Monday, September 30, 2019

The thrust of the Computer Security Plan

The thrust of the Computer Security Plan part of the Business Plan is to ensure that the information systems to be deployed by the company will be in line with of the strategic mission and vision of the company. In order to insure that the information technology infrastructure and resources will meet the requisite requirements of every strategic, tactical and operational plan, the company decided to start on the right footing by adapting the standards contained in the ISO/IEC 17799:2005 or specifically known as the Information Technology – Security Techniques – Code of Practice for Information Security Management. By purchasing the ISO 17799 Toolkit, the company can follow the roadmap for a more secure information systems environment, implement the policies contained in the toolkit, and eventually obtain ISO 17799 certification to add more value to the consulting business. Specifically, the company will initially address the following areas that require immediate attention: 1.User authentication methods and policies – This will be based on Section 11.1.1 of ISO 17799 wherein, â€Å"An access control policy should be established, documented, and reviewed based on business and security requirements for access. Access control rules and rights for each user or group of users should be clearly stated in an access control policy. Access controls are both logical and physical and these should be considered together. Users and service providers should be given a clear statement of the business requirements to be met by access controls.† 2.Desktop policies – This will be based on Sections 11.3.2 Unattended user equipment and 11.3.3 Clear desk and clear screen policy wherein, â€Å"Users should ensure that unattended equipment has appropriate protection. All users should be made aware of the security requirements and procedures for protecting unattended equipment, as well as their responsibilities for implementing such protection. Users should be advised to terminate active sessions when finished, unless they can be secured by an appropriate locking mechanism, e.g. a password protected screen saver; log-off mainframe computers, servers, and office PCs when the session is finished; secure PCs or terminals from unauthorized use by a key lock or an equivalent control. A clear desk policy for papers and removable storage media and a clear screen policy for information processing facilities should be adopted.† 3.Remote user authentication methods and policies – This will be based on Section 11.4.2 User authentication for external users of ISO 17799 wherein, â€Å"Appropriate authentication methods should be used to control access by remote users. Authentication of remote users can be achieved using, for example, a cryptographic based technique, hardware tokens, or a challenge/response protocol. Possible implementations of such techniques can be found in various virtual private network (VPN) solutions. Dedicated private lines can also be used to provide assurance of the source of connections. Dial-back procedures and controls, e.g. using dial-back modems, can provide protection against unauthorized and unwanted connections to an organization's information processing facilities. This type of control authenticates users trying to establish a connection to an organization's network from remote locations.† 4.Password policy – This will be based on Section 11.3.1 Password use of ISO 17799 wherein, â€Å"Users should be required to follow good security practices in the selection and use of passwords. All users should be advised to keep passwords confidential; avoid keeping a paper or software record of passwords, unless this can be stored securely and the method of storing has been approved; change passwords whenever there is any indication of possible system or password compromise; select quality passwords with sufficient minimum length which are easy to remember; not based on anything somebody else could easily guess or obtain using person related information; not vulnerable to dictionary attacks; free of consecutive identical, all-numeric or all-alphabetic characters; change passwords at regular intervals or based on the number of accesses, and avoid re-using or cycling old passwords; change temporary passwords at the first log-on; not include passwords in any automated log-on process, not use the same password for business and non-business purposes.† 5.Communication process for email, secure file exchange via email – This will be based on Section 10.1.1 Documented operating procedures of ISO 17799 wherein, â€Å"Operating procedures should be documented, maintained, and made available to all users who need them. Documented procedures should be prepared for system activities associated with information processing and communication facilities, such as computer start-up and close-down procedures, backup, equipment maintenance, media handling, computer room and mail handling management, and safety. Operating procedures, and the documented procedures for system activities, should be treated as formal documents and changes authorized by management. Where technically feasible, information systems should be managed consistently, using the same procedures, tools, and utilities.† To further manage the information technology infrastructure and resources, the plan calls for the adoption of the â€Å"best-of-breed† approach by way of making certain that the building blocks of information security (Shaurette 2002) are fully exploited. These building blocks include the optimum use of security policies, authentication, access control, anti-virus/content filtering systems, virtual private networking (VPN)/encryption methodologies, vulnerability services consulting, intrusion protection system, and public key infrastructure (PKI)/certification authorities (CA)/digital signatures systems. This is considered to be the first step towards finding a technique for modeling and evaluating the security of a system (Stjerneby 2002).

Sunday, September 29, 2019

China’s Foreign Policy Towards International Actors Essay

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY China has one of the four oldest civilizations in the world and a written history of 4,000 years. China’s long history includes eras of primitive society, slave society, feudalism and semi feudalism, semi-colonialism and the present socialist society. The Chinese are very proud of their society. They value their own culture and religion but are open and pragmatic towards the religions and cultures of others. Chinese people in general are peaceful, hardworking and easily contented. They respect authority and elders and are patient with their fellows. They will, however, push and sacrifice for their children. The Chinese value modesty, reserved behavior and humility. They believe in harmony and tend to avoid confrontation. Chinese culture gives the Chinese people their basic identity. These core values are unique and consistent, shaped by a tradition of four thousand years of history and maintained by the same language. There is only one set of core values in the Chinese national culture, despite all the differences among these people and their societies. This cultural value system is uniquely Chinese that distinguish itself not only from Western cultures, but also from other Eastern cultures (for example, Japanese culture). China is now a global actor of significant and growing importance. It is involved in regions and on issues that were once only peripheral to its interests and it is effectively using tools previously unavailable. It is no longer necessary to emphasize integrating China into the existing constellation of norms, rules, and institutions of the international community; by and large, China is already there. It is influencing perceptions, relationships, and organizations all over the world. China’s international behavior is clearly altering the dynamics of the current international system, but it is not transforming its structure. China’s global activism is driven by an identifiable set of perceptions, objectives, and policies—some are long-standing and others are more current. Both China’s foreign policy objectives and its policies have evolved in the last decade but with more change in the latter than the former. In this sense, China has a distinct foreign policy strategy, to the extent that any nation has one. China’s strategy is best understood as comprising multiple layers, each adding to an understanding of the totality of it. This monograph analyzes these layers, assesses the challenges for China in implementing its strategy, and evaluates the implications for Bangladesh and other countries interests and policy. The monograph analyzes the content, character, and execution of China’s foreign policy towards International actors. It examines how China views its security environment, how it defines its foreign policy objectives, how it is pursuing the objectives and the consequences for other countries economic and security interests. The breadth and the rapidity of change in China’s international activities are daunting to analyze, let alone to understand.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Explain Strategies Used in Health and Social Care Environments to Overcome Barriers to Effective Communication Essay

P4 â€Å"Explain strategies used in health and social care environments to overcome barriers to effective communication† Effective communication is part of the core skills required by all health and social care practitioners to ensure that they are effective at meeting the needs of the people who use the services. In order to develop effective communication skills, practitioners need to be aware of and implement the use of communication theories. A wide range of communication theories exist to support effective communication between practitioners and people who use the services within health and social care environments. Language – If the person’s first language isn’t English this can cause a huge barrier, especially if the person doesn’t know a word of English. To overcome this barrier, it might be advisable for carers to apply for an advocate or translator to help this person feel more comfortable in the care setting. Speech difficulties or aphasia – Aphasia is where a person is physically unable to speak; this may be due to a recent stroke or some mental impairment. In this case, it is important to use some other form of communication other than verbal communication. Graphic or specialist forms of communication can be used to understand what the person’s needs are. Confidence issues – Someone who is very shy may not feel comfortable to verbally communicate their needs; in this case, a carer would need to ensure the person had some other way of communicating e.g. Paper and pen to graphically communicate their needs. It is important for all clients to feel comfortable around carers, so they can communicate their needs effectively. Disabilities – (physical, learning, mental); a person with a learning difficulty, depending on how severe, may find it hard to communicate non-verbally or graphically, therefore might find it easier to verbally communicate. A physical disability may prevent someone actually accessing the services they need, let alone the care they need; in this case, carers need to help those clients as much as possible. This could be done by a carer going into the person’s home; it could also be done by social workers providing Meals-on-wheels services to those who are house-bound. Speech communities – This is where people have a specific way of talking to people of the same age; this can cause a barrier because a person may use language that a carer may not understand. This can also include medical terminology or jargon; if a doctor uses a lot of technical terms when describing a disease or illness to a patient, the patient is likely to not understand what is happening, so it is important for the doctor to use language that the patient understands. Timing – A carer must choose the right time to go and communicate with a service user as they may not be ready to receive important information or they may not be in right frame of mind. This would cause a barrier because they won’t be able to correctly process the information. To overcome this barrier, the carer must ask the service user when would be the best time to talk. Environmental issues – To communicate effectively with a service user, the environment must be right. Having noise, temperature too high or too low, incorrect lighting or other people in the room can cause barriers to communication. To overcome this barrier you will need to make sure there is no background noise so that the service user is not distracted. Making sure the temperature is not too high or too low can cause barriers to communication as an unsuitable room temperature can make the service user feel uncomfortable. When giving information to a service user, make sure there is no one else in the room as this could make the service user feel uncomfortable. Sensory deprivation – When working in the health and social care sector, it is likely that you’ll come across service users who have a visual or hearing impairment, to overcome this barrier you must make sure you know alternative methods of communication for example; Sign language, otherwise it would be near impossible to communicate to the service user if he/she is deaf and you can’t sign. You could also make sure service user has hearing aid turned on.

