Twist and Shout

The way companies are now packaging their products, makes me think, their ideas must have come straight from the mind of a second grade twelve year old. A senior with arthritis; the person for whom the drug was bottled, needs to have a pair of pliers, a flat head screwdriver, and plenty of muscle to open a bottle of pain medication. By the way, shouldn’t that be anti-pain medicine? But then why do we call the little candies that relief our cough, cough drops and not, anti-cough drops? Getting back to safety caps on medicine bottles, It is next to impossible to open one of those lids. One medicine bottle says, follow the arrows to open, press down and turn. This sounds easy enough if you are built like Arnold Schwarzenegger. The problem with easy open bottles is the person in need of the medication is probably built more like Kermit the frog with Typhoid Fever. It’s ridiculous when you need to purchase TNT to blow off the cap of the pain medication container. The â€Å"safety† cap is designed to keep kids from opening the bottle and swallowing the meds. The problem is a child can open them much easier than a senior citizen under the best of conditions. I can see it now. â€Å"Grampa, give me the bottle, I’ll open it for you. † â€Å"But, you are only five†¦ and this cap is attached to the bottle with super glue. † I guarantee you; the five year old will have that top off before you can pronounce the name of the medication. The list of side effects on some of these meds is multitudinous. These bottles site every contraindication known to man, including, the inability to move, or think clearly, which may provoke, one to think; maybe it would be better if I laid down and died. This medication, the label states, may cause dizziness, light headedness, Vertigo, cramps, diarrhea, constipation, headaches, ear aches, Gingivitis, Gout, fainting spells, stomach pains, thoughts of suicide, and even death. For goodness sake, I’m only taking it for a headache, not preparing for cremation. I guess we can’t blame the drug companies for listing everything that can happen to a person if they take their medicine. People today, through all media, are urged to sue for everything. The advent of television advertising has branched out in these last few years allowing lawyers to advertise their services. Television advertising has become a haven for ambulance chasers and their ilk. I heard the story of a man who sued a motor coach company for damages caused when his vehicle crashed. He claimed he was driving down a stretch of road, in his new motor coach, when he decided he’d go back to the kitchen area and brew a pot of coffee. He put the vehicle on cruise control. The coach crashed, and he was injured, the vehicle demolished. He sued the company for not writing in their brochures that you couldn’t leave the driver’s seat while the vehicle was in motion. He won the case and was awarded a sum of money and a new coach. You are advised to think before you buy any product, read the label; However, the print is so small, you need a magnifying glass the size of a manhole cover to read the instructions on the bottle. Some meds have the side effects written on four sheets of paper inside the box in which the medicine came. All of this inane nonsense is due to sue happy people looking to make a quick buck. Some people play the lottery while others sue companies; the odds in winning are about the same. If you do win in court, the attorney takes his share off the top, probably around sixty percent, and you get the rest after court costs and taxes. Don’t give up your day job. Oh, not you, I’m talking to you, the plaintiff, not your lawyer. Mr Attorney, you are doing just fine in the finance department. That ad on TV has really paid off, hasn’t it? Here’s my idea for packaging medicine. Put a paper seal on the medicine bottle with a written three number code (not in succession). Break the seal, dial the number and open the bottle. As for side effects simply write: Take at your own risk, may cause a myriad of diseases and possibly death. Talk to your physician. Don’t sue us, we told you what could happen. As for manufacturers of motor coaches, all they need to write is; â€Å"Hey stupid if you want a cup of coffee stop at a roadside diner. † This is one I love as I recall going to the drug store for my mother. She had, over the years, adopted a poor sleeping habit, and needed a medication to help her sleep. As the pharmacist passed me the bottle of sleeping medication, I read the label that had been attached to the little brown bottle. It read; ‘may cause dizziness, restlessness, insomnia and drowsiness. If it causes insomnia, why would anyone want to use the drug in the first place? And one can only hope it does cause drowsiness, after all, that’s why you bought it in the first place, isn’t it? There are other stumbling blocks to the senior population; with a skull and crossbones emblem emblazoned on the label; a universal sign denoting it is a dangerous material. We should look und er the emblem, there we will find, in small print, ‘for external use only. ’ What makes the manufacturer of a product with enough chemicals to start World War III write ‘for external use only’ on their bottle. Are they afraid someone is going to use it as a mixer at their cocktail party? If it’s ammonia, you won’t be able to get it past your nose in the first place. Speaking of dangerous things. How many of you have swallowed a capful of mouthwash? Did you know it is unhealthy? The label says do not swallow. Why on earth are you gargling with a product, that if you swallow it by mistake it could kill you, or at the very least make you sick? That’s like putting dynamite, on which is written, beware dangerous material, in your back pocket and then backing up to a campfire to warm your backsides. It’s the same thing you know†¦ too close for comfort either way. What makes a citizen a senior? Answer: age. Though some of us don’t want people to know we are getting along in years, the wrinkles belie our vanity. Face lifts make the recipient look like a monster out of a 1950’s horror movie. I am not ashamed I have made it to three quarters of a century. I thank God my eyes are still the same color as they were when I was twenty, only slightly dimmer. The hair on my head is moving south at a quickening pace, but it has only transferred from the top of my head to my ears and nose. I can’t run any more; my walking pace has slowed almost to a crawl, but inside I am still twenty years old. Until I was forty I didn’t know what a doctor was, or what they did for work. After I had reached fifty, I was asked to become an associate member of the American Medical Association’s Who’s Who of most frequent doctor’s visits list. My mind hasn’t grasped the fact my body has aged. It says to me at times; ‘get up†¦ go for a four mile run, come home take a shower, ride a bike for sixty minutes, eat lunch, skip rope and climb a small mountain. My body answers for me; ‘you have got to be kidding me. ’ There are two fellows whose job it is to see that I remain idle; The Ritis Brothers, of which Artha is the outspoken one, and then there is always Mr Meniere. Mr Meniere’s contribution affects my inner ear; my balance. I reel like a drunken pirate with a pine log peg leg†¦ teetering back and forth with a dizzying gait; But I guess old age is the better of the two alternatives; I always say. As long as you are able to get up in the morning and get out of bed; you are still this side of the dirt. I have God to thank for my being able to get up in the morning, for it is by His grace that I live and move, and have my being. Without His help, I would be nothing but dust and dirt, present, but useless to anyone or anything. These are the golden years, and gold does not tarnish; it is always bright and shiny. Our smiles should be the reflection of our souls. As the little girl said to the grumpy old church deacon. â€Å"Are you happy to be a Christian? † He replied, â€Å"yes I am. † â€Å"Then tell your face. †

