Saturday at the Canal anaylsis

Saturday at the Canal is not a cut ND dry poem where you know exactly what it is about, it is a poem that lets us use our imagination. The poem starts out with a heart-wrenching statement â€Å"l was hoping to be happy by seventeen†. Within the first eight words of this poem, we the readers are already drawn in. We want to know why a seventeen year old is not happy at such an important point in his life. We begin to think of possible situations where a seventeen year old wouldn't be happy with life; bullying, heart break. Or maybe even death.We have to continue to read In order to understand why this teenager is having such a radar time. Sotto peaks everyone's curiosity by Implying that this teenager has never been happy In his entire life. He relies on our nosiness to ensure that we will continue to read. The character in this poem goes on to tell us reasons for his unhappiness by beginning with school. They talk about how school was â€Å"a sharp checkmate in the roll bookà ¢â‚¬  implying that school was more like a chore. Once they checked one thing off the list, another one was right there to follow.Sotto helps us see the type of teenager the character is. He brings us back into a school hallway where we hear the tuba sound for the sports pep rally. Once everyone leaves for the rally, the only people left in the hallway are the burnouts and loners. The ones with â€Å"poor grades† and â€Å"unwashed hair†, the ones similar to our character. It Is Saturday now and the character and his friend decide to go watch the water at the canal. They don't talk much but they do walk around â€Å"hurling large rocks at the dusty ground. † Our mall character tells us that they both felt awful about a postcard from San Francisco.It was their dream to get there by any means necessary, to â€Å"hitchhike under the last migrating birds† was even an option for them. This line shows how desperate they were to move forward with their lives. F or these friends, the most fun they have on a Saturday is walking by a canal throwing rocks. They wanted to move to the big city where there were big opportunities. Moving to San Francisco for these two would mean they could escape their hum- drum lives. They wanted be able to learn guitar from people who knew more than three chords.They wanted to become the rock stars they have always dreamed of. They were good kids because they didn't want to become the typical rock stars that sit around smoking and drinking. They Just wanted to be rock stars that get up on stage with their long hair and rock out with their guitars. After they are done fantasizing, reality sets back In. They realize they are still stuck in this little Podunk town of theirs. They dream about the idea of leaving but then the water â€Å"white-tipped but dark underneath, racing out of town. This line shows owe much they new the water in the canal and how they wish they could race out of town as easily as it does. Th roughout the poem you get the feeling, that ever since the boys were young they wanted to become rock stars. Unfortunately, something was always holding them back from pursuing their dreams. They originally hoped that by seventeen they would be in San Francisco rocking out but when they got to that age they slowly started to realize they were never going to fulfill that dream. Now they Just go back to the canal and watch, with new and Jealously, as the water runs out of town.

The Cross-Cultural Management Implications for a UK Manager Undertaking an International Business Assignment to another Country

Abstract This report looks at the implications for cross-cultural management for a UK manager undertaking an international business assignment in China. Key ways of understanding cultural differences, particularly Hofstede’s and Trompenaars cultural dimensions, are discussed. Although the UK and China have some similarities, they are very different in several dimensions, and the ways these differences impact upon business practice are pointed out. Finally, key recommendations are made. 1. Introduction The following looks at the cross-cultural management implications for a UK manager undertaking an international business assignment to China. It uses a theoretical framework of cultural differences to explore the ways in which the two different countries have different business styles (including differences in style of management, communication and staff issues).The exploration of the differences between the UK and China is used to support a number of recommendations to the UK manager about best practice. China offers unparalleled opportunities for business, and over the last 30 years has shown unprecedented economic growth, with a percentage rise of 8.7% in 2009, better than all other major economies (UK Trade and Investment 2012 [online]). China is large, both in terms of size (3.7 million square miles) and population (1.3 billion).Its capital is Beijing, and its population largely (92%) Han Chinese, with the remainder 55 different ethnic minority groups. Although officially an atheist country, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Daoism are practiced. Mandarin is the main language, although there are a number of local dialects, and the currency is the Yuan or Renminbi (Foreign and Commonwealth Office 2012 [online]). China’s communist government have, over the last 30 years, brought about substantial change to bring about market-oriented economic systems (Gore 2011) in order to deliver the prosperity that it seemed the Marxist system could not provide (Grant 2005). The transformation has been built upon the large workforce, offering the possibility of cheap labour and hence low-cost manufacturing. It has seen economic reforms which have meant China have become a force in the global business market (Brandt and Rawski 2006). China is, however, culturally very different from the UK, and in order to conduct business successfully it is essential to understand these differences and the impact on management. 2. Cross-Cultural Theorists Two theorists, Hofstede and Trompenaars, are particularly useful for understanding the differences between cultures. Hofstede has been very influential in contemporary management theory attempts to understand cross-cultural differences. His ideas were rooted in a large scale study of IBM (Matsumoto and Juang 2012), and involve five different dimensions which characterise a nation. Each country has a different value for each dimension, and a unique picture of the cultural nature of that country is built up through all five dimensions. The five dimensions are power distance, individualism / collectivism, masculinity / femininity, degree of uncertainty avoidance, and time orientation (Hofstede 1984).Power distance concerns the extent to which people are happy with an unequal society, and the extent to which the society is hierarchical with a large gap between the powerful and those without power. A low power distance country, for example, would be more egalitarianism and intolerant o f power imbalance. Individualism / collectivism refers to the extent to which people think of themselves as individuals or as part of a group.Individualistic societies are competitive and value creativity for example (Phillips and Gully 2011). The dimension of masculinity and femininity expresses the extent to which the culture displays predominantly masculine values: gender roles are clearly defined, assertiveness and striving are praised. In a feminine culture roles are more fluid and more caring values respected (Tian 2004). Uncertainty avoidance refers to how comfortable people are with ambiguity. Cultures high on this like rules and regulations (Sorrentino 2005).Interestingly for the context of this report, Hofstede’s final dimension was based on data collected from China, with the help of Michael Harris Bond (Berry et al 1997).Time orientation concerns the way in which people think about time, with a distinction between short-term and long-term orientation. Cultures which are short-term oriented life in the moment, while long-term cultures are strong on planning (Daft and Marcic 2010). Trompenaars (1993) model can be seen as a development of Hofstede’s ideas. He suggested seven different dimensions, again based on a large-scale study across many different countries. These dimensions cover three main areas: how people relate to others, their perceptions of time, and their experiences of the environment (Lane 2004). The seven dimensions overlap with Hofstede’s dimensions to some extent, with some being very similar and others new. The dimensions he specifies are: Universal v. particular: whether the society is organised around set rules and procedures or whether the needs of the individuals come first Individual v. collectivism: whether people predominantly act for themselves or think about the group Affective v. neutral: whether people are predominantly demonstrative emotionally, or are controlled and rational Specific v. diffuse: whether organisational systems determine employee behaviour, or systems arise out of the needs and perspectives of individuals. Achievement v. ascription: whether achievement or background, education and other fixed variables assumed to be important about people Sequential v. synchronous: whether time is seen fixed and linear or flexible and open Internal v. external control: whether people believe that nature can be controlled through human will, or human beings are part of nature and subject to its laws. (Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner 2004). While Trompenaars is clearly influenced by Hofstede’s work, Hofstede has criticised the former for lacking the intellectual rigour he believes the five dimensional model possesses. Hofstede has also attracted criticism, for example that five dimensions are inadequate to fully capture the complexity of cultural differences (Browaeys and Price 2008). Despite criticisms, however, both these models are useful to help understand how cultures differ from each other, and will influence the next section. 3. Discussion / Analysis According to Hofstede (Geert-hofstede.com 2012 [online]) (see appendix), China and the UK show fairly different cultural styles. They are, however, identical for masculinity / femininity (66) and near-identical for uncertainty avoidance.Both the UK and China tend towards masculinity in society, with drivenness and competition valued. Additionally, both are low for uncertainty avoidance, in other words, both societies are happy with ambiguity and believe rules should be followed flexibly and selectively. Both societies are adaptable, which encourages entrepreneurship. China is higher than the UK for power distance (80 v. 35), that is, China is comfortable with hierarchy, power structure and wide gaps between people. There is more likelihood of abuse of power, and authority is important. Aspiration above ones status is unacceptable. In the UK, people see each other as equals to a greater extent, have less respect for authority, do not tolerate abuses of power, and aspire to change their status. There is also a gap between the UK and China in regards to individualism, with the UK scoring much higher (89 v. 20). In other words, in China there is a much higher degree of interdependence between people, with people defining themselves as part of a group. In the UK the tendency is to think about oneself, and one’s family before society as a whole. Chinese people act to serve the group rather than themselves, and are likely to have much higher organisational commitment, as well as feeling it acceptable for closer groups (e.g. family) to get preferential treatment at work. Whereas UK people tend to be generally agreeable to those outside the preferred group, in highly collectivist societies those outside their group may be demonised. China are much more long-term oriented than the UK. There is a greater value placed on persistence and long-term goals. They are happy to save and be economical with resources, and have great respect for the past and for tradition. By contrast, people in the UK are more able to enjoy the moment, and can be flexible with regards to goals. According to Trompenaars, China is one of the most particularist of the countries he looked at (Rugman and Collinson 2008), meaning that they look at the particular case and take all circumstances into account, rather than looking at general principles. For example, an employer in a particularist culture might excuse poor work behaviour if the individual’s circumstances offer a good reason. In addition, China scores highly for affectivity, level of diffuseness and external control (Aswathappa 2010).That is, people conduct business in an emotional way, displaying emotions openly, do not have a strong sense of the barriers between public and private life, and feel that fate plays a stronger role in what happens to an individual or organisation than choice and self-motivation. While there are some similarities, China and UK have a very different cultural make-up, according to both sets of dimensions. What impact does this have on business styles This can be considered in terms of different areas. For team work, for example, the high-power distance might mean that Chinese staff are uncomfortable with sharing feedback and frank discussions. However, their low individualism suggests that they would put the team before themselves, and would therefore be motivated by team-based rewards. UK staff, by contrast, might find sharing opinions as a team fairly easy, as they have a lower power distance, but might put their own interests before those of the team or organisation as a whole. In terms of communication, China have high affectivity, which suggests they might work better if communication styles are emotional rather than neutral. For example, written communications in the UK tend towards formal business English: a more open and friendly style might suit the Chinese market more. Additionally, China scores highly for diffuseness against specificity. That is, there may be a tendency for communications to be more roundabout, with things left unsaid or communicated non-verbally. Diffuse cultures also have a higher degree of overlap between work and home (Amant 2007), which may mean that there is a greater reliance on shared experience upon which to base communication amongst the Chinese. There is also a need for a different management style, to take into account the greater power distance in China. Whereas UK workers respond better to power sharing and partnership styles, in China there may be a need to confirm the hierarchy, making it clear who is in charge, and defining roles carefully.However China also score highly for particularism, which suggests that management needs to take into account the details of each situation, rather than rigidly follow rules. Employees are likely to expect that rules can be bent to suit circumstance. Motivation and performance management are also likely to differ across the cultures. As mentioned, China scores much lower for individualism, which suggests that team-based rewards would be more motivating for them than in the UK. China are also markedly more long-term oriented, which means employees are likely to respond to goals set for the distant future, rather than needing near-instant reward. There is also an issue here for motivating teams which consist of employees from both China and the UK, as each employee group is likely to have a different perspective on what is a motivating factor. The higher score for China on external control suggests that employees are less likely to enjoy spontaneous decision making. As they feel that the forces which drive business are located outside of themselves, this removes some of the responsibility for making decisions, and places it in the hands of fate, or higher authorities in the organisation. This is confirmed by the high power distance in China, which suggests that employees are very comfortable with letting decision making be carried out by those higher in the corporate hierarchy. By contrast, UK employees are likely to desire more participation in decisions. Negotiation should also be handled with care. The higher affectivity and diffuse culture in China may mean that great attention needs to be paid to the non-verbal cues when negotiation takes place.The higher power distance might also mean that negations need to be carried out between staff perceived to be at similar levels. In addition to the dimensional analysis of culture, Tian (2007) suggests that negotiation in China is determined by a set of core traditional values including the importance of sincerity and trust, respect for age and hierarchy, maintaining social harmony and avoiding getting angry or being unpleasant to others. This might mean that negotiation between two people of very different ages might be tricky, for example. 4. Conclusions Although they have some common areas, for example similarly masculine cultures and a similar tolerance of uncertainty, China and the UK have key cultural differences which are likely to impact attempts to manage a diverse work team. In particular, China employees are likely to be much more comfortable with hierarchy and unequal distribution of power, to value the group over the individual, to be focussed upon the long-term (but less likely to react spontaneously to the moment). They are also more likely to expect rules to be bent to the particular case, to attribute the cause of events to circumstances or agents external to themselves, and to prefer styles of communication which heavily emphasise the non-verbal and tacit. While, to a certain extent, globalisation has meant that cultural diversity is threatened, (Homann et al 2007), to be successful management needs to anticipate and plan for difference. 5. Recommendations Recognise that hierarchy has a more important role in China Adapt communication styles to pay attention to context, body-language and assumed information Plan team-work to incorporate two very different perspectives on the relative importance of the individual and the group Ensure Chinese employees are kept fully informed about the long-term perspective 6. References Aswathappa, K (2010) International Business (4th edn.), Tata McGraw-Hill Education, India. Berry, J W, Portinga, Y H and Pandey, J (1997) Handbook of Cross-cultural Psychology: Social behavior and applications (2nd edn.), John Berry. Brandt, L and Rawski, T G (2006) China’s Great Economic Transformation, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge and New York. Browaeys, M-J and Price, R (2008) Understanding cross-cultural management, Pearson Education, Harlow, Essex Daft, R L and Marcic, D (2010) Understanding Management (7th edn.), Cengage Learning, Belmont, CA. Foreign and Commonwealth Office (2012) ‘China: Country Information’ [online] (cited 22nd February 2012), available from http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/country-profile/asia-oceania/china Geert-hofstede.com (2012) ‘What about China?’, [online] (cited 22nd February 2012), available from http://geert-hofstede.com/china.html ‘What about china?’, Gore, L (2011) The Chinese Communist Party and China’s capitalist revolution: the political impact of the market, Taylor & Francis, Oxon. Grant, R G (2005) Communism: Systems of government, Evans Brothers. Hofstede, G H (1984) Culture’s consequences: international differences in work-related values (2nd edn), SAGE, Thousand Oaks, CA Homann, K, Koslowski, P and Luetge, C (2007) Globalisation and business ethics, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd, Aldershot, Hants. Lane, H W (2004) The Blackwell handbook of global management: a guide to managing complexity, John Wiley & Sons / Blackwell, Oxon. Matsumoto, D and Juang, L (2012) Culture and Psychology (5th edn), Cengage Learning, Belmont CA Phillips, J and Gulley, S M (2011) Organizational Behavior: Tools for Success, Cengage Learning, Belmont, CA. Rugman, A M and Collinson, S (2008) International Business (5th edn.), Pearson Education, Harlow, Essex St. Amant, K (2007) Linguistic and cultural online communication issues in the global age, Idea Group Inc, Hershey PA Sorrento, R M (2005) Culture and social behaviour, Routledge, UK Tian, Q (2004) A transcultural study of ethical perceptions and judgements between Chinese and German businessmen, Martin Meidenbauer Verlag, Germany Tian, X (2007) Managing international business in China, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Trompenaars, F (1993) Riding the waves of culture: understanding cultural diversity in business, Economist Books. Trompenaars, F and Hampden-Turner, C (2004) Managing people across cultures, Capstone. UK Trade and Investment (2012) ‘China’ [online] (cited 22nd February 2012), available from http://www.ukti.gov.uk/export/countries/asiapacific/fareast/china.html