Friday, September 27, 2019

TBD Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

TBD - Essay Example This paper discusses persuasively the need for people to embrace volunteering in their community in a clear and outright way. The solution to the trend of the minimizing rate of volunteering in the American society is emphasizing on the importance of volunteering to the public. This can be done through the start of volunteering clubs in various learning institution. The clubs will create a platform where the students are taught the importance of volunteering in the community. The impact of this will be a generation that embraces voluntary work in their community thus this culture will be evident in years to come (Paxton, 14-15). Also, learning institution should support and motivate the students who are volunteering. This may be done by recognizing their efforts and awarding them individually with certificates of merit. It is evident that when students get to be involved in volunteering while they are young the future Corporate Social Responsibility is in good hands. Companies also should encourage their staff to be involved in volunteering through setting up of workshops to teach them on the importance. This is an open forum where every staff member will participate and give his contribution on the topic. Also, companies should set up programs of Corporate Social Responsibility in their locations. This will create opportunities for the locals to volunteer for the benefit of the development of the area (Brummel, par 4). It is evident that companies that embrace Corporate Social Responsibility have a competitive edge in the market space as it leads to a good reputation of the company. Some of the remarkable CSR companies can be involved in is the setting up recycling plants that will help in conservation of the environment. Another one is providing habitat for humanity. This involves building of affordable homes to the low-income families in the

Thursday, September 26, 2019

A Tour to Maasai Mara Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

A Tour to Maasai Mara - Assignment Example At first, I was worried because I had never taken a flight in such a big airplane. I also had the phobia of heights. My parents seemed relaxed probably because they were used to flying. Air hostesses were moving around the plane checking whether the passengers required any assistance. We were even served with drinks. My brother and I took coffee while my parents took wine. After eight hours, the plane landed on Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta international airport. â€Å"We are now in Kenya† bellowed my dad. There were two guys waiting for us at the airport and were holding placards bearing my parents’ name. They took us to a waiting van that drove us into a hotel in the city center where were to stay. The two guys were from a tour company with which my dad had made reservations prior to our journey. People from this city looked friendly and were always willing to help us. We were to visit several tourist destinations in Kenya and later Tanzania, a country that neighbor’s Kenya. We first toured Maasai Mara, a region is known world over due to the great wildebeest migration. The aircraft landed on a small airfield in the middle of the lowlands amidst lions and running giraffe. What I saw in Maasai Mara perplexed me. I had never seen a movement of animals as huge as the wildebeest migration. Our tour guide explained that over three million wildebeest migrate from Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park to Kenya’s Maasai Mara National Reserve in search of pastures. This we were told happens annually in the months of July through October. The migrating wildebeest crossed the Mara River where crocodiles would prey on them. It was the largest massacre of the wildebeest and the largest feast for the crocodiles. It was a sight to behold. The wildebeest would dither for hours on the riverbank, striding reluctantly into the river as they calcula ted the risks in the waters.

Business Research for Decision Making, Red Tomatoe Company Essay

Business Research for Decision Making, Red Tomatoe Company - Essay Example bout the company is that the top management came from the ranks of the JRT and this could be identified as one of its strengths because these people are familiar with the â€Å"ins and outs† of the company. Unfortunately, the company is on the rocks because key personnel started leaving last year because they realized that they have â€Å"no future with JRT†. This backlash could be detrimental to the company because it had previous plans of expanding in the future. With this, this paper would thresh out the problems associated with the human resources (HR) planning of JRT and seek out the viable solutions to these problems. The previous HR consultant conducted preliminary interviews within the organization, undergone research of the produce industry and consulted other business cases with similar challenges. It has been found out that â€Å"Juicy Red Tomato Company needs to invest in retention not only of its managerial personnel, but also front-line production employees. In addition, JRT needs to improve communication between production and operations, possibly by enhancing technology used by the company as a whole†. With regards to organizational structure, it has been observed that the JRT has the traditional structure. According to Grinnell and Apple (1975), there are five general indications that the traditional structure may not be adequate for managing projects: Our observations agree with what Green and Apple (1975) identified as the problems that arise with the traditional organizational structure. In fact, many companies do not realize the necessity for organizational structure to change until it is too late. Management looks externally (i.e., to the environment) rather than internally for solutions to problems. A typical example would be that new product costs are rising while the product life cycle may be decreasing. Should emphasis be placed on lowering costs or developing new products? If JRT assumes that an organizational system is composed of both

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Russian Relationship with US Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Russian Relationship with US - Essay Example The difference in ideologies was also expressed in the foreign polices that each advocated for. While America was advocating for democracy in the word, Russia was advocating for socialism ideologies. There were a lot of differences in the interventions that the two countries carried out in the world. For example in Korea, America and Russia entered in the differences that were emerging between two sides in the country and they successful saw the splitting of the country into North and South Korea, a division which remains to date. America supported South Korea while Russia supported North Korea. Throughout the period of the cold war, the two countries took stand on opposing sides in any conflict with each asserting its force in order to emerge as the winner and have majority following. Their foreign policies had split the world to capitalist and socialist blocs in all the continents. However towards the end of 1980s, the fall of the Berlin wall was one of the sign that marked the end of the cold war. This brought about a new world order in which the United States was the only superpower in the world. It created a unipolar world where the United States influenced every decision made and tried to monitor all what was happening in the world especially thorough the control of the international bodies like the UN. At the same time there have been emerging centers of power in other regions like China and the re-emergence of Russia has been witnessed in the recent past. Current relationship between the two countries Currently there has been emerging differences between the two countries. Russia has been coming back slowly to its former status in the world which is seen as the start of a new cold war era. Although the world has remained the same as before, this time it is more complicated with other emerging centers of power like China which has been having a troubled relationship with the US. The relationship between Russia and the USA has been quite since the end of the cold war but of late it has been deteriorating. This difference has been expressed by the foreign policies that these countries have towards the other. There has been a trend in the way the two countries choose their friends and partners. While Russia has been taking one side with China, US have been on the other side with UK and other European allies. What American consider as "rogue states" or "axis of evil" are what Russia consider as friends. The difference in their ideoligies has been one of the factors that have been dictating their foreign polices towards each other and towards the world. For example, Russia's foreign policy towards Iran is very different from the foreign policy of US. While Russia advocates for dialogue and involvement of the international bodies for arbitration, the USA has been advocating for military factor in the nuclear conflict. Both countries have been advancing differences on the status of Iran and the accusation of development of weapons of mass destruction. (John 1998, 1) The foreign policy of the two countries Though the main battle between the two states has been fought on the UN security council using their veto power, the difference in their foreign policy has been expressed in the open and has been degraded to a mere exchange of harsh words and criticisms. While the US accuses Russia of using its energy policy as a foreign

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Twelve Angry Men Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Twelve Angry Men - Movie Review Example This paper explores the film â€Å"Twelve Angry Men† directed by Sidney Lumet. Contrast and conflicts give birth to progression of the plot of a play and the film ‘Twelve Angry Men’ is not an exception in this regard. The film seriously involves and implements the process of consensus-building. Along with it, the difficulty implicated in developing these phenomena is explicitly dealt in the film. The difficulties in reaching a common point in between twelve men who ranges from varied personalities enhance the intensity and seriousness of the conflict of reaching into a common platform. The content of the film is made poignant to the extent that even the names of the characters are presented in a subvert manner in the film. Only the names of the two jurors appear before the audience while they swap their names while going out from the courthouse. The film â€Å"The Twelve Angry Men† can be perceived as lesson in conflicts. The men do not know each other, not even the audience know anything about them individually. Yet their personality, philosophy towards life and their ideologies all become pertinent through their conflicts expressed and resolved throughout the film. The exposition of the conflict captivates the film from opening to its denouement and persists till its ending. The exposure of the conflict within the plot is slow but it is steady and indicates an exercise of divergent leadership style within the same platform. The conflict presented in the film launches its audience into a plane where there is no resolution of the conflict.

Monday, September 23, 2019

Write about a real contemporary problem where you see the status quo Essay

Write about a real contemporary problem where you see the status quo as lined up against something that is just or in favor of something that is unjust - Essay Example Although American slavery was abolished more than one hundred and fifty years ago, the legacy of slavery continues to have important ramifications on the lives of African-Americans today. Accordingly, African-Americans have lower-life expectancies than their white counterparts and the insidious legacy of slavery has continued health ramifications. Unequal access to healthcare is a contemporary problem with broad ramifications. Seeking to address inequality in health as a feature of the United States healthcare system, this essay will persuasively argue that African-Americans face a variety of health challenges in the United States and these challenges are a legacy of centuries of racism, represented today through discrimination and institutionalized racism in this country. (DHSS, National Healthcare Disparities Report, 2005). In the United States, health insurance coverage ensures that there is financial means by which basic health care can be accessed. Individual comprehensive health insurance plans depend on an individuals’ age, level of employment, residency, and race/ethnicity. Studies have shown that African-Americans do not receive the same care even if they have the same government funded insurance as their white counterparts, such as Medicare. For example, in a study conducted by the Brown and Harvard Medical Schools, researchers found that there were significant racial disparities within Medicare plans. In addition, they found that the quality of care was a factor concerning race and ethnicity among Medicare beneficiaries. This suggests that in addition to access to care, quality of care is different among ethnic groups. To this extent, racial difference in coverage may influence health disparities and inequities within the healthcare system. Medicare is a federal government funded insurance program for disabled young adults, persons above the age of 65, and those with permanent disabilities who become eligible for

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Aung San Suu Kyi Essay Example for Free

