My Christmas 2008

When I woke up early morning Friday 19. December the first thought that crossed my mind was that finally, today we were getting free from school! This holiday was going to be amazing! Time went on and suddenly I got home from school and the days without homework, early mornings and tired hours were finally over! What a relief†¦ I started these days by just sleeping. I slept for a very long time the first nights. I didn't really do anything special the first weekend. I was rested and ready for a new week full of Christmas, friends, family and fun! Christmas Eve was really good. My aunt and my grandfather visited us and ate dinner with us. I just love the dinner on Christmas Eve! My neighbour, a good friend of mine also showed up late at night, and he stayed with us a little while we watched a movie and talked. At the first day of Christmas my whole family, including my uncles, aunts with their family. My cousins are so fun to be around, so I had a really good day. Christmas is the best holiday. At least that's what I think. Next day I went shopping with two of my friends. Of course this trip went no longer than Sweden. We ended the day by watching movies and eating a lot candy. Not very healthy though, but we had a good time that day. The days went faster then ever, and suddenly it was new years eve! I spent this night only with my family. We ate good food, and the night turned out to be real nice. After this night the holiday was going to an end, and before we knew it, suddenly it was Monday and back to school. I really loved this holiday. I had a good time with my family and my friends that I care about a lot. They're the best. Hoping it will be just as good next year.

Niccolo Machiavelli: About Liberal Countries

Italian philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli in Chapter V of his writing speculates upon political backgrounds of governing the empires and expresses his opinion about the most effective way to rule such parts of the empire, which previously were living under own system of laws and regulations. In Machiavelli’s opinion, the best political strategy to govern such principalities or cities would be establishing the system of strict control of the ruler and making new colonies obey the laws which were already existing in the empire. In case if by some reason it is impossible to hold the new colonies in bondage, the best and the safest way, according to Machiavelli, would be destroying such former liberal regions. He supports this idea with a number of specific historical examples that illustrate the truthfulness of his hypothesis. Ancient city of Sparta gained control of several colonies, including the cities of Thebes and Athens, but could not dominate there for some long period of time and eventually lost these cities, because the old order and laws were not abolished. However, the Roman Empire was following another tactic: in such colonies of the Romans as Numantia, Capua and Carthage the old system of laws and social order were dismantled and new regions were totally placed under the command of the Emperor. That is how the Romans succeeded in keeping those colonies under control for centuries. According to Machiavelli, this phenomenon can be explained by the necessity to suppress liberal thoughts and love to freedom of newly acquired colonies, because otherwise the spirit of liberty will cause the attempts to obtain independence or revenge. The philosopher also points on some advantages and benefits of being governed by some ruler for the colonies. First of all, the experienced head of the empire can establish political and economic order in a colony much easier and more effectively. Besides, the ruler can provide higher national security and protect the nation from possible civil misunderstandings, rebellions or military attacks, and so on.

Comfort Theory Essay

In my nursing practice with long term care residents, I frequently care for dying residents. Instead of simply providing these patients with medication to ease the pain, I wanted to learn about ways to enhance the comfort of the dying patient and assist their beloved family throughout the difficult process. This desire led me to undertake a concept analysis of comfort. Through my research at the end of life, I discovered Katharine Kolcaba’s theory of comfort. I found her theory to be usefully in describing the concept of comfort care and decided to further analyze her theory and portray its use in the nursing practice. Katharine Kolcaba was born on December 8, 1944 in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1965, she graduated from St. Luke’s Hospital School of Nursing and started her nursing career. Even at that time, Katharine had interests in the developing of nursing profession. Particularly, she strived to understand how to implicate nursing in gerontology correctly. Early years of her career were the time of establishment and development of Kolcaba as a theorist. She studied a great number of early theory works and began to apply this knowledge at her work place. In 1997, she had her next achievements such as earning of Ph.D. in nursing, and receiving of a Certificate of Authority as a Clinical Nursing Specialist. This year Katharine also received the Marie Haug Student Award for being excellent student in Aging Studies. This award was from her native Case Western Reserve University. Kolcaba’s specialist field consisted of comfort studies, nursing theory, and nursing research. Nevertheless, the special place in that list took gerontology and the end of life. From that time, she especially concentrated on research and development in gerontology. The next professional level was the teaching. In 1987, Katharine Kolcaba started Bachelor’s program of Nursing, which specialized on gerontology. It was a starting point of developing her concepts of nursing. At that time,† she developed her propositions about comfort with specific attention on end-of-life and palliative care with focus on gerontology as an emerging specialty in nursing† (Nursing Theories, 2012). As a result, Katharine published Comfort Theory and Practice: a Vision for Holistic Health Care and Research in 1999. She continued teaching in  University and developed her theory. In 2003, the publishing of the Comfort Theory and Practice: A vision for Holistic Health Care became a great result of the hard work. In the same year, Midwest Nursing Research Society rewarded Katharine Kolcaba with the Advancement of Science Award for her work End of Life and Palliative Care Nursing. Then, she took part in co-writing of article published in Anesthesia Nursing. In 2005 she received Second Place Award in the Best Practice Category by the American Society. According to Kolcaba (2003): Katharine Kolcaba first b egan â€Å"theorizing about the outcome of comfort† (Kolcaba, 2003) while working on a dementia unit as a head nurse and pursuing her Master’s of Science in Nursing at Case Western Reserve University. She further yet continued her research while pursuing her doctoral degree which she ended up completing in 1997. Her interest was sparked by her understanding that comfort was a necessary component for optimum function in the patients she cared for on the dementia unit. With the patients being largely non-verbal, the nurses were required to interpret the patient’s actions to determine what may be causing discomfort in a patient, thus leading to disruptive behaviors. From this assessment it was possible to implement care plans to treat underlying issues or enhance patient comfort leading to improved patient care. Her work produced numerous articles and a book describing the theory of comfort, its assumptions, the major concepts and their relationships, techniques for measuring comfort in a variety of environments, and discussions for the theory’s application in nursing practice. An overview of this will be presented. First, it is important to understand what comfort is i n Kolcaba’s terms. Historically, Florence Nightingale spoke of comfort when she stated that â€Å"it must never be lost sight of what observation is for. It is not for the sake of piling up miscellaneous information or curious facts, but for the sake of saving life and increasing health and comfort† (Peterson & Bredow, 2004). Comfort is also referred to by many major nursing theorists including Orlando, Roy, Watson, Henderson, Paterson, and Zderad, but no one sought to understand the nature of comfort itself. Kolcaba undertook this effort when she performed her analysis of the concept of comfort. In her analysis, Kolcaba described two dimensions. â€Å"The first dimension of comfort consists of three states, called relief, ease and transcendence† (Kolcaba, 1994). â€Å"The second dimension of comfort is the contexts in which comfort can occur†¦which are  derived from the nursing literature about holism† (Kolcaba, 1994). The definitions of the three states of comfort are presented next. Kolcaba derived her three states of comfort from other nursing theorists. Orlando originally spoke of relief stating that â €Å"nursing actions should be designed to meet the physical and mental needs of patients and it focuses on how the nurse deciphers what the patient’s needs are† (Kolcaba, 1991). Ultimately, Kolcaba defined relief as â€Å"when the patient is capable or if comfort provides respite from the stress and anguish of disease, debilitation or injury.† The second state of comfort, ease, is defined as â€Å"an enduring stated of peaceful contentment. Henderson originally spoke of the concept of ease when she stated that â€Å"only after a discomfort is relieved can the patient proceed to recovery† (Kolcaba, 1991). Finally, of renewal or transcendence, Kolcaba wrote that it â€Å"implies enhanced powers, strengthened motivation, and positive attitudes and outlooks for meeting the life challenges normal for that person† or â€Å"the state in which one rises above problems or pain† (Kolcaba, 1991). This was developed from Paterson and Zderads’s statement that â€Å"comfort is the state in which the patient is free to be and become controlling and planning one’s own destiny.† After gaining understanding of the three states of comfort, it is necessary to discuss the four contexts in within which they occur. The four concepts are physical, psychospiritual, environmental, and sociocultural. The first context comfort can occur in is physical. Kolcaba defined the physical context as â€Å"pertaining to bodily sensations.† The phsycopspiritual context was defined as â€Å"pertaining to the internal awareness of self, including esteem, concept, sexuality and meaning in one’s life; it can also encompass one’s relationship to a higher order or being.† The third context, sociocultural was defined as â€Å"pertaining to the external background of human experience; encompasses light, noise, ambience, color, temperature and natural versus synthetic elements.† While most would think of comfort as a strictly physical experience with only one possible outcome, Kolcaba believed it was important to stress that comfort encompassed a variety of states and contexts that were necessary to consider when ensuring the best patient outcomes. To best depict the relationship between them, she developed a grid in her taxonomic structure of comfort that helped t o further define her ideas. A discussion of the major concepts in the theory is presented next. There are seven major concepts presented by Kolcaba in her theory of comfort. These concepts are health care needs, nursing interventions, intervening variables, patient comfort, health-seeking behaviors, institutional integrity and institutional outcomes. She defines health care needs as â€Å"needs that arise for patients in stressful health care situations (Kolcaba, 2001). Intervening variables are those things â€Å"that will affect the outcomes† and she describes patient comfort as â€Å"the immediate state of being strengthened by having needs met.† Health seeking behaviors are defined as â€Å"patient actions of which they may or may not be aware and which may or may not be observed that are predictor or indicators of improved health† (Kolcaba, 2001). Institutional integrity is defined as â€Å"the quality or state of health care organizations† (Kolcaba, 2003). Finally, she described institutional outcomes as â€Å"decreased lengths of stay, successful discharges, and improved public relations when patients and families are happy with their health care† (Kolcaba, 2001), which for hospital administrators is the ultimate goal when comfort is a key nursing consideration. With the key concepts identified and defined, their relationship to one another needs to be understood. Kolcaba clearly described the relationship between her major concepts when she stated her positions in theory of comfort: Nurses identify patients’ comfort needs that have not been met by existing support systems. Nurses design interventions to address those needs. Intervening variables are taken into account in designing interventions and mutually agreeing on reasonable immediate and/or subsequent health-seeking behavior outcomes. If enhanced comfort in achieved, patients are strengthened to engage in health-seeking behaviors. When patients engage in health seeking behaviors as a result of being strengthened by comforting actions, nurses and patients are more satisfied with their health care. When patients are satisfied with their health care in a specific situation, that institution retains its integrity. The last relationship, not defined explicitly by Kolcaba, is that institutional outcomes are direct result of understanding and addressing a patients comfort needs. Finally, before an analysis of the theory of comfort can be completed, it is necessary to understand the major assumptions made by Kolcaba when developing her theory. According to Kolcaba, those assumptions underpinning her theory of comfort are as follows. Human beings have holistic responses to complex stimuli. Comfort is a desirable holistic outcome that is germane to the discipline of nursing. Human beings strive to meet, or have to meet, their basic comfort needs; it is an active endeavor. Institutional integrity has a normative and descriptive component that is based on a patient-oriented value system. The theory of comfort is referred to as a middle range theory. Whall compares middle range theories with grand theories and states that middle range theories â€Å"contain fewer concepts and relationships, are adaptable to a wide range of practice and experience, can be built from many sources, and are concrete enough to be tested† (Kolcaba, 2001). Given this description, the theory of comfort can be readily identified as a middle range theory. With regard to the concepts presented by Kolcaba, they are clearly defined and the relationship between them are easily understood. The concepts are generalized and measurable through the development of numerous measurement tools designed fo r specific environments. The theory itself had been applied in a number of different environments including hospice, perioperative, radiation therapy and general care areas. Questionnaires to test the theory of comfort have been developed for each of these areas and successfully tested and employed. The scope of the theory is narrow and stands at a low level of abstraction. Most importantly, the theory is readily applicable to the nursing discipline and provide a clear framework relevant to meeting patient’s needs during a stressful life event. It allows the nurse to define, with input from the patient, what their needs are within the four contexts, to address those needs with nursing interventions, to evaluate the success or failure of those interventions and to continue in a cyclic manner until the patient achieves a state of comfort. In essence, the framework provides a process model for nursing that is specific to comfort and precise. It is easy for a nurse to use and understand and can be applied in many environments. In evaluating and analyzing the theory of comfort, numerous research possibilities come to mind. Given my specific interest in end of life care, it is important to understand that the nurse is focused not only on the comfort of the patient but also on that of the families and caregivers of the dying patient. While one would think of health-seeking  behaviors to be focused on cure or rehabilitation, they can also be used to aid in a more peaceful or comfortable death. Therefore, a study that evaluated the level of comfort experienced by the patient and family members with and without direct care provided by the family members could be undertaken. The study would seek to determine whether less medical intervention is required to ensure patient comfort during the dying process if there is increased family involvement in care. This nurse would hypothesize that, in measuring patient comfort, less medical intervention would be required to maintain an acceptable level of comfort in death if family members have greater involvement in providing care. Conversely, another possible study could involve family member comfort and ask if family members have an increased level of comfort with greater involvement in patient care during the period proceeding death. The sample population for both studies would by dying patients and their family members. To measure family member comfort, data could be collected utilizing a likert-scale questionnaire. To measure patient comfort, and questionnaire could be developed for those patients that are able to verbalize or the nurse could be given a list of objective signs and symptoms of comfort to evaluate in order to determine patient comfort. Kolcaba’s work has led to a universal theory applicable to all areas of nursing. She has captured the quintessential essence of nursing in a simple and structured framework. Use of her framework in practice can lead to improved patient experiences in one of the most important outcomes of nursing practice, patient comfort. References Kolcaba, Katharine (2001). Evolution of the mid range theory of comfort for outcomes research. Nursing Outlook, 49(2), 86-92 Kolcaba, Katharine (1991B). An analysis of the concept of comfort. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 16, 1301-1310 Kolcaba, Katharine (1991A). A taxonomic structure for the concept of comfort. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 23(4), 237-240 Kolcaba, Katherine (1994). A theory of holistic comfort for nursing. Journal of Advance Nursing, 19, 1178-1184 Kolcaba, Katherine (2003). Comfort theory and practice: A Vision for Holistic Health Care and Research. New York: Springer Publishing Company, Inc. Peterson, S.J., & Bredow, T.S. (2004). Comfort. In Middle Ranger Theories: Application to Nursing Research (pp. 255-273). Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

