quality of different logistic service providers is uneven. There are many complaints about courier stealing goods/damaging goods from customers at Taobao.It will affect Taobao’s expansion until they build up their own systematic and uniform logistic system. 4. Government policy about e-commerce business model is not fully established. Existing law and regulations always fall behind to define the attribution of the burden of proof. It somehow causes online transaction disputes betwee n buyers and sellers. 5. Traditional shopping platform provide a direct way for customers to look, feel and touch with the product. A big market will still stick with traditional trading platform (like malls, markets or shops in real).

Geo Assignment

Devin Purcell February 25th 2013 GEO1050 Ryan Gibson Assignment #2: Growing Resource Consumption and Scarcity a) The baseline year of the data used in these models is 1985. b) The period of projection for these models range from 1985 to 2025 a 40 year span. c) The three components of total water demand are: Population growth, Economic Development and Projected changes in water use efficiency. ) DIA/Q refers to the ratio of Domestic, Industrial, and irrigated Agriculture used of water, to the total river discharge (Q), it is presumed to show the total sustainable water supply that is available to local human populations. e) If DIA/Q is less than 0. 1, there is very little water stress. f) If DIA/Q is greater than 0. 4, there is severe water stress. g) SC1 – diverse climate, but specific magnitude and spatial distribution of human population and water removal levels from 1985 SC2 – applied projected water demands for 2025 but used runoff and discharge based on contemporar y climate.SC3 – varied climate and water demand. Assumptions: Impacts of human growth under SC2 and SC3 will therefore generally show population growth and migration as compared to increasing water usage. Effect of SC1 produces little change from 1985. Collective impact of raising water demands for SC2 and SC3 is obvious. h) Smith is most scared by SC3 because it suggests that the weather and climate change in the world, human population growth, or both it will increase low levels of water.Low levels of water are almost guaranteed to become a bigger problem all to affecting a greater area in the globe. a) Smith suggests that the water scarcity levels in Canada are very low since everyone has free access to water. b) Many areas which were named by the boil advisory are in coastal regions and less populated communities as well. It is less effective by the Government to put money into these rural regions rather than larger more urbanized cities, where the water would be tight an d help support more people.The rural areas in cities do not get the same water treatment as urbanized areas and must boil their water c) Newfoundland should be fine with regards to water scarcity due to the fact that everyone in the province and surrounding areas has free access to water. Since, everyone around the province is able to access water almost anywhere freely and hassle free there is a very little chance of our province running low on water and it becoming a major problem throughout the province.

Wellness Industry in India

INTRODUCTION In India, a country where traditional medicinal and health practices like Ayurveda and yoga have promoted the idea of mental and physical wellbeing since ancient times, a new concept of wellness is emerging. No longer limited to health, nutrition and relaxation, the new multi-dimensional definition of wellness encompasses the individual’s desire for social acceptance, exclusivity and collective welfare. WELLNESS INDUSTRY The 2009 FICCI-Ernst & Young (EY) Wellness – Exploring the Untapped Potential report classifies the Indian wellness industry into two segments: wellness services and wellness products.Expected to grow dramatically in the next years, both the segments offer great opportunities to wellness providers. At the end of 2008, the overall industry was estimated at around INR 27. 000 crore (EUR 4. 05 billion1), of which INR 11. 000 crore (EUR 1. 65 billion) represented by the services segment and the rest by the products segment. WELLNESS INDUSTRY SI ZE AND SEGMENTATION (EUR billion) 1,65 41% Wellness Products Wellness Services 2,4 59% Source: Ernst & Young and FICCIAccording to the study, the wellness industry has the potential to sustain a compound annual growth rate of more than 14% till 2012, with the wellness services market expected to witness an annual growth of approximately 3035% till 2014. 1 The conversion rate utilized in this report is 1 INR = 0. 015 EUR. WELLNESS INDUSTRY PROJECTIONS (EUR billion) 7,00 6,00 6,00 5,00 4,05 4,00 3,00 2,19 2,00 1,00 2009 2010E 2011E 2012E Source: Ernst & Young and FICCI 5,26 4,62 3,84 2,90 1,65 Wellness Industry Wellness Services Geographically, South India is much ahead in terms of wellness, with an average of 34. wellness centers per 100. 000 households, compared with 13. 6 for the North, 12 for the West and 10. 1 in the East. AVERAGE NUMBER OF WELLNESS CENTERS IN INDIA 0 South North West East 13,6 12 10,1 Source: Ernst & Young and FICCI 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 34,4 40 The report depicts the overall wellness industry as highly unorganized, with the organized sector limited to less than 50 percent of the industry. The industry’s disorganization and fragmentation open further opportunities for international wellness players to capture a large share of the market.Wellness services From massages to cardio sessions, from steam baths to ago puncture, from slimming programs to beauty treatments, the wellness services segment includes all the facilities, centers and in general domestic and international players which offer Indian customers wellness solutions. Recent trends in the wellness services sector Spas: As per the FICCI-EY study, rejuvenation services – including spas, alternative therapies, Ayurveda treatments and beauty services – is expected to witness a 30 percent growth till 2014.In its 2009 report, SpaFinder Inc. counted over 2. 300 spas operating in India, with over 700 to open by 2012 and generating revenues for approximately EUR 264 mil lion annually. NUMBER OF SPAS IN INDIA (PROJECTION) 3500 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0 2009 Source: SpaFinder Inc. + 700 spas 3000 2300 2012 A distinct trend visible in the Indian wellness market is the opening of spas in the mid-price category. No longer exclusivity of 5-stars hotel guests, standalone spas with a more affordable price-value equation are filling a gap that was missing in the market2.Gyms: Assessed at around INR 500 crore (EUR 75 million) in 2009, the gym market in India is quickly developing. As per the FICCI-EY study, fitness services – comprising gyms and slimming centers – will grow by more than 25 percent till 2014. According to the consultancy firm Deloitte and the US-based International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association, the number of people using health clubs in India currently stands at 0. 23 million. Of this, experts say 40 percent are women3. HEALTH CLUB USERS PENETRATION RATE 2 3Wellness industry unaffected by recession, liveMint, Th e Wall Street Journal, Jun 14, 2009. Gym becoming social networking hub, The Economic Times, Aug 14, 2009. 0,0% US Australia New Zealand Singapore Hong Kong India 0,4% 5,0% 10,0% 15,0% 20,0% 17,0% 12,4% 10,8% 6,5% 3,9% Source: Deloitte & International Health, Racquet & Sportclub Association The still low penetration rate, combined with the success of the fitness reality show Biggest Loser Jeetega, which featured gym equipment of the Italian manufacturer Technogym SpA,suggests there is still plenty of room for new centers to open in India.Hotels and restaurant: A further trend, emerging as a consequence of the significant number of lifestyle diseases which affects the country — India accounts for 60% of global cardiac illnesses and has over 50 million diabetics — is the emergence of hotels as health destinations, offering special menus and fitness programs4. Many restaurants are also starting to propose their health-conscious customers special menus. Main international and national players of the wellness services sectorOverall, more than 15 international players in the wellness product and service space have entered India in the recent past and are aggressively expanding in the country. Just to name one, the US-based largest international gym chain in the world, Gold’s Gym has opened 48 gyms since its arrival in India in 2002. This increasing competition from multinationals has compelled national players – including Reliance, Dabur, Manipal Group of Companies, Dr. Batra’s, Kaya Health Clinic – to strengthen and speed up their market expansion strategies.To support the growth, after Talwalkars– one of the leading gym chains in India, with over 100 branches across 50 cities in the country, and over 100. 000 members – and Birla Pacific Spa, also the healthcare and beauty treatment provider Goodwill Hospitals, the drug retail chain Apollo Pharmacy, the diagnostics chain Super Religare Laboratories and the eye care firm VasanEyecare are planning to go public in the next 12 months5. 4 Wellness on the menu, liveMint, The Wall Street Journal, Jul 29, 2011. 5After Birla Pacific Spa and Talwalkars niche beauty and wellness companies planning for IPO, The Economic Times, Aug 25, 2011.While substandard facilities and a lack of qualified staff still characterize the domestic wellness scene, this unsatisfying picture opens further opportunities to international players, which will bring to India their sets of standards of procedures and training programs. Wellness products Including various types of â€Å"modified† foods (e. g. , fat free, low calories, energetic, reinforcing), oils, supplements, integrators, and personal care products, wellness products are gaining more and more space in Indians’ purchase basket.No longer limited to preventive or supportive nutrition, the wellness product portfolio reflects a mix of indulgence, invigoration and narcissism6. Health and wellness food s market Tata Strategic Management Group (TSMG) has estimated theIndian health and wellness foods market being worth INR 10. 150 crore(EUR1. 52 billion) in 2009, with the potential of rising at a compounded annual growth rate of 32. 5 percent to INR 55. 000crore (EUR 8. 24 billion) by 2015. 6 Impulse and Lifestyle Products Define the FMCG Future in India, Roosevelt D’souza, Executive Director, The Nielsen Company, March 4, 2011.HEALTH AND WELLNESS FOODS PROJECTION (EUR billion) 9,00 8,00 7,00 6,00 5,00 4,00 3,00 2,00 1,00 2009 2010E 2011E 2012E 2013E 2014E 2015E Source: TSMG 8,24 + 32. 5% 4,69 3,54 2,67 1,52 2,01 6,21 To capture the growing demand, food brands are in a race to launch new products. Himalaya International’s natural fruit yoghurt, Parle Products’s baked chips, Amul’s range of functional products (including energy drinks, probiotic ice-creams, probiotic lassi and curd, high calcium milk and reduced salt butter), Frito Lay’s trans-fat a nd MSG free products, ITC Food’s low cholesterol products, gut beneficial foods are just few examples7.Sugar-free products With diabetes increasing at an alarming rate –the number of people with diabetes was over 45 million in 2010 and is expected to rise to 69. 9 million by 2015 –, obesity, hypertension and other lifestyle-related disorders, sugar-free product variants are gaining more space on the retail shelves. While Indians have begun to show a liking to sugar-free products, sugar substitutes (often referred to as â€Å"sweeteners†) do not receive the same welcome.In fact, sweeteners are not yet considered a low-calorie sugar substitute, but a product for people suffering of lifestyle diseases8. Nutraceuticals market Within the wellness products segment, the nutraceuticals market – merger of the words â€Å"nutrition† and â€Å"pharmaceutical† indicating functional foods, beverages and dietary supplements which provide health and medical benefits – is expected to grow exponentially. The 2009 FICCI-EY Nutraceuticals – Critical supplement for building a healthy India estimated the market to be around INR 44 billion (representing one 7 8Insights on Indian market, NutriConnect, 2009. Sweet equilibrium, Progressive Grocer, December 2010. percent of the global INR 5. 148 billion nutraceutical market), growing by an annual 18 percent since 2006, much faster than the global 7 percentaverage. INDIA’S NUTRACEUTICAL GLOBAL MARKET SHARE AND SEGMENTATION Rest of EU; 6% Switzerland ; 3% Italy; 3% UK; 2% France; 6% Germany; 5% Japan; 22% 14% Others; 9% US; 36% Functional foods Rest of Asia; 7% Functional beverages India; 1% Dietary supplements Source: Ernst & Young and FICCI 2% 54% Source: Frost & Sullivan, Cygnus Growth drivers are: ? ? the increasing affluence of working population with changing lifestyles; the reduced affordability of sickness related expenditures (with the Out-ofpocket expenditure constituting 64 percent of healthcare expenditures in India – against the global average of 18 percent – and the average cost of in-patient treatment doubled in the decade 1995-20059); the increasing awareness and media penetration; Andthe increased accessibility to such roducts, due to the emergence of new distribution channels. ? ? Moreover, due to their high prices compared to conventional foods, the lack of credibility of their benefits among costumers, and the not-yet-implemented regulatory framework, the latent market for nutraceutical products is estimated to be two to four times the existing market size. CONCLUSIONSIn India, a new multi-dimensional definition of wellness is emerging, encompassing the individual’s desire for social acceptance, exclusivity and collective welfare. Be it in the services or product sector, the wellness industry in India is showing bright opportunities to wellness providers, especially international players. 9 WHO statistical information system, 2008.