Health and Social Care Management Essay

Mary Parker Follett (1868-1933), defined management as â€Å"the art of getting things done through people†. This may seem a very narrow angle for some, however, the philosophical concept of management, relies on results being obtained through people. The nature and role of managers has been an emerging concept since the early 19th century, often linked to  administration and being the middle ground in organisations allowing to filter objectives to employees and vice versa, filtering employee’s needs to senior staff within the organisation. In my view management is a set of hierarchy working to achieve a common objective. As a Patient Advise Liaison Service (PALS) and Stakeholder Engagement and Involvement Manger, my role is predominantly to manage the customer service role for the Care Trust. Up until recently the Care trust was specialist in Mental Health and Learning Disabilities. The Trust is now at the stage of applying to become a member of Foundation Trust Status, which involves recruiting members to help shape the future of the organisation (BDCT, 2013) My role can be viewed in favour of Mintzberg’s headings: Liaison, Monitor, disseminator and spokesperson. I am the Liaison between the organisation and the team, and also the wider service users. I monitor the team’s performance, activities and disseminate information from the organisation to many third sector organisations, such as BAMHAG and ACAS, both of which are advocacy services for Mental Health service users As cited in Mullins (2010) by Crainer, management is making things happen. My role can also fit in with Crainers model as I am heavily involved in making sure that the team can meet objectives. The difficulty with the statement of making things happen is dependent upon each individual’s motivation and their individual circumstances. I feel that as an individual I am in the infancy stages of my career and have motivation with clear defined, SMART, goals (Mullins, 2010). The manager’s role and activities have a different number of models and theories which are used to explain what a manager does, or should do. Some of these are explained by the following: Fayol’s model looks at: Planning, organising, command, co-ordinate and control. My management role does have a certain element of Fayol’s model, but I found this view to be quite restricted, my role involves a lot of motivation, or the fact that is how I manage. Drucker’s model looks at settings objectives, organising, motivating and communicating. I feel that this is the best fit for my style and role. The limitation of this model is that it has a less authoritarian approach to it, and as I have discovered in my experiences can lead to the team that is being managed almost abusing a level of candour. Stewart describes the management role as to say the activities and role dependant on demands, constraints, and choices. Again, this can also fit in with my role and management style but is demanding on some of the authority that is needed. The management style as described by Blake and Moulton in their grid looks at manager effectiveness versus efficiency. These are what I believe to be key qualities, attributes and skills of a successful manager. There is however room for a change in style dependant on circumstances. My role is to manage the Patient Advice and Liaison Service for the Trust – to ensure the service is visible and accessible to patients, their families and carers through analysis of contact information and evaluation of experience. To develop procedures to ensure effectiveness of core business of service. The implementation of a telephone rota and advertised business hours has been an issue. Service users that are known to the team through historical working practices often end up having adhoc meetings in the office. This is both disruptive to other staff and can also be deemed as unprofessional. However, the particular service users have a high level of dependency on the PALS officers. My initial reaction to this as a manager was that we needed to have a timetable for appointment, so that PALs officers are not severing a link with the service users but for an element of empowering o take place, as explained by Bandura’s self -efficacy service. If an individual is told they cannot look after themselves, eventually they believe that. However using empowerment can allow for service users to identify their own strengths. As a manager the challenge I face is that PALS officers have  different levels of motivation and different triggers for motivation. Mullins 2010 defines motivation as why people behave in a certain way, why people do what they do. This is explained further to say that the direction and persistence of action. It is concerned when people choose a particular course of action in preference to others, and why they continue with a chosen action, often over a long period of time and in the face of difficulties and problems. This is true of both in a positive and negative light. An example form the team that I manage is that PALS officers are often on the in-patient wards to promote the service of PALS and to ask those people that would otherwise not be able to raise a concern. My critique of this situation was that a service can only be promoted to a certain level, otherwise it can be over promoted and this is where we find the leaflets that are handed out, just thrown about. My view is that each interaction should make a difference to the PALS officers. They should be able to understand that unless they found a new way of working, they are offering a counselling service, for which they are not qualified to do or paid to do. Again the discussion around empowerment was quite useful in highlighting to PALS officers that they are not there to ‘nanny’ service users. I provide day to day management for PALS staff including provision of formal supervision; there is also need to provide ad hoc supervision, this may be in order to support staff in dealing with sensitive, upsetting, distressed cases / clients. I also receive and deal with complex cases or where cases require escalation from offices; dealing with sensitive, highly emotive issues and dealing with clients who may be extremely upset and / or distressed. My role is also that of a Stakeholder engagement and involvement manager, which has a very corporate approach. I am responsible for forging relationships with both internal and external stakeholders. As discussed, the roles of PALS manager and stakeholder engagement and involvement manager does occasionally cause conflict, they are not natural roles that would come together. My understanding is that my predecessor had an interest in this area and so the role became theirs, and as such has been handed over. Another challenge to the above is that my role is job-shared. My co-colleague also works to manage PALS and stakeholder engagement. The conflict in that situation is that this individual is also a PALS officers, this means balancing three work roles out of which the Since the Mid Staffordshire Enquiry (2012) a huge push has been taking place to ensure processes and procedures are in place for service users/patients, carers and communities to have their say. The Francis Report (2013) highlights 290 key recommendations for organisations providing care. As part of my role I had to identify the key areas for development which are most relevant to the PALS officers and stakeholder roles. Prior to my joining of the team, an internal consultation was underway and when I joined the deadline for the consultation period was looming, however, I was able to be a spokesperson for the team ( Mintzberg) by keeping up to date with PALS policy and guidance and develop local procedures for the Trust in relation to PALS. This had to be robust process which could iron out some of the concerns I also work with the Head of Involvement and Equality to develop the PALS service to ensure the service meets requirements for the transformation agenda. At the moment I do this by having monthly meetings and adhoc regular contact. Again fitting in with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs I need this regular contact to maintain and improve my effectiveness as a manager. One of the challenges that I face is to maintain an overview of the system used to record PALS cases. This is to ensure information related to quality of services including equality data and patient experiences are recorded and effectively used across the organisation. I also develop local and Trust wide reporting mechanisms to do this. The challenge is the operational side of getting staff to actually record. I will need to consider the barriers to this during the one to one supervision sessions. The involvement function of my role is quite wide but a lot of the work involved looks at developing systems using IT based programmes to support the equality and involvement agendas – including development of effective  stakeholder engagement mechanisms to record stakeholders and involvement activities. I also keep up to date with patient experience guidance and to work alongside the Patient Involvement and Experience Manager by ensuring that PALS contacts are recorded accurately and are reported in line with patient experience indicators and commissioning requirements. The NHS has undergone a huge change in the direction of strategies and financial decisions that are made. (DOH, 2013) The ‘failure’ of previous managing organisations such as the Primary Care Trust, has meant that a lot of the workload from there PCT has now moved over to the Care Trust. The experience of patients is very important in this process as it highlights that poor management can leave patients to have poor experience. (Patients Association, 2013) I MANAGE A TEAM, BUT ALSO HAVE TO WORK AS PART OF A TEAM. MY MAIN ROLE IS THE LEARNING CURVE FOR MYSELF AND TO OBTAIN THE LOCAL KNOWLEDGE HELD BY THE PALS OFFICERS. I DELIVER REGULAR TEAM BRIEFING SESSIONS, SHARE INFORMATION, SKILLS AND EXPERIENCES WITH COLLEAGUES LISTEN AND ARE OPEN TO THE VIEWS OF OTHERS. I ACTIVELY WORK TO DEVELOP AND MAINTAIN POSITIVE RELATIONSHIPS WITH PEOPLE AT ALL LEVELS. BY DEVELOPING AND MAINTAINING CONSTRUCTIVE WORKING RELATIONSHIPS WITH LOCAL SERVICE USER, CARER AND COMMUNITY LED ORGANISATIONS. (MULLINS, 2010) An effective team, as stated by Mullins and other literature surrounding management, is a group of people that work together to achieve outcomes. This is a multidisciplinary approach, using a matrix style of working. I am comfortable with this description as I also feel that a team is a group of individuals that work together to use skills and expertise and team working to complete tasks assigned to the group. The defined role of a team looks at defined roles, skills and expertise. An important part of the team is to maintain regular contact, collaboration, co-ordination. These regular and frequent interactions give the team a more defined purpose. I also feel that a team needs skills and knowledge to carry out capability. The challenges that I face in my role are that the role is of an evolving nature with and increased demand and support should be given by other colleagues in a matrix style of working. However, due to the lack of clarity from senior management and the fact that the job description is very new can lead to an impact on day to day management of the PALS team. Another significant challenge is to performance manage the PALS team. The team has been working together for approximately 8 years, with some of the newer members joining around 4 years ago. This has led to a culture of working to ‘our way’. The concern with this approach to team working is that it may not necessarily meet the objectives of the organisation. In the scenario of the PALS team we constantly seem to cover ground rules and not be able to get past that, this can be seen as a level of non- compliance. As a manager my role is to steer the team to meet the team’s objectives, but this can be difficult due to the complex dynamics and individual personalities. To combat this I arranged individual sessions with staff to generate discussion around what each member of staff feels that they have done well, what can they do better and what would help them to get to that stage. The challenge that I face with the team during this period of consultation is to maintain a positive working environment and culture which actively improves the performance of the department and teams within it in relation to involvement, patient experience and equality. This id due to the motivation levels within the team. As cited in Mullins 2010, ‘Team working is no more than a fashionable term used by management to give workers an exaggerated feeling of importance’ my view on this is that team working has to be used in the right context. There are times as a manager where you can be led by your team however, overall the manager has to set the scene and highlight the core areas for team working and independent work. My role in terms of the day to day management of PALS Team including objective setting for individuals and team; allocating work to staff, completing monthly sickness returns. I ensure PALS staff are up to date in terms of all mandatory and required training and development is up to date  at all times. It is imperative to my role to identify and arrange appropriate training and development for PALS staff, via the appraisal and KSF route, to ensure successful delivery of business and to keep staff motivated and engaged in their roles. This is also as described by Druckers management model, which asks the questions of what do managers do? The manager’s role according to Drucker: Sets objectives. The manager sets goals for the group, and decides what work needs to be done to meet those goals.I engage in this process by using supervision and team meetings, to set objectives but also to understand that the objectives are clear and clarified 2) Organizes. The manager divides the work into manageable activities, and selects people to accomplish the tasks that need to be done. I am in a job share situation, where my colleague is also a part time PALS officer. This has meant that I have had to revise the workload, so that both my skills and management tasks required are delegated appropriately between us and also to staff within the team that have the right skills. The challenge that I face in this situation is that I do not have a PALS background; however, it is important for me to be objective and put simple plans in place to have the team working effectively. I aim to pick up a lot of these conversations during the supervisions that I have with staff. 3) Motivates and communicates. The manager creates a team out of his people, through decisions on pay, placement, promotion, and through his communications with the team. Drucker also referred to this as the â€Å"integrating† function of the manager. My main style of working and management is to use motivation as a contributing factor, by looking at the motivators and demotivates and allowing staff to make their own decisions, using coaching and facilitation. Once aims and objectives are agreed, this allows me to measure the progress during meetings and one to ones 4) Measures. The manager establishes appropriate targets and yardsticks, and analyzes, appraises and interprets performance. This goes hand in hand with  motivation, my main role is to measure the outcomes and also to measure underperformance. I aim to try and do this in a facilitating manner and not punitive. My own experiences of being managed in a punitive manner led me to completely switch off. I believe that the right skills and appreciation is at the heart of trying to get a team or individuals to work together. By using reflective practice I can also measure the performance of the team. I recently asked for team to bring figures of complaints/ concerns and issues to team meetings, so that we can be measurable and auditable. 5) Develops people. With the rise of the knowledge worker, this task has taken on added importance. In a knowledge economy, people are the company’s most important asset, and it is up to the manager to develop that asset. During the one to one sessions, I have designed a template to ask staff what works well, how we can do it better, looking at ways of improving stakeholder work, raise the empowerment level of individuals to take on responsibilities once involved, i.e. chair meetings etc. Managers born or made, Mullins states a combination of both, my roles both professionally and personally have evolved through needs (Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs). The need to bring a substantial income into our family home coupled with the determination of having a professional post. I also feel that as described above I am working using Druckers model for my personal development. One of the main aspects being that I am constantly setting measurable targets for myself and constantly reviewing progress and working to timescales. One of the constant reminders that I have to keep addressing in my role as a manager is that motivation is not linked to ability. As Mullins points that an individual can be motivated but not have the right skill set or resources to carry out their ability. This is quite fundamental to bear in mind as often motivation and ability can be seen as the same, in my view they are co-dependant but need to be addressed individually. Motivation means doing the best of ability, understanding what you can cope with and enjoy. Motivation is possibly the best way of doing something,  taking into account individual characteristics and drivers. What motivates one individual may not motivate another (Mullins 2010) The definition of motivation is to keep the momentum going, having the drive to achieve objectives, achieving and keeping a check on self-motivation. Motivation is linked to rewards which are individual to different people. Mullins (2010) states motivation is why people behave in a certain way, why people do what they do, the direction and persistence of it is concerned. Having a sense of achievement is important to all; Organisations are now buying into the fact that staff needs to be kept motivated and engaged. As a result of Staff surveys, (BDCT 2012) organisational aims as well as individual aims are driven by certain motivating factors. These as discussed previously are dependent on individual circumstances. In a team of staff the motivation will be at different levels as people are at different points in life. A lack of motivation has the effect of having a destabilised work environment and an impact on staff morale. â€Å"Motivation is not performance. Performance = motivation and ability levels† (UoB 2013) this phrase sums up for me what motivation means as a manager Within motivation there are different theories. Buchanan and Huczynski’s theory on goals looks at main motives for our behaviour, wealth status and power trigger. Our behaviour towards attainment is encapsulated as the Content theory. Mullins 2010 looks at content theories as the drive and need of motivation. Decisions: why do we choose to pursue certain goals is termed process theory, the focus is on how choices are made with respect to goals. Job enrichment theory looks at influence and how can we motivate you to work harder. According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs (Buchanan and Huczysnki) an individual, team or manager has the following needs: 1, physiological needs 2, safety needs 3, social needs 4, ego needs 5, self-actualisation Maslow states that the lower needs have to be satisfied first. My role as PALS Manager came as a result of national changes within the NHS. My previous role was in commissioning and due to move over to the Commissioning Board, however due to geographical challenges; I applied for a local job so that it could fit in with my need of being a carer to my family. In my role as Stakeholder Manager, I collaborate and facilitate corporate events, raise service user and carer profile both inward facing across the organisation and outward facing. The Care Trust has made a huge effort to recognize and reference to the Francis Report, patient experience is at the heart of patient care. As stakeholder manager I am constantly reviewing, what does this mean? To take a proactive approach I take the comments from the board to team meetings to raise awareness of issues and concerns that have a potential to take place, based on Mid Staffs Enquiry (Francis Report, 2013) and vice versa from stakeholder groups back to team meetings. It is critical in my role is to keep a balanced view between the organization and the stakeholders. I am able to agree with the rhetoric assumption of we have been here before in terms of making service better for people , but I believe that the catalyst for change is always evolving and by using reflective practice I am able to highlight the positive changes that have taken place. An example of this is that carers are invited to Board meetings to share their experiences so that the senior management has some idea of the situation at grassroots level. Historically this was not taking place, however due to the feedback received regarding involvement activities from service users and carers, the Trust Board invite Service users and carers on  a regularly basis. This allows service users to be an advocate for others but also with regular contact to become almost semi-professional and understand some of the concerns faced by large organisations. The history of service user movement groups is well documented (Everett 1994, Campbell 1996, Wallcraft J, Bryant M 2003) and awareness of this literature enables an understanding to develop of the gigantic steps that have been made in the area of user involvement. The past quarter of a century has witnessed a dramatic change in the way that those using mental health services are perceived, represented and valued, not least as contributors towards their own care as opposed to purely receivers of it. The role of service users in the 2007 mental health service is far removed from the role they played just decades previously (Campbell 2005) and the increasingly used term â€Å"experts by experience† highlights the value placed on service user contribution in all aspects of their care planning. This patient expertise is also fundamental to service user involvement, which not only takes many forms, but occurs on many varying levels. Involvement ranges from the macro level of service planning and evaluation through to involvement at the micro level of service user participation and decision making regarding their own care (Braye 2000). Recognised by the DoH (Department of Health, 2001b) in their Expert Patient document. In my role of team management I am faced with conflicting demands upon my time and within the members of staff. Conflict resolution has become an important part of the manager’s role, the questions can be asked as to why there can be conflict. One of the reasons that I have uncovered during my research is that individuals can make organisational objectives, become personal objectives, this may not be fitting to everyone, due to individual circumstances. Job purpose and job crafting is linked to my personal beliefs and motivation theory. There are two factors that motivate people in their jobs. These two factors are: Hygiene – factors affecting job dissatisfaction are qualities of supervision, pay, company, policies, physical working conditions, relations with others, and job security. Motivator – factors affects motivation are promotional opportunities, opportunities for personal growth, recognition, responsibility, and achievement. Herzberg argued that Hygiene factors do not contributes towards higher performance instead they are for prevention of dissatisfaction in jobs. True motivators are impacting motivation and hence organisational performance. In my view hygiene factors are not contributors to motivation is not entirely true. Based on individual factors like responsibility, economic situation, opportunities available, these factors may act as motivators to work. In evaluating the effectiveness of my role as a manager, I am not able to constructively measure my performance in this role as it too early to measure, however, in other areas of my life and on requesting regular feedback from my peers and previous colleagues, I would say that I am an effective manager in terms of motivation, objective setting and team working. I am able to synthesise and analyse my own development to better inform myself and the team that I manage. This role in particular is a short term contract and because of this I feel that my delivery of results is paramount to my reputation as an effective manager. Some of the challenges that I have faced include the spontaneous nature of the team. The embedded dynamics means that it was difficult for staff in overcoming the initial authority and assertiveness of my role. Staff were working to their own demands; they were working hard and trying to give all they can in their roles but not working as effectively as they possibly could. I detected certain levels of non-compliance and lack of respect towards me as a manager from colleague and staff. This may be due to the fact that they consider themselves to be local experts in their respective  roles. This became an apparent weakness; due to unclear nature of my role and lack of management support this had a knock on effect in my management role. Staff felt that because I was unclear they could also have become complacent in their roles and resisting much required change. I gained support from my manager to facilitate those discussions with my job-share and focussed on the need to work more effectively and efficiently. Following on from the Francis Report, the Trust have decided to conduct an external consultation of the department, this will have an impact on the PALS team, both positively and negatively. Positively the recognition and the importance of service user involvement in mental health care are possibly at a higher level now than it ever has been. The Care Trust was up until a couple of years ago a mental health and learning disabilities, specialist trust. Due to the many changes taking place in the NHS this has now changed and the Care Trust has taken on other responsibilities, the challenge that I am facing in my role is that the service users and carers are mostly from the mental health background, therefore the diversity of involvement from a wide range is restricted, however, this is critical to my role and to the wider role of the organisation. Personal development plan An analysis of my personal development plan will allow me to face some challenges constructively. One of the main concerns is that I have no clear definition of role and therefore unable to set objectives for my team. I aim to seek clarification from my manager and also from the organisation in terms of what the PALS team should be doing, especially in light of the Francis Report. I will be arranging staff supervision sessions and also identifying key areas for development of staff. Regular feedback and appraisals will help in setting the teams objectives. The workload will be reviewed and I will be reviewing time on activities so that a rota can be in place for manning the office and the telephones. I will be able to manage conflict regarding the workload, once the discussions around caseload management have taken place. This will allow cases to be appropriately handled and in a timely manner. References Blake, R. R. and Mouton, J. S. The Managerial Grid III, Gulf Publishing Company (1985) Buchanan, D. and Huczynski, A. Organizational Behaviour: An Introductory Text, Third edition, Prentice Hall (1997) Department of Health, DoH, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/recognised-valued-and-supported-next-steps-for-the-carers-strategy accessed June 2013. Drucker, P. F. The Practice of Management, Heinemann Professional (1989) Everett 1994, Campbell 1996, Wallcraft J, Bryant M 2003 Fayol, H. General and Industrial Management, Pitman (1949). Francis Report and Mid Staffs enquiry: http://www.midstaffsinquiry.com/pressrelease.html accessed June 2013. Herzberg, F., Mausner, B. and Snyderman, B. B. The Motivation to Work, Second edition, Chapman and Hall (1959). Maslow, A. H. ‘A Theory of Human Motivation’, Psychological Review, 50, July 1943, pp. 370-96 and Maslow, A. H. Motivation and Personality, Third edition, Patients Association, http://www.patients-association.com/ accessed June 2013. Peters, G. ‘Creating the Modern Organization’, in Crainer, S. and Dearlove, D. (eds) Financial Times Handbook of Management, Second edition, Financial Times Prentice Hall (2001), Mullins (2010) Mary Parker Follett (1868-1933), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Parker_Follett, accessed June 2013. Mintzberg, H. The Structuring of Organizations, Prentice-Hall (1979). Stewart, R. The Reality of Management, Third edition, Butterworth Heinemann (1999) WriteWork contributors. â€Å"Management, Partnership and User Involvement in Health and Social Care† WriteWork.com. WriteWork.com, 05 June, 2007. Web. 02 Jun. 2013.