Agonism in the Academy Essay

Education, a most powerful tool of use in today’s world and one that we probably take for granted, could possible be at risk as far as how knowledgeable we are becoming on the material at hand. A mind is a terrible thing to waste, and because of agonism in academics, students now might not be getting the full potential out of their mind simply because of the way they/we are being taught. Deborah Tannen, a professor at Georgetown University, in the article â€Å"Agonism in the Academy: Surviving the Argument Culture† (2000) argues that discussion rather than debate is a more proficient way of teaching our students, likewise, collaborating ideas instead of tearing down material can benefit educators and the educated more in the long run. Through a focus on logic, Tannen explains the negative influence that agonistic learning has on academic culture; she uses ethos and pathos to support her logical argument that agonistic learning is not as valuable as open discussion. In order to clearly explain the problem of agonism, Tannen shares a personal experience of a book club meeting where academic material, and learning, was torn down by critics and agonistic people. According to Tannen, during the book club meeting there were disagreements of the material between different groups. As she states, â€Å"The phenomenon I’d observed at the book-group meeting was an example of what cultural linguist Walter Ong calls agonism. † (215). Here is where Tannen first exemplifies her main claim of agonism in academics, getting her audience familiar with the term. Tannen states, â€Å"I left the meeting disappointed because I had learned nothing new about the book or its subjects. All I had learned about is the acumen of the critics. I was especially struck by the fact that one of the most influential and most talkative critics was the member who had not read the book. † (215). Through this statement, and personal experience, Tannen is able to show how agonism is apparent in our academic world even in higher credential educated men and women. Along with showing how our argumentative culture overpowers our ability to discuss and create new ideas. This experience helps strengthen her credibility because we see that she is involved in academic discussions of a higher ranking, such as professors and higher educators. One logical example Tannen uses to glamorize agonism in academics, is the negative affect is has on students success in school, more specifically college students. She goes on to say â€Å"One problem with the agonistic culture of graduate training is that potential scholars who are not comfortable with that kind of interaction are likely to drop out† (217). Through this statement we see that Tannen is familiar with the ongoing issue that more and more students are dropping out of college because they don’t feel comfortable with they way they are being forced to learn. Which ties back into her argument of discussion rather than debate, meaning if you constantly have this ongoing strong debate, then you will lose students in the process because they are becoming less and less interested in what’s being taught. Tannens main goal through this article is to persuade us into thinking differently and seeing a new way of learning, a better way of learning that could benefit education in the long run. She wants to bring the issue into the light and help us see the affects that agonism is having on our learning. To accomplish this goal, Tannen uses the appeal of pathos, emotional appeal, to reach out to her audience in a different way. This is apparent when Tannen states, â€Å"We would learn more from each other, be heard more clearly by others, attract more varied talents to the scholarly life, and restore a measure of humanity to ourselves, our endeavor, and the academic world we inhabit† (220). Although very logical, this whole-hearted sentimental quote is meant to appeal emotionally to readers by giving the feeling that we need to save our academic humanity, and not let it go to waste. In essence, Tannen is promoting cooperative discussion, where students and educators can build off each others ideas, and form new perspectives. So what should, or could, be the immediate solution to this issue? While discussing agonistic ideology, Tannen states, â€Å"Our agonist ideology seems so eeply embedded in academe that one might wonder what alternatives we have† (219). Tannen may be saying here that there are no immediate solutions at this point in time, most likely because we have been engaging in this agonistic learning style for quite some time. On the other hand, Tannen goes on to state later in the article, while discussing another reading group experience, â€Å"Refocusing our attention. . . is the greatest gain in store if we can move beyond critique in it’s n arrow sense† (220). Now the solution is blunt, we as students and educators need to step back from critique and step forward to open discussion. Tannen does an excellent job in explaining and exemplifying throughout her article how agonism has a negative affect on academic culture. Through her powerful logical appeals and support of pathos and ethos, Tannen gives numerous credible claims to support her main argument and solution of how we as students and educators should collaborate ideas to form new perspectives rather than debating material and tearing it down piece by piece.

Louis ghost armchair Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Louis ghost armchair - Assignment Example The Louis ghost is a modern chair with a medallion backrest for leisurely comfort, the chair is well balanced and suitable for indoor and outdoor use, fit for a king. Philippe Starck designed the Louis ghost armchair as a contemporary take on style of a French king Louis xv. The chairs are luxuries; comfortable and super stylish, hence it encompasses the elegance of royal taste on a peasant’s budget. Taking on a number of the styles of its original design, I find it more interesting that the Louis ghost armchair is designed modernly and very comfortable furniture. It was molded in durable and shock-resistant polycarbonate. The chairs are available in various colors that suit any interior or exterior setting. Rather than being made out of mahogany wood like its forerunner, it was created out of polycarbon, making the chair both lightweight as well as durable. The Louis ghost armchair also helps solve one worrying problem common with furniture, when moving or keeping. Unutilized furniture space is a key issue but with the Louis ghost armchair, this is solved as the design allows the chair to be slanted on top of the other with each fitting into the r hence occupying minimum space during transportation or storage. The ghost name comes from its transparent look giving it the illusion of a ghost. In this context, Louis ghost armchair is considered as a key contributor to art deco as its designing style is characterized by the use of modern technology with the use of new material, such as polycarbonate.