FIXED-PRICING CONTRACTING Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

FIXED-PRICING CONTRACTING - Essay Example labor and materials. Therefore, by using these indices the profitability and going concern of small businesses is shield from fluctuating economic conditions. Thus, when there are serious doubts about the economic environment’s stability for prices of labor and materials used by small contracting firms during the period of performance of contract, it is eminent all pre-defined contingencies subject to fluctuations are measured and determined (Stanberry, 2012). Therefore, the fixed-price contracts EPA are the most appropriate type of contacts for small businesses not enjoying any economies of scale and having the desire to grow and expand in a hostile environment where rivalry between firms for the limited market share is intense. Thus, small business owners can take advantage of favorable economic conditions to make supernormal profits when price adjusts upward by negotiating high terms for the ceiling of contract price and negotiating low base level prices during adverse economic

Lewis acid catalysts, eg. Fe3+, Ru3+, Zn2+, etc., for certain organic Thesis Proposal

Lewis acid catalysts, eg. Fe3+, Ru3+, Zn2+, etc., for certain organic transformations - Thesis Proposal Example te possesses a series of basic sites, reaction specificity is necessary for that particular interaction between acid and base so that the desired functionality is achieved and not the other. The Lewis acid predetermines the nature of the intermediate cationic specie. It can be an ion pair, a covalent compound with weak C-X bond or an intermediary compound (Suzuki 1557). Lewis acids found their applications in a range of carbon-carbon forming reactions. Usually, Mukaiyama aldol synthesis (Mukaiyama, Banno, and Narasaka 7503), Diels-Alder reactions (Clayden, Greeves, Warren, and Wothers 905) ene reactions and Friedel-Crafts reaction (Clayden, Greeves, Warren, and Wothers 920) are catalysed by commonly employed Lewis acids such as BF3, TiCl4, SnCl4 and AlCl3. These compounds can activate a series of organic groups and usually exist as dimers, trimmers or oligomers. In most cases, such reactions are highly efficient but with little or no chemo, region or stereoselectivity. It was noted that only small changes in ligands, surrounding the central metal ion can lead to monomeric structures in organic solvents thus increasing their acidity and reactivity. Also, these changes in ligands change the way the newly formed Lewis acids interact with their substrates, thus manifesting new selectivity (Yamamoto and Saito 239). As an example of the idea presented above, two compounds can be put forward: MAD (bis(2,6-di-tert-butyl-4methylphenoxide) methylaluminum) and ATPH (tris(2,6-diphenylphenoxide) tris(2,6-diphenylphenoxide)). Both compounds were prepared from Me3Al and the corresponding, highly substituted phenol according to the scheme below: Both compounds are highly useful in highly specific chemical transformation. It is possible to lower the activity of the Lewis acids prepared in a way that ATPH was by taking more electron donating organic substrates. Comparing to conventionally employed Lewis acids, it was established that the steric effect of the presented above

Human Elephant Conflict. Human Invasion Into The Wilderness Essay

Human Elephant Conflict. Human Invasion Into The Wilderness - Essay Example The article by Perera (2009) reported in Gajaha points out that most Asian nations are facing a drastic decline in the number of elephants. Similar trend was visible in Africa where the number of elephants declined from over 5 million to anywhere between 470,000 and 630,000 in a matter of hundred years. Thus, while the African elephants are termed ‘near threatened’ by the IUCN Red List, their Asian counterparts are classified ‘endangered’ by the Red List of the World Conservation Union (International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, 2011). However, before blaming humans for all these, it is necessary to look into the numbers of yearly manslaughter by elephants. According to Handwerk (2005), nearly 500 people are killed by elephants in a year, and the number is on rise year by year. Thus, it becomes evident that there is a conflict between men and elephants. This work looks into the various factors behind the conflict and the various ef fects of the conflict. Human invasion into the wilderness- the first reason It is pointed out by Nelson et al (2003) that one reason for increased elephant-human contact is the changes in land use. People started converting forest land for crop cultivation, settlement, and livestock grazing. The scholars make the observation that as human landscape reached such areas which were previously occupied by wildlife, there is higher chance for human-elephant conflict. Another point comes from Houghton (1994). ... Then, elephants move towards the farmlands and settlements in the near vicinity for water. There are many more reasons in the pipeline. According to Lahm (1996), one reason is logging. As already noted, elephants live on secondary vegetation and successional forest. When logging occurs, the cleared land gives birth to thick growth of secondary vegetation. Thus, elephants tend to move to these newly developed areas for food. Yet another vital point as put forward by Kangwana (1995) is that increased human interference leads to the development of canals and cattle fences. When such developments block the natural migration routes of elephants, and when humans settle along the boundaries of such protected areas, the possibility of human-elephant conflict increases. Also, there is the revelation from Naughton et al (1999) that as the economic situation of people has improved, there is a considerable decline in tolerance to elephant presence. There is a totally different aspect of the issu e explored by Anderson and Grove (1987). According to them, there are various factors that lead to the development of enmity in humans towards elephants (ibid). The most important factor is the development of national parks by governments. Such parks tend to exclude the local people making them feel alienated from the entire plan. As a result, the area becomes ‘frozen’ in a short while. So, the local people start resenting the wildlife, and dominant wild animals like elephants are the main victims of this hostile attitude. The scholars argue that this resentment is exacerbated by the feeling that the animals have access to such political, economic, and land advantages which are inaccessible for the native people (ibid). Yeager and Miller

United States Supreme Court Case Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

United States Supreme Court Case - Term Paper Example ht to bring claims against the private sector on the neglect of the Clean Air Act if the Environment Protection agency fails in its part in the regulation of the emission of the gases by the power plants1. Connecticut v. American Electric Power Company, Inc. case was since filed by 8 states in 2004. This involved the New York City and 3 private petitioner environmental organizations up against the activities of an assortment of electric service companies. It was asserted by 2 complainants public nuisance under the state common law and the federal law as claims and argued that the natural resources as well as the human health will continue to suffer under the adverse effects of global warming. The plaintiff sought for the courts to have a resolution that would have the companies their carbon dioxide emanations. It was argued by the plaintiff that the power companies infringed on the public rights through the violation of the national common law of interstate nuisance or the alternative state tort law2. The plaintiff sought a decree that would set emissions of carbon dioxide and other green house gases for each of the defendants at the initial cap to be reduced annually. The complainants were dismissed by the district court in New York which was presiding over the case on the view that the case raised political inquiries that were thought to be inappropriate for a judicial resolution. It was argued by the court that the issues on climate change that had been presented by the plaintiff would require a delicate balancing of the environment, foreign, economic policies and the interests of the national security. This, the court argued that would be better handled by the political branch of the government rather than the judicial3, arguing further that ruling on such a matter would be tantamount to the court abrogating the role of the Congress to set legislations and standards for hearing such a case. The Supreme Court in 2007 ruled over the Massachusetts v. EPA, 549

Authentication of Individuals in E-exams Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Authentication of Individuals in E-exams - Essay Example Fingerprint recognition systems are considered to be the most commonly deployed biometric systems, due to their precision, ease and performance [10]. Arista Knowledge Systems(TM) and DigitalPersona(TM) claim to develop the first e-Learning management system to verify students by their fingerprints [14]. Arges et al proposed a hybrid approach in which an electronic token or e-card was used along with the fingerprint verification to increase the authentication performance of the e-exam security system [11]. The system involved a process of enrolment- to capture the user’s fingerprint for the database and generate a specific e-token for the user. Authenticated users were provided access by verifying their fingerprints and e-tokens with the stored database.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Hand geometry recognition systems require a small sized data to uniquely identify a user from its stored database or templates [12]. A system is proposed by Jain et al. [13] in which there exist processes of image acquisition, enrolment and verification. One commendable approach in this system to enhance the accuracy of the acquired hand geometry image is that two samples are taken from the user. Average is taken for these samples so that an accurate image can then be compared with stored database of enrolled users. This system can easily be deployed for e-learning environments because of its ease and accuracy. ProAccess FaceOK developed a system for the recognition of human face image [15]. They claim it to be the first system with the face learning capability.