Landlord and Tenant Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Landlord and Tenant Law - Essay Example In the beginning, Able began extensive work on the unit. But the directors of Able soon discovered that the turnover from trading was not going to be as profitable as they had hoped. Hence, the extensive work to the roof was never completed. Although watertight, the roof is unsightly and not up to modern standards. In 2002, Able discovered that the concrete used to form the basis of the floor of the unit was not of the correct type. As a result, the surface had become crumbly and difficult to walk on. The only way to solve this problem would be to excavate the floor and lay a new one at a cost of GBP 250,000. Instead of undertaking any work, when the problem first became acute, Able laid metal sheeting on the floor as a temporary measure. The extractor fans fixed to the walls of the unit have ceased to function and when Able obtained quotes for installing new ones, they discovered that the original manufacture had gone into liquidation and new ones would have to be sourced from a different supplier. The new fans would be larger and require extensive installation work estimated at GBP 20,000. A director of Able has discovered second-hand fans which could be installed at a fraction of this cost. But these are older models than those currently installed and only work at half efficiency. Recently, surveyors instructed by the landlord have inspected the unit. On the basis of their calculations, the landlord claims that the cost to Able of complying fully with the covenant at the end of the term will be GBP 360,000. This includes completion of the work on the roof, laying a new floor, installing new fans as opposed to second-hand ones, and carrying out other miscellaneous works. The directors of Able are furious, especially since they have discovered that the landlord has submitted a planning application to the local planning authority under which the present unit would be demolished. The Questions The rent details, that is the amount of rent payable, and if any deposit had been paid to the landlord, are not provided. Details regarding the manner in which the lease agreement was made are also not provided. Was the agreement made through lawyers Were lawyers engaged by the landlord when the agreement was made Did Able engage lawyers to make the agreement It is important to know the answers to these questions in order to pinpoint the correct answers. It is possible to surmise the consequences in the absence of these answers. The information pertaining to the circumstances that have led Able to seek legal position are there. On the basis of these information provided the solutions to the issues raised will be given. The Cost of Repairs It appears that the premise is not suitable place to work. The premise needs long-term repairs and fixtures for long-term, problem-free use. Nevertheless, Able has gone ahead and made an agreement with the landlord for use of the premise for 15 years. The place was thriving at that time. Therefore, the directors of Able might have felt compelled to take the place on long-term rental basis, even willing to go along with

