Why Music Should Not Be Taken from Our School Day

Why Music is Important!!! Why were lullabies invented? They soothe children and calm their reactions to stress. This in turn reduces the stress in the entire family. Over time, children memorize lullabies and start to sing them. Music is often a huge part of childhood. A toy piano, drums, xylophones and guitars are favorite toys for children. Parents and grandparents should encourage children to experience music. A great way to do this is to provide toy instruments to the children. These don't have to be expensive. Children can play and enjoy their own music.While they may not develop professional talent, they will gain an understanding of music that will help them relax in the future. As they get older, consider music lessons. Qualified instructors can teach children how to play the piano, a skill that they can use for life. Your child's school may have a music or band program. Check out all of the available options that will give a musical education to children. There may be an old instrument in the family somewhere. Ask around. Do you have musicians as friends? They may have an unused instrument that they are will to part with.If you are creative, you'll find an appropriate instrument for you child. With it, they can truly expand their musical abilities. If they are lucky, their school may still have a vibrant musical program that they can join. It's a sad fact that in these days of budget pressures for schools, early funding victims are often music programs. This is usually due to the lack of perceived direct benefit from music. This is unfortunate because while music students don't earn sponsorship dollars from their activities, they bring calmness and civility to the school.This is a direct, positive influence on the music students and to those students exposed to the sounds. With the reality of budgets, it is more important than ever that parents advocate for music funding in schools, that they provide musical avenues to their children themselves and tha t they encourage and support more live performance music where ever it is available in their communities. Musical appreciation comes best through the playing of an instrument to a degree that far surpasses mere listening to iTunes. To give children a chance to calm down, it is important to instill musical appreciation from a young age.Your child doesn't have to be a musical prodigy, they just have to enjoy music for their own pleasure. Children who love music will often surprise you with their ability. Give them a chance to show what they can do. Keep emphasizing that music is fun. Obviously parents and grandparents support music for children. This lens has been liked over 200 times. It has also received dozens of fabulous comments in the sections below. This is great news. Make sure that you follow through with your support by getting the children involved in music. Talk to them about your passion for music.Find a nice instrument that they want to play. Encourage them to sing. Volu nteer to help school music programs. Music as a Career Many children find that they can translate their love of music into a career. This is obviously a difficult, and rare, undertaking. The book â€Å"Outliers† by Malcolm Gladstone says that 10,000 hours of practice are required to become an expert at something. The Beatles did it back in 1964. The â€Å"Fab 4† became rich with their music. Talent is required, but so is dedication. Without encouragement, however, your child is not likely going to work in the music industry.That and luck. If they want to try, beware of the difficulties, but help them. The Internet has completely changed the music industry, although the big publishing companies don't like to admit it. New artists can publish and promote their own work and be incredibly successful. There are funding opportunities for albums or concert tours. Publishing to the web offers various revenue streams. An incredible demand for new material always exists. Budding performers can get a piece of the action if they have the talent, drive and luck. Justin Bieber did it.There will be more young superstars discovered in the future. !!! Cutting arts programs would be a tremendous loss for every student. Whether you’re naturally more artistic or not, learning how to think creatively is a very important skill. Just focusing on certain subjects for too long can cause boredom and stress. I know that being involved with music helps me relieve the stress of preparing for state testing. But are these examinations really what we should be focusing all our time and energy on? One test can’t express your intelligence or creativity like art can. Music, as well as art, p. . , science, social studies, history, and geography are all important and should be taught to all children, no matter how poorly they are doing, or how poor their families are. For some, it may be the spark that ignites their desire to learn, for others it may set the foundation for them to understand higher thinking skills, for others it may be the reason they stay in school, for others†¦. . Several studies have reported positive associations between music education and increased abilities in non-musical (eg, linguistic, mathematical, and spatial) domains in children.The authors say there are similarities in the way that individuals interpret music and language and â€Å"because neural response to music is a widely distributed system within the brain†¦. it would not be unreasonable to expect that some processing networks for music and language behaviors, namely reading, located in both hemispheres of the brain would overlap. † To see each other through each other’s eyes~ president Obama It teaches us to understand and get to know those who are not like us That sense of belonging, having a healthy perspective on weighty issues and the ability to self-individuate may be never fully realized, even in a lifetime.What is necessary in th e microsociety of high school is a sturdy vessel in which to navigate a safe and fulfilling journey to the next transition. In high school, music programs are that vehicle. Our drummer, Paulo Baldi, for instance, lived in three states as a teenager (Colorado, New Mexico and Washington) while attending four different high schools. Joining the marching band in each unfamiliar place helped to connect his high school experience. He made friends through each transition, and it made comfortable what could have otherwise been an alienating experience.Paulo Baldi testifies that, â€Å"Marching band in particular is the savior for people who may or may not be athletic. Marching band is music, memorization, eye-hand coordination and good for your posture. It may hurt to be told your paradiddles suck, but it builds character. It's a team sport. You create friendships that become your buddies for life. High school music is something focused to do. You don't have to be great to belong, and memb ers immediately have something in common. † Aside from the social benefits, students in high school music programs have higher test scores and cognitive development.A U. S. Department of Education study found that those who reported consistent involvement in instrumental music over the middle and high school years show significantly higher levels of mathematics proficiency by grade 12. (This observation holds regardless of students' socioeconomic status. ) Additionally, students who learn to play an instrument develop a greater language capacity and a greater ability to learn a new language. In another context, it is invaluable to gain a wider perspective on cultural history by being exposed to centuries of our rich cultural heritage.Have you Forgotten? Daryll Worthy Where were you when the world stopped turning on that September day? Alen Jackson Lone Star Already there. on the record Exploring America's orchestras†¦ with Henry Fogel Ifeel that today there is a serious d istortion of values in the world – a set of values that puts the short term ahead of the long term, that puts financial achievement ahead of ethical standards, and a set of values that increasingly diminishes the worth of intellectual achievement and of human expression.In fact, when future generations look back and judge the civilizations and societies of the past, it is first and foremost the cultural and artistic achievements of those societies that are spoken of. To be sure, engineering and scientific achievements are a part of the picture of any society – even a major part. But whether it is Homer, Shakespeare, Mozart, Beethoven, Rembrandt, Picasso, James Baldwin, Garcia Lorca, or Leonard Bernstein – the artists and the art they created express the deepest and most profound thoughts of the civilizations in which they lived and worked.And it is the achievements of those artists that, in fact, define civilizations, define humanity. And if we aren't educating our young people to the standards of those achievements, how can we in fact call it education? So then the question is how can we find common ground – common ground occupied by you in the world of music educators and us in the world of symphony orchestras – to work together to enhance the state of music education in the school systems of America? And that is what I'd like to speak about today.We have actually done much together – some things that all of you might not be aware of. Throughout 2006, the American Symphony Orchestra League led a coalition effort, including collaboration with MENC, to develop a national unified statement regarding the benefits of arts education. This paper is being used on the Hill in Washington this year as an advocacy tool for communicating the benefits of arts education to federal lawmakers as they begin the process of re-authorizing the No Child Left Behind Act.This re-authorization process will be a multi-year effort and has alre ady begun with public and private hearings and town hall meetings. The messages outlined in Arts Education: Creating Student Success in School Work and Life directly communicate the benefits of arts education to policymakers. More than 60 organizations are signatories on this unified statement – and they represent an impressive cross-section of stakeholders in federal education policy. Here is a brief sample of the kind of statement included in that document: A child's education is not complete unless it includes the arts.In fact, the No Child Left Behind Act lists the arts among the core academic subjects, requiring schools to enable all students to achieve in the arts, and to reap the full benefits of a comprehensive arts education. In spite of this federal direction, access to arts education in our schools is eroding. A report from the Center for Education Policy conclude that, since the enactment of No Child Left Behind, 22% of school districts surveyed have reduced instr uctional time for art and music†¦.A comprehensive strategy for a complete education includes rigorous, sequential arts instruction in the classroom, as well as participation and learning in available community-based arts programs. Public schools have the responsibility for providing a complete education for all children, meeting the commitment put forth in No Child Left Behind. The federal commitment to arts education must be strengthened so that the arts are implemented as a part of the core curriculum of our nation's schools and are an integral part of every child's development.So clearly one way in which we already work together is to collaborate on advocacy, to sound the alarm together, and to lead our society back to a place where arts education is indeed central to education curricula, and not an add-on, or an â€Å"extra frill† to be indulged if there happens to be money left in a budget or time left in a schedule. Another area in which we can work together is to insist on, and help to bring about, meaningful, comprehensive research on the status and quality of arts education in our nation's schools, and on the impact of arts education on future citizens.Even some of those things that people like to call â€Å"un-measurable,† are, in fact, measurable if you care enough to find the metrics with which to measure them. We know that arts education improves problem-solving abilities, and we know that in particular music education – particularly making music – develops skills in working together with others for a common result in a way that virtually nothing else can. We know it anecdotally, we know it instinctively, we know it deep within our gut.And best of all we know that there is some hard data that can document this. The American Symphony Orchestra League has compiled highlights from this research in our Music Education Advocacy Tools, available at our website. Much of the best evidence is drawn from Arts Education Partn ership reports, including Critical Links: Learning in the Arts and Student Academic and Social Development. Nonetheless, we can, and we must, lead to more research that provides even more evidence of the benefits of music education.We can probably do a better job together than we have in collecting, analyzing, and reporting on the considerable data that already exists, as well as bringing about more research. The most urgent need, however, is for good information about the true state of arts education in our schools. We currently are forced to rely on anecdote and spare data to illustrate the music education is being squeezed out as increased attention is given to math, reading, and science. How much arts education is being delivered to our nation's students, and how are they learning the arts? The U. S.Department of Education has the tools and the responsibility to collect this data, but simply has not made it a priority to do so. A report on the status of arts education is more th an two years overdue – this at a time when policymakers are contemplating major changes to the way the federal government supports our public schools. The League is partnering with MENC to urge Congress to compel the U. S. Department of Education to collect this data. Sound information about the status of music education is a crucial underpinning to advocacy efforts at the community level as well.At the state and local levels, orchestras and music educators can partner effectively to advocate for better data in this area. We at the American Symphony Orchestra League are heavily involved with orchestras' education and community programs, and with youth orchestras throughout America. But we also know and fully appreciate that orchestra programs are not a substitute for professional music teachers in our school systems. The programs that our field operates must, to be effective, work in cooperation and conjunction with in-school programs taught by school-based music teachers.Tha t is the key to meaningful music education. We can be key partners in augmenting and enriching school programs, but we must be seen as supporters of, advocates for, and contributors to, multi-year, sustained, sequential, school-based programs. We are not substitutes for that. There are many orchestras that have deeply embedded partnerships with their local school systems – in communities of all sizes, from New York, Boston San Francisco and Saint Louis, to Mobile, and Kalamazoo.The same is true of community cultural organizations. Youth orchestras and community music schools are part of the fabric of the arts-education community. All have a role to play, but that role is in the context of the main school being at the center. The ideal for a child participating in a community orchestra, or studying at a community music school, is that he or she was inspired to do so because the exposure to and love for music was introduced and sustained in school.These other resources are exte nsions. In the ideal, these out-of-school opportunities cannot occur only by virtue of family interest, resources, or priorities. We at the League celebrate the growth and vitality of our youth orchestras†¦. full of the energetic, bright, high-achieving young people whom we know are not only the musicians of tomorrow, but also the next generation of teachers, school board members, parents, civic leaders, audience members and arts-education advocates.At the same time, we wonder if this segment of our sector is growing in part because, for the families that value music education the inconsistent presence of strong, sequential school-based music programs is not meeting their expectations for their children. We need strong resources – in school and out of school. Youth orchestras should be supplementing musical experiences in our nation's schools, not replacing them. Part of the problem that we all face is that much of what we know about the value of the arts, and music in p articular, is not easily reduced to numbers, to quantities.And our world is full of people, many of them in positions of power, who love the simplicity of numbers, the black-and-white nature of numbers. When one tries to discuss the humanizing qualities of music to people like that, one is often flummoxed, because they want graphs and charts. â€Å"What do you mean,† they'll say, â€Å"by music's power to bridge chasms in human understanding? Document it, please! † Well†¦ I can't document it with graphs – but every year of my life spent in music makes me more certain of that quality in music.And exhibit A for me is not a chart – it is an orchestra, a very specific orchestra. Many of you may know of it – some of you perhaps don't. It's called the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, and it is now in its seventh year of existence. Founded by Daniel Barenboim, it consists of Arabs, Palestinians, and Israeli Jews – and every year for three or four weeks they live together, eat together, rehearse and perform together. My wife and I were a part of that orchestra from the beginning – and that first year was an experience I shall never forget.Daniel Barenboim, and Yo-Yo Ma working with him, assembled this group of young musicians, ages 17-25, and brought them together in Weimar, Germany. In addition to forming an orchestra, Barenboim and Ma invited them to form chamber music groups which they, Barenboim and Ma, would coach in preparation for a chamber music concert to take place the night before the orchestra concert. There was only one rule – no all Jewish chamber group, and no all Arab/Palestinian group. The resulting chamber music concert was 3 ? ours long – and each group only played one movement, not whole pieces – or it would have gone on forever. To sit there and watch, for instance, a movement from a Brahms Clarinet trio, played by an Egyptian, a, Syrian, and an Israeli was one of the most mov ing experiences of my life – to see these kids working out musical problems together, leaning into each others' phrases, and embracing each other while receiving applause – this was all the charting and graphing I will ever need to demonstrate what it is that music can do that nothing else can.We know this – you and I and those who are in our fields know this. The question is how can we work together to help the rest of the world to know it – and to get the value, the human value of this art form across to those who determine what we teach our future citizens? I don't know the answer to that question. But I do know, in our increasingly troubled world with an ever greater need for human understanding across national and religious and cultural lines, the intrinsic value of the art form we all love is more needed than ever.You and we – you who teach music and we who organize into groups that perform it – must work together with renewed energy a nd vigor to imprint on our society the value, the centrality, of music. America's orchestras are committed to advocating for better music education in our nation's schools. Starting from the tradition of stand-alone school concerts and family concerts, orchestras now offer small ensemble performance, residencies, long term partnerships, after-school and summer camps, instrumental instruction and a host of other activities.Inherent in most of these programs are deeply embedded partnerships with local school systems, and responsiveness to local, state, and national arts and academic standards. While these programs provide an opportunity for young people to develop a lifelong relationship with music and the orchestra, none of these is capable of replacing an ongoing sequential K-12 music education. While a comprehensive strategy for music education includes participation and learning in orchestra education programs, schools have the unique capacity to deliver high-quality music educati on.Edward Elgar set a poem by Arthur O'Shaughnessy in 1912 – it is called The Music Makers. I quote it here for you because it seems so central to what we are all about. â€Å"You shall teach us your song's new numbers, and things that we dreamed not before: Bring hither your sun and your summers, and renew our world of yore. We are the music makers. And we are the dreamers of dreams. † Thank you. Beautifully said! I wonder if, in the course of gathering data about the current state of music education in public schools, there is any way to compare it with public schools of decades ago.The fact that 22% of districts have reduced art and music instructional time since the enactment of No Child Left Behind is disturbing — but it's also a comparison that may not hit home for legislators, because they were already long out of school when the baseline of that comparison was happening. On the other hand, a comparison of (say) instructional time, class sizes, curricula, and student participation rates between the present and (pick a year in each of) the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, might really bring home to legislators that things today are not as they remember them from their own school days.It might show how far we've gone, in the same way that losing a tiny percentage of forest a year doesn't feel like much, but hearing that a region has lost half its tree cover since 1950 can be a real eye-opener. It gives students the opportunity to create something beautiful and also to challenge them. Music uses both sides of the brain and uses math all the time!!! Jack Stamp Richard Simmons~ Parents and kids that sweat together live longer together!!! Childhood Obesity: Quality Physical Education as a Solution

