Tuesday, August 6, 2019

The Dubliners a collection of short stories by James Joyce Essay Example for Free

The Dubliners a collection of short stories by James Joyce Essay James Joyce wrote The Dubliners, a collection of short stories. One in particular called Eveline influenced the narrative seen in Far From Home Far From Home is written in the third person and is a character driven story. Free indirect discourse has been used to make the reader relate to the character. This technique allows the audience to gain insight into the characters thoughts feelings and dilemmas without using the first person narrative. Examples of when Joyce uses free indirect discourse can be seen in the third person narratives such as, Eveline, The Two Gallants and The Dead. In Eveline the main characters ambivalence is revealed at the beginning of the story: She tried to weigh each side of the question. The reader becomes aware of what Eveline is thinking and feeling about leaving home. This line describes almost entirely what the story is about the confusion and thoughtfulness Eveline is putting into leaving home. The protagonist in Far From Home is described using a third persons perspective. When the protagonists in Joyces stories are young or adolescent he uses first person narrative to direct the story. The stories Araby, An Encounter and The Sisters are written in this narrative. In order to identify the first person narratives pronouns such as I My or Me are used. When Joyces main character is an adult he writes in the third person narrative. Eveline, Counterparts and a Little cloud are written in third person narrative and to identify the narrative, pronouns such as He/She His/Her and It are used. Far From Home employs the third person narrative because Penny, like Eveline, is seen as an adult. This method in Far From Home shows that Joyces techniques are incorporated into the story. Local dialect and street names, as seen in Araby and The two Gallants, are also seen in Far From Home. In The Two Gallants street names are used regularly to convey a documentary style attachment to reality They walked along Nassau Street and then turned into Kildare Street. Far From Home refers to places like OlDive and street names such as Morrison Street. This also conveys a sense of authenticity. Slang terms such as on the turf, used in The two Gallants give the reader an informal approach to the story thus creating a sense of realism. Far From Home also incorporates this style by using chuck the bottle and colloquial dialect, authenticity is added to the narration. Far From Home resembles a storyline similar to that of Eveline. Penny, the protagonist in Far From Home, is paralysed by her fathers terrible drinking habits and aggression. Both characters know that their father may not survive alone. Penny lives with her father and finds it hard to cope with his drinking habits. Her father also has a girlfriend called Kristy who has two young children. Penny has an ill mother which she cannot see. This dilemma conveys a great deal of the frustration seen in the story. Similarly, Eveline feels trapped by her fathers drinking and violence, yet feels that father is too weak to survive by himself. Her father was becoming old lately, and he would miss her, suggests that Evelines father is weak. Pennys problems and thoughts drive the story, thus making it a character driven story. Far From Home intentionally develops Pennys character rather than focusing on conveying a detailed plot. This technique reflects Joyces use of minimal action in his stories, creating a sense of paralysis which engulfs his characters. Both stories show the characters as they are facing a life changing dilemma; both characters are unable to complete their escape from it. This is an example of how minimal action and lack of resolution work together to reflect the theme of paralysis. Far From Home also has a similar theme to that of The Dead. Penny feels that she has missed opportunities to love her mother and Gabriel feels he has missed the opportunity to love his wife in her youth. Penny resents the fact that she had stayed away from her mother for so long just because her father told her to. She realises that her mother will die soon and that they have missed a great deal of family bonding. The fact that both characters feel they have missed out on certain important events in their lives shows the similarities in the stories. In the sense that Joyce uses paralysis, Far From Home uses cynicism. In The Dead Gabriel patronises his family and friends make himself ridiculous by quoting poetry to them which they could not understand Pennys friend is also seen as been extremely pathetic. In the Two Gallants, The Dead and A Little Cloud, the characters are portrayed as been cynical or rejecting their home country. In The Dead Gabriel is called a west Briton; Little Chandler says minute vermin-like life Pennys cynical side is revealed by the way she patronises Sarah: Sarah was too dependent and weak in her eyes. and calls the children, screaming bundles of hate, Far From Home relates to the paralytic and cynical attitude Joyces characters are all ready in. In Far From Home grammar is occasionally used to create a dramatic effect. When Penny leaves her home and begins to make her way to the fields, Left down Morrison Street towards what looked like a dead end, a fragmented sentence emphasises the dead end at the end of the sentence. This is to subtly elaborate the paralysis in the story. To emphasise the situation at the beginning of Far From Home intentionally complex grammatical construction is used. Compound and simple sentences are regularly used for effect in James Joyces stories. He ties these techniques with a combination of many abstract sentences to create abstract ideas. Far From Home begins with an abstract idea for dramatic effect. The sound slowly emerging from the street, the raw talent of the local Charity for the Church band, calmed and slowed the frustrated breath escaping a hard chest. By using modifiers, words or phrases used to specify the nature of another, the abstract idea can be emphasised. The sound is modified by explaining where it is coming from. The sentence is abstract because of how it is constructed and modified. In The Two Gallants A shade of mockery..But Corley had not a subtle mind. is a combination of sentences introducing abstract ideas to make the reader think thoroughly about the situation presented. Far From Home is a fragmented narrative; this is to achieve effective characterisation as each fragment reveals a layer of depth to Pennys character. Fragmentation also reflects the confusion Penny has faced throughout her childhood and adolescence. This is further intensified through foreshadowing, which is a literary technique used to reveal a partial amount of the ending without revealing what happens, Far From Home employs this technique: could still feel the ghost of her mothers, soft, cold hands. This is because the story is a fragmented narrative and the foreshadowing adds emphasis on the upset state of mind Penny is in. The protagonists sense of frustration is intensified with the use of emotive lexis and pathetic fallacy. Modifiers and verbs such as frustrated, escaping and peace erupted all add to the theme running throughout Far From Home. In order to make the reader understand the build up of paralysis and frustration at the end of the story, the oppressive mood needed to run constantly throughout the story. To be successful the story begins with Penny calming down from a stressful situation calmed and slowed the frustrated breathFrom this point on Penny is faced with frustrating or annoying situations: the screaming amongst the peace erupted The children Penny has to look after are a lot to take on at such a young age and Penny finds she is unable to cope with them. The word clouded is used as a pathetic fallacy; to not only describe the feelings of the protagonist, but to also reflect the dull and confusing situation she is bound by. Another example used in Far From Home is the room felt icy and empty. It felt like her head. Pennys surroundings represent the emotions she is feeling. For dramatic effect, modifiers, with emotive connotations to convey the stressful or frustrating situations are used: the phrase the stench of the bottle rose reflects the disgust and hate Penny has for her fathers lifestyle. Stench is the word in this phrase which is most important as this is the word which conveys a disgusted tone. To continue the tone of disgust in the following paragraph other emotive words such as circled and disgust are used. Semantics reflecting frustration and paralysis are used at the beginning of Far From Home and repeated throughout the story. The opening words are selected to combine the idea of escapism from paralysis, confusion and frustration. Frustration quite obviously reflects the ongoing theme and hard chest emphasises the feeling of anger. The word hard is an emotive word to reflect the tension built up with anger. Escaping dramatically emphasises the tone of the story. The dramatic sentence at the beginning of the story establishes the paralysed tone reiterated throughout Far From Home. Alliteration is used when Sarah is introduced. stood, startled and shocked. The alliteration of this phrase reflects the attitude and thoughts Penny has for her. Sarah is obviously an unorganised and unstable woman; this sentence reflects her personality and disposition. Personification is another method of incorporating escapism from the paralytic lifestyle Penny is subjected to. Personification is used repeatedly throughout Far From Home it is used mainly to describe the moon as another person that Penny can relate to: The moon whispered to Penny, An example of personification can be seen in Eveline when Evelines hands are given human attributes: Her hands clutched the iron in frenzy. The connotations of the word frenzy emphasise and represent the state of Evelines mind and her feelings of confusion and fright. At the end of Far From Home the same technique is used. Frustration gripped her heart this reflects the ongoing theme of frustration and the emotions Penny feels for her lost mother. It was like a wave of warmth The use of this simile adds to the effect of Penny calming down and the mention of waves or referral to the sea is usually incorporated with Penny relaxing throughout the story. Araby; a story in which Joyce tackles the theme of the inadequacy of adolescence, employs an extended metaphor for the exotic surprises that we expect to discover in life and the disappointment experienced. The Bazaar represents the exotic, exciting lifestyle and the disappointment at the Bazaar represents the disappointment in life. To imitate the use of an extended metaphor in Far From Home, Pennys mothers illness represents the paralysis Penny is experiencing as a result of her lack of communication with her mother; Penny knows she can never share any moments of true bonding because her mother is too ill. The end of Far From Home displays the use juxtaposition of these two words small, strong Along with the use of modifiers such as mountainous, consumed and engulfed Pennys life seems to be represented by all that surrounds her in the hospital room with her mother. She is paralysed by life, because she is too small to fight it.