Aung San Suu Kyi Essay Aung San Suu Kyi MP AC (Burmese: ; born 19 June 1945) is a Burmese opposition politician and General Secretary of the National League for Democracy (NLD) in Burma. In the 1990 general election, the NLD won 59% of the national votes and 81% (392 of 485) of the seats in Parliament. She had, however, already been detained under house arrest before the elections. She remained under house arrest in Burma for almost 15 of the 21 years from 20 July 1989 until her most recent release on 13 November 2010, becoming one of the worlds most prominent (now former) political prisoners. Childhood and Education Aung San Suu Kyi was born on 19 June, 1945 in Rangoon, capital city of Myanmar (then Burma). Her father, Aung San, was the architect of Burma’s independence. He founded the modern Burmese army and negotiated Burmas independence from the British Empire in 1947. He was, however, assassinated by his rivals in the same year when Suu Kyi was barely two years old.. Her mother Daw Khin Kyi was working in the External Affairs Ministry and was appointed Myanmars ambassador to India in 1960. Aung San Suu Kyi completed her basic education at schools in Rangoon and moved to India following her mother’s appointment as Myanmar’s envoy to India in 1960. Suu Kyi continued her studies in India. She graduated from Lady Shri Ram College, New Delhi in 1964. After graduating she went to Oxford University for further studies and completed her BA in philosophy, politics, and economics at St. Hughs College, Oxford University in 1967. Political beginningsCoincident with Aung San Suu Kyis return to Burma in 1988, the long-time military leader of Burma and head of the ruling party, General Ne Win, stepped down. Mass demonstrations for democracy followed that event on 8 August 1988 (8–8–88, a day seen as auspicious), which were violently suppressed in what came to be known as the 8888 Uprising. On 26 August 1988, she addressed half a million people at a mass rally in front of the Shwedagon Pagoda in the capital, calling for a democratic government. [26] However in September, a new military junta took power. Aung San Suu Kyi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. Aung San Suu Kyi has been placed under house arrest for 15 of the past 21 years, on different occasions, since she began her political career,[44] during which time she was prevented from meeting her party supporters and international visitors. On the evening of 13 November 2010, Aung San Suu Kyi was released from house arrest. On 1 April 2012, Suu Kyi had won the vote for a seat in Parliament, as well as her partys victory in 43 of the 45 contested seats, officially making Suu Kyi the Leader of the Opposition in the lower house.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

What is the Difference Between Biosphere and Ecosphere?

What is the Difference Between Biosphere and Ecosphere? Explain the difference between Biosphere, Ecosphere and Gaia and argue a case for adopting one of these descriptors for discussions of the earth Biosphere, Ecosphere and Gaia are used names of the global ecosystem. But each global ecosystem has its own or more meaning individually. The global ecosystem is natural cycles of interdependent organisms which shares and functions together in the same habitat. Ecosystems usually form a number of food webs. (Robert W. Christopherson 1996). Ecosystems relate to soil, plants, animals, chemicals and rocks amongst others of the planet. For example when we think of nature we think of living things such as planets and animals, the biotic components of an ecosystem include all the living things in an area. Biosphere â€Å"the place on earths surface where life dwells†. (Seuss E. 1875) Biosphere is a biological global sum of all ecosystems and life on earth which integrates all living things together from the beginning of time on earth evolving over billions of years. Estimated 3.5 billion years ago. (Campbell, Neil A. Brad Williamson, Robin J. Heyden 2006). The Biosphere originated from a geologist called Eduard Suess in 1875 but the concept wasnt really adapted until Vladimir Vernadsky in 1926 wrote the book the biosphere redefining biosphere as a current earth system this is a main core of ecology. The biosphere exchanges matter and energy with the other spheres, helping the cycling of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur and along with other elements. This could be or is the reason why the biosphere is known as the global ecosystem, comprising the earth and performing all manner of biological functions, including photosynthesis, respiration, decomposition, nitrogen fixation and gentrification. Gaia â€Å"The earth is more than just a home, its a living system and we are part of it.† (James Lovelock) is simply the core of James Lovelocks Gaia theory, also known as the Gaia hypothesis. It was originally proposed in 1963 by James Lovelock. While the name Gaia comes from a Greek goddess of earth it is mainly a similar take on the biosphere with the same components but proposed as viewing the earth as a single organism. James Lovelock said that Gaia was â€Å"a complex entity involving the Earths biosphere, atmosphere, oceans, and soil; the totality constituting a feedback or cybernetic system which seeks an optimal physical and chemical environment for life on this planet† (James Lovelock 1979). The Gaia hypothesis states that the earth is alive, the search for life on mars led to lovelocks belief in the existence of Gaia. While we know theres no life on mars or Venus, lovelock compared it with the earths atmosphere which is a mixture of gases making life presen t, while earths gas is not the same but is contained in a constant state suggesting a regulation of the whole system on earth for example the climate, ocean and air are a self regulated process. While James Lovelocks theory wasnt totally accepted it is one looked over by scientists with mixed questioning critically whilst criticize by others. While Biosphere is known to serve at high levels of scientific research and being a core factor in within biology and ecology using remote sensing systems to scan the entire earths surface. Future of Healthcare Technology: PACS Future of Healthcare Technology: PACS PACS is the healthcare technology of the future. â€Å"A picture archiving and communication system (PACS) is a computerized means of replacing the role of conventional radiological film: images are acquired, stored, transmitted, and displayed digitally.† PACS is not just used in the radiology department it can be used all over the hospital in any location, anytime, anywhere and even be used with other hospitals, between different physicians. There are advantages and disadvantages to choosing to use the PACS system. There are other technologies that have a dramatic impact on the delivery of patient care as well these technology along with the PACS system make healthcare better. One of the biggest advantages to using the PACS system is the fact that everything is done digitally. In my research I have found several reasons that hospitals should chose PACS to operate there radiology department as well as all the other areas in the hospital. In several articles it has stated that the use of PACS main advantage is â€Å"the improvement in efficiency.† PACS has been proven to decrease medical errors due to the fact â€Å"once an image has been acquired onto PACS it cannot be lost, stolen, or misfiled.† The PACS system also allows images to be available anywhere in the hospital whereas conventional film can only physically exist in one place at any one time. With the PACS system the physician can compare images at the same time. If an image is too dark or too light before you would have to retake the x-ray but with the PACS system you can adjust these things on the computer. Physician can also take an image from ten years ago and put it into the PACS system and compare it with the most recent image. Things like this can really help with diagnosis and treatment of patients. PACS also helps patient care be quicker because the physician can view the images anytime and anywhere in the hospital. For example if a patient is have trouble in the ICU the physician can view any images necessary to help treat the patient without leaving the ICU area therefore if the physician is needed he/she is right there. These images are available to all the members of the care team not just the physician. PACS system has been proven to save lives as well as lower medical errors. I read an article that stated â€Å"when the PACS system is fully utilized, the technology can play a significant role in reducing the potential for error by eliminating steps in the distribution and management of images and associated patient information across the enterprise. PACS system also allows hospital staff and physicians can schedule and order exams, update patient information across an enterprise, provide information and images to physicians at the point of care, and provide diagnostic tools, features, and functionality to ensure the highest quality of interpretation and diagnosis. Currently 20% of films are missing when needed. This wouldnt happen if they were using the PACS system. â€Å"All images in the PACS database are automatically grouped into the correct examination, are Chronologically ordered, correctly oriented and labeled, and can be easily retrieved which is not necessarily the case without the PACS system.† The pediatrics and neonatal unit were among the first clinical specialties to start using the PACS system. Radiographic images play a big role in these departments. Time is very crucial in these units so it is a great advantage that you dont have to go to the radiology department to retrieve these images. This is one good example how the PACS system can save lives and why the hospital should be using this system. There are some disadvantages to the PACS system as well as with any system that you may choose to use. One disadvantage to the PACS system is cost of installing the PACS system in the hospital setting. In the year 1999 the cost of intalling the PACS system was one to two million dollars with a six percent annual maintenance. Studies have shown that PACS would pay for itself in five years. Another disadvantage is once you have gone filmless there is risk that the PACS system could have a system failure with this in mind as long as the data is backed up daily. One other potential problem of PACS is that the staff may not have the knowledge to be able to use the PACS system. In my research I found that when the PACS system is used along with the EMR and the CPOE there is a dramatic impact on patient care. The EMR is where all medical records, including all of patient images, pathology, surgical results and history are done and stored electronically. The CPOE is where the physicians use computers to due order entry. â€Å"Each of these things in isolation helps somewhat with patient care but when the three are used together the results are much greater. In Conclusion, healthcare technology is going to computerization and there is no stopping it. We are in an era where computers are an important part of daily life not just in the healthcare field. Learning how to use computers and there software is crucial for survival. In this paper I talked about one of the most rapidly growing systems in healthcare the PACS system. PACS is the healthcare technology of the future. â€Å"A picture archiving and communication system (PACS) is a computerized means of replacing the role of conventional radiological film: images are acquired, stored, transmitted, and displayed digitally.† PACS is not just used in the radiology department it can be used all over the hospital in any location, anytime, anywhere and even be used with other hospitals, between different physicians. I also talked about the advantages and disadvantages of the PACS system as well as other systems that work along with the PACS System. References: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1718393/pdf/v083p00082.pdf http://www.psqh.com/janfeb05/pacs.html http://www.medicexchange.com/PACS/going-filmless-intro-to-pacs-pa..