Child Observation: Child and Adolescent Psychology

This time, I decided to observe children between the ages of five and six in a kindergarten class room at Maddock Public School. Maddock is a smaller school and there were only five children in the class, all of them were boys. I knew this would be an interesting day, because we learned in class that boys tend to be a little bit more active and disobedient, but I was definitely looking forward to it. I went in about fifteen minutes before the school day started so I could observe the boys from the time their mom dropped them off, until the time I left.The first boy came in; he was a smaller boy, who is known to have special needs. I’m not exactly sure what is wrong with him, but his disabilities definitely showed during my observation. While his mother was dropping him off, I could tell that he didn’t want to leave her. He kept holding onto her legs, and whining, mumbling things to her that I could not understand but she could. She got down on one knee and told him that she would be back soon, and that he would have lots of fun with his friends. Right after she told him this, another child walked in with his older sister.The first little boy almost immediately forgot that his mother was there, and walked over to the other child. When the second boy got dropped off, he was immediately distracted by the other boy, and leaving his sister was not a problem at all. I guess that day was show and tell day, because they were each excited to show off what they had brought to each other. They didn’t want to wait until the designated time to show things off. The other three boys came in at the same time. I’m assuming they rode the bus together, because they came in talking about one of the older kids that must have been picking on one of them.As soon as they walked through the door, they ran and told Mrs. Maddock, their teacher. Of course the event wasn’t as serious as they made it seem, Mrs. Maddock explained to them that they were fine , and that if it happened again to let her know. About five minutes later, it seemed as though they had completely forgotten that it had even happened. The bell rung and the boys went and say down in their seats. While Mrs. Maddock was trying to talk to them a couple of them were listening to her, but the others were playing with their pencils and animal-shaped erasers.She would pause mid-sentence and look at them until they realized that she wanted them to stop. They would then slowly put their items down, and give her their undivided attention. She asked them to all sit by the calendar, and they all jumped up and ran to it, trying to get the closest spot. Their pictures were on the wall. One was by the weather station, the other by the line leader station, and so on. They each had their own little duty for that day. The one whose picture was by the weather stood up and told the rest of the class what the weather was supposed to be like that day.Mrs. Maddock had pictures with thund er clouds and lighting and rain. With those pictures, the little boy told them all that the weather was going to be bad, and it was going to storm. All of a sudden, one of the boys passed gas, and the room went from being quiet to loud in less than a second. All the boys started making farting noises and couldn’t stop giggling. Mrs. Maddock went along with it for about a minute or so, and made the little boy who passed gas say â€Å"excuse me. † They had finally gotten over it, and seemed as though they’d forgotten it.It’s pretty amazing how short their attention spans are! Mrs. Maddock walked to the front of the classroom, and all the boys followed to their seats. She did this a couple times throughout the time I was observing, and every time the boys knew exactly where to go. It was like that most of the day. She had those boys in line, and even at the age of five and six, they respected her. She pulled out a big ruler, and started pointing to the alpha bet above the chalk board. One by one, the boys would name out the letter she was pointing to. As they called out the letter, they also wrote it down on a sheet of aper, and then spelled out a word that began with that letter. It was amazing to me that even the boy with special needs knew each letter, and knew how to spell a word using those letters. Of course the words were short, usually no more than four letters long, but they had these words perfected and had fun writing them too. Their reward for knowing all of the letters in the alphabet was free time. During this time, they ran to the toy box and pulled out the dinosaurs and cars, and played. They were all getting along until one of the boys grabbed the other’s car, and wouldn’t give it back.One boy immediately sided with the one that stole, and the other two sided with the one who got his car stolen. It was mass chaos. Screaming at each other, and pointing fingers seemed to be the only way they knew how to sett le this situation. Mrs. Maddock walked over and separated the kindergarten fight and asked the two main boys what had happened. Of course each of them had different stories, and it was funny to me to see how they reacted. The one who was lying kept looking away, and pausing his sentences with â€Å"um†¦Ã¢â‚¬  while he tried to make up more lies.Mrs. Maddock knew right away of course which one was telling the truth, but because they were all yelling at each other she put both of the main boys in time out. The other three went back to playing, and nobody seemed to fight anymore. Everyone got along, because they didn’t want to get put in time out either. About five minutes later, she asked the boys to line up by the door. The line leader of the day ran as fast as he could, just to get to the front, and started to tell the other boys to be quiet so they could leave.He was more than excited to show off his leadership to the other school as they walked through the halls to t heir Physical Education class. It was around this time that I left. After the boys left to go to the gym, I walked around and looked at their alphabet papers. One of the boys had exceptionally well handwriting. Three of the others were about average and of course the one with special needs was very hard to read. They also had art projects on their desks. It was fun to see that all the boys art revolved around sports and trucks or cars.While I was looking at these things, it made me wonder how different the class would have been if there would have been at least one girls. The classroom I observed in was my kindergarten class room, and Mrs. Maddock was my kindergarten teacher. Being in that classroom with her brought back so many memories. Of course our class was quite a bit bigger, I observed many things that could have been observed while I was in kindergarten. While classroom sizes might get smaller by the year, the level of energy and excitement between the classmates stay the sa me.

Mechanical Ethics Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Mechanical Ethics - Article Example This is an ethical concern because the engineers had the knowledge of the problem and failed to communicate on the issue. The company had to recall the vehicles for proper fixation. General motors paid more attention to the ignition problem. The engineers became more innovative in the process. They had to install a key ring that prevented the movement of the ignition key in an up-down motion. The company had to invest more in research and development. The aim of the research was to understand the ignition problem for the betterment of the product. The company was able to address the safety concerns and became alert to potential problems. It was unethical that the company knew the problem through its engineers, but decided to ignore the concern. Most of the crashes occurred where the drivers exceeded the speed limits on unpaved roads. Ethically, the company needed to issue a disclaimer that the vehicles were not fit for high speed on such roads. The recall was not cost effective for the company as it embarked on actions that would save the situation. My opinion on the issue is that the company was ethically wrong to ignore such a concern. It is not in order to put the lives of people at risk with an aim of profit maximization. The company should embrace and uphold customer safety rules and regulations. This would ensure that the customers became satisfied with any decisions that the company made. The company has clear ethical policies laid down in its Memorandum of Association. It should ensure the production of safe and clean products that are consistent with the generally accepted international standards. I will use my knowledge and expertise to ensure that the human welfare is enhanced. I will be honest in every project that I undertake. I will ensure that the decisions I make are free of bias. I will strive to become a professional of integrity to my employer, the clients, and the public.  

Theme Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Theme - Essay Example The immigrant experience is marked by the narrator of the last section who notes that life is smooth, though challenging. According to Lila’s parents, the movement to America presents them an opportunity for wealth which they would have not obtained in India. Nonetheless, Mrs. Sen flat-out refuses to assimilate due to her incapability to live without Indian life. In this scenario, marriage is an opportunity for happiness but also secrets and mysteries. Twinkle and Sanjeev have no arrangement in their marriage even though they are born in America. Despite of being together in marriage, each individual maintains  self feelings. Sanjeev is uncertain of love for his wife because of the disconnection. The toll of the child’s death moves Shukumar and Shoba’s marriage radically2. The two are no longer the same people as they met due to death and their attitudes are altered by the death. Hence, each romantic instance poses as a unique aspect in its own way. The author highlights the essence of communication. The author highlights the effect of secrecy in marriage and entails numerous feelings that can attribute to break up. For 3instance, Shukumar and Shoba got deprived of their own grief and halted communication with each other. The two have gained mistrust and can hardly believe that their union is still valid. The blackout enables Shukumar and Shoba to communicate the secrets, which they have never shared to each other. There is evident highlight of parent and child relations. The children’s relations change with their parents as they grow due to understanding they develop. There is an automatic truth between Eliot and the mother. Eliot is certain of his mother’s distress and his powerlessness over the situation. In contrast, the narrator nurses his mother when she becomes ill. Lilia, Eliot, and Rohin all recognize the grownups grief and offer high-level surveillance on the form of love and

Weekly progress report Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Weekly progress report - Coursework Example I spend Monday and Tuesday reading an article titled, Omans eGovernment progress recognised internationally, written by Ammari. S (2012). The article talks about the recent development in the context of m-government in Oman. I also read the Statistical year book developed by the Ministry of National Economy – Oman (2007). It helped me in understanding the acceptance and feasibility of mobile technology in Oman On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, I started writing my first chapter covering the context part along with designing research aim and objectives and formulating research questions. The context of the research covers information on the importance of m-government, its applications in Oman and overall acceptance and feasibility in the present and coming years. In the coming week, I am planning to read articles on the growth and development of m-government in Oman for 2-3 days. I have read few articles published in the newspaper, Oman Observer. One of the articles titled, 4G services launched written by Harthi F.B.K (2012) states the emergence of 4G services in the country while the article titled, Improving Customer Service via Mobile Banking written by Murphy. D (2009) states the emergence of mobile banking offering multiple benefits to users and organsiations. However, the article titled, M-Government Services Initiatives in Oman, written by Naqwi and Shihi (2009) states that there are major loopholes in the m-government as the model is fairly new. I have not read much but will continue to do so in order to critically analyse the literature I have also planned to strengthen my literature reading by visiting the nearest library along with reading more articles and journals on m-government and its applications in the context of Oman in the mid week for 2-3 days I do not wish to read end numbers of journals, articles and books as the mentioned research

Torture of bomb suspect Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Torture of bomb suspect - Research Paper Example The main purpose of the research is to present that many cases of torture have been reported especially for terrorist suspects who are alleged to be involved in various bombings across the country and abroad. Abd al Rahim Hussein Mohammed al Nashiri is one of the victims of torture. Nashiri is the suspected terrorist bomber of the USS Cole bombing of 2000 in Yemen. The suspect who was detained in Guantanamo Bay was tortured by the military to an extent of admitting to the accusations. According to a report that the Pentagon released about the Nashiri torture, the suspect was tortured to a point that he could not take it anymore and thus admitted to have been responsible for the bombings so that he would be freed from the torture. This illustrates violation of professional ethics in the questioning of bomb suspects. Most of the suspects who are interrogated are normally tortured to a point where they would rather admit to have been involved in the bombings so that the pain they are su bjected into is put into an end. The legal-ethical rights of suspects are thus violated by such tortures because the interrogation processes are usually less objective. This is because the interrogators aim at eliciting responses from the suspects which makes them responsible for the crime. This is usually as a result of the fact that some suspects would refuse to say the truth regardless of the pain that the interrogation process puts them through.... After he admitted to the bombing, Nashiri’s captors became happy and stopped further interrogations. This shows that the captors of bomb suspects engage in unsupervised interrogation which leads to the violation of the constitutional rights of suspects who are legally considered innocent until proven otherwise by a court of law. Unnecessary torture is therefore a form of ethical malpractice because it causes a lot of dehumanizing pain to the suspects and thus violates their human rights (Lolita, 2007). Additionally, excessive torture of bomb suspects would lead to injustice because if victims are forced to admit to the crimes that they are not guilty of, then justice would not have been served. The fact that Nashiri was forced by the torture to admit into the responsibility of the Cole bombing shows that justice was not served because the actual bomber would be somewhere free and likely planning to commit other crimes. The bombing that led to the death of seventeen US sailors and injury to thirty nine others was blamed on Nashiri by the US military whom they considered to be an al Qaeda official who was responsible for arranging the Cole bombings. The evidence that the US military presented to the FBI revealed that Nashiri bought the explosives and the boat that was used during the bombings. The evidence that the military presented to the FBI is said to have been an adjunct of the admission of the suspect to the crimes when he was under torture (BBC World, 2007). This presents an ethical dilemma because the use of evidence that emanates from the response of the suspect at a time when he is subject to torture in prosecution leads to the questioning of the credibility