Monday, August 5, 2019

The Concept Of Sustainable Development Strategy Business Essay

The Concept Of Sustainable Development Strategy Business Essay The concept of sustainable development has received growing recognition, but it is a new era for many business executives. For most, the concept remains abstract and theoretical. Protecting an organizations capital base is a well-accepted business principle. Yet organizations do not generally recognize the possibility of extending this notion to the worlds natural and human resources. If sustainable development is to achieve its potential, it must be integrated into the planning and measurement systems of business enterprises. And for that to happen, the concept must be articulated in terms that are familiar to business leaders. The following definition is suggested: For the business enterprise, sustainable development means adopting business strategies and activities that meet the needs of the enterprise and its stakeholders today while protecting, sustaining and enhancing the human and natural resources that will be needed in the future. This definition captures the spirit of the concept as originally proposed by the World Commission on Environment and Development, and recognizes that economic development must meet the needs of a business enterprise and its stakeholders. The latter include shareholders, lenders, customers, employees, suppliers and communities who are affected by the organizations activities. It also highlights businesss dependence on human and natural resources, in addition to physical and financial capital. It emphasizes that economic activity must not irreparably degrade or destroy these natural and human resources. This definition is intended to help business directors apply the concept of sustainable development to their own organizations. However, it is important to emphasize that sustainable development cannot be achieved by a single enterprise (or, for that matter, by the entire business community) in isolation. Sustainable development is a pervasive philosophy to which every participant in the global economy (including consumers and government) must subscribe, if we are to meet todays needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own. Implications for business It has become a clichà © that environmental problems are substantial, and that economic growth contributes to them. A common response is stricter environmental regulation, which often inhibits growth. The result can be a trade-off between a healthy environment on the one hand and healthy growth on the other. As a consequence, opportunities for business may be constrained. However, there are some forms of development that are both environmentally and socially sustainable. They lead not to a trade-off but to an improved environment, together with development that does not draw down our environmental capital. This is what sustainable development is all about a revolutionary change in the way we approach these issues. Businesses and societies can find approaches that will move towards all three goals environmental protection, social wellbeing and economic development at the same time. Sustainable development is good business in itself. It creates opportunities for suppliers of green consumers, developers of environmentally safer materials and processes, firms that invest in eco-efficiency, and those that engage themselves in social well-being. These enterprises will generally have a competitive advantage. They will earn their local communitys goodwill and see their efforts reflected in the bottom line. Practical considerations While business traditionally seeks precision and practicality as the basis for its planning efforts, sustainable development is a concept that is not amenable to simple and universal definition. It is fluid, and changes over time in response to increased information and societys evolving priorities. The role of business in contributing to sustainable development remains indefinite. While all business enterprises can make a contribution towards its attainment, the ability to make a difference varies by sector and organization size. Some executives consider the principal objective of business to be making money. Others recognize a broader social role. There is no consensus among business leaders as to the best balance between narrow self-interest and actions taken for the good of society. Companies continually face the need to trade off what they would like to do and what they must do in pursuit of financial survival. Businesses also face trade-offs when dealing with the transition to sustainable practices. For example, a chemical company whose plant has excessive effluent discharges might decide to replace it with a more effective treatment facility. But should the company close the existing plant during the two or three-year construction period and risk losing market share? Or should it continue to operate the polluting plant despite the cost of fines and adverse public relations? Which is the better course of action in terms of economy, social wellbeing and the environment? Moreover, many areas of sustainable development remain technically ambiguous, making it difficult to plan an effective course of action. For example, the forestry industry has had difficulty defining what constitutes sustainable forest management. Some critics believe that simply replacing trees is not enough, because harvesting destroys the biodiversity of the forest. Clearly, more research will be needed to resolve such technical issues. From a broader perspective, however, it is clearly in the interest of business to operate within a healthy environment and economy. It is equally plain that, on a global basis, growing and sustainable economies in the developing countries will provide the best opportunities for expanding markets. To some, sustainable development and environmental stewardship are synonymous. In the short term, sound environmental performance is probably a reasonable objective for most businesses, with sustainable development as a longer term goal. However, this can lead to confusion. In the developed world, the focus is on environmental management, while in developing countries, rapid and sustainable development is paramount. The global economy is coming under growing pressure to pay for the restoration of damaged environments. But this economic engine is being asked to help solve other pressing problems at the same time. The challenge is to solve all of these problems in a sustainable manner, so as to generate continuing development. Despite ambiguities about definitions, there is now widespread support for sustainable development principles within the business community. However, for that support to grow, it will be important to recognize and reward initiatives that are being taken to turn the concept into reality. Positive signs of change William Mulligan, environmental affairs manager at Chevron Corporation, reflects the view of many in the business community who believe that the environment is now a major issue one which presents both challenges and opportunities. Over the last decade, we have seen many polls confirming the importance of the environment to Americans, he says. Only an irresponsible company would dismiss this trend as a passing fad or fail to recognize the need to integrate environmental considerations into every aspect of its business. Environmental excellence has to become part of strategic thinking. It is in our best economic interests to do so. In fact, whenever we are forced to change, we often find opportunities. This positive change in attitudes and practices is echoed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which says: There is now a realistic prospect of harmonizing environmental and economic considerations, and thus of gradually incorporating these objectives in policy. Many executives have demonstrated that pursuing sustainable development strategies makes good business sense. For example, a 3M manufacturing plant scaled down a wastewater treatment operation by half, simply by running cooling water through its factories repeatedly instead of discharging it after a single use. Meanwhile Dows Waste Reduction Always Pays programme, which began in 1986, has fostered more than 700 projects, and saved millions of dollars a year. And in a Westinghouse metal finishing factory in Puerto Rico, the company reduced dragout the contamination accidentally carried from one tank to another by 75% simply by shaking the tank to remove solids before releasing the chemical to the next tank. Pacific Gas and Electric decided that energy conservation was a more profitable investment than nuclear power, and McDonalds made its well-publicized move from plastics to paper the cornerstone of a much broader, but less visible, waste reduction strategy. The managers of these businesses clearly believe that environmentalism has something to offer business. In an interview with Tomorrow magazine, John Elkington of environmental consultancy SustainAbility says: We are seeing the birth of corporate environmentalism. In fact the main impetus for sustainable development in the future will probably come from business. There are other significant developments too, Elkington points out. Many consumers are now prepared to pay more for environmentally responsible products. And the emergence of ethical investment funds has thrown the spotlight onto corporate environmental performance. Also significant, says Elkington, is that companies are changing from within, rather than simply responding to external pressure from consumers and environmentalists. Enhancing management systems The concept of sustainable development needs to be incorporated into the policies and processes of a business if it is to follow sustainable development principles. This does not mean that new management methods need to be invented. Rather, it requires a new cultural orientation and extensive refinements to systems, practices and procedures. The two main areas of the management system that must be changed are those concerned with: †¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  A greater accountability to non-traditional stakeholders; †¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Continuous improvement of reporting practices. Developing an effective management framework for sustainable development requires addressing both decision-making and governance. The concept of sustainable development must be integrated both into business planning and into management information and control systems. Senior management must provide reports that measure performance against these strategies. Governance is increasingly important because of the growing accountability of the corporation and its senior management. Information and reporting systems must support this need. Decision-making at all levels must become more responsive to the issues arising from sustainable development. Seven steps are required for managing an enterprise according to sustainable development principles. These are set out below.

