Fracking: Water Quality and Hydraulic Fracturing

Our Future3 REFERENCE: www. epa. gov www. wikipedia. com Documentary: â€Å"GASLAND† Josh Fox 2010 Our Futurejoe cool OUR FUTURE Joe cool Intro. 105 ? Our Future1 Hydraulic fracturing is the propagation of fractures in a rock layer caused by the presence of a pressurized fluid. (wiki 2011). This occurs naturally in nature, but the Hydraulic fracturing that I will speak of in this paper is a process being used by gas companies nationwide. Fracking is currently regulated by the EPA under the clean water act of 2005 (EPA. ov). However, this only partially governs the methods of injecting fluids and the retrieval of such fluids into the earth. It does not govern the types of chemicals that are being allowed to be used, or how much fresh water is wasted (millions of gallons per â€Å"Frack job†) and it does not carry stiff enough penalties for spills or irreversible damage to community’s water supplies. For those of you, who are unfamiliar with this practice, allow me to paint a picture for you. Big gas corporations have researched and found giant fields of natural gas in a layer of rock eight thousand feet deep in the earth’s crust known as the Marcellus shale line, and it is in four different regions in the U. S. spread over thirty states. Historically gas companies would drill for their gas, but in recent history have developed a process of Hydraulic Fracturing which at one job can use one million gallons of fresh water, and over nine hundred chemicals, to include Benzene and various heavy metals (Gasland). Once this mixture is forced ight thousand feet into the earth’s crust it destroys the shale and releases the natural gas. It is a fact that the companies can only recover forty percent of the fluid that is sent into the below. The rest is absorbed by the porous Marcellus shale. It is now being learned that this process is destroying ecosystems and making fresh water tables completely unusable. I don’t know where any of you live and I don’t k now whether you like where you live. But try and imagine if tomorrow you found out that twenty miles away there was a frack site, and the people of your community began getting sick. What would you do? Who would you look to for help? The Our Future2 government is of no use because there are no safeguards in place. What do you do? The only thing you can do is run, but I ask you fellow scholars, what happens when there is nowhere else to run? It is a fact that in Wyoming they are finding contamination in water tables as far away from fracking as forty miles. You tube videos of people igniting their tap water are numbered in the hundreds. These gas companies are poisoning our environment and destroying people’s entire way of life just to make money. Now most of us on some level are concerned about the environment, you don’t have to live in a tree and only eat organic fruits and vegetables to care about the future of earth. You just have to open your eyes and become comfortable to the fact that big corporations dictate government. These people live to make money, at all costs. Through my research on this paper I learned that in the same mountain range that a windmill project is being utilized there is also fracking going on. It is a humbling experience to stand under a windmill and see a frack site. The reason green energy is not being explored further? There’s no money in it.