Friday, September 20, 2019

A Introduction To Satellite Television

A Introduction To Satellite Television Satellite television first the consumer market in the early 1990s. Dishes made for the average household were expensive and took up a lot of space in the garden. I n the first few years of satellite TV only the wealthiest, or more die-hard fans of television, would go to the trouble of buying and setting up a satellite dish. Satellite television was also a lot harder to get than cable or broadcast TV. In the present day you see satellite dishes on the rooftops of most homeowners in the UK and indeed the rest of the western world. The major satellite TV companies are getting more and more people to buy their product with promises of films, sports and especially news from around the world. The advancement into high-definition televisions and being able to get a high definition satellite signal has made it even more prominent. Satellite Television gives us many solutions to the problems that come with broadcast TV and, although not perfect itself, is now the main way to view television. In its basic form satellite television is a lot like broadcast television. They are both a wireless system for delivering television programming to a viewers house. And they both use satellite stations to transmit programming via a radio signal. Using powerful antennas broadcast stations transmit radio waves to the area surrounding them. The viewers, however, pick up the signal with a much smaller antenna. Broadcast television works fine it just has one massive drawback, which is range. When a broadcast antenna shoots out a radio signal it is shot out in a straight line. To receive these signals you have to be in the direct line of sight of the antenna. If you are not the signal may become distorted. Small obstacles such as trees or small buildings should not be a problem but bigger obstacles, such as planet earth, would pose a problem. If you transmitted a broadcast signal over a perfectly flat surface you would be able to pick up a signal thousands of miles away from the source. However in the real world the curvature of the planet distorts and blocks the signal sent out from the satellite, to get a perfect signal you would have to be close to the antenna with no obstacles in between. The Satellite TV Solution Satellite TV solves this problem by transmitting signal from satellites orbiting the Earth. Because these satellites are so high in the sky it means there are a lot more customers in range and line of sight. Satellite TV systems transmit and receive radio signals using specialized antennas called satellite dishes. Diagram of how Satellite TV works . When the satellites that broadcast these radio signals are sent up in to space they are all sent up in geosynchronous orbit. This means that they all stay in one place in the sky relative to the Earth. Some facts: Every satellite is launched into space at 7000mph Each one reaches about 22,200 miles above the Earth. When the satellite is this high and moving at such a speed it will revolve around the Earth once every 24 hours, keeping it in the same position above the Earth giving constant signal to the viewer with uninterrupted signals. The Components of Satellite TV In a DTH (direct to home) or DBS (direct broadcasting) satellite system there are five major components. These are the programming source, the broadcast center, the satellite, the satellite dish and the receiver. Programming source this is where the channels that provide the programmes are based. This is where the satellite TV providers go to pay other companies (for example MTV or Nickelodeon) for the right to broadcast there programmes through their satellites. Broadcast Center The broadcast center is central part of the system. In the broadcast center the people who are providing the TV to the viwers at home receive signals from different programming sources and then beam a broadcast signal to satellites to geosynchronous orbit. Satellites The satellites in space receive the signal sent from the broadcast center and beam them back down to Earth. Dish The viewer then picks up this rebroadcasted signal and the satellite dish passes it onto the receiver in the house. Receiver All the receiver then has to is process the signal and pass it on to a standard TV. This is a very good system to providing a good quality signal to a large area. It has very picture display and sound quality with hundreds of channels and the service is ready to use in rural and urban areas and provides a lot of access to digital and high definition programming. However satellite is not without its drawbacks. It can be quite expensive to buy all the equipment at the outset (satellite dish and receiver etc) and if you want to access satellite television in multiple rooms in your home be prepared for the extra cost. As well as this satellite television can be subject to extreme weather conditions. Satellite TV signals Satellites signals have a very long way to travel before they appear on your TV screen. Because of this and because they contain very high-quality digital data it would be near impossible to transmit them without compression. Compression is defined, in this case, as removing all unnecessary or repeated information. After the signal is transmitted it is reconstructed. Satellite TV has to use a very unique type of video file compression standardized by the Moving Pictures Experts Group or MPEG for short. This allows the provider to successfully transmit significantly more channels than without using this method of compression. MPEG standards exist to promote interoperability among your computer, televisionand hand held video and audio devices. These MPEG standards are: MPEG-1: this is the original standard. It is used for encoding and decoding streaming video and audio files. MPEG-2: this standard compresses files which are used and transmitted for a high quality of video and is the standard for digital television. MPEG-4: the function of this standard is to compress high definition video onto a smaller scale so you can stream it to computers, mobile phones and PDAs. MPEG-21: This standard basically interprets digital content so that the media plays flawlessly no matter what machine it is, what language it is in or the user conditions. It is also referred as the Multimedia Framework. Most satellite TV providers used to use the MPEG-2 standard to compress their signals but changed to the MPEG-4 standard of compression. This is because MPEG-4 is more efficient at encoding can provide a much greater bandwidth than MPEG-2. However MPEG-2 still remains the official standard for digital television. This is because it is more able to analyse static images, like those you would see in such programmes like talk shows or newscasts whereas MPEG-4 is better at analysing moving, dynamic images. MPEG-4 can do this through such things as spatial  [1]  and temporal  [2]  compression. This is how satellite TV manages to provide such a high quality picture of fast-moving objects on the screen, that are always moving, like in a football game. Satellite Dish When the signal reaches the viewers house it is captured by the satellite dish. The satellite dish is made up of an aparabolic (bowl-shaped) surface and a central feed horn. The signal passes through the horn and then the dish focuses the signal into a narrow beam. This receiving dish works in the exact opposite way to the transmitter as it cant transmit information, it can only receive it. The dish acts just like a concave mirror in that the shape of the dish reflects the signal inward onto a particular point just like a concave mirror focuses light onto a particular point. The dishes feed horn feeds the signal on to the receiving equipment, and if there hasnt been any obstacles between the satellite and the dish there should be a perfect signal coming into the viewers receiver (unless the weather is bad). Before the dish sends the signal to the viewers receiver it amplifies and filters the signal using LNB, or low noise blockdown converter. After this the LNB passes the amplified, filtered signal to inside the house. Sometimes, in some systems, the dish needs to pick up a signal from two different satellites. Sometimes this may be possible but when it isnt it may compromise the quality of the signal because the dish cannot be aimed at both of the satellites at the same time so either one or both of the signals would be distorted. Satellite Receiver At the end of the satellite TV system is the receiver. It has four important jobs: It takes the encrypted signal and de-scrambles it It takes the digital MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 signal and changes them into an analog signal so the standard television can recognize It also has to sort out the individual As well as this it keeps the providers headquarters up to date with the payments the viewer owes the provider of the satellite television. Conclusion After closely studying satellite television and how it works it is clear to me that is much better and more practical then the older normal broadcast television. This is because of the greater range and line of sight that satellites have got rather than the regular antennas which are impeded by the curvature of the earth and even small obstacles. Although satellite television does have some drawbacks I would say it is definitely the way forward in television broadcasting and has already nearly taken over the market.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Solutions to Poverty: Its Time To Deport The Homeless Essay -- Soluti

The homeless population is growing in America. There are more and more Americans living in boxes, sleeping on park benches and panhandling on the streets each day. These people tend to make us, the non-homeless, feel uncomfortable and unsafe. They are also placing increasing stress on the nation's economy. In short, the homeless are a burden on the rest of society. There needs to be action taken against them. "I shall now humbly propose my own thoughts, which I hope will not be liable to the least objection (Swift.)" I propose that all of the homeless be relocated to foreign third world countries. They can then be hired in American factories producing shoes, automobiles and other various goods at less than one dollar per hour. This will solve many of the problems that are mentioned in Marin’s â€Å"Helping and Hating the Homeless" and Michael Moore’s films â€Å"Roger and Me,† â€Å"Pets or Meat: The Return to Flint,† and â€Å"The Big One.† These problems include both safety and economic issues. The homeless have the ability to make the non-homeless feel threatened and unsafe (Marin.) â€Å"They are homeless, are strangers, alien and therefore a threat (Marin.)† The threat and danger that homeless pose to American society could easily be eradicated by shipping all of them to other countries. We would then no longer have to deal with them on a day to day basis. Yet another problem that could easily be solved by relocating the homeless is that of unemployment. American companies...

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Human Interaction via the Internet :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

Human Interaction via the Internet Throughout the course of this class, and more specifically the process of generating an idea for my final project, I found myself drawn time and again to the way people interact with each other electronically namely the internet. Having been involved in computers and nearly everything related for the majority of my life I have experienced a number of different tools and applications from chat rooms to online games to instant messaging that provide a means of interacting with others in a number of different ways. This experience and other concepts and ideas that Ive either read about or envisioned stood as my foundation in deciding on and formulating this project. The many methods of electronic interaction can be overwhelming. With the relatively recent emergence of online gaming we have been exposed to yet another. This form of interaction however is more involved than most. There are monsters and quests to distract you and keep you busy doing other things. This is probably not the ideal environment for the casual chat room user. On the other hand a standard chat room or even slightly more visual instant messaging programs may not hold the interest of the avid gamer. I wanted to do something that would appeal to both sides while at the same time staying true to the social interaction that from which so many of the online games tend to stray. By combining a familiar chatting environment with the visual graphics of a digital environment a hybrid experience a more engrossing experience can be achieved. Your average chat room focuses on text as the main resource for transmitting and gathering information about the many different users. In the world around us a much larger portion of perception is taken from imagery. However, we often use words and images in combination to present information that could not be conveyed by either one alone.* By combining the two, a more complete picture is formed. Likewise, by adding a world environment that each users custom, animated avatar can move around in people can express them selves in a completely new dimension that has never really been explored in a chat environment before. Not only would each user decide on a unique name, they will also be able to decide on the physical appearance of their own character. From gender to hair style and color to clothing everyone will have enough options to be able to choose a unique look all their own.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Different Cultures