'Students' learning and achievement increase substantially when Dissertation

'Students' learning and achievement increase substantially when teachers work in learning communities supported by school le - Dissertation Example In this assignment, I look forward to discussing how crucial collaborating with the other colleagues is in order to bring about a drastic change in the teaching and the development of the teaching resources. For a clear sense of understanding, this assignment is divided into the following sections. Firstly, I’ve tried to point out the various benefits and challenges that were presented to me during the course of my collaboration with the other professionals. Secondly, I’ve tried to point out how my planning abilities were strengthened by my on-going communication with these professionals, and how it helped me with my teaching. Lastly, I’ve discussed how this collaboration has benefitted my students and their learning abilities. In recent years, the shift from a perception of the teachers as solely responsible for educational outcomes to the perception of education as a process that includes collaboration colleagues (teachers and support staff) and other professio nals e.g. a speech and language therapist, etc. has change the way we think about team dimension and working with our colleagues. Team-work is highly important for the success of any activity. Be it a workplace, a football field, or the members of a certain community, teamwork can bring forth amazing results. However, working together as a part of the team is not always as easy as it sounds. Although the benefits that you can derive from the successful implementation are immense, it also requires a great deal of compromise as well as hard work. (Woloch, 2008) There are several ways in which professionals today work together within schools for e.g. in middle schools across the globe teachers usually collaborate in an informal way all the time. These interactions help build up more formal modes of professional collaboration which are directed towards improving teaching and learning. These collaborations are very important for effective learning in any educational institution because t he sum of parts is better than the parts itself. (Wheelock, 2000) Many schools are encouraging teacher collaboration. For example, peer coaching (Joyce & Showers, 1988) and interdisciplinary curriculum development (Brandt, 1991) are premised on teachers' collaborative relationships, as are current trends in the design and delivery of professional development programs (Barth, 1990). Many aspects of currently recommended school reforms call for greater collaboration among teachers (Goodlad, 1984). The trend toward school-based decision making is also consonant with the recognition that collaboration is becoming an essential ingredient in successful schools. Smith and Scott (1990) have asserted that the collaborative school is easier to describe than define. In my opinion, in order to educate children successfully it is very important to clearify your role in the process of collaboration, and also respect the roles of the others. This is important in order to use our input and knowledg e for the purpose of delivering the best quality of education to the children. This is the best gift that you can give to any child: quality education. As in the immortal words of Aristotle, ‘Those who educate children well are more to be honoured than parents, for these only gave life, those the art of living well.’ Hindrances in collaboration: The two major barriers that I

S6W1Dqs 1256 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

S6W1Dqs 1256 - Assignment Example In addition, due to participation of other players in such efforts, there is likely to be a fear on one side of negatively affecting the other hence long-term strategies may not be viable (Carlsnaes, Risse & Simmons, 2012). As a result, the nations have always held the belief that the uncertainty created by the stated factors may hinder the progress of their peace-keeping missions, for instance, and hence the need to have short term goals as the situation is being monitored. However, this might hinder their efforts of nation building in the affected countries because it is through long term and realistic goals that such efforts may be effective. There is need for a more unified approach in tackling this issue so that peacekeeping and nation building in the identified conflict zones are highly prioritized for long-term sustainability. A2. According to the author, ‘fungibility’ of force refers to the ability of a country’s military force to peacefully influence othe rs. This can be through the winning of battles with other military forces or through indirect influence to decisions that are bound to be made at international levels to their favor. According to him, this ability may have great benefits compared to forceful use of military power. There are two effects of this ability according to the writer (Art & Waltz, 2004). First, the military influence of a country has a ‘spill over’ effects that might influence policy making to its benefit. Secondly, having a strong military asset base and therefore superior force may be of great importance to a country in terms of conflict resolution. This is because the country’s bargaining power is enhanced because of its perceived power. Art &Waltz (2004) therefore have held that just like in the economic sense, currencies may have different values, military power can also be wielded in a peaceful way to enable nations achieve their aspirations. By using the analogy of flooding, they s tate that when military force is used in, say one battle, the other nations are likely to feel the effects of it by judging from the aftermath that may be characterized by destruction. Fungibility therefore is an important aspect that may determine a country’s effectiveness in handling conflict resolution. When nations look at their power in terms of fungibility instead of the number of enemies destroyed in battles, there is likely to be peace in conflict zones. This is because bloodshed that results in military operations spread a lot of animosity among the parties involved hence making it difficult for peacekeeping and reconciliation efforts. A3. The United States is an example of a nation that has been able to exert influence through its power assets across the globe. This is despite the observation by the writer in his ‘democratic peace theory’ framework that democratic powers are likely not to favor this position. By overcoming the challenges of the power ba lance doctrines, the United States has been able to survive this condition (Rosato, 2003). First, the US has a policy of forming a partnership with the other military powers. A good example is the Afghanistan war that it involved other countries like Britain. Even though the United States was the major power in the initiation of that war, the involvement of

Probation and Parole vs. Incarceration - Cost Comparison Essay

Probation and Parole vs. Incarceration - Cost Comparison - Essay Example This may be due to some reasons which, for instance, may include some probationers may have committed a minimal offense which is not severe (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2015). Parole on the other hand, refers to law offenders who are conditionally released from prison to serve the remaining term of their sentence in the community. The offenders may be released by a parole board decision (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2015). According to the research done in 2008, the mean cost of incarceration was over $23,000 per inmate in the United States. The correctional spending by local and state governments was approximated to have been 52 billion dollars. These costs arose upon conviction and subsequent imprisonment for parole prisoners. 35 percent of the 1.4 million convicts imprisoned in the jails and state prisons are imprisoned for parole violations. This was according to the department of justice in the United States (Criminal Justice Section, 2012). Increase in prison population has grown enormously leading to sanction of state budgets. Therefore the state needs more effective correction policies. For instance, individuals who pose the greatest threat to the community should be sentenced to imprisonment but alternatives such as early freedom should be given to the individuals who pose minimal risks. They can greatly benefit from outside rehabilitation efforts posted in correctional institution. Individuals who post low-risks to the community should not be put in incarceration. When this is done, the individual is separated from family life; work and offenly fail to address the issues that caused initial violations (Criminal Justice Section, 2012). So, the individuals who face parole and probation benefit from transitional sanction such as fines, home detention, and community service or increased reporting. The state of Maryland, for instance, had to deal with considerable budget

Stream Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Stream - Lab Report Example Functional characteristics on the other hand measures the services or functions provided by the water ecosystem and are measured by the rate of primary productivity and organic matter decomposition. Structural characteristics of a stream are mainly used in the day to day monitoring of stream health. The biotic factors used mainly include macroinvertebrate diversity. Analyses of macro invertebrates in water is important because they are a link to the aquatic food chain, have diverse sensitivity to pollution and is a relatively cheap method for analysis of the stream quality. Additionally, the macroinvertebrate diversity provides useful information on the long term quality of the stream unlike water analysis which provides information for the sampling time only. These invertebrates have differences in their susceptibility to pollutants in water with some being highly susceptible to pollution while others are moderately susceptible with others being tolerant to different levels of pollu tion. Those organisms which are highly susceptible will not live in polluted waters while the most tolerant can survive. Therefore they measure the levels of pollution in the water and thus by extension the health state of the river. Functional characteristics of an ecosystem when integrated with the structural characteristics help in giving a complete picture of the health state of an ecosystem. This is due to the fact that the ecosystem can respond to human stressors differently including changes to the structure of the ecosystem without changes in functional parameters or changes in the ecosystem function without change in the structure while in some cases there could be both structural and functional changes. The functional characteristics of a water ecosystem can be measured by a number of indicators including the rate of uptake of nutrients, benthic microbial respiration, nitrification, organic matter, invertebrate production and fish production. Abiotic factors are also impor tant in the assessment of the functional characteristics of the water. The concentrations of dissolved oxygen, air and water temperature, conductivity, and the velocity of the water have been shown to affect the health status of a stream or river. This is because the interaction of these abiotic factors with the biotic factors in the water determines the survival and existence of the latter and also the rate of breakdown of organic substances such as leaves in water. The concentration of dissolved oxygen for example is used as a measure of the rate of metabolism in the water ecosystem with water temperature increasing the rate of decomposition. Additionally the increased demands for water for human use have also led to increased abstraction rates of water. This reduction in the water flow due to abstraction has possible impacts on the stream ecosystems (Deswon et al. 2007). 1.2 Main Objective To determine the health states of Molly Ann Brook, Ramapo River and Bear swamp Brook 1.2.1 Specific objectives 1. To determine the structural and functional characteristics of Molly Ann Brook, Ramapo River and Bear Swamp Brook. 2. To determine and compare the health states the Ramapo River upstream and downstream 3. To compare the health state of the Bear Swamp Brook relative to Ramapo River 2.0 STUDY AREA 2.1 Molly Ann Brook The Molly Ann Brook is a tributary of the Passaic River.

The Iraq War Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Iraq War - Research Paper Example The primary rationale of military intervention in Iraq as was articulated by the joint congress resolution stated that it was necessary to remove the regime of Saddam Hussein because it was developing and had previously used weapons of mass destruction (WWD), supporting and harboring terrorists and was committing serious human rights abuses (Gordon, 156). It was also argued that it was important to change rogue regimes in the Middle East to starve the support for militant Islamic extremists in the region. The U.S led invasion of Iraq however relied on the authority given by the UN Security Council Resolution that required the international community to employ all the necessary means of compelling the then Iraqi regime to comply with the international obligations. Despite the fact that the United Nations Inspectors did not find any prior evidence of WMD, the U.N resolution was nevertheless issues based on the argument by some inspectors that they could not verify the accuracy of the I raqi declarations regarding the weapons in its possession. Preparations for the military intervention in Iraq began as early as 2001 after President Bush highlighted the intention of the U.S government to change the regime of Saddam Hussein. ... 2003, the rhetoric by the Bush administration against the Iraqi regime increased culminating to the February 2003 presentation of evidence of Iraqi WMD program by Colin Powell to the UN Security Council (Gordon, 89). There was however significant dispute within the U.S military intelligence regarding the accuracy of the conclusions that Iraq had stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction. The senate went ahead and approved the joint resolution thereby giving the Bush administration the necessary legal basis to launch the U.S led invasion of Iraq. The resolution reiterated the need to replace Saddam Hussein’s government and promote democratic replacement. Opposition to the Iraqi invasion however increasingly grew after the joint resolution with critics questioning the legitimacy of the invasion and legality of the war. Protests against the Iraqi war were also witnessed in several parts of the United States. In October 2002, the former U.S president Bill Clinton criticized the pl anned war and warned about the potential dangers of such pre-emptive military actions. Dominique De Villepin, the former French Foreign Minister also argued that military intervention was the last solution and should not be carried out. Meanwhile a number of anti war protests were organized in many parts of the world denouncing the decision to wage war against Iraq. The first coalition military operation began in July 2002 when a team of members of CIA special activities division and the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) entered Iraq and began making preparations for the invasion by conventional allied forces. Their initial tasks included carrying out reconnaissance missions, identifying targets and persuading Iraqi commanders to surrender rather than opposing the invasion. On March 20,