Capstone Research Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Capstone Research Paper - Essay Example related to pre-drinking among current college students, questionnaires and focus groups were conducted in order to collect qualitative data related to the topic. In response to the pre-gaming phenomenon, policymakers in both educational and governmental contexts should take appropriate action to reduce the risks to students who partake in these activities. While institutions should not advocate pre-gaming, especially among those who are under the minimum legal age for drinking, they should also shy away from making the wrong decision and simply displacing the behavior into a less safe environment. Pre-drinking, or â€Å"pre-gaming†, is an increasingly common practice among college students aged between 18-25 years old because of a number of factors. To explore these factors, a body of research has emerged to shed light on motivations for why individuals partake in pre-gaming activities, which will be subsequently reviewed. Once existing research is described, this paper will discuss an independent study performed with a questionnaire and focus groups with a sample of college students discussing their own experiences with pre-gaming. Comparisons between their feedback and the findings of the overall literature on pre-gaming will be discussed at length. Policy implications for educational and governmental institutions in response to these findings will be explored in greater detail. Pre-gaming involves taking heavy amounts of alcoholic drinks in a private setting before going to a social event in a licensed drinking establishment such as nightclubs or bars (Wile & Werlinsky, 2000, p. 7). In recent decades, level of alcohol consumption among young adults has increased to record highs. Most studies have attributed such increases to the widespread availability of affordable alcohol and increased prevalence of drinking events for young adults, particularly those enrolled in post-secondary education institutions. In the United States, about 38% of college students have

Artificial Intelligence in Art project (multimedia installation) Essay

Artificial Intelligence in Art project (multimedia installation) - Essay Example Artificial intelligence is fused with multimedia to make the subjects more â€Å"human.† The processes are aimed at making human beings feel comfortable in the company of the creations. The creations create the feeling of cloning human companionship. The articulation of the two, is aimed at stimulating those human actions, e.g. feeling, touching and seeing, that seem complex to replicate. The whole topic of artificial intelligence in multimedia production cannot be described by one project or system. Artificial intelligence is a wide and broad area. To explore all corners of artificial intelligence, the report is mainly focused on the system and projects that expound on artificial intelligence based on multimedia. Several case studies on art project that incorporated artificial intelligence are described below. Case studies Thomas Ray, Tierra (1998) The Tierra is software created to represent natural evolution in the medium that is natural. The software uses artificial intelli gence to create a virtual computer that runs on an evolving operating system. The software uses an evolving operating system called Darwinian operating system (Ackley & Littman, 1990). The Darwinian operating system has its architecture based on executable machine codes. The machine codes evolve with each execution. The machine codes can be either be mutated or recombined. Despite the changes in the codes, the resulting codes remain functional. The functionality of the codes is durable. The code evolves through the process of natural selection. The code improves itself with each change in the natural selection. The Darwinian operating system manages the memory that the software uses. Time is shared accordingly among the services that run along with the program. The operating system also controls the factors that tend to affect and distort the course of evolution. The factors include disturbances on the cycles, the mutation rates, and allocation of processor time to each creature tha t is within the covered ecosystem (Ackley & Littman, 1990). The operating system also records birth and deaths, a sequential code that covers all the creatures, and a gene bank where successful genomes are stored. The program uses artificial intelligence to automate ecological analysis. All types of interactions that take place among the creatures in the simulated ecology are recorded. The system produces synthetic organisms. The synthetic organisms are based on a metaphor of the computer. The CPU time is used as the energy in the ecosystem. The memory is used as the material in each organism within the ecosystem. Mutation is responsible for creating new forms into the ecosystem, a process represented by the evolving machine codes. Evolution precedes the ecosystems natural selection. Natural selection is represented by the competition of the different genotypes for energy (CPU time) and material (memory space) (Ackley & Littman, 1990). The system combines both artificial intelligenc e and multimedia using digital communities to diversify the ecosystem. The digital communities are used to represent coexistence and competitive exclusion, regulation of the population through parasite/host density, punctuated equilibrium, and enhancement of the community diversity through parasitic effect. The software represents a natural evolution in the digital medium. Kenneth Rinaldo, Autopoeisis (2000) Autopoiesis is an installation of robotic