Domestic and international banking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Domestic and international banking - Essay Example This is a mechanism on which the whole banking structure is based. This report contains an analysis of the Banking Sector of United Kingdom, Along with the challenges faced by the Banks now a day, like the bonus restrictions imposed by the government which has checked the functioning of the major banks in United Kingdom. Granting Loans and receiving deposits A bank works on the principle of borrowing and landing. In this mechanism, Bank borrows from the General public and the institutions and lands the money to the needy public in terms of loan. After a loan is granted, the banks takes a certain amount of interest for a certain period of time and gives a part of that interest to the public, from whom bank borrows the money initially. â€Å"Public† in terms of banks, is defined as the costumers of the bank (either it is an individual or an institution). Role of Banks in Country’s economy: -   Ã‚  As stated above, a bank plays a very important role in the economy of a c ountry. The economy is mainly based on the industries and the income sources available within the country. Bank helps the developing industries to grow with their potential by landing them money and by giving a kind of stability to the market. In a recent example, the economic crisis over the world in 2008 was started because a major private sector bank was declared bankrupted in USA. This bankruptcy of this bank resulted in instability of the market as there were so many companies which had invested in that bank, also there were companies which were totally depend on that bank for their financial security. Once the crisis started spreading its effect in US, major companies were affected badly by it. USA being the world’s most powerful economy that time came on its foot. Millions of the employees were thrown out from the companies, salary was reduced. But this procedure was limited to the industries which could bear this crisis. Other industries which were small scale industr ies and which needed help from the bank for each and every move they made in the market, were closed. This crisis could not remain in the US itself. Just within no time, the whole Europe, Asia and America saw this effect on their market. Every trading market was down. And it gave a long lasting 1 year, full of tensions in the economic sector of the world. The World Bank came to interfere in it. World Bank granted huge loans to the countries, so that the condition could be in control. Otherwise the condition could have been worse, and the whole world would have been in trouble in no time. Somehow, this problem was shorted out. But this gave an example for the upcoming time of how important the proper functioning of a bank is. If the banking sector is strong and well functioning, it can be a positive sign towards the country’s economy. But if the Banking industry is comparatively weaker, it can turn out to be another crisis kind condition for the country. The Banking Sector in United Kingdom UK’s banking sector, following the US and Japan, is the world’s third largest and considered foremost in terms of: efficiency, dynamism and return on capital. It services 95% of the population with about 3.5% of UK’s total workforce - over a million workers. The decade ending 2005 witnessed a surge of three folds in assets to â‚ ¬

Should the primary objective of management be to increase the wealth Essay - 1

Should the primary objective of management be to increase the wealth of shareholders and owners - Essay Example The objective of management is characterized by four concepts namely goal, scope, definiteness and direction. Managers view objectives as the business values that should be achieved. Therefore, the scope of these values must be well defined, in addition to inclusion of extra goals. Management objectives can be classified as primary, secondary, personal or social. The following paper is a critical debate on the question: Should the primary objective of management be to increase the wealth of shareholders and owners? Focus will be laid on the general objectives of management and the way in which they should be prioritized for maximum benefits. Customer Satisfaction Customer satisfaction is a principle performance estimate in business management (Decker and Learning, 2001). The primary objective of any business management should be focused upon customer satisfaction. This will provide the avenues required for profits that generate wealth of shareholders and owners. The management’s primary objectives should be related to customer satisfaction through the provision of saleable goods and services in the market. These goods should be reliable, have standard quality, competitive, reasonably priced, technologically produced and insufficient in quantity. The secondary objectives are those strategies that assist in achievement of primary objectives. Personal objectives purposes to benefit individuals in a business organization e.g. increasing the wealth of owners and shareholders. Social objectives maximizes the social gain of the community from an organization e.g. the social responsibilities of the organization to the community. Customer satisfaction includes interaction with customers in an ethical environment. Most traditional business strategists view maximization of the shareholder and owner wealth as the fiduciary obligation of business managers (Shaw, 2009: 572). This view is related to the fact that most shareholders invest in the company on the understanding that the management will steer the company on the strategy of generating profits for them. The view was also presented in an era where most capitalist were obligated to manage their own business enterprises. The recent emergence of joint stock companies meant that the managerial control of corporations has technically been divorced from ownership. However, business theorists have failed to establish a mechanism that can harmonize the interests of managers and shareholders to prevent the former from enriching themselves at the expense of the latter. This is has been proven by the recent behavioural trends whereby the managers awards themselves lux urious pay and remuneration packages without any benefits to the shareholders. Managing Efficiency Efficiency is the guiding principle for any successful business. There is no business that has ever risen to top of the industry through slow, outdated and clunky management practices. In the current business environment, the management that only focuses on compliance to stockholder expectations while ignoring inefficiency does not succeed (Morris, Schindehutte and Allen, 2005: 726-735). The imperative issues that should be recognized include cost

Sub-human working conditions in Qatar Research Paper

Sub-human working conditions in Qatar - Research Paper Example The world cup is the most widely viewed sports event in the world and requires a lot of preparation by host countries to be in a position to stage the world cup owing to the high number of spectators, reporters, business people, and players who come to the host country for the world cup. Qatar has been making these preparations since 2010 when it was selected to host the 2022 world cup but there are rampant cases of inhuman working conditions for workers making preparations in stadia and other facilities in the country. It is from this understanding that this study aims at enumerating why FIFA and football associations should force Qatar to stop the "sub-human" working conditions. Workers involved in infrastructure development for the 2022 world cup are exposed to harsh working conditions including withheld payments, working in 122-degree heat for a long time with no provision of food or water, and their passports were confiscated to ensure they do not leave the country (Kwok & Wallis, 2008). Workers cannot be able to help their families and pay obligations for their jobs to recruitment agencies with 36% interest payment rates affecting their families and their person negatively (Manfred, 2014). For a country that will host the world cup, these conditions are unacceptable owing to the high benefits to be received by the country and the high following that the world cup has globally. This will taint the name of the world cup and FIFA, if the football associations and FIFA do not take the steps to correct the situation in Qatar in terms of working conditions. The intolerable working conditions in Qatar have led to the death of at least 1200 workers in different infrastructural development in preparation for the world cup with 400 of them from Nepal, 00 from India, and others from Philippines, Pakistan, Kenya, and other parts of the world. This is in accordance to a report by The International Trade Union Confederation (Manfred,

Quadratic equations Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Quadratic equations - Assignment Example A maker of trophies observes that their profit behaves as P(x) = -0.3x2 + fx – m where ‘f’ pertains to fee for designing awards according to client’s request while ‘m’ refers to the monthly studio rent. P(x) would then be the monthly profit obtained as a function of ‘x’ or the number of awards designed by the trophy – making company in a month. At a point where x = - f / [ 2(-0.3) ], maximum profit is achieved. Sports such as football often involve throwing of ball from the ground and the ball thrown (projectile) eventually follows a path of trajectory in the shape of a parabola. Physicists characterize this scenario in a kinematic equation that is quadratic by nature, being y = V0y*t - Â ½ gt2 in which ‘y’ represents displacement of the ball whereas V0y is the initial velocity, along the vertical. If one wishes to find time ‘t’ when the ball hits the ground from the air, ‘y’ may be set to 0 so that ‘t’ may be solved given V0y, with g = 9.81

