Analytical Essay Sample on the Impact of Human Activities on Natural Hazards

Analytical Essay Sample on the Impact of Human Activities on Natural Hazards Natural hazards are naturally occurring phenomena that have disastrous impact on humanity. These phenomena had been in existence even before the advent of humanity. The hazardous dimension of these natural phenomena are in the context of the impact that such a phenomenon would have on human population in the area affected by that phenomenon. In this essay, the effect that human activity has on these natural hazards would be analyzed. Some human activities may be exacerbating the factors that cause the natural hazard, like the impact of excessive and unplanned logging on floods and droughts. In certain other cases the human activities may cause subsequent or supplementary hazards to a primary hazard event, like building dams in earthquake prone zones may lead to flash floods and landslides in the event of a rupture. A hazard can be defined as an event that has the potential to cause harm. This potential may be on account of its unexpected timing of occurrence or the actual intensity of the event itself. Human societies can withstand these events within a normal scale of occurrence. However, human societies become vulnerable when these events occur unexpectedly or are of an intensity or duration that falls beyond that normal scale (O’Hare and Rivas, 2005). Natural hazards can be broadly classified under the heads of geological, hydrological, climatic and diseases. This essay would limit its scope to analyzing causal relationships, if any, of human activities on landslides, floods and drought and the secondary hazards triggered by those activities in the event of an earthquake. Of all human activities that have a direct or indirect impact on natural hazards, deforestation is by far the most significant. Deforestation is the removal or destruction of forest cover of an area. It may occur due to unscientific logging practices without regeneration and may be accompanied by subsequent conversion to non-forest usage like agriculture, pasture, urban, mining or industrial development, fallow or wetland. At a very broad level, it has been argued that deforestation is a major cause of global climatic changes. It has been predicted that removal of forest cover will lead to violent and unpredictable environmental fluctuations. At a smaller landscape, deforestation has a direct bearing upon the climatic, hydrological, edaphic and biological aspects of that area. Deforestation is associated with higher levels of soil erosion and landslides, sedimentation in river beds and changes in fluvial geomorphology (Haigh, 1984). Quite a few of these effects of deforestation have a direct bearing on the natural hazards that will be covered in this essay. One of the major functions of a forest is to maintain the humidity level in the atmosphere. Trees withdraw groundwater through their roots and transpire the excess water through their leaves. Forests return a major part of the rainfall received by them through evapotranspiration. Annual evapotranspiration in tropical moist lowland forests ranges up to 1500 mm per year, with transpiration accounting for a maximum of 1045 mm per year (Bruijnzeel, 1990). This process of evapotranspiration in the leaves of trees takes the latent heat of evaporation from the surrounding atmosphere. Thus evapotranspiration has a cooling effect on the atmosphere that aids precipitation. Deforestation denies the atmosphere of this cooling effect and is thus a contributing factor to lowering of annual rainfall in an area. Further, the effects of deforestation generally compound the severity of drought. Lack of trees translates to the lack of root fibers that hold the topsoil. In the event of a drought, the topsoil flakes and gets blown by the wind, leading to severe dust storms. This phenomenon had devastated the American Great Plains for close to a decade in 1930s. The dust bowl covered farming areas in Colorado, Kansas, north west Oklahoma, north Texas and north east New Mexico. The fertile soil of the plains was exposed due to lack of vegetation cover and actions of the plow. These farming techniques that led to severe soil erosion, coupled with prolonged periods of extremely low rainfall, led to a series of severe dust storms that ranged up to the Atlantic coast. Much of the fertile topsoil was lost in the Atlantic (Cartensen et al., 1999). Direct causal relationship between human activity and drought is yet to be conclusively established. However, there are studies available that point to a positive correlation between the two. For example, climate-modeling studies have indicated that the 20th century Sahel drought was caused by changing sea surface temperatures. These changes were due to a combination of natural variability and human induced atmospheric changes. The anthropogenic factors in this case were rise in greenhouse gas levels and aerosols (GFDL Climate Modeling Research Highlights, 2007). The effect of human activities like deforestation is rather more direct and pronounced in case of hydrological hazards like fluvial floods. Fluvial floods occur when the discharge of a river exceeds its bankfull capacity. Forests create deep, open textured soils that can hold large quantities of water. When the forest cover is removed through logging, the soil becomes compacted. More rainwater is converted to runoff or near surface flow and less proportion percolates as groundwater. Research has shown significant increase in monthly runoff following logging activities (Rahim and Harding, 1993). The runoff rainwater carries with it considerable amounts of loose soil particles. Removal of vegetation cover through excessive logging activities or overgrazing leaves the soil bare. In such a situation, the upper layer of the soils becomes susceptible to erosion by surface runoff. These suspended soil particles are deposited on the riverbeds. The effect of this type of soil erosion by surface runoff is even more pronounced when the deforestation happens in the riparian zones as well. With time, this sedimentation decreases the depth of the riverbed and, thereby, the water carrying capacity of that river. When the flow of water in the river increases due to a variety of reasons like rainfall, seasonal melting of ice etc, that river can no longer contain the flow within its channel due to reduced drainage efficiency. This excess water inundates adjoining areas causing floods. The effect of soil erosion and subsequent sedimentation of the riverbeds enhances both the occurrences of floods and the area affected by floods. The impact of deforestation driven soil erosion is particularly severe in mountainous terrain. In the western Himalayas, comparison of bedload sediments trapped from parallel streams found that the sediment loads from undisturbed forest were five-seven times smaller than from deforested areas covered by grass and scrub. Deforested areas had a much smaller depth of soil and in many places large patches of underlying bedrock had become exposed ( Haigh et al., 1998). The result of this type of soil erosion on floods is amply demonstrated in the river systems in peninsular Malaysia. Malaysia is located in the equatorial belt and receives very heavy rainfall throughout the year. Peninsular Malaysia has a dense river network. The largest of around one hundred river systems is the Pahang. The runoff along exposed hillsides on the upper courses of the rivers lead to heavy soil erosion and major silting in the lower courses. Peninsular Malaysia has a major tin mining industry and disposal of unwanted tin mining tailings in watercourses has greatly accentuated the silting process. This has majorly worsened the flood situation, both in terms of inundation area and duration of flooding. The effect is particularly severe in Perak and Selangor (Chan and Parker, 1996). The type of natural hazard that is most closely linked to human activity is the landslide. A landslide can be defined as the movement of a mass of rock, soil or debris downward a slope. These occur on steep slopes of hilly terrains that demonstrate certain inherent factors like susceptible rock structure, weak material or slope form. The preparatory factors actively produce the changes that make slopes more vulnerable to a slide, without actually causing it. Some preparatory factor may ultimately become the triggering factor and start the landslide. In some other cases, geological or climatic events like earthquakes or rainstorms initiate the movement. Human activities cause some of the more widespread preparatory factors. Removal of forest cover from mountain slopes deprives the soil of the binding force of the roots of vegetation, thereby making it more vulnerable. Removal of the toe of the slope renders the mass above, unstable. This is because the lateral buttressing support for the bulk of the slope that lies on top of the excavated area is removed. Human activities like building of roads or quarrying of minerals are responsible for this type of preparatory factor. In many cases, human settlement on the slopes alters the original surface drainage of that area, eventually rendering it hydrologically unstable. The effects of human activity in the preparatory factors of a landslide were demonstrated in the landslide at Abbotsford, South Island, New Zealand on 8th August 1979. Deforestation, quarrying and modification of surface drainage further endangered the geologically unstable slope. Heavy rainfall and leakage from city water supply pipeline finally triggered the massive landslide (Pacione, 1999). Human activity like construction of roads can have a major impact on the vulnerability of a mountain slope. For example, the Indian Central Himalayas have seen major increase in road construction activities after the war with China in 1962. Many of these roads are poorly designed and constructed. This has dramatically increased in the occurrences of landslides in the region (Ives, 2004). Human intervention on the natural drainage of a slope as a major contributing factor to a landslide is amply demonstrated in the multiple occurrences of landslides on the hill slopes of La Paz city in Bolivia. La Paz region has considerable human settlements that are on unconsolidated slopes. These slopes are frequently wetted to saturation and forced to move. Some of these factors are natural, like seasonal convective showers of high intensity, flooding of lowers slopes by the rivers and streams draining that rainfall and water seepage from fluctuating water tables of adjoining lake Titicaca basin. However, the water saturation of the slopes is exacerbated by the human settlement on the slopes. Much of such settlements are unplanned, self-help housing that have no access to public sanitation and drainage systems. Waste water from such houses are drained directly on to the slopes. These factors have led to repeated landslides in the La Paz region in the past (O’Hare and Rivas, 2005). Another type of mass movement that is seen in plain areas is subsidence. Subsidence is vertical sinking of materials. In many unplanned cities, the city has sprawled into areas not covered by municipal water distribution network and indiscriminate ground water usage through bore wells have severely depleted water tables. In some cities like Mexico and Bangkok, the drained soil has compacted, leading to subsidence. In some other regions like the Raniganj – Jharia coal belt in India, improper mining excavations and inappropriate filling of excavated tunnels have led to widespread subsidence. In certain cases, though human activity does not cause a natural hazard, it may lead to secondary hazard events subsequent to the occurrence of a primary hazard. A case in point is the building of a very high multipurpose dam at Tehri in the Himalayan region in India that may be susceptible to seismic activity. In the eventuality of an earthquake and subsequent rupture of such a high dam, a tremendous flash flood is inevitable on the lower courses of the river, accompanied by major landslides as well (Ives, 2004). Thus, it can be concluded that human activities have some impact on occurrence of natural hazards. For some hazards like landslides and subsidence, there is direct, causal relationship between human activity and hazard occurrence. In some other cases like drought and floods, unscientific and unplanned exploitation of natural resources exacerbate natural hazards. In yet other cases, human activity compounds the effect of a natural hazard by triggering other hazard events that follow.