Different countries of the world have different cultures. In light of this, there may be discrepancies in the way we interpret our interaction with the person from another culture. Sometimes it may be difficult to understand or accept another culture which is different from one’s own culture. In my three years of living in America, I have had experiences based on the difference between the Korean and American culture – these are in the area of non-verbal communication and appointment culture.However, I have also noticed that the structure of the educational system is similar. First of all, nonverbal communication is so much different between two countries. According to reading, â€Å"Where Do We Stand† Lisa Davis, mentioned that all countries have different nonverbal communications and personal space. Because of these, there may be misunderstandings and misinterpretations. One of the differences between the American and Korean culture is greeting. Americans greet by putting up a handshake and saying â€Å"hi† to anyone, both young and old.Koreans do that only to friends or someone who are younger than people who greet. If it is someone older, we greet by bowing head. Moreover, one other mode of greeting is kissing each other. It is really different culture from Korea. We never kiss anyone except close family members. I still find it hard to adapt to this mode of greeting. The simple communication mistakes we make at one time or the other upset the Americans. This may not be deliberate but due to the communication gap.Secondly, keeping an appointment is an indispensable condition even between friends in America. According to reading â€Å"Friends and Strangers† Margaret K. (Omar) Nydell, she talked about some differences of cultures and if she wants to meet another person, she needs to have a one week grace period. To me, this is strange. When I just came to America, I did not know about cultural differences. The first person I met was American-Chinese, we later became close friends. There was a times I was in bad mood. I called her so that I can talk to her.However, told me that she did not want to talk to me because she was having her personal time and asked me to meet the following day or two days after. I thought she just did not want to meet me and did not think it could be impolite to someone else. In Korea, we usually never make an appointment with friends. Whenever the need arises, a call is made and if the other party is available to meet. Even some of my friends just come to my home without any call. Making an appointment is one of courtesies in America.Although both cultures are sometimes poles apart, there are still some similarities between both cultures. A similarity can be found in the educational system of both countries. I believe that all countries have the same passion about education. America students prefer attending a good school and study hard. They also like people who are well edu cated. Even if there are many differences between other countries, Korea and America, when I study with others, we forget everything about differences and study with the same passion.It helps connect us to each other even if we come from very different countries. In conclusion, I have had so many experiences and realize that there are differences between other cultures. This I have come to realize since coming to this country three years ago. It is really hard to understand each other across cultures, and sometimes it there is still a communication gap between my friends and I. However, we are can understand each other if we all make an effort. We should try to accept the differences and then we could be closer to each other.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Customer Satisfaction and Quality Care Essay

What started out as a community hospital has grew over the past 50 years into a healthcare organization comprising of seven distinct units helping 300,000 people every year. Such development and growth has been motivated by one reason taking care of the people that call Houston County and nearby peoples home. Houston Medical Center is a typical hospital in Warner Robins, GA, and has 237 beds. The most recent statistics study reveals that 67,439 patients stopped at the hospital’s emergency room, there were 14,179 patients admitted to admissions 1,987 inpatient surgeries and 9,816 outpatient surgeries. While the additional facts of the quality care report the requirements of the hospital, physician, and customer, the patient’s demand to be heard is overcome by a measurement of satisfaction. Frequently, the information collected from the surveys is beneficial for the hospital to measure itself and its accomplishment in keeping a minimum standard of care and sustaining the customer’s needs. 33 Studies have shown that each patient who is dissatisfied will inform up to ten other people of this dissatisfaction (Sitzia & Wood 1997). For instance let’s say with the information given on the percentage of dissatisfaction of patients not being explained what the medicine is they are taking that patient could say that he was given the wrong medication because you have not told him the medication he is taking. I am quite sure this type of dissatisfaction could lead to a lawsuit. Three barriers that existed at Houston Medical Center were the time they had to wait to receive help, explanation of medicine not given before given to patient to take, and the rooms and bathrooms were not as clean as they should be. These three barriers could have a huge significance on the facility. These barriers I am sure impacted the customer satisfaction at Houston Medical Center. The barriers affected whether or not the patient would return to the center due to the facility not being clean, poor communication, and the wait time. All these factors would make a patient skeptical about returning to the center. One tool Houston Medical Center  could have used to study a process barrier related to customer-satisfaction would be the Pareto diagrams or charts. This tool could be used to monitor when the bathrooms were cleaned, patient arrival time and wait time, and also to record the medication given to the pati ent allowing the nurse to at the time of giving medication to explain what the medication is for. References Sitzia J, Wood N. Patient satisfaction: A review of issues and concepts. Social Science & Medicine. 1997; 45:1829–1843.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Interpersonal Conflict in the Film Spanglish Essay

The film Spanglish portrays many examples of interpersonal conflict between characters. An interpersonal conflict is two or more persons having different views on a specific thought or idea. In the film one of the most noticeable conflicts occurs between Flor, the house keeper, and Deborah, the mother. The movie is based on the struggles of relationships, with others and with the characters within themselves. Flor’s personality and parenting beliefs conflict with Deborah’s, resulting in a personal and cultural minimal battle. The conflict between Deborah and Flor progress over time because Deborah is uptight and her irrational behavior is often upsetting both households. Flor speaks very little English when she starts to work for the Clasky family as their housekeeper on a daily basis. She does not mention that she has a daughter, named Cristina. The family has two children, George and Bernice, the famous chef father John, the alcoholic grandmother Evelyn, and the neurotic mother Deborah. Summer comes and Flor is needed at the Claskys’ summer home around the clock so Deborah asks her to live there with them. Unable to communicate well in English, Deborah finds a neighbor to interpret, Flor reveals that she is unable to maintain these hours because she has a daughter, so Cristina is invited to come stay with them. While living in their new home for the summer with the Clasky’s, Cristina interprets for her mother to communicate. She impresses Deborah, who begins to treat her like a daughter, taking Cristina shopping, getting her hair done, enrolling her in a private school, and showing her more love than she shows for her own daughter Bernice. Flor becomes unhappy when it appears that Cristina is influenced by Deborah, in part because she wants Cristina to keep in touch with her Mexican roots and working-class values, and partly because Deborah is overstepping her bounds. Flor objects to Deborah’s actions to John, who apologizes and explains to his wife that she cannot do these things for some one else’s child without permission. Flor begins to learn English so she can communicate better. She becomes closer to John, who is having difficulty with Deborah’s self-centered behavior. Flor quits and takes her daughter home, upsetting Cristina, who got along well with the Claskys. On their way home, she tells Cristina that she can’t go to the private school anymore either, upsetting Cristina even more; she screams in the middle of the street that Flor can’t do this to her and that her life is ruined. Flor loses patience with Cristina after she asks her mother for space. Flor explains to her daughter that she must answer the most important question of her life, at a very young age: â€Å"Is what you want for yourself to become someone very different than me? Cristina considers this on their bus ride home, and they make up and embrace. The film ends with Cristina as an adult, years later, acknowledging that her life rests firmly and happily on the simple fact that she is her mother’s daughter. Throughout the movie there are many examples of how different cultures have different values, and different people have different morals and ethics, and how two people can clash and have extreme conflict between them, to the point where it can affect others around them. The movie Spanglish is based on the struggles of relationships, with others and the characters within themselves. Flor’s personality and parenting beliefs conflict with Deborah’s, resulting in a personal and cultural minimal battle. One of the most important reasons for engaging in interpersonal communication is to form and maintain relationships, connections, or associations with other people in your life (Sole, 2011).

Saturday, September 14, 2019

A Book Report on Nickel and Dimed Essay

This research paper is on the book named Nickel and Dimed, a non fiction best seller penned by Barbara Ehrenreich. It is the story of an essay writer who goes undercover on advice of Harper’s editor Lewis Lapham as a low wage worker to find out how non-skilled workers manage their day to day lives. She experiments in three states, namely Florida, Maine, and Minnesota, by finding a job and accommodation in each location, in an attempt to find out the life of low paid workers. She spends one month in each location working full time and living only off the amount of money she earns in low-wage jobs. The purpose of these experiments was to determine whether the author could both live off the money earned and have enough money at the end of the month to pay the next month’s rent or not. A Book Report on Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America and Criticisms It is said that America is a land where dreams come true everyday. It is absolutely true. Millions of people from all over the world come to America to be certain that they have found a land where finally they would have enough of everything. See more:  Manifest Destiny essay Barbara Ehrenreich not agrees with the above statement, especially, when it comes to low-paid and unskilled workers. Barbara Ehrenreich is an upper middle class woman, who is a writer with PhD in biology in her real life. On advice of Harper’s editor Lewis Lapham, she follows a journalistic approach to infiltrate the low paid workers to know the effects of welfare reform. She leaves her life as a writer with $1300 in her pocket to meet the unexpected expenses, her personal items and her car. Her first destination is Key West, Florida where she starts searching for a job and lodgings. She chooses this city as it is closer to her home. There she secures jobs at two restaurants as a waitress and flirting with one day act as a housekeeper and continues living. Her fear as an over-qualified worker takes toll and she feels herself like an under-qualified worker as days proceed. This goes on for two months instead of for months, when she finally accepts defeat, as she walks out in mid-shift. The jobs get physically demanding and Barbara is extremely exhausted, the main reason behind her quitting. The restaurant and the people’s names are not revealed by the author. After leaving Key West, she plans to start afresh with Portland, Maine. The choice of location is connected author’s Caucasian demographics which she presumes that she will get better with workers and is quite affordable. There she finds two jobs. The main one is that of housekeeping, the job which is in strict need. The other one is of a dietary aide in nursing home where there is an Alzheimer patient whom she has to take care of regularly. There she befriends Marge and Holly, who are fellow housekeepers. Compared to previous one, she is proud of her job. As Ted, the manager of the housekeeping company is strict with women’s schedule; her routine becomes tight and physically and mentally demanding. She and other housekeepers often are deprived of lunch either of their schedule or because of their low wages. In the due course, Holly becomes pregnant and she needs holidays, which Ted refuses to give. However, the author is successful in winning her holidays from Ted revealing her real job. After her stint at Portland, she proceeds to her final destination- Minneapolis, Minnesota. There she manages to find a runaway motel with loose bolts and doors, after a long hunt for accommodation in a city where vacancy rate is only 1%. She is unsafe of her belongings at her stay. After a long search, she manages to get her job in Wal-Mart in ladies clothing. Her job is pick up dropped clothing and taking cloths from dressing rooms and put them back on the racks. There she befriends Melissa and meets union as she feels that workers are working too hard for their wage. Though she finds a better place to live, she eventually leaves her job after a month, as the wage is too low to afford a single day meal. After her experiments she finally analyses how she performed at each job. She rates herself as average and one of the problems she faced is low level of encouragement from her co-workers. Also she concludes that the unskilled jobs are physically and mentally challenging and the state is even worsened due to employee politics. Level of competition in the markets is very high as there is rise of rent, especially for hourly workers. Employers used many tricks in order to keep wages low so that employees keep coming back to their jobs. These all with the politics resulted in low pay and low standard of living. These workers will even face a problem in knowing the better pay jobs as they have little education and cannot afford increasing transportation cost. The main reason for these shortcomings in these jobs was low self esteem. People who work these menial jobs are not given respect and often games are played at them to reduce their pay. The author finally concludes the book as the welfare reform has not yet reached the people in the way the government had planned and calls for better prospects for these people and increases their standard of living. In response to Nickel and Dimed, Adam Shepard conducted an experiment. Sheperd began his experiment with $25 in his pocket. Without mentioning his degrees, he managed to get a job and fulfilled his objective of buying a home, a car and more than $5000 as his savings in ten months. This experiment refuted to the premise around which Nickel and Dimed was constructed. The author finally concludes by portraying the mindset of low-paid workers-â€Å"When someone works for less pay than she can live on †¦ she has made a great sacrifice for you †¦ The â€Å"working poor† †¦ are in fact the major philanthropists of our society. They neglect their own children so that the children of others will be cared for; they live in substandard housing so that other homes will be shiny and perfect; they endure privation so that inflation will be low and stock prices high. To be a member of the working poor is to be an anonymous donor, a nameless benefactor, to everyone. † References Ehrenreich, Barbara. 2001. Metropolitan Books. Nickel and Dimed. Platt, Charles. â€Å"Life at Wal-Mart. â€Å"

