Midterm Exam questions

1. How can agriculture be seen as a development caused by politics or religion? What are the main ideas behind those theories? The development of agriculture as caused by religion and politics is comprehended when seeing how this economic activity affects food – its supply and production. Food, when its supply is limited and its acquisition is very difficult, tends to be equally distributed among those who engaged in its production. This was what characterized the earlier stages of our evolution. Everything, from food gathering and hunting, to cooking and eating, were social in nature because man was pitted against an environment that he still did not master. Thus, working together was the sole manner in which man was able to adapt to his environment and eventually survive. Cooking, with man’s discovery of fire, and subsequently eating food carried with it certain rituals that celebrated its availability and the human sustenance it will provide. As this process of mastering and changing nature as a culture continued, other ways of producing greater and more reliable amounts of food were discovered as in animal domestication and agriculture. When production activities eventually produced more food than what the social group needed, it was then that inequality in terms of the distribution of work involved and of its products emerged (p.51). This was what characterized the earlier engagement of man with plant propagation. While the elite (the nobility or those who ruled) do not work because they owned the land, they had an abundance of food. They are categorized as the non-food producers of society. Below them in the class structure, farmers toiled in the fields and ate less, giving land tribute to those who owned it. This kind of politics or the power over access to food without actually engaging in its labor enabled the elites to engage and further develop knowledge, not only in production but in warfare, philosophy, religion and the sciences. The social rituals involved in the pre-agriculture way of life of man, gave rise to religions that were integrated into the cycles of agricultural food production (p.52). Each stage of the cycle involves rituals that would ensure a season of plenty and bountiful harvests are celebrated with grand, religious festivals of eating the fields’ first produce. For example, the Aztecs conducted mass eating of sacred beans and corn stew, ingredients that came from the season’s harvests. Hence, both the political system and religious practices established the role of agriculture in society’s methods of food acquisition. 2. What are the common features of government and religion across all the river valley civilizations? Why were they common? Civilizations tended to rise in river valley areas because the physical conditions of these environments permitted a sustainable source of water for agriculture. This is a far better situation as opposed to farmers’ dependence on unpredictable rain fall. The waters also served as carriers of minerals vital to the maintenance of soil fertility. A reliable supply of water means a higher probability of superior crops and good harvest. Good harvest also means food abundance or excess, human energy and life. The excess in food supply enabled man to engage in other fields of human development. Governments or their political structures are also quite similar in that there are rulers-emperors and pharaohs for example, who belong to the elite class. Serving them as officials are the religious (priests, scribes) and military leaders and bureaucrats. Governments are centralized with institutionalized ways of administration as evidenced in the laws, codes and policies enacted and enforced through force or otherwise (p.79). The consolidated political control over the whole population resulted in an integrated economy and a homogenous culture (p.86). Hence, the trading of the surplus of economic production through the labor of farmers or artisans became possible and gave rise to a class of merchants and traders. Trading, or the export of excess food and other products and the import of food and other products not available locally, was a financially lucrative enterprise for elites and governments, not to mention the luxury food and non-food items they acquired out of it. Hence, kingdoms, empires and dynasties waged conquests upon their neighbors to control trade i.e. to eliminate competition (p.95). The enhancement of its routes (i.e. master the rivers, seas and land for trade) was also one objective. The history of the Silk Road is an example of this. These imperialistic undertakings also made way for them to obtain other tradable resources made abundant in the conquered societies through the latter’s own production efforts (p.96). In this manner of establishing control of others through force, they also protected their society’s resources (including their food supply). Religions across the river valley civilizations are characterized as involving elements of the natural environment as their gods (p.64). The Hindus considered water and some animals as sacred, Chinese religions centered on man’s harmony and unity with nature, civilizations pay tribute to the sun and moon. Incidentally, religion was not separate from government and their theology involved not just one but many deities who form a hierarchical system. Their practices reflect their interaction with nature as in crop cultivation, hunting, silk production, pottery making, etc. However, these religions were influenced by other religions as cultural contact as the result of trade became possible. The commonalities in government and religion among river valley civilizations stems from the same objective economic and political conditions which are consequences of their capacities to produce surplus food and other products for human consumption, adaptation to their environment. 3. What common characteristics of the empires of Assyria and Babylon share? What factors caused their failure? The empires of Assyria and Babylon were both river valley civilizations located in what is called the Fertile Crescent, between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. They both had a developed agricultural production, engaged in trading, philosophy, science and technology, the latter leading them to build ships, hanging gardens and more sophisticated weapons. They both had armies and conducted imperialistic conquests of each other and neighboring states. Failure was mostly due to internal instabilities of their empires (p.105). For instance, Assyria focused so much on war, its military and related technologies, spreading its armies so thinly in efforts to conquer as many other states as possible. Their thin dispersal made them vulnerable to other empire-states who were after the same objective or who just did not wish to be subjugated and reduced to slave labor. As a result, the basic agricultural production for food was neglected as more of the population became soldiers. More importantly, diversification of food production was not considered significant to merit attention. Reliance on just one method of domestic food production as well as conquest and trade for obtaining resources also fostered reliance on the great rivers for irrigation as a trade route (p.126). This did not prepare them for environmental and climate shifts wherein the rivers receded and became heavily silted adversely affecting agriculture and trade. Partner states in trade also ceased to engage in it because of their own specific internal problems. The resulting limitations in food and resources supply led to more wars and conquests which characterized the region of Mesopotamia and eventually wore down some of the empires (p.127). 4. Compare and contrast the three Chinese philosophical ideologies: Confucianism, Taoism, and Legalism. Taoism is an ideology that focuses on the individual and his life’s mission of finding his place in the world. In order to achieve this, one has to study nature and one’s self as integral to it. Taoism promotes a view of nature whose beauty and rhythm is driven by a pervasive power in the universe. Drastic changes to the natural course of things would ruin this rhythm and balance (p.316). Confucianism emphasizes unity with one’s social and natural environment, establishing social stability through non-violent means (p.317). Man should nurture himself and the natural environment as well. It teaches adherence to society’s values and rituals, the hierarchical social order, education for further self-development and the government’s role of earning trust through ensuring and protecting public welfare. It further promotes the common good in every endeavor through both individual and cooperative efforts. Legalism on the other hand, teaches the absolute rule of law in creating social stability. Because man is considered as innately self-centered, punishing those who break the law and rewarding those who adhere to it makes people law-abiding. It advocated utilitarianism, or engaging in activities that directly benefits others such as agriculture (p.317). Both Taoism and Confucianism promote harmony with the environment while Legalism, through its utilitarian principles, sought the labor of people in transforming the environment through agriculture, the building of the Great Wall and others. While Taoism values the individual, Confucianism values the social structure while Legalism, the law. Nature unobstructed is central to Taoism, while Confucianism tends to include promote harmony with nature as well as changing it as long as it constitutes the common good. Legalism discourages discourse on non-practical matters and focuses on nature only if it is within the realms of the law. Reference: Fernandez-Armesto, F. (2006) The World: A History Volume One to 1500. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Â   Â   Â  