Sunday, August 4, 2019

Human Resource Mechanisms in Healthcare

Human Resource Mechanisms in Healthcare Quynh Phuong Diem Nguyen Health care workers are people, who often work in hospital, healthcare centers and other service delivery points, but also in academic training, research and administration; some provide care and treatment services for patients in private homes. Human resources are really important to a health care systems effectiveness. From an economics viewpoint, health workers salaries make up a great share of health budgets in most countries. The health worker can be considered as the gatekeeper of the health system. However, caregivers are getting low-paid in spite of the fact that they are the people perform the most intimate, most personal tasks for our frail, elderly parents and grandparents. According to NZ Herald, they do almost everything for a medium pay rate of around $15/hour only $1.25 more than adult minimum wage. Dr Judy McGregor, Equal Employment, Opportunities Commissioner, called this is a form of modern-day slavery. Healthcare workers and other formals carer told that they love the work in spite of the low pay, but others said they had little time to care properly or that they often werent paid for some of their work, for example  writing daily progress notes on residents after the end of their shifts (Collins, 2013). Therefore, whats health care workers motivation to continue working in this sector? In New Zealand there are 20,000 people; most of them are women and many of them new immigrants, work as caregivers in nearly 700 rest homes and geriatric hospitals. According to Maslows Hierarchy of Needs, there are 5 basic things of human needs: Self-actualization, Esteem, Love/Belonging, Safety and Physiological. As shown in this theory, a persons basic need must be met before self-actualization can be achieved. There is a way of thinking about the different needs of individual employees. In lower-order needs of physical and emotional well-being are basic all; once satisfied, these no longer serve as motivators. Therefore, a lot of people have to take thi s job for their whole life to meet their own needs. Such as Rouru Kiria, a 55 years old woman has been a caregiver for 15 years at the now renamed Meadowbank Lifestyle and Care Village. As the facility moved more towards the retirement village model in 2010, at the same time her husband had a kidney transplant, her job became redundant. They have to live in a rented home and both unemployed. However, she was still looking for work in aged care despite the low pay. She said she will take whatever is given since its better than the dole (Collins, 2013). Generally, if a health worker feel that they are effective at their jobs and having well performance they can be motivated and express their job satisfaction. Factors contributing to motivation and job satisfaction also include an adequate compensation, strong career development, adequate working and living conditions. Despite of the fact that health care workers get a low salary, having strong human resources mechanisms within a healt h system can also help to ensure what motivational factors are in place at adequate levels to keep health workers satisfied. According to the Inside our Rest Homes series by NZ Herald in 2012, one in four  caregivers left their job in aged care homes and hospitals. The series also showed that there is high turnover that affect quality of care, as well as discouraging staff development and training which adversely impact stress levels. Therefore, we all come up with the question that what is major source of stress. According to some research, stress usually comes from 4 factors: Environmental factors, Organisational factors, Job factors and Personal factors. According to some research, many caregivers have to work under pressure because lack  of staff. Some which work in a high dependency hospital fear that their needs are not always being met. This also leads to high mental and physical stress. Some said stress comes from surrounding environment, physically tough; their pay rate doesnt reflect the responsibility that they carry, having to constantly train and orientate new staff due to high attrition r ate. An estimated 30,000 women working in aged care have been underpaid and undervalued for too long (Herald, 2013). While others think that the worst thing about their job are low pay, stress and physical strain on body. Some of them even being yelled at, hit and being called names by resident (Katherine Ravenswood). Based on the research of NZ Aged care workforce survey, the most common causes of injury or illness which relate to work were lifting, pushing, pulling and bending movement (43.7%); hitting, being hit or cut by person. Non-specified  causes accounted for 20.7% of injuries which is a small number cited falls but long term exposure. Therefore, to reduce staff turnover and improve organizational outcomes we need to come up with some appropriate solutions. Hiring more staff and using an objective pre-screening tool to identify those likely to succeed can be one of the ways to manage this problem. There is about 46% of the healthcare staff that have no qualification said in Dr. McGregors report, which may leads to lower quality of caregiving (Simon Martin, 2013). There is a large proportion of participant had completed some of the National certification in health, disability and aged support but there is number of people that hadnt completed it yet. Caregivers should be trained both skills and knowledge in order to work more effective. On the other hand, caregivers also need to be respected and supported from everyone around, especially from their boss. Getting exhausted and having no actual support make the staff easily quit the job, which means aged care organisations need to get more people and at the same time give them proper training. Some trainees said they want to be supported by their boss while they are studying and also the responsibilities my boss trusts them with. Also match the caregiver with the right client can be one appropriate solution to reduce their stress. By discovering which role applicants are best and suit for in order to help them not to