Modern Latin America Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Modern Latin America - Essay Example The colonial age in the Latin world should be considered as the region’s most influential years: the laws, norms, movements and conflicts, were significantly influential in deciding the character of the land today. It is known that the Spanish people were the only prominent power that fought over the Latin world to acquire their control (Keen & Haynes, 2012). This is why they have some much influence even to the Latin world of today. As Spain’s political power was merged in the second half of the 16th century, so was its capacity to control and regulate the colonial economy. Functioning in line with the mercantilistic strictures of that era, Spain endeavored to capitalize on ventures through exporting valuable products, such as silver and later other agricultural commodities and minerals (Keen & Haynes, 2012). They also supplied the new colonial market with already manufactured goods in order to create an encouraging balance of trade for the Latin world. Nevertheless, t he strongly regulated trading dominion, based in Seville, was not always capable of providing the colonies effectively, and; therefore the Latin world later saws its independence (Edwards, 2010). This was after a number of successful fights against the Spanish army. Therefore, what changes marked the transition to independence? This paper will discuss the above question especially noting the issues of the Church, race, political legitimacy, neocolonialism, imperialism, sovereignty and national identity. Some of the three primary factors that this paper considers being the landmark of Latin America’s independence are the Catholic Church (separation of the church from the state), imperialism (a free market, the extension of public education and industrialization) and political legitimacy. Church The Church in Latin America bore the marks of its colonial and Iberian past following independence. Spain Catholics adopted a custom of strong faith, a vital doctrinal of enduring piety and knowledge (Keen & Haynes, 2012). Adherence itself was a means of knowledge because, in the Mass, people learnt the scriptures, the doctrines, as well as the secrets of the Catholic faith. Portugal broadcasted an orthodox Catholicism, as well, but with a lower degree of adherence and a less doctrinal knowledge. Everywhere, religion and faith in Latin America was a religious conviction of the citizens and the Church went to receive the observance and the admiration of the mestizos, Indians and other popular people (Edwards, 2010). Supreme groups were less devoted, and the prominent respect for the Church in the 19th century was the apostasy of the influential people, not the neglect of the masses. The Iberian convention in religion favored a well known, honored and a state-ran Church (Keen & Haynes, 2012). But, following independence, the church opted to separate itself from the states. The influential, wealthy and privileged people of the Church were perceived by the new states as an opponent focus of adherence, a source of revenue and a substitute power. The risk of state control emerged in a new form after independence (Edwards, 2010). The Church, therefore, had to look to its own assets and these, in the early 19th century, were thinning. The church was granted an advantaged position because it was also prevalent in Europe at that time. The entire region was typified by great rates of Catholicism after independence. Catholicism rates reached as high as 90% out of the entire Latin American population. Following independe

Transformer Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Transformer Assignment - Essay Example A simple way to remember it is the Left Hand Thumb rule. If we grasp the conductor in our left hand with our thumb extended in the direction of current (from –ve to +ve), our finger will point in the direction of magnetic lines of forces. When two or more current carrying conductors are placed parallel to each other in a way that the direction of current is the same in all of them, as shown in Figure 2, then the magnetic lines of forces aid each other to combine and strengthen the magnetic field further. If the two conductors so placed have current flowing in opposite direction then the magnetic lines oppose each other to deform and weaken the magnetic field. The magnetic field around the conductor exists at points along the length of the conductor. When the conductor is wound in the shape of a coil, as in Figure 3, then magnetic field around each turn of the coil is aided and strengthened by the fields of adjacent turns in the coil. The resultant is a magnetic field resembling a bar magnet with one end as North and the other as South of the magnet. When the direction of current is reversed it causes the direction of magnetic field to be reversed. If we grasp the coil with our left hand with our fingers pointing in the direction of current, as in Figure 4, the thumb will point in the direction of magnetic field. Conversely, to what we have discussed till now, if a conductor is placed in a magnetic field and there is a relative movement between the field and the conductor, an electromotive force (emf) is induced in the conductor. This effect is called electromagnetic induction. Both of these phenomenons, of creating a magnetic field and then utilizing electromagnetic induction form the basis of transformers. At one end alternating current (AC) is passed through a coil, this gives rise to a magnetic field which spreads out and subsides with the same frequency as of the AC applied. This changing magnetic field in fact is a replacement to moving

Comparing and contrasting the presentation Essay Example for Free

Comparing and contrasting the presentation Essay Comparing and contrasting power in Hawk Roosting and Human Interest The effects of power seem to be largely psychological in both poems. In Human interest the damage coursed by love and jealousy drives the man to kill his lover , to show power not only to himself but to his girlfriend. Later on in the poem we see the man in his prison cell questioning his motive behind his sudden outburst of rage; whereas in Hawk Roosting the hawk believes there’s no need for other predator’s existence as nature is ‘all’ his and ‘no arguments can assert’ his right to his power to kill. In Hawk Roosting the hawk has no restrictions in life and does as he pleases as he see’s himself as an all mighty being. But in Human Interest the man has a spur of the moment action that has a long-lasting effect, both on the dead girlfriend and on him in terms of a prison sentence. The effect of power on the hawk causes him to become arrogant and this making the pointlessness in other animals while the effect of power on man drives them insane and blind to those around us. The hawk wishes to ‘keep things like this’ and although we know this is about the hawk wanting to keep himself above all the rest he will eventually crumble and fall just as nature intended. The hawk abuses his power by killing those smaller then him to increase his status in the food chain. The effects of power leave contrasting images of a grief-stricken man left in a secluded room and the arrogance of roaming free, though both eventually are seen as murderers in life and will be nothing more.

Police Misconduct Essay Example for Free

Police Misconduct Essay Police brutality is the use of excessive force by a police officer. â€Å"Police brutality is a civil rights violation that occurs when a police officer acts with excessive force by using an amount of force with regards to a civilian that is more than necessary† (Police Brutality, 2013). Police corruption is the misuse of authority by a police officer, including a range of actions encompassing an officer’s misuse of his or her authority for personal gain. Police corruption is one kind of police misconduct; however, police misconduct includes any deviant behavior by a police officer including the taking of bribes, and participating in illegal activities such as gambling and prostitution (Grant Terry, Chapter 11, 2008). Some aspects of police brutality, police corruption, and police misconduct go hand-in-hand; for example, police corruption and police brutality are both forms of police misconduct. Some recommendations that I would make to decrease police brutality, police corruption, and police misconduct would include developing clearly written anticorruption and misconduct department policies and procedures and following through with disciplinary actions when those policies are violated; I would also recommend the developing or expanding of department’s internal affairs divisions with a focus on internal corruption and misconduct investigations, as well as increasing the responsibility and authority of non-internal affairs supervisor to take action against corruption and misconduct. References Police Brutality. (2013). In US Legal. Retrieved from http://definitions.uslegal.com/p/police-brutality/ Grant, H.B., Terry, K.J. (2008). Law Enforcement in the 21st Century (2nd ed.). Retrieved from The University of Phoenix eBook Collection database.