Institutes for cat preparation

Institute FOR CAT PREPARATIONThe great author, Alexandre Dumas, one time said â€Å" nil succeeds like success † . It is, but a victor, who takes all the awards, and non the losers. To win is an unconditioned leaning of adult male in any competition. In today ‘s universe, instruction is the chief race. Every individual demands the best. Hence, the ferocious competition. If the competition be, to merely come in a good school, one can conceive of how strict the ‘rat race ‘ will be. After school, ( 10+2 or intermediate ) , one attempts to acquire into the best college and make the best alumnus degree class. But, the occupation market, being what it is today, a Post-graduation becomes necessary. In India these yearss there is no famine of classs and colleges. But how many are reputed, supply good instruction, have all installations etc. ? A really of import calling these yearss is Business direction. To acquire into a good B-School itself is a dashing undertaking. With merely a few thousand seats in all B-Schools combined, it is a large challenge for the lacs of campaigners. So, we have entrance tests. The ‘CAT ‘ ( Common Admission Test ) , conducted by the ‘IIMs ‘ ( Indian Institute of Management ) , is one of the toughest entryway trials. Conducted by the IIMs, this alone trial, checks one for one ‘s IQ, general English and general math and other soft accomplishments. This trial has a specialized marker system, besides carries negative points. There are about 75 B-Schools besides the six IIMs which accept CAT tonss. Since CAT needs particular readying, there are training institutes for CAT itself. How to Choose an Institute: CAT coaching is done fundamentally at three degrees ; schoolroom, correspondence & A ; online. The latter two may be followed up with a personal contact plan clang class. Following guidelines will be utile: * Make certain the institute is of reputation. It has all the basic installations to take up CAT coaching. Some institutes offer free demo categories. That may be good, but do n't trust on them as a free demo is any manner traveling to be good. * Do non travel by their word on how many pupils they have placed, low fees or strength of ex-IIM module. * The institute may run training for non-IIMs as good, but what is your demand? Most institutes offer, at a small excess cost, developing for both. In such a instance a GK subdivision is included which may assist in GD/PI subsequently. Act consequently * Mark your pick between correspondence, schoolroom & A ; on-line classs. Online classs are suggested the least as synergistic and at-length classs are better. * If your metropolis does non hold a schoolroom coaching, travel for a correspondence class and take mock cats along with synergistic clang class. ( it may non be a bad pick to travel to a nearby large metropolis for that. ) * Last but non the least, does the institute provide GD/PI ( Group Discussion/ Personal Interview ) session subsequently on. they are every bit of import as the written trial. * If you require a survey loan, travel straight to a bank, non through the institute. Such is the demand for CAT readying that Pre-CAT institutes have sprung up like Mushrooms all over. Some of the outstanding 1s are: O IMS Learning Resources Pvt. Ltd: possibly the oldest in game, it is headquartered in Mumbai. It has a presence in over 50 metropoliss. Outstanding 1s are Ahmedabad, Aurangabad, Bangalore, Bhubneshwar, Baroda, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Guwahati, Jammu, Jaipur, Kolkata, kanpur, Lucknow, Mumbai, Madurai, Nagpur etc. the institute gives its USP as the most no. of arrangements. o Career Launcher: A Delhi based institute, it is one of the younger institutes. Has many subdivisions in Delhi. Has subdivisions in Mumbai, Pune, NOIDA, Lucknow, Kanpur, Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Kolkata, Burdwan, Durgapur, Bangalore, Hubli, Ahmedabad etc. every bit good. o Ascent Education: It is a Chennai based institute.it besides provides classs in correspondence & A ; on-line classs in multiple locations. o T.I.M.E. ( Triumphant institute of direction instruction ) : Headquartered in Hyderabad, it imparts schoolroom coaching in most major towns of India. Harmonizing to the T.I.M.E. , it imparts low-cost class. It has been a recent success. Has been founded by IIM & A ; XLRI alumna. o Career Forum: This institute provides training in Pune and 6 other metropoliss. It besides provides correspondence classs. O Brilliant Tutorials: A veteran of IIT JEE, this Chennai based institute besides provides reputed classs in CAT every bit good. Possibly the most advertised one, it claims a high success rate. o Other outstanding institutes are PT ( professional tutorials ) , The Princeton Review, Magnum, Bulls oculus, Prudence academy, Indo-Scottish Study Circle, Mastervision Nucleus ( Bangalore ) etc. One can besides acquire information from the Net ( Google, Yahoo ) , by word-of-mouth from their equals, Educational addendums of major national dailies. Now-a-days it is possible that MBA entryway preparation institutes outnumber the B-Schools themselves! Remember what person said, † If you fail to fix, fix to neglect † . There is no ground to believe that if you go to a little CAT-prep school, live in a little town or you are Differently-abled u ca n't check CAT. Hard-work, regularity & A ; pattern are the key to ‘Belling the CAT ‘ !

