Mechanical Energy Essays (502 words) - Energy Development, Energy

Mechanical Energy Have you ever wondered how a jet aircraft lifts its tremendous weight off the ground, or what gives a runner the stamina to reach the finish line in a race? In order to answer all these questions we must talk about the transformation of one sort of energy into another. The jet aircraft gets its power from jet turbines. These powerful jet engines create a high-pressure stream of very hot gases that push the aircraft forward as they leave the engine. This is an example of heat being transformed into movement. This is sometimes described as Mechanical Energy. However, this transformation could not take place without the fuel that the aircraft gets within its wings or fuselage. Fuel is considered a chemical energy. Fuel can take the form of gases, solids or liquids. When fuels combine with oxygen from the air, they release their stored energy as heat. We recognize this process as burning. The individual relies on food for fuel which contains energy-giving substances that our bodies can store until we need this energy to use our muscles. When we do use our muscles within us, we may not always be sure that heat is given off. Our bodies do not burst into flames but the perspiration on our skin is a clue to what is happening. The movement of the windsurfer has a different explanation. The windsurfer is propelled along by a sail which collects mechanical energy from the winds that sweep along the water. This energy has been produced by the sun which warms the earth's surface and sets the air above in motion. The sun's heat comes to the earth as a form of radiant energy. When the heat reaches the surface of the earth, it causes the land or seas to rise in temperature. The sun is very hot. Infact, the center of the sun can reach temperatures of up to 27 million degrees Fahrenheit. This is because of another kind of energy reaction where new substances are continually being created as others are being destroyed. This reaction is known to us as the Nuclear Reaction. Today we are trying to imitate this reaction in improving our energy supply. Scientists have calculated that the sun has enough fuel to go on producing energy at its present rate for about five billion years. On earth man-made nuclear reactions are used to produce a form of power we know as electricity. Electricity can be transformed into other kinds of energy such as heat, light and radio waves. Humans have also used the idea of nuclear reactions as a type of weapon. We call this powerful weapon the Atomic Bomb. Electrical energy can also be used to produce laser beams. This involves energy being concentrated to a specific narrow point where the impact of so much power creates heat able to cut through metals. Bibliography Discovering Energy, Frazer, Frank Trewin Copplestone Books Ltd, 1981. Encyclopedia Britannica, Vol. 6 Encyclopedia Britannica, 1979.

