Monday, December 30, 2019

Should Marijuana Be Legalized - 895 Words

Should marijuana be legalized? In the eyes of some American s, marijuana is one of the biggest enemies in today’s society. Since alcohol and tobacco, both a life threatening substances are legal, it is only right to question, why marijuana is illegal. When speaking of the legalization of marijuana, it is important to identify which facts pertaining to marijuana use are stereotypes, truths, and egregious slander. Many people that have never been exposed to the plant have preconceived notions of marijuana being closely related to delinquency while others, both knowledgeable and naive of the plant, strive to expose the pros and cons of legalizing marijuana. Marijuana should be legalized on the grounds that the reputation it has†¦show more content†¦Even though these truths are slowly coming out, they are still under heavy criticism, due to the stereotypical view of what the government is portraying the drug to be. Using marijuana for medicinal purposes is not a recent di scovery. In fact, the fore father of America, George Washington, used to grow cannabis for medicinal purposes. As Gerber states, George Washington used the cannabis... for medicinal purpose (Gerber 72). Gerber continues, In England, like some of her subjects, Queen Victoria took marijuana for medical problems recurred to persistent menstrual cramps. (Gerber 63). Today, thousands of patients are using marijuana as an effective method to treat their ailments. Modern research suggests that cannabis is valuable in helping a list of sickness. It helps with the reduction of pain, nausea, glaucoma, which increases pressure in the eyeball, damaging the optic nerve and causing loss of vision, and movement disorders. It is also a powerful medicine used to increase the appetite of AIDs patients. â€Å"There are at least two active chemicals in marijuana that researchers think medicinal applications. Those are cannabinol(CBD) – which seems to impact the brain without a high – and tetrahydrocannabinol(THC) – which is pain relieving (and other) properties.†(Loria. 2014). â€Å"Researchers looking for risk factors of heart disease tested the lung function of 5,115 young adults over the course of 20 years. Tobacco smokers lost lung

Sunday, December 22, 2019

Persuasive Essay On Abortion - 1594 Words

â€Å"I’m pro-responsible choice. There is choice to abstain, choice to do contraception. There are all kinds of good choices.† - Sharron Angle In 1973, Supreme Court made a landmark decision on the Roe v. Wade court case; affirming abortion as a constitutional right for all. This was the beginning of the fight for women’s equality and autonomy. However, women still have been forced to defend their choice against those opposing these decision rights; against politicians and organizations that have dedicated their life to undermining and slowly getting rid of women’s rights until legal abortion is no longer a choice. Each year there have been hundreds of laws restricting women’s constitutional rights; from limiting access to safe, legal†¦show more content†¦The argument is that having the choice to take a life, weather it’s two weeks or 40 weeks, it is inhuman and murderous. For example, the Created Equal group stated that, â€Å"The claim that preborn children are part of womens bodies flies in the face of modern science. Preborn children are dependent upon their mothers, but they are no t part of them. They have their own blood type, bone structure, and genetic code. In fact, the notion that the preborn is part of the mother would result in inane conclusions—such as the mother having four arms, four legs, and, in the case of a preborn boy, even male genitalia. We also know there are limits to choice. The autonomy of any one person does not permit her to infringe on the rights of, or endanger, another. For example, the right of a man to do what he wants with his body does not permit him to rape women. And a woman’s right to do what she wants with her hands ends when she uses them to drown her children. Choice, then, is not absolute. Indeed, some choices are wrong: rape, murder, abuse, etc. Since we would not allow a mother to kill her born children by choice, we must not permit her to kill her preborn children for the same reason. I agree that abortion has been abused by women who are not ready for a child because I think that once a woman decides to h ave sex she is taking that risk of having a child whether she is ready or not. However, if you are one of the 25,000 girls that becomes pregnant through rape orShow MoreRelatedPersuasive Essay About Abortion993 Words   |  4 Pagesin two peoples perspectives. The story consisted of a daughter (Deb) and mother’s perspective after the death of her father. The purpose of this layout is to show how they are both grieving in individual ways. Writing for the persuasive was presented as an essay on why abortion should be accessible in every country, and to also outline the shame women receive. Purpose Purpose for writing publication- Purpose for writing a real-estate article was to inform a potential buyer on the house showed. AlsoRead MoreAbortion Persuasive Essay1119 Words   |  5 Pages To begin with, there has always been an extensive issue with the topic of abortion, why? Well, it’s a tough subject and can get extremely emotional and very defensive. Honestly, people just need to open up their eye’s and understand that its murder and not just a choice. It is murder because two can create a blessing and the choice of aborting it, is more like a sacrifice for the reason a mother can’t carry a baby for nine months. Whether a person is a minor, young adult, or an adult and is inRead MoreAbortion Persuasive Essay755 Words   |  4 Pagesinstead these babies are torn limb by limb, burned, and many other tortuous methods to end the precious life. Abortion is murder and is not only very cruel to the unborn baby but it also harms the mother. Pro-choice is an escape from the harsh reality that a baby is being murdered, and in my eyes a life should only be terminated if God himself is ready to call them home. One reason why abortion is wrong is because they are many other safe solutions that would give the child a chance at life. AdoptionRead MorePersuasive Essay On Abortion917 Words   |  4 PagesAbortions in Texas consist of ending a pregnancy of an unborn child before it can live out of the mother womb. However if the pregnancy ends not on purpose before the twenty four week mark then technically it would be considered a miscarriage. Though inducing the abortion on purpose has caused a lot of controversy over the past century. Deliberately putting people on one of two sides of this issues, of either being for it, which would be considered Pro Choice. Or in the other category of the ProRead MorePersuasive Essay On Abortion1635 Words   |  7 Pagessolve this issue the option of abortion was brought to the forefront by scientists and advocates such as Dan Savage who mentioned that abortion should be mandatory for the next 30 years in or to control the population. (Ertlet) For countri es such as the U.S. with a growth rate being 1.6%, the proposal of widespread abortion is highly recommended as mentioned by obstetricians and gynecologists. (MumfordKessel) Who now leaves the question as to if the option of abortion should be used as a means ofRead MorePersuasive Essay On Abortion1228 Words   |  5 Pagesmillion pregnancies each year in the United States, 1.6 million end up in abortion† (Hern). Because of the numerous traumatic psychological, physical, and overall irresponsible behavior or actions constantly encouraged due to abortion, it should be banned, and forever illegal. Killing one’s own fetus has been linked to psychological distress which has been channeled into many different cases of substance abuse. â€Å"Induced abortion has been linked to increased rates of substance abuse, especially amongRead MoreAbortion Persuasive Essay804 Words   |  4 Pagesfamily with someone. Often times accidents happen in which people didn’t plan for, and can lead to many financial problems or neglect of one’s child because the parents weren’t prepared to be parents. This is why there should be the option of abortion. Abortion needs to be an option for everyone because it helps from long lasting mental states, infection, economical problems, and or having conceived from a non consensual circumstance. Pregnancy is a hard and unforgiving to the woman’s body. In factRead MorePersuasive Essay On Abortion954 Words   |  4 Pagesand nations who destroy life by abortion and euthanasia are the poorest. I do not say legal or illegal, but I think that no human hand should be raised to kill life, since life is God’s life in us, even in an unborn child.† Do you know what abortion really is? Abortion is the ending of pregnancy by removing a fetus or embryo before it can survive outside the uterus. Abortion seems to be more common in today’s society. Numerous amounts of individuals support abortion, and do not realize how it affectsRead MoreAbortion Persuasive Essay736 Words   |  3 Pagesfavor of abortion rights. The decision was 7-2, it stated that it showed a â€Å"right of privacy.†Abortions have been performed for thousands of years all around the world, even though many women died from it. Women nowadays have a choice of whether they want to get an abortion. Abortions do come with risk, one of them being death, but women should still have a right and say what they want to do with pregnancy and not be judged by others for doing so. Today the debate across the world is if abortion shouldRead MorePersuasive Essay On Abortion1321 Words   |  6 Pagessomeone who may be suicidal or who is suicidal himself/herself. As for taking away fetus’ lives, the damage that abortion makes on life can be proven with the statistics. According to Casey, â€Å"over the past 44 years, one-sixth (60,000,000) of the American population has been killed by elective abortion. Twenty-five percent of African-Americans are killed in the womb America,† (Should Abortion Be Legal n.p.). The figure 60,000,000 is a depressing number considering that these children could have been future