Maria Reynolds and the First U.S. Political Sex Scandal

Maria Reynolds and the First U.S. Political Sex Scandal Maria Reynolds is best known for her role in the United States first political sex scandal. As the mistress of Alexander Hamilton, Maria was the subject of much gossip and speculation, and she ultimately found herself embroiled in a blackmail scheme. Fast Facts: Maria Reynolds Known For: Mistress of Alexander Hamilton, an affair that led to the publication of the Reynolds Pamphlet and the United States first sex scandalBorn: March 30, 1768 in New York, New YorkParents: Richard Lewis, Susanna Van Der BurghSpouse(s): James Reynolds, Jacob Clingman, Dr. Mathew (first name unknown)Died: March 25, 1828 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Early Life Maria was born in New York City to middle-class parents. Not much is known about her early life. Her father, Richard Lewis, was a merchant and itinerant laborer, and her mother Susanna Van Der Burgh had been married once before. (Of note, Susanna’s sixth great-grandson would become President George W. Bush.) Although Maria wasn’t formally educated,  her letters to Hamilton show that she was marginally literate. In 1783, when Maria was fifteen, her parents consented to her marriage to James Reynolds, several years her senior, and two years later she gave birth to their daughter, Susan. The couple moved from New York to Philadelphia at some point between 1785 and 1791. James had served during the Revolutionary War as a commissary agent, alongside his father, David. In addition, he had a pattern of filing claims with the government for damages and losses accrued during the war. In one letter to George Washington, dated 1789, James Reynolds asked for a land grant. The Hamilton Affair During the summer of 1791, Maria, then twenty-three years old, approached Hamilton in Philadelphia. She asked for help, saying James had abused and then abandoned her for another woman. She begged Hamilton, who was thirty-four and married, for financial assistance so that she could return to New York with her daughter. Hamilton agreed to deliver money to her, and promised to stop by Maria’s boarding house to drop it off. Once Hamilton arrived at Maria’s Philadelphia lodgings, she led him to her bedroom, and the affair began. The affair continued for the summer and fall of that year, while Hamilton’s wife and son were visiting family in upstate New York. At some point, Maria informed Hamilton that James sought a reconciliation, to which she had agreed, although she had no intention of ending the affair. She then arranged for Hamilton to meet James, who wanted a position in the Treasury Department. Hamilton refused, and indicated that he no longer wanted to be involved with Maria, at which point she wrote again, saying her husband had found out about their relationship. Soon, Reynolds himself was sending angry letters to Hamilton, demanding money. In December 1791, Hamilton paid Reynolds $1,000 - a staggering sum at that time - and ended the affair with Maria. However, a month later, Reynolds surfaced again, and this time invited Hamilton to renew his romantic attentions towards Maria; she also encouraged Hamilton’s visits. Each time, Hamilton sent Reynolds money. This continued until June 1792, when Reynolds was arrested and charged with forgery and fraudulently purchasing pensions from Revolutionary War veterans. From jail, Reynolds continued to write Hamilton, who refused to send the couple any further payments. The Scandal Once Maria and James Reynolds realized there was to be no further income from Hamilton, it wasn’t long before whispers of scandal got back to Congress. Reynolds hinted at public misconduct, promising to testify against Hamilton, but instead vanished after being released from jail. By then, though, the damage was done, and the truth about the affair with Maria was the talk of the town. Worried that accusations of financial misdeeds could destroy his political hopes, Hamilton decided to come clean about the affair. In 1797, he wrote what would become known as the Reynolds Pamphlet, in which he detailed the relationship with Maria and the blackmail by her husband. He maintained that his wrongdoing was adultery, not financial malfeasance: â€Å"My real crime is an amorous connection with his wife, for a considerable time with his privity and connivance, if not originally brought on by a combination between the husband and wife with the design to extort money from me.† Once the pamphlet was released, Maria became a social pariah. She had divorced Reynolds in absentia in 1793, and remarried; her second husband was a man named Jacob Clingman, who was implicated along with Reynolds in the pension speculation scheme. To escape further public humiliation, Maria and Clingman left for England in late 1797. Later Years There are no details about Maria’s life in England, but when she returned to the United States years later, it was without Clingman. It is unknown whether he died, she divorced him, or she simply left. Regardless, she was using the name Maria Clement for a time, and worked as a housekeeper to a physician named Dr. Mathew, whom she later married. Her daughter Susan came to live with them, and enjoyed some degree of social status with her mother’s new marriage. In her later years, Maria cultivated respectability and found solace in religion. She died in 1828. Sources Alberts, Robert C. â€Å"The Notorious Affair Of Mrs. Reynolds.† American Heritage, Feb. 1973, www.americanheritage.com/content/notorious-affair-mrs-reynolds.Chernow, Ron (2004). Alexander Hamilton. Penguin Books.Hamilton, Alexander. â€Å"Founders Online: Draft of the ‘Reynolds Pamphlet’, [25 August 1797].† National Archives and Records Administration, National Archives and Records Administration, founders.archives.gov/documents/Hamilton/01-21-02-0138-0001#ARHN-01-21-02-0138-0001-fn-0001.Swenson, Kyle. â€Å"Americas First Hush Money Scandal: Alexander Hamiltons Torrid Affair with Maria Reynolds.† The Washington Post, WP Company, 23 Mar. 2018, www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/03/23/americas-first-hush-money-scandal-alexander-hamiltons-torrid-affair-with-maria-reynolds/?noredirectonutm_term.822b16f784ea.

Recent developments in financial reporting of one country Essay

Recent developments in financial reporting of one country - Essay Example Investors and analyst both rely on information and the more they can understand the information being provided to them by an organization the lower they would consider the risk is. Therefore national accounting bodies are continuously changing their accounting standards to make them more global. This global approach increases the reliability, understanding and comparability for analyst and stockholders. The recent financial crisis has also encouraged the national accounting bodies to take a more stern approach to reporting standards. The general risk averse environment can lead to more sterner reporting requirements by accounting bodies in order to safeguard interests of users of this financial information. One significant movement in this regard is the movement towards ‘fair value accounting’ methods. The aim is to use a more realistic approach towards reporting balance sheet items. The focus is being shifted from reporting historical prices of balance sheet items to reporting the expected future benefits received from the item (e.g. PV of expected future cash flows). This would enable users of financial information to better assess the value of company assets and thus value the entity more accurately. However this would also lead to increased volatility in value of assets. This is because the fair value of an asset is more volatile as compared to historical cost. A p otential impact of these rules would be companies looking to invest in less volatile assets to reduce the risk with their holdings. The recent economic turmoil in international markets, along with factors mentioned aboveencouraged Canada financial institutions to bring major changes to its reporting standards. Canada has used GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) for many decades. The Canadian GAAP however would now be abolished in order to shift to the IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards). Private, Public and non-profit entities all are affected by this major shift

Recruitment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 2

Recruitment - Essay Example The methods by which candidates are picked, how they should apply, and the selection techniques to be adopted are considered. In prescriptive literature, formal recruitment methods include press advertisement, job centers and other relevant agencies (Nankervis & Compton 2009). Formal recruitment requires planning and strategy (Harris 2003). As a result, it takes time. A single event of recruitment is likely to have effect in small businesses than in big corporations. According to Atkinson, small firms have a hard time getting the caliber of the staff they need. Formal recruitment needs professional conduct if it is to achieve the intended results (Vaiman 2008). There are arguments that the long process of formal recruitment and selection does not necessarily lead to excellent results. However, the process of formal selection is predictable and easy to manage. Word of mouth advertisement is limited to the sphere of the employees. Formal selection reflects the ability of the structure on an organization. Not much organization can facilitate formal selection and recruitment in a sustainable way (Harris 2003). The leadership of an organization is seen through its ability to vet and get the most qualified workers. Formal selection and recruitment is both merit s and demerits (Roberts 1997). Formal recruitment and selection tends to give an equal chance to a group of talented and willing workers Orange Solutions are a technological company. It is located in many countries around the world. The multinational company has earned a reputation is offering quality technological solutions and has the latest infrastructure in internetworking and wireless technologies. The company has a vacancy in the following position and wishes to invite aspiring applicants to fill it. A job description lists the standards and qualification that must be met. A job description is a documentation used for