The Structure of Noun Phrases Essays

The Structure of Noun Phrases Essays The Structure of Noun Phrases Essay The Structure of Noun Phrases Essay Univerzitet Novi Pazar Odeljenje: Beograd Fakultet humanistickih nauka Odsek: filoloski Smer: Engleski jezik i knjizevnost Predmet: Sintaksa Engleskog jezika Student: Nikola Vukasovic Beograd, 01. 06. 2011 1. Introduction Among the five different types of phrases in English namely noun phrases, verb phrases, adjective phrases, adverb phrases and prepositional phrases, noun phrases are the most common playing various syntactic functions in the sentence and clause structure: subject, object and complement (of various kinds), apposition and attribute. They are used to refer to things that people want to talk about: people, objects, concepts, processes and all kind of entities. 2. Basic Noun Phrases Structurally speaking, in the first place, basic noun phrases consist of pronouns, numerals or nouns with articles (indefinite, definite or zero) or nouns with other closed-system items that occur before the noun head including pre-determiners (pre-det), determiners (det. ) and post-determiners (post-det. ). The underlined parts of the following sentences are good examples of basic noun phrases: |   |I |stayed at |home |during |all |the |last few |days |   | |   |pronoun |   |zero article + noun|   |pre-de |+ det |+ post-det |+ noun |   | |   |Some people |dislike |‘13’ |   |   |   |   |   |   | |   |det. + noun |   |numeral | | | | | | | 2. Pronouns and Numerals Actually, pronouns are a special class of noun. As their names imply, they ‘replace’ nouns or rather whole noun phrases, since they cannot generally occur with determiners. For example, personal pronouns have two sets of case forms: subjective and objective: ‘I’/ ‘me’, ‘we’/ ‘us’, ‘he’/ ‘him’, ‘she’/ ‘her’, ‘they’/ ‘them’; ‘you’ and ‘it’ are exceptional in showing no distinction. Subjective personal pronouns function as subject and sometimes as subject complement while objective personal pronouns as object, prepositional complement and sometimes as subject complement. These can be illustrated by: He is happy. I   saw him at the station. Like personal pronouns, other types of pronouns including reflexive, possessive, relative, demonstrative, interrogative, universal, assertive, non-assertive and negative pronouns are all basic noun phrases. Reflexive pronouns include ‘myself’, ‘yourself’, ‘himself’, ‘herself’, ‘itself’, ‘ourselves’, ‘yourselves’ and ‘themselves’. He hurt himself yesterday. Possessive pronouns are ‘mine’, ‘ours’, ‘yours’, etc. This book is mine Relative pronouns: ‘who’, ‘whom’, ‘that’, ‘which’, etc. The book, which is on the table, is mine. Demonstrative pronouns fall in two groups. One is â€Å"near† reference with ‘this’ and ‘these’; and the other â€Å"distant† reference with ‘that’ and ‘those’. This is my friend. Interrogative pronouns: ‘who’, ‘whom’, ‘what’, etc. Who did you go with? Universal pronouns: ‘each’, ‘all’, and ‘every’ series: ‘everyone’, ‘everything’, etc. Everyone has his own ambitions. Partitive pronouns, parallel to the universal ones, consist of assertive pronouns including the ‘some’ group (‘some’, ‘someone’, ‘something’, etc. ; non-assertive with the ‘any’ series (‘any’, ‘anyone’, ‘anything’, etc. ); and negative with the ‘no’ series (‘none’, ‘no-oneâ€⠄¢, ‘nothing’, etc. ) Nobody has come yet. Apart from pronouns, numerals including cardinal numbers (‘one’, ‘two’, etc. ) and ordinal numbers (‘first’, ‘second’, etc. ) can form basic noun phrases, as in: Two is better than one. 2. 2 Basic Noun Phrases with Determiners Not only can basic noun phrases consist of pronouns or numerals, but they can also comprise a head noun with determiners or determiners modified by pre-determiners and/or post-determiners. The head noun of a noun phrase is the central element and decisive factor in performing the syntactic functions of the whole noun phrase. It can be singular count noun such as ‘book’, plural noun ‘books’ or mass noun like ‘ink’. Determiners can be indefinite article ‘a’ and ‘an’; definite article ‘the’; or zero article as in the noun phrase ‘books’. The use of articles is not the only possibility for determining nouns, but we can use such words as ‘no’, ‘what’, ‘this’, ‘some’, ‘every’, ‘each’ and ‘either’ before the head noun like ‘book’. These words, also called determiners, forming a set of closed-system, are mutually exclusive with each other, i. e. there cannot be more than one occurring before the head. Both ‘a the book’ and ‘a some book’ are ungrammatical. Determiners are in a â€Å"choice relation†, that is they occur one instead of another. In this respect, they are unlike ‘all’, ‘many’, ‘nice’, which are in a â€Å"chain relation†, occurring one after another as in: All the many nice pictures are collected. The articles are central to the class of determiners in that they have no function independent of the noun they precede. Other determiners like ‘some’ are also independent pronouns: A: I want the money. B: Here is the. (ungrammatical) B: Here is some. (grammatical) With regard to the co-occurrence of determiners with the noun classes singular count (‘book’), plural count (‘books’), and mass noun (‘ink’), there are six classes of determiners: (1) |The Possessive (‘my’, ‘your’, his’, etc. ) |+ |book | |Genitive (‘my father’s’, ‘Anne’s’, etc. | |books | |No | |ink | |Whose | | | |Which (ever) | | | |What (ever) | | | |Some (stressed) | | | |Any (stressed) | | | (2) Zero article |+ |books | |Some (unstressed) | |ink | |Any (unstressed) | | | |enough | | | (3) |This |+ |book | |that | |ink | (4) |These |+ |books | |Those | | | (5) A (n) |+ |book | |every | | | |each | | | |either | | | |neither | | | (6) |much |+ |ink | In addition to the determiners mentioned before, there are a large number of other closed-system items that occur before the head of noun phrases. These items, referred to as closed-system pre-modified, form three classes (pre-determiners, ordinals and quantifiers) which have been set up on the basis of the positions that they can have in relation to determiners and to each other. The first class of the closed-system pre-modifiers, pre-determiners, is unique in occurring before the determiners. They are: (1) ‘all’, ‘both’ and ‘half’; (2) the multipliers ‘double’, ‘twice’, ‘three times’, etc. and fractions ‘one-third’, ‘two-fifths’, etc. and (3) ‘such’ and ‘what’ (exclamative). Like determiners, pre-determiners are mutually exclusive. Therefore, ‘all’, ‘both’ and ‘half’ have restriction on their co-occurrence with determiners and head nouns. The illustrations are as follows: All |All |+ |The, my, etc. |+ |singular count noun | |All |+ |The, my, etc. |+ |plural noun | | | |These, those | | | | | |Zero article | | | |All |+ |The, my, etc. + |mass noun | | | |This, that | | | | | |Zero article | | | All my life All the books All this paper Both |Both |+ |The, my, etc. |+ |plural noun | | | |These, those | | | | | |Zero article   | | | Both these books Half Half |+ |The, my, etc. |+ |singular count noun | | | |A, this, that | | | |Half |+ |The, my, etc. |+ |plural noun | | | |These, those | | | |Half |+ |The, my, etc. |+ |mass noun | | | |This, that | | | Half an hour These pre-determiners can occur only before articles or demonstratives, but none of them can occur with such quantitative determiners as ‘every’, ‘either’, ‘each’, ‘some’, ‘any’, ‘no’ and ‘enough’. However, ‘all’, ‘both’ and ‘half’ have ‘of’-construction which are optional with nouns and obligatory with personal pronouns: All (of) the students   = All of them All (of) my time   = All of it With a quantifier following, the ‘of’-construction is preferred All of the ten students All of the many girls ‘All’, ‘both’ and ‘half’ can be basic noun phrases: All/Both/ Half were allowed to go out. Apart from ‘all’, ‘both’ and ‘half’, the multipliers such as ‘double’, ‘twice’, ‘three times’, etc. can occur before determiner s to denote a number, an amount, etc. : Double their papers Twice his strength Three times this amount ‘Once’, ‘twice’, etc. an occur with determiners ‘a’, ‘every’, ‘each’, and ‘per’ (less commonly) to form â€Å"distributive† expressions with a temporal noun as head: are post-determiners, that is they must follow determiners in the noun phrase structure, but they precede quantifiers and adjectives as modifier.    |The |first |(cold) |months |   | |   |determiner |post-determiner (ordinal) |modifier |noun |   | Cardinal numbers and quantifiers belong to the third class of closed-system pre-modifiers. They are mutually exclusive, following determiners but preceding adjectives as modifier. Cardinal numbers are ‘one’ (with singular count nouns) and ‘two’, ‘three’, etc. (with plural nouns), e. g. : One good reason All (of) the three brothers Closed-system quantifiers are ‘many’ (with the comparatives ‘more’ and ‘most’), ‘few’ (‘fewer’, ‘fewest’),   ‘little’ (‘less’, ‘least’) and ‘several’ as in: Several interesting books All her many good ideas A basic noun phrase may contain various determiners, more concretely, pre-determiners, determiners and post-determiners which are in a fixed order: |pre-determiners |determiners |post-determiner |Head noun | |   |   |ordinal |cardinal/quantifier |   | |Half |my |first |   |salary | |All |the | |   |books | |All |her | |many |questions | 3 Complex Noun Phrases Complex noun phrases contain three components: pre-modification, head noun and post-modification. 3. 1 Head Noun Like in the basic noun phrase, the head noun, first of all, is the central element and core component of the complex noun phrase. It may be count or mass noun which dictates concord and (for the most part) other kinds of congruence with the rest of the sentence outside the noun phrase. This is exemplified in: The only girl in this class is hardworking. All of the beautiful girls in my class are kind. Also, when the genitive is as pre-modification, the head nouns can be omitted: We met at the dentist’s last week. 3. 2 Pre-modification The second component of a complex noun phrase is pre-modification, also called pre-modifiers, including modifiers that stand before the head noun. Pre-modifiers can be closed-system and/or open-class items. Closed-system pre-modifiers are discussed in the structure of the basic noun phrases above. These items are optional in the complex noun phrases. Meanwhile, open-class pre-modifiers come after the closed-system ones and precede the head noun as in: |   |All these |young beautiful |girls |   | |   |determiner |adjective as pre-modifier |head |   | Pre-modifying adjectives can be those denoting general description (‘beautiful’, intelligent’, ‘good’, etc. ; age (‘young’, ‘old’, etc. ); size (‘big’, ‘small’, etc. ); shape (‘square’, ‘round’, etc. ); colour (‘red’, ‘blue’, etc. ); material (‘silk’, ‘metal’, etc. ); resemblance to a material (‘silken’ in silken hair, ‘cat-like’, etc. ); and provenance or style (‘British’, â €˜Parisian’, etc. ). These adjectives can be both attribute and complement. In addition, pre-modifying adjectives can be intensifying ones which have a heightening effect on the noun they modify or the reverse, a lowering effect, e. g. : ‘real’ (a real hero), ‘definite’ (a definite loss), ‘complete’ (a complete fool) and ‘close’ (a close friend). These adjectives are generally attributive only. Restrictive adjectives, another class of pre-modifying adjectives, restrict the reference of the noun exclusively, particularly or chiefly, e. g. : ‘certain’ (a certain person), ‘exact’ (the exact answer), ‘only’ (the only occasion) and ‘very’ (the very man). Like intensifying adjectives, the restrictive ones are attributive only. However, there are a number of adjectives which cannot pre-modify the head, but can be predicative such as: ‘faint’, ‘ill’, ‘well’, ‘able’, ‘afraid’, etc. Not only are the head nouns pre-modified but pre-modifying adjectives can also be, especially when they are the first items after the determiner. In this case, it can be pre-modified in the same way as it can be in the predicative position. This is illustrated by: |   |His really quite unbelievably happy |family |   | |   |   |Head |   | With indefinite determiners, some intensifiers such as ‘so’ are differently used. ‘So’ is replaced by ‘such’, which precedes the determiner or else ‘so’ plus adjective would be placed before the determiner, e. g. : Such a beautiful girl So beautiful a girl Apart from pre-modifying adjectives, the head nouns of the complex noun phrases can be pre-modified by particles, either present or past, e. g. : an approaching man (present participle), the badly injured dog (past participle), etc. The head noun can also be pre-modified by genitives, e. g. these qualified doctors’ salaries,these doctors’ high salaries, etc. group genitives as in the teacher of English’s salary, an hour and a half’s discussion, etc. ; or other nouns as in the city council, a love story, etc. Another class of pre-modifiers is the type of denomical adjective often meaning â€Å"consisting of†, â€Å"involving†, or â€Å"relating to†. These items must come next before the head and can be preceded by a wide range of pre-modifying items, e. g. :   the pleasant social life, a city political problem, etc. Finally there are various classes of pre-modification, both closed-system and open-class. Therefore, when the complex noun phrases consist of different classes of pre-modifiers, they may be placed in a relevant order. The acceptable order of pre-modifiers in a complex noun phrase is as follows: |1 |2 |3 |4 |5 | |(1) |a |book |with yellow covers (prepositional phrase) |   | |(2) |the |man |who told you the secret (finite clause) |   | |(3) |the |girl |speaking English fluently (nonfinite clause) |   | |(4) |a |shelf |full of books (adjective phrase) |   | |(5) |the |opera |Carmen (noun phrase) |   | |(6) |the |road |back (adverbial phrase) |   | In the example (1) ‘with yellow covers’ is a prepositional phrase post-modifying the head ‘book’. Apart from ‘with’, there is a wide range of prepositions that can be used, e. g. :   the road to London, the house beyond the church, a child of   five, etc. , including the complex prepositions, e. g. house on the top of the hill, action in case of emergency, etc. and those having participle forms as in problems concerning the environment. The commonest preposition in the noun phrase post-modification â₠¬Ëœof’ has a close correspondence to ‘have’ sentences: The ship has a funnel. the funnel of the ship The table has four legs. the four legs of the table However, some are relatable to ‘be’ sentences: London is a city. the city of London The news was the team’s victory the news of the team’s victory Also, the ‘of’ phrase can be used to express the subject or object relation: The bus arrived the arrival of the bus Someone imprisoned the murderer the imprisonment of the murderer In the example (2), the post-modifier is a relative or finite clause which can be restrictive or non-restrictive. There are a number of relative clauses beginning with relative pronouns: ‘who’, ‘whom’, ‘whose’, ‘that’ (personal); ‘which’, ‘that’, ‘what’ (non-personal); ‘when’, a preposition plus ‘which’ (time); ‘where’, a preposition plus ‘which’ (place); and ‘why’, ‘for which’ (reason). While restrictive relative clauses help to define the head noun, the non-restrictive ones give additional information to it, as exemplified in: |   |The woman |who is standing outside |is my neighbour.    | |   |   |restrictive |   |   | |   |That is my neighbour, |who is standing outside. |   |   | |   |   |Non-restrictive |   |   | The exampl e (3) illustrates the post-modifier as a non-finite clause, present participle clause. The non-finite can be past participle clauses. |   |The only car |serviced in the garage |is mine. |   | |   |   |past participle clause |   |   | In addition, post-modifiers can be to-infinitive clauses: |   |The next flight |to arrive |was from London. |   | |   |The place |to stay for summer holidays |should be pleasant. |   | As is seen in the example (4), adjective phrases can be post-modifiers of the head noun in the complex noun phrases. The adjective phrases can usually be regarded as a reduced relative clause. Complex indefinite pronouns ending in –body, -one, -thing, and –where can be modified only post-positively, e. g. : Anyone (who is) intelligent can do it. The men (who were) present were his supporters. In the example (5), the phrase explicitly encodes the information that â€Å"Carmen is an opera†. For this reason, ‘ Carmen’ is traditionally said to be in apposition to ‘the opera’. Another minor type of post-modification illustrated in the example (6) is adverbial modification. Similarly, in the following examples, the adverbial phrases post-modify the head noun: the way ahead, the direction back, the hall downstairs, etc. Unlike pre-modifiers, their no grammatical limit to the number of post-modifiers occurring in a noun phrase, considerations of style and comprehensibility will normally keep them to one or two. Where we have more than one, the relative order tends to depend on the related properties of length and class, with shorter modifiers preceding longer ones, prepositional phrases preceding clauses: |   |A man |from Britain |who I was talking about last night |   | |   |   |prepositional phrase |relative clause | | 4 Conclusion In conclusion, noun phrases, either basic or complex are potentially very complicated. Most simply, basic noun phrases consist of just one overt element, pronouns of different types or numerals. Basic noun phrases, more complicatedly, comprise pre-determiners, determiners, post-determiners and the head nouns, the order of which is fixed. Complex noun phrases, as their names imply, are the most difficult of all. They consist of pre-modification, head noun and post-modification. Pre-modification includes closed-system and open-class items which are in the given order. Post-modification can be finite or non-finite clauses and adjective, noun, prepositional and adverbial phrases. SOURCES Aarts, B. ( 2001 ) English Syntax and Argumentation Brown, E. K. and J. E. Miller ( 1991 ) Syntax : A linguistic Introduction to Sentence Structure examples and tables internet