Generalized Framework For Mining Web Content Outliers Research Paper

Generalized Framework For Mining Web Content Outliers - Research Paper Example With the advent of social networking web sites, micro blogging as well as an increase in usage of the net over mobile phones added an avalanche of data over the web, which varied in context and attracted all sorts of interest groups. This constant increase in information has created a great need of fast, relevant and mature content search methods that can sift through information, understand and generate search results in the shortest possible time. This requirement resulted in the development of revolutionary search engines like Bing, Google, etc. These search engines not only perform rapid searches over provided query from the user, however, they also maintain huge repositories of data classified into specific categories. There are several challenges that exist within such classification processes, and which can cause imprecise search results if they are not dealt with properly. Several methods have been proposed to match the most relevant web content with the user's query, however , this is a matter of debate that whether search engines should only generate the directly matched results or also provide some relevant results? Both methods have their own significance and a mixed kind of approach is in practice by different search engines. Google's page rank method got great popularity and has been modified by others for different purposes, for example the importance or relevance of a page is not measured for the top query results generation however several other kinds of processes are associated with this page ranking method. For instance, the computational advertisement industry has grown to a $20 billion industry this year and is expected to go further and big search engine groups are leaders in this industry so far. Advertisements are supposed to be placed on relevant pages so that they are viewed by the relevant i.e. targeted customers, which not only increases the revenue for their customers in terms of return of interest, however, moves towards personalize d or behavioral targeting. Out of several

Work-based learning (at a Law ftrm) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Work-based learning (at a Law ftrm) - Essay Example Work based learning merits intending candidates to maintain a set of evidence that demonstrates that a professional can meet the standard requirement of learning outcome. They are assisted by seniors who called upon intermittently during the WBL period. Work based learning is categorized as an important phase in the transition of students from educational work as professionals in practical workplaces. It is stated by Fink, et al, (2007) that work based learning trains the students to transit successfully from school to work1. They further elaborate work based as: â€Å"Work-Based Learning is an approach which focuses upon the practical utility of learning and is therefore directly relevant to learners and their work environment. A WBL approach to learning acknowledges that learning can take place in a variety of situations and settings, and is not restricted to that developed through the classroom or lecture theatre.†2 It means that work based learning is a tool that is employ ed for training students to become qualified professionals. They have pre-utilized the skill of working in a professional based environment and are ready to handle different situations in any workplace. Knowledge, work and learning, all come together when a student is allowed to learn through work based learning approach. ... ifferent as compared to working of employees as it is said, â€Å"Work-based learning needs to be distinguished from work place learning, that form of learning that occurs on a day-to-day basis at work as employees acquire new skills to develop new approaches to solving problems. No formal education recognition normally accrues to such learning, whether or not it is organised systematically.†4 Word based learning for students is a sort of education that students obtain while being at work. They gain practical knowledge that they can implement while being in a professional environment after completion of their academic qualifications. Work based learning accommodates the students to understand working procedures while gaining their education. The universities and organizations together have formed learning experiences for students with the support of work based learning as described under: â€Å"Work-based learning is the term being used to describe a class of university progr ammes that bring together universities and work organizations to create new learning opportunities in workplaces†.5 In my point of view, work based learning is quite crucial in academic life as it facilitates the students to have an idea of the workplace which they wish or are going to work in their future. In addition, working at the workplace is accommodate in facilitating the learners with knowledge as Stephen Billet says, â€Å"as individuals engage in social practices, such as work, they engage in an ongoing process of knowledge construction and refinement.†6 I have been working at Trinity Solicitors LLP since my second year of University. My intention was to have a couple of weeks work experience, after which I was offered to stay longer if I desired to. Of course since then I have been going to

Investigating the use of enatomology in criminal investigations Essay

Investigating the use of enatomology in criminal investigations - Essay Example an insect’s development can be affected by a number of factors such as heat, water, fire etc. Also the time necessary before eggs are deposited will vary according to the species and may also be affected by the fact that groups are genetically and geographically different e.g. results in an English winter will be very different from those in a Florida swamp even if the species concerned is the same. Certain species of fly prefer urban, rather than rural environments, so for instance a body found invaded by such fly larvae in a rural situation may well mean that the person was killed in the city and the body subsequently dumped. Jerry Butler, an American forensic entomologist, reports that he uses mainly evidence from five species of flies, in his investigations. Taxonomy originally referred to the identifying and naming of living organisms, and the system of doing this in a scientific way was originally devised by Linnaeus though the system has been much expanded since . Butler claims that if particular flies are found and identified correctly and the ambient temperature is known then the time of death can be determined fairly exactly if the body is found quickly enough. The successful investigation may depend upon the correct analysis of material evidence found and in a case where a body has been undiscovered for some time this will include entomological evidence e.g. have fly eggs been laid and had time to hatch? In case II ( see appendix)the forensic entomologist was able to work backwards from the time that adult flies emerged in order to discover when the first eggs were laid. In Case I ( see appendix ) the instars were at stage 3 i.e they had at least 1517 accumulated degree hours. In the case of the child behind the stove the creatures were fully developed Knowing the times that takes may lead to being able to pinpoint the time the body was

Soda Tax Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Soda Tax - Essay Example In fact, a ten- year research carried on individuals with a regular intake of diet soda revealed a 70% (Picca 35) increase on their waistline in comparison to individuals with a zero tolerance to soda intake. I that believe soda tax serves an effective measure of saving the ignorant American population, who turn a blind eye to dire health complications for continuous soda intake. A tax charge on soft beverages will have a profound reduction of illnesses such as diabetes associated with unhealthy lifestyle. Aside from obesity, public health officials also highlight additional health benefits of a potential soda tax such as improved dental hygiene. In the last 50 years, soft drink consumption has increased by whooping 500% (Brill 46). Interestingly soft drinks like soda consist of massive calories but with zero nutritional value. Even with such scary statistics soft drinks consumption make up 7% percent of energy consumption in adults and with a larger percentage reported in children and adolescents (Brill 47). A tax charge on soda would result into a consumption reduction. Public health officials note that a consumer reduction in soda intake would reduce obesity cases nationwide, hence significant step towards the fight against diseases such as diabetes. The rising cost of soda, would reduce consumer intake, and consequently reduce weight gain of approximately 90 % of the American population (Picca 36). A research carried out by the National Health and Nutrition Examination survey in 2010 revealed that indeed states with higher taxes on soda recorded the lowest consumer consumption on soft drinks (Picca 37). Individuals in such states turned to healthy drinks such as milk and natural juice for calories consumption. Following the success of taxation on tobacco and tobacco products, that led to a signification reduction of health complication associated with regular nicotine intake (Picca 37). Taxation on soda would have the same implications on health