Shoe Horn Sonata Essay Essay

Distinctively visual explores how we see and or visualize images in a way that allows us to become aware of various aspects in society. The play, The Shoe Horn Sonata written by John Misto and the film clip Stupid Girls by Pink, use distinctively visual elements to create a sense of awareness about women. Misto’s script pays tribute to the Australian female nurses in WWII, revealing the realities of war through the strength and resilience of Bridie and Sheila. Similarly, the characterization of the ‘stupid girls’ in Pink’s film clip, highlight the toxic messages of consumerism aimed at young girls. She ironically does this by exploiting her celebrity status through the media. Both composers position the responder to question the past and the media, and realize what woman have gone and are going through. In The Shoe Horn Sonata, Misto reveals the ignorance portrayed by the British and Australian government towards the women held captive in old Singapore. The contrast between the projected images of the â€Å"1942 Singapore† and the accompaniment of the patriotic song ‘Rule Britannia’ emphaises the idiotic attitude of the British government, as their belief towards the Japanese invasion was seen as surreal. This is further highlighted when the British state â€Å"don’t listen to rumour†. As a result of the British’s attitude the vivid images of â€Å"burning ships† and â€Å"women prisoners of the Japanese†¦skin and bone and dressed in rags† position the audience to become aware of the selfish views by the British. Similarly to this, the Australian government’s advice to â€Å"keep smiling† ironically implies their ignorant view towards the women. This is contrasted with the projected images of â€Å"Prime Minister John Curtain†¦quite distressed† and â€Å"emaciated male prisoners of war, starving† showing his concern for the dying male POWs. This shows an existence of sexism in which Misto positions us to become aware of this issue, raised during wartime. Misto uses ignorance of the British government to show the strength of these women who from the beginning have little support from a supposedly ‘great’ nation. Their ignorance becomes another struggle these women have to overcome in their journey to freedom. Showing what these women were up against, Misto demonstrates the significance of this event in history. By experiencing times of hardship, the strength amongst individuals continues to grow. Misto presents this through the motif of the shoe horn which becomes not only a survival tool but a catalyst for the growth of the relationship between Bridie and Sheila. In scene three the shoe horn is physically shown when Bridie and Sheila retell of their survival in the ocean, in which Bridie used it as a buoyant for Sheila. This is accompanied by the sound effect of waves which allows the audience to visualize the setting and empathise with the struggle they endured. At the play’s ending, the spotlight of the shoe horn is the final object seen by the audience, highlighting the significance of this object, representing all memories of the POW camp The ‘Blue Danube Waltz’ accompanies the shoe horn, which symbolises a sense of freedom as it becomes â€Å"the music of joy and triumph and survival†. When Sheila uncovers her buried past â€Å"So I went to the Japs† the shoe horn is revealed as a tangible object, highlighting her fearful memories of when she sacrificed her virginity to the Japanese. This depicts not only the horrible realities of war but also the strength of Bridie and Sheila’s relationship as Sheila states â€Å"I couldn’t let you die and leave me, I wouldn’t have survived†. The shoe horn was also used as a metronome for the sonata which showed a sense of unity and strength amongst the women, who fought to survive â€Å"fifty voices set us free†. Misto positions the audience to identify the suffering and pain these women had experienced, thus become aware of the harsh realities of war. However it is through their strength within themselves and as a group that allows them to survive. Conversely to this, Pink uses symbolism to show the influence of consumerism on the youth and the messages portrayed by the media. In the first scene Pink’s choice of age is used with the little girl representing innocence holding a Barbie doll signifying consumerism, emphasizes the influence that has already impacted on young girls. The juxtaposition of the angel and the devil symbolizes the choices that young girls face in order to live a normal lifestyle. In the bowling scene, the close up of the inflatable breasts shows the absurdity of the shot and emphasise the focus on ‘body’ rather than mind. This suggests that the media is convincing young girls to act, behave and be a certain way. Consumerism is dangerous as it can lead to more serious consequences e.g. eating disorders and oversexualisation. Pink  positions the audience to not only identify this issue but to take action so to prevent this happening further to the younger generation. Like Pink, Misto shows how the ignorance of the British has led to a deadly consequence of the women being held captive as POWs. The unconvential line of â€Å"if only they had† suggests that if the British had believed the invasion was occurring, then they would have saved more lives. Unlike Misto, Pink uses satire to manipulate the celebrity lifestyle to which young girls look up to. In the bulimia scene, when Pink states â€Å"I totally had more than three hundred calories today, that was so not sexy† followed by the close up of the toothbrush symbolizes the expected way to loose weight, hence body image is seen as a priority for young females. By cutting between the sex tape and car washing scenes it conveys the oversexualisation of the popular culture in contemporary society, to which Pink states â€Å"she’s dancing in the video next to fifty cent†. This suggests that through the actions of female role models, young girls are influenced to act like a â€Å"stupid girl† in order to live up to society’s expectations. Thus Pink positions the audience to become aware of the false images that these celebrities portray. Like Pink, Misto conveys the struggle that these women endure in order to survive, through the symbolism of the caramel representing their only luxury of food, which Misto positions us to empathise with their struggle. This inevitably shows the strength of the women prisoners but also the strength of women who fight to raise awareness about issues in the contemporary society. Both texts provide a detailed analysis on the struggle of women in the past and in today’s society, positioning the responder to identify with their pain and suffering. Through the use of distinctively visual elements, Misto emphasizes the strength of these women who fought to survive whilst experiencing the horrible realities of war as POWS. Similarly, Pink’s use of distinctively visual elements portrays the toxic and false messages the media impose on young females in order to live a ‘celebrity lifestyle’. However both the composers enable the audience to empathise with these women during wartime but to also take action towards the issue of consumerism amongst female teenagers.

Teen Pregnancy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Teen Pregnancy - Essay Example ches, however, have resulted to significant differences possibly â€Å"arising from a combination of political, religious and research design factors.† (Bonell, C., 2004) Teenage pregnancy poses a problem to the young couple, their baby and the society. For the couple, they have to deal with not being able to finish high school or going to college. â€Å"Only 40 percent of teen moms who give birth at age 17 or earlier finish high school according to research compiled by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.† (Huus, K., 2010) As for the child, it more often grows up trying to match its peers in terms of necessities and luxuries in life. Society is not spared. The U.S. government spends over at least $9.1 billion for health care, housing assistance, food stamps, child welfare services â€Å"provided for teens and their children, and the lost revenue due to lower taxes paid by teen mothers.† (Huus, K., 2010) Teen pregnancy also serves as a marker of sexual behavior that brings a substantial risk of contracting AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. (Allen, et. al., 1997) Although there was a steady decline in teenage pregnancies in the United States, approximately 1 million teenage girls become pregnant each year. (Overview, 2007) Research shows that â€Å"practitioners and researchers have been sorely remiss in discovering proven, replicable, and socially acceptable ways to help American young people avoid unwanted pregnancies.† (Schinke, S., 1998) How can society solve this seemingly neglected problem? â€Å"Within psychology, especially, critical thinking has been championed for all students and professionals.† (Levy, D., 1997) As teen pregnancies are often studied in relation to the psychological behavior of the individual, maybe critical thinking can help society find a way to come up with better programs to guide teenage parents or thwart the rise the occurrences of teenage pregnancies. Analysis and evaluation of teenage pregnancy