Andy Warhol, Nam June Paik & Walt Disney Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Andy Warhol, Nam June Paik & Walt Disney - Essay Example The essay "Andy Warhol, Nam June Paik & Walt Disney" discovers Andy Warhol, Nam June Paik and Walt Disney. These men set the benchmarks by which others are measured to this day. Andy Warhol was one of the originators of the Pop art phenomenon that came to the fore during 1962 when he had his first exhibition as a solo artist. His innovative use of techniques allowed him to break away from current art conventions and groups; this is a trend that I hope to follow by being an individualist in my illustration style. He made use of a technique in his early works that resulted in a slightly printed look to his illustrations that has been employed by many other illustrators after its method was disclosed. The style was much noticed and the method of creating it remained unknown until one of his assistants noticed how he did and told others. This use of alternative techniques brought Warhol’s art works to the attention of the art world as a counter point to homogenous art works that h ad proliferated previously. It is this method of standing out from the surrounding artists that is one of the greatest ambitions that I have. It is indeed an ambition that each person has had through all time, to be singled out as exceptional from the ranks of the general populace. This was done by replacing the singular nature of artworks with mass produced works that purposefully removed the great passions from the art. This allowed the art itself to be appreciated in a dispassionate way for the technique. more than for the underlying emotions. This was displayed for the first time when he displayed "Campbell's Soup Cans" at the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles in 1962 and the art world received its first true glimpse of a new art style emerging. Nam June Paik has had a far more personal effect on me since he is a fellow Korean artist and as such, his ability to capitalize on his talent so greatly within America is something to which I also wish to aspire to. Though he died earlier this year, he leaves behind a great legacy through his craft that was used to provide many different people with a spark of beauty and artistry in an industry that is becoming increasingly homogenous. He had a huge influence on the perception of video as a form when he began to use it as an artistic medium in a manner unlike any other. He worked with numerous musical partners including Charlotte Moorman for whom he created a cello composed of television screens that continued to display constantly changing pictures in artwork that he titled "TV Cello". Paik's movement towards electronic art has been attributed to a meeting with composer John Cage to whom he later paid homage through various works. There is so much variation within his work and he had such an unusual grasp of the artistic possibilities of an object that had become a part of mainstream culture. This abstract viewing of a commonplace object was also influenced by the neo-Dadaists with whom he was at one time affiliated. He has in turn inspired a generation of other artists to explore the artistic potential of everyday objects. Walt Disney founded one of the greatest multi-media empires on animated designs and illustrations and his creation of Mickey Mouse gave birth to an icon that has endured to this day. He made sure that each new bound that technology took in the early days of film were utilized when he created his motion pictures including providing his illustrated pictures with sound and color as soon as those technologies were made available. His fertile imagination was

Avon Products Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Avon Products - Research Paper Example In order to adapt to the fast changing world that will ensure that it will thrive in business, there are different issues that need to come into consideration so that the company does not struggle unnecessarily to survive (Scheiner, 2008). Changes in an organization depend on differ factors that regulate the different things that cause determine its performance and it may include the nature of business, the change itself and the people that are involved in the change. Various things prompt change and therefore, organizational change can be explained from different perspectives according to different models of change that could be relevant in the organization and its environment. In organization of a company, need for change can develop as a result of increased need change on the environment, increased in the number of workers in an organization or the change of the organization strategy that triggers a change in involvement of different people in the organization to the process of ex ploitation of the environment. On the other hand, a change in the organization may result from a change in the organizational management team, which may mean introduction of a new member or more than one in it. In Avon Inc, there were changes in the leadership of the company in which the chairman’s post came under another person who had different perspective of the business than the former CEO. This is one cause of the change that happened in the company in which different strategies of operation came up for the company to ensure that it regain its success in the business. This meant that the employees of Avon Company had to adjust to the new ways of organization of the company as could be directed by a new management leader, which would mean that all the systems would feel the effect. The new chairman in Avon Inc bore the responsibility to instill different modes of motivation and commitment to the organizational change in the company so that all of the employees could maxim ize on their participation and ensure productivity (Bosworth, 2005). Avon experienced stiff competition from other rival companies like the L’Oreal and Revlon who were being better placed in the market and were taking the advantage of the failure of the company. This triggered change in Avon Company because the rise of competitors in the threatened its profitability and created a need to develop a means to address the rising change in the organizational structure. To respond to this issue, people went into the different issues of implementing the changes in the organization so that it can improve the effectiveness and the efficiency of the company’s systems of productions (McCracken, 2006). Another thing that necessitated change in Avon Inc is the withdrawal of the partnering organization that led to reduction to the company’s potential to win its former customers and this made some customers to defect from the company. For example, the withdrawal of Coty from t he business with Avon Inc led to a reduction in the shares returns which reduced by more than a quarter. This meant that

The New Scientific Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The New Scientific Management - Essay Example Leadership within this day and age can only be remarked as one of the stronger aspects of management because it brings quite a few strengths to the fore (Wheatley, 2006). The essence of any leadership is decided by the ones who work under this leader’s aegis or alongside him on different levels. There are a number of tools that can be used in order to think differently. These include the likes of properly understanding where anomalies within leadership lie and how these can be resolved amicably. Measuring analytics is indeed one of the most sought-after tools that is studied under the aegis of leadership. If these realms are seen from a perspective of deriving the strengths more than anything else, then there is little reason why leadership should fail in the very end. Leadership does have its merits and demerits which need to be understood in order to reach upon a conclusion which is elaborately drawn from all angles. This is the need of the hour, more so within the health fi eld where patients are constantly looking up to the doctors and paramedics for their help and assistance. Since analytics are measured from a number of angles and considerations, there is little reason why there should be any hiccups encountered within the said equations. Also leadership can also be gauged through the ethical boundaries which have been manifested within the health field (Morrison, 2011). If one finds more ethical issues surfacing, then this means that the leadership tangent lacks its cohesiveness and perhaps there needs to be a number of aspects which should be taken care of to bring sanity. It must be remembered that strategic thinking comes from looking at the mission and vision objectives which are indeed of significance within any health field organization or setting. If these considerations are looked upon at with a sense of understanding and empathy, there is no reason why strategic thinking would fail to develop over a period of time. Strategic thinking invol ves an ideology which is comprehensive from all angles and brings into consideration some of the more important points as agenda areas which will be given the necessary highlight. It is mandatory on the part of the leadership to understand that strategic thinking requires tact and planning as well because if these two aspects seem missing, then there is no point in tackling the nuances involved with strategic thinking basis. Strategic thinking after all is a positive that should always be seen with a clear mind and complete focus. I will approach leadership in such a way that there would be more inspiration for the people involved in the process for which leadership has been enacted in the first place. This will make sure that the negativities that shall exist within the relevant domains are taken care of in a very easy manner. There is a sense of empathy that needs to be looked upon at, more so when the discussion centers on the premise of bringing a positive change within the medi cal basis and how leadership contributes to the said perspectives is another significant point that should always be seen and understood. I will take care of the ethical issues which remain very pivotal because I believe that leadership always instills in a sense of morality within the leader who transfers the same to his subordinates in a downward fashion (Owen, 1990).  