The Tipping Point Essay Example for Free

The Tipping Point Essay Change is a rule by nature that will never change. Shifting from one state to another state is nature’s law. No one can override this rule. Tipping point by Malcolm Gladwell is all about changes that happen frequently. No one is stable in this world; nothing is stable in this world. Every thing must change consistently, the things, which happened yesterday, is not same today and the things which happened today will not be same tomorrow. This law is not only applicable for human life but also for society, technology, disease, education, culture, music, craft and so on. A wide spread outbreak of an infectious disease is called as epidemic. Malcolm Gladwell also deals with this epidemic not with medicine but with social epidemic that spoils young generation and society. Smoking is injurious to health, Drinking is injurious to wealth. Every one knows this, but they drink and smoke until malady bangs them. A women’s tongue is more powerful than any other thing? What is the reason behind crime rate fell down so drastically? What is the reason behind young generation using mobile   phones, ipods, and desktop and laptop computers than elder generation? Why some use Internet for utile purpose and not others? Why violence step-up in Hollywood movies? There are many questions here but Malcolm Gladwell answers only one question that is the correct answer for remaining questions. Ideas, behavior, messages and products sometimes behave just like outbreaks of infectious disease. They are called as social epidemics. The Tipping point is a book that deals with social epidemics that surround us. Generation after generation every thing right from culture, music, dress, changes frequently in a very unusual way. For example, if a famous pop star changes his dressing style, everyone will have a tendency to dress like him. It is called trend. This trend changes often, and no one knows this transition. The working of social epidemic is distinctly separate and society’s mind were stormed by   This unusual occurrence. For example we can look at twin tower disaster in New York City. A film taken by novice artists and technicians may yield stunning victory. No one knows the working of epidemic. The title â€Å" The Tipping Point â€Å" is originated from the world of epidemiology. The Tipping Point is a proper mixture of sociology, psychology, and history. This is a book for one who wishes to understand the world around them is in different way. The Three Influential People Connectors, Mavens and Salesmen.   Connectors can be compared with computer hub. They play a major role in epidemic like the central part of a car wheel. Hub is used for networking one computer with other. They are the heart of computer networking. Connectors have the habit of voluntarily introducing themselves to strangers and others. They can easily mingle with any sort of people. Hub in computer can be connected to any other computer irrespective of their configuration and software installed, like wise connectors can amalgamate with any sort of people in the society without any hesitation. Connectors are very rare in the society. Mavens are very intelligent people, they know how to interact with society, they how to exploit decrepit of the society. Mavens are intelligent powerful social epidemic. â€Å"Maven† the word comes from Yiddish meyvn and Herbrew mevin (מבÖ ¿Ã—™×Ÿ, with the same meaning, which in turn derives from Herbrew binah, means understanding. It was recorded in english language in 1952, and become famous in the 1960s by a series of commercials for Vita Herring created by Martin Solow, featuring â€Å"The Beloved Herring Maven†. Since the 1980s it has become more common since William Safire adepted it to describe himself â€Å" the language maven†. The word is mainly confined to American English, but had not yet appeared with the publication of the 1976 edition of Webster’s third new international dictionary. In network theory and socilogy, a maven is someone who has a disproportionate influence on other members of the network. The role of mavens in propagating knowledge and preferences has been established in various domains, from politics to social trends. Gladwell also suggests that mavens act most effectively when they have some kind of understanding with connectors. Connectors can easily and widely distribute the advice or insight of a mavens. Some have identified the maven is not a Jewish word, but a Jewish concept. A maven is an expert, and it’s something that every Jew thinks he is on every subject that exists. The term Maven is used to a great extent in spam electornic mails. Spam is nothing but an email from unrecognized location or person. The objective behind spam electronic mail is to develop and promote their business and to to earn handsome of money. Some Spam email contains VIRUS – Virtual Information Resource Under Sledge. An agreement or contract in which property is transferred from the seller to the buyer for fixed price in money (paid or agreed to be paid by the buyer) is called as sales. It is an integral part of social activity. Ideas or products found attractive or interesting by others will grow exponentially for some time is called as stickiness. People always look for different kind of music systems like Walkman, Discman or even those expensive mp3 players And finally they stick with ipods. Apple is the second biggest company next to Microsoft Apple introduced ipods in which hundreds and thousands of songs can be saved and played whenever required. This allowed the company to not only exploit they name but also use the names of Dell and Microsoft to work with them for their success. Also this product tipped of the timing. At a time when the health conscious and the craze is at its peak, people were looking for something to play their music while they were working out that looked cool. This is exactly what the IPOD offered these people. It is compact, mini, nano, shuffles are so small they can easily fit in your pocket with no worries about skipping, even while running. The overall benefits of this product are enormous, and the sleek plain design really set it apart from anything in the market. If a kid in a college doesn’t have one of ipod, laptop, cell phones, people are surprised. The point that I try to get from Gladwell is the importance of Maven in having something tipped. Whether is accidental or on purpose the maven finds out information about something and has to tell someone. I feel it has tipped and think it was a fabulous example of marketing tipping a product. I think Gladwell really hit the nail on the head with his main three points that contribute to the tipping point of anything. At a time when the health conscious and the craze is at its peak, people were looking for something to play their music while they were working out that looked cool. This is an incredible underground of ipod mavens. One who links like-minded people and one who gathers and shares deep information, that sounds the definition of almost every relationship is the blogger, they are connectors and mavens at the tipping point of communication. Cell phone, ipods, desktop and laptops are the tipping point of communication because no other form of communication has been so immediate, so interactive, so far-reaching and so ready-made for relationships. We are connectors and mavens at the tipping point of communication able to make relationships with people all over the planet. We are just beginning to figure out the depth and breadth of the medium in which we are working. With the relationships we are making and the information we are gathering. If we set our minds in the same direction, we can change the world. The whole thing changes when the world is our community. Adoption of Ipods Advent of Cell Phones, Laptop and Desktop. Bolstered by the recent holiday gift-giving season, the number of American adults who now own an iPod or other MP3 player has reached 22 million, according to a Pew Internet American Life survey.   Based on the findings of this survey, it is clear that this technology reached its tipping point in the 2004 holiday shopping season, said Lee Rainie, director of Pew Internet American Life. iPods and other MP3 players have broken into the mainstream in a new way, and were projecting a lot more growth, probably an acceleration of growth, ahead. The survey was conducted between January 13 and February 9, 2005 to gauge roughly how many American adults now own iPods or MP3 players. The study didnt poll teenagers, an age group that includes several million more users of such devices. Pew determined iPods and other MP3 players are likely being adopted so quickly because of their relative ease of use, a plethora of downloadable music on the Internet, and because they allow people to become their own disk jockeys. People are beginning to adapt them as instruments of social activity, sharing songs with others, and are becoming drawn into podcasting, Rainie said. Although the study didnt offer specific numbers for podcastings growth, Rainie predicts in 2005, podcasting is likely to surge in popularity along a growth curve comparable to the blogging communitys rapid expansion. Pew is currently conducting a study looking at the growth of podcasting, results of which will be released in mid-March. Key findings of the survey include: †¢ Men are more likely to own iPods/MP3 players than women. Roughly 14 percent of adult men have such devices, as opposed to nine percent of adult women. †¢ Almost one in five (19 percent) of adults under the age of 30 have iPods/MP3 Players, versus 14 percent of people in their 30s and 40s. †¢ iPods/MP3 players are generally gadgets for the well-to-do. Approximately 24 percent of adults with household incomes of $75,000 or more own a device. About 10 percent of adults living in households earning $30,000 to $75,000 have them, as opposed to 6 percent of those living in households with earnings under $30,000. †¢ Internet users are four times as likely as non-Internet users to have iPods/MP3 players, probably because Web users are able to get much of the music they enjoy online; 15 percent of Internet users have iPods/MP3 players, versus only four percent of non-Internet users. †¢ The more advanced the Internet user, the more likely it is s/he will own an iPod/MP3 player. Those with six or more years online experience are twice as likely to have them as those who first came online in the last three years. †¢ Broadband access is strongly linked to iPod/MP3 player ownership. About 23 percent of adults with high bandwidth have the devices, compared to nine percent who connect via dial-up. Among adults with broadband access both at home and at work, 31 percent own such devices. †¢ Approximately 16 percent of parents living with children under age 18 have an iPod/MP3 player, as opposed to nine percent of those with no children living at home. Business hit the big time with the advent of the laptop because people could work at home Things got even better when wireless was invented. These technologies are becoming the worst things to happen to world Customer request for number of words. Number of words : 1975 including works cited . Works Cited 1. Gladwell, Malcolm, â€Å"What is the Tipping Point† www.gladwell.com/tippingpoint/index.html 2.Paterson, Robert, â€Å"How To Start a Revolution† 3rd May 2003. http://radio.weblogs.com/0107127/stories/2003/01/01/tippingPointNetVersion.html 3. WikiSummaries, â€Å"The Tipping Point Summary†, 31st Jan 2007. http://www.wikisummaries.org/The_Tipping_Point 4. Paterson, Robert, â€Å"Tipping Point’ http://www.answers.com/topic/tipping-point Customer request for additional three online resources. 1. Allison ,Jeremy, â€Å"Vista at the tipping point†19th Jan 2007. http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9590_22-6151049.html 2. Gladwell, Malcolm, â€Å"The Tipping Point†, http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=yEAN=9780316346627itm=1 3.†The Tipping Point – How little things can make a big difference† http://www.hachettebookgroupusa.com/books/8/0316316962/index.html

Importance of Personal Hygiene in a Pharmacy Workplace

Importance of Personal Hygiene in a Pharmacy Workplace Maintaining a comfortable environment in which all employees can work in is an importantpoor hygiene from employees can affect the overall performance of a team or impact on their colleagues and other people, particularly patients, with whom an individual comes in to contact. Keeping clean is essential for good health; poor hygiene can cause skin complaints,  unpleasant smells and bacterial or parasitic infections; poor dental care can also give rise  to bad breath. Unwashed clothes are often a source of undesirable smells. Staff should come work having attended to their personal hygiene each day with clean  clothes and hair and free from unpleasant odours. Clean uniform should be worn each day and replaced if it becomes soiled during a shift. Why should we pay attention to keep workplace/pharmacy environment clean? Keeping work environment clean reduces workplace hazards and help get a job done safely and properly. Unhygienic environment can frequently contribute to accidents by hiding hazards that cause injuries. If the sight of paper, debris, clutter and spills is accepted as normal, then other more serious health and safety hazards may be taken for granted. Housekeeping is not just cleanliness. It includes keeping work areas neat and orderly; maintaining halls and floors free of slip and trip hazards; and removing of waste materials (e.g., paper, cardboard) and other fire hazards from work areas. It also requires paying attention to important details such as the layout of the whole workplace, aisle marking, the adequacy of storage facilities, and maintenance. Good housekeeping is also a basic part of accident and fire prevention. What is the purpose of keeping pharmacy clean? Unhygienic and unclean work environment can be a cause of accidents, such as: Tripping over loose objects on floors, stairs and platforms Being hit by falling objects Slipping on greasy, wet or dirty surfaces Striking against projecting, poorly stacked items or misplaced material Cutting, puncturing, or tearing the skin of hands or other parts of the body on projecting nails, wire or steel strapping To avoid these hazards, a workplace must maintain order throughout a workday. What are some benefits of keeping pharmacy environment clean? Effective cleanliness at a workplace results in: Reduced handling to ease the flow of materials Fewer tripping and slipping accidents in clutter-free and spill-free work areas Decreased fire hazards Lower worker exposures to hazardous substances (e.g. dusts, vapours) Better control of tools and materials, including inventory and supplies More efficient equipment cleanup and maintenance Better hygienic conditions leading to improved health More effective use of space Reduced property damage by improving preventive maintenance Less janitorial work Improved morale Improved productivity (tools and materials will be easy to find) How do I plan a good work environment program in my HBS pharmacy? A hygienic program plans and manages the orderly storage and movement of materials from point of entry to exit. It includes a material flow plan to ensure minimal handling. The plan also ensures that work areas are not used as storage areas by having workers move materials to and from work areas as needed. Part of the plan could include investing in extra bins and more frequent disposal. The costs of this investment could be offset by the elimination of repeated handling of the same material and more effective use of the workers time. Often, ineffective or insufficient storage planning results in materials being handled and stored in hazardous ways. Knowing the plant layout and the movement of materials throughout the workplace can help plan work procedures. Worker training is an essential part of any hygienic and risk free program. Workers need to know how to work safely with the products they use. They also need to know how to protect other workers such as by posting signs (e.g., Wet Slippery Floor) and reporting any unusual conditions. A clean enironment order is maintained not achieved. Cleaning and organization must be done regularly, not just at the end of the shift. Integrating housekeeping into jobs can help ensure this is done. A good housekeeping program identifies and assigns responsibilities for the following: Clean up during the shift Day-to-day cleanup Waste disposal Removal of unused materials Inspection to ensure cleanup is complete Do not forget out-of-the-way places such as shelves, basements, sheds, and boiler rooms that would otherwise be overlooked. The orderly arrangement of operations, tools, equipment and supplies is an important part of keeping a pharmacy clean.