Exercise Physiology

Direct calorimetry uses the measurement of heat production as an indication of metabolic rate. * Indirect calorimetry estimates metabolic rate via the measurement of oxygen consumption. * Energy expenditure can be expressed in L†¢min-1, kcal†¢min-1, ml†¢kg-1†¢min-1, METs, and kcal†¢kg-1†¢hr-1. * To convert L†¢min-1 to kcal†¢min-1, multiply by 5. 0 kcal†¢L-1. * To convert L†¢min-1 to ml†¢kg-1†¢min-1, multiply by 1000 and divide by body weight in kilograms. * To convert ml†¢kg-1†¢min-1 to METs or kcal†¢kg-1†¢hr-1, divide by 3. 5 ml†¢kg-1†¢min-1. Efficiency: * Exercise work rate Efficiency decreases as work rate increases * Speed of movement* There is an optimum speed of movement and any deviation reduces efficiency * Muscle fiber type * Higher efficiency in muscles with greater percentage of slow fibers SUMMARY: Net efficiency is defined as the mathematical ratio of work performed divided by the e nergy expenditure above rest, and is expressed as a percentage. * The efficiency of exercise decreases as the exercise work rate increases. This occurs because the relationship between work rate and energy expenditure is curvilinear. To achieve maximal efficiency at any work rate, there is an optimal speed of movement. * Exercise efficiency is greater in subjects who possess a high percentage of slow muscle fibers compared to subjects with a high percentage of fast fibers.This is occurs because slow muscle fibers are more efficient than fast fibers. * Not possible to calculate net efficiency of horizontal running * Running Economy * Oxygen cost of running at given speed * Lower VO2 (ml†¢kg–1†¢min–1) at same speed indicates better running economy * Gender difference * No difference at slow speeds At â€Å"race pace† speeds, males may be more economical that females 170-188 CIRCULATORY RESPONSE TO EXERCISE Organization: arteries branch to form vessels, v essels become microscopic and form arterioles, which develop into â€Å"beds† called capillaries. Capillaries are the smallest and most numerous of blood vessels—exchange of oxygen, CO2, and nutrients. Blood passes from capillary beds to venules that move back to heart and increase in size becoming veins. Mixed venous blood= mixture of venous blood from both upper and lower body in the right side of the heart. *it represents an average of venous blood from entire body.HEART: Right/left side separated by muscular wall called interventricular septum (prevents mixing blood from sides). Valves: Bicuspid/mitral = left atrioventricular valve **atrioventriculars close when heart contracts to prevent backflow. Tricuspid= right atrioventricular valve Semilunar valve (pulmonary semilunar)- b/w right ventricle and pulmonary artery. Prevents backflow from arteries into ventricles. Aortic valve (aortic semilunar)= b/w left ventricle and aorta. Also prevents backflow†¦ Right si de pumps deoxygenated blood to pulmonary circuit so oxygen can be loaded and CO2 released.Left side pumps oxygenated blood to body via systemic circuit. RIGHT: to lungs LEFT: to body Heart sounds are due to closing of atrioventricular valves (first sound-systole) and the closing of aortic and pulmonary valves (second sound-diastole) Wall of heart is 3 layered: 1) outer layer is epicardium, 2) muscular middle layer called myocardium, 3) inner layer endocardium. Myocardium contracts to force blood out. Right and left coronary arteries supply myocardium Cardiac muscle fibers are shorter than skeletal and are branched and involuntary. Heart muscle fibers are all connected via intercalated discs- transmit electrical impulses.They are leaky membranes that allow ions to cross b/w fibers (contract together= functional syncytium). *atria contract separate from ventricles because there is a separating layer of CT *heart is only type 1, slow fiber- highly aerobic, many mitochondria (more than skeletal). Cardiac cycle: Systole- contraction phase (blood ejected) Diastole- relaxation period (arterial BP decreases– filling) There is also an atrial systole and diastole. Atrial contraction during ventricular diastole, atrial relaxation when ventricular systole. *SO there are TWO steps of heart pumping. *atria contract together, which empties arterial blood into ventricles. . 1 second and then ventricles contract to deliver blood to systemic and pulmonary circuits.*when atria relax, blood flows into them from venous circulation as they fill, pressure inside increases. Increase in HR less time spent in diastole (not as much impact on time in systole until at high HR) Arterial Blood Pressure: -greatest in arteries BP = the force exerted by blood against the arterial walls. Determined by how much blood is pumped and the resistance to blood flow. -male: 120/80, female: 110/70 systolic/diastolic dif between the two is calls â€Å"pulse pressure† â€Å"mean arterial pr essure†= av pressure during cardiac cycle. determines rate of blood flow through systemic circuit Mean arterial pressure = DBP + . 33 (pulse pressure) (DBP: diastolic blood pressure) (pulse pressure: dif between systolic and diastolic pressure) SO, if someone has bp 120/80, Mean arterial pressure= 80mmHg + . 33(120 – 80) = 93 mmHg *but this calculation is only used for cardiac cycle at rest.Hypertension- increases workload on left ventricle so cardiac mass increases, but this eventually results in diminished pumping capacity. Also increase risk for other disease/damage of body parts like brain and kidneys. 20% all US adults Factors influencing arterial BP: ) cardiac output—amount of blood pumped from heart 2) total vascular resistance – sum of resistance to blood flow by all systemic blood vessels. —blood volume, blood viscosity Mean arterial blood pressure = (cardiac output x total vascular resistance) *so increase in either will increase the mean art. BP Blood pressure increases when increase in: blood volume, HR, SV, blood viscosity, peripheral resistance. And it decreases when any of those decrease. BP regulated short term by the sympathetic NS, long term by the kidneys (bc they control blood volume). Baroreceptors- sense arterial blood pressure in carotid artery and aorta.Increase in pressure send impulses to CV control center which will decrease the sympathetic activity (lowers cardiac output and/or reduces vascular resistance lowers BP). Decrease in BP reduction of baroreceptors activity to brain CV control center increases sympathetic activity raise BP to normal Electrical Activity of the Heart: Sionatrial node (SA node)- in the right atrium (by the vena cava). responsible for spontaneous electrical activity in normal heart, it’s the pacemaker. Occurs due to decay of resting membrane potential (bc of diffusion of NA during diastole).When SA is depolarized and reaches threshold, a wave of depolarization is spread over the atria contraction! Wave of atrial depolarization needs special conductive tissue to transport it to the ventricles. This conductive tissue is called the atrioventricular node (AV node- in floor of right atrium). When blood from atria empties into ventricles, the conductive pathways branch into smaller fibers called purkinje fibers that spread the wave of depolarization through ventricle so it can contract. Electrocardiogram (ECG)- recording of electrical charges in myocardium during cardiac cycle. –ability of hear to conduct impulses.P wave- depolarization of atria QRS complex- depolarization of ventricles and atrial repolarization(during beginning of systole, aprx . 10 seconds after Pwave) T wave- ventricular repolarization (same time as QRS, but at the beginning of diastole) CARDIAC OUTPUT (Q): Q = HR X SV Regulation of heart rate: -because SA node controls HR, changes in HR involve factors influencing SA node. Most influence over HR: parasympathetic and sympathet ic NS Parasympathetic NS- acts as braking system to slow HR using vagus nerve which touches SA and AV node and releases acetylcholine decrease activity of SA and AV nodes due to hyperpolarization= reduce HR. —initial increase in HR during exrcise up to 100bpm is due to decrease in parasympathetic tone. Sympathetic fibers use cardiac accelerator nerves to innervate both SA node and ventricles.Increase HR and myocardial contraction when they release norepinephrine. –beta receptors *all beta-blocking drugs will decrease resting HR and exercise HR. CV control center regulates- pressure receptors in right atrial respond when there is increased pressure by increasing Q to reduce the BP. Body Temp also influences HR. increase temp = increase HR Regulation of stroke volume: ) end-diastolic volume (EDV aka â€Å"preload†) (volume of blood at end of diastole) 2) average aortic BP 3) strength of ventricular contraction EDV- Frank and Starling, stronger contraction with hig her EDV bc there is more stretch of ventricles. EDV influenced by rate of venous return to heart- more return= higher EDV. Venous return regulated by: 1) venoconstriction – reduced volume capacity of veins to store blood. *sympathetic control- activates organ increase HR (the parasympathetic inhibits activation decrease HR) 2) muscle pump—muscles contract and compress veins blood pushed to heart.Venous return reduced when muscles are contracted. isometric exercise, mechanical. 3) respiratory pump- breathing decreases pressure in chest and increases abdominal pressure so venous blood flows from abdominal into thorax and increases return. *more respiration in exercise Aortic pressure (mean arterial pressure/afterload)- to eject blood, pressure in left ventricle must be more than in the aorta. Increase in aortic pressure= decrease SV. Less afterload during exercise bc arteriole dilation reduces afterload. Circulating epinephrine-norepinephrine (increase Ca+ entry) and dir ect sympathetic stimulation of heart by cardiac accelerator nerves.Increase in sympathetic stimulation of heart increases SV at any level of EDV. HEMODYNAMICS: -blood flow is in a continuous loop. Physical characteristic of blood- composed of plasma (watery portion, contains ions/proteins/hormones) and cells (called the hematocrit: RBC/platelets/WBC). Hematocrit= 42% of blood (38% in college women), the rest is plasma. RBCs are largest part of a blood cell—influence viscosity. Anemia decreases RBC, so decreases viscosity Relationships among pressure, resistance, and flow: Rate of flow is proportional to pressure difference. Inversely proportioned to resistance.Blood Flow= change in pressure/ resistance -Change in pressure is the dif between the two ends of the circulatory system -resistance due to length of vessel and viscosity, and radius of vessel **Blood flow increases with increase in BP or with decrease in resistance. -during exercise blood flow increases mainly due to d ecrease in resistance with small rise in pressure. Resistance = (length x viscosity)/ radius^4 (**so radius is VERY important-vasoconstriction/vasodilation) Sources of vascular resistance: -vasoconstriction/vasodilation the greatest vascular resistance in blood flow occurs in arterioles.Pg 188 – 196 Changes in oxygen delivery to muscle during exercise: Metabolic need for O2 increases so there is an increase in blood flow to muscle- increase O2 delivery by 1) increased cardiac output and 2) redistribution of blood flow from inactive organs to working skeletal muscle. Changes in cardiac output during exercise: -cardiac output increases in proportion to metabolic rate for task -maximal cardiac output decreases after 30 yrs of age mostly bc of decreased maximal heart rate with age. Cardiac output = heart rate X stroke volume Max HR = 220 – age (years)Changes in Arterial-Mixed Venous O2 content during exercise: -change in arterial-mixed venous oxygen difference (a – VO2 diff)during exercise. It represents the amount of O2 taken from 100 ml of blood by the tissue during 1 systemic circuit. The relationship between cardiac output (Q), a – VO2 diff, and oxygen uptake is given by the Fick equation: VO2 = Q X (a- VO2 diff). Fick equation: VO2 is equal to the product of cardiac output and the a-VO2 diff. *SO INCREASE IN CARDIAC OUTPUT OR (a – VO2 diff ) WOULD ELEVATE VO2. Redistribution of Blood Flow During Exercise:Increase flow to skeletal muscles and decrease to less-active organs like liver, kidneys, GI tract. Increase in muscle blood flow and decrease in splanchnic blood flow change as a linear function of %VO2 max. -at rest aprx 15-20% total cardiac output is directed to skeletal muscles. -during maximal exercise 80-85% of total cardiac output goes to skeletal muscle (to help meet oxygen needs for contracting) -during heavy exercise % that goes to brain is reduced compared to rest. -total coronary blood flow increases due to incre ase in cardiac output -reduction of blood flow to skin and abdominal organsRegulation of local blood flow during exercise: Regulated with arterioles in skeletal muscles that have a high vascular resistance at rest (due to adrenergic sympathetic stimulation which causes vasoconstriction). This results in low blood flow to muscle (4-5 ml/min per 100g muscle) but this is still 20-25% total flow from heart. **autoregulation (an intrinsic metabolic control) -vasodilation (opens vessels) results from local changes during exercise like decrease in O2 tension, increase in CO2 tension, nitric oxide, potassium and adenosine concentrations, increase in acidity.Vasodilation reduces vascular resistance and therefore increases blood flow. Also aided by recruitment of cappilaries- at rest only 5-10% of capillaries are open, all are open during heavy exercise. **level of vasodilation regulated by metabolic need of the muscle (intensity and # of motor units recruited determines blood flow to active muscle fibers) during exercise, vascular resistance in skeletal muscle decreases and vascular resistance to flow in the visceral organs/other inactive tissue increases. *because on increased sympathetic output to these organs regulated by CV control center. increase in visceral vasoconstriction during exercise decreases blood flow to viscera by 20-30% resting value. During exercise in upright position, SV reaches plateau at 40% VO2 max, therefore, at work rate about 40% VO2 max, the rise in cardiac output (Q) is due to increased HR only.CIRCULATORY RESPONSES TO EXERCISE: HR and blood pressure at any VO2 (oxygen uptake) are higher in arm than in leg -higher HR in hot/humid conditions emotional influence- HR increase with high emotion because increase in sympathetic NS activity. Does not generally alter peak HR or blood pressure during exercise itself but does elevate pre-exercise HR. ransition from rest to exercise- increase in HR and SV and cardiac output at beginning of exercise (a fter 1st second! ) then if work is constant it plateaus recovery from exercise- recovery from short-term/low intensity is rapid. Recovery after exercise better in trained individuals bc their HR doesn’t get as high. Recovery from long-term is slower because elevated body temp. incremental exercise- HR and cardiac output increase in direct proportion to O2 uptake. More O2 uptake = more blood flow to muscles. Plateau of cardiac output and HR at 100% VO2 max (no more hemoglobin to transport O2).The increase in HR and systolic BP results in increased workload on the heart (increased metabolic demand on heart estimated by: double product = HR x systolic BP) maximal exercise increases workload on heart by 500% Useful equation to tell patients with coronary artery blockage how they can exercise. **cardiac output increases because decrease in vascular resistance to flow and increase in mean arterial blood pressure. Arm vs. Leg exercise- HR and BP higher in arm because greater sympath etic outflow to heart during arm work when compared to leg work.Large increase in BP for arms because of vasoconstriction in inactive muscle groups. Large muscles (legs) have more resistance vessels dialated, so there is lower peripheral resistance and lower BP (cardiac output x resistance= pressure). Intermittent exercise- (interval training), recovery of HR and BP depends on level of fitness, environmental conditions, and duration and intensity. Recovery not complete if the temperature is high because that increases HR. with repeated bouts of light exercise, many repetitions can be preformed. Prolonged exercise- cardiac output at constant level.SV declines while HR increases because the increase (cardiac output constant bc HR increases and balances SV decrease). Cardiovascular drift= increase in HR and decrease in SV during prolonged exercise. , it is due to rising body temp and reduction in plasma volume. Reduction in plasma volume reduces venous return to heart and thus decrease in SV REGULATION OF CARDIOVASCULAR ADJUSTMENTS TO EXERCISE –increase in sympathetic stimulation of heart and vasodilation of arterioles and increase resistance of vessels in less-active areas= increase cardiac output so that blood flow to muscle matches metabolic needs.Central command- CV change due to centrally generated cv motor signals **also modified by heart mechanoreceptors, muscle chemoreceptors, muscle mechanoreceptors, and pressure-sensitive receptors (baroreceptors) â€Å"tuners† during exercise: muscle chemoreceptors- muscle metabolites (K, lactic acid, etc. ) muscle mechanoreceptors- force and speed of muscular movement baroreceptors- change in arterial BP- regulate arterial BP Page 267-269, 277-280 VO2 max = HR max X SV max X (a- vO2 dif)max STROKE VOLUME SV = End diastolic volume(EDV) – End systolic volume (ESV) *EDV increase ecause increase in ventricle size/increase in venous return (â€Å"preload†), increase in myocardial contractility, and decrease in resistance to blood flow out of heart (â€Å"afterload†) End diastolic volume (EDV) Left ventricle increase with endurance training bc of volume loading during exercise Plasma volume increases with endurance training (loss of plasma volume = decrease VO2 max in first weeks of detraining) **EDV increase with training. FRANK-STARLING MECHANISM: increase stretch of ventricle = increased SV Cardiac contractility- strength of contraction when fiber length, afterload, and HR are constant.Afterload- peripheral resistance against which the ventricle contracts in order to push portion of EDV into aorta. Decrease in resistance = increase max cardiac output, SO arterial BP is unchanged (MAP = Q x TPR) **endurance training lower resistance in working muscle to facilitate higher blood flow blood pressure falls when muscles capacity for blood flow exceeds hearts ability to provide it.. —to maintain BP some of muscle mass is vasoconstricted (other is vasodialated) tra ining decrease resistance of vascular bed to match increase in max cardiac output to maintain BP Arteriovenous O2 difference: increase in difference could be due to elevation of the arterial oxygen content, or decrease in the mixed venous oxygen content. -increase capacity of muscle to extract O2 after training probably because increase in capillary density (mitochondria too) accommodate more blood flow *training-induced increase in maximal SV due to increase in preload and a decrease in afterload.Preload increased because end diastolic ventricular volume and associated increase in plasma volume. Afterload decreased because decrease in arteriolar constriction in trained muscles increases maximal muscle blood flow but no change in mean arterial BP. in young, sedentary ppl, 50% of increase in VO2 is bc of increase in systemic a-VO2 dif (due to increase in capillary density). Decrease in VO2 max when you stop training because decrease in max SV and decrease in oxygen extraction. 277-28 0 net cost of walking is ? of net cost running use pace maker test for kids field test for CRF use walking, running, stepping. Can test many ppl at low cost. Hard to measure response for some, and motivation can be a variable. VO2 max estimates from all-out run tests are based on the linear relationship b/w running speed and oxygen cost of running.VO2 max estimated in endurance test is influences by CV function and % body fat. Canadian home fitness test: submaximal, uses lowest two 8-inch steps in a staircase. Evaluates cardiorespiratory fitness using post-exercise HR. 1 mile walk test: VO2 based on age, weight, sex, time, HR improved fitness: lower HR and/or time and higher VO2 max cardiorespiratory fitness measured using: treadmill, cycle ergometer, stepping bench measured by: palpation (carotid/radial artery), stethoscope (systolic- 1st korotkoff sound, diastolic- 4th sound), ECG ncreased metabolic demand on heart estimated by: double product= HR x systolic BP -double product is estimate of myocardia O2 demand arrhythmia- irregularity in normal electrical rhythm: atrial fibrillation, premature contractions conduction disturbances- depolarization is slowed/blocked (first-degree AV block or bundle branch block) myocardial ischemia- inadequate perfusion of the myocardiumflow limitation= O2 insufficiency (angina pectoris- symptom)(ST segment depression-sign upsloping, horizontal, downsloping—downsloping is worst) teady state:HR measured over 15-30 seconds post exercise HR: measured for 10 seconds within first 15 seconds of stopping exercise, then multiple the # by 6 HR and systolic BP increase with exercise intensity * Typical measurements obtained during a graded exercise test include heart rate, blood pressure, ECG, and rating of perceived exertion. * Specific signs (e. g. , fall in systolic pressure with an increase in work rate) and symptoms (e. g. , dizziness) are used to stop GXT. VO2 max: â€Å"gold standard† to measure CRF VO2 increases wi th increasing loads on a GXT until max capacity reached- VO2 estimated based on final work rate achieved in graded exercise test- can also be estimated from HR responses to submaximal exercise using age, also consider environmental factors.Estimation of VO2 max from last work rate: Poorly fit individuals take longer to achieve the steady state at moderate/heavy work rates may overestimate the VO2 max when using formula Estimation of VO2 max from submaximal HR response: HR plotted against work rate (or estimated VO2) until termination criterion of 70%- 85% of age-adjusted maximal HR reached (220-age). careful of environmental factors- dehydration, temp, emotions, medication * VO2 max Estimation of VO2 max from Last Work Rate Estimation of VO2 max from Submaximal HR Response CRITERIA FOR ACHIEVING VO2 MAX: * Leveling off of VO2 with higher work rate <150 ml†¢min–1 or <2. 1 ml†¢kg–1†¢min–1 * Post-exercise blood lactate >8 mmoles†¢L†“1 * R >1. 15 * HR within 10 beats†¢min–1 of age-predicted maximal HR * Usefulness has been questioned * Should not expect subjects to meet all criteria * Graded Exercise Test: Protocols Treadmill Cycle Ergometer Step Test * Graded Exercise Tests: MeasurementsHeart Rate Blood Pressure ECG Rating of Perceived Exertion Termination Criteria Treadmill- don’t have to adjust for body weight in calculation because subject is carrying their own weight ( so VO2 is proportional to weight). Health or cardiac risk inventory—PAR-Q (physical activity readiness questionnaire) – heart condition, pain in chest when doing physical activity, lose balance/dizziness/lose consciousness, bone/joint probs, drugs/meds for BP or heart condition * Estimating VO2 max * Based on extrapolating submaximal HR during incremental test * YMCA protocol