Atlantic Computer Pricing Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 5

Atlantic Computer Pricing Strategy - Essay Example Jowers finds that pricing is significant where the market impact, profit results, or both, of price variations, is great, and where firms have considerable discretion over the prices charged. In many instances, pricing decisions are severely constrained and are sometimes relatively unimportant. Large purchasers of industrial goods, like Atlantic Computer, may specify prices at which they will buy, determine product specifications, and send specifications to suppliers for competitive bids. This, it will prevent the company from effective competition and can lead to decrease in sales. The alternative solutions are status-quo pricing, competition-based pricing, cost-plus pricing and value-in-use pricing. Analyzing these strategies, Jowers takes into account competitors reaction and market positioning of Atlantic Computer. He supposes that frother products price may not be a relevant factor. In some technical areas where products require much research and development and involve much uncertainty, a cost-plus scheme may be used. In other situations, sellers may be almost completely free to set prices, while in still others, they may only be able to decide whether or not to sell at a price. Thus, the proposed pricing strategies have a negative or neutral impact on PESA and its strategic position on the market. The main requirements for the product are minimal acquisition costs, minimal possession costs, and the possibility to process many information requests. Introduction of the PESA is a crucial step for Atlantic Computer to gain market share and attract more client s. The plan of action will involve analysis of sales force and their ability to introduce the PESA, customers purchasing power and analysis of the first sales. Buyers are concerned not only with price, in their purchases, but also with service, status, and image. Low price alone does not result in a transaction.

Clostridium Difficile Infection Prevention Essay

Clostridium Difficile Infection Prevention - Essay Example Health and social care facilities generate a challenging environment due to the operations undertaken on a daily basis. This environment poses as a perfect medium for transfer of the microorganisms from patient, equipment and staff. It is important to be vigilant at all times in these environments due to the vulnerability; pressure associated with opportunist pathogens and the intensity and complexity of health care environments (Angenent & Kelly, 2009). Patients with mild symptoms of c. diff may improve if they stop taking antibiotics. Those with severe symptoms need different antibiotic medication. When the severity suffered is intense, medics administer further therapy. Clostridium difficile is an infection of the colon by the bacterium. It causes colitis by producing toxins that damage the lining of the colon. The symptoms include diarrhea, fever, and abdominal pain. It can develop into severe complications, which include dehydration, rupture of the colon, and spread of infection s to the abdominal cavity or body. The most common cause of c. difficile colitis occurs in patients, in the hospitals, though a number of cases out of the hospital have increased. The choice of this topic in this research is influenced by the responsibility burden for social care facilities and health organizations as important pillars in curbing down c. difficile infections. As seen above, these environments are exposed to breeding grounds for the pathogens causing c. diff to grow and infect people easily.... Statistics show that hospitalized patients are more prone to the infection; however, it also affects healthy individuals. Every employee working under health departments has a key responsibility to ensure prevention and management of the infections. This responsibility covers entirely all health and social care organizations, regardless of the patient setting or care provider. Introduction of good health practices is geared towards prevention and management of infections related to pathogens that cause c. diff. There are many attributions to infection or diseases, for example, different microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, viruses, and prions. These microorganisms result in a wide variety of infections (Beltrami, 2010). Such infections include urinary tract, wounds, respiratory, blood, bone and skin infections. To say that not all infections are transmissible will be in order; nonetheless, a majority of them such as influenza, clostridium difficile and norovirus can spread from on e person to another hence end up causing transmissible infections (Artel, 2011). Health and social care facilities should be made responsible for enhancing good health practices. Health and social care facilities generate a challenging environment due to the operations undertaken on a daily basis. This environment poses as a perfect medium for transfer of the microorganisms from patient, equipment and staff. It is important to be vigilant at all times in these environments due to the vulnerability; pressure associated with opportunist pathogens and the intensity and complexity of health care environments (Angenent & Kelly, 2009). Patients with mild symptoms of c. diff may improve if they stop taking antibiotics. Those with severe symptoms need different antibiotic medication. When

4G Wireless Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

4G Wireless Systems - Essay Example Data packets are sent wirelessly to the satellites that help to transfer data quickly. This change has brought about much relief for the general public as now communication can be easier and much faster and not to mention it has become a lot less tedious. However, the fast paced changes in the technological world make it a lot harder for various companies and industries to keep up. One day a new product is introduced and the next day the team sits down to chalk out the plans to make the product better. A perfect example would be Apple’s effort to introduce new and improved versions of the iPhone and then there is the competition that makes companies run faster and faster. Using the last example of Apple it is now common knowledge that Google’s Android is becoming the competition to the iPhone. In the same manner, wireless systems have evolved from time to time and continue to do so.The wireless communication systems have been defined by giving then designations with reg ards to generations. The first generation was introduced in the early 1980s and made use of analog frequency modulation and were more or less used for the purpose of voice communication. It was not much later in the late 1980s that the second generation of wireless system technology made its way in the market was once again focused on voice communicationÃ'Ž Later, instead of a third generation technology, there was a midway between the second and third generation know as 2.5 generation.  

Micromint micropayment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Micromint micropayment - Essay Example The scrip ensures there is a permanent relationship between the customer and the vendor. This according to Rivest (1997, p. 45), is inconvenience for a vendor. To perform each transaction, the consumer goes to the broker for exchange of the vendor scrip. In spite of the security features of Millicent System; it is still exposed to cyber crimes. Future systems ought to be improved using public keys for encryption. This can protect sensitive information from reaching intruders. Additionally, network security techniques ought to be applied to eliminate the risk of man-in-the-middle attack. Glassman, S., Manasse, M., Abadi, M., Gauthier, P & Sobalvarro, P 2013, â€Å"The MilliCent Protocol for Inexpensive Electronic Commerce†, Fourth International World Wide Web Conference, Darmstadt, Germany. Rivest, R 1997, â€Å"Electronic Lottery Tickets as Micropayments†, in R. Hirschfeld (Ed.), Financial Crypography: First International Conference (FC ‘97), Anguilla, British West Indies, Feb. 24-28, Lecture Notes in Computer Science (Vol. 1318, pp. 307-314). Yacobi, Y 1997, â€Å"On the Continuum Between On-line and Off-line E-cash Systems†, in R. Hirschfeld (Ed.), Financial Cryptography: First International Conference (FC ’97), Anguilla, British West Indies, February 24-28, Lecture Notes in Computer Science (Vol. 1318, pp.

Theory of Nursing Models Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Theory of Nursing Models - Essay Example Kearny-Nunnery (2010) notes that the model consists of five variables that are fundamental to its application in life. These five factors are, developmental, psychological, sociocultural, physiological, and spiritual. According to Skalski, DiGerolamo & Gigliotti (2006), the physiological variable involves the structures and the body functions while as the psychological variable involves the mental processes of the clientele, such as the emotions. Skalski, DiGerolamo & Gigliotti (2006), continues to note that the developmental variable involves the development stages of any person, such as from childhood to adulthood through adolescence. The social cultural variable involves the relationships and activities of the individual while spiritual denotes to the effect of spiritual beliefs. The main goal of nursing in this model is upholding the prime wellness of the client. The actions of nurses should be introduced in order to preserve, achieve, and uphold the maximum fitness and wellness for the clientele by means of three preclusions to keep the systems steady. The three preclusions involve primary interventions, secondary interventions, and tertiary interventions. In most cases, the primary interventions happen before the rest. They normally occur before the structure reacts to a stressor. In addition, the secondary interventions focus on avoiding harm to the central core through consolidation of the interior lines of resistance and eliminating the stressor. Lastly, the tertiary prevention involves the whole system and occurs after the system has undergone secondary prevention schemes (Fawcett 925). The tertiary prevention strategy lenders backing to the client and enhances vigor into the system. The primary objective for Neuman when coming up with her concept was to prevent any stressors for clienteles through the three preventions from her model. Nueman gives examples of stressors to be nervousness,

Human Resource Management Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Human Resource Management - Research Paper Example This research work discusses the relevance, roles and responsibilities of management and relevant theories related to recruiting and hiring, performance management, labor and employee relation, strategic HRM, training and development and organization development. Recruiting and Hiring Recruiting is a process that seeks and attracts a pool of people from which only qualified candidates for job can be chosen (Byars and Rue, 2008, p. 111). Recruiting is a strategic HR planning in which employers come to take appropriate decisions regarding who to be selected in order to meet the requirement (Mathis and Jackson, 2010, p. 208). Hiring, which is the final step involved in recruiting, is bringing on someone new to the firm. An effectively carried out recruiting helps the management find out most appropriate people, improve productivity, reduce labor costs and achieve the high performance working. The major roles and responsibilities of HR management in relation to recruitment and hiring are identifying the personnel requirement in the firm, evaluate their required skills and knowledge, attract a pool of people either from internal or external sources, conducting interviews, hiring and selection procedures and planning for their training and development programs (Searle, 2009, p. ... rategic managing approach to assessing, evaluating, monitoring and correcting the performance of employees is critical to the function of human resource management. From the analysis of various definitions of performance management, Deb (2006, p. 202) outlined that performance management is a holistic approach to ensure that value is added and a process of integration of performance measures, benchmarks and goals in order to achieve optimal results. As human capital is the most powerful asset in a firm and the performance of people is closely related to achieving the organizational goals, it is an economic imperative that the management must assess, evaluate and correct the performance through an effective management system. In an effective performance management, the management has to function in a systematic way and to play five major roles. They are; 1) Planning the work and setting the expectations, 2) Monitoring the performance in a regular basis, 3) Developing the capacity to p erform well, 4) Rating periodically, and 5) Rewarding for the improved and better performance (Deb, 2006, p. 202). Performance appraisal, which is considered as part of performance management, has gained increased importance as an important concept in the area of HRM. High Performance Working which is the best possible fit between the social system and the technical system in a firm (Noe, Hollenbeck and Gerhert, 2003, p. 5) has also gained increased importance in the field of HRM. Labor relation and Collective bargaining Maintaining healthy relation between employers and employees is a key requirement for the HRM since this relation can have significant impact on morale, motivation and ultimately on productivity as well (Mello, 2009, p. 528). Similarly, collective bargaining is also an