Death Penalty in the US Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Death Penalty in the US - Term Paper Example In the year 2004, the New York Supreme Court also ruled that the prevailing methods of death penalty were in conflict with the Constitution of the New York. The death penalty in New York was effectively eliminated since the legislature did not attempt to alter the procedures of death penalty. Significance of Death Penalty The theoretical significance of implementing the laws of death penalty comprises three fundamental themes, namely incapacitation, retribution, and deterrence. Incapacitation is the containment of the criminals that keeps them from causing harm to the public as they are in the correctional monitoring. Execution of the criminals in the death penalty is the proper way to ensure incapacitation. Deterrence comprises the direct as well as the indirect advantages of executing the criminals. Retribution includes the philosophical and theoretical tenets of the reason and the way of execution (Grimes, 2010, p. 181). Retribution is a complicated punishment psychology (Bohm, 19 92) and asserts that criminals must be punished for their crime and the severity of punishment must accord with the gravity of the crime committed. It means the payback or requital for the criminal’s action. â€Å"The death penalty has been and continues to be defended on the grounds in which society has the ethical responsibility to protect the welfare and security of its citizens from the heinous crimes which justify such a sentence† (Weatherby et al., 2012). ... Some of these methods are described below: Electrocution New York built the electric chair for the first time in the year 1888 in an attempt to use a more human method of death penalty as compared to hanging (Death Penalty Information Center, 2012). Today, many states in the US use electrocution to give the death penalty to the criminals. To cause the criminal’s death through electrocution, the criminal is shaved and tied to a chair with the help of belts all across the body including the chest, arms, and legs. An electrode in the shape of a skull is attached with the forehead and the scalp upon a sponge that is made sprayed with saline. Conductive jelly is used to moisten another electrode that is attached to the leg of the prisoner. After this, the prisoner is blindfolded. â€Å"After the execution team has withdrawn to the observation room, the warden signals the executioner, who pulls a handle to connect the power supply. A jolt of between 500 and 2000 volts, which lasts for about 30 seconds, is given† (Death Penalty Information Center, 2012). After it has been confirmed that the inmate’s heart has stopped beating, the current is turned off. Lethal Injection Lethal injection is used by 36 states of the US today as the method of execution. In this method, the criminal is bound to a gurney. The execution team places a number of heart monitors upon the individual’s skin. They inset two needles into usable veins in the arms of the inmate. One of the needles is a back-up. The needle is connected with long tubes to numerous intravenous drips. The first drip consists of a saline solution that is harmless and starts immediately. When the warden signals, the inmate is exposed to the witnesses who have gathered in the

Dewey has a concept of body-mind very different from Plato. What is Essay - 1

Dewey has a concept of body-mind very different from Plato. What is body for Dewey- what is soul Explain how Dewey attempts to account for human intelligence, and why he rejects old notions of dualism - Essay Example In philosophy, the word dualism is used to represent the differences between body and mind. â€Å"In dualism, ‘mind’ is contrasted with ‘body’, but at different times, different aspects of the mind have been the centre of attention†(Stanford encyclopaedia of philosophy-Dualism). Famous philosopher Rene Descartes has put forward the idea of dualism. He believed that mind is a non physical substance whereas body is a physical substance. He argued that brain is the origin of intelligence and the mind, the origin of consciousness and self awareness. Plato, another famous philosopher, supported and elaborated the arguments of Descartes. He argued that our perceptions of distinct and immaterial objects are nothing more than shadows. Even though Plato succeeded in defining soul as an entity imprisoned in the body, he failed to give a clear answer to the question; what binds a particular soul to a particular body. The questions like; ‘what happens to th e soul and mind once the body faces death’ and ‘what happens to the soul and mind if all the materials used in the making of our body is substituted with some other materials from another planet’ are difficult to answer with the help of dualism theory. John Dewey rejected the dualism theory because of the above concerns and argued in favor of a single entity consisting of body, mind and soul. Dewey has elaborated his arguments with the help of following example. The being who eats and digests is also the one who at the same time is sorrowing and rejoicing; it is a commonplace that he eats and digests in one way to one effect when glad, and in another when he is sad. Eating is also a social act, and the emotional temper of the festal board enters into the alleged merely physical function of digestion. Eating of bread and drinking of wine have indeed become so integrated with the mental attitudes of multitudes of persons that they have assumed a

World Beer Consumption Essay Example for Free

World Beer Consumption Essay Approximately, 100 billion liters of beer are consumed around the world every year (Olfir, 2007). The worldwide growth rate of beer consumption has been recorded for the past 19 years (Kirin Holdings, 2005). This, however, is not to say that the beer consumption around the world is alike. The alcoholic beverage consumption levels around the world and the rates at which these increase vary from one country to another. For example, in India the annual consumption of beer is . 5 litters per capita (Gupta, 2007), where as in Czech Republic, the consumption of beer is 156. 9 liters per capita per year (Olfir, 2007). There are many factors that contribute to the difference in beer consumption levels amongst different countries. Some of these factors include the stability of the country’s economy, laws and regulations, religion, and culture. Economy I believe that the economy of a nation plays an important role in the levels of beer consumption in different parts of the world. The demand for beer is rapidly increasing in nations whose economy is on the rise. Some of these economies include Asia, particularly China, Eastern Europe, and Africa (Access Capital, 2010). For example, In 1966 China only consumed about half a bottle of beer. As the average per capita income has increased so has the consumption of beer, reaching 103 beers per person in 2007 (Appebaum, 2011). Laws and Regulations Laws and regulations on alcoholic beverages also have an effect on the consumption of beer. In most cases, if not all, laws have the ability to hinder the increasing rates consumption of alcohol. For example, the principle of prohibition is intensely recommended by the Indian constitution and Indian law prohibits the advertisement of alcoholic beverage (Ranganathan, 1994). This is one of the reasons why their per capita consumption is so low. On the other hand, legislation may cause for consumption levels to increase. For example, in Czech Republic, Ireland and Germany, the top three nations with the highest beer consumption (Olfir, 2007), the minimum legal drinking age is between 16 and 18 years of age. Because people can start drinking at an earlier age legally, the amount of drinkers is higher in these countries. Religion As previously mentioned, India consumes approximately . 5 litters per capita on a yearly basis. Although this number might seem insignificant compared to other countries, such as Czech Republic, it is important to note that the consumption over the last few years has increased at a rate of about seven percent annually (Gupta, 2007). An important factor to such low rate is religion (Ranganathan, 1994). As Shanthi Ranganathan mentions in the article, The Most Sensible Thing is Not to Drink, Hinduism, the largest religion followed in India, the consumption of alcohol is known as one of the five heinous crimes. It is compared to adultery and murder (Ranganathan, 1994), making it a horrible act. Christianity, on the contrary, has more open-minded beliefs in regards with the consumption of alcohol (Wig, 1994). Culture Another country that can be used as an example to explain the difference in beer consumption levels among different countries is France whose beer consumption level per capita is 35. 5 liters per year (Lansdell, 2006). Compared to other countries, France may be considered to have a lower level of alcoholic consumption. The biggest contributor to this countries consumption level, I believe, is the culture of the country. When drinking, in most cases, French prefer wine instead of beer and they take their time to consume their beverages, unlike Americans, who are always in a rush to do everything. Worldwide Brewers and Increased Beer Consumption Each year, 2. 5 million people worldwide die do to alcohol or beer consumption. Alcohol is attributed to being the third greatest factor for diseases (W. , 2011). I believe that due to the great risk factor that comes with the consumption of alcohol, worldwide brewers should not have the ability to grow at such a fast rate all around the world. Although the industry could possibly help the economic stability of a country, I believe it does a greater harm to the different nations. I believe that one possibly solution that would allow the beer industry to prosper without causing much harm, is if as they enter a nation to introduce their product, they help create programs that educate people on the consumption of alcohol. I believe that if people are educated on the subject matter and know the consequences of drinking this product, they will continue to consume the beverage but being more responsible. This, in my opinion, will not have a negative affect on the beer industry. Another way that a nation can prevent the consequences of alcohol consumption caused by worldwide brewers is by creating greater taxation or other barriers that would hinder the production and selling of beer in their nation. This scenario, however, might be one that the beer industry might one to avoid. Unlike my first suggestion, this would have a greater negative impact on the industry. Such situation would lower sales in the given country affecting the revenue of the company. I also believe that although the rate of alcohol consumption in many developing countries is increasing, these rates will begin to slow down. Although, as mentioned earlier, economy prosperity may help increase the levels of alcohol consumption, it is also true that after a certain level of prosperity, people tend to consider quality when purchasing a product. For example, Ethiopians may start consuming low-end beer, however, as their financial stability begins to prosper they might continue to upgrade until they convert to wine-drinkers. Works Cited W. , C. (2011, February 12). W. H. O. Report on Worldwide Alcohol Abuse. Retrieved October 03, 2011, from lifering. org: http://lifering. org/2011/02/w-h-o-report-on-worldwide-alcohol-abuse/ Wig, N. (1994, September). Alcohol in the Third World. (D. p. Knight, Ed. ) Retrieved September 30, 2009, from unhooked. com: http://www. unhooked. com/sep/thirdworl. html Access Capital. (2010). Investing in Ethiopia. Access Capital. Appebaum, B. (2011, April 25). Beer Drinking and What It Says About China’s Economy. Retrieved October 03, 2011, from Economix: http://economix. blogs. nytimes. com/2011/04/23/beer-drinking-and-what-it-says-about-chinas-economy/ Gupta, V. K. (2007, February 15). The Beer industry in India in context of Consumer Buying Behavior. Retrieved October 3, 2011, from inidiamaba. com: http://www. indianmba. com/Faculty_Column/FC519/fc519. html Kirin Holdings. (2005, December 15). Kirin Research Institute of Drinking and Lifestyle . Retrieved Ocotober 3, 2011, from Kirin Holdings: http://www. kirinholdings. co.jp/english/ir/news_release051215_1. html Lansdell, G. (2006). Top 10: Drinking Countries. Retrieved October 03, 2011, from askmen. com: http://www. askmen. com/feeder/askmenRSS_article_print_2006. php? ID=949422 Olfir, E. (2007). Volume of World Beer Consumption. (G. Elert, Editor) Retrieved 0ctober 3, 2011, from http://hypertextbook. com: http://hypertextbook. com/facts/2001/JohnnyAlicea. shtml Ranganathan, S. (1994, September ). Alcohol in the Third World. Retrieved September 30, 2009, from unhooked. com: http://www. unhooked. com/sep/thirdworl. html.