Children and Happiness Essay Example for Free

Children and Happiness Essay What makes children happy? ‘That’s easy, you might say, ‘a new toy, an ice cream or a trip to the amusement park.’ While these things bring an immediate smile to many children’s faces, they are probably not the things that will keep them happy day by day, or turn them into happy adults. The basic ingredients that make children happy during childhood seem to be the same ones that help them to become happy adults: a secure relationship with parents gives the base to confidently explore the world and develop a sense of mastery and recognition, all important components in the recipe for happiness. However, in the short term, the new toy might provide a smile too! Man has to pass through many stages of life, since he is born until he dies. He passes through infancy, childhood, boyhood, youth, middle age and old age. Childhood continues from the 6th to the 12th year of age. Boyhood continues from the 12th to the 19th year of age. Youth lasts from the 20th to 35th year of age. Middle age lasts from the 36th to the 55th year of age. Old age continues from 56th year until death. Of all the stages of life childhood is the most important. Because it is the formative period of life. It is also the first conscious stage of life. Important of childhood: Childhood is the formative period of life. Human character takes its shape in childhood. Man gets deep and lasting impressions in his childhood. Because at this stage mens mind is soft, receptive and plastic. It is just like the potters clay. So human character should be properly shaped in childhood. What should be done in childhood: Childhood is one of the growing stage in mans life. The human beings grow up to 24th year of age. So, the health of the child should be properly looked after. He should be given balance diet. He should be encouraged to from healthy habits like early rising. He should be taught to be neat and clean, to do exercise regularly, to eat, sleep, read and play at habits. He should be kept happy and cheerful. All these will help him to grow healthy in body and mind. Proper and appropriate food should be provided to the childs mind. He should be given the most carefully chosen books to read. he should be given childrens magazines. He should be given interesting and instructive pictures. At this stage, records should be kept of the childs inclination, aptitude, knack, mood, temperament, interest, abilities and his latent qualities. On the basis of these records, the future of the child should be planned. The child should be trained on the basis of this plan. Care of parents and teachers: In the modern system of society and education in India, nobody takes the responsibility of the childs welfare. The parents think that it is a responsibility of the teachers, because the child stays in the school for six hours a day. The teachers think that it is the responsibility of the parents, because the children belong to their parents, and in future the children will come to any use only to their parents and families. But in the interest of society, nation, country and above all mankind all have responsibility for the welfare of the children. Conclusion: It is the foremost duty of the Government to see to the welfare of the children. But in India we find that a lot of children in schools are dying by food-poisoning in the Government Mid-day meal system. The school buildings are defectively constructed. So the buildings breakdown and many children die underneath. the milk-powder that comes to Panchayats and Block offices is said to be put to black-marketing. Government should look to all these affairs. Childhood is the most important period in a mens life. So, the Government should take utmost care of it.