Bioterrorism Threat Weapons

Bioterrorism Threat Weapons Bioterrorism is a real threat to our country. Its a threat to every nation that loves freedom. Terrorist groups seek biological weapons; we know some rogue states already have them.Its important that we confront these real threats to our country and prepare for future emergencies. -President George W. Bush June 12, 2002 Biological weapons are one of the biggest threats we face today. They are potentially as deadly as nuclear weapons and can leave an area contaminated for weeks. Despite this however, the threat of biological weapons does not seem to be a major priority of our current administration. There seems to be a significant rush to implement counter-terrorism policies that focus on more conventional means of attacks and more specifically those attacks that we have already experienced. Consequently, we see much improvement in the screening of airline passengers and the regulation of traditional explosives, but no further regulation of biological weapons, dispersion systems, or the implementation of better response procedures. Therefore, more should be done to prevent biological attacks and prepare our nation to respond in the event there is one. According to the Terrorism Knowledge Base, since nineteen sixty eight there have been a total of thirteen incidents involving biological weapons with forty-six injuries, and six fatalities. Of these thirteen incidents, nine of them have taken place in the United States, with all of the injuries, and five out of six of the deaths all taking place in the United States as well. If these statistics are examined in a general sense and in comparison to other weapons used in terrorists attacks (bombs, fire, firearms, etc) then the trend of biological terrorism does not seem very important. However, the reality is that the more technologically advanced we become globally, the more efficient biological weapons and their dispersion systems become, and the greater the threat is for an attack. We are currently in an age where scientific discovery, and advances in biology are putting us at risk for an attack from a terrorist group, or even an individual with access to biological weapons and a gru dge. In order to repair our current system, revision of our current policies must be done, as well as creation of new policies and procedures to mitigate the threat. This paper will provide information on our current policies, how the problems with out current policies can be fixed, and a risk assessment of the Brazos Valley with specific emphasis on the Texas AM University System. Current Policies: The following are the policies that have been developed in response to the threat of biological weapons. All polices regarding biological weapons should have two parts: prevention of a biological weapon attack, and response after a biological attack. While each is important on its own, together they make a comprehensive plan to create policies around. Before any suggestions can be made, however, our current policies must be known and judged against the threat we currently face. There are three main policies and plans concerning biological weapons that have come from the White House. They are Homeland Security Presidential Directive 10, Homeland Security Presidential Directive 21, and Project Bioshield. Together these are designed to provide us with maximum protection and response in the case of a biological threat. Homeland Security Presidential Directive 10 (Biodefense for the 21st Century): Homeland Security Presidential Directive 10 has four major goals as outlined by the White House: threat awareness, prevention and protection, surveillance and detection, and response and recovery. Each of these is an integral part of the overall plan. Threat Awareness In order for our government to prepare for a biological attack, we must know the nature of the threat. This is where the â€Å"Threat Awareness† pillar comes into play. This pillar seeks to provide our government with the ability to use technology and intelligence to provide the most realistic appraisal of our current threat. The concept of threat awareness allows us to create functional policies specially designed around our current threat. There are three totals components of the threat awareness pillar: biological warfare related intelligence, assessments, and anticipation of future threats. Biological warfare related intelligence is the name given to the process of using the intelligence community (Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency, and others) to gather all information pertaining to biological weapons. This would involve overseas missions for intelligence gathering purposes, development of systems to analyze collected data, and the dissemination of that data to all important parties. Biological warfare related intelligence also incorporates Red Teaming, a term indicating the team in a preparedness exercise (similar to a war game) whose role is to simulate enemy tactics. â€Å"Red Teaming efforts are used to understand new scientific trends that may be exploited by our adversaries to develop biological weapons and to help position intelligence collectors ahead of our problem.† (www.whitehouse.gov) Assessments are the second component of the threat awareness pillar. â€Å"The Unites States requires a continuous, formal process for conducting routine capabilities assessments to guide prioritization of our on-going investments in biodefense-related research, development, planning and preparedness.† (www.whitehose.gov) The Department of Homeland Security will be made responsible for gathering information and production of periodical assessments and making recommendations of division of resources based on the assessment. The anticipation of future threats component asserts that the need to stay current with existing technology is of great importance. It enables the government the government to anticipate and prepare for the emergence of new threats (www.whitehouse.gov). How these assessments are to be done and what exactly is to be included in them, is not stated in the White Houses version of Homeland Security Presidential Directive ten however. Prevention and Protection The first component of the prevention and protection pillar is proactive prevention. As stated by the White House, â€Å"preventing biological weapons attacks is by far the most cost-effective approach to biodefense.† This will be accomplished by limiting access of biological agents and dispersal methods to countries, groups, or individuals seeking to develop, produce, and use these agents. (www.whitehouse.gov) This will be accomplished using law enforcement investigative techniques, diplomacy, and export controls. Agencies responsible for prevention are the Department of State, Department of Defense, Department of Justice, and the intelligence community, but specific duties are not given. The second component of prevention and protection is critical infrastructure protection. The directive explains that protection of critical infrastructure, especially in the case of those that would be important after an attack (public health, food, water, energy, agriculture, transportation, etc.) should be protected. Once again, details as to how this is to be done are not given, only that it should be done. Surveillance and Detection The first component of the surveillance and detection pillar is attack warning. This would entail the development of an attack warning system, similar to severe weather warning systems, â€Å"which rapidly recognizes and characterizes the dispersal of biological agents.† The logic behind this component of surveillance and detection is that an efficient and effective response can be mounted to counter the threat if the biological agent used in an attack is able to be detected and characterized earlier. The second component of surveillance and detection is attribution. The ability to attribute an attack to a particular country, group, or individual can help authorities to deter attacks with the promise of severe repercussions to the group or country that perpetrates the attack. The recently created National Bioforensic Analysis Center of the National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasure Center is responsible for the analysis of the biological agent, and interpretation of data to determine responsibility. This concept has been tried for lesser crimes (three-strike laws) with varied degrees of success. Response and Recovery The components of the response and recovery attack are numerous. But this is necessary as the response after an attack is a huge intricate undertaking. This part of the Directive 10 is composed of: response planning, mass casualty care, risk communication, medical countermeasure development, and decontamination. Response planning is the most important part of the response and recovery pillar. Without a reasonable plan of attack, nothing can be accomplished. Evidence of this idea can be seen in the days and weeks following Hurricane Katrina, when recovery efforts were mishandled by Federal Emergency Management Agency due in large part to ill-preparedness. As a part of this component, the plans are also to be tested regularly at the local, state, and federal level. Mass casualty care, decontamination, and medical countermeasure all go together in preventing loss of life after an attack. In order for all of these to occur, there needs to be funding in areas of research pertaining to countermeasures of biological agents, and also funding in the public health arena such that all medical facilities are adequately prepared to handle such an event. This includes stocking medical facilities with countermeasures and keeping them abreast of terrorism activities via a communication network. Homeland Security Presidential Directive 21 Released October two-thousand seven, Homeland Security Presidential Directive twenty-one in a much more comprehensive version of the response and recover pillar of Homeland Security Presidential Directive ten. It delves into exactly how we go about preparing for the aftermath of a biological attack. The five major priorities / goals when considering preparedness are: preparedness for all potential catastrophic health events; vertical and horizontal coordination across levels of government, jurisdictions and disciplines; a regional approach to health preparedness; engagement of the private sector, academia, and other nongovernmental entities in preparedness and response efforts; and the important roles of individuals, families, and communities. To accomplish these priorities, Homeland Security Presidential Directive twenty-one outlines several actions that must be implemented to mount a successful response to a biological attack. These are mostly the same as those mentioned in Homelan d Security Presidential Directive ten; however, the greatest difference is in the case of Homeland Security Presidential Directive twenty-one, deadlines are established as to when these should be done. Biosurveillance Biosurveillance calls for the establishment of a â€Å"national epidemiological surveillance system for human health.† This would entail an electronic network linking federal, state and local public health assets. This system would also have to protect patient privacy, while giving access to those medical professionals most likely to come into contact with the agents. This network would also include keeping health professionals abreast in what to look for in the way of symptoms. The deadline for this goal was one-hundred eighty days, but only required meetings to examine progress. Countermeasure stockpiling and distribution Countermeasure stockpiling and distribution calls for the creation of a plan to amass a supply of common countermeasures including antibiotics, anti-virals and others. The countermeasure stockpiling and distribution section of the directive mandates that a template or plan for these efforts would be created within nine months of its release date, but once again, does not explain exactly how anything is to be done, only that it should be within nine months. Mass Casualty Care Through a joint effort between the Secretaries of Health and Human Services, Defense, Veteran Affairs, and Homeland Security, experts at the state, federal and private levels are to provide feedback on â€Å"high-priority gaps in mass casualty care capabilities.† After this event, there is to be an analysis of the information in order to build a plan for mass casualty care after a biological attack. This plan would call for changes in out public health system specifically geared towards biodefense, and not towards improving our public health system as a whole. Community Resilience Perhaps the most important component of Homeland Security presidential Directive 21, this section encourages engaging citizens in education and risk awareness in the area of biological weapons. Civic leaders, citizens and families are to be educated such that they are able to lessen some of the risk in their respective areas. Project Bioshield The Project Bioshield Act of 2004 was signed on June 21, 2004 by current President George W. Bush. Project Bioshield deals specifically with the development and the procurement of countermeasures from pharmaceutical companies. The signing of the Project Bioshield Act allowed for the production of seventy-five million doses of anthrax vaccines for stockpiling, production of botulinum antitoxin, and production of a safer smallpox toxin. Project Bioshield is not designed to fix all of our problems, but solve a big problem in the lack of response resources. Problems with our current system and policies Our current biological weapons policies consist mainly of Homeland Security Presidential Directives ten and twenty-one and the Project Bioshield Act. Together, they represent the most comprehensive plan we have, but still fall short of providing us with the protection and security from what President Bush describes as a â€Å"real threat to our country.