work under pressure (Talintel, 2013). Residential  care is more applicable for the old aged people due to the lack of capability of taking care of themselves. Based on my study of changes that affect employee behavior in organisations, employee behaviour basically relies on number of factors which resulting quality fluctuation of the care services among its stakeholders and their residents. In other words, there are 4 main factors that affect employees behaviour in organisation: Political factor, Economic factor, Socio-cultural factors and Technological factor. According to the article which was published by  Ministry of health, asset threshold has become one of the prime factors to measure the amount spent by the older people in enjoying the residential care services (Changes to the Residential Care Subsidy asset threshold, 2016). On 1 July every year, the asset threshold is set at a new level which will be determined and set by the government with cost residential care. According to the instruction of the governmen t, the person with equal possession or below the specific asset threshold would be accounted for government funding. There was an increase of the asset in the cost of care services on consumer price index, in other word they dont have to depend on a lump sum amount every year from 1st July, 2012 onwards. This change means that it will takes you longer for the value of your assets to reduce to the threshold and for you to become eligible for the Residential Care Subsidy if you have been assessed as having assets with a value above the current threshold. On other hand, it is clear that the rest home staffs have unsustainable paid in proportion to the value of service provision. In the Equal Pay  Case, the union has talked about raising the hourly caregiver rate to $26.00 from the current average of $15.30. According to their calculations, the sector would need to find an additional $500 million annually in order  to increase caregiver pay rates. In that case, the staffs have switc hed option to the other care and rest home institute against satisfactory pay scale, some even change into another job. Staffs in the residential care also have to with deal more with emotion than the rational knowledge and skills. The New Zealand aged care association has claimed that the residential care homes under the association is capable  to pay higher to the staffs based on the value of the area they work on. However, even when some employers want to give their workers a raise, they still cant do it since they stuck to the contract with government, which funds homes for the care they deliver (Equal Pay Case, 2012). Thus, the organisations should develop the benefit package on residential care on long term service provision in order to attract potential care staffs in the company. The association would also enter into a contract with the government to improve the care services against better pay scale and security on future residential care provision. According to my interview and my opinion of the respondents it is clear that the care home staffs have faced more difficulties in the service provision than the benefits from the organisation. Salary is the key issue among all the respondents where no one is happy with the current pay scale of the care home staffs in proportion to the effort and labour contributed. On the other hand, payment, workplace relationship, clients complaints after service or some caregivers be bothered about the organisational behaviour and treatment of the co-workers which can create the state of stress. Based on the responses obtained and my study of the relevant theories, I have made some practical suggestions to management. Provide meaningful feedback in a constructive manner on a regular basis. Helpful feedback in manner to employees which will encourage them is a cornerstone of effective management. However, feedback is not always positive but that the communication is done thoughtfully. Another sugge stion is respect employees as individuals, in addition to the job they do. According to Allieli and most of health care student that I have interviewed with, they all want to be respected by their residents, their colleagues, especially their family. Furthermore, they also want to be given credit or some specific feedback for what they do. Management support in times of need wont be forgotten; it builds employee goodwill and loyalty (Lipman, 2013). Moreover, non-financial rewards in terms of achievement recognition and disclosure of contribution of the care home staffs would overwhelm the staffs to stay back in the association for better service provision to the older people. Maria also mentioned above the interview that the pay scale is major factor to reduce morale of the care home staffs. In that case, the salary package of the staffs needs a little upliftment to motivate the staffs under greater scope of financial benefits. Salary and wage are considered as the most common motiv ation for caregivers. Moreover, be sure management at all levels of an organization receives adequate training. Theres a tendency for companies to put so much effort in training leader while focusing far less on supervisors and middle managers. Mrs Kiria, who was a senior union delegate with the Nurses Organisation, said she received adequate training, but some colleagues had difficulties she attributed to lack of training (Simon Martin, 2013). Therefore, providing fairly training is really important, especially when it can minimize employee turnover rate. References Changes to the Residential Care Subsidy asset threshold. (2016). Ministry of Health. CIPD. (2007). Annual survey report. Recruitment, retention and turnover, 36. Collins, S. (2013, 11 27). NZ Herald. Inside our rest homes: Aged cares low-paid workforce. Equal Pay Case. (2012). Herald, N. (2013). Rest home chains face legal battle over pay. Katherine Ravenswood, J. D. (n.d.). THE NEW ZEALAND AGED CARE WORKFORCE SURVEY 2014. A FUTURE OF WORK PROGRAMME REPORT, 22. Lipman, V. (2013). 7 Management Practices That Can Improve Employee Productivity. Forbes. Simon, Martin. (2013). NZ Herald. Inside our rest home. Talintel. (2013). The 5 Key Ways To Reduce Caregiver Turnover, 4.