Islamic Finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Islamic Finance - Essay Example The paper tells that despite the upheavals and mayhem that exists between the Islamic world and the United Kingdom, as peculiar as it may seem, it is wise to say that Islamic banking and finance has found its way in the United Kingdom. Islamic finance is the basis of Islamic banking system. Laying its foundation on the rules and principles of Sharia, commonly known as the Islamic law, this offers Islamic finance its very unique and competent features. As much as Islamic Banking has its challenge and opportunity, many western bankers have sort to involve themselves in this growing business. Their guiding principles and rules state that Allah owns everything in this world and that man has only been rendered permission to use it. In the United Kingdom, London has emerged itself to be the core ad centre of Islamic banking. In the United Kingdom, a decade ago, the business was perceived to be in its infancy this being the reason as to why its extent is limited. A decade later, Islamic ban king and finance has prevailed in the United Kingdom due to its unique characteristics. One of the most distinct characteristics that have made Islamic banking and finance business to grow is the fact that Islamic banking does not offer interests, which is commonly referred to as riba in the Islamic world. The reward for money deposited as perceived is done by not charging or paying interest. As a way of curbing the loss and profits occurred, Islamic banking use the technique of sharing both the profit and loss occurred. This is commonly known as mudarabhah, which in lay man’s term means profit sharing. In cases that involve mortgage buying, the bank itself buys the mortgage from the seller then giving it to the buyer making profits thus allowing the buyer to pay the money in installments. The mortgage is registered under the buyers name from the start to avoid any suspicions. This kind of arrangement is known as Murabah. The entrepreneur feature of the Islamic banking and f inance is another characteristic that has made this type of banking to stand out. Putting its focus not only on financial expansion but on also physical expansion of economic services and production, this has made many western bankers to use the Islamic banking and finance services. Trade financing and equity financing have led the way for the Islamic banks. No wonder the growing trend of people enjoying their banking services. The United Kingdom being one of the worlds’ most sophisticated and complicated banking and financial systems, this has helped the Islamic banking and finance to prevail. The main reason as to why Islamic banking and finance has prevailed more in London than in any other cities of the world is due to the fact that London is much closer to Middle East than any other cities. In fact, London is estimated to have hosted the world’s largest Islam’s in all the cities of the world (Anwar, 1995). In the center of London, the Arab community is rank ed among the most affluent Arabs in the world. To add on to that, Arabs restaurants and hotels exists in London center to cater for the Arabs that visit the city every now and then. There has been an increasing number of doctors, engineers, and students in the United Kingdom. London emerges to be the leading market in the world for foreign currency exchange, dollar being the popular currency trade. In the recent years, the retail level banking in the United Kingdom has gone down. This is due to the introduction of the Banking Act of 1987, which allowed external banking to exist. The big four banking players dominance namely Barclays, Lloyd, NatWest and the Midland bank, the latter being the only one that has managed to secure its market share. Evolving from a small niche bank in the Middle East in the last four decades, Islamic Banking and finance have grown in to a dynamic, profitable, and resilient competitor to all major banks in the United Kingdom. By the end of 2008, Islamic ba nks are estimated to be over $850 billion and

Quantitive methods Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Quantitive methods - Assignment Example We shall first conduct an informal graphical analysis to get a feel for what to expect and then move on to formal tests for stationarity. We start by looking at the time plots of the two given series. Figure 2: share price of Korean Airlines Figures 1 and 2 present the time plots. Evidently, both series exhibit a gradually rising trend and some moderate persistence properties. This reflects that neither of the series are stationary. They also seem to reflect similar patterns of persistent volatility. Now, we turn to look at the first differences of the two series. Figure 3: The Korean Stock Exchange stock price index in first differences Figure 4: price of Korean Airlines in first differences. From figures 3 and 4, we find that neither series exhibits any patterns or trends. They seem to fluctuate randomly around zero. Thus, both the series of 1st differences seem to be stationary around a zero mean. Thus our preliminary graphical analysis reflects that both the series are integrated of the first order. Formally to evaluate the validity of these claims, we run Augmented Dickey Fuller (ADF) tests on the levels and the 1st differences of the two series. ... Augmented Dickey-Fuller Test Equation Dependent Variable: D(LKO) Method: Least Squares Date: 04/09/12 Time: 13:53 Sample (adjusted): 1/08/1997 12/14/2011 Included observations: 780 after adjustments Coefficient Std. Error t-Statistic Prob.  Ã‚   LKO(-1) -0.003394 0.003258 -1.041768 0.2978 C 0.024682 0.022454 1.099231 0.2720 R-squared 0.001393   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mean dependent var 0.001348 Adjusted R-squared 0.000109   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  S.D. dependent var 0.044155 S.E. of regression 0.044152   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Akaike info criterion -3.399783 Sum squared resid 1.516653   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Schwarz criterion -3.387836 Log likelihood 1327.915   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hannan-Quinn criter. -3.395188 F-statistic 1.085281   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Durbin-Watson stat 2.039111 Prob(F-statistic) 0.297843 Table 1 above presents the results of running an ADF test on the lko series. The choice of optimal lag is automatic based on the Schwarz information criterion or SIC. Note that the null hypothesis is that the series has a uni t root. The relevant portions have been highlighted for convenience. The t-statistic is smaller in absolute terms compared to the critical value, and the associated p-value is 0.74>0.05. Therefore, we fail to reject the null hypothesis. Thus, this implies that the series of levels of the lko is non-stationary. Now, we take first differences of the series and test its stationarity properties. This is done in table 2. Table 2: testing stationarity of the 1st differences of lko Null Hypothesis: D(LKO) has a unit root Exogenous: Constant Lag Length: 0 (Automatic based on SIC, MAXLAG=20) t-Statistic   Ã‚  Prob.* Augmented Dickey-Fuller test statistic -28.52751   0.0000 Test critical values: 1% level -3.438518 5% level -2.865035 10% level -2.568686 *MacKinnon (1996) one-sided p-values. Augmented Dickey-Fuller Test Equation Dependent

Emergency Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 5

Emergency Management - Assignment Example In contrast, MEPP seeks to improve emergency management capabilities by focusing on already trained personnel. In other words, MEPP is an advancement of emergency management exercises. Hit by significant budget cuts, FEMA could eliminate MEPP and make an integral part of the Independent Study Courses. The idea is to eliminate it as a standalone program but provide for its accommodation in Independent Study Courses. Eliminating Independent Study Courses is not an option because doing so would jeopardize national preparedness goal. Persons with emergency management responsibilities and the public at large need the Independent Study Courses (Jenkins, 2011). Eliminating this important program would create a void in management of emergencies in the public context. Given that MEPP is an advancement program, FEMA should eliminate it because the Independent Study Courses could still provide for advancement opportunities as far as the program is concerned. The social and economic benefits of Independent Study Courses outweigh the improvements covered in the MEPP