† While our current system provides a good foundation for a biological weapons defense policy, it has several major gaps. Our current policies display one major flaw in our biodefense plan: we know what to do, but not how to accomplish it. In the summary of all three aspects of our biodefense policy, there is no detailed plan of how to repair the holes in our system. Also, despite being released in April two-thousand four, many of the objectives seen Homeland Security Presidential Directive ten, are yet incomplete; particularly in the case of the â€Å"Response and Recovery† objective. What this translates to is we are no t following the plans we have set up to prevent and respond to bioterrorism. In two-thousand one, approximately one-half a billion dollars w as spent on civilian biodefense. Every year since then, the spending has gone up with spending reaching approximately seven and one-half billion dollars. (Schuler 88) We are considerably further than we were in two-thousand one, but still significantly lacking in bio-terrorism security. There are only a few things we currently lack, but they are very important to our security. Firstly we lack a decent public health system. â€Å"The basic needs of bioterrorism preparedness remain the basic tasks of public health- identifying unusual disease events, their cause, and intervening to alleviate the situation† (Avery 284) The federal government is attempting to pump more resources into a flawed system. Without a good public health system, any biodefense plan ultimately falls apart because our public health system is of utmost importance in response efforts. Another big flaw in our system is the lack of talented people. Having great policies and resources but lacking talented employees to put them into practice is unacceptable. Federal agencies are losing potential employees to the private sector when the demand for defense talent will to continue rise by as much as twenty-five percent through the year two-thousand ten. (Partnership for Public Service 224) Policies cannot be put into action without talented people leading them. It is estimated that nearly half of the federal employees in occupations critical to out biodefense will be eligible to retire within the next five years. (Executive Summary 224). An additional significant error with our current system is lack of action. While our current policies are not perfect, they do provide a very good base plan. So why are we not where we need to be? The reason may be budget concerns, or biological weapons are less of a priority than they should be, but whatever the reason, creation of policies without putting them into action leaves us at risk. In Homeland Security Presidential Directive 21, it calls for public outreach and education to inform the general public as to the dangers of biological weapons, and how to reach in the case of the attack, but this has not been done. In Homeland Security Presidential Directive 10, a biosurveillance system is proposed to keep our public health facilities informed as to emerging threats and suspicious events in other parts of the country. While the directive was released in two-thousand four, this has not been accomplished. Proposed Biological Terrorism Prevention and Response Plan Our current policies and recent actions have provided us with a good foundation to build a solid biological weapons prevention and response plan on. However, in order to mitigate the threat more needs to be done. My plan has the potential to fill in most of the holes in our current policy / system. I propose several changes in out current system and policies. My proposed will emphasize all aspects of security (prevention and response). Our current public health seems to be the most important part of the equation, so this is where my biodefense plan will begin. Phase I: In order to mount an efficient response in the aftermath of an attack, we must have a well-organized public health system. This particular part of the plan would call for government-funded upgrades in public health facilities. As stated previously, an analysis of our current public health system shows that â€Å"upgrading public health facilities for broad based-surveillance avoids the threat of tunnel vision that is inherent in the bioterrorism-specific approach.† (Avery 285) Upgrades to our public health facilities should include larger stockpiles of antibiotics, anti-virals, and other countermeasures. According to Homeland Security Presidential Directive 21, â€Å"few if any cities are presently able to meet the objective of dispensing countermeasures to their entire population within forty-eight hours after the decision to do so.† These stockpiles should be large enough to aid in the response after most any disaster, and located in such places that they could be sen t to affected areas within twenty-four hours. Proximity to a major metropolitan area should not be a concern in response efforts. This phase would also require coordination with biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies to coordinate and distribute supplies of counter-measures to several regions in each state. Other responsibilities of our current public health system include vaccination of general public. This would be improved beyond our current status. The next step in upgrading out public health system is personnel training and education. Biological weapons can utilize some of the most deadly bacteria and viruses in the world. Medical personnel should be trained in the recognition and treatment of the most deadly agents. This would necessitate training provided by the Center for Disease Control and other similarly competent private sector facilities and professionals. While many biological agents present with peculiar symptoms, many present with flu-like symptoms and can be easily confused with other less lethal illnesses. All of this information needs to make its way to not only our medical doctors and nurses, but all those involved in public health. The last step of my public health plan is the creation of a centralized network available to all public health facilities. This network would be created and maintained by the federal government with the aid of such agencies as the Center for Disease Control and the National Institute of Health. This network / database would track the progression of illnesses and symptoms throughout the country. It would also serve as a link between facilities. In the event of an attack in one part of the country, all facilities can be put on alert almost instantly. This could lead to significantly less deaths during the aftermath of an attack, and aid in the day to day operations of our countrys public health system. Phase II: Homeland Security Presidential Directive 10 is a general diagram for both prevention and response. While it outlines both aspects, it does not go into great detail as to how its plans are to be accomplished. The same can be said for Homeland Security Presidential Directive 21. Our major policies do not give a detailed picture of what out initial response plan is. We cannot organize a functional response if we do not possess a nation-wide incident response plan for a biological attack. So Phase II would be the creation of a thorough plan that is able to be utilized in all regions of the country. One standardized plan would alleviate any indecisiveness when deciding what to do for a specific region as well as make training much easier. With one standardized plan there is no question of what the local government is to do, everything is planned and only has to be executed. This plan would have three major goals: defining authority after an attack, setup a timeline for when response efforts need to be completed, and provide a basis for training first responders and other charged with response. In the aftermath of an attack authority is always a concern. Because agencies often have different ideas on how response should proceed, authority needs to be defined before an attack ever happens. The two options for authority are federal and state with each having their advantages. Federal agencies have near limitless resources when compared to state agencies. They are usually able to procure and implement necessary resources much faster. State agencies have the benefit of local knowledge. Local knowledge of a particular region and its working is an invaluable asset during times of disaster. Federal agencies cannot possibly all aspects of a particular region and thus this responsibility falls to the state government. State governments also the advantage of being able to react more quickly because of their close proximity to the affected area. So the best compromise between the two would be joint authority shared between the state government (governor, mayors, city managers, etc.), and a representative of the federal government designated by the president. Because a plan will already be in place prior to an attack, the state government would have a definitive game plan within the days following an attack. After the government representative arrives, they can work as a cohesive team to plan the best course of action. Along with defining authority, the national response plan should define timelines as to when certain actions are to be taken. Phase one of this plan would ensure that countermeasures were available in the event of a biological attack. This timeline would establish when these countermeasures are to be given, Phase III Our current president has described biological weapons as a very serious threat. Mitigation of this threat can be achieved, but needs specialized actions from personnel trained in biology as well as investigative techniques. Phase II would call for the creation of an agency dedicated to the threat of bioterrorism. The First step of phase II is finding people with diverse experience (science, investigation, intelligence gather, etc.) to work in this agency. Bioterrorism is a much different threat than most conventional methods of terrorism. To mount a superior defense / offense, it takes a deep understanding of biology, biochemistry, virology, and several other biological sciences. Investigating offenses involving such agents cannot be done without the proper knowledge and practical experience. Most agencies currently tasked with counter-terrorism do not have the requisite personnel with science backgrounds, nor the resources to handle their other responsibilities and the threat from bioterrorism. The need for people with expertise in those areas has been established as is yet unfulfilled. We cannot properly stop a threat if those that are tasked with this responsibility do not know everything there is to know about the threat. The first step would be to obtain the right personnel for the agency. The agency would be made up of doctors, scientists, policy makers, first responders, investigators (law enforcement), security personnel, and any other necessary personnel to mount a comprehensive response. The next step would be to define the responsibilities of the agency. I propose this agency be accountable for investigation of biological weapons threats, regulation of biological agents, working in tandem with intelligence agencies here and overseas, and working with other countries to insure the regulation of said materials there as well. These responsibilities are no small task. They will require countless hours of intelligence gathering, diplomacy, investigation, and law enforcement. The scope of this agency would be extensive, but still well within reach if done properly. This agency would have to utilize techniques used by the Central Intelligence Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigations, and many other similar agencies in order to reach such massive goals. Phase IV Phase IV would consist of public education / outreach. The group of people most vulnerable to biological attacks is everyday citizens. If we are to protect the public, then they must be educated as to risks, current counter measures, and what to do in the case of an attack. This is where the educational outreach programs would enter. They would have to be non-invasive as in a pamphlet given out to each patient after a doctors visit, or educational videos provided to employers to be shown at employment orientations. Using this idea could save us billions of dollars in expenditures subsequent to an attack by saving much time and effort in organizing and coordinating public actions. Phase V Phase V would consist of training those people responsible for first response. Our first line of defense is not government agencies, but the people who are closest to the attack; this will always be local law enforcement, firefighters, and local public health staff. Current local law enforcement agencies are unprepared and unknowledgeable about probably biological attacks and they of all responders would be well versed in what to expect and how to react after a biological attack. Phase V would mandate training of all probably first responders at least once a year. This training would include simulated attacks in a simulated environment. All those that would be involved in the response efforts would be trained in what to do, and then using that training to a simulated attack. This training would also help the public rest easier knowing that their first responders are prepared for the possibility of a biological attack. Advantages vs. Disadvantages Advantages: The greatest strength of the proposed plan is its comprehensiveness. This plan covers all aspects of biological terrorism (prevention and response) as well as addressing the current holes in our system. It provides us with the best possible response, along with directing preventative techniques prior to an attack. Agencies dedicated to specific purposes have a long history of effectiveness as can be seen in the Center for Disease Control and other similar agencies. This plan could not work if the responsibilities were placed upon another agency already tasked with other unrelated obligations. Biological weapons are too great a threat to be relegated to one of the many responsibilities of an agency with many other missions. Also in comparison to outsourcing these responsibilities to the private sector, this proposal represent a method of maintaining security, but also maintaining faith in out government. Most citizens want to know that their government is more than capable of protecting them from major security threats. This proposal has the advantage of allowing all responsibilities to stay in house such that there is no division of responsibilities between government and private. This proposal also allows for improvements in out current countermeasure stockpiles, a public more concerned with their own safety, and a standardized response plan such that Disadvantages: The greatest thing working against an agency of this type is cost. As stated previously, biodefense funding has gone up significantly every year since two-thousand one. (Schuler 88) A plan of this magnitude would be costly. Also, creating of another agency has the possibility of making an already confusing counter-terrorism more perplexing. Brazos Valley threat assessment All the problems that plague the nation in reference to a biological weapons threat are compounded in the Brazos valley Area. The main industry in the region is Texas AM University, and this is also could be considered a high value target. Risk assessment: A threat assessment can be viewed as having three components: the threat to a target, the targets vulnerability to the threat, and the consequences should the target be successfully attacked. (Willis 16) In this regard the risk assessment regarding the Brazos Valley is three-parted. Threat to the target: According to the CDC, bioterrorism agents are typically divided into three categories: categories A, B, and C (www.cdc.gov). Category A organisms include biological agents with both a high potential for adverse public health impact and that also have a serious potential for large-scale dissemination. Category B agents are moderately easy to disseminate and have low mortality rates. Category C agents are pathogens that might be engineered for mass dissemination because they are easy to produce and have potential for high morbidity or mortality. Based on information gathered from interviews with Assistant Chief Freddy Komar of the Bryan Police Department and Doctor Garry Adams of the Texas AM University School of Veterinary Medicine, the biggest threat to Texas AM and the surrounding areas is the dissemination of a Category A organism, more specifically one that can be easily ported to an aerosol method of dispersal. With an effective dispersal in a highly populated and confined area o r event like a football game at Kyle Field, the destructive potential is massive. As an agricultural staple, the Brazos Valley Area Targets Vulnerability to Threat: The government of the Brazos Valley operates in a continuous state of alertness according to an Interview with Mr. Bill May. Using the Texas AM University Engineering Extension Service (TEEX), the Brazos Valley trains emergency workers from all over the world at the request of their home agency. TEEX uses a large training facility to provide simulated disasters in order to prepare the trainees for any type of disaster. TEEX is different from other agencies in that it provides the most realistic training found in the country, if not the world. However, this only takes care of the aftermath. The front line of defense is the local law enforcement branches. In speaking with the assistant chief of police, I found that while Texas AM is a veritable hub for disaster training, the first line of defense against bio-terror