Globalisation in Industrial and Engineering Fields

Globalisation in Industrial and Engineering Fields Stephen Glaister Introduction: Globalisation has steered traditional industries into operating global production networks in poor countries with undefined health and safety policy. During the past decades, these countries have seen rapid economic and industrial development due to the implementation of weak policies. This has made leading industries take advantage of less stringent health, safety and environmental controls and procedures. In general, most developing countries have undervalued health and safety regulation with the ultimate aim of attracting new investment (Raj-Reichert, 2013). There has been a growth in health and safety implications in Asian states such as India and China. This essay critically discusses legal, moral and ethical considerations for an organisation in a western economy when it contemplates outsourcing potentially highly hazardous activities to a developing nation where the legal and management controls may be of a lower standard (Chan, 2003). The essay starts with an analysis on the western and developing economies and industries. This is through analysing the composition of industries, industrialisation and globalisation and the economies. The second theme will be based on health and safety law in a national and international context. This is followed by moral and ethical aspects of health and safety management philosophy. Lastly, there is discussion on moral and ethical aspects health and safety development. Western and developing economies and industries: The development of industrialised nations started with the industrial revolution in the 1970s. The developed nations started with the heavy industries, engineering. For example, countries such as Britain were seen as the workshop of the world due to the growth of cotton and iron industries. Heavy industries have a high degree of mechanisation and are capital intensive. The industries have high pollution rates and have a negative impact on the environment. In addition, heavy industries have higher risks compared to the rest of the industries. Most of the traditional industries in the developed countries have moved to the developing countries through outsourcing. This includes the engineering and heavy industries which have a great negative health impact. Developing countries have taken hazardous industries with an aim of industrialisation which has led to negative environmental and health impacts (Raj-Reichert, 2013). Industrialisation and globalisation Globalisation refers to markets integration in the global economy. This is based on an increase in interconnections in the national economics. Globalisation is common in the commodity markets, financial, capital markets, sports and entertainments. Industrialisation is a term used to refer to the industrial revolution which was witnessed in the 19th century. It is one of the most fundamental transformations in the human history marked by the rise of industrial sector (Weiss, 2002). Countries started using machines in carrying out their work which had previously been done by people. Globalisation and industrialisation are interconnected. This is due to fact that the history of industrialisation shows a gradual globalisation process for the past four centuries. Industrialisation acted as the main impetus to globalisation. Through industrialisation, it was possible for social and political transformation which led to a capitalist society which globalisation is based on (Weiss, 2002). Through the open door policy, china was able to take advantage of globalisation and become the best outsourcing centre. China has been able to come up with a strong global outsourcing sector. Most of the industries have outsourced their manufacturing to china due to low costs of labour and industrial interconnectedness (ORourke, 2003). China has acted as an opportunity for the western firms due to the country large population and expanding economy. The country has the fastest growing economy and has limitless low cost labour and competitive production rates. China plays a very important role in the global manufacturing sector with most of the manufactured products being exported (Lin et al., 2008). The country has gained the top position in the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). Despite this, the high flow of FDI in the manufacturing sector has led to risks due to poor observance of Workplace Health and Safety (WHS) (Raj-Reichert, 2013). Economies Case: Garment manufacturing and silicon hazard in China With the FDIs flowing to the developing countries, there has been a lot of compromise on health and safety environment. Occupational health and safety is the most vital aspect in the workplace. Most of the industries that have moved to the developing economies in Asia, Africa and South America are associated with health and safety problems. An example is the garment manufacturing in China which is outsourced by major MNCs (Fan, 2015). China has a poor Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) which is based on poor coordination between the ministry responsible, bureaus and departments. A report released from south China province of Guangdong showed that the area was being used to produce about half of the world denim. With the rising trend in the pre-worn look, the denim industry in China has been using the sandblasting technique. This is a process where the denim is distressed through firing of abrasive sand under high pressure. This can be done using a machine or a hose with an air gun. It has been proved that these processes are being done in Chinese denim factories without use of proper safety equipment (Akgun et al., 2008). The outcome can lead to lung diseases such as silicosis which is caused by inhalation of silica dust. In addition, workers in these factories works for long hours without protection hence are exposed to diseases. There are also poor medical check-ups which endangers the employees health (Carter, 2012). Sand blasting by multinationals in China is still in use despite the harmful side effects to the workers health. This leads to unsafe and unhealthy working environment brought about by international firms (Akgun et al., 2008). Legal: Health and safety law in a national and international context Health and safety responsibilities and requirements imposed by law Based on the International Labour Organisation (ILO), there are set standards which an industry must uphold on occupational safety and health. The ILO conventions are aimed at guiding all countries in ensuring a safe workplace and ensuring that there is management of occupational health and safety programs. These conventions and recommendations on occupational health and safety are only legally binding if the member states ratify them. One of the most important ILO conventions on OHS has gained ratification from 37 out of all 175 member states. ILO employment injury benefits convention has been ratified by only 23 countries. This is a convention that lists the occupational diseases in which a worker is entitled to compensation. WHO has played a major role in OHS through provision of the technical aspects. Despite this, the limited funding has always been an impediment in the implementation of WHS laws by both ILO and WHO (International Labour Organisation, 2017). The high reliance on the international agencies to enforce OHS laws on the developing countries has been inadequate. This is due to fact that developing countries such as China have poor OHS laws and sees it as an exercise for the developed countries (Chan, 2003). Despite committing to several ILO conventions, China national WHS laws are weak and there have been poor enforcement. This is unlike the developed countries such as UK, Australia and USA which have strong domestic labour laws (International Labour Organisation, 2017). Worldwide influence and impacts of health and safety law Case: Toys outsourcing in China limitation, benefits and disparities Despite having global health and safety laws by the ILO, there has been laxity in their implementation especially in the developing countries. An example is China, which has been ignoring workplace health and safety laws in their FDIs. It has been proved that Chinese workers have been losing their lives working in the FDIs due to lack of OHS. China agreed to many of the ILO standards which were enacted in 2002 and also came up with their own standards. China laws calls for employees to be safe in their workplace. Despite this, the laws have not been enforced where economic goals have been given a priority (Chan, 2003). A case in point is the Chinese toys factories which are outsourced from USA. The factories can be considered as sweatshops where workers are paid poorly in poor working conditions. Inside these sweatshops, workers make products for American multinationals such as McDonalds, Mattel and Disney (Barboza, 2008). This has been a result of industrial interconnectedness broug ht about by globalisation. The main limitations are the fact that developing countries are ready to forego employees safety for the sake of profits. These countries lack proper structures on enforcing WHS laws as proposed by ILO. The main benefits are the fact that they provide employment to the citizens and the country is able to gain FDI. In addition, the Americans market is able to gain cheap products from these sweatshops. All this happens at the expense of workers health. There have been death, amputations and illness in the toy factories. Workers are exposed to toxic chemicals hence life threatening diseases (Lin et al., 2008). This is a case that led to lawsuits in America due to workers exploitation and exposure to unsafe working environment. National and international standards, policy and legislation There are major differences between developed and developing countries health and ethics. In developing countries, most of the workers are not covered by occupational health and safety laws. Moreover they lack access to the occupational health services. While some of the developing countries have adopted the international labour standards, they do not enforce them. An example is china which despite adopting ILO standards, it have not been implementing them (Chan, 2003). On the other hand, developed countries have strong OHS and labour laws. An example is the UK and USA. In the UK, Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have been working with the international bodies and other nations to enhance OHS. This includes developing, reviewing and negotiation on the international labour laws, safety codes and OHS. The country is well represented in various labour forums internationally. Developed countries are able to fully implement ILO and WHO standards. Despite this, when developed countries ou tsource, there have been cases where morals and ethics are lost. This is through investing in countries such as China which have questionable labour relations and environmental laws. Moral and Ethical: Health and safety management philosophy Evolution and background to health and safety management Case: China and Australia mining industry The evolution of health and safety management over the past 60 years has been caused by the social, political, economic and technological changes. Since the creation of the ILO in 1919, the protection of workers against sickness and injury related to their workplaces has been a priority. In fact, over 80% of the ILO instruments are based on ensuring occupational health and safety (International Labour Organisation, 2017). The management of health and safety has been improving to cover the social security, women, children on the issues of health and safety. This is especially in the developed countries with the developing countries lagging behind. A comparison between China and Australia mining industries gives insight on the evolution and background to health and safety management in developing and developed countries. This is due to accidents which can lead to death, injury or loss of property. In China, mining related fatalities accounted for about 10% of workplace fatalities in 20 06. This was 1000 times higher than developed countries such as Australia or USA. The main problem with Chinese health and safety at workplace is poor adoption of OHS laws (Wu et al., 2011). The country also suffers from inefficient management of workplace health and safety. Research shows that most of the workplace fatalities in china can be avoided through proper management of workplace health and safety. This is a sharp contrast to the developed countries where there is proper management of workplace health and safety. While Australia has been able to adopt and evolve with the WHS, China has been lagging behind (Lin et al., 2008). For example, Australia was able to adopt ILO conventions early and integrate them with their national health and safety laws. Australia has been more responsible in their workers health in the workplace compared to china (Donoghue, 2004). Health and safety management control models- ISO 18001/45001, and Hazardous Installations Directorate (HID) regulatory model Over the past 20 years, there have been increases in outsourcing activities. Research has shown that outsourcing in most cases leads to adverse impacts on the OHS (ORourke, 2003). This is especially due to fact that most of the outsourced countries have poor workplace health and safety laws exposing their workers to hazards. Hazardous waste management is risky due to financial, regulatory and safety requirements. This has led to most of the companies dealing with hazardous wastes to outsource in countries with less strict health and safety laws. Hazardous Installations Directorate (HID) has been dealing with regulation of major hazard industries which plays an essential role in everyday life. These are industries whose failure can lead to extensive damage to public and endanger workers and public health. The HID utilises a regulatory to regulate associated hazards and manage them (HSE, 2016b). OHS 18001 became ISO 45001 in 2016. This helped in making it an international standard rath er than a UK standard hence widening its scope. Based on the ISO/DIS 45001 Clause 8.3, it has become possible for the standard to control processes which are based on outsourcing. This ensures that outsourced processes which affect health and safety are well controlled. The firms are expected to minimise the health and safety impacts of their outsourced services (Batalas, 2014a). Companies outsourcing their services can no longer ignore health and safety of their outsourced processes. They must consider the risks involved and means to control them. Health and safety implementation and communication The world richest countries have been outsourcing hazardous materials, products and activities from the developing countries. This has led to a rising hazards in the developing countries. Most of the developing countries have been welcoming the move with disregard to the health and safety impacts. An example is China and India where hazardous industries have been set up with poor health and safety regulations (Chan, 2003). Despite this, the process of outsourcing to the developing countries has led to an improvement in social economic. There has been intense lobbying for MNCs outsourcing hazardous materials from the developing countries to observe health and safety. This has led to countries such as UK using the ISO 45001 and HID to ensure MNCs are responsible (HSE, 2016b). WHO have been advocating and communicating with the responsible governments to uphold health and safety when outsourcing hazardous materials. Moral and Ethical: Health and safety development Organisational Corporate Social Responsibility report Case: Apple and Sinopec CSR comparisons The concept of CSR, its meanings and practices varies based on the country cultural, political, social, economic and existing institutional framework. In China, companies have a different type of CSR reporting compared to western companies. This can be well illustrated by a comparison of CSR for Apple Computers of USA with Sinopec of China. Sinopec is a large integrated energy company in china. The corporation business ranges from oil exploration to producing and trading in gas and petroleum. Sinopec has always looked at CSR as a tool for business growth for the group. The company has worked to ensure that while looking for the profits, they do not compromise on the environment. The firm has worked hard to ensure that there is a reduction in harmful gas discharges. This is one of the most ethical Chinese organisations. Sinopec has a low carbon development strategy which has helped on reducing CO2 emissions. Despite this, the firm lags behind in OHS compared to Western countries count erparts (Pegg, 2012). Apple success been attributed to their ability to meet stakeholders needs. Despite this, Apple strategy is different from Sinopec in some ways. For example, the level of stakeholders engagement in Apple is higher than for Sinopec. The company have prioritised their customers by coming up with quality products. Employees at apple are well catered for through appropriate compensation and safe working environment. The employees working conditions are safe and in most cases flexible. This leads to a work life balance that cannot be obtained in companies such as Sinopec. Through a supplier code of conduct, the company ensures that the supply chain is safe and free from OHS. Despite this, the company have in past faced criticism due to outsourcing in countries with poor workplace health and safety. This is especially due to child labour and sweatshops. A report filed showed that Apple had failed to protect their workers in China. The report showed that workers were standing for hours, unde rage workers and poor OHS at the Petagron factories in Shanghai (Chan, Pun Selden, 2013). Industrial and organisational health and safety climates and cultures (differences, benefits and downfalls) Safety climate refers to the value given to safety in a given organisation. The health and safety climate involves values attitudes and patterns showed by an organisation in respect to health and safety. The 1986 Chernobyl disaster led to the rise of safety culture. In addition, organisation cultures have an impact on safety. This is where the existing safety culture determines the approach taken to ensure health and safety of workers. Safety culture refers to the organisation climate for safety and how it impacts behaviours in the organisation. Safety culture and climate have continued to evolve and at the moment, they both ensure safety in modern day organisations. Through the safety culture, individual values, attitudes, competencies and behaviour helps in determining the level of commitment in safety management. Safety climate is based on the existing policies, practices and procedures which help in safety. Organisation with good safety culture and climate are able to offer a saf e work environment. This is through having a positive safety culture to enhance safety performance (Mearns Flin, 1999). Health and safety training, knowledge and initiatives (health and safety schemes introduced in developing countries) With globalisation, the rise of FDI in the developing countries has led to a concern on health and safety. This is due to poor OHS in the developing countries and lack of health and safety laws. As the workplace become more complex and demanding there is need to learn on how to prevent injuries and illness. The developing countries have been lacking awareness, training and specialisation in occupational health and safety. WHO has been calling for occupational health for all to ensure a healthy workplace (Robson et al., 2007). Based on the WHO guidelines, people have rights to have the highest standard of health. There is need to improve on the occupational health and safety with an aim of protecting and promoting livelihoods and improvement of public health. The poorest are the most affected by poor occupational health and safety standards hence the need to improve them. Occupational injury and health increases poverty in developing countries. This calls for the need to train workers on the developing countries on OHS awareness, giving attention to work related health and poverty, regulations. There is need for international stakeholders to formulate new and innovative strategies that will lead to improve on health and safety initiatives (Lund Marriott, 2011). Conclusion: To sum up, globalisation has led to traditional heavy industrial and engineering fields moving towards the developing countries. The traditional industries are at the moment found in most of developing countries located in Asia, South America and Africa. Despite the economic benefits, the move of organisations based in western countries to developing countries has led to occupational and health hazards. This is especially in cases of organisations which have been outsourcing potentially hazardous activities to developing nations where legal and management controls may be of lower standards. Countries such as china have been lowering their legal and management standards with an aim of attracting FDIs. This has negative impacts on employees health which is ignored at the expense of profits. ILO and WHO have been working to ensure that workers globally are in a safe work environment. Despite this, countries such as China have failed to implement ILO conventions despite ratifying them. S ome of these countries lack national health and safety laws. An example is the case of Chinese toy factories which are owned by American multinationals. In these factories, workers were exposed to hazardous chemicals due to china lack of workplace health and safety laws. Through Hazardous Installations Directorate (HID), it was possible for UK to control the industries dealing with hazardous materials and ensure workers and public safety. This has been enhanced by the ISO 45001 which has catered for health of workers in firms outsourcing hazardous materials. This is through a international approach. There is a difference in CSR between the developing and developed countries. In developing countries, companies such as Apple have a strong CSR in accordance with international laws. This differs with countries such as China where CSR is still developing. There is need to have a safety culture and climate and also ensure that training is done in developing countries. This will ensure tha t everyone has access to health and safety especially in cases where hazardous materials are outsourced in developing countries. References Akgà ¼n, M. (2016). Denim production and silicosis. Current opinion in pulmonary medicine, 22(2), 165-169. Akgun, M., Araz, O., Akkurt, I., Eroglu, A., Alper, F., Saglam, L., Nemery, B. (2008). An epidemic of silicosis among former denim sandblasters. European Respiratory Journal, 32(5), 1295-1303. Barboza, D. (2008). In Chinese factories, lost fingers and low pay. New York Times, 5, 40. Batalas (2014a) OHS 18001 to become ISO 45001. Available at: https://www.batalas.co.uk/how-to-guides/health-and-safety-ohsas-18001/ohs-18001-become-iso-45001/ (Accessed: 2 March 2017). Carter, L. (2012). Goodbye to sandblasting?. International Union Rights, 19(1), 24-25. Chan, A. (2003). A Race to the Bottom Globalisation and Chinas labour standards: China Perspectives, (46). Chan, J., Pun, N., Selden, M. (2013). The politics of global production: Apple, Foxconn and Chinas new working class. New Technology, Work and Employment, 28(2), 100-115. Donoghue, A. M. (2004). Occupational health hazards in mining: an overview. Occupational Medicine, 54(5), 283-289. Fan, D. (2015). Occupational health and safety management in fashion and textiles industry: the value of slack resources and occupational health and safety management system (Doctoral dissertation, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University). HSE. Gov (2016b). Hazardous installations directorate (HID). Available at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/hid/ (Accessed: 3 March 2017). International Labour Organisation (2017). International labour standards on occupational safety and health. Available at: http://ilo.org/global/standards/subjects-covered-by-international- labour-standards/occupational-safety-and-health/langen/index.htm (Accessed: 2 March 2017). Lin, S. H., Tang, W. J., Miao, J. Y., Wang, Z. M., Wang, P. X. (2008). Safety climate measurement at workplace in China: A validity and reliability assessment. Safety Science, 46(7), 1037-1046. Lund, F., Marriott, A. (2011). Occupational health and safety and the poorest (p. 63). School of Development Studies, University of KwaZulu-Natal. Mearns, K. J., Flin, R. (1999). Assessing the state of organizational safety-culture or climate?. Current Psychology, 18(1), 5-17. ORourke, D. (2003). Outsourcing regulation: Analyzing nongovernmental systems of labor standards and monitoring. Policy Studies Journal, 31(1), 1-29. Pegg, S. (2012). Social responsibility and resource extraction: Are Chinese oil companies different?. Resources Policy, 37(2), 160-167. Raj-Reichert, G. (2013) Safeguarding labour in distant factories: Health and safety governance in an electronics global production network. Geoforum, 44, 23-31. Robson, L. S., Clarke, J. A., Cullen, K., Bielecky, A., Severin, C., Bigelow, P. L., Mahood, Q. (2007). The effectiveness of occupational health and safety management system interventions: a systematic review. Safety Science, 45(3), 329-353. Weiss, J. (2002). Industrialisation and globalisation: theory and evidence from developing countries. Psychology Press. Weiss, J. (2002). Industrialisation and globalisation: theory and evidence from developing countries. Psychology Press. Wu, L., Jiang, Z., Cheng, W., Zuo, X., Lv, D., Yao, Y. (2011). Major accident analysis and prevention of coal mines in China from the year of 1949 to 2009. Mining Science and Technology (China), 21(5), 693-699.