Arguments Of Placebo Effect Health And Social Care Essay

Arguments Of Placebo Effect Health And Social Care Essay The placebo effect may be described as a phenomenon where the symptom of a patient may be modified by ineffective treatment. Essentially the patient has been seen to receive some form of treatment that he or she believes will work. This is a psychological response that can reduce stress and panic thereby leaving the bodys true immune system with an improved chance of working. Placebos are not a cure but merely help to place the patient in a more relaxed and receptive state for treatment. In this regard all medicines essentially provide what is known as the placebo effect. In general terms the placebo has a positive impact if managed by physicians in a proper and responsible way. This is because stress and anxiety are known to affect the body in an adverse manner and possibly make the symptoms worse. Researchers have found that large dummy placebo pills that are coloured seem to stimulate a more positive response from the patients. The important point to emphasise is that the placebo effect is practiced in all medicines and whilst some consider it to be a bogus form of treatment, nevertheless, it accomplishes more good than harm. Counter arguments state that the feel good generation is purposely misleading and could create more serious conditions. The argument is somewhat flawed as very rarely is it ever used as a standalone form of treatment but more a precursor to getting a patient stabilized in a relaxed and more receptive state in order to receive proper medical attention. The arguments of the placebo effect Those arguing against the use of the placebos normally present the following arguments: [1] Introduction of the Nocebo effect whereby patients state that they experience side effects from the in ineffective treatment [placebo]. In most cases this is restricted to clinical trials where placebos are used to test against real medicines. [2] The placebo response of a pain reduction may obscure the real disease and lead towards misleading information to the physician and thus return an incorrect diagnosis of the problem. This can be serious as the wrong course of corrective treatment may be prescribed [3] the illusion effect where the patient is led to believe that the bogus remedy may have worked. This in turn may result in an incorrect or wrong course of treatment to deal with the problem. The medical journal The Lancet provided on an article that stated a new analysis of 110 placebo-controlled randomized trials of homeopathy, indicated there is no evidence that homeopathic tablets perform any better than placebos (Goldacre 2006)  [1]  . Modern medicine has moved towards better patient relationships keeping the patient informed and moved away from the old paternalistic placebo doctrine. Most doctors are uncomfortable with dishonesty and perhaps this is one of the key distinctions against that of the homeopathy practitioners. Adam Harrington stated in Hoboken that the placebo is much more ado about nothing the answer is NO because of the powerful therapeutic effects and YES because of the faddish exaggerations about placebo power. (Harrington 1999). The term placebo is Latin and originated from the Catholic vespers for the dead and translated means I shall please. They emanate from the early medical practices where medical practitioners were unable to diagnose a specific illness and used a placebo essentially to buy time in order to allow additional medical investigations to take place. It was Arthur Shapiro  [2]  who reminded everyone in the 1960s that the physicians themselves were important placebos in their own right i.e. people were comforted by the fact of having an experienced medical practitioner take control of their medical issues. Positive claims for placebos have been made by Dr. Robert Buchman  [3]  and Karl Salsbugh they seem to have effect on almost every symptom known to mankind, whereas Arthur Shapiro was much more sceptical stating placebos could have a permanent effect on medical disorders. (Evans 2004) One of the most convincing positive arguments for placebos resulted from the work of Dr. Henry Beecher  [4]  who was the American anaesthetist who treated US soldiers in a field hospital in World War 2. In one instance he was treating a soldier with bad injuries and was considering morphine as a pain killer but he was concerned about cardio vascular shock. Instead he put the soldier on saline solution and the result was the patient settled down, he felt less pain and the reaction was similar to morphine. It seemed that salt water could be as effective as morphing considered one of the most powerful painkillers at the disposed of the medical practitioners. Beecher later repeated the trick with the same results and after the war returned to Harvard University to continue his research. Similar studies were being carried out at Cornell University. The subsequent studies carried out by Beecher, gold and lasagne change the way the medical profession viewed placebos and by the mid-1950s doctors were thinking of this as their longer a fraudulent practice. (Evans 2004) Figure : Total Drug Concept by ClaridgeThe complementary practitioners of alternative medicines have advocated that mainstream medicine should become more inclusive and doctors need to incorporate some of these methods into the overall approach to healing. The placebo should no longer be considered as a fake treatment but used where it may influence possible positive outcome on patient care. A model developed by Claridge (Peters 2001). In 1970 required a useful insight into close examination of the placebo effect [Fig 1 refers]. Here he separated the drug out into its very opponents; [1] the drug itself color, shape, form, brand and attributes [2] the prescriber attitude, beliefs, competence, and authority. [3] The recipient the psychological side suggested intelligence, personality etc. [4] selling and clinical side hope, clinic, hospital [physical settings]. Hence the doors former placebo is that so these items without the pharm logical presence of the drug. The concept of beli ef is considered a vital component towards a positive outcome of all forms of medical treatment i.e. Belief in the success of the treatment towards a positive outcome and the expectations in the efficiency of that treatment. Belief lies very central to the persuasive ultimate for the use of placebos. The fact that placebos act on the mind creates an important psychological consideration in their applied use in medicine. Hence more studies in the use of the linkage to the neural system may be appropriate. The US government are taking placebos more seriously and recently the US Food and Drug Agency requires that all new drugs undergo a double-blind, placebo control trial. (Edin 2010). These testing different patient responses to the new drug with the controlled drug or placebo. Medical practitioners have stated that the placebo effect has already made significant contributions in the treatment of ulcers, postoperative pain, seasickness, headaches, colds, arthritis and hypertension. In the treatment of depression statistics have illustrated as high as 70% of relief has been achieved by the use of placebos. This would suggest that a lot more is going on here than pure deception. The belief concept may well i nfluence the chemical releases within the body that are controlled by functions of the brain. Tests with depressive patients were conducted by doctors using brain scans and where there was an expectation by the patient that the condition would improve there was a marked increase in biological changes to the brain. Hence the biological stimulation of the brain is strongly linked to the potency of placebos. People who have been suffering postoperative pain have reported considerable improvement in pain reduction after a simple saline injection. These analgesic effects suggests suggest some form of reception by the brain; this has been referred to as activation of the endogenous pain-relief system of the brain (Connors W 2007). The brain itself manufactures morphine like substances called endorphins the brain can trigger or send these to those parts of the body experiencing pain. Hence placebos may be able to stimulate this part of the brain in order to enhance that stimulation process . Placebo affects are not limited purely too chemical or drug treatments, they have also been included in both surgery and physiological therapies. A summary of the many literature works on placebos leads towards a number of preliminary conclusions:- [1] A significant number of patient show a therapeutic response from the administration of a placebo [2] There seems to be no uniform practice that sets itself out as a prescribed means of treatment in this area [ 3] It appears that any object with therapeutic intent can invoke similar circumstances [4] The mechanism of the effects remains relatively unknown and the conditions in which it operates are unclear. (Wickramsehera 1988) CONCLUSIONS The advantage that supports the use of placebos are essentially threefold: [1] the mind over matter concept whereby the placebo acts as an assist to the bodys natural defence mechanism [2] the provision of a psychological boost or stimulus to the brain which may prove to be an important contribution to the overall recovery of the patient [3] A support to the central concept of belief which is known to be a major contributing factor towards recovery. The main disadvantages might be summarised as [1] In the area of chronic pain the patient may show an immediate spontaneous improvement and as such give cause to a false diagnosis of the problem [2] The element of deception may provide the patient with false hope or expectations and give rise to medical ethical considerations [3] The patient may provide the Doctor with erroneous information believing that the placebo has resolved the problem. This loses valuable time in the determination of the correct prognosis and could prove serious in certain cases. There is also the strong argument that placebos can become habit forming. One example being the use of valium for strong headaches. These may essentially provide temporary relief but they are certainly not an ongoing solution. It is the unsettling notion that people are getting medical treatment from unqualified practitioners. The concept of non-medically trained people prescribing any form of placebo implies that the patient is ill and as such this can be a powerful message to the patient. The action of medication is not just controlled by the drug companies as the pharmaceutical companies have to undergo extensive clinical trials before they can release a product to the market place. A lot of the controversy with the applied use of placebos is around the use of these in clinical trials. Many consider that the use of these is unethical but it raises the question as to whether the trials could be successful without them Arguments against the use of placebo groups in clinical trials have been based on opinion rather than evidence. Ethical issues have been raised, but these are contentious. (Martin Tramer 1998). The ethical consideration will continue to be debated in the medical profession but the continued use in clinical trials is likely to proceed at least for the foreseeable future In clinical settings where no gold standard treatment exists and where event rates vary widely, trial designs without placebo controls are unlikely to yield sensible results (Martin Tramer 1998). The concept of Doctors saying the placebo is a nuisance variable has equally been contested by the medical profession There has been sharp disagreement on this point, due to the fact that medical literature includes a great deal of testimony that the placebo effect routinely works 30 percent of the time, with Dr. Herbert Benson of Harvard stating that it may work up to 90 percent of the time. (World Research Foundation 2011). 2015