A Comparison of the Economic Philosophies of Adam Smith, John Stuart Mi

As far back as man has been on earth, he has been driven towards building a community among his peers. Whether that is a community of hunters and gatherers who share whatever the day has brought to them within their tribe, or a larger community which within its structure lie the inner dwellings of division of labor and societal classes. Adam Smith (18th Century), John Stuart Mill (19th Century), and Karl Marx (19th Century) are of the same cloth, but in modern terms their community is referenced as a government, and they each have their own distinct opinions on the 'drive' instilled within human nature that shape their personal economic theories. I will be dissecting the views of each of these economists, in regards to the role of government within their envisioned society. While showcasing the difference in views, I want to focus on the subtle similarities that these famous economists shared within their economic process and their beliefs regarding human nature. The first economist we will discuss is Adam Smith. Before we discuss Smith's views, we will provide a brief description of the setting in which Smith was able to create his assumptions, and formulate his theories. Smith studied Social Philosophy at the University of Glasgow and the University of Oxford, the latter of which he was not as fond of. The primary economic theory at the time (18th Century) was mercantilism, which focused on foreign trade and a positive balance of trade (Net Imports > Net Exports;Trade Surplus). Around 1760, Smith was in France, which was horribly in debt due to the ruinous aiding of Americans against the British, amongst other reasons. Smith envisioned the government playing a larger role, one which consisted of protection through mercha... ...iety being tampered or an individual causing harm to others and deemed unfit. All of these economists looked out for the well being of mankind, even if their government-economic structures were polar opposites, they all had the intention of bettering the mankind. Some ideas translate better than others and in hindsight , a mixture of all these great economists ideas are what balances out a capitalist system. Works Cited Heilbroner, R. (1997). Teachings from the Worldly Philosophy. -: W.W. Norton & Company. Marx, K., & Engels, F. (2000). Manifesto of the Communist Party . Germany: Zodiac. Mill, J. S. (2001). On Liberty. Kitchener: Batoche Books. (Original work published 1859) Smith, A. (2005). AN INQUIRY INTO THE NATURE AND CAUSES OF THE WEALTH OF NATIONS. Hazleton: A PENN STATE ELECTRONIC CLASSICS SERIES PUBLICATION. (Original work published 1776)

Ethan Frome Readers Response :: Essays Papers

Ethan Frome Readers Response I thought the novel Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton was one of the best books that I have ever read. When I started reading the book I thought that it would be about the accident that Ethan experienced instead of the incidents behind it. The novel is also well written, Edith Wharton did a fine job writing a book that I never wanted to put down. I felt as though the story was being told to me and that I actually knew Ethan and Mattie. As well I enjoyed the way that Edith Wharton used a lot of adjectives to make the scenes and story come alive, for example in the end of the story during the sledding scene I actually felt as though I was on the sled with Ethan and Mattie. Only two things in the novel bothered me, the fact that in the beginning of the novel I thought that I would find out what happened to Ethan in more detail and I also wanted Mattie and Ethan to run off together. In the opening of the novel, I thought that I would learn more about the accident and when I finished the novel I thought that I was â€Å"left hanging† when Edith Wharton really did not tell you what happened after she made it seem as thought that is what the novel is about. I also wanted Mattie and Ethan to live happily ever after, maybe it was the female in me but I think that they should have run off together instead of being sensible. In the end of the novel, I was really surprised to find out that Ethan is still married to Zeena, I thought that Zeena might leave Ethan and then Ethan and Mattie could get married. I did notice some of the symbolism that Edith Wharton uses in her novel for example, that there is striking symbolism in the imagery that the author uses, primarily that of winter which depicts coldness, detachment, bleakness and seclusion. I also think that Edith Wharton chose winter as a theme in this novel because it symbolizes emotional and physical isolation, and death that surrounds Ethan. Similarly, the name of the town, Starkfield, is symbolic of Ethan's boring life. Just as Ethan’s house was once new and beautiful it is now worn by many harsh winters in Starkfield, as was Ethan after the accident.

Consumer negotiation Essay

Introduction Negotiations have a significant impact on the savings of a customer during the business relationship. The authors of this article assume that the transfer price lies between the manufactures production costs and the maximum retail price and that the negotiations occur in an incomplete and the producer is not sure on the consumer price. Every negotiator has the ability to convince the other that the surplus is smaller than it real is. The article also uses the game-theoretic model (Perry & Grossman 1986)  Ã‚   to predict the outcomes and behavior in a negotiation scenario.   In both experiments described by this article fail to describe the bargaining outcomes and behaviors since the players took too much time to agree.   The authors conclude that the negotiation mechanisms depend on the economic characteristics of the negotiation situation and that social and individual contexts influence the outcome of the consumer negotiation. References Bazerman, M. H. (2001). Consumer research for consumers.  Journal of Consumer Research,  27(4), 499-504.