Sms Based Home Appliance Control Information Technology Essay

Sms Based Home Appliance Control Information Technology Essay Security for homes and offices is an important aspect in the modern world; engineers are continuously developing unique security systems that take advantage of todays technology. GSM based zone security system is one of those unique systems that provides security. This system basically works by sending a SMS to a predetermined mobile unit within a GSM network when the security is breached. It can also be logged through a pc or laptop in order to monitor the status of the security. In todays world various types of security systems are being used in homes, offices, cars etc. All of these systems particularly the ones used at homes mainly consist of a motion detector, a siren that triggers when it receives a signal from the motion detector, a battery, a control device and an electronic card. If there is a breach in security the motion detector sends a signal to the electronic card which in turn triggers the siren to provide the warning. This is a disadvantage as these type of warnings can only be heard if there are people present close to the source of the siren and even though some of the security systems provide a warning call to a pre-determined phone (police/security company) using the fixed land line, thieves usually disrupt the phone lines leading to the failure of such security systems. Therefore it is important to remove the afore-mentioned shortcoming and provide a security system that is efficient, affordable and user friendly which can be achieved by taking advantage of the present technological infrastructure and hardware. Project Aim and Objectives The main aim of this project is to design and develop an efficient GSM based zone security system which takes advantage of the existing GSM infrastructure and hardware components that can be used at homes and offices. The project will focus on the following specific objectives:- To develop and enhance a security system that sends the user a SMS when the security is breached. To test the GSM based security system on a simulator. To build a security system that can be logged through a PC or laptop in order to monitor the status of the security. To put forward a security system that will make it difficult to be breached by burglars. To tell the benefits of the GSM based Zone security system compared to the other normal security system. 1.3 2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1Conceptual Literature According to Phillips (2006) security systems provide important protection against burglary and robbery. They are being relied more and more in the world to prevent theft especially with the current high crime rate. Norman (2007) stated that there are several types of security systems but the one that users today prefer to install at homes and businesses are wireless systems as they do not have the hassle of installing a lot of wires. They are also considered to be one of the easiest of all security alarm systems to operate. Norman (2007) highlighted that the wireless security systems use radio waves to send signals from the sensors to the control panel in order to monitor the activity within the property. The latest wireless security systems also have the ability to send data to outside sources wirelessly by using GSM. According to Fares (2003) GSM which stands for Global systems for mobile communications is basically a cellular network in which mobile phones connect to it by searching cell in the immediate vicinity. In todays world GSM has become one of the most essential items to us as it provides us with a communication channel that enables us to communicate with the world freely. With GSM came the implementation of SMS or text messaging as stated by Poole (2006). Gast (2005) stated that the security systems that work with GSM infrastructure using GSM modem are known as GSM security system. In this system when there is an occurrence of security breach the user is sent a SMS notifying him/her of the security breach. It is a reliable security system but recently Nohl (2009) stated that there are fears that the GSM itself can be breached by cracking the algorithm that is responsible for the protection of the security of the GSM. This has been denied by the GSM association that represents the interests of the worldwide mobile communications industry. They have affirmed that the GSM cannot be breached and that it is not currently possible to crack the algorithm protecting the GSM. According to Norman (2007) GSM security system consists of many other main components such as electromagnetic sensors, PIC microcontrollers, keypad etc. These components make together with the GSM modem make a very effective and reliable security system. 2.2 Related Projects 2.2.1 SMS based Home Appliance Control. This project which was done by Anand kumar 2007 is a GSM based project in which SMS is used to control home appliances. This is done by sending the instruction through SMS which would be received by the microcontroller which then decodes the instruction and after that executes the instruction by switching on the relays attached to its port to control the appliances. In this project 8051 microcontroller was used and for software Keil u-Vision 3.0 and PRO51 programmer software was used. 2.2.2 GSM based Voting Machine This project was done by John Seymour (2009). It is a GSM based project in which registered voters can send their vote through SMS. This achieved by first registering the mobile number of the voter and during that registration they are given a password. So when the user is sending a SMS vote the microcontroller will read the instruction and will first run a check whether it is a registered voter or not, if it is a registered voter then it will ask for the password and verify it. If the password is correct it will accept the vote and send back an SMS acknowledgement to the voter. The microcontroller used is an 89S52 microcontroller. 2.2.3 GSM based Remote Energy Monitoring Meter This project is a GSM based project which was done by Hussain Said (2009). This project uses GSM infrastructure to do remote monitoring and control of the energy meter located at domestic houses. This project is very useful to the Electricity Department as it would enable them to read the meter readings regularly without the need of personnel visiting each house. It basically works by using a microcontroller unit that always monitors and records the meter readings in its memory location.  Ã‚  Then these reading are sent to optimum location set by the Electricity Department. In this project 8051 microcontroller was used and for software Kiel u-Vision 3.0 and PRO51 programmer software was used 3. MATERIALS AND METHODS 3.1 Technical Proposal This project is a combination of hardware and software development. The circuit is first designed and then optimum components are selected and used for the construction of the circuit. A program is developed for the PIC microcontroller. This is done by first writing the program in C programming and then compiling it in MikroC. Several tests are done to make sure that they are all working successfully. After that the hardware development and the software development are combined. Then Visual Basic program is written for interfacing. Then an overall test is done to see if the whole project is working successfully. Block Diagram of the Methodology used in this Project. Start Project Design Circuit Design Develop Program for PIC Test program on PIC Simulator Construct Circuit Troubleshoot Develop VB for Interfacing Combination of Hardware and Software Final Testing Troubleshooting END 3.2 Equipment/ Facilities/ Programs Hardware: Breadboard is used before a prototype is built. It is used for troubleshooting and testing. PCB: The circuit is finally built on the Printed Circuit Board (PCB). Multimeter was used for measuring voltage, current etc and also for fault finding. GSM modem Software: EAGLE (Easily Applicable Graphical Layout Editor) software: For Printed Circuit Board drawing MikroC: PIC Simulator Software: To test the program for the PIC microcontroller Visual Basic 3.3 Technical Description 3.3.1 PIC Microcontroller PIC microcontroller stands for Peripheral Interface Controller according to Wilmshurt (2006). The PIC is a popular microcontroller because of several advantages such as: Power consumption PICs have much lower power consumption at 5V. Clock It has more accurate calibrated oscillators which help it have precise timing thus making the design more stable and efficient. Availability It is widely available. Programming The PIC microcontroller can be easily reprogrammed. Pin direction Most of the PIC microcontroller pins are flexible as they can be set as an input or and output thus making the design of the circuit easier. 3.3.2 Electromagnetic sensors C:UsersKHALEDPicturesPhoto0289.jpg Figure 2.17: Electromagnetic sensor: The magnetic sensor on the left and the magnet on the right Electromagnetic sensors are usually used on doors and in a security system they are an integral part as stated by Norman (2007). They work by sensing the movement of the doors and windows magnetically. The magnetic sensors are small in size and consist of 1 magnet and 1 magnetic sensor. Phillips (2006) stated that the magnet is placed so that the magnet and magnetic sensor are in a position to be parallel to each other. So that when the signal that is between them is interrupted the magnetic the switch is tripped and immediately it sounds the alarm . 