The Inspectors character Essay Example for Free

The Inspectors character Essay In the stage diagram I have tried to show this, and all the movements of the characters. I thought from the actual text of the play, and in the way the plays stage directions are written, that the Inspector is trying to ease into the room so not focus attention on to himself, so it is a surprise for the characters and they dont notice hes there and carry on talking. As far as I can see Gerald is trying to persuade Sheila into believing him, and Sheila is listening, so Gerald is walking forward and Sheila walking backwards. Later in the dialogue Sheilas character becomes more dominating telling Gerald that its not worth it and puts pressure on Gerald. At this point the movements would be reversed Sheila walking forward in control and Gerald retreating away. When the Inspector says Well they turn round to face him; I did this to emphasise the characters shock at the entrance. The Inspectors character will come in slowly. Like Priestlys original stage directions the door will open slowly revealing the Inspector standing in shadow. He will say, Well just as Sheila finishes her dialogue. Then again at the beginning of Act Two he will move forwards and say well. The Inspector will move towards the characters keeping eye contact with Gerald. I think this is a very dramatic entrance and the lighting should reflect this in its dramatic effect. When Gerald and Sheila are talking the lighting should be slightly dim but not dark. As they are talking the lighting should dim until the characters are barely visible. At this point a spotlight should focus on the door at the back of the stage. Then the door should open slowly to show the Inspector in silhouette. He should then say well just as the curtain drops to keep the audience guessing as to who was in the doorway. When the curtain rises again at the beginning of act two the stage should be brightly lit with the door still fully open and the Inspector should be still in shadow until he walks into the light and towards Gerald to say well again. This entrance as a whole has a lot of dramatic impact because it is the Inspector walking in on Gerald admitting to Sheila about Eva Smith or Daisy Renton. In that sense it is also a key point in the play as another person is confessing and another piece of the puzzle of Eva Smith is put into place. The dialogue just before, and immediately after emphasises the dramatic impact of this entrance. After having this conversation with Sheila, Gerald says You dont, neither of us does. So for gods sake dont say anything to the Inspector. To the audience this seems ironic, because Gerald is trying to keep something away from the Inspector, that the Inspector already knows. Later on Sheila says, (rather hysterically) Why you fool he knows. Of course he knows and I hate to think how much he knows that we dont yet. Youll see youll see. This again makes an impact because Sheila is telling Gerald that hes not going to be able to keep anything away from the Inspector and showing him where things stand. Gerald is hoping the Inspector doesnt know anything and hasnt realised, but Sheila has understood he knows and is pulling him back down to earth. This is reflected in the stage directions, which say, she looks at him almost in triumph. He looks crushed. Another sentence that adds enormously to the dramatic impact of this entrance is when the Inspector says well? at the end of Act One and beginning of Act Two. This adds to the dramatic tension because it is the introduction of the Inspector to this scene, and because Geralds secret has been heard, or has it? The audience isnt sure whether the Inspector heard what was said or how long he has been standing there. The audiences attention has been on Gerald and Sheilas conversation so they have no idea about the Inspector this adds more tension. At the beginning of Act Two the Inspector says Well? again but this time it seems more directed as if now he is talking to Gerald personally.

Dowry system in india Essay Example for Free

Dowry system in india Essay Dowry is derived from the ancient Hindu customs of ‘kanyadan’ and ‘stridhan’. In ‘kanyadan’, the father of the bride offers the father of the groom money or property, etc whereas for ‘stridhan’, the bride herself gets jewelry and clothes at the time of her marriage, usually from her relatives or friends. In Varadakshina’, the father of the bride presents the groom cash or kind. All of these could be done voluntarily and out of affection and love. The Hindu marriage system is sacramental. According to this system, a marriage is forever and there is no scope for a separation. Among the various ceremonies previously practiced, the ceremony in front of a ‘godly’ fire (‘Yajna’ in Sanskrit) has taken over, the old-fashioned system of marrying a wife by capture. This form of marriage began the practice of dowry, where originally, the family of the bride would accept gifts and money from the groom’s family as an alternative to bloodshed during the capture of the bride. A later modification of this system has paved way for the present dowry system primarily practiced by the society. The dowry custom continues to rule our society. In majority of Indian families, the boy has legacy rights, while the girl is given a large sum at the time of her marriage in lieu of the government regulated equal rights for girls in parental property. Thus, dowry system has spread in almost all parts of the country and sections of society. There are several reasons for the occurrence of the dowry system, but the main one is that it is a necessary precondition for marriage. ‘No dowry, no marriage’ is a widespread fear. There has also been an appearance of a feudal mindset with a materialistic attitude in a new globalised economy. The price tag for the groom is now bigger and bolder. The emergence of an affluent middle class, the torchbearer of social change in modern India, is the main factor for the continuation of the dowry system. Families arrange most marriages, and a man who does not marry for love; he can marry for wealth. For this man and his family, a woman becomes the ticket to shortcut riches through the system of dowry. There are a number of things people desire to have in their own houses but cannot afford; they use the opportunity of a son’s marriage to get them. The girl’s parents do not protest against variety, as they regard the union as a stepping-stone towards higher social status and better matches for the remaining children. Dowry as a phenomenon has gone beyond the ritual of marriage. Pregnancy, childbirth and all kinds of religious and family functions are occasions when such demands are made. A more sophisticated public image of an extended gifting session has replaced the old system. Now there is demand for receptions in marriage places. The trousseau includes designer wear for the bride and groom’s family. Chefs are flown in for multi-cuisine wedding dinners. The bride’s family usually pays for all this. The rich revel in the exchange of their black money, but this in turn exerts pressure on the other classes to ape them with serious social consequences. The women have become a kind of commodity. It is them who are the worst sufferers because dowry is most often a monetary agreement between two men – the bride’s father and the groom. Caste-based practices have only added fuel to the fire. Marriages in political families are arranged to consolidate the caste base for support in electoral politics, so they do not challenge the dowry system. Dowry rituals have now spread even to communities where they were unknown. It has gone to different castes, crossed the boundaries of provinces and education and religion. Muslims and Christians, such as the Syrian Christians of Kerala and the Roman Catholics of Mangalore have started demanding dowry. Official statistics show a steady rise in dowry crimes. More and more women are killed every year in India for dowry. Bihar and Uttar Pradesh still record the maximum number of dowry crimes, but Bangalore, India’s fastest growing city also shows an alarming rise – four women reportedly die every day because of dowry harassment and domestic violence. The cases of dowry torture are the highest accounting for 32.4% of crimes against women in the country. The Dowry Prohibition Act, in force since 1st July 1961, was passed with the purpose of prohibiting the demanding, giving and taking of dowry. In 1980, the Government setup a committee that recommended amendments in the Dowry Prohibition Act and also suggested expanding the definition of dowry and instituting family courts and National Commission for women. Many parliamentary debates led to some amendments in 1983,1984 and 1986. To stop the offences of cruelty by husband or his relatives on the wife, Section 498-A was added in the Indian Penal Code and Section 198-A in the Criminal Procedure Code in the year 1983. The Dowry Prohibition Act clearly stipulates that a person who gives or takes or helps in the giving or taking of dowry can be sentenced to jail for 5 years and fined Rs. 15,000/- or the amount of the value of dowry, whichever is more. The Act also prohibits the giving and taking directly or indirectly any property or valuable security, any amount either in cash of kind, jewelry, articles, properties, etc. in respect of a marriage. The control is provided by stating a limit and names of people gifting and their relationship to the married couple to be signed by both sides of parents. In 1986, the Act was amended again, empowering State governments to appoint Dowry Prohibition Officers, who not only had a preventive role but also had powers to collect evidence against people who took dowry. Despite protest by women’s organisations, serious activism, legal amendments, special police cells for women, media support and heightened awareness of dowry being a crime, the practice continues unabated on a massive scale. Despite every stigma, dowry continues to be the signature of marriage. Women need real social, political, financial and moral support in their fight against the system. They have to be empowered so that they can take their decisions about their own life by refusing the dowry system.