Asiatic Society of Japan Essay

Japanology or the study of the Asiatic Society of Japan from 1853 was actually the records of the Expeditions sent by the American nation to negotiate with Japan to open their economy to international community. Although before the 1853, Perry Expedition, the Americans had attempted several times to establish economic relations with Japan but all the efforts failed as Japan maintained its Close-Door Policy to international community. As the United States earlier Expeditions suffered humiliation due to Japan’s refusal to their intentions, and because of reports about Japanese barbarous attitude heard from survivors of ship wreck in Japanese waters, the United States had gotten a keen interest in Japan sending a large expeditionary force under Commodore Matthew Perry in 1853 to force Japan to open their economy and to demand them kind treatment of the American castaways and shipwreck survivors. Thus, the Perry Expedition was rather business oriented than any other purpose though there were also others who joined for scientific exploration and still others for less noble purpose or for personal advancement. As this paper dig more on the many books about Asiatic Society of Japan, as well as into the Perry Expedition. The writer found out that most of the authors of those books talk about how Japan reacted on the forcible intrusion of United States ships merely to force Japan to open their economy and do business with the Americans and in the international arena. Thus, this paper discussed Japanology and the Asiatic Society of Japan based on the perspective of the majority of authors towards the subject. Though, it also provides information on the activities of the Western men while in Japan during this period, but it is quite brief due to limited sources. The main information would be on the effect of Perry and the American men on the Asiatic society of Japan and how Japan viewed the Western arrogance and intrusion on Japanese soil particularly the Perry Expedition. In the book ‘With Perry to Japan,’ William Heine disclosed that the purpose of the USS Columbus and the USS Vensennes of sailing half way around the world was to find answer whether Japan would end â€Å"two hundred years of isolation and become friends and begin trade† (p. 1). But these American sailors were pushed back with remarked from the authorities to â€Å"depart as quickly as possible, and not come anymore in Japan† (p. 1). But the stubborn Americans made more attempts to do business with Japan but Japan seemed to be determined to close its door to foreign relations. Heines puts it â€Å"Japan seemed determined to remain as it had been since 1638: shut† (p. 1). With much of rejection and humiliation, the United States sent a large force under Commodore Matthew Perry as a show of force to force them to open their economy in international community. Heine pointed out that the Americans â€Å"wanted exploration, surveys and charts, and protection for castaways and trade† (p. 2). But Perry’s show of force was quite a show of arrogance of the American nation as they would bring such armada of ships merely to compel Japan to open their economy. Heines noted that â€Å"Perry’s order was assertive and could be taken as pugnacious† (p. 3). Heines further said that Perry was instructed â€Å"to shoot his way out if it is needed† (p. 3). Because of such a large force comprising of eight ships, over two hundred cannon and heavy gun, and more than two thousand men, Japan was forced to comply and Perry’s expedition broke into Japanese Island forcing them into international arena (p. 4). In the eyes of Western countries, Japan’s attitude towards the West’s attempt to penetrated Japan with their social, cultural and religious and industrial influence was tyranny. Japan was accused of mistreating Americans and other foreigner and of insulting Christianity and so forth. Heines pointed out that the prevailing Western opinion that Japan halted â€Å"the advancement of science and hindered navigation by blocking exploration, preventing survey and refusing to exchange information† (p. 5). Japanese internal policies and actions were viewed as â€Å"unjust, as wrongs to right prima facie, and their own as right to be asserted de facto† (p. 5). Indeed, Japan was merely protecting itself from Western influence under the banner of nationalism. In the words of Heines, â€Å"a country sought to be left alone and bothered nobody unless bothered by somebody† (p. 5), was suddenly intruded by foreigner. Japan was dragged into international arena mainly because of one sided interest, that of America. Japan had to choose either to accept the American terms or risk their country of losing in battle. In the words of Heines, Japan carefully studied the terms and decided to â€Å"grant the request of those people to trade and communicate with them, learn their drills and tactics, and go abroad to prepare [themselves]† (p. 5). According to an article entitled ‘Transaction of the Asiatic Society of Japan’ revealed the American’s coming in Japan was through the invitation of a Japanese named Neriaki. The article said that Neriaki was able to send letter to a Japanese who managed to get away to American inviting Americans to come to Japan (p. 111). It was this letter that became the prelude to Commodore Dewey to make assertion to Japanese authorities of his coming in 1853. The letter indeed was in arrogant tune. William Gerald Beasley stated that although the American intention was to establish â€Å"friendship and intercourse between the people of two respective countries, yet it was a one-sided transaction. Beasley pointed out that the United States’ statement in the letter, â€Å"we desire to explain to you how great is the United States, and if you refuse to enter into an arrangement, we shall commence hostilities† (Beasley, p. 3). During this time Japan was living in peace and had no internal troubles as Beasley puts it, the â€Å"military class enjoyed a long peace and neglected military arts; they had given themselves up to luxury and pleasure, and there were very few who had put on armor for many years† (p. 3). Thus, the visit of the American ships intended to make peace and friendship brought troubles and confusion on a country living in peace and their citizens living in prosperity. The visit was indeed a little of short to be described as an aggression, because as Beasley described the nature of how the Americans made their entry. Beasley writes, â€Å"In the autumn of the year 1864, during the reign of the 122nd sovereign of the human dynasty, a disturbance took place at Kyto the like of which had not accord since the first origin of Japan. Arms were resorted to and bullets flew about the imperial palace; nay more than half of it was burnt in a conflagration which arose out of the fight. The fierce flames lighted up the heavens, and huge waves overwhelmed the earth† (p. 1). No wonder, the Japanese viewed both the Americans and the British Barbarians. Beasley noted the Japanese authorities were aware of the plunder made by the English Barbarians during the Opium War and the incursion of the US ships a warning and to avoid war, they hard better grant though Japan gave into American demand but in their mind â€Å"the Americans were watching their country with greedy eye for many years† (Beasley, p. 5). As Japan was drag into the international arena Japan was forced to abandon policies of seclusion. Marius B. Jansen noted that Japan was compelled to â€Å"enter the international order on terms defined by the West† (Jansen, p.294). Jansen pointed out that Japan struggled to regain its sovereignty and was forced to â€Å"embarked on policies of centralization and institutional innovation in order to build a modern nation-state and the basic restructuring of domestic society† (Jansen, p. 294). Jensen further said that as Japan moved on further in their new order of domestic reconstruction, what has began as defensive steps to head a perceived Western threat was soon followed by membership in that military and economic order that had first challenged them (Jansen, p. 294). Jansen also pointed out that in the course of Perry and Harry’s negation with the Shogunate of Japan to open their economy to the international community Tokugawa Nariaki which previously sent the letter to America inviting them to come to Japan, â€Å"played a prominent role in opposition to the way Japan responded to the demands of Perry and of Harries (Jansen, p. 295). As more developments taking place in Japan with the presence of the Western forces on the shore of Japan, the foreigners made more contributions to the demolition of Japan’s social and cultural values in the areas where they were to be found. Jansen said â€Å"Japanese entrepreneurs were not slow to set up places of amusements for sailors. And the prints Sadahide provide colorful documentation of partying in the Yokohama Genkiro and other brothels† (Jansen, p. 317). The Wild Wild West behavior of these foreigners not only puzzled ordinary Japanese by these self-confident outsiders but also disrupted moral order of the Japanese life. Jansen puts it, â€Å"no one can question the advisability of men’s providing themselves with pistols, but picnic excursions to islets in Edo Bay that ended with target shooting (p. 317), that even the bravest Samurai for all their courage were helpless to do anything and forced to accept the reality and humiliation that unconscionable behavior was an infuriating reminder of inferiority (Jansen, p. 317). Japanese thought that Westerners will destroy Japanese political structure through the â€Å"diffusion of Christianity, while others felt that these are desecrating sacred soil by their presence and they feared that tolerating their entry invited a form of colonialism. † Thus, during the Western’s first attempts, Japan treated them indifferently which was a normal and ordinary reaction but the US viewed it as tyranny.

The company requires a short description of the proposed project

A prominent publishing company, has contacted you about the possibility of writing a new textbook for the first semester History of World Civilizations course, a potentially very lucrative undertaking.The company requires a short description of the proposed project that includes:   a possible table of contents; an overview of the purpose of the book (and what will be unique about it); a rationale for the book's organization; and an explanation of the key themes to be developed.Please take the time to organize your thoughts in a logical manner and cite evidence to support your analysis.The 21st century is filled with technological innovations and scientific discoveries that have significantly improved how the human race subsists. Since the beginning of time, man has constantly aim for development and progress.As a result, numerous changes have transpired which paved the way for the occurrence of civilizations. Without these developments, the contemporary society would not be able to enjoy and at the same time benefit from the modern conveniences that were all made possible through the ingenuity and intelligence of the ancient people.Most of the history books have almost accurately tackled the advancement of the political, social, cultural and economic aspects of the society in the six continents of the world namely: Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia and North and South America. However, this book that I am proposing would discuss the relationship between nature and civilization.There have been previous studies conducted that argued that civilization is a â€Å"by-product of these social adaptations to environmental change† (Rockets, 2006). More so, based on several archaeological expeditions, scientists and historians have theorized that the â€Å"development of civilization was simply the result of a transition from harsh, unpredictable climatic conditions during the last ice age, to more benign and stable conditions at the beginning of the Holocene per iod some 10,000 years ago† (Environment News Service, 2006).Because of this notion, I have decided to write a book that would provide historical accounts on how man and nature have evolved that contributed to the formation of civilizations which have become the core of human existence. Through this book, readers would be enlightened on how the interaction between man and nature and their development have played a role in the advancement of humanity.Moreover, this undertaking would provide answers on why climate has changed and determine the contributions of man in the present environmental phenomenon. This book offers a timely subject matter and revealing historical information that would give a new perspective on World Civilizations.