Onychomycosis Treatment Evaluation

Onychomycosis Treatment Evaluation A synopsis on Onychomycosis in patent with high degree of glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) Essa Ajmi Alodeani, Mohammad Asrar Izhari, Mohammad Arshad Abstract: Onychomycosis is an intercontinental disease burden and poses growing concern for the health-care establishment. It is a comparatively quotidian dermatologic manifestation. It is an infection of the nail plate or nail bed caused by fungus which leads to the imperceptible destruction of the nail plate, accounting for about half of all disordered nails and almost 30% of cutaneous mycoses. Variation in the incidence of the ailment reflects region and age. Usually it is not a self-limiting dermatologic representation and may trigger more infectious lesions at another site of the body owing to progressive nature of mycosis. Cosmetically unsightly affected nails may begin to be painful and lead to functional impairment. In case of patients with high degree of glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) which is now days evaluated as an indicator of diabetes control, onychomycosis treatment becomes more imperative owing to the association between diabetes and the diabetic foot ulcer which one of the most s erious sequelae of diabetes in the lower extremities. Especially lower limb sequelae are great contributors to hospitalization of diabetic patients accounting for the majority of in-hospital stay and huge consumption of resource leading to the great deal of economic setback of the health care system of the country. Approximately 15% of diabetic patients develop a lower extremity ulcer during the course of their ailment. Diabetic foot syndrome (DFS) affects 1 out of 5 diabetic patients at least once in his/her lifetime. The necessity of the selected treatment in these patients must be exercised to minimize or anticipate any adverse drug interactions as they concurrently use other medications. With the avalanche of scientific evidences and keeping all the aspects of the onycomycosis, it would be worth to undertake the subject under investigation. Keywords: Onychomycosis, diabetic patients, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) Introduction: Onychomycosis is a global and comparatively quotidian dermatologic manifestation raising disease burden and poses growing concern for the economy of health-care establishment. It accounts for about half of all disordered nails and almost 30% of cutaneous mycoses. In case of patients with higher degree of glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c)-a diabetic monitoring marker, the treatment becomes more imperative owing to the association between diabetes and the diabetic foot ulcer which one of the most serious consequences of diabetes in the lower extremities. Which is a great contributor to hospitalization of diabetic patients accounting for the majority of in-hospital stay and huge consumption of resource leading to the great deal of economic setback of the health care system of the country. Onychomycosis is a very common nails infection globally and responsible for 30% of cutaneous mycotic infections and 50% of all nail disorders [1-3]. It is associated with morbidity and long lasting treatment with anti-fungal agents and leads to substantial patient distress, disability, pain, negative self image and can predispose to the soft tissue infection, particularly cellulitis [4-7]. It is more common in diabetic than nondiabetic patients and the patients with diabetic infection have a greater risk of serious complications from the disease such as limb amputations [9-23]. Recent epidemiologic study reveals that diabetic patients are 2.8 times more likely to have onychomycosis than nondiabetic patients. Diabetic patients are very much susceptible to fungal nail infections as they often experience impaired sensation; lack of pain sensation can make them less aware of trauma to their feet, such as nail changes that develop during onychomycosis [23]. Thickened mycotic nails can cause pressure necrosis of the nail bed in diabetic patients, and sharp infected nails can pierce the skin. In diabetic patients the minor ulcerations are serious as they are often unrecognized and can lead to serious diabetic foot infections [23]. The morbidity associated with the onychomycosis infections itself and in combination with the diabetic infection and also the hepetotoxicity of the available drugs is a great problem both at nationally and internationally. With the avalanche of scientific evidences and keeping all the aspects of the onycomycosis, it would be worth to undertake the subject under investigation. Review of literature: Glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) was firstly identified as an â€Å"unusual† haemoglobin in diabetic patients with over 40 years ago [24]. Then studies were conducted for correlating it to glucose measurements resulting in the idea that HbA1c could be employed to measure the glycaemic control. After that it enters into clinical use in the 1980s and subsequently has become a cornerstone of clinical practice [25]. It reflects average plasma glucose over the previous eight to 12 weeks [26] and can be done at any time of the day and does not require any special preparation such as fasting. These qualities made it the preferred test for assessing glycaemic control in people with diabetes. Recently it has been used as a diagnostic test for diabetes and as a screening test for persons at high risk of diabetes [27, 28]. There are many approaches to treat onychomycosis such as mechanical debridement, surgery, sys-temic/oral interventions and topical treatment [9] and also the agents for tr eatment of onychomycosis include both systemic and topical medications showing the mycological cure rates of 76% with the use of terbinfine, 63% with the use of itraconazole pulse dosing, 61% with the use of griseofulvin, and 48% with the use of fluconazole [9]. Itraconazole which is a triazole nucleous containing anti fungal agent inhibiting fungal lanosterol 14-demethylase, an essential enzyme in ergosterol synthesis. Brod spectrum of antifungal activity is possessed by this antifungal agent in comparison to all the broadest spectrum of activity includes activity against dermatophytes, Candida species as well as some moulds [29]. It has high lipophilicity and high affinity for keratinous tissues, in which the concentration is many times greater than that obtained in plasma. Itraconazole exerts a lasting inhibitory effect due to the high and long lasting stages in the epidermis [30]. Terbinafine is well-tolerated by most patients and one study reveals that terbinafine or pulse-dose itraconazole reported greater ease and convenience, and higher overall satisfaction [31]. Safety concerns associated with oral treatments include hepatotoxicity, cardiovascular disease, hypogeusia, gastrointestinal disorders, skin rashes, menstrual disorder, visual and taste disturbance, headache and riversible evaluation of liver enzymes [31]. Erick M et al.studied the disease riskfactors and treatment responses in an urban population due to Microsporum spp. (onychomycosis) [32]. Leelavathi M. et al. reported the common microorganisms causing onychomycosis in tropical Climate [33]. Pericher et al. evaluated of onychomycosis among diabetic patients of Yazd diabetic center [34]. R.R. Hafidh1 et al. presented a case report on Cladosporium spp. as a causative agent of white superficial onychomycosis [35]. Lisa M. et al. reviewed the safety and efficacy of tinea pedis and onychomycosis treatment in people with diabetes [36]. There are many othere studies that acknowledge the complexity of treating tinea pedis and onychomycosis in people with diabetes and recommended as safe and effective treatment [37-39]. Marchetti et al. performed the first U.S.based pharmacoeconomic evaluation comparing oral griseofulvin, itraconazole, ketoconazole, and terbinafine using the previously constructed decision-analytic model by the onychomycosis study group [40]. Mahin moghaddami and Mohammad reza shidfar studied the onychomycosis infections in Tehran [41]. Mohammad Ali Boroumand et. studied the level and clinical outcomes of HbAc1in diabetic patients following coronary artery stenting [42]. Peterson et al reported that interpretation of HbAc1 can be achieved as an average of the blood glucose which is present over past 3-4 months [43]. Muhammad S. et al. isolated the causative pathogens and correlated the various clinical patterns of onychomycosis with causative pathogens in Qassim region of Saudi Arabia [44]. Ahmed Medhat M H. et al. reported the epidemiology of cutaneous mycosi s in the Medina region of Saudi Arabia correlated with studying the effect of light-induced gold nanoparticles on the in vitro growth of dermatophytes [45]. Abdulrahman Y. Al-Zoman et al. studied the pattern of skin disease in Riyadh military hospital, Saudi Arabia [46]. A steady increase in the diabetes prevalence found in Saudi Arabia due to the demographic changes such as urbanization and change in the life style [47-48]. Bacchus RA et al. estimated prevalence of diabetes in Saudi Arabia and the author concluded that prevalence of diabetes started to increase at 35 years of age reaching its peak at the 45-54 age groups [49]. Fatani HH. et al. noticed the steady increase of prevalence according to age [50]. Abu-Zeid and Al-Kassab performed a study of the prevalence of diabetes in Southern Arabia [39]. El-Hazmi MA et al. did a survey on prevalence of diabetes mellitus [52] one more survey was done by El-Hazmi and Warsy the prevalence of overweight in the Saudi population. A. Alkhie r A. reported the epidemiology of diabetes mellitus and diabetic foot problems in Saudi Arabia [53]. Epidemiology of dermatophytes in eastern province of Saudi Arabia was studied by hashem al sheikh [54]. Some other studies are also carried out by David Pariser, Richard K. Scher, et al., Phoebe Rich, et al., Boni Elewski, et al., David Pariser, et al., and presented in Seminars in cutaneous medicine and surgery [55-60]. Conclusion: The avalanche of evidences from the available scientific research comprehensively suggests that Onycomycosis is an intercontinental disease burden and poses raising concern for the health-care establishment. It is a comparatively quotidian dermatologic manifestation. It becomes extremely serious especially when it happens in case of patients with varying degree of HbA1c. The review would contribute to the understanding of clinical types and the severity of the toe nail lesions in the Saudi patients with varying level of HbA1c together with prevalence and the chief etiological agents involve in onycomycosis. Scientific research data obtained from the present review would contribute to the early prediction of susceptibility of the patients with high HbA1c to onycomycosis which would lead to a great deal of reduction in economic burden on health care establishment of Saudi Arabia, moreover it would improve the awareness of clinician and social segment as regards severity, heptotoxicity of the current treatment strategy and susceptibility to onycomycosis especially in case of the patients with high level of HbA1c.