Saturday, December 14, 2019

Electoral College Free Essays

Persuasive Speech (Monroe’s Motivational Sequence) Reforming the Electoral College Specific Purpose: To persuade my audience that the Electoral College is outdated and needs to be reformed. Central Idea: I will discuss the most important reasons that the Electoral College needs to be reformed, the promising ways to reform it, and the benefits of reformation. Introduction I. We will write a custom essay sample on Electoral College or any similar topic only for you Order Now Imagine that you have been shot and the bullet was wedged against your spinal cord. The doctors have told you that it is too risky to remove it, but if left untouched or unnoticed it could paralyze you. The Electoral College is defined as the dangerous â€Å"bullet† wedged against the spinal cord of Americans today. Michael Waldman, executive director of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law, stated in the April 2008 issue of Washington Monthly that â€Å"politics advances just like medicine and there are new procedures to remove the Electoral College ‘bullet’ without changing the US Constitution. † While some politicians may disagree and argue that the Electoral College is a key factor of the political system, it is actually a restriction on the way Americans vote. Exactly like the bullet that has to be removed from your spinal cord, the Electoral College must be removed before our nation becomes forever injured. II. Today, I am going to discuss the necessary need for Electoral College reform. With the research I have done, I know what a trouble the Electoral College is to our nation. A. As college students, we may be new to the process of voting; some of us may have not had the opportunity to have our first vote, but I bet that you want your vote to count when the next election is here. III. I believe it is vital to understand the history of the Electoral College and how our country has altered since its foundation. IV. I will explain why reform of the Electoral College is needed, some of the achievable methods of reform, and the benefits of the reformation. (Transition: First lets discuss why there is a need for reforming the Electoral College. ) Body I. The Electoral College must be reformed. A. The first reason it must be reformed is because, there is a chance of electing a president that does not receive the most votes. 1. A 2007 article in the International Social Science Review reports that each state is given electoral votes equal to the number of senators–each state has two–and the number of representatives. The number of representatives is determined by the population of the state. The minimum number of Electoral votes is three. The total possible electoral votes are 538 with 270 needed to win. 2. Robert Longley, a University of Texas political analyst, wrote in the November 2001 US Government Newsletter that a candidate could win an election without receiving one vote from 39 states or the District of Columbia. The presidential election can be won by receiving Electoral votes from as few as eleven states. 3. Now does this sound like it could never happen? I thought so too until I found in my research that this has already happened three times. B. The second reason the Electoral College must be changed is the danger of untrustworthy electors. 1. In December 2000, William G. Ross of the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University, wrote in The Jurist, that â€Å"faithless electors provide an element of surprise in an otherwise routine Electoral College ritual. The electoral vote is a formality for electors to vote for the presidential candidate chosen by their states. † 2. In a March 2007 USA Today article, Dennis Cauchon reported that twenty-four states have laws requiring electors to vote for the candidate elected by popular vote in their states’ elections. All electors are free, however, to vote as they choose. Only four states penalize the electors, with the harshest being a $1,000 fine. 3. Although you may think just a couple of unfaithful votes will not change anything it does. In the 2000 election of George Bush, two or three faithless electors could have changed the outcome. C. The third reason the Electoral College must be reformed is because it is old-fashioned, or out-of-date. 1. The Electoral College was recognized by the Founding Fathers at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787. 2. This is when our nation consisted of the thirteen original colonies with a total population of 4,000,000 people spread along the Atlantic coast. In October of 2009, The Electoral College reported on their website that the seaboard was barely connected by transportation or communication and national campaigns were not practical. Since there was really no way of campaigning they believed that to elect someone would do the best job they needed an Electoral College who understood the politics. If we look at today’s technology and the many ways of campaigning the people are educated on the candidates and understand. (Transition: Now that we have discussed some of the reasons why the there should be change or reform of the Electoral College, I will talk about some choices of reform. ) II. There are two popular choices for reform of the Electoral College. A. The first choice is Instant Runoff Voting, or IRV. . IRV, according to the Center for Voting and Democracy’s website is inexpensive and efficient; voters simulate runoff elections by marking their ballots with a first and second runoff choice. Voters get to rank their choice as an alternative of voting for on candidate of their choice. If there is not a popular winner, the candidate with the lowest ranking is eliminated and the second choice on t hat ballet is counted. B. National Popular Vote campaign 1. The April 2008 issue of the Washington Monthly says that this campaign would not require a constitutional amendment. Each state would pass a law agreeing to award all their electors to the candidate who wins the national popular vote. This would be effective when an adequate amount of states entering hold electoral college votes to a total of 270 votes. According to the Washington Monthly, Maryland, New Jersey, and Illinois have all signed the compact, with many more actively debating the issue. (Transition: Now that you know the two options in the reformation of the Electoral College, I will talk about the benefits of reform. ) III. The key benefits of Electoral College reform are the following: A. The elections would be more democratic. . Each voter’s vote would really be counted. B. Voters would then know that their vote counted. 1. With more voters knowing their vote was counted there would be a bigger turnout with voters. C. The citizens would not have to worry about untrustworthy electors. 1. Since they only cast one vote like the rest of the population. Conclusion I. To sum up, I hope you understand and take into consideration the reasons why the Electoral College should be reformed, different routes could be taken in the election process, and the benefits are associated to all of us in this classroom and also the rest of the American votes. II. I hope the information I have provided you today shows that the reformation of the Electoral College is necessary to each of you in this class so that everyone of your votes count. With the reform our future can see â€Å"One person, one vote. † Works Citied Bolinger, B. (2007, Fall-Winter). Point: abolishing the electoral college. International Social Science Review, 32-34. Cauchon, D. (2007, March). Faithless electors could alter outcome. USA Today, A6. Center for Voting and Democracy. (n. d. ). Instant runoff ballot measures gain key support. Retrieved October 26, 2009, from http://www. fairvote. org/e_reform. htm Kimberling, W. (2009, October). The electoral college. Retrieved October 29, 2009, from www. fec. gov/pdf/eleccol. pdf Longley, R. (2001, November). The electoral college system, how to lose but win and election. US Government Newsletter, 1. Ross, W. (2000, December). Faithless electors: the wild card. The Jurist, 4. Waldman, M. (2008, April). Majority rule at last, how to dump the electoral college without changing the constitution. Washington Monthly, 56-65. How to cite Electoral College, Papers Electoral College Free Essays

Friday, December 6, 2019

Royal Brisbane and Women Hospital in Queensland Free Sample

Question: You have just been Appointed as the First Director of Organisational Development that your Organisation has ever had. The First thing you must do is Develop a Strategic Plan for the Next Five Years. Answer: Organisational context The purpose of this report is to present a strategic plan for the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital in Queensland, Australia. This hospital seeks to undertake a strategic planning for the development of the critical care and clinical support services. RBWH is a public hospital works under Metro North Hospital and health services. RBWH is tertiary referral hospital that undertakes teaching and research roles. This hospital situated at the North West province of Queensland. Among the total number of patients coming to seek service to this health care unit, number of children is greater than patients of other age group. Patients of age group above 65+ are 83% of the total patients admitted in the private and public hospitals (health.qld.gov.au, 2017). The strategic plan needs to be prepared to address the issues and challenges faced by RBWH and to achieve potential opportunities. Relevant approaches of the development of strategic plan SWOT analysis to develop the strategic plan Strengths Provides complex ambulatory and community services Each unit provides multiple health speciality services including surgery, medicine, psychiatry, oncology, womens and new born. Undertake significant teaching role, which creates good relation with community As population of Queensland is projected to increase 28% by 2026. Therefore, it is expected that demand for critical health care and clinical services will rise in future. It may have good effect on revenue of the organisation. Weaknesses This hospital mainly focuses on the tertiary services. Service needs to be diversified with the increase in population. Inequality in service accession Mismatch in current resources and required resources. Required to handle increasing burden of diseases. Increasing competition in health care unit. Staff management problem (Mellor, 2015) that hampers service quality Opportunity This organisation has opportunity to develop a health reform plan and decision making Opportunity to deliver quality, safety and improvement in quality of the service. Opportunity to deliver a centralised service. Capacity building. Development of road based critical care services Threats Increasing competition from private sector organisation in the area of critical care service (Whiteford et al., 2013) Lack of supervision for neonatology and paediatric training possess the risk of losing accreditation Systematic approach to determine plan Internal and external environment analysis to identify key challenges Setting vision and mission in order to fulfil strategic plan for next five years. Need to mitigate difficulties faced by organisation, patients and staffs in service delivery Developing an action plan Training of responsible employees Determining budget Implementation of plan Critical factors for developing plan Mismatch in current resource and required resources Nursing staff management problem Inequality in the health service accession from different income group Increasing competition in critical care unit Lack of supervision for neonatology and paediatric training possess The strategic plan needs to be developed in order to reduce the organisation risk regarding service and to mitigate current problem faced by different stakeholders. Key variables driving for strategic change Key variables drives towards formulation of strategic plan are as follows: Providing community service at a greater scale Mitigating issue of the safety and supervision Enhance capacity to meet future demand for health care services Increasing sales and productivity Improvement of maternity, post and antenatal services Addressing perinatal mental health care services Support timely access to emergency and other critical care services. Investment, innovation and plan for future development of opportunity. Logical mission and vision Vision statement To improve critical care unit and community in order to bring the excluded group of society under critical care services. Mission statement Mission of RBWH is to provide world class education in health services along with talent development, bringing efficiency in service, increasing partnership with other sister units, developing good governance system. Goals and objectives for outpatient critical care unit for next five years The stated goals and objectives are set for next five years. Major objective of RBWH is to improve service quality in the patient care unit along with the improvement in health care education. Skill development of employees are essential for the improvement of overall service quality as employees need to understand the organisational goals effectively (Thaker et al., 2013). Goals: Objectives Improvement in services Quality assurance Bringing all facilities under one roof through carrying out preventive and promotive services through provision of immunisation, antenatal, counselling and family welfare clinics. Improvement of the skills of staffs Enhancement of economic importance and employee satisfaction Providing fair price medicine shop at the health care unit Initiatives for pay performance approach for employees to encourage them Practice of cost effective health care, resource allocation (Britt et al., 2013) Patient satisfaction Look after complaints and grievances of patients effectively using feedback analysis Providing speciality and super speciality doctors at the outpatients department Supply of all required technologies and instruments at the emergency to provide prompt service to patients (Bismark et al, 2013. Justification of strategic approach The strategic plan is aligned with the vision and mission of RBWH for next five years. A significant number of people in North East region of Metro North Brisbane are excluded from critical health care unit. Therefore, it is required to take initiative to provide them basic health care service facility at affordable cost. Critical care unit can fulfil this objective effectively. Better patient outcome and positive experience are expected in the integrated health care units (Swayne, Duncan Ginter, 2012). Safe and sustainable services are objectives of RBHS. A critical care model is intended to apply in this health care unit to review discharge patients and to prevent readmission in the intensive care unit (ICU). The critical care service will be improved by road based critical transfer system. This strategy is expected to create better patient care experience in next five years. As this institute works both as a health care service provider and education provider, RBWH can play a crucial role in developing employee skill through enhancement of professional and interpersonal communication skills. The later skill is important mostly for the nurses. Implementation of cost effective business strategy, better use of resources, development of employee performance, and reduction in demand and supply gap of staffs through decrease in absenteeism can create a better health care experience (van Wijngaarden, Scholten van Wijk 2012). Enhancement of safety, quality in service, better asset management, reduction in operational cost through cutting unwanted activities and opening up a fair price medicine shop can create a difference of service quality of RBWH that with others References Bismark, M. M., Spittal, M. J., Gurrin, L. C., Ward, M., Studdert, D. M. (2013). Identification of doctors at risk of recurrent complaints: a national study of healthcare complaints in Australia.BMJ quality safety, bmjqs-2012. Britt, H., Miller, G. C., Henderson, J., Bayram, C., Valenti, L., Harrison, C., ... O'Halloran, J. (2013).General Practice Activity in Australia 2012-13: BEACH: Bettering the Evaluation and Care of Health(No. 33). Sydney University Press. health.qld.gov.au (2017). Vision and Mission, Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital | Queensland Health. Retrieved 30 March 2017, from https://www.health.qld.gov.au/rbwh/mission_values Mellor, L. (2015). Lady Cliento Hospital staffing issues causing 'concerns for patient safety'. ABC News. Retrieved 30 March 2017, from https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-09-17/lady-cilento-hospital-staffing-shortage-royal-brisbane-neonatal/6785222 Swayne, L. E., Duncan, W. J., Ginter, P. M. (2012).Strategic management of health care organizations. John Wiley Sons. Thaker, D. A., Monypenny, R., Olver, I., Sabesan, S. (2013). Cost savings from a telemedicine model of care in northern Queensland, Australia.Med J Aust,199(6), 414-417. van Wijngaarden, J. D., Scholten, G. R., van Wijk, K. P. (2012). Strategic analysis for health care organizations: the suitability of the SWOT?analysis.The International journal of health planning and management,27(1), 34-49. Whiteford, H. A., Degenhardt, L., Rehm, J., Baxter, A. J., Ferrari, A. J., Erskine, H. E., ... Burstein, R. (2013). Global burden of disease attributable to mental and substance use disorders: findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010.The Lancet,382(9904), 1575-1586.