Dictyostelium as a Predictive Model for Bitter Tastant

Dictyostelium as a Predictive Model for Bitter Tastant Developing Dictyostelium as a Predictive Model for Bitter Tastant Identification INTRODUCTION Bitter tastant (emetic) research utilises a variety of animal models for the identification of the emetic susceptibility of novel compounds and aim to characterise the underlining mechanisms that give rise to emesis. There are two categories of animals used in this type of research, those that have the ability to vomit (ferrets, dogs and cats), and those that lack the emetic reflex (rats and mice) (Holmes et al., 2009). In addition to this, there is a different sensitivity to emetic compounds amongst these animal models, due to the existence of multiple pathways for the emesis induction. There are also differences in the receptor pharmacology and distribution, and metabolic pathway regulation. This makes it very hard to use a unique animal model for emetic research, pushing research towards a multi-model approach, therefore increasing the utilisation of animals (Robery et al., 2011). Ingestion of bitter tastants can lead to innate aversive behaviour, reduced gastric emptying, nausea and vomiting in mammals and as such bitter tastants are thought to provide a potentially vital warning sign of toxicity (Robery et al., 2011). Humans recognise thousands of different compounds as bitter. Despite this ability only around 25 taste 2 receptors (TAS2R) have been identified. Common bitter ligands include cycloheximide, denatonium, PROP (6-n-propyl-2-thiouracil), PTU (phenylthiourea), and ÃŽ ²-glucopyranosides (Meyerhof et al., 2010). As previously stated, bitter substances are detected by a specific subset of taste receptors, known as BITTER TASTE-SENSING TYPE 2 receptors (TAS2Rs) (Meyerhof et al., 2010). These are part of the superfamily of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) and can be found on cell surface that mediate gustatory taste perception on the tongue. Signal transduction of bitter stimuli is accomplished via the ÃŽ ±-subunit of gustducin (Gulbransen et al., 2009). This G protein subunit activates a taste phosphodiesterase and decreases cyclic nucleotide levels. The ÃŽ ²ÃŽ ³-subunit of gustducin also mediates taste by activating IP3 (inositol triphosphate) and DAG (diglyceride). These second messengers may open gated ion channels or may cause release of internal calcium. Although all TAS2Rs are located in gustducin-containing cells, knockout of gustducin does not completely abolish sensitivity to bitter compounds, suggesting a redundant mechanism for bitter tasting (unsurprising given that a bitter tas te generally signals the presence of a toxin). One proposed mechanism for gustducin-independent bitter tasting is via ion channel interaction by specific bitter ligands, similar to the ion channel interaction which occurs in the tasting of sour and salty stimuli (Gulbransen et al., 2009). The properties of TAS2Rs are different from other GPCRs, because of the ability of binding a wide range of compounds with low specificity and affinity. TAS2Rs have recently been suggested to have important extra-oral functions in the respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts. In the human airway epithelium TAS2Rs are expressed on the solitary chemosensory cells and ciliated epithelial cells, where they sense chemical irritation and promote ciliary beat frequency, respectively. Thus TAS2Rs may be protective and part of the defence against inhaled noxious compounds (Zhang et al., 2013). Recent studies have found that in resting primary airway smooth muscle cells, bitter tastant activate TAS2R-dependent signalling pathway that results in an increase in [Ca2+]i levels, although to a level much lower than that caused by bronchoconstrictors (2-adrenoceptor agonist) (Zhang et al., 2013). Under physiological circumstances, bitter tastants can activate TAS2Rs to modestly increase [Ca2+]i levels without affecting contraction, but in the situation of muscle constriction, they can block L-type calcium channels to induce bronchodilation (Zhang et al., 2013). TAS2R agonists showed both greater relaxation and inhibition of airway hyper-responsiveness than a ÃŽ ²2-adrenoceptor agonist in mouse airways. Given the large selection of known natural and synthetic agonists recognized by the 25 TAS2Rs, the findings have introduced bitter taste receptors as a potential new family of targets for asthma pharmacotherapy (Zhang et al., 2013). Dictyostelium as  a biomedical model organism D. Discoideum is a well-established research model organism, especially in investigating chemotaxis. D. Discoideum is a social amoeba that feeds on bacteria as its staple food source. Once the food supply is exhausted, cells start a developmental program leading to the production of spores that are able to survive in hostile conditions (Frey et al., 2007). Starving cells produce a chemo-attractant, cyclic AMP (cAMP), which serves as a signal for 1 x 105 neighbouring cells to aggregate, which then develop into a mature fruiting body (after 24 hours), where 20% of the cells form a stalk that supports a spore head incorporating 80% of the remaining cells as spores. When food sources are available again, the spores germinate into amoebae, completing the life cycle (Figure 1) (Frey et al., 2007). (Frey et al., 2007) Figure 1 D. Discoideum, develops from a single vegetative amoebae (0hrs) through to the generation of the mature fruiting body (24hrs). Aggregation is caused by the chemotaxis of cells toward cAMP waves to give rise to a multicellular aggregate. Aggregation results in the creation of a mound, then a tipped mound, and as development proceeds, the tip prolongate and forms a finger. Ultimately, the finger collapses to form a slug or continues to form a fruiting body. During final stage of the development, the cells differentiate into vacuolated stalk cells that sustain a spore head containing spores, which can tolerate a wider range of environmental conditions. The full developmental process from starvation of vegetative cells to the formation of a mature fruiting body is accomplished in 24 h (Frey et al. 2007). D. Discodeum has been extensively utilised to investigate a range of fundamental biological processes such as cell migration, signal transduction, phagocytosis and signalling during morphogenesis and cell differentiation. The fully sequenced genome contains 34 Mb of DNA (84-fold smaller than the human genome). D. Discoideum has a genome that encodes for a variety of proteins that are human homologues, associated with a variety of disorders (Boeckeler et al., 2007). Therefore, it has been suggested that the primary role of those proteins can be analysed in the model to understand their related disease function. Nausea and vomiting are common but serious side effects associated with many therapeutic drugs. Whilst the physiological mechanisms behind the generation of the vomiting response are well characterised, the diverse range of emetic stimuli that can generate the response are poorly understood. The potential of using D. Discoideum, a eukaryotic amoeba, as a model for predicting emetic liability was examined in this thesis. The effects of a diverse range of known emetic and aversive compounds on Dictyostelium cell behaviour was investigated, resulting in the identification of a small number that strongly inhibit cell behaviour in a concentration-dependent manner. Recent studies using Dictyostelium as a simple model system for bitter related (emetic) research has shown the validity of using this approach for the reduction of animals in testing for emetic liability. Even though Dictyostelium does not contain genes encoding homologues to T2R proteins associated with bitter compounds detection, it has been identified the molecular mechanism responsible of PTU detection. The screening of mutants resistant to the effects of PTU on growth identified a putative G-protein coupled receptor mutant, GrlJ-. Translation of this discovery to human context identified an uncharacterised human gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) type B isoform, with a relatively weak homology to GrlJ. The expression of the human GABA-B receptor restored GrlJ- sensitivity to PTU, implicating this human protein as a novel receptor for PTU. In addition, GrlJ only partially controls PTU detection but not detection for all bitter substances. This research was carried out by monitoring the cell behaviour (motility, circularity, protrusions formation and displacement) following exposure to a range of known emetic compounds. Results show that bitter tastants cause an acute, marked and concentration dependent effect on cell behaviour. Therefore, this suggests that Dictyostelium may guarantee a new model for the analysis and screening of novel bitter/emetic compounds, and therefore reducing the utilisation of animal models by identifying the best candidates in a range of molecules. In this study a range of eight compounds were tested to investigate their effects on Dictyostelium random cell movement. The compounds list was specifically created to understand if the model system was able to predict the bitterness of those compounds and ultimately obtain a ranking order comparable to the in vivo rat brief access taste aversion (BATA) and human sensory panel models (Rudnitskaya, et al., 2013). The set of substances consisted of both organic and inorganic – azelastine, caffeine, chlorhexidine, potassium nitrate, paracetamol, quinine and sumatriptan. Results have shown that the bitterness ranking order obtained by using random cell movement assays was comparable to the one obtained with the BATA and the human sensory panel models. In particular, amongst those compounds, Azelastine, a selective (non-sedating) H1 antagonist structurally similar to other anti-histaminic molecules has shown to be one of the most potent compounds in the inhibition of Dictyostelium cell behaviour. This bitter-tasting compound is pharmacologically classified as a 2gen antihistamine, with relative lack of CNS (central nervous system) activity. Clinical trials, in vitro and in vivo studies have shown the combined effect of direct inhibition and stabilisation of inflammatory cells. In vitro studies suggest that the affinity of azelastine for H1 receptors is several times higher than that of chlorpheniramine, a 1gen H1 antagonist. Azelastine directly antagonizes TNF-ÃŽ ±, leukotrienes, endothelin-1, and platlet-activating factor. In vivo studies in a guinea pig model have demonstrated that both histamine-related and h-independent bronchoconstriction were inhibited by azelastine (Williams et al., 2010). The second most potent compound tested is Chlorhexidine (CHX), a broad spectrum antimicrobial agent, frequently used in dental-care to inhibit bacterial growth and in periodontal disease prophylaxis. It is classified as antibacterial, but it can also interfere with the proteolytic activity of some periodontal pathogens. This inhibitory effect is associated with its chelating properties (Trufello et al., 2014). One of the chemicals used as standard for bitterness measurements is Quinine, a natural occurring alkaloid with different medicinal properties, such as antipyretic, antimalarial, analgesic, and anti-inflammatory activities. Methods D. discoideum discoideum maintenance Cells and spores were stored at -80  ºC, and every month an aliquot of the frozen stock was collected and placed on a Raoutella planticola bacterial lawn. After 3-4 days, plaques of growth were visible, which were then scraped and transferred into liquid dishes. Culture dishes were kept in absolute sterile conditions at the constant temperature of 21  ºC. Cells needed for experiments were transferred into shaking cultures (120 rpm/min) or washed off every 2 days. In order to make shaking cultures, cells were washed off the plate, transferred to a G0 media (Ax medium containing 100 µ/ml Penicillin and 100 µg/ml Streptomicin), and kept in the shaking incubator at 21  ºC and counted and or diluted every day. Cells were utilised for experiments after 2-3 days of shaking and flasks were kept for one week before replacing them with fresh cultures. The liquid content in flasks was 1/5 of the total flask volume, in order to maintain ideal growth conditions (oxygen and surface area) , and they were be kept between 2 and 5 x 106. Development assay Dictyostelium development assays were performed in triplicate experiments. Cells were plated onto membranes at the concentration of 1 x 107 per membrane (in KK2), then the membranes were transferred onto millipore filters embedded with the selected drug. Cells were placed in small petri dishes (6 cm diameter) and kept at 22  ºC for 24 hours in humid environmental conditions. Development images were taken after 24 hours at different magnification resolutions (x2, x3.2, and x4 side at 45-degree angle). D. discoideum Permanent stock At least 1 x 107 cells were collected from fresh culture plate, and resuspendend in 200ÃŽ ¼l D. discodeum freezing medium (7% DMSO, Horse serum), and frozen to -80 ºC using isopropanol freezing containers for two hours, then stored at -80  ºC in liquid nitrogen. Live cell microscopy To prepare D. discodeum cells (Ax2) for behaviour analysis experiments, cells were grown in shaking suspension in Axenic medium (Formedium Co. Ltd, Norfolk, UK) for at least 48hrs. Cells were washed and resuspended in phosphate buffer at 1.7 x 106 cells/ml. Cells were then pulsed for 5 hours with 30 nM cAMP at 6 min intervals whilst shaking at 120 rpm. Cells were then washed in phosphate buffer, resuspended at 1.7105 cells/ml, and 250  µL aliquots of cells were added to into a Lab-Tek 8-well chambered coverglass wells (Thermo Fisher, Leicestershire, UK), and allowed to adhere for 10-15 min, and for each experiment double concentrated drugs (250  µl) were administrated at the 15th frame by using a P1000. Cells movement was investigated using an Olympus IX71 microscope at 40X magnification, and images were recorded with a QImaging RetigaExi Fast1394 digital camera. Images were acquired every 15 seconds over a 15 min period for each compound, and at each concentration, with a minimu m of three independent experiments for each drug/concentration and an average cell number of 10 cells quantified per experiment. Solvent only controls were carried out for all experiments to ensure readouts were based upon compounds listed, with for example, no effect of DMSO shown at 1% – the highest concentration used in the experiments described here. References Ayana Wiener; Marina Shudler; Anat Levit; Masha Y. Niv. BitterDB: a database of bitter compounds. Nucleic Acids Res 2012, 40(Database issue):D413-419. Bachmanov AA, Beauchamp GK (2007). Taste Receptor Genes. Annual Review of Nutrition 27: 389–414. Choi, D.H. et al., 2013. Evaluation of taste-masking effects of pharmaceutical sweeteners with an electronic tongue system. Drug development and industrial pharmacy, 9045, pp.1–10. Available at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23786206 [Accessed October 10, 2013]. Finger, T.E. Kinnamon, S.C., 2011. Taste isn’t just for taste buds anymore. F1000 biology reports, 3(September), p.20. Available at: http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=3169900tool=pmcentrezrendertype=abstract [Accessed December 9, 2013]. Finger, T.E. Kinnamon, S.C., 2011. Taste isn’t just for taste buds anymore. F1000 biology reports, 3(September), p.20. Available at: http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=3169900tool=pmcentrezrendertype=abstract [Accessed December 9, 2013]. Gulbransen, B. D., Clapp, T. R., Kinnamon, S. C., Finger, T. E. (2009). NIH Public Access, 99(6), 2929–2937. doi:10.1152/jn.00066.2008.Nasal Holmes, a M., Rudd, J. a, Tattersall, F. D., Aziz, Q., Andrews, P. L. R. (2009). Opportunities for the replacement of animals in the study of nausea and vomiting. British Journal of Pharmacology, 157(6), 865–80. doi:10.1111/j.1476-5381.2009.00176.x Margolskee, R.F., 2002. Molecular mechanisms of bitter and sweet taste transduction. The Journal of biological chemistry, 277(1), pp.1–4. Available at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11696554 [Accessed December 4, 2013]. Meyerhof, W. et al., 2010. The molecular receptive ranges of human TAS2R bitter taste receptors. Chemical senses, 35(2), pp.157–70. Available at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20022913 [Accessed October 17, 2013]. Pulkkinen, V. et al., 2012. The bitter taste receptor (TAS2R) agonists denatonium and chloroquine display distinct patterns of relaxation of the guinea pig trachea. American journal of physiology. Lung cellular and molecular physiology, 303(11), pp.L956–66. Available at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22962016 [Accessed September 19, 2013]. Pulkkinen, V. et al., 2012. The bitter taste receptor (TAS2R) agonists denatonium and chloroquine display distinct patterns of relaxation of the guinea pig trachea. American journal of physiology. Lung cellular and molecular physiology, 303(11), pp.L956–66. Available at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22962016 [Accessed September 19, 2013]. Robery, S. et al., 2011. Investigating the effect of emetic compounds on chemotaxis in Dictyostelium identifies a non-sentient model for bitter and hot tastant research. PloS one, 6(9), p.e24439. Available at: http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=3169598tool=pmcentrezrendertype=abstract [Accessed October 10, 2013]. Rudnitskaya, A. et al., 2013. Assessment of bitter taste of pharmaceuticals with multisensor system employing 3 way PLS regression. Analytica chimica acta, 770, pp.45–52. Available at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23498685 [Accessed October 10, 2013]. Ueda, T. et al., 2003. Functional interaction between T2R taste receptors and G-protein alpha subunits expressed in taste receptor cells. The Journal of neuroscienceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¯: the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 23(19), pp.7376–80. Available at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12917372. Wiener, A. et al., 2012. BitterDB: a database of bitter compounds. Nucleic acids research, 40(Database issue), pp.D413–9. Available at: http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=3245057tool=pmcentrezrendertype=abstract [Accessed October 17, 2013]. Williams, P.B., Crandall, E. Sheppard, J.D., 2010. Azelastine hydrochloride, a dual-acting anti-inflammatory ophthalmic solution, for treatment of allergic conjunctivitis. Clinical Ophthalmology, p.993. Available at: http://www.dovepress.com/azelastine-hydrochloride-a-dual-acting-anti-inflammatory-ophthalmic-so-peer-reviewed-article-OPTH [Accessed February 3, 2014]. Zhang, C.-H., Lifshitz, L. M., Uy, K. F., Ikebe, M., Fogarty, K. E., ZhuGe, R. (2013). The cellular and molecular basis of bitter tastant-induced bronchodilation. PLoS Biology, 11(3), e1001501. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001501 Available at: http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=3589262tool=pmcentrezrendertype=abstract [Accessed October 15, 2013]. Trufello, a M. et al., 2014. Subclinical concentrations of chlorhexidine inhibit gelatinase activity of carious dentine in vitro. Australian dental journal, pp.1–6. Available at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24494744 [Accessed February 10, 2014].