For two companies with which you are familiar, compare and contrast Essay

For two companies with which you are familiar, compare and contrast the main operations processes in terms of their volume, vari - Essay Example In simpler terms, operation management is the conversion of input into output using the resources available to the organization with an aim to meet the organizational objectives such as efficiency, consistency and effectiveness (Kumar and Suresh, 2009). This assignment will highlight the factors such as volume, variety, variation and visibility of two automobile organizations, i.e. BMW and Nissan. To further highlight the importance of operation management in company’s success, the performance objectives, i.e. speed, quality, dependability, flexibility and cost, would be analyzed in order to evaluate the respective operation strategies of both the companies. COMPARING AND CONTRASTING OPERATION MANAGEMENT To compare and contrast the operation management in automobile industry, two familiar and recognized organizations BMW and Nissan have been selected. Both companies would be analyzed and evaluated in terms of volume, variety, variation and visibility characteristics. NISSAN Ni ssan is the world’s fourth largest automobile manufacturer. The company is located in Japan. With its aim to enrich the lives of its customers by providing them with high quality cars, the company operates in a number of countries. With the use of technology, the company aims to provide its customers with innovative vehicles. In order to evaluate the company’s operation management and its processes, volume, variety, variation and visibility characteristics have been analyzed one by one. Volume In order to consistently meet the demands of the customers, the company manufactures vehicles in high volume. This repetition of the processes has made the workforce specialize in the operation processes which eventually lead to the low units cost. With the ability to manufacture vehicles at low cost, the company is capital intensive. Variety To effectively meet the needs of the customers, Nissan provides them with variety of vehicles. With extensive product line at Nissan, the c ompany is able to attract the customers in the market. The variety in product line at Nissan includes sports cars, minivans and vans, trucks and pickup trucks (Nissan, 2013). With such variety, the company is able to match the needs of the customers effectively. Variation The variation in demand for Nissan’s vehicle is low. This implicates that the demand is predictable and the variation in the vehicle is stable. With low variation in demand, the cost associated with the manufacturing of vehicle is also low. Visibility characteristics In operations management, visibility character indicates the level of activities that can be observed by the customer. In Nissan’s case, the visibility characteristics are low which indicates that the company utilizes its staff effectively. Since the time lag between the production and consumption is high, the visibility factor could be said as low. BMW BMW continuously strives to become the leader in the automobile industry and to do so, the company provide its customers with high quality vehicles to enrich their customer’s experience. The company is one of the top quality vehicle providers in the globe due to which the company charges premium price from its customers. Being the world’s leader of premium products, the company has its own unique identity and persona. The same way Nissan

Are Leaders Born or Made Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Are Leaders Born or Made - Essay Example 9 Case Study Rolls Royce is a technology leader which employees 36,000 people in offices, manufacturing and service facilities operating in 50 countries. The company has long history of employee development but currently they are reexamining their development strategy. In 2005 a review of talent management which was up till now being managed locally within business units was done and new concept of talent management at global scale was introduced (Jane Yarnall, 2008). Rolls Royce realized the importance of talent management and that it should not be a standalone approach. Leaders can only emerge by identifying the potential talent at the grass root level and then nurtured and developed according to the organizational needs. The efforts which were previously been done at the regional level needs to be coordinated and aligned with each other and with organizational objectives to maximize its effectiveness and broadening its horizon. After reviewing their current policy and assessing it s strengths and weaknesses they charted out a number of steps for their global talent management program. A new stream of graduates was hired as trainee managers or the leadership graduates, developing a pool for future leadership. And as this pool of candidate grew in experience and maturity, succession planning was successful. This program had a clear and predefined set of roles and expectations from the line managers, while at the same time, there was development of a human resource database, keeping in mind the global focus. Career development and progression plans were developed and communicated objectively to the employees, for assuring and ensuring no conflicts by being absolutely objective, alongside coaching and mentoring. This, in turn, assisted the business to focus on leadership development with a strategic eye for the future requirements10(Jane Yarnall, 2008). The above charted out plans further strengthens the view that Rolls Royce also believed in the theory that lead ers are more made than born as suggested by Daft and a no of other writers on the theory of leadership development. Rolls Royce realizes the importance of the quality of human capital and strongly believes that the success of the company depends on how the management programs for all the employees have been established within the company. Before launching this global talent management program Rolls Royce actually conducted a self analysis survey to identify the weaknesses of the old development program. In this self analysis program they asked themselves the following questions. Where do they stand today? How healthy is their existing succession plan? A survey about internal and global demographics What metrics should they use? What kind of leadership is required for the future? An analysis of the need of future graduates Identification of real indicators of high potential What additional development programs are required An analysis of competitors leadership development program If we take a closer look at these questions then it reveals that it was actually a journey for the company through the stages of leadership development as suggested by Daft. Once it was decided at Rolls Royce that born leaders are a rare commodity and cannot be found easily, Since there is no