Cultural Differences :: essays research papers

I Know I Am But What Are You? Cultural Differences in The Tempest, Montaigne’s Essays, and In Defense of the Indians Paper #2 The Tempest, In Defense of the Indians, and Montaigne’s essays each illustrate what happens when two very different worlds collide. As Europe begins to saturate New World soil, the three authors offer their accounts of the dynamic between the European invader and native other. Though each work is unique in its details, they all share a common bond: Shakespeare, de Las Casas, and Montaigne show the reader how European colonialists use differences in appearance and language to justify theft and slavery. The Tempest’s Caliban serves as an instrument to highlight the colonialist notion of the other. Caliban is the original inhabitant of the island; it is his native land. But Caliban is ugly. Prospero claims that he is "not honored with human shape" (p. 17), and so the new European inhabitants never think of him as a potential equal- they see him as their inferior. This initial incongruity between characters supports further dehumanization of the native for the remainder of the play. Caliban’s appearance does not only contribute to the Europeans’ poor estimation of him, but it also serves as the justification of his slavery. When Trinculo says, "Wilt thou tell a monstrous lie, being but half a fish and half a monster" (p. 55), he communicates two important concepts. First, Trinculo reinforces the idea that Caliban is more animal than man. Next, he assumes that Caliban’s exterior mirrors Caliban’s interior. Caliban’s physical deformities, according to Trinculo, also indicate deformity of character. Together, these faults aid Prospero’s justification of forcing Caliban to "serve in offices that profit us" (p. 18). A second factor of Caliban’s oppression is language. The ability to communicate that ends man’s isolation from others and leads to civilization. When Prospero discovers Caliban, the native has no knowledge of Europe, much less its tongue. Miranda and Prospero take it upon themselves to educate Caliban in "civilized" language. Miranda says: "I pitied thee, took pains to make thee speak, taught thee each hour one thing or other, When thou didst not, savage, know thine own meaning, but wouldst gabble, like a thing most brutish, I endowed thy purposes with words that made them known." (p. 20) Miranda believes that communication indicates that one is civilized. She does not for a moment consider that Caliban’s "gabble" was most likely his own language, the language he used to with Sycorax.

Saturday, August 3, 2019

A Reading Reaction to My Brother Sam is Dead :: essays research papers

Report On AIDS   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  AIDS( Acquired immune deficiency symdrome) is caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus(HIV) which attacks selected cells in the immune system and produces defects in function. These defects may not be apparent for years. They lead to a severe suppression of the immune system's ability to resist harmful organisms. This leaves the body open to invasion by various infections.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first cases of AIDS were reported in the early 1980s. From 1981 to 1998 more than 700,000 AIDS cases and more than 400,000 deaths have been reported in the United States. It is estimated that nearly 1 million Americans have been infected through the late 1990s but nt have yet developed clinical symptoms. In 1997 the United Nations announced that it had underestimated the spread and revised the estimate of people living with the disease from 22 million in 1996 and 30 million in 1997. The origin of the AIDS virus is uncertain but may have originated in Central Africa.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first AIDS patients in the Americas and Europe were almost exclusively male homosexuals and bisexuals. Others received AIDS from blood transfusions, hemophiliacs and drug users or females whose male sexual partners had AIDS. Since 1989 heterosexual was found to be the fastest growing means of transmission of the virus.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  American researchers named the virus that causes AIDS the human T-lymphotropic virus, typee III or HTLV-III. In the late 1980s they discovered several forms of the AIDS virus. It was renamed the human immunodeficiency virus type 1, or HIV-1. The virus enters the bloodstream and destroys certain white blood cells called T lymphocytes or T cells. The T cells play a very important role in the functioning of the immune system. The virus can affect other types of cells in the body such as macrophages. Macrophages are not killed by the virus but T cells are. Research has suggested that macrophages may carry the AIDS virus to healthy brain cells to the lymphatic system.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When the AIDS virus enters the bloodstream, the body's immune system produces antibodies to battle the microorganism. Blood tests can detect these antibodies and therefore can indicate exposure to the virus. Sometimes these tests give false readings and can only begin to give accurate results within two weeks to three months after infection. During that time an infected person may pass the virus to others. Scientists are still uncertain how the AIDS virus damges the immune system.