The Lure of Polo Through the Years :: Games Sports Essays

The Lure of Polo Through the Years Dangerous, thrilling, addictive—however you choose to describe the modern game of polo, you can be sure that someone used those same words thousands of years ago for the same purpose. Polo, as it is played today, is merely a refinement of games played as early as the sixth century B.C. It has been said, in many languages and in many time periods, â€Å"He who plays polo once will sacrifice his money and body to play again.† Polo has survived for over two thousand years; its addiction must be as powerful as players claim. The â€Å"sport of kings† is one of the oldest sports still in existence today. In fact, versions of the game were played so long ago that a definite origin of the game cannot be determined. Due to the expense of owning and training the best horses, it was primarily nobles who played the game. Because of this, polo was spread as nations conquered others, and it disappeared in areas as noble classes died. Thus, the game was often born and reborn in so many versions that the term polo (translated from several ancient and modern languages) grew to encompass a wide variety of games involving a stick, ball and players on horseback. Many historians will trace polo’s roots back to Persia (modern day Iran), where the game developed from its most raw and dangerous form. The Persians, who were among the first to domesticate horses and use them in warfare, began playing games on horseback in order to refine their equestrian skills. The game of choice involved any number of players on horseback all attempting to hit a round object with mallets past the other team’s final players. Sometimes hundreds of players were on each team, and the object they were fighting over ranged from balls, to goats, to decapitated human heads. With so many players and no regulation, polo quickly became a sport in which collisions, ill-trained horses, and human error could easily cause injury and even death. Despite the obvious dangers one encounters while playing polo, it was a popular activity for armies and nobles. For cavalry, polo provided a venue for displaying one’s athleticism, poise, quick thinking, and boldness. In fact, kings from many nations used polo as an easy way to determine appointments for political and army positions. Often, the best polo players were the only ones who could surpass their natural born social class.

Immigrants and Immigration - Roy Becks The Case Against Immigration :: Argumentative Persuasive Essays

Roy Beck's The Case Against Immigration One of the more remarkable aspects of the continuing debate over American immigration policy is that the nation's liberal elites seem, ever so gradually, to be finally catching up with the people. For years opinion polls have shown that a large majority of the American people, of all political persuasions and all ethnic backgrounds, want less immigration. Yet year after year immigrants continue to flood across our borders as "opinion molders," elected officials, business executives, and professional eggheads insist that mass immigration is really beneficial and its dangers are much exaggerated by "nativists" and "racists." Only in the last couple of years have a few books been published that dissent from that view, and the appearance of these books, published by major New York houses, suggests that the elites are finally beginning to grasp what uncontrolled immigration means for the people and the country they rule. What began as a popular protest against elite policies and preferences has now started influencing the elites themselves, even if the elites still like to imagine that they thought of it first. Roy Beck's *The Case Against Immigration* is the most recent example of a book published by a major publisher that challenges the conventional wisdom about immigration (Peter Brimelow's *Alien Nation,* published last year, was the first), and although Beck has been actively engaged in the movement to restrict immigration for some years, he has done so as a card-carrying liberal. A former newspaperman in Washington, DC who has been deeply involved in the social activism of the Methodist Church, Beck has seen firsthand what immigration means for ordinary Americans, not only underclass blacks but also middle and working class whites. His book is an exhaustive documentation of the evil consequences that immigration is causing for these groups as well as for the nation as a whole. Beck's liberalism, however, is by no means of the polemical or partisan variety, and the impression that his book gives is that he is a man deeply and genuinely concerned about the injustices endured by the real victims of immigration. He avoids most of the cultural arguments against immigration that conservatives tend to use, his main concern focusing instead on the economic effects of immigration on workers and on the social consequences for those Americans whose jobs

White Resistance to Somewhere in the Darkness Essay -- Somewhere in th

White Resistance to Somewhere in the Darkness  Ã‚  Ã‚   I feel compelled to revisit the one novel we have read that created the most resistance in me and would quite possibly do so in a significant population of white readers: Walter Dean Myers' Somewhere in the Darkness.   That the book is well written or valuable to readers is irrelevant here -- I enthusiastically grant both.   Of greater concern in this discussion is the notion of resistance to the book that could easily be encountered with a particular population of suburban, white readers, namely those who would seem to have the most in common with Jimmy and who, paradoxically, would most likely resist the book.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The readers who comprise this group have much in common with Jimmy. They are largely lower-middle class and come from either fatherless homes, what might easily be considered dysfunctional two-parent homes, and/or live with extended families in lieu of their natural parents.   In any case, the parent(s) are possibly absent from the home a great deal of the time, involved in a variety of dating practices and sexual promiscuity, caught up in illegal activity and often incarcerated or have been, oppressed by substance abuse of some type, and/or often living in an environment of either subtle or overt racism.   I have made no effort to quantitatively justify the particulars of this description though such a study would undoubtedly prove enlightening.   Rather, I assert this general description based on 12 years of experience of living in a white, lower middle-class suburb. In some ways, we could easily view these readers as insiders in t hat they share with Jimmy some elements of a common familial experience, but it is the cultural differences between white and ... ...ility: there is no hope for me or my kind.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A white reader's resistance to Walter Dean Myers' novel, Somewhere in the Darkness, is inevitable, particularly when that white reader has more in common with the protagonist than not.   It seems the closer in circumstance the white reader is to Jimmy, the more he/she might resist to his cultural differences because those underlying cultural differences cause Jimmy to act in ways that seem unlikely to a white reader.   The key is to be aware of those differences and be willing to see what Jimmy sees -- from his point of view.   If we are willing to do that, then Myers' work is a wonderful and effective way to learn not only about Jimmy and his culture but also about ourselves and the hopes we have for our lives. Works Cited: Myers, W. D. Somewhere in the darkness. New York: Scholastic Book Services.1992.