The Importance of the Arts Essay Example for Free

The Importance of the Arts Essay Math was always my least favorite subject in school. I always had difficulty remembering the formulas and all the different rules. I didn’t do well in all the other core subjects either. With no motivation and no interest, my grades quickly suffered. I was always watching movies and television instead of doing homework. So when I saw that I could take acting class as an elective in high school, it was obviously my first choice. Acting class came a little more naturally than math class did. Memorizing lines to a monologue was much easier for me than formulas to some equation. It made me come out of my shell more and communicate more effectively. I began to look forward to tests, which were usually performances, because I would be adequately prepared from all my practices. After taking acting class, I decided to take more performing art classes. Luckily the high school that I went to was the top public school for performing arts in the state. It allowed me to take chorus and dance along with acting. With so many classes I enjoyed taking and doing well in, my grades improved drastically. Taking all these performing art classes quickly became the salvation I needed and taught me many other important lessons. But towards the end of my high school years, funds were cut from schools again. The performing arts department in my school struggled to keep the program strong with the budget cuts. By the time I graduated, a few classes were cut and the ones that were left couldn’t afford the same things. These cuts affected other schools as well. For most schools across America, art programs were first to be cut. An article written by the Education Fund states that, â€Å"during these difficult economic times, arts programs are the first to be sacrificed. In addition, in many schools where classroom space is limited, art studios are now only contained in a cart that is wheeled by teachers from room to room, severely limiting the arts education students receive. † Although our program had not been cut, I was sad to see some of the classes go at my school among many others who enjoyed the arts. In an article written back in 2011 in the New York Times, Anna M. Phillips states, â€Å"The situation is likely to worsen next year if the city goes through with its plans to layoff 4,100 teachers to save $269 million. Estimates released in February project that 350 of those let go will be arts teachers, which would be a 15 percent drop in art, music and performing arts teachers. † With all the classes being cut, students will be the first to suffer. Why would they cut classes that students enjoyed to come to learn? The Arts have become a vital addition in education to help students become more successful. I was firsthand to witness this. The Arts allow students who don’t grasp the teachings of subjects like math and English to learn in a way that is more easily understandable to them. Not all students are the same nor do they learn the same. In an article from USA Today online, Tamara Henry states, â€Å"Schoolchildren exposed to drama, music and dance may do a better job at mastering reading, writing and math than those who focus solely on academics. † Keeping art programs in school can help students do well in school and lead to successful futures. Though it is said that careers in the arts are limited and that being an artist isn’t a real job, Valerie Strauss disagrees. In article she wrote in the Washington post titled â€Å"Why we love artist but not the arts education† she states, â€Å"Top CEO’s around the world are seeking out new employees who can think creatively, be innovative in business development and marketing strategies and show outstanding leadership qualities that will â€Å"wow† clients. This is what businesses need to compete in the global marketplace. In a 2010 study by IBM, interviews with CEO’s representing 33 industries and 60 countries identified creativity as the most important leadership skill for the future. † Despite counter arguments against the arts, it is proven that it can help. That is why the arts are fundamental in education for improving children’s academic success, communication and social skills, and teaching them discipline. After I began to take performing arts class, my grades improved dramatically. The arts have helped many students across America better achieve higher education standards. Test scores prove this and the organization Arts for LA states that, â€Å" In a national sample of 25,000 students, those students with high levels of arts-learning experiences earned higher grades and scored better on standardized tests than those with little or no involvement in the arts-regardless of socioeconomic status. Learning through the arts also appears to have significant effects on learning in other disciplines, with students consistently involved in theater and music showing higher levels of success in math and reading. After a raise in my GPA from my performing art classes, I soon saw another raise. I noticed that I was beginning to do better in my core classes as well. Memorizing lines of monologues and choreography improved my memorization skills helping me with the different formulas and steps of math. Skills learned in art programs can be used towards learning math and English and help students. Jessica Velasco also states in her blog, â€Å"Studying the lyrics of music can teach students about syllabification, phonics, vocabulary, imagery, history, myths, folktales, geography, and culture. † It’s evident that the Arts can improve student’s grades and test scores. It also can improve students’ attendance records. The Arts for LA also states, students involved in art are three times more likely to win an award for their school attendance. I knew when I went to school that I didn’t want to miss any of my acting classes because I didn’t want to miss out on learning something I enjoyed doing. The arts not only benefit students’ minds, but also their social and communication skills. With all of the performances to the public, it’s no wonder that the Arts can improve these vital skills needed everyday. When I first began performing, I was always nervous about talking in front of people. But the pure joy I found in performing made me more comfortable with public speaking. I remember when I was younger I had a bad habit of speaking really quickly when I got nervous. When I took acting class, my teacher made me very aware of the matter. She was constantly telling me not to rush my lines during practices. Now whenever I’m speaking to anyone, I can hear my acting teacher’s voice in the back of my head yelling at me to slow down! As I became more comfortable being in front of people, I began to more make friends as well. The arts are a great way to bring students together and have them work together in a positive way. Henry also states, â€Å"Multi-arts helps with reading, verbal and math skills; improves the ability to collaborate and higher-order thinking skills. † After taking acting classes, I became much more confident with public speaking. It has also helped me to do well in job interviews as well. The communication skills that can be learned through the arts can help students interact with others. Henry also states, â€Å"Drama helps with understanding social relationships, complex issues and emotions; improves concentrated thought and story comprehension. † In acting classes, the teacher not only teaches you memorizes lines but teaches you to be able to comprehend that which you are reading. You learn to express different emotions and work with other people. Working with a group of people so often, your team working skills improve which is very important to a students’ success. As students learn something they enjoy doing, it becomes less of a chore. This makes it much easier for a student to learn discipline. Despite the lazy artist stereotypes, the arts can help motivate students to do work. When I began to take dance much more seriously, I started going to practices 6 days a week. It taught me that if I worked hard enough at something, I would reap the rewards. Henry had this to say about dance, â€Å"Dance helps with creative thinking, originality, elaboration and flexibility; improves expressive skills, social tolerance, self-confidence and persistence. † Students learn persistence not only in dance but also in other areas of art like music. Velasco states, â€Å"Students who take the time to master a musical instrument learn about hard work, practice, and discipline. While performing in a group – like an orchestra, band, or choir – students learn to work together, appreciate teamwork, strive for a common goal, and develop negotiation skills. † Students who learn discipline through art can then apply that to other fields in their lives.

Chillingworth as Hero of Nathaniel Hawthornes Scarlet Letter? Essay

Chillingworth as Hero of The Scarlet Letter? The Scarlet Letter is a story about human reaction to circumstances and the justification behind these actions. Each of the central characters in the novel represents a side of an extremely serious situation, adultery. Each of the characters has a certain amount of justification behind their actions and each searches for a way to rise out of his/her condition. Roger Chillingworth himself represents revenge. Some even believe him to be representative of evil or Satan. What is ignored in the cases of interpreting him as Satan or as evil is the fact that he has been cruelly wronged by both Hester and Dimmesdale. Because Hester and Dimmesdale are portrayed as protagonists in the novel, Chillingworth is automatically classified, because of his opposition towards the two, as antagonist. He is not actually this at all when regarded without the negative connotations under which he is crushed within the book. Hester and Chillingworth were married before the beginning of the novel. Chillingworth, previous to his marriage, was a completely introvert man. "I - a man of thought - the bookworm of great libraries - a man already in decay, having given my best years to feed the hungry dream of knowledge... I came out of the vast and dismal forest and entered this settlement of Christian men, the very first object to meet my eyes would be thyself, Hester Prynne...." (52-53) Chillingworth saw Hester, after emerging from a great period of solitude, as a symbol of life. He regarded her as almost a savior. ... ...om doing what is right. Chillingworth is actually attempting to keep his essence. He is ruined without his revenge. Defeated, purposeless, Chillingworth soon dies after Dimmesdale's confession. Chillingworth's source of happiness, Hester, has been taken away along with his chance at reprisal. It is far too easy for a reader of The Scarlet Letter to simply brand Chillingworth as evil. The reader must pay attention to the complexities of the position which Chillingworth is forced into to understand that he is not evil or bad, at least not completely. Chillingworth is only a human put into a terrible position which he reacts to. In fact, it is not beyond reach to say that under his circumstances, Chillingworth was actually the hero, the protagonist; and Hester and Dimmesdale are the true villains.