Friday, November 29, 2019

Jesse Jaramillo-Camacho Essays - Music, African-American Culture

Jesse Jaramillo-Camacho PB #2 The Fox News commentary on Kendrick Lamar's 2015 BET performance and the analytical essay, "The Social Significance of Rap Hip-Hop Culture" by Becky Blanchard, are both on the topic of the effects of rap and Hip-Hop on the youth. They differ in genre, message, style, and content. The analytical essay takes a more positive stance on rap and Hip-Hop, whereas the Fox News commentary takes a much more negative stance. The purpose of the Fox News commentary is to demonize and blame rap and Hip-Hop for delinquency in youth. They do this by making vague statements and limiting context. In the beginning of the segment , they show a clip of the performance with Kendrick Lamar rapping on a vandalized cop car and highlight the lyrics "We hate po po , wanna kill us dead in the street for sure..." and "My gun might blow" There are lyrics around those words but they highlight ed those to portray the rapper as anti-cop and pro crime . Geraldo Rivera's comment, "This is why I say that Hip-Hop has done more damage to young African-Americans than racism in recent years." serves to diminish the racism that the Africa n-American community faces and paint Hip-Hop as detrimental . The Fox News commentary's purpose is to accuse rap and Hip-Hop of being detrimental to youth, disrespectful to law, and causing damage in the African-American community. The purpose of the analytical essay is to provide analysis and context around the argument of rap and Hip-Hop. With analysis and evidence, the overall message of the essay is positive, unlike the Fox News commentary. We can see the purpose in the closing statements, "despite the blame placed on rap for the prominence of violence in American society, hip-hop music is a symptom of cultural violence, not the cause. [] it is necessary to look at it as the product of a set of historical, political, and economic circumstances and to study the role it has served as voice for those subjugated by systematic political and economic oppression . " The author tells us to dig-deeper and analyze before we criticize r ap and Hip-Hop. The purpose of the text is to provide analysis and historical background to the arguments surrounding rap and Hip-Hop. Fox News knows their audience. Usually the people that watch Fox News are older white conservatives. This demographic does not listen to Hip-Hop. Most of these people believe Hip-Hop and rap are corrupting forces that turn African-Americans into thugs. The Fox News commentary plays to their audience. They feed them more evidence and reason to demonize the music and say that it's actually rap and Hip-Hop that stunts the African-American community instead of the true factors. As a company, Fox News needs to make money, they do this be creating loyal viewers. They create loyal viewers by giving them a platform for similar views and opinions. The audience of the analytical essay is college students. We can guess this because the article was on the site Stanfor.edu. College students are usually young liberal intellectuals that need evidence and a good argument before believing anything. College students are the listeners of rap Hip-Hop, and the article plays to that. The mostly positive message is an argument that college students can support. The use of massive historical context and thorough analysis is a solid argument that will satisfy any college student who was undecided on the topic. In the analytical essay, Becky Blanchard structures the text into many paragraphs that discuss different pieces of evidence. She mainly uses historical context to make her argument. The historical context is extremely effective in proving her point. Not only does she use rap and Hip-Hop history as evidence, she also uses the culture of African-Americans from slavery to modern America to show the effects that they had on the music. The choice to use this type of evidence allows the reader to picture the broad scape and broad influence African-American culture has had on rap and Hip-Hop. In the Fox News report, the commentators make their arguments in a somewhat structured manner. They each take turns speaking their opinion. The first line of the

Monday, November 25, 2019

The Possible Origins of the Words Sincere and Sincerely

The Possible Origins of the Words Sincere and Sincerely The origin of the word sincere is disputed, although the popular etymology has it coming from words for without wax. Without Wax It is commonly believed that sincere comes from two Latin words- sine without and cera wax. Although even that much is challenged, there are two explanations for how without wax came to be an important claim, both involving craftsmen, who during the Republic of Rome, would generally have been slaves or foreigners. Some think that marble workers would cover imperfections in the stone with wax, much as modern homemakers or unscrupulous antique dealers might rub wax to hide a scratch in wood. Another idea for the origin of sincere has more ominous consequences. Since cement was more expensive than wax, unscrupulous bricklayers would sometimes employ it- at least thats the story. When it melted, bricks could shift and structures collapse. So the claim that something was sine cera would be an important guarantee. The Online Etymology Dictionary says it may come from sem-, sin-, roots for one and crescere growth.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

The Nature of Tragedy in Antigone is Unique and Profound Essay

The Nature of Tragedy in Antigone is Unique and Profound - Essay Example It is hard to see how it could ever have been maintained, except by those whose minds were prejudiced by predetermined opinions regarding the proper functions of tragedy. The whole tone of the play is against it. Right from the beginning to the end the reader’s/spectator’s sympathies are enlisted on the side of Antigone and in favor of the belief that human law must give way to the divine promptings of the ethics. Midway through the play, the Chorus makes an appearance on the scene to announce that the tragedy has begun. His speech offers a meta-theatrical commentary on the nature of tragedy. Here, in an obvious reference to Jean Cocteau, tragedy emulates the workings of a machine in perfect order, blithe and automatic in function. The candid and desultory event sets it on its unalterable march: in some sense, it has been lying in wait for its medium. Tragedy belongs to an order outside human time and action. It will advocate itself in spite of its players’ agenda and their attempts at involvement. Many critics allude to the ambivalent nature of this suspense. As noted by the Chorus, in tragedy everything is in the past. The spectator has abdicated, masochistically, to an array of events it abhors to watch. Suspense, here, is the period before those events actual realization. Having compared tragedy to other media, the Chorus then sets it off circuitously, particularly in the mode of melodrama. The tragedy is manifest as docile, cogent and eminent, free of melodramatic stock characters, dialogues, and other confrontations. All these are exigencies and hence inevitable.

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Explosions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Explosions - Essay Example The Imperial Sugar dust explosion occurred four years after the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB)  had conducted a study into the risks presented by dust explosions after three prior severe accidents in 2004. Unfortunately, all the recommendations the CSB made to the  Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) had only been partially acted on e.g. the outdated methods and construction materials that added to the severity of the Port Wentworth fire could have been detected. On the other hand the BP Texas City Refinery disaster was the result of gross negligence on the part of its management and workers. Rigot (2007) clearly outlines the Baker Panel’s findings on the incident. BP’s US refineries did not comply with its own internal process safety standards, process safety leadership was lacking and the work environment encouraged procedural noncompliance (7-15). Southwest Industrial Gases and CAI Inc. may have not directly been culpable for their explosions b ecause of the difficulty to judge whether the causes were accidental or intentional. However, the Bastian Plating Company’s poisonous gas incident was unacceptable. The night-shift leader avoided all precautions. Secondly, it is unacceptable for a team leader in a chemical plant to unknowingly create hydrogen cyanide. With the level of expertise, technology and knowledge in the US, most industrial explosions are preventable. Rigot (2007) cites the major causes of explosion to be latent organizational weaknesses, lack of effective reporting and learning culture within organizations and focus on injury and illness statistics rather than on process safety by both organizations and OHSA. In conclusion, Davis and Hansen (2009) propose that companies need to perform consequence analyses for their facilities to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future

Monday, November 18, 2019

Code of Professional Ethics and Conduct Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Code of Professional Ethics and Conduct - Essay Example Each and every member of AICPA should be aware of the Interpretations, disciplinary actions and code of conduct thereby providing framework to work and provide desired results without affecting the ethical codes. This paper discusses in detail specific rules related to CPA Code of Ethics and Conduct focusing on : Section 102 – Integrity and Objectivity Section 201- Professional Competence Section 202 – Compliance with Standards Section 501 – Acts Discreditable Each section dscusses a separate cases on the expectation of code and its violation, the disciplinary action involved, prospects for AICPA to prevent breach in the above codes and personal viewpoints on disciplinary actions taken. 2. Case for Section 102 – Integrity and Objectivity (James W. Kingery of Lubbock, Texas) ... Discussion The decision taken by AICPA is apt according to the disciplinary procedures as upon misrepresentation of facts and figures of a company, it is the welfare of the end consumer. i.e. the Investor which is being questioned. The investors take their major investment decisions based on the financial statements and other details provided by the company, and this being misrepresented can lead to negative results for the investor thereby leading to huge losses or even closure of funds. Simultaneously, the same situation can arise for the company as it can lead to cooking up books and creating a bubble which can burst at any given point of time creating losses for end number of institutional and retail investors. Hence, a professional CPA appointed by the company has to comply with the standards and norms and it is his responsibility to educate the management about the consequences of misrepresentation of facts, which unfortunately Mr.Kingery failed to implement. Hence, the decisio n taken by AICPA stands to be apt for the unethical behavior of the member. Prospects for AICPA to prevent misrepresentation of facts Create database of companies who have hired CPA’s and perform second line audit activities on a regular basis to ascertain deviations by keeping the CPA framework . A post mortem review by Apex body would be advisable thereby limiting the liability of CPA and minimize the chances of fraudulent practices to arise in the organization. (Mortimer, 2003) 3. Case for Section 201- Professional Competence (Bruno A Fedele, Jenkintown, Pennsylvania) Professional Competence is the ability to perform professional services that is based on professional standards through application of knowledge and skill with proper diligence (Mele, 2005). A CPA member is

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Dietary Diversity And Nutrition Status Health And Social Care Essay