Graphite Electrodes Production and Optimization Practices

Graphite Electrodes Production and Optimization Practices Graphite electrodes are used in both DC and AC electric arc furnaces. Companies who use electric arc furnaces have to cover the cost of these consumable electrodes during production, so optimizing the usage of graphite electrodes is a money-saving opportunity. This paper aims to discuss the production process of graphite electrodes as well as industry practices that are used to enhance the life of electrodes. To produce a graphite electrode, carbon is required. The carbon source for graphite electrodes comes from the petroleum industry as a by-product from the oil refining process. In the refining of crude oil, hydrocarbon chains are cracked in coking units and the resulting fuels are then separated as kerosene, gasoline, and diesel. As chains of hydrocarbons are being cracked in this process, pure carbon becomes deposited on the sidewalls of the coking units. The carbon on the sidewalls accumulates up to a certain point when it is the ground out of the unit. This carbon is called petroleum coke, or petcoke. This is the carbon source for graphite electrodes. After the petcoke is obtained from the oil refinery, it is blended with pitch to make a plastic-like material. (Making a UCAR ® Graphite Electrode) This blend of petcoke and pitch is then extruded through a circular die and cut off in sections. It is then baked at a temperature of above 800 degrees Celsius for a period of one to two weeks. After baking, the electrode is impregnated with more pitch to increase the density of the electrode which lowers electrical resistance and makes it stronger. The electrode is then re-baked at a slightly lower temperature to drive off volatiles found in the pitch. Finally, the electrode is heated to a temperature of about 3000 degrees Celsius to recrystallize the carbon into graphite. This final heating is called graphitization. Graphitization is very important in electrode manufacturing because it provides better mechanical strength and also improves electrical conductivity. The final step in electrode production is machining. The electrodes are machined to specific tolerances. This is especially important at the ends of the electrodes where the joints connect. (D. Klein) A good connection between joints is necessary for mechanical and electrical properties of the electrode. Electrode consumption takes on two forms: Continuous consumption and discontinuous consumption. (Richard J. Fruehan) Continuous consumption contributes 90% of total electrode consumption while discontinuous consumption only accounts for 10%. Even though discontinuous consumption accounts for far less than continuous consumption, discontinuous consumption can also account for furnace downtime which can cost a lot of money. So even though it is a small percentage, it is worthwhile to try to prevent it for the sake of productivity. In continuous consumption, the tip and sidewalls oxidize and the mass of the electrode is reduced. Tip consumption is a function of current and angle. Higher currents and steeper tip angles both yield faster oxidation rates of electrodes. (A. Lefort) Higher currents increase the temperature of the electrode which favors a faster oxidation rate. The steeper the tip angle, the closer the electrode needs to be to the steel bath to arc. Steel is more likely to splash onto the electrode if it is closer to the bath. One way to reduce the oxidation rate of electrodes is to cool them. Water cooled electrodes have been shown to reduce the oxidation rate of the sidewalls by 40% and the tip by 50%. One issue with water cooled electrodes is the flow rate of the water. If the flow rate is too high, water will pour into the furnace and increase the heat loss. The loss of heat can end up costing more than the money saved from reducing electrode consumption, so this is an important factor to conside r in this process. In discontinuous consumption, one of the most obvious techniques to prevent electrode breakage is simply to not ram the electrodes into the steel scrap. Graphite is a soft, brittle material and steel scrap is pretty hard and durable. If these two materials come head-to-head, the steel wins. Another method of discontinuous consumption is tip spalling. (A. Lefrank) This is more prevalent in DC furnaces than in AC furnaces because the DC electrodes see higher temperatures and therefore higher thermal stresses. The temperature gradient can be significant in the tip of a DC electrode and the thermal expansion of graphite can cause enough stress on the tip to break off small pieces. (J. E. Surma) Normally, the arc in a DC furnace will move about randomly, but occasionally the arc will sit in one spot, heating up that portion of the electrode tip creating thermal stresses that cause the tip to spall. Arc deflection control is a practice that has been implemented so when the arc becomes fixa ted on one spot, it will essentially â€Å"push† the arc out from that spot to get it to move about in a random fashion once more. Another practice to prevent the discontinuous consumption of electrodes is to ensure proper torque is applied when installing new electrode segments. The vibrations from the furnace and electromagnetic forces due to the flow of electricity give electrodes a good shaking. This can jostle the segments loose from their joints. This is mainly a problem in DC furnaces because AC furnaces are designed to ensure that the electromagnetic forces work to their advantage. In AC furnaces, the phase sequence is counterclockwise, so the forces on the electrodes due to the electromagnetism of the system only ever tightens the electrode joints. Below is a chart of recommended torque according to electrode diameter from SGL Carbons website and an AC furnace schematic of forces due to phase sequence. One final practice that helps prevent the failure of electrode joints is to turn off the water spray for a few minutes after the addition of another electrode segment. (Richard J. Fruehan) The temperature gradient is much steeper when the water spray operation is active. This thermal gradient can cause a problem when it reaches the joint because of the thermal expansion of graphite. Even if the electrode was tightened with the proper amount of torque, the effects of temperature on the electrode joint is enough to loosen it. This coupled with the furnace vibrations could be enough to cause the electrode joint to fail. In conclusion, graphite electrodes are an essential part of electric arc furnace steelmaking. Since they are consumable, any way to improve the life and efficiency of an electrode saves money in the steelmaking industry. Practices such as water cooling electrodes and optimizing current and tip angle are effective ways of reducing the oxidation of electrodes while taking care not to impact the scrap during melting, ensuring proper torque during installation, and turning off the water spray while adding another segment all help reduce breakage and joint failure. Works Cited: A. Lefort, M. J. Parizet, S. E. El-Fassi and M. Abbaoui. Erosion of Graphite Electrodes. J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 26 (1993): 1239-1243. A. Lefrank, W. J. Jones, and R. G. Wetter. DC Steelmaking Conditions and Electrode Performance. Electric Furnace Conference Proceedings 53. Warrendale: Iron and Steel Society, 1995. 337-346. D. Klein, K. Wimmer. DC Electrodes A Key Factor for Progress in EAF Production. Metallurgical Plant and Technology International 18:4 (1995): 54-63. Graphite and Carbon Electrodes. 6 December 2009 . J. E. Surma, D. R. Cohn, D. L. Smatlak, P. Thomas, P. P. Woskov, C. H. Titus, J. K. Wittle, R. A. Hamilton. Graphite Electrode DC Arc Technology Development for Treatment of Buried Wastes. Waste Management 93 Symposia. Tuscon, 1993. Making a UCAR ® Graphite Electrode. 2007. 6 December 2009 . Richard J. Fruehan, Ph.D. The Making, Shaping and Treating of Steel 11th Edition. Richard J. Fruehan, Ph.D. The Making, Shaping and Treating of Steel 11th Edition. Pittsburgh: The AISE Steel Foundation, 1998. 562-574.

Lord Of The Flies: Chapter 4-7 Notes :: essays research papers

1. When the fire goes out it symbolizes the loss of all remaining civility and the beginning of absolute savagery. The fire was the boys' only link to the past, as it was the one true technology they had. Fire symbolizes man's domination and manipulation of nature. As the fire goes out the boys are no longer people, but animals. It is also important to note that the fire was voluntarily allowed to die. This tells us that the boys voluntarily became savages, so this represents not only the loss of a civilized society, but also the betrayal of it. When the fire goes out, it also signifies the loss of hope. If the boys believed that they would be rescued, then they would not allow the fire to go out. Again, because of the fire being let out voluntarily it also represents the betrayal of hope. When the fire goes out, the boys no longer want to be a part of civilization or be rescued by it.2. The beast from the air is a dead man, who is attached to a parachute, falling from the sky. The beast from water is a figment of their imagination. Once again the loss of civilization and the old ways are represented. The dead man in the parachute, falling slowly, from the old world and civilization, represents the steady decline of the old ways which have been implemented in the new society and therefore the distinction of being civilized itself and the death of it. The beast represents mankind's fear of an outside threat as well as the evil and wrong doing that mankind brings upon itself. Fear of an outside threat has been a characteristic that mankind has had ever since we walked on two legs. Ancient peoples saw demons, and now many people claim to see UFO's and aliens; it is quite plausible that a very primitive society would see a beast. As evil and fear are created from man, so is the beast. The beast, being a fictitious creation of man and one that appears in every society, becomes no longer a physical entity, but a fear rooted deep in the human psyche; perhaps a fear of ourselves.3. The parachute symbolizes the forces of human behavior that attempt to hold the fabric of society intact. The parachute, however, fails to hold society afloat indefinitely. The parachute slowly loses to nature (in this case gravity, but symbolically mankind's animal instincts and desires). Lord Of The Flies: Chapter 4-7 Notes :: essays research papers 1. When the fire goes out it symbolizes the loss of all remaining civility and the beginning of absolute savagery. The fire was the boys' only link to the past, as it was the one true technology they had. Fire symbolizes man's domination and manipulation of nature. As the fire goes out the boys are no longer people, but animals. It is also important to note that the fire was voluntarily allowed to die. This tells us that the boys voluntarily became savages, so this represents not only the loss of a civilized society, but also the betrayal of it. When the fire goes out, it also signifies the loss of hope. If the boys believed that they would be rescued, then they would not allow the fire to go out. Again, because of the fire being let out voluntarily it also represents the betrayal of hope. When the fire goes out, the boys no longer want to be a part of civilization or be rescued by it.2. The beast from the air is a dead man, who is attached to a parachute, falling from the sky. The beast from water is a figment of their imagination. Once again the loss of civilization and the old ways are represented. The dead man in the parachute, falling slowly, from the old world and civilization, represents the steady decline of the old ways which have been implemented in the new society and therefore the distinction of being civilized itself and the death of it. The beast represents mankind's fear of an outside threat as well as the evil and wrong doing that mankind brings upon itself. Fear of an outside threat has been a characteristic that mankind has had ever since we walked on two legs. Ancient peoples saw demons, and now many people claim to see UFO's and aliens; it is quite plausible that a very primitive society would see a beast. As evil and fear are created from man, so is the beast. The beast, being a fictitious creation of man and one that appears in every society, becomes no longer a physical entity, but a fear rooted deep in the human psyche; perhaps a fear of ourselves.3. The parachute symbolizes the forces of human behavior that attempt to hold the fabric of society intact. The parachute, however, fails to hold society afloat indefinitely. The parachute slowly loses to nature (in this case gravity, but symbolically mankind's animal instincts and desires).