John leo Essay

In John Leo’s article, â€Å"No books, please; we’re students’’, Leo discusses the issues with current college students and their lack of drive and ambition. Leo provides his readers with a multitude of statics and example why he feels college students have become lazy and disengaged. Leo introduces his readers using a survey from UCLA’s Higher Education Research Institute stating, â€Å"Only 35 percent of students said they spent six or more hours a week studying or doing homework during their senior year in high school; down from 43.7 percent 1987.’’ John Leo’s article claims that college students are losing an interest and enthusiasm for college. John Leo fills his article with statics and quotes from professors and teachers complaining about the lack of will power student have. â€Å" The real problem is students who won’t study,’’ wrote a Penn rSate Professor in the article. Leo also stated† disengaged rudeness† was the common attitude.† Leo’s article slams today’s college students on many levels. Leo’s article uses terms such as, disengaged, ignorant, and â€Å"inarticulate† to describe college students in today’s society. Leo clearly support his arguments and options with actual quotes from professors but I do not agree with his approach nor his arguments. Being a college students is not only about reading books and is definitely not only about students. There are plenty of professors that clearly don’t care or don’t like their jobs. Students can tell if a professor is passionate about a subject just like a professor can tell if a student is truly lazy or just struggling with the subject. Assumptions are being made on college students through Leo’s arguments. Leo did not thoroughly look into his students because his arguments are one sided. Leo does not provide his readers with the pros and cons, only the negative light is shed on how students learn or lack there of. John Leo’s article, â€Å"No books, Please; we’re students’’ targets today’s college students and negativity shows one side of a student’s life. Leo uses statistics and quotes from an array of professors to show the lack of interest college students show in today’s society but his approach is  extremely one sided and not thoroughly executed. More research and quotes from multiple views should have been provided.