Change Management Ass 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Change Management Ass 2 - Essay Example This has resulted in a multi-racial and multi-cultural workplace. Moreover the mergers and acquisitions have caused diverse organizational cultures to come together resulting in a clash of cultures. Bolman and Deal state that "managers regularly face an unending barrage of puzzles or "messes." To act without creating more trouble, they must first establish an accurate picture of what is happening. Then they must proceed to a deeper level, asking, "What is really going on here?" This important step in reading a situation is often overlooked. As a result, managers may form superficial analyses and leap on solutions nearest at hand or most in vogue. Market share declining? Try strategic planning. Customer complaints? Put in a quality program. Profits down? Time to reengineer or downsize† (Bolman & Deal 33). Taking hasty decisions in the name of adaptability and dynamism through superficial analysis can cause negative consequences especially in the long run. This paper reviews orga nizational change with reference to the multi-frame approach to organizational diagnosis. The consequences of superficial analysis will be done first. This will be followed by the multi-frame approach for understanding organizations. A contingency approach to change and the sociological matrix of organizational culture by Goffee and Jones will also be reviewed. a few examples of organizations with regard to the multi-frame approach will also be provided. Bolman and Deal argue that even apparently brilliant managers act in dumb ways in change management scenarios. They are of the view that such many of these problems are caused not because the managers are stupid or inexperienced, but due to other (mostly personal) factors. This attitude is referred to as the ‘self-destructive intelligence syndrome’. Referring Feinberg and Tarrant who coined the phrase, the authors state that â€Å"people act stupid because of personality flaws – things like pride,

Mercantlism and capitalism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Mercantlism and capitalism - Essay Example on the assumption that individualism is good for fostering competition in the society where people further their skills to increase their competitiveness thus resulting in economic growth. However, mercantilism philosophy encourages monopoly where property is controlled by influential people who receive protection and support from the government through subsidies (Degen 13). Capitalism, therefore, gives individuals freedom as well as equal opportunities to create wealth in a free market. In this case, the philosophy gives the right to private property where an individual’s freedom to consume preferred encourages more production resulting in more wealth for the nation. Nonetheless, mercantilists propose restrictions and regulations on private ownership since it is a way individuals amass wealth for themselves at the expense of economic growth (Degen 14). Therefore, capitalism theory encourages private property ownership and advocate consumer spending and enjoying of life as a road to economic growth while mercantilism philosophy perceives individualism as extravagant and that consumers should stop spending to prevent the flow of wealth from the economy. Mercantilism was common during the colonization periods where the governments enacted laws and policies to regulate the economy for their benefits (Degen 16). They believed that mercantilism philosophy of accumulation wealth would increase net inflow into their nations. The best ways that the mercantilists ensured wealth accumulation included controlling their shipments, stopping importation of goods and services, and increasing tax on imports. The mercantilism philosophy was a disadvantage to the poor as the governments would grant monopoly charters where trade was concentrated within an easily controlled group with restrictions on participation in trade. British East India Company is among the international traders that benefited from the mercantilism or monopolistic economic activities (Degen 16). At this

Historical events of the US Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Historical events of the US - Essay Example The conventional Protestant spiritual groups set up religious bases in Asia and Africa, as well as over 450 missions in China by the year 1900.The 20th century started with the US entangled in a severe and bloody war. However, that war is no longer remembered, a war that cost millions of dollars, thousands of lives and displacement of millions. ThePhilippine-American War that was fought between1899 to 1902 resulted in approximately 265,000 human deaths. Thewarassistedthe US establish itself as a military powerhouse in the Pacific regions. While the European powers were engaging themselves in the First World War (WWI), the then president of the US Wilson Woodrow was apprehensive that Germany might take up Haiti and destabilize the pathway leading to the Panama Canal. In order to assert and protect its interest, Wilson sent a few hundred US Marines and Navy men to Haiti. In 1898 and 1899, The US took over Hawaii and obtained the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and some parts of the Pacific I slands. Theexpansionraisedthesignificantquery of if their recently annexed states would be given the American citizens civil rights. HavingwonboththeSpanish-American War and Philippines War symbolized both an addition to earlier expansionist desires and a quick departure from suppositions that had steered American foreign strategy before. Fortheveryfirsttime, the US made significant strategic dedications in the Far East; acquiring regions that had never been planned for statehood, and dedicated itself to law enforcement actions.

Strip Searches in Schools Essay Example for Free

Strip Searches in Schools Essay The Fourth Amendment is an essential part of the United States Constitution. It grants all United States citizens the right to not have illegal searches and seizures brought against them. With this being said, the most recent debate of the Fourth Amendment has occurred in the United States Public School Systems. Many kids and adults feel that students should have the same rights under the Constitution when attending school as they do when they are out. However, many school officials believe that to keep schools safe, it is essential to bend the rules a little bit. This paper will discuss the debate that is raging in schools, look at recent cases involving the Fourth Amendment and schools, and give my personal view on the Fourth Amendment in schools. The debate that is currently raging in public schools, is whether or not kids in public schools, can be strip searched or not. This has many parents up in arms, because they feel like this violates their children’s safety, as well as, their Fourth Amendment rights. The issue of the Fourth Amendment in schools was never really an issue, until the shooting at Columbine High School in April of 1999. This massacre really put an emphasis on security in schools. With this being said, many schools started to gear towards random locker searches and back pack searches. They never took it to the extreme of strip searches. However, with the recent school shooting at Virginia Tech and with the most recent massacre in Aurora, Colorado, many schools have stepped up their security even more. School officials are scared of having a massacre at their school. So by being over protective, they believe they can prevent one from happening. The debate has begun to surface and be more recognized because parents believe that strip searches are too far. When it comes to their children, most parents are very protective and do not want their children violated in any way. With this introduction of strip searches into public schools, many parents believe the schools, as well as, the school officials, have taken it too far and believe this is a direct violation of their children’s Fourth Amendment rights. However, as we have discussed in class, when a parent drops their child off at school, the school assumes parenting rights of the child for that amount of time. This idea is known as Parens Patriae, or â€Å"taking the role of the parent†. School officials argue that this idea gives them the right to search the kids as intrusively as needed, if they believe it will help protect other students and staff. People against this, such as Dennis D. Parker, say, â€Å"The disastrous effects of overly intrusive searches in schools are only underscored by the availability of alternatives, which are more effective in creating safe environments and encouraging participation and learning by all students in schools† (Parker, 2010). Some parents however, do not mind all of the searches. They believe that it is keeping their children safe at school and that strip searches only happen on rare occasions. Many people are not raising an uproar over back-packs or lockers being searched. They are only fighting against the strip searches. The idea that their children are being â€Å"violated† has them scared. This idea can also be attributed to the recent spike in awareness of child sex-offenders. The media coverage of child sex-offenders in schools, churches, and other places, has the public scared. Many parents do not want their children being molested or raped by a school official. When parents hear the word â€Å"strip† they automatically think the worst. They do not want their child to become a victim of something heinous, such as sexual abuse. This debate has grown fierce. It has sparked many court cases that challenge public schools and whether or not they violate children’s Fourth Amendment rights by conducting strip searches. The most recent and well known case in the media is, Safford Unified School District No. 1 v. Redding. This court case spread across the nation like wildfire and eventually made it to the Supreme Court for review. The facts of the case are that a young 13 year old girl named Savana Redding, was forced to strip down to her bra and underwear and pull both undergarments away from her body. The school officials forced Redding to do this in an attempt to find prescription-strength ibuprofen, which is against school rules to possess and is treated as an illegal drug. The officials strip searched Redding because another student had stated that Redding had this â€Å"drug†. The officials did not find any drugs within her locker or back-pack and stated that they believed Redding was hiding the drugs on her person. The officials believed this constituted a strip search, because the school had a zero-tolerance policy for any type of drugs or violence, and in an effort to protect their students they had Redding searched. Many parents were outraged by what happened to Savana Redding, because they believed it could happen to their children as well. Redding along with her mother and the ACLU sued the school officials for violating her Fourth Amendment rights. This case reached national attention and finally reached the Supreme Court. After reaching the Supreme Court, the two sides battled and Redding was the victor. According to Laura Jarrett, â€Å"In a decision written by Justice Souter,5 the majority applied the T. L. O. standard to hold that the strip search in Savana Redding’s case violated the Fourth Amendment because it was unreasonable in its scope† (Jarrett, 2010). This case however, did not set precedent. Schools are allowed to strip search children as long as it is within a reasonable scope. This means that if a child is suspected of having a weapon of some sort, he/she may be strip searched in order to find it. However, in Savana Redding’s case, a few simple pills of ibuprofen, did not satisfy the reasonableness of a strip search, and thus violated Redding’s Fourth Amendment rights. This case has opened many people’s eyes to how much power our school officials actually wield. This puts many parents in a tough spot, because they do not want their children to be harmed or taken advantage of by school officials, but they want their children to be safe at school. More cases will be brought to court that deal with the issue of the Fourth Amendment in schools. My reaction to all of this is one that is filled with mixed emotions. As a student in college and as someone that grew up through these changes in the school system, I have seen the first hand effects of these new zero-tolerance policies. I grew up a military kid and moved from school to school every year. I attended four high schools and each one had a different policy and a new set of rules to follow. The first high school I attended forced us to wear uniforms, to eliminate gangs within our school and promote a â€Å"community of learning†. My first high school had metal detectors at the front doors and every kid had to walk through them. We had six school police officers that closely monitored all of the students. This measure of security was not fun to go through every day. It was very intimidating and time consuming, because there was only so many metal detectors. I do not believe these metal detectors, or police officers, helped keep our school any safer than they would have been without them. All these devices did, was intimidate you when you walked into a so-called â€Å"learning environment†. According to Parker, â€Å"Recognition that not all disciplinary policies are fair or effective and a requirement that any policies be reasonable represent a necessary first step for students who have not fared well historically in the education system† (Parker, 2010). My first high school obviously had not recognized that. My first high school, almost seemed like a jail. We wore uniforms, walked through metal detectors, police constantly watched us in the halls. According to Jessica R. Feierman and Riya S. Shah, â€Å"Confinement to a detention center or other juvenile institution places children outside the view of their families, friends, and the public, and subjects them to what Kenneth Wooden has called a deliberate â€Å"politics of secrecy,† hiding the conditions in juvenile institutions from the public eye† (Feierman and Shah, 2012). I believe not only was my first high school like this, but I also believe that more and more schools are trying to turn into institutions that monitor kids, instead of teach them. Children respond to relationships, not to intimidation. Along with this, I am conflicted, because I know that there is a need to keep our children safe in school. The world has proven to be a dangerous place, filled with dangerous people. The massacres at Columbine, Virginia Tech, Aurora, and others have shown us that we need protection. But I do not believe we need strip searches in schools. According to Diana R. Donahoe, â€Å"Studies have found children who have been subject to a strip search can be greatly traumatized by the experience† (Donahoe, 2012). We have enough problems with teachers having sex with their students, and even some molesting their students. By inserting this power into our schools, this will open up more lawsuits and could even lead to people losing their jobs if something was done improperly. According to Nicole L. Bracy, â€Å"Over the past several decades, public schools in the United States have been increasingly transformed into high security environments, complete with surveillance technologies, security forces, and harsh punishments† (Bracy, 2012). We teach our kids that school is fun and a great place to learn. However, when they grow up and get to school, they realize that school is really a moderate form of prison or jail. In our madness to protect our children, we have really just imprisoned them and taken away from the learning environment. Our schools have become too powerful. With the continued addition of power to our schools, we will have no control over what they can and cannot do. The Fourth Amendment is a vital part of our Constitution and we must protect it, whether that be in everyday life or in schools. This paper has discussed the debate that is raging in schools, looked at recent cases involving the Fourth Amendment and schools, and has given my personal view on the Fourth Amendment in schools. Without the Fourth Amendment protecting us, we are subject to illegal searches and seizures. Students deserve to be protected and not subject to strip searches in school. This issue is far from over and must be brought to the attention of the public, so we can stop the schools from gaining anymore power.