Friday, August 2, 2019

A brief history of diving Essay

For those who can swim, diving in the sense of scuba diving or deep sea diving is certainly one of the most enjoyable pastimes a person can have. Like anything else, it has its pleasures and its risks, but the allure of the sea is certainly a major part in the life of any avid diver. Still, diving has its risks and perhaps in some sense those risks are greater than in other endeavors. The allure of the sea and the desire to enjoy it as freely as a fish is irresistible to many. Our fascination with the oceans may have made diving popular in the 19th century, but if so, it was certainly made more popular by the introduction of scuba equipment in the middle of the 20th century. Despite the relatively recent development of deep sea diving apparatus and of scuba diving, men and women have been diving for centuries. Often diving is for pleasure, but at other times it is just another basic survival skill to gather food, hunt for sponges (Hong et al. , 1991) or engage in military endeavors or otherwise. Until the invention of diving equipment, man was unable to go underwater and remain submerged for any extended period of time. His stay under water was limited by his ability to hold his breath so the problem was how to extend the amount of time underwater and, of course, the obvious solution was to find a means to provide an air supply to a submerged person. In August of last year (2006) while testing the Navy’s new Atmospheric Diving System (ADS) suit off the coast of La Jolla CA, a village of San Diego, Daniel Jackson, a Naval Reserve Diver, made the deepest free dive in history, a total of 2,000 feet. (Guinness, 2006) Perhaps it is because of the allure of the sea, but long before Jackson, men and women practiced breath-holding. Diving has many useful purposes such as gathering and providing food, military, recreational, research and others so these factors have no doubt added to the allure of diving. Despite the relatively new advent of scuba equipment and deep sea diving equipment, diving has been around for a long time. Of course, it is necessary to hold one’s breath in order to go to any great depth and people have been using breath-holding techniques for diving for centuries. In ancient Greece, divers held their breath to search for sponges as some people do today, and throughout history some had done likewise in the process of military exploits. For those who wanted to stay underwater longer, the obvious question was how to do so? One solution was to breathe through hollow reeds while submerged. While this technique worked, there were limitations that prohibited it from being a valuable solution. Reeds longer than two feet long do not work well. Today we realize that it is difficult to inhale against water pressure below a certain depth. Another idea was to put air into a bag that could be used underwater, but that also presented problems, most significantly the fact that it caused divers to breathe in the carbon dioxide that had been exhaled. Although Aristotle wrote about a diving bell in the 4th century BC, all diving was probably done by holding the breath up until the 16th century. (Brylske, 1994; Somers, 1997) Whatever diving was done probably did not exceed depths of 100 feet if that much. The diving bell was the predominant diving apparatus during the 22 centuries from the 4th century BC until the around 1800. Using this stationary device, divers could get air from the bell and leave to do whatever they were doing underwater returning to the bell periodically for more air. This allowed divers to remain underwater until air in the bell was no longer breathable. By the 16th century, people began experimenting with diving bells. (Somers, 1997) These were actually bell shaped contraptions open at the bottom that were held a few feet from the surface. The diver could enter from the bottom which was open to water and the top part held compressed air, air that had been compressed by the water pressure. Early designs of the diving bell were refined in the late 1600s and became sizable and sophisticated by 1691 when Edmund Halley patented a ventilated diving bell that allowed divers to remain underwater for as much as an hour and a half. (Gilliam and von Maier, 1992) Even though electricity was not available for electric pumps at that time, manual pumps were used that could pump air from the surface down to divers as early as the 16th century in Europe. However, at greater depths, water pressure became a concern, so metal helmets and leather full diving suits were developed and used to protect divers who went below 60 feet. This diving equipment was continuously perfected up to the 19th and 20th centuries. By the 1830s, diving techniques that relied on air pumped to divers from the surface had been sufficiently well developed as to allow divers to work underwater for extended periods of time. Although these early techniques worked, they didn’t entirely compensate for some diving concerns. Eventually, the improved technology of the 19th century resulted in compressed air pumps, regulators, carbon dioxide scrubbers and other improvements that allowed divers to remain underwater for longer and longer periods of time. As diving techniques improved, it became more apparent that there were at least two concerns in diving to depth. One, of course, was the need for an air supply that would eliminate the need to hold one’s breath. The other problem was the need to compensate for depth. (Brylske, 1994; Somers, 1997) In 1905 Scotland’s John Scott Haldane reported the fundamental discovery that breathing is regulated by the amount of carbon dioxide in the blood and in the brain. Haldane developed a method of decompression in stages that allowed deep-sea divers to ascend to the surface safely, information used for today’s decompression charts. His work and that of the French physiologist Paul Bert increased our understanding of the physiological effects of air-pressure sufficiently to improve out knowledge of the hazards of diving to depth and how to overcome those hazards. Our understanding of the effects and safe limits of using compressed air for diving is due largely to the work of Haldane and Bert. (Gilliam and von Maier, 1992) Today, we realize that decompression, recompression, carbon dioxide and oxygen toxicity are important factors to consider in diving. Diving history can essentially be divided into four periods. Initially, there was the period of free diving when humans held their breath. Diving time and diving capacity were limited by the availability of air, the build-up