Consolidation of Learning

I have come to understand that in order for a student to develop professional nursing skills, he or she needs to have the ability to apply knowledge from theory into practice. This I believe is a fundamental key to the success of becoming a competent nurse. My practice and the invaluable experiences I have gained from my placement, as a nursing student, have enabled me to reflect on the dimensions of nursing practice. I can testify that clinical practice is really an essential component of learning process for any nursing student. My Clinical practice has allowed me to have direct experience with the real world of nursing, to practice the clinical skills required for the job and to learn about the responsibility of the nurse. Reflecting back at my previous semesters, I can begin to say that my acute clinical experience has served as a wonderful and memorable learning opportunity for me to practise some of the skills that I have learned. I had a lot of mixed feelings going into this clinical because I did not know if I was going to make a difference. And little did I know how much this experience would impact me. As I reflect on this experience, I realised that I finished my clinical not only with more experience than when I started, but with a different aspect of nursing all together. In this paper, I will discuss an in-depth factual experience on my role in caring for a hypertensive patient. I will critically analyze my actions, feelings and strategies that I used to deal with the situation. I will also present how I was able to connect the knowledge that I had gained from my nursing classes and clinical laboratory. Over the course of my clinical placement, I was assigned to different patients with different illness. Caring for these patients has deepened my understanding of the need to develop my intellectual capacity for good clinical judgement and safe decision making. While caring for these patients, I encountered situations that were both positive and negative. Regardless of the outcome of these situations, I believe I have learned one or two things from them. There was a particular event that really stood out for me among the patients that I cared for. The reason why this event stood out is because of the impact it had on my learning. This event helped me to start pulling information from all the resources available to me right on the spot. THE SIGNIFICANT NURSING EVENT I was on an evening rotation on this fateful day. I had done my patient research and ready to carry out my care plan for my patient. Unfortunately, I was not able to implement this care plan because my patient assignment was changed due to staffing issue. An undergraduate nurse was the primary nurse of the same patient that I was assigned to. Due to the policy that I have to be monitored by a registered nurse, my patient assignment was changed. I was then assigned to an eighty two year old woman diagnosed with acute renal failure with history of hypertension. I had very little time to quickly research my patient diagnosis; my primary nurse just gave me brief information on her status. I had to quickly go in to do my initial assessment and take her vital signs. As I approached her room, I was prepared for all reactions, but my patient responded with soaking kindness. I introduced myself, asked her how her day was going and informed her of the care that I will be providing for her. Then I began to perform a head to toe assessment and I explained the rationale of each test and action. My patient would always smile and respond with â€Å"I know that you are a student just do what you gotta do†. Then I began to check her vital signs and realised that her blood pressure was way over the normal range120/80. I was startled, so I decided to check the blood pressure on the opposite arm, just to reaffirm the data obtained previously. This time around I knew I had obtained the same data, which were 180/ 98. I auscultated her lungs fields bilaterally and there was an adventitious sound. I palpated her peripheral pulses for their strength and equality and auscultated her apical pulse rate to check for the rhythm and the quality of heart sound and I could hear an abnormal sound of blood rushing. In this paragraph, I will discuss on my feelings and thinking that took place in the event. Based on my knowledge about the implications of high blood pressure and knowing that she is hypertensive and over eighty years old, that would increase her risk of having stroke or heart attack. I was fearful of handling this patient being my first time of experiencing this situation. Reflecting in action, I began to have a therapeutic conversation with my patient. Understanding my own values and beliefs I composed myself and tried not to sound scared, while I was asking questions regarding how she was feeling. I used all my senses of perception to assess her and asked if she was having chest pain or feeling light headed. My patient complained of being fatigue, a little bit dizzy, and that she was finding it hard to breathe, and then I knew something was certainly wrong. This can be supported by (Quote) At the same time I did not want her to panic or aggravate the situation. I knelt down and checked if there was any urine in her Foley catheter bag, but there was nothing. I asked her when was the last time that her bag was drained and she replied that she was not sure if it was early in the morning or at midnight. Then I noticed that she had edema in her lower extremities, I inspected her legs and palpated the areas of edema, noting the tenderness and pitting. I went on to ask her if she had been going for a walk around the unit and if she knew her blood pressure baseline, and she responded that it’s been very high lately, but for me I was not really satisfied with the data. Certainly my patient was having fluid retention, and other symptoms which might be as a result of her kidney failure or hypertension. Given the assessment and further investigation this was a possible indication of stroke or heart attack. While reflecting in action, I told myself that I needed to act fast as soon as possible because I could not tell what the outcome will look like. According to the Canadian Nursing Association (CNA, 2008) state that nurses should provide safe, compassionate, competent and ethical care. Instantly I knew I had to quickly determine my goal of care for my patient because I was certain that something was wrong. I came up with three goals, firstly I have to make sure that her blood pressure get lowered and controlled. Secondly, make sure that she was having adequate urine output and lastly, encourage her to go for a walk in order to increase her blood flow. In order to achieve these goals I had to find a way to get hold of my primary nurse or instructor, to inform them on what was happening to the patient. Carper, (1978), notes that it is of paramount importance to understand the clinical situation, act timely and appropriately for the good of the patient. This was an opportunity to take what I had learned from my courses and in lab and apply to real situations. I was not really prepared but I was very excited to use my skills and knowledge that I had gained so far from the nursing courses and laboratory. At the same time, I always had it at the back of my mind to always make sure I stay within my scope of practice and also critically think about the care I want to provide to the patient. I excused myself and told my patient that I needed to see my primary nurse. I quickly logged in to the SCM to check her flow sheet and realised that her previous data was 139/85. I checked to see if there was any order or medications if her blood pressure gets beyond certain parameter. I found that an order was made and that if her blood pressure get above 180/100, hydrazaline should be given every four hours and patient should be monitored continuously. I researched the drug class, it usage, side effect and contraindication of hydrazaline, so that I know what I am giving my patient and what I need to watch out for after administration. My findings deepened the knowledge about implications of high blood pressure and what I thought and knew. In response to my findings, I knew for sure that she was having the signs and symptoms of stroke or heart attack. I was really eager to pass on this new information to my primary nurse and instructor. I really felt that I had paid full attention to my patient while performing my head to toe assessment. Tanner (2006) stated â€Å"that clinical judgement is more influenced by what the nurse brings to the situation than the objective data about the situation at hand† (p. 204). I hurried quickly and informed my primary nurse on what was happening, and she came with me to get the medications. As we approached the room the nurse took the patient vitals again, I believe that she needed to confirm the data herself. My nurse got the same data and asked me to administer the medication to the patient. My primary nurse then asked me what my goal of care was for the patient and I responded with what I had planned earlier. I began to evaluate if my intervention was achieved by monitoring my patient’s blood pressure and ensuring that her other vital signs were all in the normal range. About fifteen minutes later, I asked my patient if she was still having the signs and symptoms that she mentioned to me earlier, and she replied that she was feeling much better. Brunners & suddant stressed that educating the patient on self care is a therapeutic regimen that is the responsibility of the patient in collaboration with the nurse. I began to educate my patient on the importance of lifestyle changes and medications to control the blood pressure. I emphasized on the concept of controlling her blood pressure, rather than curing it. I encourage her to develop a plan for weight loss, limit food high in salt and fats and increase intake of fruits and vegetables. It was all a new experience getting to see the symptoms and effects in first hand. Everything makes so much more sense when you get to connect the dots yourself. Although I did not have enough time to research on my patient diagnosis, this experience really impacted my learning because I realised that in the real nursing world, nurses do not have any knowledge about the patient that they will care for. This has really made me reflect on my actions and my future practise. It also made me to really value the learning from the class, clinical labs and evidenced based research. Above all, knowing my patient was very integral to my practice and this event raised some questions for me.

Positioning and Differentiation Strategies

Differentiation is the act of designing a set of meaningful differences to distinguish the company's offering from competitor's offerings (Rao, 2010). With Voice to Text/Text to Voice, Toyota designed itself above the rest. After researching the needs of its consumer, Toyota focused its plans on the safety and needs of today’s driver. With the human need to stay connected to our loved ones, friends, and business contacts at the touch of a button, Toyota turned it ways to providing this service to drivers in a safe manner. Taking the Bluetooth technology to another level, Toyota set itself up with its differentiation strategy to move with the consumer and appeal to the heart and mind when it comes to safety. By differentiating the marketing mix to do a better job meeting customers’ needs, Toyota builds a competitive advantage (Perreault, Cannon, & McCarthy, 2009). With this type of differentiating, the buyer will see that Toyota is trying to appeal to what the buyer really needs and wants. Other auto makers have not yet offered this technology, making the appeal appreciated by the buyer. This is a product that is important to their lives and the lives of their loved ones. Positioning refers to how customers think about proposed or present brands in a market (Perreault, Cannon, & McCarthy, 2009). By promoting the legal and safety level of the Voice to Text/Text to Voice, Toyota can ensure the customer will think positively about its product and service. With the focus of advertising in states that have banned texting while driving, Toyota can position itself as a front runner for safety to the customer. With the threat of citations, tickets, and possible jail, the customer will be looking for a quick fix. Toyota can position itself as the cure to the problem. At this point, Toyota is the only maker who offers this service, which puts them on the leader board and sets the stage for its followers and the positioning needed.