Human Relationships-Frankenstein Essay -- Literary Analysis, Mary Shel

Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein is book about the importance of human relationships and treating everyone with dignity and respect. The main character of the book is Victor Frankenstein who is a very intelligent man with a desire to create life in another being. After he completes his creation, he is horrified to find that what he has created is a monster. The monster is the ugliest, most disgusting creature that he has ever seen. Victor being sickened by his creation allows the monster to run off and become all alone in the world. Throughout Frankenstein, Mary Shelley uses the theme of human relationships to illustrate the bond that man has with other beings and the need for love and affection. The importance of human relationships is shown throughout the book in many ways. Victor’s mother says to him, â€Å"I have a pretty present for my Victor—tomorrow he shall have it†(18).Victor is very excited that he has such a precious gift that will always be his. They become very close and refer to each other as cousins. However, there is a deeper a relationship between the two, and Victor vows to always protect and take of the girl whose name is Elizabeth. Mary Shelley uses this quote to explain how special Elizabeth is to Victor and that she is gift sent to him. Victor’s mother reinforces this again when she says to Victor and Elizabeth, â€Å"My children, my firmest hopes of future happiness were placed on the prospect of your union. This expectation will now be the consolation of your father. Elizabeth, my love, you must supply my place to my younger children. Alas! I regret that I am taken from you; and, happy and beloved as I have been, is it not hard to quit you all? But these are not thoughts befitting me; I will endeavour to resign... ...e seeking help and strength to take care of problems in their lives. Victor Frankenstein is a man with a loving and caring family. Family and friends are an important part of his life. He has his whole life in front of him, when creates his monster. He creates the monster in the likeness of man with same need of love and affection as man. Although, this is his creation, he lets the monster down and does not care for him. The monster begins to feel neglected and lonely and wants desperately to have a human relationship. The monster turns angry and revengeful because he is so sad and abandoned. He wants Victor to feel the way that he does, all alone. The monster succeeds and Victor ends up losing all the important in his life and his own life. In the end, the monster dies and the need for human relationship becomes the destruction for both the monster and Victor.