of carbon dioxide and the effects at depth of pressure on the body. (Gilliam and von Maier, 1992) Later advances in diving during the second period of diving history led to the creation of heavy walled diving vessels which could maintain their internal atmosphere to that of sea level (1 atmosphere) so as to prevent the surrounding water pressure from being a hazard to the occupants. Diving bells and bathysphere are two such devices. Bathyspheres are essentially unpowered hollow steel balls that can be lowered from a mother ship by a steel cable. A bathyscaphe is a is bathysphere with a buoyancy control that eliminates the need for a cable. Then there is the submarine, a powered device with its own air supply and which is built so that it can handle all of the problems associated with depth and so it can travel great distances in any direction under its own power. Bathyspheres, bathyscaphes and submarines required a means to maintain the pressure at one atmosphere around the diver and a means to provide fresh oxygen while getting rid of exhaled carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide was eliminated by using soda lime, lithium hydroxide and other compounds that take up the carbon dioxide. Later during this period, one atmosphere diving suits were also developed that were flexible and yet able to withstand pressures at great death so as to allow divers to work at depths up to several hundred meters for hours. (Somers, 1997) Diving entered a period of using compressed air next. The air could be supplied from the surface and delivered to the diver at depth. The hand-operated air compressor was a major advancement in diving history. It had appeared by 1770 and allowed for the development of helmet-hose diving systems that were the predominant diving techniques from 1800 until the mid-1950s. Unlike then final period, during this period of diving the diver is separated from his/her air supply, but has air delivered through a long umbilical cord to a regulator and mouthpiece carried by the diver. At great depth, the diver can be enclosed in a dive suit that can handle the water pressure at depth. These suits can be cumbersome but the buoyancy of the water can relieve some of their burden. Although diving masks with a regulator, mouthpiece and hose may come to mind when one considers these devices, caissons are also included in this category. Caissons are huge spaces that are supplied with compressed air. Diving bells and rigid helmet diving suits are also grouped in this category. The air that the diver breathes is at the same pressure as that of the water surrounding the diver thus leaving him at risk for decompression concerns such as the bends, air embolism, etc. pon their ascent if they ascend too fast. To assist with this concern, special mixtures of gas are used that allow divers to dive deeper than with compressed air. These gas mixtures combine oxygen with another gas or gases such as hydrogen, helium and/or nitrogen. (Somers, 1997; Gilliam and von Maier, 1992) The most recent development in diving is diving with compressed air or gas mixtures that include oxygen carried by the diver. This is referred to by the acronym â€Å"S. C. U. B. A. † which is generally referred to as scuba diving. Scuba stands for self contained underwater breathing apparatus and refers to the fact that the diver carries his or her air supply on their back while diving. Although we may view scuba gear to be a recent development in diving technology, the development of scuba gear can be traced back to 1680 when Borelli, who also experimented with fins and buoyancy compensation, developed a device based on the theory that the hot air a diver exhales could be rejuvenated by cooling and condensing in. (Somers, 1997) Although Borelli’s gear failed, it still represents a step forward in diving theory and technology. By the first third of the nineteenth century, Condert published a scuba design using a helmet and a compressed air reservoir that fit around the diver’s waist. In 1865, Rouquayrol developed a surface-supplied regulator system that did ultimately have an effect on today’s scuba gear. By 1878, Fleuss and Davis developed a closed-circuit oxygen scuba device that used chemical carbon dioxide as absorbent. (Gilliam and von Maier, 1992; Somers, 1997) The scuba equipment commonly used today was developed by Emile Gagnan and Jacques-Yves Cousteau. Somers, 1997; Cousteau, 1986; Marx, 1990) The two principle types of scuba equipment are open circuit and closed circuit equipment. Open circuit equipment vents the expired air into the water while closed circuit systems all the carbon dioxide to be absorbed and add more oxygen so that the air can be re-used. Scuba divers are at risk for decompression problems if they ascend too fast and various gas mixtures allow scuba divers to go d eeper than with compressed air. Scuba diving has a number of advantages over other forms of diving. The tanks allow the diver to remain underwater longer than would be possible by simply holding one’s breath. Even though scuba allows divers to go deeper than with snorkeling and allows them more freedom than would be possible using compressed air from the surface, its major disadvantage is that the time spent underwater is limited by the amount of compressed air in the tanks. Since time is of essence and all muscle activity decreases the amount of time that oxygen will be available, scuba divers can increase the amount of time they will have underwater with scuba gear if they exert less energy while diving. Although most divers swim underwater while diving, they can resort to propulsion devices referred to as Diver Propulsion Vehicles (DPVs) commonly called â€Å"scooters† to move underwater. The term SCUBA originally referred to rebreathers used by the military for underwater warfare but today it generally refers to open-circuit equipment. However, rebreathers are also classified as scuba gear. The history of diving is certainly to complex and exciting to cover in these few pages, but what few comments have been presented do demonstrate how rich that history is and how far it extends back in time. Only by considering how far back into history diving extends and the advances diving has made with the passage of time will we truly realize the fascination diving has held for us through time. Perhaps the next great advance in diving will not be man growing gills, but whatever it will be will only add to the present fascination and allure of diving. We can only build on the future of diving by understanding how we arrived at our present level of knowledge and technology.