Cultural Sensitvity in Nursing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Cultural Sensitvity in Nursing - Assignment Example As a requirement, client centered care does place much emphasis on the nurses to put into consideration the cultural practices of their clients or patients and the culture of nursing and together find a way out on how these two separate cultures do affect the relationship between the patient and nurse or nurse-patient relationship. Various scholars have come up with good and comprehensively researched works on cultural sensitivity in nursing practices. We also have a guideline for this field dubbed the Professional Communication Cultural Sensitivity Guide which could help give necessary and useful information to a nursing professional. It is however important to note that even with all the proposed guidelines and key principles, there is no single acceptable way of dealing with all cultural diversities because of the unique aspects of individuals and cultures themselves. The only constant is that the needs of the client come first! Nurses should therefore work hard and smarter in pro viding a culturally sensitive care by recognizing how their perceptions with those of the client could be both similar and different. This paper thus seeks to highlight key points with short discussion based on an article presented by a scholar, Deborah Dysart-Gale PhD, RN dubbed â€Å"Cultural Sensitivity beyond Ethnicity: A Universal Precautions Model† on the same. Culturally Sensitive Health Care (Article Review) Research has dwelt on the healthcare related needs of certain chosen ethnic groups and linguistic minorities. This approach has been noted to present the practitioner with the risk of basing her or his work on essentialized and or stereotyped accounts of a given cultural group and in this regard end up overlooking the specific needs of special groups such as elderly, gay, and physically challenged, among others which are important groups in cross-cultural nursing practices. For this reason and others, there is still debate as to how a professional nurse should bes t learn and provide the culturally sensitive care (Dysart-Gale, 2006. An approach of providing education of healthcare and cultural practices that are commonly encountered in healthcare practice is proposed. However, the difficulty comes in choosing such a group to study when we have uncountable number of cultures that are both diverse and unique. This scholar argues against this kind of approach and instead supposes that these nursing practitioners could be made aware of the factors that do influence cultural behaviors from a universal point of view. In this regard, the author concurs with the universal precautions model used as a tool that promotes infection control. In this approach, all practitioners are advised to approach all their patients as if these patients were quite infectious for the blood borne diseases and this call upon them to act conscientiously so as to prevent any form of contamination. In practice, it has been prompted that all patients do need health teaching a s a way of imparting health literacy to them (Dysart-Gale, 2006. This model does give an opportunity to provide culturally appropriate care instead of the traditional practice of targeting specific characteristics of any one given culture. They thus do need to provide healthcare on the basis of an assumption of existence of cultural

Environment Pollution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Environment Pollution - Essay Example The Environment Protection Agency promotes the construction of green buildings through which we can understand that this stream of engineering offers a great advantage to environment. A research paper on Capacity planning for waste management systems tells us about the application of engineering concepts to solid waste management. By studying different research papers we can understand the application of engineering principles to these areas of responsibilities in order to regulate them and make the environment pollution free. In recent times the climate has undergone drastic changes. Every time we mishandle the natural resources or create imbalance without thinking about tomorrow and use them without a proper protocol or procedure we modify the most important natural phenomena by affecting the climate. Each and every non environmental friendly procedure or product has a direct or indirect impact on the climate which results in drastic changes in timing of seasons. Of these the rocketing emissions of green house gases are considered to be the main culprit. The green house gases in the earth's atmosphere capture the heat increase in green house gases cause to rise in earth's temperature which ultimately results in rise in sea level and change in weather patterns. Welsh Assembly Government has taken numerous steps in order to stabilize the emissions of green house gases and work together with the UK government to develop various proposals to the climate change bill. WAG responds to the internal changes and proposes long term plans to solve the problem. It aims to cut down carbon dioxide emissions to 60% by 2050, maintain reliable energy supplies, to promote competitive market and to ensure that each and every home is adequately heated. It has also been proven that the measures that were set for climate change program in 2006 have been successfully implemented by the UK government. A study on all the potential impacts of climate change on different sectors in Wales is been conducted which shows the areas of action. Developed strong evidences against the impact of climate change in different sectors in Wales and develop tools and skills which would ultimately result in lessening the impact. Construction of houses and administrative buildings using sophisticated technologies so that there would be less usage of heating systems and electricity is very much relevant to my engineering discipline. Ex: Green buildings increase the energy efficiency by using modern technologies. The UK climate change Bill, UK Government's F-Gasesand Ozone Depleting Substances consultation papers, Carbon Reduction Commitment announced in the UK Energy White Paper 2007, European Union (EU) Emission Trading Scheme and the powers passed to Welsh ministers make the assembly government to offer their extended support to public authorities on climate change policies and their adaption and it also provides them with the authority to taking necessary action if a public body fails to do so. Our engineering disci

My Account of Second Language Learning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