Dietary Diversity And Nutrition Status Health And Social Care Essay Low birthweight (LBW) is defined as a body weight at birth less than 2500grams. Its main causes include prematurity (born before 37 weeks gestation) in developed countries and Intrauterine Growth Retardation IUGR (restrained foetal growth) in developing countries (ACN/SCN, 2000). Relationship between health of mother and child has also been established, maternal nutritional and health status is an important determinant of childs health and nutritional outcome. LBW infants end up undernourished and stunted children, adolescents and finally women of childbearing age. The main indicators of LBW infants include maternal stunting, low pre-pregnancy weight and low pregnancy weight gain. Thus generational stunting continues (Victoria et al, 2008). Households vary in definition and composition, especially in Africa. Households here in Africa mostly includes the extended family members both in definition and composition. This serves as social support network here and so adds income into the household if the members are economically active or if economically inactive, increases dependency ratio in the household. Mother and child pair nutritional status reflects household dynamics, availability of food, care of mother and child. It can also reflect gender segregation in household food allocation etc. The state of food insecurity 2001 defines Food security [as] a situation that exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life (SOFI, 2002). Its three building pillars include availability, accessibility and stability of food. Availability entails physical presence of food in the household or area concerned; accessibility is concerned with the ability to acquire adequate amount of food and stability means constancy of food access which can be chronic or transitory. Chronic food insecurity exists when food supplies are persistently insufficient to supply adequate nutrients for all individuals. Transitory food insecurity occurs in the presence of temporary decline in access to adequate food because of instability in food production, food prices or income shortfalls. It is also necessary that available food meet the nutritional needs o f the household members, bringing in the component of food utilization. Resource poor subsistence farmers, landless households, pastoral household, female-headed household and urban poor are more vulnerable to food crisis (UN millennium project, 2005; FEWSNET, 2011). During the study period, coastal state of the Bayelsa, delta, Rivers and some portions of Jigawa in Northeast will experience moderate food insecurity. The coastal states will be affected by Niger-Delta crisis and potential pre-election tension. Pipeline vandalization, will continue to contribute to local water pollution, creating fish shortages among others. Flooding in the Northeast state of Jigawa will reduce household stock (Millet) causing food insecurity, with low cereal prices, above-average increase in tuber production. The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) defines biodiversity as the variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems. In other words, it is the variety of life on earth at all levels, from genes to worldwide populations of the same species. The different Levels of biodiversity include ecosystem containing rich biodiversity, species and communities of species and different genotypes, and this includes agricultural biodiversity. All components of agricultural biodiversity relevant to food and agriculture and support the ecosystem that agriculture occurs is important (FAO, 2008). Thus, dietary diversity becomes important as a means of protecting the ecosystem. Dietary diversity can be defined as the number of different foods or food groups consumed over a given reference period, usually 1-2 week. Dietary diversity has been shown to improve nutritional status (Kant et al, 2000; Kiokia and Golden, 2004; Gibson et al, 2000). Thus, it also can aid in combating hidden hunger, and thus double burden. Dietary diversity is a reflection of household food security because depicts accessibility, availability of foods and to some extent stability. Hoddinott and Yohannes analysis of evidence from 10 countries links dietary diversity to household access of calorie and by extension food security (2002). Traditional food systems abound, and are currently going extinct because they are underutilized. The diet is shifting more towards an energy-dense based diet categorized by westernized and processed food, bringing with it the advent of non-communicable diseases like diabetes, coronary heart disease etc. Nutrition education aims to persuade individuals to make meaningful changes in their dietary behaviour. Studies have noted the importance and role in nutrition status and adequacy (Favin and Griffiths, 1999; Tarvinder et al, 2007; Mansour et al, 1994). In view of that, importance of nutrition education cannot be overemphasized in this scope, especially as traditional foods are available in its varieties but less consumed/sought-after. It becomes imperative that nutritional content and thus importance of these foods are once again extolled so that they can be consumed for optimum health. Biologically active substances have been found in traditional foods and functional foods include flavonoids etc. Information technology has opened lots of doors for education and knowledge in the world, which can be harnessed for promotion of nutrition education. Information technology used in education includes access devices, networking and communicating technologies, storage devices and e-learning platform (India policy brief, 2010). They pose great potential for acquiring knowledge especially at the subjects comfort. Phones have been used for teacher training with positive results among other things, MMS examples of teaching, audio lectures, SMS for reminders, motivational messages and short assessment questions etc. were used (ADB/Pouezevara and Khan, 2007). STATEMENT OF PROBLEM There is a dearth of information on the relationship between dietary diversity and nutrition status in Nigeria. There is also little information on shift of food consumption from traditional to processed western foods together with a gap in the quantification of the effect of nutrition education in enhancing dietary diversity. OBJECTIVES GOAL Optimize nutrition status of mother and child through dietary diversity and nutrition education SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES To identify the available foods in the surrounding/environment/locality and determine the neglected and underutilized local foods/species To identify the prevalence of malnutrition of mother and child To assess the dietary diversity in the food consumed by the mother-child and factors affecting it. To Investigate association between dietary diversity and nutritional status To ascertain the influence of nutrition education on nutritional status of mother and child. JUSTIFICATION Prevalence of malnutrition in Nigeria is currently high, especially in Under-Five. Currently, 41% of under-fives are stunted, 23% underweight and 14% wasted (NDHS, 2008). High Under-Five Mortality Rate propels continuous childbearing and with is accompanied maternal mortality due to nutrient depletion (El-Ghannam, 2005). Improved maternal health importantly pre-pregnancy status is vital for adequate growth and development of new foetus and to break intergenerational disease and poverty that can arise from poor health status during the first 1000 days (ACC/SCN, 1992). Lack of adequate nutrition education has led to improper feeding techniques of growing child, especially the under-fives. Traditional food systems are gradually becoming extinct and non-existent. The bulk of foods consumed are shifting base to western-influenced and processed foods (Bioversity International, 2006). High incidence of NCDS in developing countries and increase of double burden has been linked to monopoly in consumption of food and lack of dietary diversity. At the beginning of the 1960s, about 40% of the developing countries were chronically undernourished. Many developing countries have achieved 2700kcals. This high energy combined with an increasingly sedentary lifestyle has led to an increase in obesity and NCDS. The composition of the diet change to mainly high energy and fat etc. (Josef and Prakash, 2004). METHODOLOGY ANALYSIS OF OBJECTIVES Objective Variable Type of analysis To identify the available foods in the surrounding/environment/locality and determine the neglected and underutilized local foods/species Foods from Market survey, FGD and KII vs foods from DD Questionnaire To identify the prevalence of malnutrition of mother and child BMI, stunting, wasting and underweight To assess the dietary diversity of mother and child DDS of mother and child Computation To Investigate association between dietary diversity and nutritional status DDS and BMI/nutritional status indices Cross-tabulation To determine factors affecting dietary diversity DDS and socio-demographic, economic and household factors Cross-tabulation To ascertain the influence of nutrition education on dietary diversity DDS before and after nutrition education Paired T-test STUDY DESIGN The study will be a cross-sectional and descriptive study. STUDY LOCATION The study will be conducted in Anambra state. Anambra state is located in the south-east zone of Nigeria, with its state capital being Awka. On a longitude of 6 20 00N and latitude of 7 00 00E, the state has 21 Local Government areas. It has a land area of 4,416km2 and a population of 4,177,848, made of 2,117,984 males and 2,059,844 females (NPC, 2006). With a population of 473,248, Children Under -five account for about 11.35% of the Anambra state population. Onitsha North and South, Awka North and South and Nnewi North and South are all urban area in the state. Idemili, Oyi, Anaocha, Ogabru and Dunkofia are peri-urban, while the remaining Local governments are rural. With a population size of 369,972 (NPC, 2006), Aguata LGA is the 2nd largest LGA in terms of size and the largest LGA in terms of number of constituting communities 15 communities. The local government has the presence of a prison in Ekwulobia and the renowned Igbo-ukwu museum that houses artefacts and monuments from pre-colonial era. Like all other LGA in Anambra state, Aguata has its own share of ecological disasters, the most prominent being the Ekwulobia Oko erosion site. Other small-sized erosion sites abound in different communities in the LGA. The Staple food consumed here is mostly cassava and yam, eaten as fufu, garri, abacha etc. green leafy vegetables and fruits are also abundantly found. The planting season, marks the beginning of the annual year (Igu aro), and peaks during the harvest season. Map of Anambra State The study will be conducted in Uga, a town in Aguata LGA of Anambra state, in South East Nigeria. With a landmass of about 3790km2, it also has about 100,000 inhabitants. Uga shares its borders with Akokwa, Nkpologwu, Amesi, Umuchu and Ezinifite. The town is made of 4 villages namely Oka, Umueze, Umuoru and Awalasi. These villages have different clan, an average of 6 clans per villages. They include Oka, made up of Okwuowerre, Umuikpa, Umueziama, Amaeke, Okohia and Umucheke. Umueze is made of Umucheke, Ezihe, Umu-umeonye, Umudim and Umuonyike. Umoru village is made of Imishii, Umudieleke, Umuezekpoko and Umori. Awalasi village is made of Umunocha, Umuchiaku, Umuakabo, Umudim, Umuosu, Okwu, Agbako and Umuoweri. The community Uga, has 2 streams/waterbodies, namely, Obizi and Agwazi. While the former is potable and serves as a tourist site, its a taboo to fetch from the latter or visit. The population is predominantly Igbos with few settlers from other tribes. Almost every household has some form of garden or subsistence/small-scale farming; most of the food/fruits available in the market come from subsistence farming. Land tenure is mainly through inheritance and few by purchase. STUDY POPULATION Mothers with under-5 children in the study community. SAMPLE SIZE For the main study, all mothers with their youngest under-5 children in the town will be used. For the Key Informant Interview, The oldest individual in each clan will be used. A total of 24 subjects will be interviewed For the focus Group discussions, each group will have a minimum of 6 and maximum of 8 members in each of the 4 villages, comprising of both sexes. SAMPLING PROCEDURE A three-stage sampling technique will be used to select respondents/mother-child pair for the questionnaire survey. Firstly, Anambra state, will be purposively selected because food systems are eroded with language, an indicator of culture. The Igbo culture is the fastest eroding culture among all the 3 major tribes in Nigeria. Legend also has Anambra State as the origin of Igbo people in the South-Eastern part of Nigeria. Secondly, Aguata LGA with its headquarters at Ekwulobia will be purposively selected because in the local government, urban and rural communities are found. Its headquarters, Ekwulobia, serves as the entry point to numerous communities and Local Government. Its proximity to Federal Polytechnic, Oko and Federal College of Education (Technical), Umunze, makes it a key point and central access area. While the headquarters remains urban, the surrounding communities, the study area- Uga included are still rural. It will be strategic to study the effects of the spills of urban development in the dietary practice of these rural communities. Thirdly using a table of random numbers, Uga was chosen as the study area and all villages in Uga town will be used for the study. SAMPLE SELECTION SELECTION OF QUESTIONNAIRE RESPONDENTS All the women living in the community with a child under-five years of age who consent to participate will be included in the study. Already participating women will also be asked for referrals of other mother-child pair. SELECTION OF FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION Using the help of research assistants, through non-probability sampling, 6-8 males and females aged 60 and above will be selected from each village and used for the focus group discussion. SELECTION OF KEY INFORMANT INTERVIEW the oldest person in each clan/village irrespective of gender will be used in Key Informant Interview. The individuals must be mentally acute despite disabilities/ infamy. MEASUREMENT INSTRUMENT Food/Market Survey Questionnaire Focus Group discussion guide Key informant interview guide FAOs 16-item Individual Dietary Diversity Questionnaire for mothers and children aged 36-59 months Demographic Health Surveys 21-item Dietary Diversity Questionnaire for children Under 36 months Socio-demographic