Writing Proficiency Exam Essay Example for Free

Writing Proficiency Exam Essay Literature should be read and enjoyed by everyone because it provides enjoyment, knowledge, and an escape from reality for its readers. â€Å"Why Literature?† by Mario Vargas Llosa and â€Å"on Reading Trash† by Bob Swift describe how important literature is to society and the people who read it. Literature while it is artistic in a sense is also a form of entertainment for the people who read it. Literature can show us a world of magic and wizards or tell a tale of courage while hunting down a whale. Through great literature we can get a better understanding of the world around us and discover a world that could never have been imagined. As technology advances the enjoyment of reading literature gets lost in the fast paced modern culture. In Spain, a recent survey revealed that half of that country’s population has never read a book (Llosa, 1). However, if people can read a book they enjoy they will be able to discover their niche in the world of literature. According to Swift, if you get kids interested in reading books they will eventually go on to the grander literature all by themselves (Swift, 1). By reading â€Å"popular† fiction such as Nancy Drew and Conan the Barbarian, children will grow into reading â€Å"classic† literature when they find enjoyment in reading. In addition to being amusing to the readers, literature also stimulates our minds by imparting knowledge and inspiring readers. Nothing teaches us better than literature to see, in ethnic and cultural differences, the richness of the human patrimony, and to prize those differences as a manifestation of humanity’s multifaceted creativity (Llosa, 2). Situations that people don’t normally happen to them can be described through literature. Furthermore, by reading about these diverse cultural differences readers can gain knowledge of cultures and situations that they have not experienced. The National Endowment for the Humanities says that every high school graduate should have read 30 great works of literature, including the Bible, Shakespeare, and Moby Dick (Swift, 1). These notable works of literature illustrate the various unknown cultures and environments that are unfamiliar to the readers so that the reader can acquire an understanding about the unknown literary environment. Lastly, as readers discover their favorite type of literature they become immersed in a world beyond their imagination. When we close the book and abandon literary fiction, we return to actual existence and compare it to the splendid land that we have just left (Llosa, 3). After reading a great novel, we realize that the reality that we return to is a disappointment compared to the fantasized world inside the novel. Swift also discovered a world inside of novels. Swift writes about his experiences of â€Å"swinging through jungles with Tarzan, fighting Martians with John Carter, and exploring Pellucidar at the Earth’s core.† As readers uncover the countless tales in novels, they can experience these fantastic adventures. In conclusion, the two writers believe people should read anything that interests them, regardless of genre. By allowing people to read what they want, people will enjoy reading and the amount of people who read will increase. Literature also gives the reader an escape from reality and imparts knowledge on them that they would not normally come across. Therefore, as readers discover their interest in the literary world, people will gravitate towards literature as a form of entertainment, as opposed to television or the Internet.