Maintenance Treatment of Bipolar Disorder Essay -- Bipolar Disorder Es

Maria grew up in a small town in Ohio as an only child. She was always energetic from the time she was born and a little moody at times. Her parents thought it was normal because their son would have an attitude at times too. It was when she graduated college and started her first career. As top chief at a new restaurant in town, she was stressed to the max dealing with a full staff and managers who like telling her what she should do. At the time, she was also dealing with a messy breakup from her fiancà © of 9 months. After about 4 months of this constant stress Maria decided she was going to take a week off and let her staff run the restaurant. However, she did not show to work after her week off and no one had heard from her in four days. One of her close friends went to her house to check on her and noticed she had not moved from the bed it what seemed a couple days. Her friend convinced her to come to work and it would cheer her up. However, after about a m onth of not feeling normal she had this bright idea to move to Morocco and open her own restaurant. The next day she cleaned her bank account and bought a ticket to Morocco. However before she could fly over her friends from the restaurant convinced her to stay one more day so they could say goodbye. However, instead they took her to see a clinical psychologist who focused on mood disorders, especially Bipolar Disorder. The therapist found out from her that her Aunt (biological mother’s sister) had moments where she had fun extreme ideas when Maria was about 12 years old and they would go out and just do whatever idea her Aunt came up with. As well, her Aunts daughter showed signs of having manic episodes that mimicked her own behavior. The therap... ... & Anthony, E. (2010). Lay theories of bipolar disorder: The causes, manifestations and cures for perceived bipolar disorder. International Journal Of Social Psychiatry, 56(3), 255-269. doi:10.1177/0020764008095173 Nolen, W. A., & Weisler, R. H. (2013). The association of the effect of lithium in the maintenance treatment of bipolar disorder with lithium plasma levels: A post hoc analysis of a double†blind study comparing switching to lithium or placebo in patients who responded to quetiapine (Trial 144). Bipolar Disorders, 15(1), 100- 109. doi:10.1111/bdi.12027 Solomon, D. A., Keitner, G. I., Ryan, C. E., Kelley, J., & Miller, I. W. (2008). Preventing recurrence of bipolar I mood episodes and hospitalizations: Family psychotherapy plus pharmacotherapy versus pharmacotherapy alone. Bipolar Disorders, 10(7), 798-805. doi:10.1111/j.1399-5618.2008.00624.x

diamond industry Essay -- essays research papers

The value of diamonds lies on their physical properties that make them suitable for many applications. Natural diamonds are only of high value if they are scarce in nature. Realizing this, De Beers Consolidated Mines was formed to control the supply of diamonds from mines across the world. The diamond market is influenced by mine production, rough diamond distribution, preparation/cutting, and retail markets. The project will be concentrating on the retail markets for diamonds and other high end jewelry. Jewelry purchases are highly discretionary because they are heavily affected by adverse trends in the general economy and are measured by disposable consumer income. The first half of fiscal 2003 can be described with a lackluster economy, lower consumer confidence and an unstable geopolitical environment. However, general economic conditions and consumer confidence improved in the second half of fiscal 2003, resulting with increased sales. Since the economy has taken some major strides towards recovery, the jewelry industry represents a bullish market. Large and small retailers are evaluating expansion opportunities outside of the traditional regional mall venue. With this in mind, it is the intention of this paper to assess the comprehensive strategies of the cyclical retail jewelry industry. In this highly competitive industry which is extremely sensitive to the level of discretionary consumer income and the subsequent impact of the type of good purchased, competitors include foreign and domestic guild and premier luxury jewelers, specialty stores, national and regional jewelry chains, and department stores. To a lesser extent there exist catalog showrooms, discounters, direct mail suppliers, televised home shopping networks, and jewelry retailers who make sales through internet sites. It is a highly fragmented US market estimated at approximately 54 billion dollars. The breakup of the industry is accordingly: mass merchants representing 10%, chain jewelers with 100+ stores as 14%, chain department stores representing 12%, TV home shopping with 4%, independent jewelers taking the largest share at 36% and other (general, misc.) accounting for 24%. (Please refer to exhibit E) The specialty retailers with the highest sales are Zale Corp ($2.2Bn), Signet US($1.7Bn), Tiffany ($.8Bn) other players include Friedman’s ($.4Bn) Whitehall ($.3Bn), and Samuels ($.1... ...d consignment terms have become the norm for wholesalers to extend to their retail partners. A good proportion of the inventory costs are transferred to wholesalers through these consignment purchases. Since jewelry is not a perishable good such as the garments and shoe industries, it still works as an asset even if the retailer returns the merchandise back to the wholesaler. The amount of power that a retailer has is directly correlated to the size of their operation. Only a few companies command extensive volumes. To fill the capacity present in most factories owned by wholesalers they require these volumes to remain profitable. Due to these factors, the major chain stores are able to leverage better financing, costs, and payment terms than the rest of the industry. The largest percentage of jewelers can be categorized as independent jewelers accounting for 36% of the overall market. Their ability to leverage power comes from their financial credibility in the market. Jewelry, being a luxury good and furthermore having high costs leads to great losses in the cases of defaults. Thus, the financial strength of these companies dictates the amount of power they have in the industry.