Essay --

As many people know, Kurt Cobain was lead singer and guitar player for the grunge band, Nirvana (Russomanno, Tony). There is truth behind the lyrics and tone of Cobain’s music. It takes people into the depths of what was really occurring behind closed doors. Cobain struggled with many adversities such as heroin, chronic stomach pains, drinking, and pills (Cobain, Kurt). Cobain, however; he did not deal with his adversities well. He was actually unable to ever overcome them. As a child, Cobain was involved in positive activities. â€Å"He participated in Little League Baseball when he was young. Cobain also spent a majority of his time with his only full-blooded sister, Kim, who was born in 1971† (Cobain, Kurt). During his childhood, Cobain often had to listen to his parents consistently fight and argue. He knew they were unhappy with each other, but he did not want them to divorce. â€Å"When Cobain turned nine, his parents finally divorced.† The divorce ultimately devoured Cobain and changed his outlook on life (Goldman, David). â€Å"After the divorce, Cobain’s father got remarried to a woman named Jenny. Cobain really felt a hatred and despise towards his step mother† (Cobain, Kurt). â€Å"He had felt that his father had always taken sides with her, and barely paid attention to him or his sister.† These issues with Cobain and his step mother also raised issues between Cobain and his father† (Cobain, Kurt). Cobain was not interested in school during his childhood. In fact, he hated going to school because he felt lonely and lost in the world. While Cobain attended high school, he participated in events such as art and music (Russomanno, Tony). He enjoyed painting and singing. During Cobain’s Jr. High and High school career he did not have to... ... still carries in her possession ( Grant, Tom). Cobain was a very famous rockstar who struggled greatly in life. He had many adversities such as heroin, alcohol, and chronic stomach pains. He dealt with his adversity of chronic stomach pain by doing drugs and drinking heavily. He did use his fame to positively advocate for those who were considered minorities. He married Courtney Love and had a daughter named Frances Bean. Cobain made many great hits during his career and soared music charts with songs known as â€Å"Lithium†, â€Å"Smells Like Teen Spirit†, â€Å"Heart Shaped Box†, and â€Å"All Apologies†. Even after death, Cobain's life carried on in his fans, clothing companies, movie companies and more. Sadly, Cobain was unable to overcome his adversities and committed suicide in April of 1994. Speaking his last words to the world, â€Å"It’s better to burn out, than to fade away..†

Marcus Garvey Essay -- essays papers

Marcus Garvey â€Å"Final Exam† Marcus Garvey, was born in Jamaica in 1887 and is considered to be the father of the Black Nationalism Movement. During the early 1900’s, after reading Booker T. Washington’s Up From Slavery, Garvey pledged to organize Blacks throughout the world with an agenda of Black unity and pride. Moreover, Garvey achieved his greatest influence in the Untied States where there was a growing ambition among Blacks for justice, wealth, and a sense of community. From the time of World War I, up until the mid-1920’s, Gravey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association(UNIA) was the largest Black organization in African-American history. An estimated million men and women from the United States, the Caribbean, and Africa belonged to it. When Garvey arrived in the United States in March 1916, the Black populace was about to suffer a severe blow that would make them ideal candidates for Gravey’s movement. During the Reconstruction period that followed the American Civil War, many African-Americans lost faith in the American political process. They were promised many reforms and reparations that were never realized. However, World War 1 bought a new sense of prosperity to blacks because they felt they had a second chance to prove themselves as well as attain their piece of the proverbial American pie. Implementing Alger’s philosophy which states â€Å"...heroes prove themselves through inspired acts of heroism and devotion,† many blacks believed if they foug...

Literary Canon Definition Essay

A literary canon is a classification of literature. It is compromised of literary works that share similar or related characteristics and are considered to be the most important of a specific time frame or place. The process in which a work is canonized is completely subjective. And just as the judgments and opinions of people change over time, so do literary canons. The status a work receives when it is entered into a literary canon is based on its relevance to the time period. Therefore a social change such as the feminist movement can determine what works are added and removed from a literary canon  Both the works of Gail Godwin’s â€Å"A Sorrowful Woman† and Karen Van Der Zee’s â€Å" A Secret Sorrow† were composed during the rise of feminism. However, the perspective of woman each work has varies greatly. â€Å" A Secret Sorrow† reflects the stereotypical view of woman that the feminist movement so strongly opposed. The view that woman are child bearing objects and should complete the role of the traditional housewife is irrelevant to the social changes happening during time period. In stark contrast, â€Å" A Sorrowful Woman† is written about a woman who is weary and unsatisfied with her role as a mother and child. She even goes as far as to detach herself from her family and isolate herself into one room. This perspective ties closely with way many women felt during the time period when feminism was rising. Thus its social and historical relevance to the time period makes â€Å"A Sorrowful Woman† a much better fit to be entered into the literary canon.

History of Oldtown

1. 2 Brief explanation of the company’s history The  OldTown White Coffee,  OTWC  (Chinese:   ) is the largest  kopitiam  restaurant  chain in  Malaysia. Its main headquarters is in  Ipoh, Perak,  Malaysia. Established in 1999, the co-founders and Executive Director, Mr. Goh Ching Mun and Mr. Tan Say Yap are the incorporation of White Cafe and provide quality white coffee to Malaysian households and the food services industry. It manufactures instant beverage mixes and products, in addition to operating over 180 cafe outlets throughout Malaysia and the region.With more than 10 years of experience in the coffee beverage industry, both of co-founders were instrumental in the growth of the Oldtown Group of companies. Next, Mr. Lee Siew Heng, Group of Managing Director who played a significant role in implementing the overall vision, strategy and development of the Oldtown Group is the one of support them to incorporation Oldtown Group. In 1999, they successful ly to commercialize the instant 3-in-1 coffee mix under the â€Å"OLDTOWN† brand name for the retail sector.By end of 2009 October, the â€Å"OLDTOWN† 3-in-1 instant coffee mix was sold in approximately 1,348 retail outlets nationwide in Malaysia, approximately 550 retail outlets in Singapore and approximately 2,100 retail outlet in Hong Kong. In 2000, the â€Å"OLDTOWN† brand of 3-in-1 instant coffee mix is the first export to Singapore. In 2001, White Cafe marketing commenced operations as the marketing arm for the Group’s beverage products. During the same year, the product line is expanded and includes different variations of the instant coffee mix.In addition, instant coffee mix has also expanded export to Hong Kong markets. In year 2002, White Cafe obtained a HALAL certification from the Islamic Religious Department of Perak for the Group’s beverages. This is the part of OLDTOWN Group’s intentions, which is to produce the beverages in accordance with the Islamic law. In the same year, OLDTOWN Group’s have successfully expanded to nationwide retail distribution of 3-in-1 instant coffee mix to cover East and West Malaysia through major hypermarkets and supermarkets.In 2003, OLDTOWN Group’s have also successfully commercialized the new blend of 3-in-1 instant milk tea for the retail market under the â€Å"OLDTOWN† brand name. In view of expanding OLDTOWN manufacturing activities, OLDTOWN Group’s incorporated Gongga Food in 2003 and commenced operations in 2004 manufacturing roasted coffee powder for the road services sector using the Group’s proprietary bean roasting process. OLDTOWN Group’s also distributed the roasted coffee powder to traditional coffee shops in Ipoh and other states in Malaysia.In addition to the food services sector, roasted coffee powder is also marketed to the retail sector under the â€Å"NANYANG† brand. In 2004, it also further penetrated the export markets for 3-in-1 instant coffee to cover the United States, Canada and United Kingdom and subsequently in 2005, Taiwan and Indonesia. In 2005, OLDTOWN Group’s expanded vertically into the food services sector by opening a chain of cafe outlets based on the traditional Ipoh coffee shop setting and ambience under the â€Å"OLTOWN WHITE COFFEE† brand name.This is part of the Group’s strategy of capitalizing and reinforcing on the â€Å"OLDTOWN WHITE COFFEE† brand in the food services industry. In the same year, Kopitiam Asian Pacific commenced operations in the licensing, supply of food, beverages and other item, and provision of management services to â€Å"OLDTOWN WHITE COFFEE† cafe outlet. Since the opening of the first â€Å"OLDTOWN WHITE COFFEE† cafe outlet in Ipoh in 2005, the chain of cafe outlets have expanded to reach 137 cafe outlets in Malaysia and Singapore as at 31 October 2009. This included fully and partially owned, and franchised cafe outlets.In 2005 and 2006, OLDTOWN Group’s has established the subsidiaries namely as Old Town Kopitiam, Old Town Kopitam Butterworth, Old Town Kopitiam Kuala Lumpur, Old Town Kopitiam Cheras, Conneczone to focus on operating cafe outlets in different areas and states within Malaysia. To support the cafe outlet business operations, their established the following subsidiaries as central food processing centres between year 2005 and 2007:  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Emperor’s Kitchen commenced operations in 2005;  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Esquire Chef commenced operations in 2007;   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dynasty Confectionery commenced operations in 2007. In 2005, Gongga Food’s business activities also expanded to cater to the procurement of food items for â€Å"OLDTOWN WHITE COFFEE† cafe outlets. In the same year, Gongga Food also obtained a HALAL certification from the Islamic Religious Department of Perak for the production of its roasted coffee powder. Furthermore, OLDTOWN Group’s has obtained a HACCP certification from BM TRADE Certification Ltd for the processing and manufacturing of beverage roducts. In 2006, the company also expanded the product export to Japan and China markets. In the same year, the company incorporated Dynasty Kitchen as a distribution centre, which commenced operations in 2007. During this year, group’s company also incorporated Oldtown Berhad, which will focus on investment holding and provision of management services pursuant to its listing on the Main Market of Bursa Securities. Subsequently the OLDTOWN Group’s also started exporting to Thailand and Philippines.In view of group’s company plans to expand more cafe outlet business operation to Singapore, OLDTOWN company also incorporated Oldtown Singapore in 2007 to provide management services, supply of food and beverage items to cafe outlets in Singapore. OTK Singapore commenced operations in 20 08 with the launch of the first â€Å"OLDTOWN WHITE COFFEE† cafe outlet in Singapore. In 2008, the company of Dynasty Confectionery and Esquire Chef obtained HALAL certifications from the Islamic Religious Department of Perak for the processing of various foods.On other food-processing subsidiary, Emperor’s Kitchen obtained HALAL certification from the IFRC ASIA. To further affirm, OLDTOWN Group’s adherence to international food safety standard and White Cafe achieved ISO 22000:2005 certification and ISO 9001:2000 from BM TRADA Certification in 2008 in addition to GMP certification by the Department of Public Health, Ministry of Health Malaysia in the same year. Within 2008, OLDTOWN Group’s has expanded the product lines to include 3-in-1 instant coffee mix with cane sugar.In 2009, Gongga Food obtained a HACCP certification from BM TRADA Certification Ltd for the production of roasted coffee powder. OldTown White Coffee now exports its instant beverage mi xes to more than 10 countries worldwide and plans to expand its cafe outlet network in the region. The group has an extensive chain of cafes in Malaysia via 194 outlets as of end Nov 2011, and also operates a few outlets that are open 24/7 in certain areas. This tally includes fully and partially owned outlets, franchise outlets and licensed outlets.