Thursday, August 1, 2019

A Cybernetic Approach to Controlling Health Problems

For several decades, health issues have increased by more than 8.5% each year. According to a recent study conducted by the center for Disease Control and Prevention, 65% of US adults are either overweight or obese. The rate of diabetes are increasing in the United States, with a 27 percent increase seen in the last five years. The high cost of health care also poses a major threat to the nation's economy. However, health problems can be prevented to a large extent by controlling people's lifestyle. Group discussions and conversations may help people to adopt a healthy way of living. Therefore, Cybernetics which is the study of conversation/communication and control/regulation can be used to help solve this problems. This study aims at using cybernetics as a model for controlling health problems. Addiction In developed countries of the world like USA, where the literacy rate is above 95%, people know that leading a healthy lifestyle removes the risk of chronic health issues to a considerable margin. However they most times do not adopt a healthy way of living. Why? Addiction has ruined the healthy life style of people. For example- people may be addicted to sleeping and do not exercise, addicted to eating foods with high calories that causes them obesity and make them prone to heart problems. Addiction is a condition in which a consistent desire/craving to repeat an addicted behavior exceeds the ability to rationally stop doing so. When the more you have, the more you seem to need to achieve the same effect or result. This effect can be displayed as a positive feedback loop where the want continues expanding within the loop.Some background about feedback loops – Feedback loops are of two forms: negative feedback loop and positive feedback loop. Negative feedback loops strives towards balance and stasis by subtracting error with each cycle. A good example of negative feedback loop is homeostasis, the body's system for keeping itself chemically and temperature balanced. Positive feedback loops, by comparison, add the variations of each cycle. As a result they can become potentially dangerous as their effect mount with each event. Hypothermia, shock, heatstroke are examples of positive feedback.Figure-1 models addiction (nicotine addiction) as a positive feedback. The desire for smoking continues to increase in the loop for achieving the same level of satisfaction. The first day, Bob needs to smoke once and get satisfied. The second day, he needs to smoke twice to get the same level of satisfaction. Gradually, his cravings and urge to smoke increases along with the frequency.Controlling the Uncontrollable(addiction)The graph above (Figure-1) indicates how the addiction continue to expand in a positive feedback loop. Also, Bateson's examination of alcohol addiction contended that the very attempt to regain discretion, to be a â€Å"commander of one's own spirit†, added to the heightening of the alcoholism. Moreover, the Twelve Step Program of Alcoholics Anonymous-which has been effectively adjusted to a huge number of addictive practices, offers recuperation by â€Å"surrendering† that is, by stopping to deliberately try to stop the addiction. Subsequently, the person who is addicted does not have an essential variety to control addiction.At the point when Addiction becomes uncontrollable, how can it be controlled? Ludwig's research on Alcoholics mind demonstrates that â€Å"developing the right mind frame† (sufficient inspiration) for sobriety improves the probability that an individual can figure out how to resist his addiction .Sufficient inspiration or adequate motivation can solve the puzzle of addiction as an uncontrollable event. The diagram beneath demonstrates the cybernetic approach to deal with controlling health issues by inspiring individuals to follow a sound way of life (work out, yoga, healthy food and so on.), that is abstaining from an unhealthy way of life.Reward/Incentive SystemPeople have various needs including monetary needs, physiological needs, safety needs and esteem needs. An individual can be motivated for performing an activity using proper incentives which may help in fulfilling some of his needs. A reward system could be a web application like Weight Watchers or an organization such as a health club. Below is a model of an incentive system used in motivating a person to exercise regularly. The model also shows that the system can keep refining or modifying the incentive system to make sure that the user is always motivated.Group Affiliation/FriendsGroups, friends and circle of relatives assist in controlling addictions and regulating the manner people live. People develop trust, care and similarity in a group that offer intellectual strength for controlling their cravings. It has additionally been proved that the group association programs offer long- term remedy for addiction in comparison to short-term remedy provided through medication therapy. Self-assist programs like Alcoholics anonymous, rational healing or women for Sobriety, assist in gaining control over addiction through assisting the affected person to integrate into a self-assist group. Trust Trust is a system-related concept and that is a constantly evolving state of information acquisition, processing and feedback. Figure-4 demonstrates the system model of trust between two actors (trustor and trustee). The trustor continually accesses the behavior of the trustee against his mental model of trustworthiness, which results in increased trust if the behavior matches with his mental model otherwise decreased trust. Trustworthiness relies on three variables which relate to perception about the person to be relied on: competence, integrity and benevolence. ‘Competence' is the perceived potential of the trustee, as measured through indicators which includes training or credentials, experience, and reliable past performance. ‘Integrity' is the degree to which the trustee is considered to perform with honesty, fairness, and consistency of actions and words. ‘Benevolence' concerns the extent to which the trustee demonstrates care and consideration for people he or she interacts directly or indirectly. In addition to the above-recognized antecedent variables, trust also relies on the ‘context' within which the trustor and trustee are embedded. It could affect the extent to which the trustee is rated on antecedent variables particularly competence. For instance, a person may be perceived as competent in one context but no longer in another. Furthermore, it is essential to differentiate between Interactions among unfamiliar others and ongoing interactions among familiar others for trust. In a social system, trust could be unidirectional or bi-directional. Also, trust may be commutative.After the developement of trust, the trustor (Alice) feels confident and becomes willing to take actions based on the suggestions, actions and decisions of the trustee (Bob) to an extent proportional to the trust level in the trustee. Now, when Bob says that he controlled his blood sugar level by following the recipes from the diabetic cook-book, Alice feels confident the same recipes in the diabetic cook-book works and she is now motivated to follow them too. It also gives her a social proof of the reliability of the recipes from the diabetic cook-book. Figure-6 is the conversation model of this trust and social proof scenario between Alice and Bob.CareCare is also a continously evolving state of information aquisition, processing and feedback.Similarity, trust, understanding and reciprocity make the important variables. It is also dependent on context and familiarity/relationship between individuals. Below is a figure which shows a model of care between Alice and Bob and how care helps them for abstinence. Bob's behavior is matched to Alice's mental model of a person she would like to care for. If there is a positive match,then the care for Bob increases otherwise it decreases. When there is a match, she cares about what Bob's expectations are from her. She feels a sense of responsibility/accountability for Bob's expectations because she does not want to disappoint him. Similarly, Bob also does a behavior assessment of Alice against a mental model of a person she would like to care for. Its also important to note that both may have different perceptions or mental models of the persons they may like to care for. Also, care may be unidirectional as well. Now when Bob makes a suggestion to Alice about losing weight, she feels responsible/ accountable for losing weight as she cares about Bob. Similarly, Bob feels responsible/accountable for not smoking when Alice asks him to quit smoking.Figure 7: Care/Accountability/ResponsibilitySimilarityIn comparism to trust and care, similarity also is a constantly evolving state of information acquisition, processing and feedback. The antecedent variables for similarity might include mental attitude, behavior, hobbies, age gender and race.The figure below shows how similarity motivates Bob for exercising frequently because he gets competitive and inspired by Alice.The table below summarizes Trust, care and similarity. Antecedent Variables MotivationTrust Competence, Integrity, Benevolence Willing to act on the basis of words, actions anddecisions of anotherCare Similarity, Understanding, Trust, Reciprocity Accountability,ResponsibilitySimilarity Mindset, hobbies, age, gender, race Competitiveness,InspirationFigure 9: Summary for Trust, Care and SimilarityAlternative model for Accountability, Responsibility, Competitiveness and collaboration in a self-help group.