My Account of Second Language Learning - Essay Example The course I undertook at King Khalid University for four years was a specialization in English. Much of skills on both pronunciation and writing at this level were acquired due to the interaction with a lot of people from various parts of the world who communicated mostly in English. Similarly, I put my own effort and did personal studies. I got employed as an English teacher in a primary school in Al Jubail Industrial City. This was a good opportunity for growth from the basic level with the primary school children, most of whom depended on visual aids for understanding. This being an industrial city, many inhabitants came from different parts of the world and would interact with the students outside of school. English being a common language among most of them, learning English among these students was not a major challenge. After a year, I moved on to teach adults from varied technical faculties in a technical college. It is here that I got the opportunities to improve my teachin g skills through the regular training sessions organized by the institution. Through this process of learning, there are two factors that greatly influenced my personal outcome; these are motivation and my learning strategies. Learning of the second language varies from one individual to another (Slevc & Miyake, 2006). One of the factors that influenced my proficiency in learning English as a second language is my motivation since my experience with my Bangladeshi teacher who could converse only in English.... One of the factors that influenced my proficiency in learning English as a second language is my motivation since my experience with my Bangladeshi teacher who could converse only in English. According to Csizer and Dornyei (2005), motivation refers to the desire for achievement of an ideal language through reduction of the variation between the actual and the ideal states. It encompasses the subject that provokes action in a person, the period that such a person is willing to sustain it and the effort put towards its pursuance. This could be instigated by the desire to later attain some reward which pushes the learner towards the attainment of the anticipated reward. In my case, the desire was in reducing the gap between the actual incompetence in English language and the ideal state of being proficient in the language so as to communicate well with my teacher. There was a desire in me to excel academically through achievement of English proficiency which made me proceed to even spe cialising in the language at university level. Dornyei (2002) also points out that there is a reward that sustains motivation. Some of the rewards that second language teachers could use include encouragement and applause for achievement, which in general push the inner self of the learner towards attainment of the set goals. Having observed the close ties that Saudi Arabia had with the Western world, it was obvious that English would be an advantage to me when interacting with the people from those nations even in learning institutions. The Ministry of Education in Saudi Arabia was introduced in 1942 and since then, English language has been taught among its citizens (Al Sadan, 2000). This language has been given a second priority after the

Meta-analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Meta-analysis - Essay Example 1 The purpose of this study was to identify and synthesize published research on the effectiveness of EMLA cream in reducing VE and IV insertion pain. A meta-analytic approach was used to answer the following questions: 1. What is the magnitude of the effect of EMLA cream on VE and IV pains 2. Is the effect size of EMLA cream on VE and IV pains moderated by the following variables: study publication date, sample age, sample size, sample health status, anatomical puncture site, duration of application, method of pain measurement and research design (Fetzer,2001).Research question 1 is direct and useful clinical question as it encourage/discourage clinical use of EMLA in VE & IV whereas question 2 tends to encourage/discourage such use via evidence on several other variables important among them being sample size, sample health status, premedication, anatomical puncture site and duration of application. The topic had immediate relevance for nursing profession as both IV &VE are widely practiced nursing techniques. While substantial agreement was achieved on coding of the substantive variables, methodological variables and miscellaneous variables; resolution of disagreements was not elaborated and two raters were not identified. 2 The meta-analysis ... 2 The meta-analysis clearly defined the inclusion and exclusion criteria for selecting primary studies. The databases used by the reviewers were identified and were appropriate. All of the keywords were identified and were adequate. The reviewers documented the use of adequate supplementary efforts to identify relevant studies, including non-published studies. The Sample 3 The search strategy yielded an adequate sample (number) of studies-19. Though it was not clearly stated if the sample size in each included study was adequate nevertheless there was substantial agreement on 'sample size' methodological variable. The reviewers did not attempt to contact the original researchers for additional information. For instance several studies failed to report test statistics or raw data, in these cases conservative estimates of study outcomes were made from the provided raw data. Rationale for excluded studies was clearly provided. 4 Quality Appraisal 5 A quality index for each study was calculated based on the criteria used by Beck (1995). Reviewers did not indicate that all reviewed primary studies were of high methodological quality though they coded 8 methodological variables and two raters had 97% agreement on coding of such variables.Interrater agreement percentages were reported for all categories of the coded variables but resolution of disagreement(though minor )was not reported. The methodological comparability of the included studies was specified by means of coding 8 methodological variables as above and coding agreement thereupon. As the inclusion criteria was well defined to have comparable clinical situations and since the coding of substantive variables

The rule in Salomon v Salomon & Co [1897] AC 22 has been described as Assignment - 1