Abortion Essay -- essays research papers fc

Abortion The right to have an abortion is a woman’s right not to have a conceived child. According to Compton’s Encyclopedia, an abortion is the loss of a fetus before it is able to live outside the womb (1). Induced abortion is regarded as a moral issue in some cultures, but to others it is seen as an acceptable way to end an unplanned pregnancy. In the Supreme Court case of Roe vs. Wade (1973) women of the United States â€Å"have been granted the right to have abortions† (Sutton, 1). Many people, such as myself, believe that it is a woman’s right to have an abortion, and no man, organization, or any form of government should take that right away from her. However, many people choose to argue that the choice of abortion should not be granted to women. Many anti-abortionists believe that women do not bother with contraception because abortion is available. One source reveals that Americans have a high level of contraceptive use. In 1995, 58 percent of the women who had abortions used a contraceptive method during the month they became pregnant (Alan Guttmacher Institute, 2). Since no contraceptive is perfectly reliable, abortion is usually the last decision a woman will come to. Abortion is not seen by women who elect it as a preferred, or desired, form of contraception (Planned Parenthood, 4). Another anti-choice argument from the Westchester Coalition for Legal Abortions is that since the majority rules in a democracy; there should be a national referendum on abortion so tha...

Smart Card

A smartcard is a specific type of plastic card generally made of polyvinyl chloride based on polyesters or polycarbonate. It is the size of credit card. There is a 3by 5 mm imbedded chip in the card. Smart card contains either memory card or microprocessor that holds data and information. The microprocessor card can add, delete, and manipulate information on the card, while a memory-chip card (for example, pre-paid phone cards) can only undertake a pre-defined operation.Smart cards, unlike magnetic stripe cards, can carry all necessary functions and information on the card. Therefore, they do not require access to remote databases at the time of the transaction. A typical smartcard consists of an 8-bit microprocessor running at approximately 5 MHz with ROM, EEPROM and RAM, together with serial input and output, all in a single chip that is mounted on a plastic carrier. The operating system is typically stored in ROM, the CPU uses RAM as its working memory, and most of the data is sto red in EEPROM. Fig:-1 shows smart card. HistoryIn 1968 and 1969 German electrical engineers Helmut and Jurgen jointly developed automated chip card. Then after in 1974 French inventor Roland Moreno gives memory card concept called smart card. An important patent for smart cards with a microprocessor and memory as used today was filed by Jurgen Dethloff in 1976 and granted as USP 4105156 in 1978. The first mass use of the cards was as a telephone card for payment in French pay phones starting in 1983. Carte Bleue After the Telecarte microchips were integrated into all French Carte Bleue debit cards in 1992.Customers inserted the card into the merchant's POS terminal, then typed the PIN, before the transaction was accepted. Only very limited transactions (such as paying small highway tolls) are processed without a PIN. Smart-card-based electronic purse systems store funds on the card so that readers do not need network connectivity and entered service throughout Europe in the mid-1990 s. The major boom in smart card use came in the 1990s, with the introduction of smart-card-based SIMs used in GSM mobile phone equipment in Europe.With the ubiquity of mobile phones in Europe, smart cards have become very common. Development of contactless systems Contactless smart cards that do not require physical contact between card and reader are becoming increasingly popular for payment and ticketing applications such as mass transit and motorway tolls. Visa and MasterCard have agreed to an easy-to-implement version that was deployed in 2004–2006 in the USA. Most contactless fare collection implementations are custom and incompatible, though the MIFARE Standard card .Smart cards are also being introduced in personal identification at national and international levels. Citizen cards, drivers’ licenses, and patient card schemes are appearing. A smart card is a plastic card about the size of a credit card, with an embedded microchip that can be loaded with data, use d for telephone calling, electronic cash payments, and other applications, and then periodically refreshed for additional use. Currently or soon, you may be able to use a smart card to: Dial a connection on a mobile telephone and be charged on a per-call basis* Establish your identity when logging on to an Internet access provider or to an online bank * Pay for parking at parking meters or to get on subways, trains, or buses * Give hospitals or doctors personal data without filling out a form * Make small purchases at electronic stores on the Web (a kind of cybercash) * Buy gasoline at a gasoline station Over a billion smart cards are already in use. Currently, Europe is the region where they are most used. Ovum, a research firm, predicts that 2. billion smart cards will be shipped annually by 2003. Another study forecasts a $26. 5 billion market for recharging smart cards by 2005. Compaq and Hewlett-Packard are reportedly working on keyboards that include smart card slots that can be read like bank credit cards. The hardware for making the cards and the devices that can read them is currently made principally by Bull, Gemplus, and Schlumberger. How Smart Cards Work A smart card contains more information than a magnetic stripe card and it can be programmed for different applications.Some cards can contain programming and data to support multiple applications and some can be updated to add new applications after they are issued. Smart cards can be designed to be inserted into a slot and read by a special reader.. An industry standard interface between programming and PC hardware in a smart card has been defined by the PC Working Group, representing Microsoft, IBM and other interested companies. Like smart cards with contacts, contactless cards do not have an internal power source.Instead, they use an inductor to capture some of the incident radio-frequency interrogation signal, rectify it, and use it to power the card's electronics. Hybrids A hybrid smart card which clearly shows the antenna connected to the main chip Dual-interface cards implement contactless and contact interfaces on a single card with some shared storage and processing. An example is Porto's multi-application transport card, called Andante, which uses a chip with both contact and contactless interfaces . Applications First introduced in Europe nearly three decades ago, smart cards debuted as a stored value tool for payphones to reduce theft.As smart cards and other chip-based cards advanced, people found new ways to use them, including charge cards for credit purchases and for record keeping in place of paper. In the U. S. , consumers have been using chip cards for everything from visiting libraries to buying groceries to attending movies, firmly integrating them into our everyday lives. Several U. S. states have chip card programs in progress for government applications ranging from the Department of Motor Vehicles to Electronic Benefit Transfers (EBTs).Many industrie s have implemented the power of smart cards in their products, such as the GSM digital cellular phones as well as TV-satellite decoders. Why Smart Cards Smart cards improve the convenience and security of any transaction. They provide tamper-proof storage of user and account identity. Smart card systems have proven to be more reliable than other machine-readable cards, like magnetic stripe and barcode, with many studies showing card read life and reader life improvements demonstrating much lower cost of system maintenance. Smart cards also provide vital components of system security or the exchange of data throughout virtually any type of network.They protect against a full range of security threats, from careless storage of user passwords to sophisticated system hacks. The costs to manage password resets for an organization or enterprise are very high, thus making smart cards a cost-effective solution in these environments. Multifunction cards can also be used to manage network sys tem access and store value and other data. Worldwide, people are now using smart cards for a wide variety of daily tasks, which include: FinancialSmart cards serve as credit or ATM cards, fuel cards, mobile phone SIMs, authorization cards for pay television, household utility pre-payment cards, high-security identification and access-control cards, and public transport and public phone payment cards. Non-EMV cards work like magnetic stripe cards. This is a typical USA card technology (PayPass Magstripe and VISA MSD). The cards do not hold/maintain the account balance. All payment passes without a PIN, usually in off-line mode. The security of such a transaction is no greater than with a magnetic stripe card transaction.EMV cards have contact and contactless interfaces. They work as a normal EMV card via contact interface. Via contactless interface they work somewhat differently in that the card command sequence adopts contactless features such as low power and short transaction time . Identification A quickly growing application is in digital identification. In this application, the cards authenticate identity. The most common example employs public key infrastructure (PKI). The card stores an encrypted digital certificate issued from the PKI provider along with other relevant information.Contactless smart cards that can be read from within a wallet or even a garment simplify authentication; however, there is concern over criminals accessing data from these cards. Cryptographic smart cards are often used for single sign-on. Most advanced smart cards include specialized cryptographic hardware that uses algorithms such as RSA and DSA. Today's cryptographic smart cards generate key pairs on board, to avoid the risk from having more than one copy of the key (since by design there usually isn't a way to extract private keys from a smartThe first smart card river's license system in the world was implemented in 1987 in Turkey. Turkey had a high level of road accident s and decided to develop and use digital tachograph devices on heavy vehicles, instead of the existing mechanical ones, to reduce speed violations. Since 1987, the professional driver's licenses in Turkey are issued as smart cards and the driver is required to insert his driver's license into the digital tachograph before starting to drive. The tachograph unit records speed violations for each driver and gives a printed report. The driving hours for each driver is also being monitored and reported.In 1990 the European Union conducted a feasibility study through BEVAC Consulting Engineers, titled â€Å"Feasibility study with respect to a European electronic driver’s license (based on a smart-card) on behalf of Directorate General VII†. In this study, chapter seven is dedicated to the experience in Turkey, stating that the electronic driver's license application, in the form of smart cards, was first implemented in Turkey in 1987. Public transit Smart cards and integrate d ticketing have become widely used by public transit operators around the world. Card users may use their cards for other purposes than for transit, such as small purchases.Computer security The Mozilla Firefox web browser can use smart cards to store certificates for use in secure web browsing. Some disk encryption systems, such as TrueCrypt and Microsoft Windows 7 BitLocker, can use smart cards to securely hold encryption keys, and also to add another layer of encryption to critical parts of the secured disk. Smart cards are also used for single sign-on to log on to computers. Smart card support functionality has been added to Windows Live passports. Schools Smart cards are being provided to students at schools and colleges. Tracking student attendance * As an electronic purse, to pay for items at canteens, vending machines etc. * Tracking and monitoring food choices at the canteen, to help the student maintain a healthy diet* Tracking loans from the school library Healthcare Sma rt health cards can improve the security and privacy of patient information, provide a secure carrier for portable medical records, reduce health care fraud, support new processes for portable medical records, provide secure access to emergency medical information, enable compliance with government initiatives (e. g. organ donation) and mandates, and provide the platform to implement other applications as needed by the health care organization. Advantages The benefits of smart cards are directly related to the volume of information and applications that are programmed for use on a card. A single contact/contactless smart card can be programmed with multiple banking credentials, medical entitlement, driver’s license/public transport entitlement, loyalty programs and club memberships to name just a few. Multi-factor and proximity authentication can and has been embedded into smart cards to increase the security of all services on the card.For example, a smart card can be progra mmed to only allow a contactless transaction if it is also within range of another device like a uniquely paired mobile phone. This can significantly increase the security of the smart card. Individuals gain increased security and convenience when using smart cards designed for interoperability between services. For example, consumers only need to replace one card if their wallet is lost or stolen. Additionally, the data storage available on a card could contain medical information that is critical in an emergency should the card holder allow access to this.The first main advantage of smart cards is their flexibility. There is no need, for example, to carry several cards: one card can simultaneously be an ID, a credit card, a stored-value cash card, and a repository of personal information such as telephone numbers or medical history. Such a card can be easily replaced if lost, and, because a PIN number (or other form of security) must be used to access information, is totally usele ss to people other than its legal bearer. At the first attempt to use it illegally, the card would be deactivated by the card reader itself. The second main advantage is security.Smart cards can be electronic key rings, giving the bearer ability to access information and physical places without need for online connections. They are encryption devices, so that the user can encrypt and decrypt information without relying on unknown, and therefore potentially untrustworthy, appliances such as ATMs. Smart cards are very flexible in providing authentication at different level of the bearer and the counterpart. Finally, with the information about the user that smart cards can provide to the other parties, they are useful devices for customizing products andservices.Other general benefits of smart cards are: * Portability * Increasing data storage capacity * Reliability that is virtually unaffected by electrical and magnetic fields. Smart Cards andElectroniccommerce Smart cards are turning out to be a fundamental piece of the transformation of retailing into electronic commerce. The impressive growth of the Internet is making electronic shopping at least a real possibility, if not a habit, among computer users. However, the business model used in current electronic commerce applications still cannot enjoy the full potential of the electronic medium.Moreover, concerns about the reliability of an invisible counterpart and about the safety of the Internet for credit card information increase the wariness and thereby limit the use of the electronic shopping on the part of customers. Of the estimated 360 billion payments that took place in the United States in 1995, approximately 300 billion could not have taken place using the existing electronic media. Such transactions involved micro-payments p; i. e. payments for less than $10 p; which are virtually outside of the electronic arena for lack of a payment method compatible with such low amounts.Credit cards or checks are simply too expensive to use for micro-payments, and the e-cash currently being experimented on the World Wide Web does not seem to have the characteristics to appeal to shoppers. For this reason, smart cards could be a fundamental building block of widespread use of electronic commerce, since they are an instrument to pay at a low cost for transactions involving small amountsofmoney. Another big advantage of smart cards for electronic commerce is their use for the customization of services.It is already possible to purchase tailored services on the World Wide Web p; MyYahoo and FireFly are well known examples. However, in order for the service supplier to deliver the customized service, the user has to provide each supplier with her profile p; a boring and time consuming activity. A smart card can contain a non-encrypted profile of the bearer, so that the user can get customized services even without previous contacts with the supplier. Finally, smart cards are a key technology ena bler for financial institutions.The processing power, the portability and the interactive properties of smart cards will constitute the basis for a revolution in the relationship between consumers and banks. PC-based home banking and phone banking will give way to card banking: a phone equipped with a smart card reader will be all that is needed for any kind of transaction. A smart card is a plastic card with a small, built in microcomputer chip and integrated circuit that can store and process a lot of data. It is considered to be a secure, time saving device that can access information without use of a PC or the Internet.However, smart cards have both Flexibility * Smart cards have a lot of flexibility. They can store multiple types of information including identification, credit cards, business and family contacts. Cost and Availability * Smart card readers are expensive to produce. These readers are not available in all locations and may have compatibility issues due to the diff erences of each smart card brand. Adafruit Raspberry Pi Starter Kit Now available in India ProtoCentral Security * Smart cards are individually encrypted and can only be accessed by pin number.However, there is concern about privacy and whether or not information on the card could be accessed or used illegally by the government or other third-party sources. Data Integrity * Information on a smart card cannot be erased or removed accidentally by any electrical or magnetic means. Smart Card Uses * Smart cards are useful for setting limits on expenses, customizing customer loyalty programs and accessing critical health care information. Smart cards save users from having to remember multiple usernames and passwords. DisadvantagesThe plastic card in which the chip is embedded is fairly flexible, and the larger the chip, the higher the probability that normal use could damage it. Cards are often carried in wallets or pockets, a harsh environment for a chip. However, for large banking sys tems, failure-management costs can be more than offset by fraud reduction. Client-side identification and authentication cards are the most secure way for e. g. , internet banking applications, but security is never 100% sure. If the account holder's computer hosts malware, the security model may be broken.Malware can override the communication (both input via keyboard and output via application screen) between the user and the application. Rabobank (â€Å"random reader†) in the Netherlands combine a smart card with an unconnected card reader to avoid this problem. The customer enters a challenge received from the bank's website, a PIN and the transaction amount into the reader, The reader returns an 8-digit signature. This signature is manually entered into the personal computer and verified by the bank, preventing malware from changing the transaction amount. Another problem is the lack of standards for functionality and security.