Friday, September 13, 2019

My Educational Philosophy Statement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

My Educational Philosophy Statement - Essay Example In this essay, I would like to narrate my educational philosophy, which enabled me to develop my teaching career and explore myself to become the achiever of my long term cherished goal. Since my childhood I have been longing for becoming a good teacher not only for students but for the community as well. The phrase 'good teacher' can be interpreted in many perspectives depending upon the philosophy one follows. Personally, I believe that teacher has a prominent role to play in the lives of his students as he is one of the closest companions who knows students' pulses more than any other. As Beth Lewis remarks in a journal article that "I believe that a teacher is morally obligated to enter the classroom with only the highest of expectations for each and every one of her students. Thus, the teacher maximizes the positive benefits that naturally come along with any self-fulfilling prophecy; with dedication, perseverance, and hard work, her students will rise to the occasion" (Lewis Be th, n.d.). To become an endless source of inspiration to students, Beth points out that the teacher should be one who views- "I aim to bring an open mind, a positive attitude, and high expectations to the classroom each day. I believe that I owe it to my students, as well as the community, to bring consistency, diligence, and warmth to my job in the hope that I can ultimately inspire and encourage such traits in the children as well (Lewis Beth, n.d.). Attributes of a Teacher Every teacher should have certain qualities which make them different from others. A teacher should always focus on the benefits of society as a whole. He/she must work for the common good rather than his/her individual interest. In fact, a teacher must be a role model for the whole populace in his/her region. Like any other area, success lies in attitude and approach. The successful teachers are everywhere alike. As Melissa Kelly pointed out, successful teachers share some common characteristics (Kelly, n.d.). I also believe that the following attributes are unavoidable for a teacher in his career. Sense of Humor The sense of humor helps to relieve you from tension and make the students happy. A class room with rigorous protocols is no longer produce students' creative skills. They might score good marks in the examination, but their creativity will not be satisfactory. They might be poor in soft skills such as negotiation skill. Furthermore, it allows a teacher to experience the joy of life as a teacher and forget the bitter experiences in his/her life and career. Positive Attitude As I mentioned earlier, a teacher is a role model for students. Students always prefer to catch the qualities of their teacher. One with a positive attitude never fails in life is well known to all. In the teaching profession one may come across many hurdles, but they cane be overcome successfully with positive attitude and enthusiasm. The positive attitude of a teacher is inculcated in his/her students through his/her classes and interactions. High Expectations One of the key factors for success is high expectations. If a teacher has high expectations on his/her students, the students will also try to achieve great things in life. But, that does not mean that a teacher should always be after high unrealistic expectations. Consistency A positive learning environment is characterized by consistency of a teacher and his approach. The consistency in

Thursday, September 12, 2019

Recent changes made to the National Breakfast and Lunch Program Research Paper

Recent changes made to the National Breakfast and Lunch Program - Research Paper Example It is in the process of seeking to ensure that the meals received by children at schools meet the required health standards that the USDA has issued new dietary guidelines, which the school meals should meet. While the new requirements might seem to be too demanding or disruptive of the current school breakfast and lunch program, it is conclusive to say that the new requirements are highly beneficial not only to the school children, but also to the society at large. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) new requirement standards for the school breakfast and lunch programs provides that children should be served with more fruits, vegetables and whole-grain containing foods, while at the same time being offered low-fat or fat-free dairy products (USDA, 2012). Secondly the new requirements provide that processed meat and processed dairy products should wholesomely be eliminated from the school breakfast and lunch programs, to avoid the adverse health effects that are associated with these type of foods on children’s health (FRAC, 2014). Offering daily plant-based snacks/salads as an option for all children eligible for the NSLP, which constitute of fresh garden salad-bars, as way of ensuring the provision of fiber-based whole meal diet for children (FRAC, 2014). The other recommendation of the new NSLP requirements is that the schools should ensure to offer low-fat, fat-free or nondairy milk on a daily basis as an option for all children eligible for the NSLP, where soy milk; a plant-based nondairy milk, has been recommended as the new milk beverage that schools should offer to the children, owing to the potential health benefits that are associated with this nondairy milk (FRAC, 2014). The other requirement by the USDA revised school food programs provide that the schools should increase their annual food and nutrition classes to a minimum of 50 hours per academic year (USDA, 2012). This recommendation has been established on

Christian Expression Vocation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

Christian Expression Vocation - Essay Example Third, Christian vocation may connote gifts and leadership in readiness for lasting service. In view of this, Cooling (19-31) indicates an individual is self-conscious of his or her own gifts and capacities and to exhibit a fairly focused sagacity of the manner in which God wants these qualities to be employed to the advantage and betterment of the general world. Abraham is one of God’s servants who exercised utmost faith in the Creator by following all the commands of God. After the death of his father, Abram was instructed by God to abandon his homeland for another place where He would direct him (Eslinger 189-193). The faithful took his household of three including his wife Sara and Lot and followed God’s commands to what is today Israel-Palestine land. Despite the fortunes in the rich land, Abraham never built a home in this new environment but led a nomadic life, moving from one place to another to earn a living. The immense faith demonstrated by Abraham led him into securing his descendents the rich land. Additionally, God altered his name from Abram to Abraham and his wifes from Sara to Sarah. This is a clear manifestation of the strong faith he had in God. Few would agree to change their name in favour of a new beginning. According to Eslinger (192-207), God tempted Abrahams faith in Him by instructing him to offer his only son, Isaac for sacrifice. This event was imperative on two grounds: if the Isaac was sacrificed Abram would not have any heir to take over the land that God had assured Abraham. If Abraham successfully offered his son to God as sacrifice, he must have had faith in the coming back to life of the departed. Once God witnessed the seriousness of Abraham, in regarding the sacrifice of his son, He set forth and offered him a ram instead, to offer in the occasion.

Wednesday, September 11, 2019

SUMMARY South African Opposition Picks New Voice Essay

SUMMARY South African Opposition Picks New Voice - Essay Example To entice black voters, the party will have to strive for new policies that address the needs of low income young blacks. Because the next national vote is not until 2014, Ms. Mazibuko must try to place pressure on the government through parliamentary sessions. The previous leader of the party, Athol Trollip, did not appeal to the wider voting public because he is a 47 year old white farmer. In choosing a new type of leader, the Democratic Alliance is attempting to turn over a new page in politics and offer themselves as a viable alternative to the ruling African National Congress. Although the party will focus specifically on blacks’ issues, it is a party that will stand for South Africans are all races. Historically, the Democratic Alliance has been thought of as a white-dominated party. This decision to appoint a black leader is a step into the future and will hopefully result in the Democratic Alliance making more of a difference on the South African political

Tuesday, September 10, 2019

NTERNATIONAL SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

NTERNATIONAL SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS - Essay Example This study will analyse the usefulness of a sustainable product in the market and the method of producing that product in a sustainable way. The study will also show the marketing approach that will be necessary to use in terms of distribution, design and its effect to the environment. Dixie chemical company is located at Bay Area in Pasadena and aims at creative chemistry as well as being committed to its customers. It deals with research and development projects, quality control and a pilot plant that is capable of maintaining good processes in production units around the area. Being part of the American Chemical Council (ACC) the above company has been ranked as the best in both manufacturing of quality products and marketing products of high purity and pharmaceuticals (Holmberg and Robert 2000, p. 300). The company is involved with offering various services to its customers that include the provision of products information about the technical use of the product and how to use the end product in a unique way. The company also manufactures products that customers prefer for instance after a contact has been made between the client and the producer for this to happen, there have to be built confidence between the two parties. The company also helps in producing fuel at a low price which leads to less pollution to the environment. Atomic Company mostly concentrates on the production of chemicals and their by products. Nuclear power plants have recently been so useful since one needs to use a small amount of fuel as compared to other types of fuel. In the nuclear reaction, processes are conducted depending on the type of fuel produced. This process needs enough care to avoid polluting the environment through radiation gases. Use of these power plants has continuously gained competitive advantage in the market as its products are cheap and do not cause and pollution to air or water. Last month the

Monday, September 9, 2019

Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction in University of East London Essay

Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction in University of East London Academic Libraries in Docland Campus - Essay Example The campus must try to perceive the expectations of the customer for the internet services, to provide the best service. East London Academic Libraries in Docland Campus is one of the famous libraries on U K. Various types of services are provided by this university to people who need it. Also, this library has sophisticated, modern outlook. This library consists of almost 1250 internet hubs for the use of the learners. An individual, group or business firm that has direct or indirect share in a business for the reason that it can influence or be influenced by the business actions, aims and rules. Key stakeholders in a trade business consist of creditors, consumers, administrators, workers, government, proprietors, dealers, unions, and the society from which the industry draws its resources. â€Å"Some are in labs, others in resource centres. The uni accommodation is nearly all served by wired connections to the uni network too - be careful to see if the rest is able to have any int ernet connection. You'd think it should, but the comments on the unis website make you wonder... Many of the facilities are accessible 24 hours a day. Others will shut at 9pm and may not be available all day if the room is used as a classroom. Teaching rooms across campus have Concepts and Evaluation of the quality of the customer service of the internet service: Customer satisfaction of consumers of Costco Wholesale Corporation helps to assess how goods offered by the Costco wholesale corporation meet the expectations of the client. This element is required to be properly monitored and translated into a number of assessable parameters. In the modern day, customer satisfaction for business organisations has developed its significance. The customer satisfaction for the services provided by the University of East London Academic Libraries in Docland Campus may decrease if the campus fails to meet the expectations of the customer. Good customer service helps to increase the customer lo yalty towards the products. So that before offering products, the organization can identify the requirement of the consumer regarding the product. The campus of East London is one of the flourishing modern campuses, which is progressively more popular for superiority in both education and study. This university is ranked as the No 1 campus in the United Kingdom. One of the recent campus enlargement plans is the Internet service or Information technology suits. A service blueprint of the University East London Academic Libraries in Docland Campus is a graphical or illustrational demonstration of the procedure engaged in offering a service. The function of the service blueprint is to offer an understanding of the various service procedures to the populace engaged in offering these services. It is also a practical instrument for assessing the efficiency of obtainable service procedures and designing such innovative or superior procedures. â€Å"Computing and multimedia facilities are available for general use, along with specialist subject-specific facilities in our academic schools. Free wi-fi internet access Over 1,500 networked computers providing free email and internet access, software including MS Office, specialist learning and teaching packages, and statistical

Sunday, September 8, 2019

EU Law Enforcement Mechanisms Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

EU Law Enforcement Mechanisms - Essay Example The paper tells that the Commission is the chief enforcement authority, with regard to competition rules, and it effects this through the Directorate – General for Competition. The Commission can initiate an investigation on its own. This could be on the basis of press reports or its investigation on the basis of the powers conferred upon it by Article 17 of Regulation 1/2003. In addition, cases arise from complaints made by individuals or admissions of having breached the rules by undertakings. Initially, the Commission will make an investigation into the claim. During the process of investigation, the Commission is empowered to direct undertakings to furnish information and conduct interviews. This measure is aimed at enabling the Commission to determine whether the undertaking has breached the law. Furthermore, the Commission has been vested with the power to search business premises and private homes, and impound pertinent documents. However, before making a search, the Co mmission has to take the permission of the national Court. Specifically, the Commission is empowered by Article 18(1) of the Regulation 1/2003 to instruct undertakings to provide information related to the infringement in question. A recent development is that the Commission relies on the statements made to it by parties. While providing information to the Commission, an undertaking runs the risk of incriminating itself. This violates the right against self – incrimination and the ECJ has accorded partial recognition to this right. Thus, this right applies to a party that has to reply under pain of fine. In case there is no fine involved, there is no such right, as the party is at liberty to ignore the direction of the Commission.8 Even if there is the possibility of a fine being imposed for remaining silent, the right is limited in extent. This was amply illustrated in the case Orkem v Commission.9 The Commission has the authority to decide whether a particular piece of info rmation is essential for establishing breach of competition rules. As a consequence, even if it has proof regarding such infringement, it can nevertheless, request for additional information.10 Such additional information could be necessary for describing the infringement in a better manner.. As such, with regard to infringements in the economic area, it cannot be assumed that an undertaking is entitled to withhold

Saturday, September 7, 2019

Market structure and the determination of market price Essay

Market structure and the determination of market price - Essay Example On the other hand, an imperfect market is characterized by regulations limits the number of individuals selling products or services (White and Fraley, n.d.). The pharmaceutical industry is a highly regulated industry hence it presents a great level of imperfect competition. The imperfect competition in the pharmaceutical industry is found on the supply side of the market. There are so many regulations that follow before the product is introduced in the market. The bigwigs in the industry have already overcome the regulations hence focus on changing trends in the in the market. New entrants will always face challenges. In order to ensure that these pharmaceuticals do not fix prices, governments facilitate the adoption of bilateral monopolies as well as do bargaining to ensure the prices are regulated (White and Fraley, n.d.) Increase in the number of producers as well as elimination of regulations will facilitate the shift in the supply curve. However, the demand curve can also be affected when individuals opt for alternative medicine. Firstly, removal of regulations can facilitate the increase in the number of producers hence the shift in the supply curve. Secondly, lack of government bargaining can result to the pharmaceuticals overpricing since the demand for pharmaceuticals is constant. Finally, Use of alternative medicine can result to a shift in the demand curve because the consumption of pharmaceutical products is reduced (Guha, Lacy and Woodhouse, 2008).. Guha, R., Lacy, A. M. and Woodhouse, S.(2008). Analyzing competition in the Pharmaceutical industry. Economics Committee Newsletter, Vol 8 No.1. Retrieved on 30 January 2014 from http://www.cornerstone.com/getattachment/5f41372f-11ac-4f45-9f27-45b1dad16444/Analyzing-Competition-in-the-Pharmaceutical-Indust.aspx White, R. F. and Fraley, S. (n.d). Imperfect competition, price fairness and the pharmaceutical industry. Journal of Ethics, Vol 1, No 2. Retrieved on 30 January 2014 from

Friday, September 6, 2019

North America Essay Example for Free

North America Essay North America is a very unique region because of the cultural, population, and environmental differences from other regions. North America’s climates and vegetation are diverse, mainly because of the regions size. The drier climates are found from west Texas to Alberta. The soils of this region are fertile. Prairie vegetation dominated by tall grasslands in the East. Western North American climates and vegetation are complicated by the regions mountain ranges. North America climates include everything from tropical Savanna, to Tundra environments. Most of the region’s best farmland and densest settlements lay in the mild or continental multitude climate zones. Metropolitan areas struggle with outdated clean water supply system. From all the consumption of water many places are threatened by water shortage. Scientist believes that all the wells will be dry bye two thousand and twenty from all the pumping. Prices are becoming higher because of the demand of water. Also, North America is being exposed to not enough clean water. Because of the water pollution that is being exposed everyday it causes citizens to get sick. North America’s greatest environmental disaster was in two thousand and ten when the deep Horizon rig had an explosion of leaking oil in the Gulf of Mexico. This spill damaged the sea and bird life therefore, new restrictions on deepwater oil was imposed shortly after so the disaster does not happen again. Also air pollution and Global Warming. The cities closer to the south such as Houston, Los Angeles, Canada, Toronto and Hamilton experience the worse air pollution. The main problems are automobiles because they release Carbon Monoxide, Sulfur, Nitrogen Oxide, and Hydrocarbons. All of these gasses are poisons to the human body because we humans only breathe Oxygen. Also since there are such poisons being released into the air, scientist has proved that the cancer rates are higher because of this pollution. The cancer rates were five hundred times higher than rural clean air localities. Air pollution causes a severe case of Global Warming. Changes in arctic temperature sea ice and sea level have increased because of Global Warming. The Climate change has become so bad that the climate refugees were forced to move in a variety of vulnerable environmental settings. Global warming has come from multiple directions, threatening their economic viability and cultural survival. The Population of North America varies from Canada to the United States. The Population for Canada is thirty four point one million and the United States population is three hundred and nine point six million. North America’s population also varies from the different cities, but overall the population today is three hundred and forty million people. Migration plays a big role in the role in the region’s population. About twelve percent of the U.S population moved to a different residence. The main reason why migration rates have fallen is because there have been fewer job opportunities, inability to sale real estate and increase in periods of more rapid economic growth. in the North Americans mostly preferred to live in the westward part of North America because there was more value to life on the west side. The fastest growing states are in the westward part also such as Arizona, Nevada, Alberta and British Columbia. African Americans were mostly stuck in the south after the Civil war, but after noticing the labor in agricultural. It started to decline, they saw a better growing opportunity in the North and west side. Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Detroit, Chicago, Los Angeles and Oakland became the key destination for Southern Blacks. Today Seventy five percent of North American population is Urban. North America is expressed geographically in two different ways. First, similar people congregate near one another and derive meaning from the territories they occupy in common. Second, their culture, the everyday landscape, and language. Overall about twenty three percent of Canadians are French but more than eighty percent of the population of Quebec speaks French. Canadians strengthened the French language by requiring French instructions in the schools. Another different kind of culture language is the Hispanics who spoke Spanish. About forty five million Hispanics now live in the United States with more than half in California, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona combined. Latin foods and music add internal cultural variety to the region. New York City, Chicago and Miami serve as key points of Hispanic cultural influence. African Americans also have cultural homelands. Any of the south areas are considered home to the black African Americans. Such as Mississippi, Louisiana, South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama. The kinds of music black folks engage in are mostly spiritual such as Gospel, and the Blues. Another homeland in the South is Acadian, a Cajun culture in southwestern Louisiana. This homeland was created when French settlers were expelled from eastern Canada and relocated to Louisiana. Millions of North Americans are affiliated with traditional religions. Orthodox Christians congregate in the Urban Northeast where many Greek, Russian and Serbian Orthodox communities were established. The telltale domes of Ukrainian Orthodox churches still dot the Canadian praires of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. Also More than seven million Jews live in North America to this very day. The nation of Islam also has a strong Urban orientation, reflecting its appeal to many economically dispossessed African Americans. Many other Muslims, Buddhists, and Hindus also live int the United States. The United States also have a lot of Islam’s, Buddhist and Hindus While only about eight percent of people in the Unites States classify themselves as nonbelievers, a recent survey showed that thirty percent of the population claimed to have a largely secular lifestyle in which religion was rarely practiced. In a parallel fashion U.S culture has forever changed the lives of billions of people beyond the region. Although the economic and military power ot the United States was notable by the nineteen hundreds, It was not until after world war two that the countrys popular culture reshaped global human geographies in fundamental ways. The Marshal Plan and the Peace corps initiatives exemplified the growing presence of the United States on the worlds stage even as Europe, Colonialism wande. Rapid improvement and Global transportation and information technologies, much of them engineered in the United States, also brought the world more surely under the regions spell. Perhaps most critical was the marriage between growing Global demand for consumers, goods and the rise of the multinational corporation, which was Superbly structured to meet a cultivate those needs. These are the differences of North America from any other region.