Ragpickers: Recycling and School Essay

A.What is ragpicking? India’s booming urbanization brings the problem of waste management. As more people are migrating towards the cities, the amount of waste is increasing at a high pace and waste management is likely to become a critical issue in the coming years. Ragpickers play an important, but usually unrecognised role in the waste management system of Indian cities. They collect garbage in search of recyclable items that can be sold to scrap merchant (paper, plastic, tin†¦) This activity require no skills and is a source of income for a growing number of urban poors. There are two types of scrap-collectors: the ragpickers, mostly women, who collect garbage on dumping grounds, in residential areas or in street bins, and the itinerant buyers who purchase scrap directly from households, offices and shops. Most of the itinerant buyers are male and they typically require a certain amount of capital to purchase scrap. The informal waste sector Most of the ragpickers are not independent but work for middlemen or contractors who purchase segregated rag from them on pre-decided rates. Waste picking is rarely recognized or integrated in the official Waste Management System despite its large contribution to it. According to the NGO Chintan, ragpickers â€Å"are unrecognized and have almost no rights to work, despite the fact that they save almost 14% of the municipal budget annually. In Delhi, the army of almost 80,000 estimated wastepickers save the city at least Rs. 6 lakh daily through their work.† B.Who are the ragpickers? In India, over a million people find livelihood opportunities through waste picking. Chintan’s research shows that â€Å"as many as one in a hundred persons in a large city in India could be employed in waste recycling, starting from waste picking to operating small junk shops and even operating reprocessing factories. Of these, most are marginalized wastepickers and small waste dealers.† Ragpickers are mostly women who come from the most marginalised groups of the population and often live in unauthorised slums in the poorest neighbourhood. Studies also show that ragpickers are most of the time migrants who had fled their city or village because of hard living conditions. The vast majority of the ragpickers are Dalits or belong to minorities (muslims in Kolkatta). In UP, Assamese and the Biharis have by and large dominated the profession in the last two decades. The fact that they are migrants and often seen as temporary residents can explain why few governments have designed policies to improve their situation. Most of them don’t have identity cards or birth certificate and therefore don’t have access to basic governmental facilities (social assistance, enrolment of their children in municipal schools†¦) C.Some improvements in their work conditions Many NGOs are supporting the ragpickers to gain access to these basic services (health care, health insurance, education and vocational training). They also provide legal support or counselling sessions and help them form unions to speak up for their rights. In some cities, their work has been partly recognized and their situation thus improved. In Pune for example, thanks to the scrap-collectors union, the municipal corporation now issues identity cards to ragpickers and offers a limited health insurance plan, recognising their contribution to recycling waste in the city This acknowledgement can have a positive impact on reducing child labour by increasing the parent’s income therefore reducing their dependence on the money their children earn. II.Child labour and ragpicking A.Background of the child ragpickers Many children begin working as ragpickers at the young age of five or six years. In Lucknow, the majority of the ragpickers are between 8 and 10 years old. Most of them never attend school and don’t have any formal education. Their families are generally in need of extra incomes from their children. There are two categories of child ragpickers: the street pickers, who collect garbage in street bins or residential areas, and dump pickers who work on dumping grounds. These two categories of children do not have the same living conditions and characteristics. Street pickers, mostly boys, share many characteristics with other street children: they are extremely mobile and it’s therefore difficult to gain access to them. What they usually need is a shelter or reintegration with their families. In most cases, the children work for a middleman who takes the major share of the sales and pays only a small amount to the children. On the other hand, the dump pickers often live with their families, in a relatively more stable environment. They usually work with their parents in or around the dumping ground. Girls were traditionally more involved in ragpicking than boys, but a survey in Pune shows that the trends are changing and that more boys are now engaged in the trade. Adolescent girls are less involved in ragpicking because it is believed to be unsafe for them to be out on the street. They are involved in taking care of the house chores and help in sorting the collected garbage from home. Some of the child ragpickers go to school and work the other part of the day or during holidays. Some girls are found working as ragpickers in the morning, sometimes attending school in the afternoon and coming back home in the evening to help their mother with the household chores or to care for their younger siblings. B.State of the legislation In 2001, waste-picking was included among the hazardous occupations banned under the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986. But apart from this very brief mention, ragpicking is ignored in legislation regarding child labour. Contrary to most child labourers, ragpickers are self-employed or working with their parents and therefore not answerable to any employer. III. Impact of ragpicking on the life of children A.Health issues 1.Long working hours Normally children work in one shift only but some of the children are collecting rag two to three times in a day. Those who are involved in collection of empty bottles work late in the night. In Lucknow, younger children, especially girls, start their work early in the morning and till 12-1pm. Teen age boys start working around 8-9 am till 2-3 pm. Case Study – Lucknow Fazila, 11 years old, has 3 brothers. Her father died some year back and her mother is weak and gets sick very often. She and her 12-year-old brother are the two most responsible person of the family. Fazila’s day begins early morning, she cooks rice, prepare tea and goes with his brother to Dalibagh, Hazratganj and Lalbagh for rag picking. She returns home when sun is high in the sky. After taking bath and meal she looks after her younger brother. Around 3 pm she starts second round of rag picking and comes back around 7 PM. She cooks the evening meal and does other house hold work. She dreams to become teacher but hardly find any time to go to school. She wants to play with the doll, which she found during her daily rag collection. She is growing up and has lots of questions but no one to answer them. She dreams of collecting lots of money and going back to Assam and think of the days when no one forced her for rag picking and she would play with dolls and friends. 2.Hazardous work conditions Ragpicking is probably one of the most dangerous and dehumanizing activity in India. Child ragpickers are working in filthy environments, surrounded by crows or dogs under any weather conditions and have to search through hazardous waste without gloves or shoes. They often eat the filthy food remnants they find in the garbage bins or in the dumping ground. Using the dumping ground as a playing field the children run the risk to come upon needles, syringes, used condoms, saline bottles, soiled gloves and other hospital wastes as well as ample of plastic and iron items. They suffer from many diseases, such as respiratory problems, worms, anaemia, fever and other problems which include cuts, rashes, dog bites†¦ B.Education issues A large majority of the child ragpickers are out of school children, despite the presence of schools in their neighbourhood. But rag picking and 12 to 13 hours In Lucknow for example, 98% children of the school going of working is reality and she has to age group are not going to school. work hard for supporting her family. In the M-East ward of Mumbai, there are 15 municipal schools but the number of out of school children is yet very high. Most of the children are withdrawn from school at the average age of 12-13 years. The boys often work in their parents’ business while the girls are made to take up the household responsibility. Different reason can explain why the children are not going to school. The following table gives details about the situation in Lucknow: 79% children are out of school because neither their parents nor the contractor [for whom they are working] are interested in sending them to school. Moreover, many children are already making quite a lot of money by ragpicking and don’t see the point of going to school. 12% say that they are responsible for their family and have to work. 5% children left school because they do not found anything interesting in the school and they feel that teachers are not teaching properly and they cannot afford private school fees. 4% of the children are not going to school because their school hours didn’t allow them to go to work. Language is also a big barrier, as migrant children often don’t speak the language of the city they work in. In a study conducted in Pune, migration, quality of school, corporal punishment in school, not interesting, failed more than twice in the class, bad health, economic hardship of the family, loss of a parent are some of the reasons also cited for school dropouts. IV.Pratham’s intervention: the case of Govandi (Mumbai) A.Situation in Govandi According to the SSA Survey Data 2004, 60% of working and out of school children are in the M/E ward of Mumbai city. The M/E ward is divided broadly into two main slum communities – Bainganwadi and Shivaji nagar. These are like any other slum communities. There is a gathering of closely built homes, unmaintained roads, overflowing drains, freely roaming cattle and groups of people chatting at each corner. The approximate population in these communities is around 5 lakhs and majority of the population are followers of Islam. Another main characteristic of this community (though negative) is its closeness to Mumbai’s largest dumping ground – The Deonar Dumping Ground. Mumbai generates waste of approximately 7,025 tonnes per day. The management of waste in the city comes under the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM). The prevailing approach is that of collection of garbage from the communities by the municipal authorities and disposing it off at the three main dumping sites that are currently servicing the city. Deonar is the largest dumping ground in Mumbai. It starts from the Deonar creek and ends at Baba Nagar. This dumping ground area has added on to the developmental and infrastructural issues faced in M/E. For years Deonar has been the largest garbage bin for the entire Mumbai city and today is also is a home for thousands of migrants who live in very hard conditions, lacking even the most basic amenities and earning their living on the dumping ground. In July 2008, Pratham conducted a survey in and around the dumping ground to assess the situation of the children living there. There are approximately 1300 children living in and around the dumping ground today on a regular basis. All of them are living with their families and have either migrated or been displaced from other parts of Mumbai. 636 are working as ragpickers, of which half are going to school. The majority of the children earn up to 100 rupees a day while 2 or 3 of them are making as much as 800 rupees a day. (476 earn 100 or less than 100 rupees a day, 111 earn between 100 and 400 rupees a day and 5 earn 400 rupees or more) The objective of Pratham’s intervention is to provide educational opportunities to child ragpickers, as well as relief from their routine work in a safe, caring environment and to generate their interest in school-related activities. B.Educational classes There have been joint initiatives with the Government so as to tackle the issue of child rag pickers. One of the major programs through which these children are covered is the Transitional Education Centres (TEC’s) run under the INDUS program of the Government. There are 11 TEC’s surrounding the dumping ground in Govandi reaching about 450 children, many of which work part time as rag pickers. C.Vocational skill training The objective of the vocational training is to provide vulnerable children with employable or business skills and allow them to be able to survive / support themselves and their families after reaching an employable age. Pratham offers vocational training or refer children to other organizations that provide training. Two vocational skill training classes are organized for adolescent girls and provide them with basic life skills such as mehendi or tailoring. D.Mainstreaming these children into school In December 2006 Hindustan Lever Limited adopted 45 children from Govandi area under their Scholarship drive to support the education of underprivileged children. Under this project the company is sponsoring their school education as well as a support class run by Pratham. Pratham’s teachers relentlessly worked to convince the parents to send their children to school and to Pratham’s support classes. They organized parents meetings, counselling sessions and home visits to tell them about the importance of education. Many parents argued that sending their children to school was a loss of revenue but the teachers gave them advice on how to manage without their children’s additional revenue. Slowly the parents began taking an interest in their children’s education and supporting Pratham’s initiative. Pratham started with a four-hour class aimed at raising the children’s interest for educational activities. Once the children and the parents were ready, they contacted the school and managed to enrol the children. The support class was set up to provide the child with educational support for retention in school. E.The Drop-in-centre model Alongside its education program, Pratham also started the first drop in centre for the children working on the dumping ground. The Drop in centre is the major strategy and a non controversial entry point program to tackle the issue of working children on the dumping ground. It is a low cost and replicable model which caters to the immediate needs of the working children on the dumping ground. This safe point of contact for children is key to their reintegration into education and vocational training, and a first step toward a better future. 1.What is a Drop In Centre A place within the radius of 1 km of the workplace wherein the children working on the dumping ground (who do not have a fixed routine or schedule) can drop in between 10.00 am and 5.00 pm. It would be a place which would cater to the child’s recreational needs and the need