Reflection of Clinical Observation Experience Essay

I am a nursing student from Australian Catholic University. This role play is about the vital signs. Now, I am going to write a reflective write about the video of my role play of TPR which is a part of assignment and done by me and my other two friends. Firstly, in my video when I play a nurse role, first of all I asked about the patient’s condition such as how are you today. I also make the eye contact while taking to patient. But this is my first time to take vital signs. I found more challenging than my expectations while I communicate the patient. Verbal and nonverbal communication is a part of communication between patient and nurse. (Hamilton, 2007). But I forget to introduce myself to the patient. I realise that is my first mistake to communicate with patient. Secondly, I washed my hand properly before taking the patient vital signs. Alcohol based hand rub is simply most useful intervention in controlling infection (Australian commission on safety and quality in healthcare, 2009). When I go near to the patient I prepare each and every thing what nurses needed while taking vital signs. Such as patients recording file, pen and instrument for taking vital signs. Furthermore, before I start to check the patient I did make sure the she is the right patient or not which is written in her name, date of birth, MRN number and the doctor name in her hand band. I have always assumed that it is a simple process but I found that my expectation were far from my contract. Thirdly, I start to take the vital signs but before that I asked the permission from the patient. â€Å"Vital signs refer to the measurement of a patient’s temperature, pulse respiration and blood pressure. Vital signs commonly include temperature, blood pressure, pulse rate and respiratory rate which are used to access the most essential body function (Stomski, 2009). Firstly, I start from to take the patient’s temperature, pulse rate, respiratory rate .and blood pressure and records in the patient’s file. However, while taking the blood pressure I have to support patient’s hand by pillow or hand which I forgot at that moment. After that mistake I determined I never do that mistake in my profession. Finally, when I finished taking the vital signs I appreciate to the patient thank you for your Participation. After finished my role play I realise participation word is not appropriate. Instead of that I have to say thank you for your cooperation. I feel this is the best way to communicate between nurse and patient. I have always believed that the elderly do very little with their time. I found a positive aspect about the elderly – even though they are old, the patients were creatively active by own choice which makes them busy and so they have happy existence. In the low care unit people were doing recreational work such as painting and stick picture and cartoon on the paper. I found health professionals were polite and friendly with the patients. I also found patience in the staff and the patient when they are communicating with each other. The health professionals encourage patients to speak and genuinely interested in client’s word and encourage them to converse. This interaction impressed me a lot and I learned a new lesson how to motivate people. I am glad I went on this field visit because it demonstrated to me many positive qualities – most importantly, the empathy that I will need to have in order to be a skilled and caring nurse. . Moreover, right patient, right place and right way of taking the vital signs is also part of nursing skills. Also comfortable between patient and nurse is very important. Reference Australian commission on safety and quality in healthcare. (2009). National Hand aaaaaaHygiene Program Aims To Halve Hospital Superbug Infections. Retrieve from aaaaa http://www.health.gov.au/internet/safety/publishing.nsf Hamilton, S.J., Martin, D.J. (2007). Clinical Development: A Framework for effective aaaaaacommunication skills. Nursing Times. Retrieved from aaaaaahttp://www.nursingtimes.net/whats-new-in-nursing/296359.article Stomski,N (2009). Vital Signs. The Joanna Briggs Institute 25(3),1-5.

Summary of the Tyler Rational

The Tyler Rationale: this is a model of curriculum and instruction development. This model is eclectic; it draws from the social aspect of Dewey: incorporating the society, subject matter and the learner to create learning experiences. It also has behavioral aspects drawn from Thorndike and others expressed through the emphasis on changing student behavior; judging behavior helps to monitor internal growth or aspects of the mind not overtly seen. This model addresses four (4) basic questions. 1. What educational purposes should the school seek to attain?Three sources should be used for identifying objectives: The learner – these are identified through interviews, observations and tests. †¢The society – community life should be classified into categories vocation, recreation, religion etc†¦ and develop objectives for each †¢The subject matter – the subject to be taught must be examined to identify more objectives which encompass the content and skil ls which must be taught. The objectives are then screened (through the use of philosophies and psychologies of learning) and the most important ones. All objectives should be stated clearly (simple terms) and concisely. 2.What educational experiences can be provided to attain these purposes? After the selection of objectives learning experiences should be selected; which actively promote the acquisition of these objectives. Tyler defines a learning experience as â€Å"interaction between the learner and the external conditions in the environment with which he can interact† Deweyean influence). Major effectors of the learning experience †¢The interaction between the person and the environment †¢Behavioral psychology (evident in the way objectives are stated) Criteria for developing learning experiences They should allow the student to practice the behavior implied by the objective. †¢Students should obtain satisfaction from the learning experience.†¢The exp erience should be appropriate to the student’s background. Categories of learning experiences: †¢Development of thinking skills †¢Acquisition of information †¢Development of social attitudes †¢Development of student interest 3. How can these educational experiences be effectively organized? †¢Tyler suggest that learning experiences can be organized by: †¢Continuity – the recurring opportunity to learn various skills (maybe at different grade levels). Sequence – the exposure to experiences which build upon each other. †¢Integration – this encompasses skills which cross discipline/subject. 4. How can we determine whether these purposes are being attained? †¢The curriculum must be evaluated by judging the learning outcomes against the original objectives. ?The first step is to focus on changes in human behavior. oPretests must be used to determine students’ original state before learning. oTests are then adminis tered to determine whether student performance increases in the designated areas. oAll evaluation procedures must relate to the original object.They must be reliable – or actually measure what they are expected to measure (curriculum standards). The Tyler effect has several criticisms. One concerning criticism identified by kliebard was that evaluation was tied so closely to the original objectives; it makes it impossible to identify unexpected outcomes. It narrows the focus of evaluation to only the achievement of the objectives. Therefore the significance of philosophy and other critical factors which are integrated have no way to be evaluated; and to ultimately determine the efficacy of their implementation. One question left to bear:What is the real difference between learning activities and learning experiences? In the revision Tyler collaborated with Leyton Soto and distinguishes learning experiences and learning activities. Learning experiences consist of behaviors tha t are written into objectives; while learning activities are behaviors in which the learner engages to achieve particular objectives. In this case shouldn’t the main concern be the objective and both the activity and experience tools to achieving it? Which comes first? Aren’t the learning activities the display of the same behavior expected in the objectives?