Improving Patient Identification With Barcode Health And Social Care Essay

Today ‘s engineering affects the bringing of attention and patient safety in different health care puting. Due to the increasing mistakes in the health care environment, the Joint Commission and other health care organisations mandated ways to better proper and safer patient designation. The usage of saloon codification scanning engineering gave a large spring of bettering mistakes in the healthcare field. Nowadays, the barcode scanning can be seen in patient ‘ wristbands, medical records and laboratory faux pass or requisitions. With this turning engineering, a little pilot survey utilizing barcode scanning was initiated in an ICU scene in a local infirmary. The barcode scanning was used to accurately and expeditiously place patients when taking blood glucose fingerstick at the bedside. This survey will demo how it improves the truth and efficiency in executing the undertaking. Even at the terminal, there are defects that were identified in the survey. There is a two per centum mistake in scanning the barcode wristband in the survey. But the countries of betterment were identified. The bedside nurse necessitate to verify the medical record figure scanned and must fit what is in the armband. With this technique, 87.5 % of the bedside nurse find this technique a much accurate and efficient in taking blood sugar fingerstick in the ICU scene. The nurses besides need to mensurate its efficiency in placing patients right utilizing barcode scanning technique. Time is measured between manually come ining MRN versus scanning a barcoded wristband. It is found that 100 % of the eight bedside nurses find it more faster technique than manually come ining the MRN in the Surestep glucometer.IntroductionPatient safety encompasses bar of mistakes and errors of action and judgement, doing mistakes seeable and extenuating the effects of mistake. â€Å" In 1997, a survey of 1,000 hospitalized patients in a big instruction infirmary found 177 of these patients receive d inappropriate attention that resulted in serious inauspicious events † ( Barach, 2003 ) . It is a turning grounds of the figure of medical mistakes throughout the health care system in the United States and this became a signal to the health care system that betterment in patient safety and bringing of attention is needed with the usage of engineering. As we all know, engineering plays an of import function in bettering the bringing of attention in any hospital scenes. There had been an increasing job in the health care environment when it comes with medicine mistake. It is going a serious public wellness menace. Harmonizing to a landmark 1999 Institute of Medicine study, between 44,000 and 98,000 Americans die yearly due to medical errors ( Kohn, et Al ) . As portion of its on-going attempts and duty to better patient safety, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ( FDA ) ruled on April 4, 2004, to do barcodes compulsory on the labels of 1000s of human medicines and biological merchandises by the twelvemonth 2006 † ( Kohn, et. Al ) . The FDA expected that the opinion will assist forestall about 500,000 inauspicious events and transfusion mistakes over the 20 old ages that follow, at a cost nest eggs of $ 93 billion. Although the opinion makes the National Drug Code ( NDC ) -format barcodes compulsory merely on medicine packaging produced by drug providers, there is hope that this policy and recommendation will convey approximately technological promotions in prescription ordination, drug dispensing, and medicine disposal across all weaponries of the state ‘s wellness attention sys tem. â€Å" A critical method for suppliers of attention to cut down inauspicious events associated with medicine mistakes is to concentrate on the ways of bettering the system of presenting attention. In order to prolong and better upon established degree of attention, it is critical that wellness attention installations evaluate options to incorporate information systems as a mechanisms to extinguish preventable medicine mistakes † ( Patel, 2004 ) and even procedural mistakes such as look intoing blood sugar at the bedside. As we can see the usage of medicine barcode engineering grows, the wellness attention establishments will necessitate to be cognizant of related alterations in accreditation and conformity policies. These are of import and necessary to follow within several regulative organisations, including the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations ( JCAHO ) and the National Committee for Quality Assurance ( NCQA ) .The Support of the health care accreditation and other organisationsUnder the conditions of The Joint Commission ( antecedently JCAHO ) and other accreditations, the heathcare organisation is now faced with increasing force per unit area to proactively look and turn to medical mistakes that can go on in any wellness attention scenes. In July 2002, the Joint Commission called national attending to the basic beginning of mistake by set uping right patient designation as one of the six National Patient Goals of 2002 and â€Å" by January 2004 would impact the organisation ‘s accreditation and position. The ends included more accurate patient designation, enhanced communicating among wellness attention suppliers, decrease or riddance of wrong-site, wrong-patient, and incorrect process surgeries, and betterments to identify equipment such as clinical dismay systems † ( Mello, M. , Kelly & A ; Brennan, T. , 2005 ) . This accreditation organic structure has given accent on medical disposal, it is besides of import in any other facets of patient attention bringing. They support the proper designation and safe bringing of attention in different countries and activities in healthcare scenes.Taking Technology with Patient Safety and SecurityPatient security is further enhanced with engineering. It is besides of import to include and place staff employees that are administrating medicines, trials, or processs. These non merely offer an of import ( and clip salvaging ) record of the provider/patient interaction, but they besides provide an excess cheque to assist avoid mistakes or errors. Much of the of import engineering to accomplish these consequences already exists. Even more is in development-especially as infirmaries move toward the electronic medical record and its particular consideration. Again, infirmaries and other wellness attention scenes now are mandated by jurisprudence to be compliant with the HIPAA jurisprudence and electronic medical information. But the world remains: infirmaries must equilibrate these chances with bottom line fiscal considerations. Finding the solution will necessitate careful choice of a package supplier who can run into current and future demands of the provider-who will spouse with the supplier for today and the hereafter. The picks environing this chance will change wider but the bets have ne'er been higher or the wagess for patient safety are much more compelling. What is the current pattern? â€Å" Patient safety and medicine disposal safety are of import infirmary precedences. General enterprises designed to better safety include following a institutional civilization conducive to safe patterns, optimising substructure and clinical patterns to take beginnings of mistakes and analyzing mistakes that occur to find the beginning and possible ways to forestall mistakes † ( Cumming, et. al. , 2005 ) . Before and even until now, nurses are used of visually look intoing the medical specialty and following the five patients ‘ right. Today ‘s nursing working force is burdened with increasing larger patients ‘ tonss and much more sicker and higher sharp-sightedness patient degrees than of all time before together with multiple co-morbidities. Everyone agrees that guaranting patient safety is a top precedence for health care suppliers. The first measure lies in accurately placing the patient. Every practicing nurse is taught that the first precaution against medical mistake or positive patient designation by looking at the 5 rights: right medicine, right clip, right patient, right dosage and right path. This sounds easy but frequently are missed and doing an mistake. Technology is supplying some outstanding progresss in this country, but more demands to be done. Balancing the demand for patient privateness and security nowadayss some particular challenges, but the two truly do work in concert-when a supplier uses a system that will suit and turn with its turning demands. Bar-coded wristbands are most good when establishments such as infirmaries assign barcodes to their merchandise such as medicine, blood merchandises, research lab trials and processs. Patients traditionally receive the all important wristband during the admittances procedure. Again, a cost-efficient solution that can suit saloon coded wristbands can assist in accurately identify patients in supplying patient attention in the infirmary scene. Increasingly, suppliers are seeing the bar-coded carpus set as an of import patient safety cheque: scanning the set will assist guarantee right patient designation for medicine disposal, lab work, transfusions, proving and other processs.The Bar Coding TechniqueBar codification engineerings are now being utilized for other wellness attention applications outside of medicine disposal. The saloon codification was found in 1974 and was used ab initio in the nutrient industry. It was in 1991 when the first saloon codification appeared in a medicine b undle. â€Å" In 2004, the FDA issued a concluding regulation necessitating saloon codifications on most prescription and non prescription drugs normally used in the infirmary to cut down the hazard of medicine mistakes † ( Churchill, 2005 ) . Bar coding engineering can efficaciously look at medicines in two degrees. â€Å" First, the usage of saloon codifications on medicine packaging can guarantee appropriate usage of medicines. Second, saloon codifications can be used as alone patient identifiers † ( Patel, 2004 ) to patients. Bar-code enabled bedside nurses to decently corroborate patient designation and accurately execute bedside undertakings from medicine disposal, lab work and every bit simple as fingerstick cheque at the bedside. This will enable the nurse to verify the right patient, right medicine, right process, and right blood glucose fingerstick cheque. In kernel, â€Å" barcode engineering is a replacing for a traditional keyboard informations entry. It requires a transition of an identifier to a symbolic representation-the barcode-that can so be printed on, or affix to, an point, later read by a light beginning and fed into a computing machine † ( Grotting, et Al, 2002 ) . Standard barcodes are like the 1s we see in food market shops or like our licence home bases.The Advantages of Barcode ScaningThe usage of barcode engineering brings a figure of valuable advantages to the health care environment. Bar codification scanning is much more accurate than the human oculus or the flick of a finger. â€Å" Trials have shown that barcoded information has an truth rate of 1 mistake per 10,000,000 characters. Compare that to identify board entry mistake rate of 1 mistake per 100 characters. † ( Grotting, et Al, 2002 ) . The barcode scanning engineering gives chance to diminish or forestall mistakes in garnering informations while executing it in a fraction of a clip alternatively of making things manually. Another advantage is its easiness of usage. Participants can get the hang the equipment in shorter sum of clip. It besides accrued through a standardisation of codifications or patterns that is a good developed engineering. The barcode engineering gets better every clip and provides truth and efficiency. It is believed that implementing this technique in the wellness attention puting can supply fiscal benefits in add-on to clinical results. There will be preventable longer length of stay and lessening cost in the infirmary stay. With this technique, â€Å" 1000000s of dollars per twelvemonth, non including malpractice costs, readmissions and judicial proceeding costs, or the costs of hurts to patients ( Grotting, et Al, 2002 ) † will be saved. Litigation entirely can be financially burthening to the infirmary. â€Å" On norm, jury awards for medicine mistakes reached $ 636,844 per award in 2000 † ( Jury Verdict Research Group, 2000 ) .Factors that affects the Barcode ScanningThere factors that affects engineering such as barcode scanning. The detector factors, human factors, system architecture factors are some of the factors and can go challenges. For sensor factors or a barcode scanner, one should look at the design. Every detector is identified by a baseline measuring mistake that can be portion in the technology, design, type and intent of the detector. It is dependent upon the preciseness and truth of it. It is needed to guarantee that high quality detector informations and equipment is used to present a all right preciseness and truth. It is of import to see that we have to utilize for the medical demands of the patients in the health care puting. The quality of industry demands to reflect the trust in the detector fabrication procedure. Besides, every merchandise, every detector needs to be calibrated. It is common that overtime, any merchandise, will diminish its truth. Therefore, it needs to be calibrated. The detector and merchandise must be dependable when in usage. Any wellness monitoring system involves human participants. This can be the patient, health professional or wellness attention suppliers such as nurses. It is necessary for every participant to transport out specific functions in utilizing new equipment. The participants need to swear and hold assurance on the new equipment for it to go successful. They should believe on its â€Å" individuality ( genuineness ) , duty ( executing the function when expected ) , competency ( executing the function right ) , and motive ( willingness to execute the function ) † ( Sriram, et. Al, 2002 ) . Since there are a batch of policies