Principles of Assessment in Lifelong Learning

Principles of assessment in lifelong learning Task A part a The assessment process is a vital part to teaching in the lifelong learning sector. All assessment requires the collection and recording of evidence of student learning. There are many aspects to assessment which will begin from the point of the leaner completing their initial application form. The principles of assessment come under three different headings, Initial assessment, formative assessment and summative assessment. Each of the assessment criteria come with specific outcomes for the learner this will assure the learner is getting the best possible outcome to their learning.Looking at figure 6. 1 Gravells, A (pg112) assessment cycle as shown below The initial assessment will be the crucial part of the learning journey. This will provide the relevant information needed to decide the leaner’s starting point. It is the level from which the learner’s progress and also achievement can be calculated. As state d by Green, M. (2003) â€Å"Initial assessment needs to be done with learners rather than to them. It should be of benefit to learners and help them feel positive about themselves and their potential to learn. Initial assessment may start with establishing the learners, interests, aspirations; experience and motivation or it may be part of a â€Å"getting to know you† activity in induction. It allows you to look at the learning styles which are relevant to each learner. Whatever method you choose it needs to be flexible and should reflect the nature of the learner. From using a range of assessment methods it will enable you to summarize the learners starting point. Whichever method is chosen, it is important that initial assessment contains some form of skill/knowledge assessment which can be validated by the tutor.The initial assessment will allow the planning for any other services which may be required to assist the learner. It is essential that all interaction which take s place with the learner on the initial interview is recorded, this is done for the protection of the learner also the tutor can refer back to any conversation which has taken place. The recording of information will make sure the learner is on the correct course at the correct level, the learner actually wants to access the course. Planning for the assessment is basically you and your learner agreeing on which type and which methods of assessment are suitable.This will vary from learner to learner as they all have different needs and also very often different learning styles. Also included in the planning assessment is setting appropriate target dates setting with both the learner this could also involve other members of staff. Assessment activity is all about how to assess the activity and what methods could be used. For example if it is a student led assessment they could be completing the requested assignment or even gathering some form competent evidence. If tutor/assessor led this could be observation, questioning or even photographic evidence.After the three initial assessments have been completed it is then time to look at the assessment decision and feedback, this enables the tutor to make the decision on whether the learner has been successful or otherwise. This is the point in which the tutor/assessor is able to give constructive feedback to the learner stating if any further actions are required. Reviewing the progress means that any assessment plan can be review and altered at any one time to meet the learners required needs at the time, or upon completion of either the programme or the course.The review process enables you as the tutor to sit with your learner and give the opportunity you both time to discuss any relevant issues you may feel will aid in their learning. By reviewing the assessment activities which you use this will give you an opportunity to amend any if necessary. The formative assessment is the second strand of the assessment pr ocess. â€Å"formative assessments are ongoing practices that help both the teacher and student evaluate and reflect on how they are both doing, and what changes either or both might need to make to become a more effective teacher and learner. Larry Ferlazzo (no date) Assessment for learning is also known as formative assessment. Assessment for learning is the process of seeking and interpreting evidence in use by learners and their teachers to decide where the learners are in their learning, where they need to go, and how best to get there. Since the goal of formative assessment is to gain an understanding of what students know (and don't know) in order to make responsive changes in teaching and learning. Techniques such as teacher observation and classroom discussion have an important place alongside analysis of tests and homework.Much of what tutors and learners do in the classroom can be described as assessment for learning. (Black and Wiliam, 1998) says â€Å"Assessment for l earning can be defined as ‘all those activities undertaken by teachers and/or by their students, which provide information to be used as feedback to modify the teaching and learning activities in which they are engaged’ Formative assessment should occur regularly throughout the instructional process and, According to the National Center for Fair and Open Testing (NCFOT) (1999), Careful documentation can allow formative assessments to be used for summative purposes.The manner in which summative assessments are reported helps determine whether they can be easily translated for formative purposes–especially by the student, teacher, and parent. (Ainsworth & Viegut, 2006) state â€Å"By varying the type of assessment you use over the course of the week, you can get a more accurate picture of what students know and understand, obtaining a â€Å"multiple-measure assessment ‘window' into student understanding† Some examples of a formative assessment could b e: * Asking questions * observations * self assessments * quizzes (sometimes) * learner record keepingThomas R. Guskey suggests â€Å"that for assessments to become an integral part of the instructional process, teachers need to change their approach in three important ways. They must â€Å"1) use assessments as sources of information for both students and teachers, 2) follow assessments with high-quality corrective instruction, and 3) give students second chances to demonstrate success† (2007). Assessment of learning is also known as summative assessment, assessments used to sum up a learners achievement. Summative assessment can be carried out as particular stages of the course or learning rogramme are completed, or at the end, whichever seems appropriate. Where achievement is recorded on an on-going basis, summative assessment may mean bringing all the evidence together, rather than carrying out an additional set of assessment activities. This means that all the requireme nts stipulated by the examining body are all collated and correct. Assignments to be marked and graded appropriately, making sure the work is that of the learners and no one else’s. . Examples of summative assessment can be a written examination. Reliability is essential as they are used numerically to classify learners and compare them to each other.Traditional unit tests (multiple choice, true/false and sort answer questions) are poor summative assessments as they rarely require the application of skills and concepts or the demonstration of understandings rather than a mere reporting of information. The best summative assessments often incorporate the essential question(s) that have focused the unit, requiring students to answer one or more of the essential questions drawing upon ideas from personal experience, from the texts studied, and from new text(s) encountered as a part of the assessment. Assessment methodsWithin my area of childcare/sexual health I use many varied t ypes of assessment. The assessment criteria I use are based on the level of the learner and the suitability to the specific unit within the assignment. By using various methods of assessment I get a clearer picture of what went well with both tutor and learner and what was not so good so improvements can be made. Use accurate assessment to effectively plan to ensure all groups of students are suitably challenged and supported. Use a variety of strategies (ASL) to ensure students know where they are and what they need to do to improve in relation to their target grades.These must include: * Skilful Questioning and other forms of oral feedback (relating to lesson objectives) which gauge and probe student understanding, as well as re-shaping of explanations and tasks. * Frequent written feedback (Marking), which follows Strengths, Attitude to learning, Level and Target (SALT) and where targets set are detailed enough that students can make progress. * Peer and/or self-assessment Photog raphic assessment Photographic assessments are used usually with another form of assessment, observation or verbal.Photographic assessment allows the learner to do practical activities and have a photographic record of their achievements these can then be placed either into a book or a file and annotated by the learner which will explain the type of activity which had taken place. If this is done on a regular basis with activities at different levels the learner can see the progress which has been made. If and when using photographic evidence it should always be signed and authenticated by both the learner and the tutor. Is it valid? Yes as the photographic evidence will show as long as the photograph is annotated, dated and signed by a tutor/teacher.If the evidence is not current i. e. the picture taken six months before the criteria may have changed so photographic evidence may not be required or be insufficient for the amount of work needing to be produced. As with positives ther e are also some negative points with this kind of assessment. * Some learners may not give permission to be photographed * It may mean learners are absent purposely to avoid taking part in the lesson. * You need to make sure all the equipment works and you have all your resources to hand. Verbal QuestioningThis is an excellent way to find out if the learner has understood the task which has been set for them. You can use the lesson objective in this case to keep referring back to. The questioning can be either informal or formal. You could state you are going to recap the lesson, stating you will be asking each learner a question at the end. This method is used quite a lot as it continually assess the learner knowledge. Giving the students positive feedback throughout telling them no answer is wrong getting them to expand on the answer they have just given.Demonstrations can be done with this method as you could demonstrate the subject at hand, asking questions continually and the s tudents responding accordingly. * The down side is often learners are worried they will give the wrong answer. * They may feel embarrassed taking in front of others Observation Observational assessment is the perfect way to observe the students as they work on a specific project. This promotes independent learning; gaining more than one view point also the learning is timed and controlled. This enables the teacher to roam around the classroom, occasionally offering guidance and encouragement as the students work.Whist walking around the classroom the teacher is able to take notes on how students are performing and also whether or not modifications need to be made to the assignment. The observation works well when the teacher wishes to monitor how students work together in groups or individually. The observational process is also a useful to monitor behavior within the session. This is turn enables the teacher to move the learner(s) if necessary. * Students may not participate in the session as they feel they don’t have the relevant information to give. May not get a true reflection of the outcome as some learners may come out with untruths. Portfolios Many aspects of the portfolio and the portfolio process provided assessment opportunities that contributed to improved work through feedback, conversations about content and quality, and other assessment relevant discussions. The collection also served to demonstrate progress and inform and support summative evaluations. The relationship between assessment and instruction requires re-examination so that information gathered from learner discussions can be used for instructional purposes.The disadvantages of this could be * Time consuming for staff marking them * Difficult to ensure reliability between staff * Can encourage cheating re ownership of work It is important that all learners being assessed by this means must have a shared understanding of the level expected of their work. It is good practice to show learners relevant examples and suggest a proposed format, including suggesting a physical size, as this will help your back! If the nature of the evidence needed from students is transparent, this can aid the marking and go towards reliability between staff.Also preparing a marking proforma for all staff should help. As portfolio building is usually time consuming, offer interim assessment opportunities so that learners can receive advice on whether the evidence they are assembling is appropriate. Consider assessing the portfolios as a team, with each giving comments on a feedback sheet which could also have positives on the portfolio as this aids feedback for learners. Self-Assessment/Peer Assessment Learners can only achieve a learning goal if they understand that goal, and can assess what they need to do to reach it.The ability to assess one’s own work is essential in acquiring that understanding. Peer assessment is also valuable because the interchange will be in a l anguage that learners themselves would use, also because learning is enhanced when leaners themselves tak on the roles of teachers and examiners of others. Self-assessment and peer assessment is used to log the progress. This can be done by mind mapping in different colours. First colour what they know, second colour some of the information you have imparted, third colour all the information and what their peers know.This could be done on several different occasions to assess the progress which has been made, also to identify any areas of improvement, show the strengths of the learner. Below is a chart which I use and can be altered to allow for differentiation and levelling. The peer assessment could be a quiz which they complete they exchange papers to mark each other’s. This can give a sense of ownership to the student. In conclusion I feel that assessment is a necessary part of the learning process for both learner and tutors alike. It enables tutors and educational estab lishments to keep up to date records of the progress of each learner.Ofsted or any other government expectorate will able to see regular progress, marking from the members of staff and also positive comments with identifiable areas of any improvement required. Task B The assessment process is an on-going process to which all learners should be involved in. One of the main objectives to assessment is to enable all learners to take part at their own level. The need for inclusivity is paramount when doing assessment to enable each learner to be assessed at their own level. If necessary other services may need to be involved i. English as an additional Language (EAL) this will need liaison with each subject leader and the co-ordinator for EAL. This will then look at the specific needs of the learner, ensure that assessment practice conforms with equality of opportunity, and monitor the performance of EAL and ethnic minority students, setting them relevant challenging targets, and finall y analyse and interpret the performance of EAL and ethnic minority students at the end of key stages. Whichever assessment method I have chosen it needs to address the intended curriculum outcomes and also the continuum of learning that is required to reach the outcomes.As I am assessing the learners they need to understand clearly what they are trying to learn, and what is expected of them. In turn they are given feedback I give them around the quality of their work and what in turn they can do to improve it. The advice they are given from me the tutor will go to making the necessary improvements. During this time they learners are fully involved in deciding what needs to be done next, and the relevant people who can give them help if required.