The rule in Salomon v Salomon & Co [1897] AC 22 has been described as one of the corner stones of English Company Law. Discuss the rationale and impact of the decision on company law - Assignment Example Furthermore, through the extension of the advantages of incorporation to small companies, this case of Salomon manages to promote fraud, and the evasion of certain legal obligations. This article explains the impact that Salomon vs. Salomon has had on companies and corporations. On a general perspective, the judgment by the House of Lords was a good decision. This case is recognized all over the world as a good authority, regarding the principle of a corporation being a separate legal entity. Under this case, the House of Lords firmly established that after incorporation, a new and a separate artificial organization comes into existence. Under the law, a company is a distinct person, and it has its own personality, which is separate and independent from the people who created it, invested in it, and those who direct and manage the operations of the company2. From the principles established in this case, the duties and rights of a corporation are different from the duties and rights of the directors, members, or the stakeholders of the corporation. These people are always obscured by the concept of the corporate veil, which normally surrounds the company. A corporate veil refers to a legal concept which is responsible for separating the personality of that of a corporation, from the personality of the shareholders of a corporation. Furthermore, this personality protects the managers and shareholders of a corporation from personal liability of the company’s debts, and any other obligation that the company may face3. However, this protection is not impenetrable or iron clad, and this is mainly because the court can rule that the activities of a company are not conducted as per the provisions of the legislation that guides the operations of a company, or the managers or shareholders of a company were engaged in carrying out illegal a ctivities. Based on these facts, the courts may hold the

Inclusive education Essay Example for Free

Inclusive education Essay The concept of inclusion has been adopted as a response to the mandate of Public Law 94-142 or the Education of the Handicapped Act of 1975 which aims to place disabled and mentally-challenged students in non-restricted environments where they have access to equal opportunities in education. Inclusive education is an academic program where children of varying abilities are placed in one class or group and allowed to interact together to facilitate learning. It aims to provide all types of students with equality and exposure to the same learning stimulus that is bound to create various learning experiences to different types of children. And although many educators recognize that this is a breakthrough scheme for integration and intellectual freedom (Porter, 2001), in some cultures, this is the traditional way of teaching preschool children since special classes for attending to disabled children have not yet been developed at that time (Duncan, 2001). The scheme may involve only partial inclusion where special or disabled students can be pulled out anytime from class as the need for it arises. Oftentimes, for this category, another teacher who caters to the specific needs of the disabled students is also present. Full inclusion, on the other hand, is usually applied for disabled or special cases of students with high levels of learning capacities. Similarly, George and Alexander (2003) noted that in cases where tracking or ability grouping could not be totally excluded, partial de-tracking is also a good alternative. Inclusive education is a form of recognition (Friendly and Lero, 2002) and value that goes beyond human rights and equality and is a contributing step to eliminating social exclusion in the community. It promotes active and meaningful participation to all members of a group or class and offer different prospects for the students who experience the different class activities in their own light. They are able to socially interact, treated equally despite cognitive, physical or financial levels and, most importantly, achieve happiness and security. These are the essential elements and goals of inclusive education (Sen, 1999). As the Laidlaw Foundation puts its, it requires an active change in current policies and programs and build community-based foundations that will benefit and develop equal opportunities for both children and families (Friendly and Lero, 2002). On the other hand, early descriptions of inclusive education provide less drastic measures for improvement. Kamps et al.(1994) note that the strategies employed in inclusive learning are cheap measures designed to center on techniques that are less invasive but improves both the academic and social learning of the children (Kamps et al. , 1994). They also add that despite an inclusive program, change will not be truly instituted if the techniques cannot be adapted to current educational classroom systems that are at in place (Kamps Carta, 1989). The members of the Inclusion InterAmericana (2000) also agree that Inclusive education is a cheaper alternative to provide disabled students access to education as evidence by their limited resources and provision. Cooperative learning is one aspect of inclusive education, where students are classified into smaller learning groups created for the purpose of maximizing learning and development (Johnson et al. , 1990). This type of grouping, also referred to as a heterogeneous classification has aimed to ensure that each student receives the same high class standards of instruction and education. The access of all types of students to these educational practices will allow them to benefit in the same way that others students do (Daniel, 2007). This type of scheme not only follows a mandate to provide children with the equal opportunities in education but also aims to improve the skills of the students relative to the learning levels each child possesses (Yonezawa and Jones, 2006). The children in an inclusive class who, in an ideal situation, are helping each other learn also do not need to be in the same age levels as other students as in the case of a learning strategy in an inclusive set up called cross age tutoring (Barbetta et al., 1991). In contrast to inclusive education, a scheme called homogeneous grouping, or ability grouping or tracking, is a case where students are grouped according to similar cognitive levels. The grouping is done by determining abilities of students through studies on their previous test and activity scores and those with similar abilities are group accordingly (Daniel, 2007). Gamoran and Weinstein (1998), George (1988) and Slavin (1993) all note a lack of evidence that ability grouping is effective. In addition, Vang (2005) discusses the disadvantages of this scheme to students with poor learning abilities, those from the minority and even financially challenged children. As Friendly and Lero (2002) note, exclusion in any form results in not only vulnerability and inability to voice out to the proper forum but also reduces quality and limited capabilities of life experiences. They also stress that a changed path from exclusion will enable social cohesion and improve life prospects. This also applies not only to communities but also to students in classrooms as well.