that a infirmary or wellness attention puting to follow with, one should see that wellness information are sensitive. Every wellness attention supplier whether they are physicians or nurses are required to follow with HIPAA privateness policies. Therefore, a system should guarantee that no leak sing patient information will go on and must be dependable. It should non be weak that could interrupt healthcare information. It is of import to see its unity and exposures.The Barcode Pilot Study in ICU PutingBing a quality betterment representative of our unit, I was able to place some lacks in the inaccuracy in placing patients during bedside blood sugar monitoring. It was two old ages ago when bedside intensive attention unit nurses are still come ining medical record figure in the Surestep glucometer to accurately place patients. It gave an thought to make a little undertaking for the unit. Not all infirmaries are utilizing saloon codifications in plac ing their patients. It was besides two old ages ago when the infirmary where I am working started saloon codifications in patient armbands to increase proper designation of patients particularly in executing lab trial. This is a first measure in bettering in accurately placing patients in our infirmary. I have worked in other infirmaries and most of the infirmaries I ‘ve worked at are utilizing a glucometer that scans the barcodes in the patient ‘s armbands. The glucometer that was used in the other scenes are the same glucometer used in my infirmary. Therefore, I started a little undertaking in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit to fly a barcode scanning in obtaining blood sugar fingerstick to our intensive attention unit patient population.The Objective of the StudyFirst, I discussed with my co-Shared Governance members about the thought. I have presented to them why I am making the undertaking. This undertaking will increase the truth and efficiency of obtaining blood g lucose fingerstick at the bedside. The patient populations we are looking at are patient with Diabetic Ketoacidosis and Open Hearts patients. Both of these populations require an every one hr fingerstick. With the current process we have in the ICU, the bedside nurses are still manually come ining the medical record figure of the patient whenever a blood sugar fingerstick is needed. The sum of clip and the sum of mistake is higher when the bedside nurses are making this. After discoursing the undertaking with the Shared Governance of the unit and our nurse director and got their consensus, I started looking at how to roll up the information.Data Collection of the UndertakingThere will be two portion of the survey: measurement truth and mensurating efficiency. I compared the old protocol of taking blood glucose fingerstick and wrote a different protocol for the undertaking. This will assist the ICU nurses follow the instructions ( see attachment # 1 ) . I used a little pilot survey t hat can roll up 50 informations. The information will be within one hebdomad or until 50 informations are collected. The participants will come in in the generated templet for the survey ( see attachment # 2 ) . The end is to hold 50 samples of MRN barcode scanning during fingerstick cheques. The armband of the patient has a preprinted barcodes. This can be utilized in the undertaking. There is no excess cost for developing a barcoded wristband. It is already in the infirmary acknowledging system of a patient ; hence, we will be utilizing this for the undertaking. There will be no added cost to the budget of the unit. The participants, all nurses of the displacement was given instructions and inservice of the undertaking. They will foremost do certain the patient is right campaigner for the survey. They can be the Diabetic Ketoacidosis ( DKA ) and unfastened bosom patients. Both of this population requires every hr fingerstick because of the insulin trickle that is running.Surveying the Bedside NursesAfter roll uping 50 informations for the undertaking, a study was given to every participant. It asked for different things: What type of patient population used? Was the usage of saloon codification scanning much more efficient that the manually come ining MRN? Was the usage of saloon pod scanning much more accurate in placing patients that manually come ining MRN? Would you urge utilizing this new method than the old one? ( See Attachment # 3 )MethodologyI will look at garnering 50 informations from the bedside nurses. Besides, I will be supplying a study signifier for the bedside nurse to compare t he current process versus the new barcode scanning technique ( see attachment # 3 ) . There will be no extra cost for purchasing the equipment to make the undertaking. The glucometer, Surestep, has a capableness of barcode scanning. Therefore, the excess characteristic of the equipment is already in the machine and merely necessitate to be utilized to execute this little undertaking. The undertaking will run for a hebdomad get downing February 24th until 50 informations is collected. All bedside nurses on all displacements were inserviced in the entrance undertaking. It was discussed with them what patient population that can be portion of the survey. Merely the unfastened bosom patients and Diabetic Ketoacidosis are the patient population allowed at this clip because of their every hr fingerstick. They were instructed that that every patients who participated in this survey must hold a barcoded wristband. They besides need to do certain that there is imprinted medical record figure ( MRN ) on it. The wristbands must non hold any wear or rupture prior to the scanning. If they find that any of the wristbands has any mark of wear or tear, they were asked to replace them. This will forestall any inaccurate consequences that can impact the survey.Scaning the Patient and Completing Survey FormEach operator will acquire a templet to come in the consequence of the surve y ( see Attachment # 2 ) . They will foremost set the day of the month, clip, operator ‘s initial, existent MRN, scanned MRN, and enter YES or NO if the scanned MRN matched the imprinted MRN. If non, they will necessitate to reiterate the process, but must go forth a remark how many times it scanned falsely. This aggregation will go on until 50 informations is collected. Every bedside nurse ( operator ) must finish the study signifier at the terminal of their displacement. All the signifiers will be placed in an envelope provided.Analysis of the UndertakingThe undertaking ran from February 24 until March 2. It was about a hebdomad of proving 50 barcode scanning of armbands anterior taking blood glucose fingerstick. With the 50 informations collected and compared with manually entered MRN and saloon codification scanned, one information did non scan the MRN right. It was at the 2nd scan when the scanned barcode matched the imprinted barcode in the patient ‘s wristband. Therefore, there was a two per centum opportunity of scanning a barcoded wristband with inaccurate MRN. The operator was asked if there is any tear or ill-defined barcode in the armband of the patient. The operator stated that there was no tear or ill-defined barcodes in the wristband. What caused this inaccuracy? There were entire of eight bedside nurses ( operator ) in making this undertaking. All of the bedside nurses completed the study. Here is the dislocation of their consequences: 100 % of the 50 informations collected has barcoded wristbands with the same MRN that is imprinted, 25 % of the patient population was an unfastened bosom patients and the 75 % was Diabetic Ketoacidosis patient, 7 out of 8 bedside nurses felt that it is still accurate to barcode scan the MRN, 8 out of 8 bedside nurses felt that it is faster to scan the MRN than manually come ining it, in conclusion, 8 out of 8 nurses want to urge this new barcode scanning technique in come ining the MRN than manually come ining every individual figure in the machine. Even with the one mistake from the 50 informations collected, there was a back up program for it. The bedside nurse still needs to compare the scanned MRN with the patient ‘s wristband to guarantee the proper patient designation during the simple blood glucose monitoring at the bedside.Credence of the UndertakingThe undertaking was successful because of the willingness of the nurses to be involved in the survey. They do non hold to travel through a long preparation to utilize the equipment. They are familiar with the glucometer. Sometimes deficiency of engagement and involvement from the participants can add to the defect of the survey. â€Å" We learned that prosecuting nurses early helps them to avoid inauspicious incidents and engineering related emphasis † ( Weckman, H. , & A ; Janzen, S. , 2009 ) . These nurses are first-class beginning of thoughts and suggestions on how to better any portion of the procedure. It is believed that â€Å" careful hearing to the nurse s ‘ remarks was crucialaˆÂ ¦because the engineering alterations in pattern have the possible to make a ripple consequence in other facets of their work flow † ( Weckman, H. , & A ; Janzen, S. , 2009 ) . The Surgical Intensive Unit accepted this new barcode scanning technique in come ining MRN in the Surestep glucometer. They felt that it is accurate and faster in come ining MRN comparison in utilizing their fingertips. The other unit started to inquire if they can use the technique to their unit, based on the infirmary ‘s policy, it needed to be approved by the research lab forces who are assigned in garnering informations for the glucometer. I presented the undertaking to her and she rejected the undertaking to be shared to the other unit. She said that there is a high per centum of mistake that can go on. It is 10 times more blood glucose fingerstick that is taken daily in the infirmary. If there is a two per centum mistake, it will hold an equivalent of 10 inaccurate MRN scanned. This is merely a day-to-day blood glucose monitoring. What more if is translated to monthly and annually? They wanted to name the seller if the wristband barcode is the right barcode for the glucom eter. There are different sizes and formats of barcoding and his must be one of the insufficiencies of the technique. Even with the rejection of the research lab forces to hold it dispersed in other unit, the nurses in the Surgical ICU are satisfied with the new technique. Therefore, the barcode scanning technique was merely done in Surgical Intensive Unit with the blessing of the unit ‘s nurse director. The bedside nurses in this unit urge this and prefer to make this technique because it takes less clip than manually come ining them.DecisionProblems with scanning arose ab initio because the usage of multiple barcode formats, sizes and location. The quality of the barcode scanner reader can hold an impact on the truth of its usage. Is the quality of the printed barcoded wristband impacting its scanning capableness? It can besides be a human factor. Human factors can go on and go a barrier in the proper and successful execution of a undertaking. It can alter its truth in scann ing a medical record figure ( MRN ) . But the inquiry still exists is it better than the old technique? With the study consequences, 100 % of the bedside nurses prefer to transport out the new technique. They are cognizant of the mistake and defects in the system, but they learned that they need to verify the scanned MRN with the imprinted MRN in the patient ‘s wristband. In summing up, in implementing a barcode engineering truly helps in bettering healthcare bringing to our patients. Many of the infirmaries are now utilizing barcode scanning in the patient ‘s wristband, medicine disposal, laboratory trial and even little process such as blood sugar fingerstick. These betterments can consequences to improved satisfaction in the patients every bit good as the bedside nurses. All of us personally want safe wellness attention, and most assuredly we want to do certain that our patients have safe attention. Safe attention means a attention that is administered without mistakes and injury. Mistake or injury agencies anything that can hold a negative impact on the patient ‘s well being. Everyone deserves a quality attention. To me, it means excellence or has high criterions. Within this subject, we can state that safe and quality can be interchangeable. However, the accent is on safety and the end is to better our wellness attention bringing system.Managerial DeductionsHarmonizing to Richard Paoletti, manager of pharmaceutics services at Lancaster General Hospital, barcoding execution is non a stand-alone enterprise ; it is a cultural alteration ( Kaufman, 2008 ) . It is proven in an experimental survey in some infirmaries that it gives a cost economy of 1000000s of dollars to the organisations. The cost of the barcode scanning machines depends on the es tablishment size. The care, waiters, and standardization are needed to be considered when taking a new equipment or machine in any installation. For this undertaking, excess machines or stuffs are non needed because the Surestep glucometer has it capableness of scanning a barcode. The standardization of the machine can be sent to the seller. What will be the preparation cost? There will be a minimum preparation cost since this will go on at the existent bedside nursing attention for patients who are necessitating blood sugar monitoring. A voluntary will be mensurating the clip utilizing a stop watch during the survey. There is a minimum cost for this undertaking but will be â€Å" avoiding cost associated with handling patients who suffer from preventable medicine mistakes such as length of stay or increased intensive attention unit length of stay † ( Cummings, et. al. , 2005 ) . Barcode engineering will be a criterion of attention few old ages from now. Therefore, â€Å" infirmaries should get down be aftering, budgeting, measuring engineering and fixing infirmary substructure † ( Cummings, et. al. , 2005 ) in run intoing the demands in barcode engineering related to healthcare system.