3.3.3 Keypad Figure 2.14: 4ÃÆ'-4 matrix keypad modules A matrix keypad is used to provide a simple data entry device for microcontroller systems. Their design is that the keys are connected in rows and columns, so that when a button is pressed a row and a column are connected. In order to read the keypad, each row is set low in turn and the state of the inputs is tested. If no button is pressed, all the inputs remain high. During the operation the rows and the columns of the keypad will be scan continuously by the microcontroller. When a key is being operated, a low on that row is detected on the column input for that key, which allows a corresponding code to be generated. 3.3.4 RS 232 RS 232 is an electrical signaling specification which is also known as signal port is used as the gateway for data transmissions 232 comes in 9 pins which have its own specific pin assignments. There are two types of RS 232 which is male (DB9M) and female (DB9F). Figure 2.11: The serial port overview Table 2.12: The definition of each serial port pins In this project only three pins are used. Pin 2 and PIN 3 is used to receive and transmit signal with the circuit. So Pin 5 will be uses as ground. 3.3.5 GSM modem A GSM modem is a wireless modem that works within a GSM wireless network according to Fares (2003) and he also states that the behavior of dial up modem is the same as a wireless modem. The only difference is that a dial up modem uses a fixed telephone line to transmit and receive data while a wireless modem transmits and receives data through radio waves. A GSM modem needs a SIM card in order to operate. The GSM modem available in 2 types External wireless modem It is connected to the computer or a laptop a serial cable or USB cable. PC card/PCMCIA card Its designed for laptops as it is slotted in a particular card slot built in the laptop. Figure 2.19 shown the main blocks and communication principle of a wireless system using the SIEMEINS C35i GSM modem. Figure 2.19: Main blocks in communication modem and the microcontroller. 3.3.6 AT command An AT command is simply a set of instructions used to control a modem it the short form for Attention. Each command line starts with AT or at. A common set of standard AT commands are supported by GSM and dial up modems but the GSM modems support a more extended set of AT commands. In order to send, read, write and delete SMS message. We can use For example AT+CMGS (send command), AT+CMGR (read command), AT+CMGW (write command) and AT+CMGD (delete command) . Using the above mentioned commands the modem can do :-: Reading, writing and deleting SMS message. Sending SMS message Monitoring the signal strength 3.3.7 SMS SMS which is a short form for Short Message Service is used to receiving and sending message in between the mobile phone. Fares (2003) stated that since the development of SMS it has become a very successful wireless carrier because SMS message can be sent and ready at any time. SMS message are supported 100% GSM mobile phones and they can be exchanged between different wireless carriers. SMS is a suitable technology for wireless application. The application of SMS is virtually limitless today as they are always being associated with embedded system to increase its utilization. Examples of SMS application are:- Person-person text message Delivery and notification message Used in remote system monitoring application. 3.3.8 MikroC Software MikroC is a software programming program which used by the people in order to program and compile microcontroller. Figure 3.3: MikroC with C programming After created the program compile it by click the BUILD icon from the project toolbar. Figure 3.5: After compilation successful 3.3.9 EAGLE EAGLE also known as Easily Applicable Graphical Layout Editor is draw schematic for PCB layout. One of the main reason that EAGLE is better in drawing schematic than any other software is that it has a comprehensive component library so this helps save time as there is less need to draw up the components. The auto route function of EAGLE is also good. Figure 3.6: Schematic drawing window Figure 3.7: Placing components net Figure 3.9: Wire up components Figure 3.10: Switch from schematic to board Route toolbar Figure 3.11: Routing toolbar 4 PROJECT DEVELOPMENT 4.1 Overall Circuit Schematic Diagram Figure 3.01: The Full Circuit Diagram of the GSM Zone based Security System Figure 3.01 shows the overall schematic diagram of GSM Zone based intruder system. The system hardware is divided into few parts for a better explanation. They are Microcontroller (PIC16F877A) Power Supply module, Serial port communications and LCD. 4.1.1 PIC 16F877P Figure 3.02: The microcontroller and LCD implementation As shown in Figure 3.02 the PIC Microcontroller 16F877P was chosen because of its software support availability, low cost and high feature count. For a reset button a push button is connected to MCLR# pin anything happens during the operation. When the PIC is ON and the MCLR# pin is connected to ground RESET occurs. A 4MHz oscillator is used which is widely popular in PIC circuits due to the importance of timing and clocking. Capacitor C3 and C4 is used to filter the oscillator signal. The resistor R11 is used for current limiting. The complete pin allocation shown in table 3.03. PIN NUM. PIN NAME CONNECTION 1 MCLR Connected to reset switch and Vcc (+5V) 2 RA0 ZONE 1 3 RA1 ZONE 2 4 RA2 ZONE 3 5 RA3 ZONE 4 6 RA4 7 RA5 8 RE0 Connected to Buzzer 9 RE1 Connected to Buzzer 10 RE2 11 VDD Vcc (+5V) 12 GND Ground 13 OSC1 Connected to 4MHz Oscillator 14 OSC2 Connected to 4MHz Oscillator 15 RC0 ZONE 5 16 RC1 ZONE 2 17 RC2 ZONE 7 18 RC3 ZONE 8 19 RD0 Connected to LCD pin 11 20 RD1 Connected to LCD pin 12 21 RD2 Connected to LCD pin 13 22 RD3 Connected to LCD pin 14 23 RC4 24 RC5 25 RC6 Connected to MAX 232 26 RC7 Connected to MAX 232 27 RD4 Connected to LCD pin 4 28 RD5 Connected to LCD pin 6 29 RD6 30 RD7 Connected to output 31 VSS Connected to ground 32 VDD Connected to VCC (+5V) 33 RB0 Connected to Keypad pin 1 34 RB1 Connected to Keypad pin 2 35 RB2 Connected to Keypad pin 3 36 RB3 Connected to Keypad pin 4 37 RB4 Connected to Keypad pin 5 38 RB5 Connected to Keypad pin 6 39 RB6 Connected to Keypad pin 7 40 RB7 Connected to Keypad pin 8 Table 3.03: The PIC16F877P pin allocation 4.1.2 Power supply module Figure 3.04: Voltage regulator used in system Designing a power supply module will be more complex and heavy as it consist of a step down transformer. By considering the fact, the required input voltage is supplied directly from a 9V battery. The figure 3.04 is the voltage regulator LM 7805 used to regulate the 9V input voltage from the battery. The 9V voltage will be step down and regulate to 5V.The output obtain from this power supply circuit are 9V (V+) and 5V (Vcc) DC voltage. These voltages value are based on the requirement of each module especially PIC 16F877P.The capacitor 220 µF is a bypass capacitor used for filtering the regulated voltage. The output voltage of this module will be supplied to PIC 16F877P, Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) and MAX 232. 4.1.3 Serial Port communication Figure 3.05: The serial port communication component In the serial port communication shown above, MAX 232 is connected in between modem and the circuit to work as buffer .It works by shifting the signal voltage level according to the requirement. The connection is figure above are based on the datasheet. The serial port pin 3(Tx) in RS 232 is connected with MAX 232 T1 OUTPUT which is pin 14.This connection is used to transmit data from modem to microcontroller. Hence the serial port pin 2(Rx) in RS 232 is connected with MAX 232 R1 IN input pin 13.The purpose of connection is for receiving data from microcontroller to modem. The capacitors are chosen as 10 µF and not 1 µF as stated in datasheet because the value worked well when testing was done. 4.1.4 LCD Figure 3.06: The LCD used in the system The LCD is used to display the status of the GSM Zone based Security System. The type of LCD used is a 16 character line length in two line version JHD162A series LCD, which conform to a standard interface specification. Pins 1 and 2 are the power supply lines, whereby pin 1 is connected to ground and pin 2 to Vcc (+5V). Pin 3 is a control pin, which is used to alter the contrast of the display. This pin is connected to a variable resistor to alter the contrast by altering the resistance value. Pin 4 is the register select (RS line) connected to pin 27 of PIC 16F877P .Pin5 which will be the Read/Write line is connected with pin 3 of LCD itself. Where else the pin 6 which function as enable line connected to pin 28 of PIC 16F877P.The data line pin 11 to 14 of LCD is connected with pin 19,pin20,pin21 and pin 22 of PIC 16F877P. 4.1.5 Relay Figure 3.07: Relay used in the system Relay are devices which allow low power circuits to control the high circuits or instruments. Figure 3.07 shows the basic relay driver circuits used in GSM Zone based Security System. A 9V DC voltage been feed through the coil. A NPN BC547 transistor is being used to control the relay. The transistor is turn ON when the signal is feed through the pin 30 of the PIC. Once the transistor turns ON it will turn ON the relay. A diode IN4148 is connected across the relay coil to protect the transistor. 4.1.6 Software Architecture The PIC used in the system is programmed by using the C language. C language is one of the several programmer language commonly used to create a list of instruction to control the system. Figure 3.08 shows the flow of the constructed program in this project. As what has been discussed in chapter 2.3 the C language need to go through the compiling stage before being stored in the PIC. The MIKRO C compiler is used to compile the program of the system. Hence, the compiled program will be stored in PIC by using the PIC KIT 2 programmer. The compiling and storing process will be show in detail in appendices. Figure 3.08: Flow of the program in the intruder system 4.1.6 PCB Schematic Layout Fig 4.3.1 PCB Schematic Layout