Clean Energy Importance

Clean Energy Importance Abstract Nowadays pollution is a tremendous problem for people and the earth. Researchers and scientists are trying so hard to try to solve that problem. Clean energy is one of the solutions. Clean energy means the energy that will not effect to the environment. Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Clean Energy Importance specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Clean energy is the energy that can produce by some of the existing resources, like from the wind or the sun. Many organizations try to use these resources to be the main energy for them. Despite the fact that clean energy costs more money than the other energy sources, it can give more benefits to organizations and to the world at large. Introduction No single energy solution can be able to meet the energy needs of the contemporary society. This explains why there are so many sources of energy. The society tries to utilize energy from various sources in a bid t o meet its energy needs. Currently, there are two major categories of energy: renewable and nons of clean energy There are numerous types of renewable energy sources, which are classified here as main types and other types of renewable energy. The main sources of clean energy contribute the highest numbers of Gig watts of clean energy to the world’s energy market, while the other types of clean energy contribute negligible amounts of energy. Main types of clean energy Wind energy Wind energy is the energy generated after wind power turns wind turbines to generate electricity. Wind is a product of changes in the atmosphere. The changes in atmospheric temperatures and changes in atmospheric pressure create wind by making air to move around the earth’s surface. A wind turbine captures the wind power mechanically, and converts it into energy (Weir 1). Wind energy is therefore, a clean source of energy, and it can reliably meet the energy needs of the society. The energy i s cost-effective, affordable, sustainable, and pollution-free.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Clean Energy Importance specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Since wind energy does not use fossil fuels, it does not produce toxic wastes, greenhouse gases, or radioactive wastes (Weir 1). This, therefore, implies that wind energy does not pollute the environment, and therefore, it is an effective way to fight global warming. Despite the reliability of wind energy for small-scale consumption, wind energy is inappropriate for large-scale consumption. This implies that it will be unwise to rely on wind energy in a factory. The reason for this is that wind energy is dependent on environmental changes, and thus there may be times when there is no wind to generate sufficient power. However, large-scale consumers of energy can counter this by having back-up power provision. That is, using wind energy as the main source of energy and another source like powerful back-up generators, which can be used when there is no enough wind to generate sufficient power. Wind-energy constitutes a small percentage (about 1%) of the world’s energy generation (Weir 1). Solar energy There are several ways to generate energy from the sun. The most common is the solar panel. A solar panel or photovoltaic module captures sunlight and uses it to generate direct current electricity. The design of solar panel is such that it lasts for a long period (decades), while exposed to unfavourable conditions (Imboden 1). In addition to the solar panel, a photovoltaic cell (PV cell) can also harness solar energy. The photovoltaic cell (PV cell) uses sunlight to produce electricity. The PV cell’s body comprises of materials similar to those used in computer chips. These materials have the special property of releasing electrons upon exposure to sunlight, a property that makes them able to generate energy (Imboden 1). An other method of harnessing solar power is by using mirrors to concentrate it. The mirrors concentrate the solar power in one area, generating heat energy. The heat energy then produces electricity after powering a generator. Just like wind energy, solar energy is cheap, reliable and eco-friendly. Solar energy can therefore, be instrumental in countering global warming (Imboden 1). On the other hand, it is also dependent on environmental changes, and thus it is inappropriate for people who consume huge amounts of energy.Advertising Looking for research paper on environmental studies? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Biomass energy Biomass energy is organic waste and it is the oldest energy source because it was the primary source of energy until the nineteenth century. A large faction of human population for cooking and heating hitherto uses biomass energy. With technology advancement, it has been possible to transform the way biomass is used, and currently large biomass plants for generating power are in existence. Some coal plants have even converted from using coal to using biomass as their main raw material in order to reduce climate change and its effects. Biomass is carbons of such countries include India, China, etc. Hydro energy does not have emissions that contribute to global warming, and thus it is a reliable source of green energy. It does not have the disadvantages of intermittency and high costs associable with other clean energy sources. The main disadvantage of hydro energy is that it exposes an area to risks that can be catastrophic. It is thus apparent that the advantages of hydro energy outweigh its disadvantages. Other types of clean energy There are still other energy sources, which belong to the renewable energy category. Examples include tidal energy and wave energy. Tidal Energy Tidal energy is a small form of energy whose global capacity is about 500 MW. It, therefore, constitutes 0.001% of electricity generation worldwide (â€Å"Renewable Energy† 1). Numerous companies are however researching on ways through which they can develop tidal energy generation because it less costly and it does not pollute the environment. The current tidal energy success is attributable to the French Tidal Wave Power Plant. Wave Energy Wave energy is similar to tidal energy in terms of its capacity. It is, therefore, another niche source of green energy. The waves used in energy generation in this case are from the disturbance of the ocean by wind. In many regions, the wind blows consistently enough, forming continuous waves, which are reliable in energy gener ation. Wave-power devices then extract the energy carried by the waves from the water surface. Alternatively, the devices can extract the energy from fluctuations in pressure below the surface of the ocean. Some of the areas that are rich with oceanic waves that produce energy when harnessed with turbines include the western coasts of northern Canada, Australia, Southern Africa and Scotland (â€Å"Renewable Energy† 1). Some people even argue that nuclear energy is a renewable form of energy, but in the strict sense, the primary source of nuclear energy is non-renewable. Once a nuclear plant uses uranium fuel, the latter cannot be re-used. Conclusion As discussed above, the society has many choices as far as clean energy is concerned. It is, therefore, wise to choose renewable energy over its non-renewable counterparts in order to preserve our natural energy deposits for future generations, and limit the extent and effects of global warming. The use of renewable energy sourc es will also lead to minimal atmospheric levels of greenhouse gases, leading to a reduction of pollution. However, it is nearly impossible to reach a situation in which the world will be solely using renewable sources of energy to meet all its energy needs. It is, therefore, imperative that the society strikes a balance between the use of renewable and non-renewable energy. For instance, at home, people can use natural gas for functions like water heating, and they can use wind or solar energy used for other energy needs. From the discussion above, the main sources of clean energy include the sun, wind, water, biomass, and geothermal energy. In addition to these sources of clean energy, renewable and clean energy is also obtainable from oceanic waves and tides. The reason why the aforementioned sources of energy come under the other sources category is because the produce minimal amounts of energy, and thus they cannot be relied on for power production. They normally act as back-u ps for other sources of energy. For instance, tidal energy can back up nuclear energy. Imboden, Otis. â€Å"Solar Energy†. National Geographic. 2011. Web. http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/solar-power-profile/ Klass, Donald. Biomass for Renewable Energy, Fuels, and Chemicals. New York 2010, Barnes Noble. Print. Renewable Energy. â€Å"Types of Renewable Energy – Major, Minor Types of Alternative Energy and Quasi Clean Energy†. Greenworldinvestor.com. 2011. Web. greenworldinvestor.com/2011/04/12/types-of-renewable-energy-majorminor-types-of-alternative-energy-and-quasi-clean-energy/ Sawyer, Winfred. â€Å"Advantages And Disadvantages Of Renewable Energy Sources†. Freeenergydays.com. 2006. Web. freeenergydays.com/free_energy/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-renewable-energy-sources/ The NEED Project. â€Å"Hydropower†. www.NEED.org. 2011. Web. need.org/needpdf/infobook_activities/SecInfo/HydroS.pdf Weir, Clare. â€Å"The answer to woes is blowing in the wind†. Belfast Telegraph. 2011. Web. belfasttelegraph.co.uk/business/business-news/the-answer-to-woes-is-blowing-in-the-wind-16087259.html West, Larry. â€Å"Top 7 Renewable Energy Sources†. About.com. 2011. Web. http://environment.about.com/od/renewableenergy/tp/renew_energy.htm