characteristics questionnaire for the mother. USIAD/FAOs 3-item Household Hunger Scale Food Frequency Questionnaire VARIABLES Socio-demographic characteristics Mothers DDS before the intervention Childs DDS before the intervention Mothers DDS after the intervention Childs DDS after the intervention HFIAS Score Nutritional status of child Nutritional status of mother Family dynamics and household characteristics Food Variety Score (FVS) Pattern of consumption COMMUNITY ENTRY Entry will be done through the different religious bodies (Christianity and traditional) and the community leaders. The community leaders include Uga Town Union, the Igwe and his council and also the individual village unions. They will be acquainted with the different objectives of the study and its advantages for the community members. They will also be requested to disseminate the information to the community members to get their cooperation. DATA COLLECTION Quantitative questionnaires will be used to collect baseline information from the communities. The questionnaires will be administered by twenty four (24) fieldworkers (research assistants). The research assistants will be selected one from each clan with at least a secondary school education. All of them will speak English and the local Igbo dialect of the community fluently. The research assistants will be carefully trained by the researcher. The study objectives, methods and questionnaires will be discussed with special emphasis on interpretation of result, Dietary Diversity Score (DDS) and nutritional status. Proficiency of the research assistants will be verified through role play and pre-testing. The research assistant will be supervised by the lead researcher through field monitoring to check quality. The Key Informant Interview (KII) and Focus Group Discussions will be conducted by the lead researcher and a note taker using the KII and FGD guides. The interview will be recorded, with the permission of the subjects. BASELINE As a means of assessing the current situation, baseline information of the study communities will be conducted. For this phase of the study a short food identification questionnaire, Appendix A will be used to document all foods encountered in the native nearby Igbo markets. Any new food and fruit type (species) or variety will be photographed with a digital camera and information about it will be gathered. Information to be gathered include trade name, local name, name of market sold, source of food/fruit, type of buyers, season when available and (recipe). Scientific and family name will be added following correct identification through books, internet and knowledgeable people in relevant departments of the University of Ibadan. All food items encountered will be classified into food groups. Since dietary diversity involves biodiversity food of plant and animal origin, aquatic and forest resources also found will be documented. MARKET SURVEY The market survey will be conducted on the 4 native Igbo market days Eke, Orie, Afor and Nkwo. Each communitys market operates on a given market day, example, Orie for Uga community, Nkwo for Umuchu community etc. A market survey of proximal markets to the study area will also be conducted. They include Orie-Uga, Nkwo-Uchu and Eke-Ekwulobia. These 3 markets fall on different Igbo market days (Orie, Nkwo, Eke), leaving out only one market day, Afor. Focus Group Discussions (FGD) and key-informant interviews (KII) will be carried out for foods not sold in the market, but consumed in the community. FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION Focus groups discussions will be facilitated in (different churches) each village to be used in the study by the lead researcher with a note-taker present. The use of FGD guide Appendix B will be employed and also a camcorder for recording and camera for photographs. Each FGD will have a minimum of 6 members and a maximum of 8 members. The purpose of the FGD is to learn about foods that are underutilised in the environment. The discussion will be conducted in native Igbo language dialect of the community. KEY INFORMANT INTERVIEWS The KII guide Appendix C will be used to conduct the KII. Respondents will be asked foods, farming systems and varieties of foods that are currently underutilised. They will also be asked about the source, harvest season, recipe of those foods and use. The interview will be conducted in the native Igbo language dialect. ANTHROPOMETRIC MEASUREMENTS Baseline anthropometric measurements will be taken of the mother (BMI) and child (Stunting, Wasting and Underweight). For the weights, electronic scales will be used. CHILDREN For children 0 to 23 months, their weights will be taken using the children weighing scale. Children 24 to 59 months and all mothers will be weighed using the electronic scale, after they have emptied their bladder. All weights will be measured to the nearest 0.1kg. For all weight measurements, the balance will be placed on a level hard surface and adjusted to zero balance before measurement. The subject will stand in the centre of the scale and looking straight. Light clothing will be advised in the absence of nudity. For the heights, children and infants less than 85cm will have recumbent length measured using a wooden measuring board (WHO, 1995). The infants heels will touch against the footboard, shoulders touching the baseboard and the crown of head touching headboard. Stadiometer will be used for children longer than 85cm. The subject will stand straight, looking ahead with the head, shoulder blades, buttocks and heels touching the plane. For weight-for-age and height-for-age, exact date of birth will be used. WHO Anthro v3.2.2 will be used to calculate weight-for-age, height-for-age and weight-for-height. The WHO standard Z-scores will be used. MOTHERS Body Mass Index (BMI) also called Quetelets Index calculated as weight (kg)/height (m2) will be used to assess the nutritional status of the mothers. The weights will be measured using the electronic scale, after they have emptied their bladder with the scale on a hard surface and adjusted to zero balance. The mothers heights will be measured with a Stadiometer. The subject will stand straight, looking ahead with the head, shoulder blades, buttocks and heels touching the plane. The classification of mothers BMI will be according to WHOs recommendation (2000) as shown below Classification BMI (kg/m2) Underweight Normal range 18.50 24.99 Overweight >= 25.00 Pre-obese 25.00 29.99 Obese I 30.00 34.99 Obese II 35.00 39.99 Obese III >= 40.00 HOUSEHOLD HUNGER SCALE (HHS) Food Insecurity Score (FIS) will be found using the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS), Appendix G. The HFIAS is 9-item access and frequency-of-occurrence instrument developed by USAID and FAO, with a recall of 4 weeks/30 days/1 month. The general occurrence questions cover domains that include anxiety about household food supply, variety and preferences of type of food and insufficient food intake and physical consequences. If the access question occurs, then the frequency of the domain question is asked and coded as often, sometimes and rarely. The maximum HFIAS for a household is 27, i.e., a situation where frequency of occurrence of all questions is often (3) and the least HFIAS is (0). The higher the HFIAS, the higher the food insecurity; the lesser the HFIAS, the lesser the food insecurity. DIETARY DIVERSITY Dietary diversity of mother and child will be assessed. The interview will be conducted on an Eke day, which is not preceded by a weekend. This is necessary as Eke day precedes an Orie day, which is the market day and dietary habits are synonymous with festive day. Also, Eke day is the only day without a proximal market to the community. MOTHER The 16-item FAOs Dietary Diversity Questionnaire, Appendix D will be used from which Individual Dietary Diversity Score (IDDS) for the mothers will be calculated. The food groups include cereals, vitamin A rich vegetables and tubers, white tubers and roots, dark green vegetables, other vegetable, vitamin A rich fruits, other fruits, organ meat(iron-rich), flesh meats, eggs, fish, legumes, nuts and seeds, milk and milk products, oils and fat, sweets and coffee/tea. To calculate Individual dietary diversity score (IDDS), the last two items sweets and coffee/tea are left out, while the others items each has a point. The mean IDDS, percentage consuming each food group and terciles as a measure of distribution of scores will be calculated. The Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ), Appendix H, will be used to calculate the Food Variety Score (FVS) and the consumption patterns of the mothers. Different varieties of food will be listed and scored. Their consumption will be noted as never, once a month, more than once a month, once a week, more than once a week, everyday and more than once everyday. CHILDREN For children more than 3 years, as with the mothers, FAOs 16-item individual dietary diversity questionnaire, Appendix D will be used, for foods eaten in the last 24 hour. The food groups include cereals, vitamin A rich vegetables and tubers, white tubers and roots, dark green vegetables, other vegetable, vitamin A rich fruits, other fruits, organ meat(iron-rich), flesh meats, eggs, fish, legumes, nuts and seeds, milk and milk products, oils and fat, sweets and coffee/tea. To calculate Individual dietary diversity score (IDDS), the last two items sweets and coffee/tea are left out, while the others items each has a point. The 21-item dietary diversity questionnaire, Appendix E, used in Demographic Health Surveys (DHS) will be used for children less than 3 years. The items on the questionnaire range from water, breastmilk, infant formula, green leafy vegetables, organ meats, fish etc. The IDDS will be calculated over 21 items. The mean IDDS, percentage consuming each food group and terciles as a measure of distribution of scores will be calculated. SOCIO DEMOGRAPHY Socio-demographic characteristics of the household will be collected, using Appendix F. Demographic characteristics of the mother will include Education, Age at marriage, current age, Childs date of birth, marital status, parity, religion. Economic information will include job, monthly earning, Access to farm, livestock ownership, food access market or farm production. Household details will also be collected, and they include type of household nuclear or extended, number of dependents in the family, number of household members, source of income and total household income. CLASSIFICATION OF UNDERUTILIZED SPECIES Underutilized and neglected food species and groups will be identified from the Dietary Diversity Questionnaire in comparison with the market research earlier carried out. MAPPING The map of the town Uga, will be digitized, using the nutritional status and dietary diversity. This will help monitor trends in nutritional status and DDS. DATA PROCESSING Data entry, computation and analysis will be done with SPSS v 17. Quality will be ensured through quality checks associated with data entry processes, double entry and further data cleaning through generation of descriptive analysis after data entry. DATA ANALYSIS Characteristics of the sample average mothers age, average childs age, mothers education, parity, occupation of mother, average household income, average DDS. Prevalence of malnutrition will also be assessed, stunting, wasting and underweight of the children and BMI of the mother. This will be done through Frequency distributions for qualitative variables and descriptive analysis for quantitative variable. DDS and nutritional status of mother (BMI) through cross-tabulation DDS and nutritional status of child (Stunting, wasting and underweight) through cross-tabulation with each indices. HFIAS and nutritional status of mother HFIAS and nutritional status of child Nutritional status of mother and nutritional status of child through cross-tabulation of mothers status with each individual nutritional index. Effect of socio-demographic, household characteristics and economic differentials on DDS and anthropometric measurements. A model for interactions of quantitative will be generated linear and logistic regression, the MIXED procedure for quantitative response variables (BMI and DDS) and the GLIMMIX procedure for dichotomous response variables. INTERVENTION Nutrition Education will be conducted in different ways to enhance the consumption of underutilised foods. Underutilized food/fruits/species that has been thus categorised will be promoted through nutrition education. A food/fruit/specie will be said to be underutilized if it is readily available in the environment but its consumption is low. Firstly, food and nutrient information of underutilized foods will be sent to the phones of mothers as a daily SMS in the native Igbo dialect for 30 days. A single food/fruit will be highlighted each day, including the different ways in which it can be consumed. Recipes will also be included, to enable the mothers attempt otherwise new foods. Using mass media e.g. posters, handbills and stickers, general awareness will be created on the underutilised foods in the town. The posters and stickers will be distributed on the towns market day Oye-Uga and at the different religious places in the town. Copies will also be made available to the participating women. Face -to -face nutrition discussion will be held for mothers in the clan with the lowest Dietary Diversity Score that correlates with low nutritional status of the Mother-Child pair. It will be held in the village hall, assessable to everybody. The discussion will seek to bring to the fore the underutilized food in the community, and the different recipes for preparation of the foods. ENDLINE/EVALUATION The IDDS of both mother child pair will be assessed again to calculate the post-intervention practise. This will help ascertain if the intervention impacted knowledge to the mother as evidenced by the post-intervention IDDS. ETHICAL CONSIDERATION Ethical clearance will be sort from the Health Ethical Review Committee (HREC) of the University College Hospital (UCH) Ibadan. EXPECTED OUTCOME It is expected that at the end of the study, adequate knowledge on importance of dietary diversity will be garnered by the mothers and visible in their feeding practice, of both themselves and their children. TIMELINE FOR THE STUDY Week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Activity/Month Month 1 Month 2 Month 3 Community Entry Recruitment of Research Assistants and Training Market Survey Key Informant Interview Focus Group Discussion Administration of Questionnaire Analysis of Baseline Data Intervention Collection of Endline Data Analysis of Endline Data BUDGET