Emergency preparedness and Vulnerability assessment Essay

Emergency preparedness and Vulnerability assessment Introduction            The residents were given warning in advance that would have enabled to evacuate from the path of the storm in advance. The national hurricane centre and the mayor of the New Orleans had communicated about the evacuation of the people in the city more than 24 hours ahead. This meant that the people would be able to clear the way by the end of 24 hours and not many that would be affected as experienced. The warnings were not too rate since the Orleans exit can be able to handle 2/3rds of the population within every 12 hours and therefore, all the people would have managed to leave before Monday when the storm reached the place. Although the residents were used to weathering storms in the past, the mayor and the hurricane centre had already warned that the storm was different from what they experienced and was travelling at a high speed of more than 170 miles per hour and of the category of 5 storms (Fradin, & Fradin, 2010). Despite the people’s willingness to evacuate from the city, there were some people that were careless and they thought that it was just the same storm causing them to succumb to waters. However, more than 80% were able to escape while 20% were still in the city since they lacked the means to leave the place due to lack of money for gas and transport (Clark Hakim & Ostfeld, 2011). New York: Springer.). Moreover, the authorities failed as they delayed their evacuation process until when the storm had already hit the New Orleans. The attitude from the responsible authorities such as soldiers and other rescue people led increased damages losses, and death of people as they delayed evacuation and rescue process until Tuesday when many people were already affected. If the people had an attitude that the storm would not be the same, all the measures would have between taken to ensures that all the people were evacuated from the city. Moreover, the New Orleans would have made initiatives to clear the city in advance. Therefor e, an attitude that the storm would be the same led to a number of people remaining in the city resulting to mass deaths and damages of properties. Hence, people’s attitude contributed greatly to the intensity of disaster that caused more than 1,800 deaths and many other missing.            Is the threat of a radiological â€Å"dirty bomb† large enough for the United States to need to train extensively for such an event? How can first responders train for such an event? How would the training be different in regards to whether the event was a terrorist attack or whether it was an accident or would the training be the same?            The threat of radiological ‘dirty bomb’ is large and US is required to provide extensive training to its emergency and other disaster rescue team to ensure that any event that may happen will be fully addressed. This is because a radiological bomb can cause enormous harm to people in the scene and those living to the environs of the events (Bennett, 2007). Training would ensure that the victims are carefully handled t avoid spreading of the radioactive materials to other places as it may affect other people. Moreover, detonation and decontamination process require skilled people to prevent them from contacting the radio actives. The training for the first responder should entail decontamination and detonation of the victims to ensure that the radioactive material is not transferred from scene of the event. First responders should also be trained how to secure and label the scenes to prevent further contaminations of other people.            Training for various emergency responders should be different based on the type of the event whether terrorism of accidental spilling of radioactive materials. More advance training should be carried out responders of terrorists’ attacks. This is because terrorists’ attacks may have modified radioactive materials to enhance quick spread of the material, which may cause mass damage. Moreover, different radioactive materials may be used and thus improved training is important to address all the issues that may result. However, accidental leakage of radioactive material can be handled easily since the radioactive material is also known. Moreover, only a definite location can be affected, which would be much easier to deal with the attack.            How can we prevent terrorists from acquiring radiological material within the United States? How can we prevent terrorist from bringing radiological material into the United States? Are our current safeguards adequate enough?            United States can prevent terrorists from acquiring radiological material through enacting laws through congress. The laws will prohibit any possession of radiological materials and put punitive measures for those found in possession. Moreover, the laws should also prohibit people working on radiological areas from handling the materials inside the premise. In addition, the laws should prohibit any transportation of such materials without licence or permit. Moreover, the congress can enact acts that put in place a special committee in charge of all radiological materials and regulation to prevent general public from acquiring them. In addition, any accidental scene that may expose radiological materials can be guarded to prevent terrorists from accessing radiological materials.            All importation and entry of materials from other countries should be screened from radiological materials to prevent terrorists from transporting materials to the country. The united states have various regulatory bodies such as nuclear regulatory commission, (NRC) and environmental protection agency, (EPA) that are mandated with regulation of radiological materials (Kapur & Smith, 2011). However, the current safety of United States on radiological materials is not adequate because federal government only exercises regulation of radiological materials to only countries that they do not have trade agreement. This poses a risk of importation of radiological materials from the countries on agreement thus resulting to access of the materials by terrorists that may harm the citizens.            Moreover, the transportation of radioactive wastes from hospitals and other area to disposal areas is not secure, which poses the risk of terrorists acquiring the materials during transit.            How could first responders even know that an explosion was associated with a radiological attack? Once first responders know that an incident involves radiological material, are there any sorts of special equipment or personal protective gear that they would need to wear into the affected site            The first responders can identify an explosion through devices such as Geiger counters, which are detect the dose rate of an attack in addition to other equipments that can measure the intensity and harm of the material (Issues in critical and emergency medicine, 2012). The equipments will help the first responders to identify the form, attack so that he or she may be able to take the appropriate measures to safeguard his health and life and that of other people. Moreover, in case of accidental spill-out, the first responders should investigate the cause of the accident before starting the rescue process so as to identify the cause. Most likely hood is that, an explosion in a radioactive company or hospital that are major sources of radioactive materials may have high probability of radioactive materials compared to those that may happen in other areas. Therefore, it is important to identify the area where the explosion has happened as a way of identifying the type of explosion. Since radioactive materials spread very easily in the environment, it is important that first responder should wear protective equipments such as respiratory protection from radiological hazards to prevent any inhalations and standard protective clothes that prevents one from direct contact with radiological materials. This will ensure that first responders are safe from radioactive materials and are able to use the right measures to attend the victims.            How would first responders decontaminate suspected contaminated individuals leaving the area? Could this slow emergency medical response or the transport of the injured to neighbouring hospitals.            The first responder should ensure victims remove all their clothes and leave them in the scene of a decontamination centre that may be established at close to the scene of hazard. Victims should flush their eyes with plenty of water and other body parts are decontaminated before leaving the scenes. Moreover, the contaminated individuals should be screened for any radiological material before leaving the scene to prevent further contamination to other areas. People who are not contaminated should be separated from those who are contaminated although through a screening confirmation. The process will prevent further spread of the radiological materials to other people thus reducing the effects of the occurrence. The process can slow emergency response and transport of the victims for medical services and emergency services should be referred to medical facilities without decontamination although handled with care to prevent further effects in case of inhalations. Thi s is because, the processes of decontamination involve phases and in cases of mass victims, attending individual victims could delay the process as steps have to be followed. Therefore, although the process of decontamination should be the first step for emergency responders, it may not be good for ambulatory victims.            What would be some of the long-term consequences of a huge radiological incident such as a radiological â€Å"dirty bomb† attack or nuclear power plant meltdown? Would there likely be lingering health problems with the victims of such an incident? How could the affected areas be recovered and brought back to normal? Provide a 1/2 to 1 page, single spaced response.            Huge radiological incidents may affect the scenes in that the place may be alienated and people may be displaced or economic productivity of the place lost. The huge radiological attacks are associated with many health problems (Kapur & Smith, 2011). The inhalations of radio-active materials can result in respiratory health problems that may affects lungs. Moreover, it can result in lungs cancer. Gamma contacts on skin may result in skin cancer to the victims. In addition, radioactive contact has been associated with increased levels of infertility in both men and women in long term. Defectives births can also be experienced by these victims to exposure of embryo or foetus to radiological materials during an attack. Other health problems that may arise due to radiological attacks include cataracts, skin deformities, and may also cause early deaths. One of the major complications with huge radiological attack as the one experienced in Chernobyl nuclear plant in1986 with fire-fighters was an acute radiation syndrome, (ARS). The syndrome was characterised by nausea, diarrhoea, and vomiting in addition to weight loss, infections, depletion of bone marrow, and bleeding (Kapur & Smith, 2011).            The affected area could be recovered through decontamination process that may involve collecting of all the materials in the scenes either decontaminated on the scene or transported to a more secure place where they may be decontaminated. In addition, the place itself may be decontaminated through the use of commercial decontaminants such as Alcon ox or Sparkleen. Screening can then be done to ensure that the area is free from radiological materials before people can resume their duties in the place. After, the area is free from all radiological materials, people can resume their work or if it was a residential area, people can start a fresh without any risk. References Bennett, B. T. (2007). Understanding, assessing, and responding to terrorism: Protecting critical infrastructure and personnel. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley-Interscience. Clark, R. M., Hakim, S., & Ostfeld, A. (2011). Handbook of water and wastewater systems protection. New York: Springer. Ensor, M. O. (2009). The legacy of Hurricane Mitch: Lessons from post-disaster reconstruction in Honduras. Tucson: University of Arizona Press. Fradin, J. B., & Fradin, D. B. (2010). Hurricane Katrina. New York: Marshall Cavendish Benchmark. Guha-Sapir, D., Vos, F., Below V., & Ponserre, S. (2012). Annual Disaster Statistical Review 2011: The Numbers and Trends. Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters Huber, C. (2014). Five of the worst natural disasters in 2013. New York: WorldVisionIssues in critical and emergency medicine. (2012). S.l.: Scholarly Editions. Kapur, G. B., & Smith, J. P. (2011). Emergency public health: Preparedness and response. Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning. Ramroth, W. G. (2007). Planning for disaster: How natural and manmade disasters shape the built environment. Chicago: Kaplan. United States $ Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA (2007). FEMA Flood and Wind Publications, and Training Courses. New York: FEMA Source document