Communication Is Important In Nursing And Nursing Process Nursing Essay

Communication Is Important In Nursing And Nursing Process Nursing Essay This essay will look at the importance of communication in nursing. To begin, the essay will consider the use of communication in nursing in the general context. The latter section will go on to reflect on the application of communication in practice in relation to conversation and basic psychotherapeutic support within the dementia care environment. Introduction Communicating is a fundamental skill in nursing. It governs every task a nurse undertakes from the point of admission to the point of discharge. There are a number of levels from simple phatic exchanges used to initiate conversation, extending to complex counselling techniques. Effective use of communication has been shown to benefit the nurse-patient relationship, contributing to overall well-being and accelerating the process of treatment. It is therefore an essential aspect of the nursing process. In some cases, it can even mean the difference between life and death. Good communication is often regarded as a delicate and complex art, requiring a good understanding of the interplay between numerous factors. This essay intends to provide a definition and to highlight a number of important professional, ethical, legal and moral responsibilities of the nurse in relation to communication (Sheldon, 2005). Discussion There are numerous definitions for communication. Potter and Perry (2001 p.445) offer a definition for communication as a process in which people affect one another through the exchange of information, ideas, and feelings. Thus, it is about sending and receiving a message, both verbally and non-verbally, with a shared goal of conveying a mutual understanding. In general regard to the verbal domain, the process is often reciprocal in nature as both informant and referent change role, seek clarification and offer an acknowledgement of understanding throughout the exchange. It is imperative to be aware of the effect that body language and paralinguistic features have on communication. Thinking about body posture and implementing the principles of SOLER (identified by Egan (1982) cited in Burnard and Gill (2009)) is useful in nursing. A relaxed posture can help in the process of active listening, helping to convey an empathic response to the patient. Argyle (1994) points out that people are often unaware of their own non-verbal communication, whilst it is clearly visible to the receiver. Incongruence between what is being said verbally and what otherwise is perceived does not help in facilitating a positive relationship from a patients perspective. However, for a nurse who is trained to be sensitive to such cues (particularly in mental health settings), it can sometimes present useful information about a patients mental state and is a possible indicator of deterioration. The Fundamentals of Care (2003) document published by the Welsh Assembly Government highlights that communication should take place using appropriate language and in a sensitive manner. Care should be taken to communicate effectively with people who are mentally impaired. In all patient communication the use of medical jargon should be limited wherever possible. As the Department of Health Valuing People Now (DH 2007) points out, as cited in Baillie (2009), people with learning disabilities have a right to healthcare just as much as other people and it should be just as accessible. In essence, nurses have to be open, flexible and versatile in their approach. Stuart and Laraia (2005) cited in Riley (2008) suggest that communication facilitates the development of a therapeutic relationship. Nurses should adopt a suitable style of questioning, using open and closed questions appropriately depending on the situation. It is always important to convey a warm and accepting attitude that is objective and value free, taking into account the different cultural variations that exist. Nursing is increasingly recognised as a holistic and person-centred process, with so many aspects of a patients life regarded as important to the process of recovery that communication in itself forms a significant aspect of treatment. Caris-Verhallen et al. (1999), cited in Crawford et al (2006), imply that communication promotes an increased level of self-esteem and reduces stress. These benefits also promote staff wellbeing. In addition, Watkins (2002) mentions the usage of self-disclosure as a factor that helps develop therapeutic relationships with patients, parti cularly within mental health settings. Teamwork is a factor too which relies heavily on good communication. Nurses are surrounded by different types of health care professionals and as Peate (2006) acknowledges, interdisciplinary communication can be difficult. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (2008) Code of Conduct states that, as a nurse you must work cooperatively within teams and respect the skills, expertise and contributions of your colleagues. It is often the nurse that acts as an intermediary between the patient and another healthcare professional, disseminating information and explaining it in terms suitably appropriate to the understanding of the patient. Poor communication creates barriers which can often lead to patients feeling alienated and making complaints as well as often being a significant factor in cases of malpractice, neglect and negligence. Within many clinical settings, a lack of time presents difficulties in utilising effective communication. Nurses often have to take opportunities to build rapport using synchronous communication whilst carrying out other tasks and duties. As Crawford et al. (2006) point out, healthcare professionals are increasingly task driven and laden with administration which prevents them from spending time talking with patients using the ideal but time consuming counselling type communication. Therefore, in modern healthcare settings, they suggest a newer model is used that encompasses Brief, Ordinary and Effective (BOE) communication Crawford et al. (2006). With regard to written communication, the NMC Code of Conduct (2008) highlights that nurses are expected to ensure that accurate and up to date records are maintained, with clear information about when the entry was made together with a signature of the person making the entry. Not only is this therapeutically useful, it is also an essential legal requirement and offers evidence that treatment has been carried out. Finally, Baillie (2009) explains that the telephone also forms an important, often overlooked mode of communication. As with all clinical work, it is essential for nurses to maintain professional etiquette and confidentiality, as well as acknowledge their level of competence to the caller and ensure that the call is documented where necessary (Baillie, 2009) Conclusion Communication has been demonstrated to have an important positive influence on treatment outcome. Nurses as a collective group represent a substantial aspect of all clinical health care professionals. They probably spend the most amount of time with a patient. As such, there is an enormous capacity for influence on treatment. It is therefore clear why there is a need for significant emphasis on this matter in nurse pre-registration programmes. Encouraging future and present generations of nurses to communicate more effectively could have a significant influence on increasing patient satisfaction and recovery time. It is therefore suggested that promoting effective communication has potential cost saving implications for local healthcare authorities too. This is important given the enormous strain that the NHS is under in the current economic climate. From a wider perspective, it could be speculated that effective communication indirectly has some bearing on aspects of future health a nd social policy. Reflection: Communication in The Dementia Care Context This next section looks reflects on communication within a dementia care setting and utilizes a Reflective Cycle model (appendix 1) adapted from Gibbs et al (1988) as cited in Bulman and Schutz (2008). The model begins by using a description about what has happened and then encourages the person whom is reflecting to acknowledge their feelings about the situation/event. From this, the evaluation phase encourages the reflector to make value judgements and to say what was good or bad about the experience. Next, an analysis can be made about the situation and this should hopefully generate ideas and themes about the situation. Through doing so, conclusions can be drawn both in the general sense and in terms of the reflectors specific personal experience. The final part of the reflection process with this model is the personal action plans stage whereby the reflector can suggest different, perhaps better ways of doing things in a similar future situation. Description The placement was a dementia care ward which was all-female bedded with people who were at various stages in terms of the development of their dementia condition. The majority of the patients were still relatively active in a physical sense and often quite talkative. I spent a significant amount of time sitting with various patients in the dayroom, often for observation reasons to help ensure their safety. This enabled frequent opportunity to talk to the patients and also to gain some insight into the nature of how dementia can affect people. There was one patient that particularly concerned me. In the interests of preserving confidentiality I will change her name and refer to her as Abigale. Although this reflection is predominantly focused on my interaction with Abigale, much of what I mention is relevant to the patient population at large in respect of dementia care. Abigale was an elderly lady, perhaps in her early 70s, who used to be a school teacher during her working years. Her condition was such that she was often quite talkative although the conversation was very much disjointed. She conveyed a range of emotions and often talked to me as if I resembled a particular character in her former life. Sometimes she spoke in a manner that suggested that she was seemingly happy about something and then for no apparent reason, she would become very upset and tearful. This happened on a frequent basis, with her emotions appearing to cycle between positive and negative affect in relatively short periods of time. Feelings Throughout the time I spent talking with Abigale, I always tried to talk warmly to her and convey an accepting attitude along with empathy, interest and compassion, reflecting the core principles of Rogers client centred therapy. I was aware that my non-verbal communication was very important both to her and other patients. Within the dementia care setting, non-verbal communication is often even more important because it is often relied to a great extent. I always tried to portray openness in my body language, using the SOLER principles acronym outlined by Egan (1994), (see appendix 2). I found that she often used the mode of touch to communicate when sitting and/or talking with people and I attempted to replicate this in a similar, acceptable manner. I found this to be very effective which did surprise me. With a younger generation, touch tends to be a form of communication that I tend to perceive as not working very well for me. This maybe because I just havent utilised this method very much outside of friendship and family settings. I enjoyed spending time talking with Abigale. I particularly liked the way she continued to speak with a degree of authority that would perhaps be commensurate with her former role as a teacher. Even though her conversation was markedly unfocused and incongruent, she spoke in a very articulate manner. When I was able to answer her with a response she appeared to find satisfactory, it felt quite rewarding and it was good to see when she appeared to be happy. Sometimes she acted as if I resembled various people from her life. It was difficult to know whether to simply accept these non-sequiturs and go along with them, or correct her and risk upsetting her. Unfortunately, there were also times when I could not give her a response that she needed. I occasionally found it difficult to determine what she was actually talking about and I didnt want to respond with something that wasnt relevant. Despite my best efforts, it was difficult to seek clarification from her as she would often move on to some other topic. I also found it emotionally challenging at the times where she was upset for no apparent reason and I would have liked to have been able to offer more support. Sometimes, I have observed staff using diversion techniques to help distract patients from distressing situations. I have tried to use these occasionally. However, I tend to be a little uncomfortable doing this and I would rather be able to help somehow by having a greater understanding of the person and addressing their questions and concerns more directly. Finally, not having access to the computerised notes system (PARIS) was very frustrating as it meant that I only had information passed verbally from staff. Evaluation Whilst communicating with Abigale and indeed, other patients within the setting, I tried to maximise my listening capacity by blocking out noises that were external to interactions. However, because I felt I had a duty to the other patients, blocking all noises was impracticable. The dayroom tended to be a difficult place to have a conversation. The television appeared to be more or less continually switched on, and there were often domestic staff performing various cleaning duties. The ambient noise levels tended to be quite high and somewhat distracting both for myself and no doubt, the patients. Access to PARIS would have allowed me to gain a greater awareness about the patient as I would have been able to read comments and assessments made by the whole multidisciplinary team. Analysis Good communication forms an intrinsic part of the nursing process and is part of many nursing models. Roper et al. (1996) as cited in Peate (2006) list it as an aspect of daily living. Unfortunately, people who suffer with dementia experience a number of cognitive difficulties according to Mace (2005) as cited in Adams (2008) (see appendix 3) which make communication very difficult. The associated pathological diseases and consequences of aging also exacerbate these difficulties making effective communication even more problematic (Adams, 2008). The role of communication is therefore especially important for dementia patients as they are likely to have difficulties with interpretation of messages (Kitwood, 1997 as cited in Adams (2008)). Indeed, I often found that what Abigale said and how she acted on the responses that I gave was often incongruent suggesting there was a problem with interpretation. However, when I attempted to seek clarification, it was very difficult or indeed imp ossible. According to Cheston and Bender (2003), dementia care can be improved by beingpsychotherapeutic and using every interaction as an potential opportunity to help and support them. The humanistic and Rogerian aspect of empathic listening is particularly important and provides clues about embedded emotional messages according to Cheston and Bender (2003). However, they go on to suggest that in order to be psychotherapeutic in an approach requires a good understanding of a persons life history. Unfortunately, the short term nature of the placement meant that I was likely to remain relatively naive in terms of understanding her history and condition to any useful extent, so being truly psychotherapeutic in my actions was difficult. Nevertheless, I attempted to provide a contribution to the nursing process. I found that some of the communication strategies that nurses are encouraged to use in many settings need to be changed when consideration is given to the dementia care environment. Watkins (2001) suggests that clients respond better when nurses ask open questions. However, for dementia patients, asking open questions would appear to have a tendency to induce cognitive overload. As such, the Alzeimers Society Advice Sheet (2000) recommends that carers should ask short questions, one at a time which require only short answers. The Alzheimers Society (2000) also highlight the need to try and see the person behind the illness: Interests, likes and dislikes, hopes and fears, early life, places they have lived and visited, working life, people they love/have loved, friendships and personality. I did try to find out from Abigale aspects of her former life but in truth, I had very little understanding about these factors. Abigale tended not to respond directly to questions but rather hinted certain aspects on an adhoc basis. Therefore, hypothetically, if I was a named nurse for Abigale in the future, it would perhaps be useful to speak to her close family to gain some insight and as well as potential stimulus for conversations. Perhaps a reminiscence box containing various items such as photographs and objects would be useful in terms of triggering memories and developing conversations. I think it is important to acknowledge that it would have been better to take Abigale to somewhere quieter when she was upset. This would have been more conducive to conversation as well as offering some level privacy for Abigale. However, in the reality of the situation, there were limited places that were actually available on the ward. In addition, it was likely there were other patients that were also episodically distressed that made it difficult to devote full time to Abigale. The other patients tended to demonstrate similar emotions which coincided with the majority; hence there were good and bad days in terms of patient behaviours. Overall, I feel that on balance I offered a good level of support for Abigale. At times, I believe that I could have offered her more in terms of conversation if I had a better level of knowledge about her background. Indeed, sometimes I felt that I lacked the relevant stimulus to have a lengthy conversation. Despite it being my first placement, there were times where I would have liked to have had the knowledge to use certain basic level therapeutic approaches that are applicable to patients whom suffer from dementia. My mentor also mentioned an interest in validation therapy and I am aware too of the existence of other forms of therapy such as pre-therapy, reminenscence therapy, resolution therapy and the person-focused approach. However, I can clearly appreciate that as a 1st year nursing student, to gain such knowledge is totally impracticable, as well as potentially unethical and unprofessional if actually used without proper registered status. Indeed, under the NMC Code of Cond uct (2008) I must recognise and practice within the limits of competency. As such, in order to be in a position to use many therapeutic techniques effectively, I would need significant further training and/or further professional accreditation. Conclusion (General) Communication with patients who have dementia is an extremely difficult and complex process. It is absolutely essential that nurses practice effective communication to help maintain the quality of life of the patients in their care. In practice, it is very difficult to ensure that psychotherapeutic support is well provided, particularly as psychological needs are more subtle and discrete. It could be argued that relatively low levels of staff and the often high levels of physical interventions often found within dementia settings means that the provision for effective communication regarding psychological care presents a significant challenge. I think the psychotherapeutic aspect of care is a important issue, particularly with the number of cases of dementia predicted to rise to almost 1 million in the UK by 2020 (according to Alzeimers Disease International, 1999, cited by Burgess, 2003). Conclusion (Specific) Overall, I feel quite positive about my experience on placement and about the use of communication. I believe that I worked to the best of my ability. Abigale and many other patients appeared to be quite advanced in terms of their dementia condition. This proved to be quite a challenge. I would like to have had more awareness about Abigales history. I can now more readily appreciate the importance of family and friends, not only in terms of direct contribution to care but also the indirect contributions that they make through providing information about the patient. Early recognition of emotional distress helps with the nursing process. It could have made it more feasible for me to talk to Abigale to provide reassurance and limit the likelyhood of her becoming upset, therefore preserving her dignity. I have gained a great deal of insight into dementia care both through the placement experience and through the process of reflection. In retrospect, I would like to have been able to offer more in terms of psychological support and this provides some insight into the psychotherapeutic aspect of care for future placements. Action Plan In future, I would like to have acquired a higher level of therapeutic skills to enhance my ability to communicate with people who have dementia. The predicted rise in dementia cases as previously mentioned means there is a greater likely hood of coming into contact and providing nursing care for a patient who has dementia. I think it would therefore be useful to develop a greater awareness into the condition, especially from a psychological perspective. I also hope to have training and therefore approved access to PARIS computerised notes system. References Adams T (2008) Dementia Care Nursing: Promoting Well-Being in People with Dementia and Their Families. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan Alzeimers Society (2010) Factsheet 500: Communicating. Alzeimers Society: London. http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/factsheet/500 Accessed: 30.06.10 Argyle M (1994) The Psychology of Interpersonal Behaviour (5th Edn). London: Penguin Books Baillie L (2009) Developing Practical Adult Nursing Skills (3rd Edn). London: Hodder Arnold. Bullman C Schutz S (2008) Reflective Practice in Nursing (4th Edition). Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. Burgess L (2003) Changing attitudes in dementia care and the role of nurses. Nursing Times, 99 (38) 18. http://www.nursingtimes.net/nursing-practice-clinical-research/changing-attitudes-in-dementia-care-and-the-role-of-nurses/205196.article Accessed: 30.06.10 Burnard P Gill P (2009) Culture, Communication and Nursing. Essex: Pearson Education Limited. Cheston R Bender M (2003) Understanding Dementia: The Man with the Worried Eyes. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Crawford P Brown B Bonham P (2006) Foundations in Nursing and Health Care: Communication in Clinical Settings. Cheltenham: Nelson Thorns Ltd. Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) (2008) The Code: Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics for Nurses and Midwifes. NMC, London http://www.nmc-uk.org/aDisplayDocument.aspx?documentID=5982 Accessed: 12.04.2010 Peate I (2006) Becoming a Nurse in the 21st Century. West Sussex: Wiley. Potters P A Perry A G (2001) Fundamentals of Nursing (5th Edn). St Louis: Mosby. Riley J B (2008) Communication in Nursing (6th Edn). United States of America: Mosby. Sheldon L K (2005) Communication for Nurses: Talking With Patients. Massachusetts: Jones and Bartlett Publishers Watkins P (2002) Mental Health Nursing: The Art of Compassionate Care. Edinburgh: Butterworth-Heinemann. Welsh Assembly Government (2003) Fundamentals of Care: Guidance for Health and Social Care Staff. Welsh Assembly Government: Cardiff. http://www.wales.nhs.uk/documents/booklet-e.pdf Accessed: 12.04.2010 Bibliography Ellis R B Gates B Kenworthy N (2003) Interpersonal Communication in Nursing: Theory and Practice (2nd Edn). Churchill Livingstone: London. Hamilton S J Martin D J (2007) Clinical Development: A framework for effective communication skill. Nursing Times, 103: 48, 30-31. Appendix 1 The Reflective Cycle (adapted from Gibbs et al.1988) cited in Bulman and Schutz, (2008). Appendix 2 Egans SOLAR Principles (Egan, 1994) as cited in Crawford et al. (2006) S Face people Squarely O Maintain an Open shape to the body L Lean forward slightly E Use appropriate Eye contact R Relax