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Battle of the Sexes :: essays papers

Battle of the Sexes Had the daughters and wives of the countryside played a part in the committees in Tunnel Six and elsewhere? Was it common for a woman to bring a dispute before the assembly? What did the fact of the conflict’s setting a pair of women against each other say about solidarity and division by gender in the countryside? Could a woman ever be a rondero? In 1977, a woman’s committee was organized in Cuyumalca by Omelia Lopez. Omelia was soon to be the first president of the women’s committee. The question is why did it take this long for women to be heard? At the time women’s complaints of domestic violence and village thefts were almost completely dismissed and ignored by Peru’s national authorities. Also many women chose not to get involved. They strongly were believers that men were the ones in charge and the woman belonged in the home. Women were to believe that they were tied by nature to the pettiness of jealousy and scandal, less able than men to see what was best for the family and village. From what they were taught, it was just not possible, until Omelia. Omelia did have some help from Daniel Idrogo, an organizer from the Communist Party of Peru-Red Homeland. Daniel is a strong believer in Maoism. The Chinese leader had often repeated that â€Å"without the participation of women there can be no victory against imperialism†. Daniel said. â€Å"The rondas would be stronger if everybody participated†. So what were their goals? The main task was to accompany and support their men. The women’s committee was only an appendage of the ronda committee, which was run by men. So even if the women weren’t as high as the men’s status, they were still doing something about and being heard for once. The chief duty was to enforce the male obligation to take a turn on the nightwatch. Women were necessary in the making the rondas an instrument of peasant power and revolution. With each organization came problems. For instance, Lack of female solidarity. Rumors flowed, like women committees were â€Å"an excuse for lazy senoras to get together to gossip†. The larger problem was a backlash against the new activism. Which is stated that a husband controlled a wife, who was not to take a step without the boss’s permission. A final factor was outside opposition given by other newspapers.

Monday, November 11, 2019

Deception Point Page 91

Rachel stood in silence as the Bathynomous pages rolled out of the printer. She tried to tell herself this was all an honest NASA mistake, but she knew it was not. People who made honest mistakes didn't try to kill people. The nasal voice of Corky echoed suddenly across the lab. â€Å"Impossible!† Both Tolland and Rachel turned. â€Å"Measure the damn ratio again! It makes no sense!† Xavia came hurrying in with a computer printout clutched in her hand. Her face was ashen. â€Å"Mike, I don't know how to say this†¦ † Her voice cracked. â€Å"The titanium/zirconium ratios we're seeing in this sample?† She cleared her throat. â€Å"It's pretty obvious that NASA made a huge mistake. Their meteorite is an ocean rock.† Tolland and Rachel looked at each other but neither spoke a word. They knew. Just like that, all the suspicions and doubts had swelled up like the crest of a wave, reaching the breaking point. Tolland nodded, a sadness in his eyes. â€Å"Yeah. Thanks, Xavia.† â€Å"But I don't understand,† Xavia said. â€Å"The fusion crust†¦ the location in the ice-â€Å" â€Å"We'll explain on the way to shore,† Tolland said. â€Å"We're leaving.† Quickly, Rachel collected all the papers and evidence they now had. The evidence was shockingly conclusive: the GPR printout showing the insertion shaft in the Milne Ice Shelf; photos of a living sea louse resembling NASA's fossil; Dr. Pollock's article on ocean chondrules; and microprobe data showing ultradepleted zirconium in the meteorite. The conclusion was undeniable. Fraud. Tolland looked at the stack of papers in Rachel's hands and heaved a melancholy sigh. â€Å"Well, I'd say William Pickering has his proof.† Rachel nodded, again wondering why Pickering had not answered his phone. Tolland lifted the receiver of a nearby phone, holding it out for her. â€Å"You want to try him again from here?† â€Å"No, let's get moving. I'll try to contact him from the chopper.† Rachel had already decided if she could not make contact with Pickering, she'd have the Coast Guard fly them directly to the NRO, only about 180 miles. Tolland began to hang up the phone, but he paused. Looking confused, he listened to the receiver, frowning. â€Å"Bizarre. No dial tone.† â€Å"What do you mean?† Rachel said, wary now. â€Å"Weird,† Tolland said. â€Å"Direct COMSAT lines never lose carrier-â€Å" â€Å"Mr. Tolland?† The Coast Guard pilot came rushing into the lab, his face white. â€Å"What is it?† Rachel demanded. â€Å"Is someone coming?† â€Å"That's the problem,† the pilot said. â€Å"I don't know. All onboard radar and communications have just gone dead.† Rachel stuffed the papers deep inside her shirt. â€Å"Get in the helicopter. We're leaving. NOW!† 109 Gabrielle's heart was racing as she crossed the darkened office of Senator Sexton. The room was as expansive as it was elegant-ornate wood-paneled walls, oil paintings, Persian carpets, leather rivet chairs, and a gargantuan mahogany desk. The room was lit only by the eerie neon glow of Sexton's computer screen. Gabrielle moved toward his desk. Senator Sexton had embraced the â€Å"digital office† to maniacal proportions, eschewing the overflow of file cabinets for the compact, searchable simplicity of his personal computer, into which he fed enormous amounts of information-digitized meeting notes, scanned articles, speeches, brainstorms. Sexton's computer was his sacred ground, and he kept his office locked at all times to protect it. He even refused to connect to the Internet for fear of hackers infiltrating his sacred digital vault. A year ago Gabrielle would never have believed any politician would be stupid enough to store copies of self-incriminating documents, but Washington had taught her a lot. Information is power. Gabrielle had been amazed to learn that a common practice among politicians who accepted questionable campaign contributions was to keep actual proof of those donations-letters, bank records, receipts, logs-all hidden away in a safe place. This counterblackmail tactic, euphemistically known in Washington as â€Å"Siamese insurance,† protected candidates from donors who felt their generosity somehow authorized them to assert undue political pressure on a candidate. If a contributor got too demanding, the candidate could simply produce evidence of the illegal donation and remind the donor that both parties had broken the law. The evidence ensured that candidates and donors were joined at the hip forever-like Siamese twins. Gabrielle slipped behind the senator's desk and sat down. She took a deep breath, looking at his computer. If the senator is accepting SFF bribes, any evidence would be in here. Sexton's computer screensaver was an ongoing slideshow of the White House and its grounds created for him by one of his gung-ho staffers who was big into visualization and positive thinking. Around the images crawled a ticker-tape banner that read: President of the United States Sedgewick Sexton†¦ President of the United States Sedgewick Sexton†¦ President of the†¦ Gabrielle jostled the mouse, and a security dialogue box came up. Enter Password:_ She expected this. It would not be a problem. Last week, Gabrielle had entered Sexton's office just as the senator was sitting down and logging onto his computer. She saw him type three short keystrokes in rapid succession. â€Å"That's a password?† she challenged from the doorway as she walked in. Sexton glanced up. â€Å"What?† â€Å"And here I thought you were concerned about security,† Gabrielle scolded good-naturedly. â€Å"Your password's only three keys? I thought the tech guys told us all to use at least six.† â€Å"The tech guys are teenagers. They should try remembering six random letters when they're over forty. Besides, the door has an alarm. Nobody can get in.† Gabrielle walked toward him, smiling. â€Å"What if someone slipped in while you're in the loo?† â€Å"And tried every combination of passwords?† He gave a skeptical laugh. â€Å"I'm slow in the bathroom, but not that slow.† â€Å"Dinner at Davide says I can guess your password in ten seconds.† Sexton looked intrigued and amused. â€Å"You can't afford Davide, Gabrielle.† â€Å"So you're saying you're chicken?† Sexton appeared almost sorry for her as he accepted the challenge. â€Å"Ten seconds?† He logged off and motioned for Gabrielle to sit down and give it a try. â€Å"You know I only order the saltimbocca at Davide. And that ain't cheap.† She shrugged as she sat down. â€Å"It's your money.† Enter Password:_ â€Å"Ten seconds,† Sexton reminded. Gabrielle had to laugh. She would need only two. Even from the doorway she could see that Sexton had entered his three-key password in very rapid succession using only his index finger. Obviously all the same key. Not wise. She could also see that his hand had been positioned over the far left side of his keyboard-cutting the possible alphabet down to only about nine letters. Choosing the letter was simple; Sexton had always loved the triple alliteration of his title. Senator Sedgewick Sexton. Never underestimate the ego of a politician. She typed SSS, and the screensaver evaporated. Sexton's jaw hit the floor. That had been last week. Now, as Gabrielle faced his computer again, she was certain Sexton would not have taken time yet to figure out how to set up a different password. Why would he? He trusts me implicitly. She typed in SSS. Invalid Password – Access Denied Gabrielle stared in shock. Apparently she had overestimated her senator's level of trust. 110 The attack came without warning. Low out of the southwest sky above the Goya, the lethal silhouette of a gunship helicopter bore down like a giant wasp. Rachel had no doubt what it was, or why it was here.