Thursday, September 5, 2019

Case Study: Patient With Asthma

Case Study: Patient With Asthma Patient RR is a 58 years old female with a weight of 55kg. Patient was admitted to hospital on 9th April 2009. Her presenting complaints were cough with sputum, pain when inhaling air at chest, breathless and unable to speak in full sentence. Her past medical histories were hypercholesterolemia, bronchial asthma and she has no known drug allergy. For her social history, she works as a security guard and is living with her husband. She is a non smoker as well as non alcoholic and she has no known family history. Patients drug history include metered dose inhaler (MDI) salbutamol 200mcg as required, MDI budesonide 400mcg twice daily, theophylline SR tablet 250mg once daily and lovastatin tablet 20mg once daily. Investigations Blood Test: 9th April 12th April WBC 10.9109/L 12.9109/L High (4-10.0) RBC 4.821012/L 4.91012/L High (3.8-4.8) MCV 78.7 fl/cell 78.6 fl/cell Low (83-101) MCH 26.5 pg/cell 25.3 pg/cell Low (27-32) ESR 24 mm/hr High (0-20) Blood HbA1c 7.2% Good control: 8.0% Renal Profile: 9th April 11th April Plasma K+ 2.8 mmol/L 2.5 mmol/L Low (3.5-5.1) Creatinine 100 ÃŽ ¼mol/L 79 ÃŽ ¼mol/L (58-96) Blood test indicated that the level of white blood cell and erythrocyte sedimentation rate is higher than normal which suggests the patient had an infection. The blood HbA1c showed adequate control of blood glucose. On the other hand, the renal test showed that the patient had low plasma potassium and the plasma creatinine level is normal. Clinical Progress On examination, the patient was alert with no pedal oedema. Her pulse rate was 120 beats per minute, blood pressure was 130/62 mmHg, and respiratory rate was 22 breaths per min. She was diagnosed with acute exacerbation bronchial asthma secondary to upper respiratory tract infection. The plan was to give intravenous (IV) hydrocortisone 200mg immediately then 100mg three times daily, IV Augmentin 1.2g three times daily, nebulizer atrovent: ventolin: normal saline (A:V:N) 2:1:2 every two hours and to continue SPO2 monitoring. On day 1, the patient was given MDI Budesonide 400mcg, nebulizer AVN, IV hydrocortisone 100mg three times daily, bromhexine tablet 8mg three times daily, erythromycin tablet 400mg twice daily, prednisolone tablet 40mg once daily, oxygen 3L/min and lovastatin tablet 20mg once daily. Theophylline were stopped. On day 3, patients blood pressure was 120/70 mmHg, respiratory rate was 26 breaths per minute and the SPO2 was 98%. She has cough with yellow sputum and the sputum culture showed that there are no pathogen isolated. The patient was to start on long acting beta agonist (LABA). Other medications that were given include potassium tablet 1.2g twice daily, Neb Combivent 4 hourly, IV Augmentin 1.2g three times daily, MIST expectorant 15mL three times daily. Hydrocortisone and bisolvon were stopped. On day 4, the patient had fever, cough with yellow sputum and difficulty in breathing. No new action was taken. On day 6, patient had no more fever but still had cough with yellow sputum. Her blood pressure was 122/80 mmHg and respiratory rate was 20 breaths per minute. The plan was to give MDI formoterol 9mcg once daily and augmentin tablet 625mg. Oxygen and prednisolone were stopped. On day 8, patient still had cough but the sputum turned white. Patient was given theophylline SR tablet 250mg twice daily and was ready to be discharged the next day. Medication Summary Drug Dose Frequency Indication T.Bisolvon 8mg tds(stop at day 3) Cough Mist Expectorant 15 mL tds (day3-day 6) Cough T.Erythromycin 400mg bd (stop on day 6) Infection KCl solution 20mL tds (stop on day 7) Hypokalaemia T.Prednisolone 40mg od (stop on day 6) Acute asthma T.Augmentin 625mg tds Infection T.Lovastatin 20mg od Hyperlipidaemia T.Nuelin SR 500mg bd Asthma OXIS inhaler (formoterol) 9mcg od Asthma MDI Budesonide 400mcg bd Asthma Salbutamol 200mcg when required Asthma Pharmaceutical Care Plan Care Plan Recommendation Desired Outcome 1. Monitor K+ level -high dose salbutamol and theophylline causes hypokalaemia K+ level should be monitored. K+ supplement should be given if K+ level is low. Maintain stable potassium level. 2. On day 4, patient had fever but not treated. Paracetamol should be given. To lower down patients temperature. 3. Concurrent use of oral prednisolone and IV hydrocortisone for acute treatment -If patient can tolerate orally, oral prednisolone should be adequate. -if cant, give IV hydrocortisone 100mg every 6 hour until conversion to oral is possible. 4. Combination inhaler can be given to patient Symbicort inhaler (1-2 puffs bd) can be given instead of OXIS and budesonide inhaler. Besides that, Symbicort can be also given as relief to replace Combivent. Less confusion and increases compliance. 5. Technique to use inhaler -Counsel patient on proper technique -advice on oral hygiene to avoid oral candidiasis. 6. Prophylaxis of asthma Counsel patient to avoid allergen that may trigger attack and avoid NSAIDs. Lowers risk of asthma attack 7. Compliance issue Advice patient on the importance to take control medication accordingly even if patient feels well. Lowers risk of asthma attack Disease Overview and Pharmacological Basis of Drug Therapy Asthma affects people of all ages, but it normally starts at childhood1. Asthma affects 5-8% of the population around the world2. A study done by World Health Organization (WHO) shows that there are 15 million disability-adjusted life years lost yearly because of asthma, displaying 1% of total disease burden worldwide3. The annual worldwide mortality caused by asthma is estimated to be 250,000. In Scotland, the incidence of clinical asthma is around 18.4% of the population3. Asthma is an inflammatory disease where there is frequent reversible airway obstruction1. The narrowing of the airway happens when people with asthma react strongly to certain substance they breathe in. These irritant stimuli are too weak to affect normal individuals1. The narrowing of airway is also caused by other factors which include mucosal swelling or inflammation caused by inflammatory mediators released by mast cell and basophil degranulation as well as mucus or phlegm production2. The causes of asthma include genetic factor, environmental factor and history of etopic disorder5. The most common symptoms of asthma are wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness and sometimes cough, especially at night in younger people1, 4. The probability of asthma increased if symptoms worsen at night and early morning or in response to exercise, allergen and cold air5. Acute severe asthma may cause hypoxaemia and is not easily reversed. Therefore, the patient needs prompt treatment and hospitalization1. Patients with asthma have continuous and excessive T-helper cell type 2 (Th2)-dominated immune response and the Th1 which is responsible for structural and defensive status of the tissue is reduced4. The activated T-cells produce cytokines in the bronchial mucosa and this attract other inflammatory granulocytes especially eosinophils which produce cysteinyl leukotrienes along with granule protein to damage epithelium. The cytokines released also promotes IgE synthesis in some asthmatic patients which cause expression of IgE receptors on mast cell and eosinophils1, 4. The important mediators associated with asthma are leukotriene B4, cysteinyl leukotrienes (C4 and D4), interleukins IL-4, IL-5, IL-13 and tissure-damaging eosinophil proteins1. In atopic asthmatic patients, inhaled allergen caused cross-linking of IgE molecules on mast cells hence activating degranulation with histamine and leukotriene B4 release. These substances are powerful bronchoconstrictors thus causing acute exace rbation of asthma1. For diagnosis of asthma, spirometry is the preferred initial test5. It is a device to measure the functional lung volumes. Through the patients full force expiration into the device, the forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) and force vital capacity (FVC) are measured. Exhalation continues until there is no more breath to be exhaled. The FEV1/FVC ratio shows the severity of airflow obstruction and the normal ratio is 75-80%2. The ratio is less than 75% in asthma which indicates obstructive defect. There is normally more than 15% improvement in FEV1 after administration of B2 agonist or steroid trial in asthma patients2. Peak expiratory flow (PEF) is also another test for asthma though FEV1 uses lesser effort2. It is measured by the maximum forced expiratory through a peak flow meter and acts as an estimate of airway calibre. PEF is measured frequently to check response to treatment and disease control. PEF is used to test acute and chronic asthma with PEF decreases along with s everity2. Moderate acute asthma Severe acute asthma Life-threatening Able to talk, Respiratory rate (RR)50-75% Incomplete sentence, RR>25/min, SPO2110/min, PEF 33-50% Silent chest, cyanosis, exhaustion, confusion, feeble respiratory effort, SPO2