Galileo Essay -- essays research papers

Galileo   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the early seventeenth century, Galileo Galilei began the construction of a device that would transform the scientific world. Galileo did not invent the telescope but his improvements on it made him the most scientifically successful user of this instrument in his time. However, Galileo would not stop at scientific discovery. The father of three successfully marketed the improved instrument to the Senate of Venice and the Grand Duke Cosimo II of Tuscany in hopes of possibly furthering his career. In the telescope’s transitional form, Galileo is able to obtain a salary raise and a permanent position at the University of Padua but he is disappointed with this offer and continues to make improvements on the telescope. He realizes that his ties to Cosimo’s court, he taught the Grand Duke when he was younger, could be used to his advantage. The medium for his objective was The Sidereal Messenger. This treatise gives a direct dedication to Cosimo and his court with the hope that he will gain its favor and â€Å"patronage from the ruler of his native land.† It is also the medium through which he conveys his advocacy of the Copernican system, particularly using his telescopically enhanced observations of the moon’s irregular surface and Jupiter’s moons.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Galileo saw the opportunity to gain a great deal from his telescope from the beginning of its conception. The senate of Venice offered him an increase in salary and a permanent appointment at the University based on Galileo’s first improvement which only magnified objects by ten times . He realized that the telescope could improve his financial situation but he was smart enough to not settle for his first offer. He quickly wrote to the Tuscan court about his discoveries. When Galileo heard that the Grand Duke Cosimo and his three brothers were astonished by his almost supernatural intelligence, he realized that he could use this to his advantage. The brilliant Florentine patrician had ties to Cosimo’s court because he tutored him in math as a child. The courts were also very interested in these dazzling things and wanted them for military purposes . Cosimo’s court did not stray from this generalization and Galileo knew it. It can also be theor ized that this position was much desired and after he attained the posi... ...e fixed stars would have to be at a very large distance from Saturn, the outermost planet of this time, therefore separating the planets from the fixed stars. This supported the Copernican theory. He then goes on to his observations of the moons of Jupiter. In short, he makes almost nightly observations of four heavenly bodies around Jupiter with his telescope and reports that he has found four stars, or Medician planets as he calls them, that travel around Jupiter. This suggests that the Earth is not the only center of motion in the universe and further advocates the Copernican system.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Galileo successfully arranges his observations of the heavenly bodies through a magnifying instrument into an incentive for patronage and a promotion of a revolutionary universal system. He gains the patronage of his former student by dedicating to him his revolutionary work on astronomy while also suggesting that the present universal system is wrong and he can prove it. Although the telescope helped him to observe objects with greater detail than other scientists of his time, it cannot be forgotten that Galileo had a mysterious ability as an observer and scholar.

Neural Vision System :: Essays Papers

Neural Vision System Researchers at the University of Houston in Texas have developed a neural vision system that allows a robot to adapt to a changing world. The machine is designed to explore, experience (for better or worse) and then make future decisions based on that experience: typical behavior for any neural device. What is unusual is its ability to "learn new tricks" if the rules it learned through experience no longer apply. In both simulated and hardware experiments, the robot was shown to be able to identify objects correctly, even if the value associated with them changed over time. Neural networks are computing devices based on the way our own brains work. They consist of many, usually simple, processing elements that are wired together in parallel. Unlike conventional computers, which are based on algorithms or rules to be followed in order to produce a result, neural networks act as adaptive filters. They are trained by feeding them inputs and the correct "answers" to those inputs. This information changes the way the network is connected so that the next similar input can produce a similar correct output. One of the issues that neural network designers have been struggling with over the years is how to structure the neural network without prejudging the situations that it is going to encounter. Other methods of creating artificial intelligence, such as building in so-called behaviors or creating expert systems, have the disadvantage of generally requiring some knowledge about the world before they start. In behavioral robots (those that have an automatic, preprogrammed response to stimuli from the outside world), that knowledge can be hard wired, whereas, in the expert system case, the knowledge is contained in the software. Engineers Ramkrishna Prakash and Haluk Ãâ€"gmen wanted, instead, for their robot to be able to learn on the fly the way people do, adapting as circumstances changed. The solution they came up with is the neural-network architecture, called frontal. Basically, the network allows a robot (in this case a robot arm with video cameras for eyes) to identify new objects and decide whether to pick them up, and learn from its previous good and bad decisions. The first part of the system (labeled spatial novelty) is an array of so-called gated dipoles, each of which addresses a different area in the robot's field of view. The gated dipoles basically performs a comparison between the incoming information about that point in space and what it was like previously.

The Return: Shadow Souls Chapter 26

â€Å"We have to keep our minds on saving Stefan,† Elena was saying in the room Damon had taken over for his own, the old library in Lady Ulma's mansion. â€Å"Where else would my mind be?† Damon said, never taking his eyes off her neck with its ornaments of mother-of-pearl and diamonds. Somehow the milk-white dress served to emphasize the slim soft column of Elena's throat, and Elena knew it. She sighed. â€Å"If we thought you really meant it, then we could all just relax.† â€Å"You mean be as relaxed as you are?† Elena gave herself an inner shake. Damon might seem to be completely absorbed with one thing and one thing only, but his sense of self-preservation made sure that he was constantly on guard, and seeing not just what he wanted to see but everything that was around him. And it was true that Elena was almost unbearably excited. Let the others think it was about her marvelous dress – and it was a marvelous dress, and Elena was profoundly grateful to Lady Ulma and her helpers for getting it done in time. What Elena was really excited about, though, was the chance – no, the certainty, she told herself firmly – that tonight she was going to find half of the key that would allow them to free Stefan. The thought of his face, of seeing him in the flesh was†¦ Was terrifying. Thinking about what Bonnie had said when she was asleep, Elena reached out for comfort and understanding, and somehow found that instead of holding Damon's hand, she was in Damon's arms. The real question is: what will Stefan say about that night at the motel with Damon? What would Stefan say? What was there to say? â€Å"I'm frightened,† she heard, and a minute too late, recognized her own voice. â€Å"Well, don't think about it,† Damon said. â€Å"It'll only make things worse.† But I've lied, Elena thought. You don't even remember it, or you'd be lying, too. â€Å"Whatever happened, I promise I'll still be around for you,† Damon said softly. â€Å"You've got my word on that, anyway.† Elena could feel his breath against her hair. â€Å"And on keeping your mind on the key?† Yes, yes, but I haven't fed properly today. Elena started, then clasped Damon closer. For just an instant she'd felt, not merely a ravaging hunger, but a sharp pain that puzzled her. But now, before she could quite locate it in space, it was gone, and her connection to Damon had been abruptly cut off. Damon. â€Å"What?† Don't shut me out. â€Å"I'm not. I've just said all there is to say, that's all. You know I'll be looking for the key.† Thank you. Elena tried again. But you can't just starve – Who said I was starving? Now Damon's telepathic connection was back, but something was missing. He was deliberately holding something back, and concentrating on assaulting her senses with something else – hunger. Elena could feel it rampaging in him, as if he were a tiger or wolf that had gone for days – for weeks – without making a kill. The room did a slow spin around her. â€Å"It's†¦all right,† she whispered, amazed that Damon was able to stand and hold her at all, with his insides tearing at him that way. â€Å"Whatever†¦you need†¦take†¦Ã¢â‚¬  And then she felt the most gentle probing at her throat of razor-sharp teeth. She gave herself up to it, surrendering to the sensations. In preparation for the Silver Nightingale's gala, where they would be searching for the first half of the double fox key to release Stefan, Meredith had been reading some of the hard copy she'd stuffed into her bag, from the huge amount of information she had downloaded from the Internet. She had done her best to describe everything that she'd learned to Elena and the others. But how could she be sure that she hadn't missed some vital clue, some vastly important thread of information that would make all the difference tonight between success and failure? Between finding a way to save Stefan and coming home defeated, while he languished in prison. No, she thought, standing by a silvered mirror, almost afraid to look at the exotic beauty she had become. No, we can't even think of the word failure. For the sake of Stefan's life, we have to succeed. And we have to do it without getting caught.