Using Home Design Software - A Review

Using Home Design Software - A Review Home Designer ® by Chief Architect is a line of software programs for non-professionals. Intended to help the Do-It-Yourselfer (DIYer) create workable home and garden plans, these applications cost less than professional-grade software. Not simplified or simple-minded,  Chief Architect products can teach you more about construction and design than a semester course at the local community college. And they are fun to use. Advertisements promise that this software will save you from napkin sketching, thanks to an integrated mobile Room Plannerâ„ ¢ app which lets you measure and plan rooms on the go and then import the file into Home Designer. You might love napkin sketching, but youll still want to test out the next step in home design. For the inexperienced, try out the middle-of-the line product, Home Designer Suite. You may hit some bumps along the way, but youre sure to find some happy surprises. Heres the scoop on the 2015 version. Using Home Designer Suite Every year is a new version, but most applications work the same way. Download files from homedesignersoftware.com or purchase the DVD. Installation is the straightforward 10-15 minute process. Then jump right in. Create New Plan makes you choose a house style before anything else. This gets you thinking about what look you want for your new construction or what style your built house might be. Of course, the problem with style is that very few house styles are pure Colonial or Country Cottage or Arts Crafts. Select one of the style choices, however, and you get a simple illustration along with written content that defines what they mean by the style. For example, Urban Chic/Contemporary is described as clean and spare. When you first begin, the software prompts you to make decisions - for example, choose a core catalog for your library, framing defaults, exterior siding. Construction pros understand the need to know wall height and thickness before building. However, if you are impatient, you might feel frustrated by the need to choose style details before getting started. The house style you have chosen loads an array of default style choices. Not to worry, however - these defaults can be changed at any time. Still, the creative side of you  may begin wishing for the napkin part of the process - a distraction-free work area to sketch out your inspirations. Building, Not Drawing The default work area in Home Designer looks like a piece of graph paper, although this Reference Grid can be turned off. The unsaved file is called Untitled 1: Floor Plan, so you may want to get into the habit of saving your electronic work often, just as you would in any software program. The cursor is at the crosshairs, beginning at the 0,0 point of an x-y axis. Its all movable, so the new user may reasonably decide to draw a floor plan with a drag-and-drop motion. But Home Designer in 2015 doesnt work like that. The user of Home Designer software does not really draw or sketch a design, but builds and constructs a home. If you begin with the Build drop-down menu, you will see Wall at the top of the list. Each wall section is considered an Object, so once each object is placed, you can select and move it around. The program functions like a builder - it progresses one wall at a time, one room at a time. An architect often thinks more abstractly and conceptually at first - a sketch on a napkin. In contrast, Home Designer functions more like a builder. Using this software, you may feel more like Bob the Builder than architect Frank Gehry. Results: The Wow Factor The very impressive 3D renderings will amaze you. The floor plan that you build can be viewed in multiple ways - overhead like a dollhouse, different camera views, and even a virtual walkthrough along a path you define. This DIY software takes away the mystique of any architect, designer, or construction professional who tries to wow the public with a virtual reality presentation. Anyone can do it; its baked into the software. If You Dont Read the Directions First Remember this, if youre not in the habit of reading instructions before you begin (you know who you are):   (1) Use Build then (2) Select objects to move and modify. In addition to this Build and Select method, Home Designer Suite has two more ways to get your project going: Tools Space PlanningCreate Room Boxes to rearrange, then select Build House from the drop-down menu and poof - the walls and rooms are all there.Go to the Home Designer Samples Gallery and download a zip file of sample plans and renderings. One look at the floor plans and 3D views, and youll say, Yeah, I want to do THAT! A nifty aspect of these sample plans is that they are not static or read only - you can take designs that someone else drew and modify them to your own specifications. Of course, you cant professionally USE them in any official way, because that would be stealing, but you can get a jump start on the learning curve. Product Documentation Tells All Every new edition of Home Designer Suite has its own version of a Users Manual and a Reference Manual. A very, very helpful feature of the Chief Architect website is that the company doesnt throw away much  - from the Product Documentation page, you can choose your version of Home Designer from a drop-down menu, and a PDF file is available for your product and the version (year) of the product. If you read the Reference Manual first, a first-time user may better undersand the focus on objects instead of concepts in the software environment created by Chief Architect. The environment is built on object-based design  - object-based design technology means you place and edit objects, rather than work with the many individual lines or surfaces used to represent them. The environment is 3-D drafting, a three dimensional coordinate system...using the X, Y, and Z axes. The current position of your mouse pointer displays in the Status Bar at the bottom of the program window. Architectural objects take up space in all three dimensions and their height, width and depth can be specified....In addition, the location of objects can be precisely defined using coordinates... How Easy is Home Designer Suite to Use? When the video says, Its that easy, well, its not that easy. For the uninitiated DIYer, a half-days worth of fiddling and training is recommended to become even semi-productive. Even after a full day of fiddling, front porch columns may go through the roof or stairways may end up as high as a rooftop. Although there may be easier ways to draw a floorplan, Home Designer software really gives a professional look to even the simplest of floorplans. While designing the floorplan, its very easy to switch to a different view, such as a 3D overhead called a dollhouse. When viewing the outside of your design, you can easily place your new home in a stock photograph setting or its even more fun to choose your vegetation from a list and do your own landscaping. The online Support Center and drop-down Help menu are phenomenal. Help documents are constantly being updated, including: Frequently Asked Questions and Knowledge Base, a database of FAQs and solutions to specific questionsHome Designer Getting Started Resources, which may include access to too much informationClassroom Training, Webinars, Online and Mobile Training VideosCustomer Service Telephone SupportHome Talk forum and discussion group specifically for Home Designer software users The newbie might want to start with a quick tutorial and then reference the online Users Manual and the Reference Manual. 5 Reasons to Use Home Designer Software It makes you think about design, how elements/objects fit together, and how standard sizes and shapes of appliances can dictate interior design.It may save you money when you use an architect that charges by the hour. If you can conceptualize your ideas using the language of the professional designer or architect, communication will be faster and your expectations can be better thought through.The many standard features will keep you busy for weeks. The uninitiated will not outgrow this software anytime soon.Not only does the software integrate with the Room Planner app, but users can import photos of their own homes for landscaping and remodeling projects.Great support. Affordable price. Other Considerations Once you get the knack of using the software, its just too easy to make complicated designs. Walls and juts are easy to add, but theres no on-screen calculator to show you the immediate construction costs of what you are doing. Beware of sticker shock! Three-dimensional renderings include a snazzy ability to record a virtual walk-through. However, you will not be able create the simple yet elegant line drawings found in the work of professional architects. For that type of elevation drawing, youd need to move up to the Chief Architect product line created for professionals at chiefarchitect.com. Too many options can be paralyzing. Take your time and build your knowledge. Green initiatives and Green Building Software Tips are available online for the Chief Architect professional software. It would be nice to see these tips directed to the everyday consumer, too. Chief Architect, Inc. offers two lines of software products: Home Designer for the Do-It-Yourselfer consumer and Chief Architect for the professional. Both product lines are by Chief Architect, and both are described as Home Design Software. Which program to purchase could be confusing, so check out both the Home Design Software products and the Chief Architect product comparison. Chief Architect has been making professional architectural software since the 1980s. The Home Designer line builds on years of experience with a complex interface. The heftiness of the manuals and the need for so much support suggests the possible need for a more intuitive user experience. Fortunately, the documentation is excellent. After a day of tinkering and discovering what is possible, anyones imagination should soar.  Home Designer can be challenging to master, but well worth the effort. Cost The Home Designer family includes multiple products that range in price from $79 to $495. Students and academic institutions can license the products when adopted as a teaching tool. Trial downloads are available, and Chief Architect backs all products with a 30-day money-back guarantee. If your home projects focus on remodeling or interior design, Home Designer Interiors might be a better purchase at $79. Internet access is required for installation, license authentication, deactivation, video, and library catalog access. Internet access for license validation is required once every 30 days; for Home Designer Pro, license validation is required once every 14 days. Sources Chief Architect Home Designer Suite 2015, User’s Guide, http://cloud.homedesignersoftware.com/1/pdf/documentation/home-designer-suite-2015-users-guide.pdfChief Architect Home Designer Suite 2015, Reference Manual, p. 21, http://cloud.homedesignersoftware.com/1/pdf/documentation/home-designer-suite-2015-reference-manual.pdfRendering examples by Jackie Craven Disclosure: A review copy was provided by the manufacturer. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.