Petrozuata Case Study

Petrozuata Case Study Petrolera Zuata, Petrozuata C.A. Voilis Athanasios 1) Introduction – Case Study In 1976, after nationalization of the domestic oil industry a stated owned enterprise Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) was established for the purposes of managing the country’s hydrocarbon resources and promoting economic development. It was the world’s second largest oil and gas company with reserves in Venezuela and refineries across the Europe, United States, and the Caribbean. Domestically, PDVSA provided 78% of Venezuela’s export revenues, 59% of the government’s fiscal revenues, and 26% of nation’s GDP and had a reputation of being one of the best managed national oil companies. In 1990, PDVSA started an ambitious long-term project, which main aim was to double its domestic production and expand international markets. For the implementation of this venture, the company needed to raise investments for approximate amount of USD$ 65 bn. At that time neither PDVSA nor Venezuelan government had the possibility to finance the underlined expansion. As a solution, it was decided to establish a strategy called â€Å"La Apertura†, which opened the Venezuelan oil sector to foreign companies through profit sharing agreements, operating service agreements, and strategic joint ventures associations. Unfortunately, such initiative overlapped with political instability and economic turmoil in the country. Only in the early 1990s two failed military coups and the impeachment of President Perez took place. In late 1993, because of the severe crisis in the banking system, the administration suspended a number of constitutional rights, imposed price control on basic goods and services, and took direct control over most of the banking system. Moreover, the foreign exchange markets were closed and began rationing foreign currency to the private sector. Few years later, by the time of the deal closing, due to an economic and social reform program of President Caldera, the economy had begun to recover, but with coming presidential elections, public tension was also growing. All in all, the feasibility of the project was under the pressure of  the sovereign risk. The rating agencies were considering three principal risks: possible government action, currency market volatility, and Venezu elan business conditions. The first development project of reopening Venezuelan oil sector to foreign investments was Petrozuata. It is a USD$ 2.424 bn joint venture between Conoco and Maraven as a part of PDVSA. Conoco was the petroleum subsidiary of one of the largest chemical producer in the world E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (DuPont). That time Conoco recently completed projects in Russia, Norway, USA and was a recognized leader in refining technology and project development. Underlined parties started feasibility studies and negotiations for a joint project in 1992. After four years of planning, Conoco and Maraven had made a mutual decision to finance this deal on a project finance basis, because of financial and organizational benefits provided by such structure. PDSVA could not have built the project alone because of its lack of specialized assets needed to extract and upgrade syncrude oil. On the other hand, foreign ownership of domestic hydrocarbon resources is prohibited by law, closing all ways for a sole expansion by Conoco. In terms of ownership structure, it was strategically decided that PDVSA subsidiary contributed less than 50% of the total equity amount but, through its preferred shares, would retain voting control. Because PDVSA would be the minority shareholder, the company would be classified as private. As a consequence, it would not consolidate into PDVSA’s balance sheet and, more importantly, they would not be bound by legislation for public companies (public procurement bidding procedure, excessive accountability, etc.). Final association agreement had a term of 35 years beginning once production started in 2001. The equity ownership contributions were set up in such way that Maraven had 49.9% of shares and 50.1% for Conoco. After accomplishing of the agreement, Conoco has an obligation to transfer its shares to Maraven at no cost. Also, to give incentive to the project, the government agreed to decrease the royalty rate during early operation years and the Congress agreed to lower the income tax rate from 67,7% to 34%. The sponsors agreed to use USD$ 975 mn of equity and USD$ 1.45 bn of debt to finance the project, which corresponded to 60% of debt-to-equity ratio. Such high percent of equity contributions to the project were chosen to show the sponsor’s commitment to the project. In 1996, for the beginning of the project, sponsors contributed USD$ 79 mn of paid-in capital. Additional contributions including contingency fund were projected to infuse in the following 4 years for the total amount of USD$ 366 mn. For the outstanding sum of USD$ 530 mn, shareholders chose a risky plan to use cash flows from the sale of early production crude, after completion of the oil fields and pipeline in August 1998. It is necessary to mention that risks peculiar to underlined financial mechanism were mitigated through a good execution plan and strong sponsor guarantees. Concerning the sources of debt financing, Petrozuata raised USD$ 450 mn as a loan from commercial banks with loan guarantees from bilateral and multilateral agencies, such as U.S. ExIm Bank, Export Development Corporation of Canada, OPIC and IFC. Those agencies would mitigate Venezuela’s political and economic instability by providing political risk insurance. However, the major funding source of the project was the American private placement market. Petrozuata received USD$ 1 bn of debt from the Rule 144A market. These bonds were chosen because of the additional advantage of speed and less onerous disclosure requirements imposed by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Petrozuata project had three main components: a series of inland wells to produce the crude, a pipeline system to transport the crude to the coast, and an upgrader facility to partially refine the crude. It was unusual and a highly complicated to finance multiple component projects on a standalone basis. A special system of contracts and commitments were designed and implemented to make the project feasible. A detailed scheme of contracts and commitments is provided in Figure 2. For instance, sponsors mitigated the incentive problem and managerial inefficiency by creating a small board of directors comprised of two directors from each sponsor, and using compensation contracts for managers that were linked to the project performance. Also was realized the major benefit of project finance: public-sector management was substituted for private-sector. The construction risk was allocated to sponsors. Conoco and Maraven agreed to provide funds for any cost overruns prior to completion. Also, the parent companies guaranteed these obligations. The guarantee has a unique structure in terms of the difference in ratings between parties – DuPont (AA-) and PDSVA (B). The parties agreed to include severe penalties for failing to meet their obligations and incentives to cover the other party’s shortfalls. It was a good example of how project finance could substitute the lack of development in emerging countries. After construction would be completed, together with major risks, the sponsor guarantees would also end and the project would become non-recourse to the sponsors. Figure 2: Petrozuata contracts and commitments Source: (Esty 1998) 25 Secondly, sponsors considered within the budget, a USD$ 38 mn contingency for upstream facilities, a USD$ 139 mn contingency for downstream facilities, and sufficient funds to pay premiums on a construction all risk insurance policy covering up to USD$ 1.5 bn of physical loss or damage. Another risk allocation mechanism in the current project was the use of an off-take agreement with the guarantee from the parent company DuPont. According to this agreement, Conoco took an obligation toward Petrozuata to purchase the first 86.6% of Petrozuata’s syncrude, for the whole 35-year life of the project, based on the market price. Moreover, the project company had the right to sell the syncrude to third parties if it could get a higher price. Such scheme eliminate ex post bargaining costs, and deter opportunistic behavior by providing incentives to both sponsors to act in the project’s best interest in the area where contracts would have been costly or impossible to write. Also, with an arrangement authorized by the Venezuelan government the project had a prioritization of cash flows as a main element of the contractual agreements. Petrozuata’s customers would deposit their dollar-denominated funds from the purchases into and offshore account maintained by Banker Trust, governed by the law of New York. Afterwards, the Trustee would disburse the money according to a payment hierarchy. First, the Trustee would make the transfer to a 90-day operating expense account; second, to service the project’s debt obligations; and, third, make deposits to a Debt Service Reserve Account as needed to maintain six months of principal interest. Finally, the project implemented a â€Å"cash trap† basically meaning that if the project maintains an one-year historical and one-year projected Debt Service Coverage Ratio of 1.35X, then the Trustee would transfer any remaining funds to Petrozuata for distribution to its equityholders. To sum up, Petrozuata is an example of the effective use of project finance in developing countries. The adverse circumstances following financial closure provide further evidence of the durability and merits of the project finance structure. The deal set numerous precedents in the bank and capital markets. For these