Methods of Transportation

Roads are expensive pieces of infrastructure. While airlines has lowered the cost in their tickets and rented cars are cheaper. It is still more expensive than taking the bus to travel outside the city. The perks for taking the bus is convenience. You wont have to worry about driving for long periods of time. For instance, GO transit operates with fares that go from $6 to $10 dollars if you are going outside Toronto. Depending where you are going you might get a day-pass for just $12.All in all is the cheapest way to travel. Rail travel is one the most and green ways to get outside Toronto. Trains allow you to travel in safety and comfort. They pollute less and you won't have to worry about weather conditions. While sometimes they could be more expensive than taking the bus, it is an option to consider if the price for your destination it is the same. For example, GO transit offers really good prices. If you go to Saukville the price would be the same as taking the bus.The only real difference are the advantages of the train such as comfort, fatty, practical and environmental friendly. While renting a car to travel outside the city might be the most expensive way there is one thing people love about the idea, freedom. One thing to keep in mind is that renting a car give you the possibility to move around once you get to your destination. For instance, Enterprise Rent-A-Car gives you the option during the winter season to rent a car as low as $9. 99 per day from Friday to Monday.This is a option to consider if you plan to stay a few days out of town. While traveling by train or bus might be cheaper at end could be more expensive since you will have to spend money at the local transit. Renting a car might seems its disadvantages. The price compared to taking the bus or train. Drive for long periods of time. And you might have to pay for parking. But if think about it the option of going anywhere at anytime and you won't have access to local transit, renting a car is not as bad as it seems.

History of Management

Without any doubt, the question of work, roles and skills of a manager gets a mixed response. Some believe that these features are the shared by managers all over the world, while others maintain that there are significant differences in management of different countries that have given rise to such a notion and a process as the intercultural management. Which one of the above-stated arguments has an element of truth and could they be both regarded as authentic?First of all it cannot be denied that the science of management has a long history and perhaps all modern mangers employ principles and theories that have been introduced earlier. To start with, it was the Industrial Revolution that established big business and created the need for professional leaders. Furthermore, years of military and church rule added management models and terminology that are widely used today. Let us only recall Max Weber’s bureaucratic theory or that of Frederic Taylor who is commonly regarded th e Father of Scientific Management and proposed some ways of increasing workers’ productivity.On the basis of his research at Bethlehem Steel Company (Pittsburgh) he drew conclusions that the job can be split into minute parts and its performance can be improved by timing performance of each part separately. Furthermore, he suggested rest periods of special interval and duration and a differential pay scale that can be found in the practice of today’s managers (1). The famous method of overlapping tasks during the period of working day in order to avoid workers becoming tired easily was offered by Henry Gantt and displayed in the form of his ‘the Gantt chart’.Though not all of the managers may know the name of inventor of this tenet, but, for sure, most of them are acquainted with its expression and benefits it can provide. Moreover, it was Gantt who stressed the significance of the leadership and management qualities and skills for creating successful indu strial organizations. The man who is dubbed as the Father of Modern Management is Henri Fayol, a French industrialist who developed a framework for studying management and wrote General and Industrial Management (1).He distinguished five functions of managers, such as: planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating, and controlling. As we see, all theorists and pioneers of management theory originated from various countries (England, France, United States, etc. ); however this did not impede the principles they have set out from becoming universal. Times are changing and so are doing the people but some essential things and useful hints are immortal and not subject to ageing. Let us take a closer look into the work of a manager disregard of the geographical location of his working place and language he speaks.Nobody would argue that the better we understand the management role; the better it will be performed and more qualitative services will be provided. Some people wrongly consid er managers to be emotionless and cold fish and claim something like: â€Å"managers see work as something that must be done or tolerated,† â€Å"management focuses attention on procedure,† and â€Å"management sees the world as relatively black and white† (2, 2005:25). Yet, from our point of view, such standpoint is biased and far from being impartial.One should keep in mind that managers are also humans but the best among them have that gift for organizing and feel themselves capable of being at the head of other people and controlling not only their work but their lives in a way. Nevertheless, the manager’s work is not restricted to the above-mentioned issues only. Putting it by words of Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, leadership is just one of the numerous facets of management, â€Å"just one of the many assets a successful manager must possess† (3).Therefore, it would be easier to determine the aim of a manager, which can be expressed as maximizing the output of his company with the help of effective administrative measures. This brings us to the definition of management itself that for short can be rendered as â€Å"the process of attaining organizational goals in an effective and efficient manner through planning, organizing, controlling, and directing organizational resources† (2). Therefore, any manager must undertake the already mentioned above functions:? organizing ? planning ? commanding ? coordinating ? controlling Note, that leadership is covered by the single function of controlling. Planning comprises development of company strategies and goals. To put it differently, on this stage a manager has to define the direction of his business and some milestones to be taken into account. Moreover, planning involves also defining budget and plans of operation, i. e. methods of achieving previously fixed goals.In brief, on the phase of planning a manager proves to be a good forecaster capable of determining the far-r eaching objectives. The following function and stage is organizing, which means right people on the right working places. In other words, this function presupposes that a manager must objectively consider knowledge and skills of his employees and offer them jobs that are most appropriate. Remarkably that some theorists of management call this function as â€Å"staffing† but to our mind, this notion is an element of organizing.Admittedly that â€Å"given the high levels of discretion enjoyed by knowledge workers, managers' decisions over work distribution, content and resources become more critical for commitment and knowledge creation† (4, 2005:383-424). To sum up, organizing function covers establishing superior/subordinate relationships, as well as determining the scope of staff’s obligations and responsibilities. The ‘controlling’ function means checking that work is carried out in a proper way and funds are spent with regard to their purpose. Th e coordinating function covers training, team building, etc.and refers mainly to work with human resources, but not the production process. It should be added that effective managers should be good communicators and analysts. They should â€Å"have guts† to resist constant stress and be able to operate under unfavorable conditions. Furthermore, managers are responsible for friendly environment within a company, which engages problem-combating, settling conflicts, searching for best solutions, etc. What is more they should be assertive enough to bring forward their ideas and convince the opponents to give preference to their views.Still, that does not mean that all managers should be inborn leaders, whatever. Even more, as J. P. Kotter wrote in his 1991 â€Å"The Best of the Harvard Business Review† article, What Leaders Really Do: â€Å"Leadership is different from management, but not for the reason most people think. Leadership isn't mystical and mysterious. It has n othing to do with having charisma or other exotic personality traits. It's not the province of a chosen few. Nor is leadership necessarily better than management or a replacement for it.Rather, leadership and management are two distinctive and complementary activities. Both are necessary for success in an increasingly complex and volatile business environment† (5, 1991:26). However, in spite of the fact that there are some common features of manager work found in different countries and irrespective of borders, such as the key principles of management in a whole and functions of managers, it has been stated above that managers are the same people. Consequently, their cultural and personal peculiarities are reflected on their work.The former has even given rise to the completely new theory – intercultural management. The most significant factors that have enabled the emergence of this theory are the following: continuous globalization of economy and merge of businesses, establishment of joint ventures, foreign representative offices, etc. As a result, people started to pay more attention to the intercultural diversity of managing styles and traditions along with all-nation values and convictions. Should to go, when in Rome, do as the Romans do, but in order to comply with this rule one should know it.Notably, that in her article in the Financial Times by Elisabeth Marx titled ‘Shock of the alien can sink a merger', for example, it was mentioned that â€Å"Research on cross-border acquisitions has shown that differences in management style (particularly in attitudes towards risk) have a negative effect on company performance. Sadly, very few companies consider the softer, cultural factors of mergers, which may be a significant contributor to their subsequent failures. Far too few companies even begin to consider the effects on staff or the human implication of a merger†.Furthermore, the article goes on to manifest that â€Å"it is easy to end up in a situation where the whole is worth less than the sum of its two parts†. Hence, the reasonable solution here may consist in following the statement and credo: â€Å"Managers' first task is to conduct more extensive business analysis before taking the decision to merge. In addition to carrying out traditional financial and commercial due diligence, they should complete a thorough examination of the cultural compatibility of the parties involved† (6, 2005:2).The same can be applied to all spheres where business is conducted and companies in any country. Yert, the most frequent use of intercultural management tenet is observed within such association as, for instance, international markets, by merging with foreign companies, projects involving multi-cultural teams, international negotiations and so on, and so forth. Other supporting the intercultural management view theories are three well-known analyses of intercultural management by Edward Hall, Geert Hofs tede and Philippe d'Iribarne that illustrate the differences between American and French management styles (7).Citing Edward T. Hall, intercultural differences in communication are based on the context, on time and on space: â€Å"Understanding between people results from the combination of information and its context. Some cultures have a rich context (close links between people, high level of the unspoken/unsaid): these cultures are highly † implicit†; other cultures valuing communication only when it is very clear in itself are said to be † explicit † (7).This can be exemplified by the French dislike of clearing procedures or by their creativity and flexibility, American productivity and utilitarianism etc (8, 2003:1333-1349). To sum up, there are common features that can be found among managers all over the world. Managers employ experience of earlier generations as well as coin modern ones. Today, theorists of management clearly define functions and goa ls of managing work and scope of their responsibilities and obligations. However, on the other hand, it remains disputable wither work of a manager is the same in different countries.Quite to the contrary, the intercultural management theory declares that every nation has its own management style that should be taken into account when conducting international negotiations and making business with foreign countries. The majority of businessmen can no longer escape the necessity to purchase, sell or communicate and work with people from different cultures and thus with different traditions and convictions. And we are strongly sure that our future is multinational one! Bibliography 1. History of Management. Retrieved on December 21, 2005 from: http://ollie. dcccd.edu/mgmt1374/book_contents/1overview/management_history/mgmt_history. htm 2. MANAGERS; PERSONALITY; ENTERPRISES |AU| Welbourne, TM. ; Cavanaugh, M. A. ; Judge, T. A. |AD| U. S. A. ; Cornell University. Centre for Advanced Huma n Resource Studies, IRL School. Ithaca, NY 14653-3901 3. Leader or Manager? Which Are You? Which Should You Be? The Case for Being Well-Rounded by Dick Mooney. Bradford University Journal. Retrieved on December 21, 2005 from: http://www. amputee-coalition. org/communicator/vol3no2pg2. html 4. The difference a manager can make: organizational justice and knowledge worker commitment by Marc Thompson.International Journal of Human Resource Management, Volume 16, Number 3, March, 2005, pp. 383-404 5. The Best of the Harvard Business Review by J. P. Kotter, 1991. 6. Shock of the alien can sink a merger by Elisabeth Marx. Financial Times, 5 April 2001 7. French management style. Retrieved on December 21, 2005 from: http://www. understandfrance. org/France/Intercultural3. html 8. Comparing business ethics in Russia and the US by Rafik I. Beekun, Yvonne Stedham, Jeanne H. Yamamura, Jamal A. Barghouti. International Journal of Human Resource Management. Volume 14, Number 8 / December 2003