Overview of the No Child Left Behind Act

Overview of the No Child Left Behind Act The No Child Left Behind Act of 2002 (NCLB) was initially legislated for 5 years, and has been since temporarily extended, but not officially reauthorized. Senate Democrats were divided were divided on reauthorization, while most Senate Republicans heartily despise NCLB. In May 2008, Senate reauthorization was put on the back-burner while legislators pondered hundreds of reform ideas. In early 2010 and again on March 14, 2011, President Obama said he will seek to reauthorize NCLB, but modified to be similar to his $4.35 billion Race to the Top initiative, which requires five major education reforms for K-12 public education, and pushes states to compete for education funding, rather than automatically receiving it based on a formula. At Race to the Top, Obamas 2010 Education Grant Initiative, read a summary of Obamas controversial five reforms which are a model for his planned reform of NCLB. NCLB is a federal law that mandates a number of programs aimed at improving U.S. education in elementary, middle and high schools by increasing accountability standards. The approach is based on outcome-based theories education that high expectations goal-setting will result in greater educational achievement for most students. Supporters of NCLB Supporters of NCLB agree with the mandate for accountability to educational standards, and believe emphasis on test results will improve the quality of public education for all students. Proponents also believe that NCLB initiatives will further democratize U.S. education, by setting standards and providing resources to schools, regardless of wealth, ethnicity, disabilities or language spoken. Opponents of NCLB Opponents of NCLB, which includes all major teachers unions, allege that the act hasnt been effective in improving education in public education, especially high schools, as evidenced by mixed results in standardized tests since NCLBs 2002 inception. Opponents also claim that standardized testing, which is the heart of NCLB accountability, is deeply flawed and biased for many reasons, and that stricter teacher qualifications have exacerbated the nationwide teacher shortage, not provided a stronger teaching force. Some critics believe that the federal government has no constitutional authority in the education arena, and that federal involvement erodes state and local control over education of their children. Current Status In January 2007, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings published Building on Results: A Blue print for Strengthening the No Child Left Behind Act, in which the Bush Administration: Asserts that the Act is challenging our students to succeed and our schools to improve.Claims that 90% of teachers have met NCLBs highly qualified teacher requirements... At-risk students are getting help earlier... children with disabilities are receiving more classroom time and attention... Spellings report admitted problems that NCLB has identified and not cured, including:Between 1999 and 2004, reading scores for 17-year-olds fell 3 points, and math scores fell 1 point.U.S. 15-year-olds ranked 24th out of 29 developed nations in math literacy and problem-solving, in 2003.1 million students annually drop out of high school before graduation. Changes Proposed by Bush Administration To strengthen the No Child Left Behind Act, the Bush Administration proposes: * A stronger effort must be made to close the achievement gap through the high school standards and accountability. TRANSLATED: More testing, and tougher tests. * Middle and high schools must offer more rigorous coursework that better prepares students for postsecondary education or the workforce. TRANSLATED: Tougher and more basics-focused courses in middle and high school. Also, clearer differentiation between college bound and non- college bound students. * States much be given the flexibilities and new tools to restructure chronically underperforming schools, and families must be given more options. TRANSLATED: The most controversial new proposal would enable students at failing schools to receive a voucher to transfer to a private school. Thus, the Bush Administration is proposing that public school funds would be used to pay private and religious schools. Until now, students at perennially failing schools had the options to either transfer to another public school or receive extended tutoring at the schools expense. Background The 670-page No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) was passed with strong bipartisan backing by the House of Representatives on December 13, 2001 by a vote of 381-41, and by the Senate on December 18, 2001 by a vote of 87-10. President George W. Bush signed it into law on January 8, 2002. The primary sponsors of NCLB were President George W. Bush and Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, a decades-long advocate for raising the quality of public education for all American children. NCLB was partially based on education reform strategies instituted by President Bush during his tenure as Texas governor. Those Texas education reforms were reputed to result in improved standardized test scores. Subsequent inquiry revealed test-rigging by some educators and administrators. Margaret Spellings, Former Secretary of Education One of the principal authors of NCLB was Margaret Spellings, who was nominated to Secretary of Education in late 2004. Spellings, who holds a B.A. in political science from University of Houston, was the political director for Bushs first gubernatorial campaign in 1994, and later served as a senior advisor to Texas Gov. Bush during his term as 1995 to 2000. Before her association with George W. Bush, Spellings worked on an education reform commission under Texas Governor William P. Clements and as associate executive director for the Texas Association of School Boards. Prior to her nomination to be Education Secretary, Margaret Spellings worked for the Bush Administration as Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy. Margaret Spellings has never worked in a school system, and has no formal training in education. She is married to Robert Spellings, former Chief of Staff to the Speaker of the Texas House, now a prominent attorney in Austin, Texas and Washington D.C., who has actively lobbied for the adoption of school vouchers. Pros The primary positives of the  No Child Left Behind Act  include: Accountability standards are set and measured annually by each state to foster educational growth and achievement. All results are also annually reported to parents.Standards are set for teacher qualifications.NCLB links state academic content with student educational outcomes, and requires school improvement be implemented using scientific-based research methods in the classroom, parent programs, and teacher development courses.NCLB emphasizes reading, writing and math.NCLB measures educational status and growth by ethnicity, and helps to close the achievement gap between white and minority students.NCLB requires schools to focus on providing quality education to students who are often underserved, including children with disabilities, from low-income families, non-English speakers, as well as African-Americans and Latinos.Parents are provided annually with a detailed report of student achievement, and explanations are provided of achievement levels. Cons Major drawbacks of the  No Child Left Behind Actinclude: Federal Underfunding The Bush Administration has significantly underfunded NCLB at the state level, and yet, has required states to comply with all provisions of NCLB or risk losing  federal funds. Said Sen. Ted Kennedy, a sponsor of NCLB and Senate Education Committee Chair, The tragedy is that these long overdue reforms are finally in place, but the funds are not. As a result, most states have been forced to make budget cuts in non-tested school subjects such as science,  foreign languages,  social studies  and arts programs, and for books, field trips and school supplies. Teaching to the Test Teachers and parents charge that NCLB encourages, and rewards, teaching children to score well on the test, rather than teaching with a primary goal of learning. As a result, teachers are pressured to teach a narrow set of test-taking skills and a test-limited range of knowledge. NCLB ignores many vital subjects, including science, history and foreign languages. Problems with NCLB Standardized Tests Since states set their own standards and write their own standardized NCLB tests, states can compensate for inadequate student performance by setting very low standards and making tests unusually easy. Many contend that testing requirements for disabled and limited-English proficient students are unfair and unworkable. Critics allege that standardized tests contain cultural biases, and that educational quality cant necessarily be evaluated by  objective testing. Teacher Qualification Standards NCLB sets very high teacher qualifications by requiring new  teachers  to possess one (or often more) college degrees in specific subjects and to pass a battery of proficiency tests. Existing teachers must also pass proficiency tests. These new requirements have caused major problems in obtaining qualified teachers in subjects (special education, science, math) and areas (rural, inner cities) where schools districts already have teacher shortages. Teachers especially object to the Bush 2007 proposal to allow districts to circumvent teacher contracts to transfer teachers to failing and poorly-performing schools. Failure to Address Reasons for Lack of Achievement At its core, NCLB faults schools and curriculum for student failure, but critics claim that other factors are also to blame, including: class size, old and damaged school buildings, hunger and homelessness, and lack of health care. Where It Stands Theres little doubt that the  No Child Left Behind Act  will be reauthorized by Congress in 2007. The open question is: How will Congress change the Act? White House Kicks-Off Reauthorization Discussions A meeting was held on January 8, 2007 at the White House to mark the 5th anniversary of the No Child Left Behind Act, and to kick-off Bush Administration discussons with Congress regarding reauthorization of the act. Attendees at the meeting with President Bush and Education Secreatary Margaret Spellings were Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA), Chair of the Senate Education Committee; Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY), ranking Republican on that committee; Rep. George Miller (D-CA), Chair of the House Education Committee; and Rep. Howard McKeon (R-CA), ranking Republican on that committee. According to Sen. Enzi,  There was agreement we should proceed, and an agreement in principal on what needs to be done. Religious, Civil Liberties Groups Propose NCLB Changes More than 100 religious denominations and  civil rights, education and disability advocacy groups have signed on to the  Joint Organizational Statement on NCLB, calling for changes to NCLB, and stating that: We endorse the use of an accountability system that helps ensure all children, including children of color, from low-income families, with disabilities, and of limited English proficiency, are prepared to be successful, participating members of our democracy... ... we believe the following significant, constructive corrections are among those necessary to make the Act fair and effective. Among these concerns are: * over-emphasizing standardized testing, narrowing curriculum and instruction to focus on test preparation rather than richer academic learning; * over-identifying schools in need of improvement; using  sanctions  that do not help improve schools; * inappropriately excluding low-scoring children in order to boost test results; * and inadequate funding. Overall, the laws emphasis needs to shift from applying sanctions for failing to raise test scores to holding states and localities accountable for making the systemic changes that improve student achievement.

Recommendations and strategic message Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Recommendations and strategic message - Essay Example Goldenberg (103) says that the service process in the service organization revolves around the customers. The process commences when the customer interacts with the system and is completed when the customer exists the system. The Service processes at the Straits begins with the customer entering the restaurant, the customer is then led to the dining table, before he reviews the menu. After reviewing the menu, the customer should place the order, the meal is then prepared before it is served to the customer. The customer is finally expected to pay the bill after eating the meal and before exiting the restaurant. In the process of serving the guest, the servers and the hostess at the restaurant should give the customers personalized attention though warm reception, provision of enough utensils, serving guest with beverages and water besides being attentive to any other needs of the guests. It is worth noting that the customer should experience satisfaction as he is taken through each of these stages of service process at the restaurant (Goldenberg 102). The satisfaction will be experienced through personalized attention from the servers and the hosts who are expected to be welcoming, attentive, and responding fast to the demands of the customers. a) The issue: the major issue at straits is that the hostess are not at the podium at all times to greet the guest besides acting unprofessionally. The primary data shows that the hostess were not available to greet the guests 60% of the time. c) Reasons for service improvement recommendations: 1). the customers have a bad attitude about Straits-most guest said that the hostess were unprofessional in the way they serve guest 2). Poor division of labor-for instance, some hostess were serving guests yet that is the role of servers, 3). Slow action- for instance the hostess have to reminded several times to attend to the guests. d) Recommendations: the objective of the recommendations is to

Business research report Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Business report - Research Paper Example What are the responsibilities of the corporate companies with reference to glass ceiling? Based on the literature review and discussions, the paper outlines the recommendations to create a level playing field for the women employees to succeed in their carrier and attain top positions of leadership. The recommendations outlined covers introduction of reforms in the performance scales to avoid discrimination on the basis of gender, introduction of quota system by the government by allocating proportional representation for women in recruitment and promotions to higher positions and introduction of legal reforms by the government for property rights to women in succession. These basic reforms at the company and government level will increase the presence of women in top positions in various organizations, institutions and the government departments. The other barriers enumerated will be shattered down over the period of time, once the fundamental reform process covering these issues ar e carried out. Introduction Purpose of the report The issue of glass ceiling in the context of the developments in technology, telecommunication and media assumes greater significance on account equality of opportunities to the women in the society. Several companies have declared this issue as an objective in their CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) programs. The purpose of the report is to analyze and present the various issues involved in practice and the ways to rectify the position for a better working atmosphere by ensuring equality in opportunity for all in the society for a sustainable development. Scope The scope of the paper is to cover the concept of glass ceiling, the factors leading to this phenomenon in the companies, institutions and government and the responsibilities on the part of the corporate companies or other institutions in fixing up the issue. And as such, the issues extraneous to this objective are covered only to the extent they are relevant to the topic of the discussion. Sources and Methods This report relies mainly on secondary sources for analysis and discussion. The data with reference to glass ceiling are analyzed in the background of the information gathered from the secondary sources which forms the basis for the recommendations. Limitations The psychological factors involved in the study may vary from person to person within the society among males and females. Therefore, perception with regard to the issues could be mostly subjective in nature conditioned by their cultural background, level of education and the individuals’ experience. Therefore, the study can only give broad outlines in its findings and giving specific solution or recommendation to the issue would be difficult. Glass ceiling The discrimination by sex was outlawed in the Civil Rights Act, 1964. The barriers to the advancement of women in employment especially for the leadership positions still exists in various forms though there has been considera ble progress achieved in the lower and middle levels in business organizations and the government departments as per the statistics. Stock, K (2011) states that