National Merit Finalist - How to Win the Scholarship

National Merit Finalist - How to Win the Scholarship SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Many students take the PSAT in the fall of their junior year. What a lot of students may not notice is the full name of the test is PSAT/NMSQT, or Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. Thus, the PSAT is not just good practice for your SATs. It’s also the first step in becoming a National Merit Finalist and hopefully, earning a $2,500 scholarship from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC). In this article, we’ll discuss what steps you need to take to become a National Merit Finalist and compete for a scholarship. We'll also give you advice on how to write a strong application and maximize your chances of becoming a National Merit Scholar. Here’s how the numbers break down: Each year, about 1.6 million students take the PSAT. Of the juniors who take the exam, about 16,000 earn scores that qualify them as Semifinalists (that's around 1%). This group is narrowed down to 15,000, who become Finalists. Of this group, about 7,500 are awarded scholarships of $2,500 a year (that can be renewed each year you're in college). This article will explain the three key steps you need to follow to win the National Merit scholarship, from meeting the entry requirements, to scoring well on the PSAT, to submitting a standout application. Step 1: Meet the Entry Requirements The National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) requires you to have a few qualifications to even be considered for the scholarship: You must be enrolled as a high school student, progressing normally toward graduation. You must plan to enroll full time in college starting the fall following high school graduation. You must be a U.S. citizen or U.S. lawful permanent resident planning to become a U.S. citizen. These requirements will be checked with a few questions at the beginning of the PSAT. Step 2: Score in the Top 1% of the PSAT Becoming a National Merit Finalist is competitive and requires a top score on the PSAT. Although it varies from state to state, most students must score above 1400 (out of 1520) to qualify as a Semifinalist, which means they can compete to move on to Finalist standing. How can you achieve a top 1% score on the PSAT? Prepare with high-quality materials. Identify your weak points and work to improve them. If the Reading section confuses you, spend the majority of your time practicing those sections. If math isn’t your thing, commit yourself to drillingPSAT Math problems.The National Merit competition usesa Selection Index that is based on yourReading, Math, and Writing test scores, so mastering all three sections is key. Take control of your learning and study with practice questions and sample tests. This practice will also pay off later when you take the SATs in the spring of your junior year and fall of senior year. Bonus: Aiming for a National Merit Scholarship? If you're not sure you can self-study your way to a qualifying PSAT score, you'll love our PSAT prep program, PrepScholar. We designed our program to learn your strengths and weaknesses through advanced statistics and customize your prep to be as effective as possible for you. When you start with PrepScholar, you’ll take a diagnostic that will determine your weaknesses in over forty PSAT skills. PrepScholar then creates a study program specifically customized for you. To improve each skill, you’ll take focused lessons dedicated to each skill, with over 20 practice questions per skill. This will train you for your specific area weaknesses, so your time is always spent most effectively to raise your score. We also force you to focus on understanding your mistakes and learning from them. If you make the same mistake over and over again, we'll call you out on it. There’s no other prep system out there that does it this way, which is why we get better score results than any other program on the market. Check it out today with a 5-day free trial: For more info on prepping for the PSAT, check out ourdetailed guide to attaining National Merit Semifinalist status. Step 3: Submit an Excellent Application Complete the NMSC application requirements by fall of your senior year (usually early October). This application allows 15,000 of the 16,000 Semifinalists to move on to Finalist standing. If you don't become a Finalist or don't qualify, you may still get word that you're a Commended Student or remain as a Semifinalist, which are great distinctions that will stand out on college applications. However, only Finalists are eligible for National Merit Scholarship awards. The online NMSC application is the same as your college application in some ways and different in other ways. Similarities You must submit the following: Your academic record (transcript) SAT scores* Information about your activities and leadership roles A personal essay *You have to take the SATs on approved dates, usually in the fall of your senior year, and make sure to send along your score report to NMSC. They need to receive your scores by December 31st of your senior year. While there is no strict cutoff for SAT scores, they must be competitive like your PSAT scores (usually around 1400 or above) so they know your PSAT wasn't a fluke. Differences You must submit the following: A recommendation from your high school principal or someone the principal designates as a school official Information about your school’s curricula and grading system Let's dig into each component to maximize your chance of building a strong application to win the National Merit Scholar title. Academic Record and SAT Scores The National Merit Corporation is first and foremost looking to award academic achievement. There is no strict cutoff, but a competitive GPA (3.5 and above) and high SAT scores (approximately 1400 and above) are recommended. Your academic record should also show that you challenged yourself with honors and AP classes. When you're a high school junior, there isn't much you can do about this, other than continue to excel in your classes. Want to learn more about the SAT but tired of reading blog articles? Then you'll love our free SAT prep livestreams. Designed and led by PrepScholar SAT experts, these live video events are a great resource for students and parents looking to learn more about the SAT and SAT prep. Click on the button below to register for one of our livestreams today! Extracurricular Activities and Community Service The NMC is also looking at the skills and accomplishments shown in your application. Demonstrated leadership goes a long wayfor example, leading in Student Council or other student organizations. Your activities should reveal your passions and interestsit is usually better to show â€Å"depth over breadth.† In other words, get deeply involved in a few activities you’re passionate about rather than showing minor participation in every club, team, and organization your school has to offer. Almost all activities are valuable if they show your commitment, leadership potential, and ability to work with and help others. Recommendations Recommendations go a long way. Cultivate good relationships with your teachers, counselor, and principal and provide a â€Å"brag sheet† for them with the qualities and accomplishments you would like them to include in your recommendation. Your brag sheet may include the following: What six adjectives best describe you? What do you consider your greatest accomplishment(s)? What are your strongest goals for the next five years? What is a meaningful experience you have had during high school? These anecdotes will make writing a lot easier, and they'll thank you for this. Make sure to ask for your recommendation at least three weeks in advance of the deadline, and follow up with your writer to make sure it'll be submitted on time. The earlier you notify them, the more ahead you'll be of your classmates, most of whom will need college application letters. Personal Essay The personal essay adds your voice to your application materials. Your essay is the place where you can share your unique story and perspective and make your application materials come to life. Here is an example of a past National Merit essay question: To help the reviewers get to know you, describe an experience you have had, a person who has influenced you, or an obstacle you have overcome. Explain why this is meaningful to you. Use your own words and limit your response to the space provided. The space allows for about 500 - 600 words. You should focus on two important components of the essay. First, the NMC wants to see that you can express yourself clearly and powerfully through writing. Make sure to proofread, edit, and revise for any spelling errors, grammatical mistakes, or weaknesses in syntax and diction. Second, your essay reveals how you think about yourself, your accomplishments, and your goals. What do your experiences mean to you? What do they reveal about your identity? Spend some time brainstorming before you decide what aspects of your identity are most important to share with the NMC readers. For example, did a group science fair project show you the power of collaboration in making new discoveries? Did a Student Council debate reveal the complexity of perspectives on a single issue? Did Lisa Simpson teach you the importance of sticking to your principles, even if your family may not always agree? The topics are endless, and there is no best answer, but whatever you choose should reveal something significant about who you are. Once you have your first draft, ask a friend, family member, counselor, or English teacher for feedback on what worked and what didn’t. It’s a short essay, so make sure every sentence is there for a reason and important for telling your story. In Conclusion Staying motivated and committing yourself to all these goals will put you in the best position toward becoming a National Merit Finalist. Remember, only 15,000 students ( 1%) are chosen as Finalists, and of those, only about 7,500 students receive scholarships. On a percentage basis, it's even more competitive than getting into the Ivy League, so even with all your hard work, you’ll still need a certain amount of luck! NSMC notifies students if they have become finalists in February of their senior year. Scholarship notifications go out in March. By that time, most of your college applications will be done and submitted. Now you just have to try to relax and wait for the decisions to come! If you complete all the steps mentioned above, you can be confident that you’ve done all you can – now hopefully the National Merit Scholarship Corporation will recognize all your hard work. What's Next? Want more tips on how to get a top PSAT score?Check out our guide on how to get a perfect PSAT score for all the info you need to know. Are you striving for perfection on the SAT?Read our detailed guide by our resident SAT full scorer. Aiming to get intoa top-tier school? Check outour article: What's a good SAT score for the Ivy League? Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points? We have the industry's leading SAT prep program. Built by Harvard grads and SAT full scorers, the program learns your strengths and weaknesses through advanced statistics, then customizes your prep program to you so you get the most effective prep possible. Check out our 5-day free trial today:

Assingment 2 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Assingment 2 - Assignment Example Transformational leaders give attention to the concerns and development needs of individual followers. A good situation when contemporary leadership strategy was used is a company that trained staff in reading and understanding its financial statements and how they directly relate to their work. Employees from all sectors were encouraged to study the company books and financial statements. This policy extension was to go hand in hand with all employees in groups and discuss what the future meant, in particular, how they related to the work that they were doing and eventually to the big picture of profitability of the organization. In this situation, leaders used several development levels and styles. First, leaders were passionate and energetic in all they did. They showed lots of care to employees and urge to see them succeed. This is evident as they take the employees in group discussion to make them understand how they work relate to the company profitability. The leaders put pass ion and energy into everything as they care about the employees and what they goals are. In this, the development levels and styles demonstrated includes; developing vision, selling vision, finding the way out and leading the charge. For instance, in this case, the transformational leadership starts with developing the vision which was to educate the employees on how their work relate to the company profitability. Developing vision is followed by selling it. The leaders took their time, energy and committed themselves to ensuring the vision is embraced and accepted by the employees. They also distributed copies of the financial statements to employees in order to ensure the vision was understood. In hand with selling activity and vision, is seeking the way forward. Most of the transformational leaders know the way and their goal is usually to urge others to follow them. The route forward is not obvious and may not be plotted in details. Therefore, transformational leaders need to ha ve a clear vision, thereafter, direction will define itself. The final development level is leading the charge. The leaders are always visible and would stand up to be considered rather than behind their group. They demonstrated by their actions and attitudes how everyone else should behave. Further, they make continued attempts to motivate and bring together their followers, constantly doing the round, soothing, listening and enthusing. The actions taken by leaders to ensuring employees understand their work relation with company profitability was very effective. The contemporary leadership approach used showed progressive ideals of collaboration and equality in the actions. The leaders are usually urged to co-exist and cooperate with subordinates instead of dictating over them. In this case, the leaders are encouraged to possess and utilize emotion and intelligence. The employees get more interested in the books and financial reports because they see how their leaders were well ac quainted with them. Moreover, contemporary leadership is mainly concern with effective leaders exhibiting emotional and social intelligence (Winkler, 2009). This ensures leaders think, focus on goal, understand employees’ emotions and are able to demonstrate common ground before rushing to act. The actions taken, that is, developing vision, selling vision, finding the way out and

Iran In Country Brief on their Economy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Iran In Country Brief on their Economy - Essay Example The Iran spending budget is $482 billion (Polk 2011, p. 20). This is direct tied to oil prices per barrel. Later in the presentation, Iran’s strong reliance on oil is directly related to their international relations policy. In addition to petroleum another prominent Western perspective on Iran is its strong embrace of religious principles. In many ways these perspectives, in economic terms, have a degree of truth. In this way it’s estimated that as much as 30% of government spending goes towards religious organizations (Polk 2011, p. 20). The exact government spending breakdown is recognized as follows: In terms of specific government spending policies, the reported breakdown of Iranian spending is 59% on social policies, 17% on economic matters, 15% on national defense, and 3% on agriculture (Polk 2011, p. 19). Within this spending contains the 30% that goes towards religious groups There are a number of historical considerations that must be examined when considering the Iranian economy. The picture featured on the slide you see is Ayatollah Khomeini; this is the individual that took over with the 1978 Revolution. Prior to 1979 Iran’s economic expansion occurred at a robust pace. With the 1978 Iranian Revolution, however, there was a stark decline in economic growth. Following the Revolution the government increasingly focused on economic independence and an increased quality of life for Iranian inhabitants (Polk 2011, p. 32). Still, while Iran’s oppositional stance to the United States is commonly attributed to its economic shortcomings, it’s also recognized that the country has faced considerable other challenges. Between 1980 and 2000 the Iranian economy nearly doubled. This increase in population resulted in food-shortages that greatly impacted the economic structure (Polk 2011, p. 24). Another major economic setback occurred in 1980 with the Iran-Iraq war. Indeed, the picture featured above is of a tank with oil flames