Friday, November 8, 2019

Sexual Harassment Laws Essays

Sexual Harassment Laws Essays Sexual Harassment Laws Essay Sexual Harassment Laws Essay Brittany was dealing with a hostile work environment, relating to inappropriate behavior made by a co-worker. She personally saw him gazing at a photo of herself in a bathing suit and making offensive comments about the way she looks. She asked him if he could stop with the comments because it made her feel uncomfortable. She later found that he scanned the photo of her to his computer. We she confronting him again, Robert went to her supervisor complaining and stating were not performing according her job responsibilities. When Brittany went to her supervisor regarding the issues, she experienced quid pro quo from her supervisor.She was informed that would be going on a business trip with him, which she never had to do before. And let him know she prefer that she does not have to travel, but was it was work related and they would be sharing a room. Then he told her that if she would show him her breast while traveling, she would get promoted. With both of these instances that happened at work Brittany has a strong case for sexual harassment and quid pro quo in the workplace. I feel that both the supervisor an co-worker should be immediately terminated. This needs to be shown as an example that sexual harassment of any kind is not tolerated.The organization should also be held responsible for the simple fact that one of their supervisors who should have been responsible for enforcing this type of thing with her direct employees was a responsible acting party. I feel that Brittany should stay employed with the company, but yet by her choice move to a different floor or position of her choice and be financially compensated. The legal factors for the potential claim of the employee pursuing legal action against the employee, is that Brittany often witnessed Robert staring at her photo and the fact he scanned it on his computer.Robert may not have caused a physical hostile environment, but he still made it a very uncomfortable environment. And after confront Robert regarding his actions he went to her supervisor to complain she was not doing her job to par. Brittany was so stressed with the situation she even called out of work sometimes. The environment was violation the Sexual Harassment Laws. The EEOC states that sexual harassment is any unwelcomed sexual advances, request for sexual favors and any other verbal or physical conduct that can be viewed of a sexual nature.In regards to quid pro quo, it is an offense that occurs pertaining to t he conditions of employment or institutes the foundation for employment decisions affecting the employee (EEOC. gov) In these case her Supervisor was in quid pro quo rules violation and then when Brittany turned him down she was demoted to the mailroom with lower pay. The court concludes that a hostile environment can be determined by the circumstances. Which could be the number of times Brittany experienced the harassment, and the extent of the harassment that is taking place and if an employees work performance declines because of these circumstances.If I was asked to make preliminary suggestions regarding sexual harassment protocol that would avoid potential liability, the first thing I would do is implement a strict zero tolerance sexual harassment policy. The policy and its violations would be included in the employee handbook and stated at new employee orientation. I would have every employee sign an acknowledge form to the policies and keep it in their employee files. The sec ond thing I would do is have mandatory yearly training classes.When I say yearly, It could vary for every employee, the year would be the start of each individual start date, where we would have training sessions and thoroughly walk through scenarios such each employee has an understanding of the law itself and the company policies regarding sexual harassment. Then I would definitely make it mandatory within the company that we have open door policies and never feel uncomfortable to talk and present concerns that are occurring in the workplace, whether it is something directly or indirectly affecting you. papercamp. com/essay/77399/Hrm-593-Week-3-Assignment

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

escapism and virtual reality essays

escapism and virtual reality essays `Virtual Reality', a new method of interacting with any computer, is presented and its advantages and disadvantages are considered. The human aspect of computing and computers as a form of escapism are developed, with especial reference to possible futu technological developments. The consequences of a weakening of the sense of reality based upon the physical world are also considered. Virtual Reality, or VR, is a concept that was first formally proposed in the early Seventies by Ted Nelson ComputerDreams. The basic idea is that human beings should design machines that can be operated in a manner that is as natural as possible, for th For instance, the standard QWERTY keyboard is a moderately good instrument for entering exactly the letters which have been chosen to make up a word and hence to construct sentences. Human communication, however, is often most fluent in speech, and so a computer that could understand spoken words (preferably of all languages) and splay them in a standard format such as printed characters, would be far easier to use, especially since the skills of speech exist from an early age, but typing has to be learnt, often painfully. All other human senses have similar analogies when considering their use with tools. Pictures are easier than words for us to digest quickly. A full range of sounds provides more useful information than beeps and bells do. It is easier to point at an it that we can see than to specify it by name. All of these ideas had to wait until the technology had advanced sufficiently to permit their implementation in an efficient manner, that is, both fast enough not to irritate the user and cheap enough for mas One long-standing area of interest in VR has been the simulation of military conflicts in the most realistic form possible. The flight simulator trainers of the 1970's had basic visual dis ...

Monday, November 4, 2019

Microsoft Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Microsoft - Essay Example the CSR initiatives on stakeholders, and how these initiatives influenced the corporate image and reputation for the MNE and; recommendations to improve CSR initiatives within the company. The paper finds out that the outcomes from Microsoft adopting CSR integration are far much profitable and has helped the company in upholding employee loyalty thereby increasing productivity. Commercial Social Responsibility is progressively vital section in the commercial world. The major impression that several persons have in the direction of organizations is that industries are taking gain on customers in addition to the society. In their attentions, they contemplate that trading are entirely about money-making, and they caution less about the people, the surroundings, and human moralities issues. They see not to donate abundant to society. In detail, numerous businesspersons want to wipe away the undesirable image. Commercial Social Duty Chan 2 of organizations in-built in people’s thoughts and substantiate that by means of their actions. The drift of corporations engaging in generally liable actions is increasing. Companies, comprising small and average sized businesses, are currently at work to launch various platforms and plans that can balance both areas of cost-effectiveness and social responsibility (Mullerat & Brenman, 2011). In the subsequent units, I will first outline corporate societal accountability and chat the significance of being a answerable corporate civilian to Microsoft company. Microsoft is among the major Multinational enterprises that has involved in incorporating CSR, in their operation. One of the major motive for Microsoft to adopt CSR is to boot the corporations reputation and rises brad attentiveness (Kotler and Lee, 2013). The firm becomes further standout, associated to others contained by the similar business even when they piece similar rate and merchandise quality. This also uplift auctions as clients will be further likely select the

Saturday, November 2, 2019

Based on the issue of ways in which the internet has changed political Essay

Based on the issue of ways in which the internet has changed political interactions globally - Essay Example Therefore, internet has offered many services like ease of communication, information flow, entertainment and advent of e-commerce. The foremost and main services provided by internet are the ease of communication in every walk of life. It is one of the few endowments of scientific knowledge that have helped ameliorate the global political interactions. The political sphere of interaction has changed immensely worldwide through internet. The term ‘democracy’ has taken a more direct and greater meaning now. Countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan, Egypt and Libya are the clear examples of prevailing political instability and the warfare, which more or less has been worsened by the inappropriate and over use of internet; and has affected the political position of these countries globally. Today, nothing is hidden; a single weird movement in a country is spread throughout the world like a wildfire. Perhaps, internet has more often than not steered the country into a more depressing abyss. The countries have never faced such an adverse condition in past, though there were countries who had political instability, faced battles and even wars; but what was different? The difference this time has been internet. Where media is somewhat controlled and is censored by the government depending on scenarios, internet has been flooded with blatant proofs. Furthermore, any sort of news spreads like a wild fire because of the extensive social networking mediums such as facebook, twitter etc. Media in general, cannot talk much about the inside news because of the fact that such news is censored. However, internet –specifically YouTube and face book, have been filled with the proof of terrorism, extremists, unethical conducts of our leaders, which otherwise in media have been either deleted or censored. This has overall led to a change in general awareness of people who were aloof to such acts. Now there is active resistance to its activities and has led to much more

Thursday, October 31, 2019

Identify and discuss the major challenges that Costa Coffee will face Essay

Identify and discuss the major challenges that Costa Coffee will face in its operations in the French market and propose suitable recommendations for overcoming or mitigating the identified challenges - Essay Example In spite of the success observed in the Costa Coffee sales in France, there are several challenges that the Costa Coffee will face inevitably. These challenges mainly involve the economic difficulties. The prime business challenges faced by the Costa Coffee as a whole are directly in relation with the economic recession from 2008. This is because the customers have been observed to become more cautious with their discretionary spending due to the high personal debt as well as unemployment. Further, social as well as cultural challenges might also be faced by the Costa Coffee. The cafe will have to not only sell Coffee but also maintain the ambience and surroundings of the cafe. This is because people not only come to drink coffee but also come to calm down and have a relaxed experience. The better the ambience, the more people will spend on coffee. Another difficulty that the Costa coffee might face is the fact that people are much more aware environmentally in the recent era. The so urce from which the coffee beans are produced as well as the way they design their supply chain as well as prepare and sell their product is of great concern by the French customers. Furthermore, the Costa Coffee is faced by great competition from other leading coffee shops within France. These include firstly star bucks as well as coffee republic and many others. This competition tends to steal the coffee customers that are vital for the increase of sales for the Costa Coffee. Further, the Costa Coffee in France would also face problems in association with the intense price competition. Due to the high prices in Costa Coffee, it is seen to target only the upper middle class and the privileged class. Also, any alteration in the development of information technology resulting in a change in the markets would definitely pose a threat to the Costa Coffee in France. The major problems faced by the Costa Coffee can be dealt by focusing on attracting more customers. This can be done by

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Macro-economic factors Essay Example for Free

Macro-economic factors Essay There are a lot of macro environmental factors that affect Telfin performance though emphasize has been given on the important factors. Economic factors like current and anticipated economic growth, interest rate, inflation, cost of labor, disposable income and distribution of income etc collectively comprise economic environment. Current and projected economic conditions: In recent years Pakistan’s economic figures were indicating very impressive and promising consequences and infact these all were proven to be wrong. A number of reasons are behind this but the most important are the economic policies which were not integrated with political environment in an apt manner. Secondly, terrorism has stooped down our economy in a very negative manner. Therefore because of these reasons Pakistan current and anticipated economic conditions aren’t in Telfin favor. Exchange Rate: Telfin is directly affected by fluctuation of exchange rates as investment is being done in USD, all suppliers have to be paid in USD and being subsidiary of Vimplecom, Shareholder calculations are in USD while revenue is generated in local currency (PKR). Due to depreciated PKR every year when revenue is calculated in USD it is minimized due to negative exchange rate effect. Fuel Prices: Telfin is the one of the biggest customer of PSO (Pakistan State Oil), due to energy crisis in Pakistan and being the largest on coverage for the services, more than 5000 cell sites have to be energized to keep the network running. Taxtation: Govt has applied additional 5% tax on the top up so subscribers get 5% less balance on recharge but as an impact it has been seen that subscribers have reduced the usage as recharge revenue has decreased and 5% reduction is from Telfin revenue. Inflation and interest rate: interest rate and inflation both are elevated in Pakistan. In most of countries it is very much natural that once economic conditions are bad central banks reduces interest rate in order to boost investment where as in Pakistan the case is otherwise. The interest rate is high because the government wants to cease central bank new notes issuing rate which is more than 15% currently. Therefore collectively interest rate and inflation are presenting a bad picture for Telfin. Unemployment rate and cost of labor: Because of higher education bang there  is a talented pool of candidates who are ready to be employed in big companies or organizations. But the fact is that the production of new jobs is not competent with supply pool therefore unemployment rate is high. In addition as supply of potential workers is high, the cost of labor is low in Pakistan which is a positive signal for Telfin. Level of disposable money and income distribution: It is really evident that if the economic conditions of a particular country are bad, the people living in, do not have high level income to be spent. Moreover the fact is that national income distribution is very unfair and unequal in Pakistan because elite class dominates on key government posts. Non-economic macro Exposure: Telfin like every other organization is also affected by the political setup to a greater extent which are needed to be addressed. Political Factor: There is a democratic government now-a-days in Pakistan but due to previous government policies present government inability to manage issue wisely, it can be concluded clearly that government is not able to stabilize the situation as it was expected which is surely not good for the companies like Telfin. Rule of Law, Corruption and bureaucracy: Due to the amendments made in the constitution of Pakistan by ex-dictators and domination of rich people on the vital government posts, there is just a minimal justice and rule of law in Pakistan. Regularity authorities: There are regularity bodies in Pakistan like PTA (Pakistan Telecommunication Authority) but it does not have enough grip on issues as it is expected from it due to the mandate given to it. Security: Due to security situations, telecom industry has suffered a lot as on events the re is complete network shutdown to prevent terrorism. These shut down is a direct loss for complete industry. Moreover due to different measures taken by regularity to address security is to have Biometric scanning before issuance of SIM so cost of sale has increased recently and all operators have to install machines to have scanning capability.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Description of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory

Description of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) is a standardized questionnaire designed to bring forth a wide variety of self-descriptions scored to give a quantitative dimension of an individuals level of emotional adjustment and approach toward test taking. The MMPI has been known as the leading personality inventory, most psychologists who conduct assessments as part of their clinical and consulting practice utilize this test. The widespread use of this test is accredited to several features ranging from its straightforwardness in scoring and administration, a straightforward response format that is essential for research design, a large item pool, many useful purposes and functions, and many practically established correlates. Psychologists make diagnostic and treatment decisions, through MMPI, it has been employed in inpatient and outpatient mental health facilities. It has been used by psychologists in clinical setting to evaluate the existence of psychological components in physical issues and to aid in predicting responses to a variety of therapy and treatment. Starke R. Hathaway and J. Charnley McKinley developed the MMPI in 1939 at the university of Minnesota. It was developed initially because of their vision of an instrument that could assist in evaluating patients during routine psychiatric case workups and could precisely determine the severity of their disorders. Hathaway believed the MMPI might aid researchers in assessing the usefulness of new treatment interventions by allowing methodical matching and evaluation of the participants. The MMPI was constructed using the criterion keying method also known as the empirical method of inventory construction. (Archer, 1997) The criterion keying method is utilized by testing with two or more groups of participants. One group serves as the criterion group, this group has evidence of the defining trait, diagnosis or characteristic that test is intended to evaluate, and the other group/groups serve as a comparison group, where there is no evidence of the characteristics or diagnosis under evaluation. Responses of the criterion and comparison group are compared, and items are then selected for inventory membership that empirically demonstrate significant differences in response frequency. (Archer, 1997) Hathaway and McKinley began their construction of the MMPI by creating an extensive item pool from which various scales could be constructed, the item pool consisted of a variety of statements from different sources, ranging from previously established scales of personal and social attitudes, clinical reports, case histories, psychiatric interviewing manuals and personal clinical experience. (Groth-Marnat, 1997) the result of extensive exclusion and amendment were 504 statements, these statements were balanced between positive and negative wording, and were developed to tap into a broad area of an individuals life. The 504 items were divided into twenty-five content areas. These included items related to general medical and neurological symptoms, the clinical scales ranged from hypochondriasis, depression, hysteria psychopathic deviate, paranoia, schizophrenia, etc to scales to social introversion etc. An additional 55 items thought to be related to masculinity-femininity were later added, and 9 items were subsequently deleted to achieve the final pool of 550 items. (Nichols, 2001) The format of the inventory was first person declarative statements, composed of basic phrasing based on contemporary word-frequency tables. The responses were limited to true, false or cannot say. (Nichols, 2001) The population consisted of normals(Nichols) who were selected to contrast with the pathological criterion groups (N=724) ranging from the age of 16 to 65 referred also as the Minnesota normals(Groth-Marnat, 1997), the sample was closely representative of a typical group of individuals from the Minnesota population, as indicated through the 1930 census. The scales were cross-validated by selecting a different group of normals and contrasting their responses with a new group of clinical patients; so that the items and scales would be valid for differential analysis in clinical setting. Hathaway and McKinley were interested in the fact that participants amend the impression they made on the test due to different test taking positions and opinions; hence the created several scales that could identify the different types and magnitudes of various test-taking attitudes which could invalidate the clinical scales. They developed four scales: the cannot say scale (?) was simply the total number of unanswered statements; If amount of questions was high it would reduce the overall validity of the MMPI profile. The lie scale (L) was developed to indicates the examinees efforts to place himself/herself morally and culturally under an favorable light a create an favorable impression. The infrequency scale (F) is used to assess the inclination of individuals to claim highly unusual attitudes, opinions, and behaviors that are classified as an component of psychopathology. The correction scale (k) assesses the examinees degree of psychological defensiveness (Groth-Marnat, 1997) t his is considered the most important validity scale. Practical evaluation of the MMPI The MMPI can be administered to an individual who is above the age of 16, with an average sixth-grade reading level. As mentioned above an individual above the age of 16 is permitted to take the test, but adolescent norms needs to be addresses. Standard instruction are given prior to the test, test instruction are given regarding the nature and purpose of the test, and what it is designed to evaluate, and how the results will be used. Administering of the MMPI can be viewed as a relatively easy undertaking, and hence many practitioners tend to overlook vital elements that influence the participants test-taking attitude and would eventually lead to invalid results. Prior to the administration, scoring, and interpretation of results, the administrator should highlight the importance and consequences of the test in a serious manner to the test-taker, often the administrators do not high light the importance of the test to decrease performance anxiety. A clear elucidation oh how the resu lts are significant and how it is going to be used will increase cooperation. Interpretation of data is an important and vital part of the MMPI; the collected is useful in supplying information about attitudes toward assessment, cooperation, cognitive/ideation, mood and affect, conflict areas, coping styles, diagnostic consideration and treatment recommendation The interpretation of the scores was based on the principle that a participant attains a raw score on each scale based on the number of items that they identified in the scored direction. The raw scores are then later converted to T scores, with a mean of 50 and a standard deviation of 10. The interpretation of the test can be done in three ways, first using the validity indicators, this is the first step in interpreting any personality profile; which is establishing the validity to assure the subjects cooperativeness in taking the test. MMPI has been established as having the most comprehensive validity indicators (Goldstein, 2000) among all established personality inventories and assessments. Secondly interpreting results involve Configural Interpretation (code type), this is due to the intercorrelations amongst scales and also the overlap amongst the similarities of clinical syndromes, evidence has been attained indicating several MMPI scales tend to increase together, therefore, interpretations of scales should depend on the elevations of other scales in the personality profile. Third and final approach to interpreting the results is content bases interpretation. The principal followed in the content interpretation relies on the assumption that the participant when answering test items is reacting and responding with honesty and sincerity to the MMPI. Accordingly the content of the MMPI may represent a vital source of information that cannot be accessible through empirical test-interpretation. Technical evaluation The reliability analysis of the MMPI indicate that its has moderate levels of temporal stability and internal consistencyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ all MMPI scales are quite reliable, with values that range from a low of .71 to a high of .84. (Groth-Marnat, 1997) many studies have reported inconsistency in some of the scales; many argue that the scales of the MMPI show instability in the test scores that are to be anticipated. This is mainly due to the psychiatric population since the effects of treatment or stabilization in a temporary crisis situation is likely to be reflected in a patients test performance. (Groth-Marnat, 1997) To cross-validate the scales, participants of the criterion and the control groups were administered the items. To qualify as cross-validated, a scale had to distinguish the criterion group from the control group at a 0.5 alpha level significance. Another issue that has surface about the MMPI is about the construction of the scales. The intercorrelations between most of the scales are relatively high, which is primarily due to the extensive amount of item overlap. Occasionally, the same item will be concurrently used for the scoring of a few other scales, and hence most of the scales have a relatively high percentage of items similar to other scales The problems associated with the reliability and scale construction have led to hurdles and speculation on the validity of the MMPI. MMPI has been commended about its strict psychometric properties that present complications, but it has been adequately compensated by its intensive validity studies Development of the MMPI-2 and MMPI-A Problems concerning the MMPI were mainly about the growing issues related to scale construction, insufficiency of a standardized sample and problems with the item pool. The original norm had inadequate representation of the minorities and hence was redundant in making conclusions about and with current test-takers. In 1982, the university of Minnesota instigated a major research in effort to revise, update, improve, and restandardize the MMPI. Its main goals were to delete the redundant, questionable, and problematic items. Maintain the efficacy of existing validity; clinical and different widely utilized scales of the test. Develop a representative sample, Develop new, revised norms for the MMPI and the development of new scales. The MMPI was updated and restandardized and the new version was released in 1989; 46 years after the original MMPI was published. The revised MMPI-2 differs from the older MMPI in various ways; the T scores that the subject obtains are usually not as deviant as those from the previous version. In addition, the T scores designed to produce the same range and distribution right through the established clinical scales. The practical result is that T scores of 65 or greater are considered to be in clinical scale range; also the percentile distributions are consistent throughout the different type of scales. The test booklet itself contains 567 items, but the pattern has been changed so that the previously established scales (the 10 clinical and 3 validity scales) can be derived from the first 370 items. The proceeding 197 items provide different content, supplementary scales. A number of new and revised scales have been included along with new, revised, adjunctive procedures of test vali dity, separate measure of masculinity and femininity and 15 other additional content scales measuring unambiguous and specific personality traits and factors. (Groth-Marnat, 1997) The MMPI-2 shares a lot of psychometric property with the original MMPI. The median split-half reliability coefficients for the MMPI and the MMPI-2 are in the .70s with some coefficients as high as .96 but others much lower. Median of the test-retest coefficients range from a low .50 to .90; when one observes the basic higher-order factor structure; the MMPI and the MMPI-2 are extremely reliable, with coefficients running as high as .90. The MMPI and the MMPI have been criticized due to the item overlap and this issue was not confronted in the revision of the original MMPI, as the goal was to retain all the original scales. Another criticism associated with the MMPI and MMPI-2 is the imbalance in the way the items are keyed(Kaplan Saccuzzo, 2009). the MMPI and the MMPI-2 strongly emphasize the importance of taking the participants demographics into account when interpreting profiles. The MMPI-A was published for the sole interest of creating an instrument for adolescents, with a normative sample depicting the broad teenage population. This occurred because MMPI produced different scale elevations for adolescence than for adults. This resulted in the construction of different sets of recommended norms for use with adolescent populations. To counter argue that the MMPI is too long, especially for adolescent, the MMPI-A contains 478 items, there by shortening the administration. (Groth-Marnat, 1997) Significant features of the MMPI include descriptive and diagnostic information about the personality profiles, flexible administration and scoring. The most important feature of the MMPI is its validity scales; and it has been translated and published into over 20 languages The most needed amendment of the MMPI apparently has been a major accomplishment; the majority of psychologist, researchers, and clinicians have supported its utility and practical value resulting in its rising popularity among them. The MMPI serves to assist in distinguishing the normal from abnormal groups; specifically the test was designed to help aid in diagnosis and evaluation of major psychiatric or psychological disorders.