Proposal for An Advanced Art Project :: Artist Papers

Proposal for An Advanced Art Project First off, I need to propose my theme that will encompass the majority of my art works in my stated media. Out of painting, print making and sculpture, I am choosing to work with the latter for two main reasons. One, I'm not that great at capturing visual ideas on the somewhat two- dimensional surface of paper or canvas. Adding to that I thought that sculpture would allow me to have a greater release of creativity as my work can explode into the third dimension with many added features. After pondering upon ideas for a theme, I hit upon four major factors that I want to incorporate within my work. Firstly, I want it to make a definite immediate visual contact with the viewer through use of thought provoking forms and features. Next, I may wish at times to incorporate audible stimuli to further draw the viewer into my work. Thirdly, I want some interaction of the sculpture with the viewer, so that they can make a more intimate contact with the piece through tactile and kinesthetic action, so that they thus may "get into it" more and begin to experience some of the passion & feeling that I put into my work as it is thus conveyed to and impressed upon them. As a title theme for my year's work I have come up with "Multifaceted Interactive Involvement With The Electro- Magnetic Spectrum." This includes many different forms of radiation, light and waves. I am also integrating sound to give an added flair. Some practical project examples that I intend to carry through and actually construct can be found in ideas 11 and 12. As my topic theme is fairly limiting, this is quite challenging, but great, as it allows me to create many different forms of work, all tied in to a common specific point. I thought it also might be interesting though if I deviated slightly from the main theme and as a secondary little theme chose something to do with the people in the class surrounding me. There are six in total, including myself and the teacher. There are six sides on a cube and this gave rise to idea for a project. The final result of this co-relates to idea number 9. Soon after, idea 10 followed as I got to thinking about the "average" student of art. This can also include the Proposal for An Advanced Art Project :: Artist Papers Proposal for An Advanced Art Project First off, I need to propose my theme that will encompass the majority of my art works in my stated media. Out of painting, print making and sculpture, I am choosing to work with the latter for two main reasons. One, I'm not that great at capturing visual ideas on the somewhat two- dimensional surface of paper or canvas. Adding to that I thought that sculpture would allow me to have a greater release of creativity as my work can explode into the third dimension with many added features. After pondering upon ideas for a theme, I hit upon four major factors that I want to incorporate within my work. Firstly, I want it to make a definite immediate visual contact with the viewer through use of thought provoking forms and features. Next, I may wish at times to incorporate audible stimuli to further draw the viewer into my work. Thirdly, I want some interaction of the sculpture with the viewer, so that they can make a more intimate contact with the piece through tactile and kinesthetic action, so that they thus may "get into it" more and begin to experience some of the passion & feeling that I put into my work as it is thus conveyed to and impressed upon them. As a title theme for my year's work I have come up with "Multifaceted Interactive Involvement With The Electro- Magnetic Spectrum." This includes many different forms of radiation, light and waves. I am also integrating sound to give an added flair. Some practical project examples that I intend to carry through and actually construct can be found in ideas 11 and 12. As my topic theme is fairly limiting, this is quite challenging, but great, as it allows me to create many different forms of work, all tied in to a common specific point. I thought it also might be interesting though if I deviated slightly from the main theme and as a secondary little theme chose something to do with the people in the class surrounding me. There are six in total, including myself and the teacher. There are six sides on a cube and this gave rise to idea for a project. The final result of this co-relates to idea number 9. Soon after, idea 10 followed as I got to thinking about the "average" student of art. This can also include the

Connecting Magical Realism and Psychology :: Magical Realism Psychology

Connecting Magical Realism and Psychology At first, German art critic Franz Roh used the term "Magical Realism" to describe a style of painting (Roh 15). Eventually, Arturo Uslar Pietri adapted the term in order to describe a type of literature (Leal 120). While the exact definition of Magical Realism is open to interpretation, it is certain that Magical Realism gives a deeper meaning to ordinary life by unearthing mysteries that hide behind the world (Roh 16-17). In order to uncover these mysteries, Magical Realism combines fantasy with reality (Flores 110-111). Although Magical Realism is now well-known as a genre of literature, Magical Realism extends into "real life" through a treatment in psychology known as Traumatic Incident Reduction. In order to see how Magical Realism is found in this treatment, one must first consider at least one of the identifying marks of Magical Realism. Among the characteristics that identify Magical Realism is the feeling of transcendence that the reader has while reading a Magical Realist text (Simpkins 150). During transcendence, a reader senses something that is beyond the real world. At the same time, however, the reader still feels as if he or she were rooted in the world (Sandner 52). After the reader undergoes transcendence, then he or she should have a different outlook on life. Secondly, one must consider what the process of Traumatic Incident Reduction involves in order to see how Magical Realism relates. In this treatment, the patient who has experienced some type of traumatic incident will replay the incident in his or mind. Then, he or she will describe the event to his or her therapist. After the patient views the event several more times in his or her mind, he or she will usually go into more extensive detail about the incident. Eventually, the patient is supposed to reach a point at which he or she replaces negative emotions regarding the event with positive emotions. Additionally, the patient usually gains new insights concerning life. Most importantly, the Traumatic Incident Reduction offers the patient an opportunity to "confront the trauma at the time it occurred," enabling the patient to move on with life (Schiraldi 209-210). While feeling rooted in the world, the patient must go beyond the physical world in order to overcome his or her post-trauma stress. Even though the patient does not literally go back in time, the results of replaying a traumatic incident and confronting it in his or her mind have real effects in the patient's life.

English Language Teaching Essays -- essays research papers

Topic Literature Review: English Language Teaching Strategies for Learning-Disabled Secondary School Students Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the aims of the Singapore Ministry of Education is to ensure that all school-going children receive a minimum ten years of general education. Streaming is one way to ensure that all students are taught according to their academic ability, and â€Å"learn at a pace which they can cope.† (Coping with Singaporeans’ Concerns, 2001, p. 4). At the primary school level, remediation programmes such as the â€Å"Learning Support Programme (LSP) and the Encouragement Achievement and Better Learning (ENABLE) Programmes† are made available to assist students who have been assessed as weak in English and Mathematics (Coping with Singaporeans’ concerns, 2001, p. 4). At secondary level, the Normal Technical (NT) stream was implemented in 1994 to cater to students who are less academically inclined. The majority of the learning-disabled students will be found in the NT stream. In NT stream, students follow a less rigorous curriculum which focuses on English and Mathematics, and more hands-on learning experiences. The NT curriculum basically prepares students for vocational/technical academic and career paths. Unlike primary schools where there are remediation programmes to support students who are identified as weak in academic performance or â€Å"learning-disabled†, little attention is given to NT stream students, especially students with learning disabilities. This can be attributed to a number of reasons such as exclusion of NT stream students’ performance at National Examinations from the school league table, and inadequately-trained general education teachers to teach students with special educational needs. For any remediation programmes that are available, they are provided at an ad hoc basis by out-of-school â€Å"ethnic self-help groups and voluntary welfare organizations† (Coping with Singaporeans’ concerns, 2001, p. 4). Research has revealed that NT students suffer from â€Å"low self-esteem†, â€Å"achievement motivation†, and â€Å"poor study habits† as they progress up the levels in secondary schools (Chan, 1996). One of the main reasons for the poor academic performance of NT students is that most NT students face problems following lessons in class. All subjects, with the exception of Mother Tongue subject, are ... ...h that is grammatical, fluent, appropriate for purpose, context and culture. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A Summary of the learning Outcomes by the End of Secondary Two and Four Normal Technical: Pupils will: a.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Respond to a variety of texts and demonstrate a positive attitude towards reading and language. b.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Listen for information from a variety of sources. c.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Speak fluently and expressively on a range of topics. d.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Present and develop ideas effectively in speech/writing for a variety of purposes and audiences. e.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Write legibly, coherently and cohesively for different purpose and audiences. f.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Demonstrate knowledge about language and text types from print/ non-print/ electronic source. g.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Use reading strategies to construct meaning. (Adapted from Ministry of Education. (2001). English Language Syllabus 2001 For Primary and Secondary Schools. Singapore: Curriculum Planning and Development Division, Ministry of Education.)

Recording Product Value Added Tax

Nama:Fajar Suryanegara Program Studi:Ilmu Administrasi Fiskal Judul Skripsi:Tinjauan Terhadap Penetapan Dasar Pengenaan Pajak Nilai Lain Atas Produk Rekaman Skripsi ini membahas penetapan Nilai Lain sebagai Dasar Pengenaan Pengenaan Pajak atas produk rekaman ditinjau dari asas-asas pemungutan pajak produktivitas penerimaan, kepastian hukum, dan kesederhanaan. Penelitian ini adalah penelitian kualitatif dengan desain deskriptif analisis.Hasil penelitian ini jika ditinjau dari asas produktivitas penerimaan ketetapan ini menimbulkan potential loss bagi negara yang terlihat dari selisih PPN terutang antara harga pasar dengan harga jual rata-rata. Berdasarkan asas kepastian hukum ketetapan ini kurang memberikan kepastian hukum karena kesalahan penggunaan pasal 1 angka 17 Undang-undang Pajak Pertambahan Nilai. Akhirnya, berdasarkan asas kesederhanaan ketetapan ini sudah memberikan kesederhanaan baik bagi wajib pajak atau Direktorat Jenderal Perpajakan karena pajak hanya dibebankan pada sat u level pemungutan.Kata Kunci: Dasar Pengenaan Pajak, Produktivitas penerimaan, kepastian hukum, kesederhanaan. ABSTRACT Name:Fajar Suryanegara Study Program:Fiscal Administration Title:Review for The Other Value Tax Base Quotition of Recording Product The focus of this study is the quotition other value as tax base for recording product reviewed from revenue productivity, certainty and simplicity tax principle. This research is qualitative with descriptive analysist design.The result for this research reviewed from revenue productivity principle caused potential loss for our country which can be seen from the deviation between market price and average sale price. Based on certainty principle this quotation gives less certainty because the misinterpretation of article 1 number 17 Indonesian Value Added Tax law. Finally, based on simplicity principle this quotition has given simplicity whether for tax payer or Tax General Directorate because the imposition is levied only to one level . Key words: Tax Base, Revenue productivity, certainty, simplicity

Patient-centred care is a fundamental issue Essay

There are many issues associated with the transition from graduate registered nurse into practicing registered nurse. Recent studies have found the phase to be a stressful period for many graduates the main challenges were fitting into social groups, delegation, hostility and patient-centred care (Rush et al, 2013); (Feng & Tsai 2012). However, research has shown that with appropriate education, guidance and support the transition can create better staff and patient satisfaction, resulting in lower turnover rates (Orsini, 2005). This research highlights the need to develop appropriate pathways and evidence-based management for new graduate nurses. This essay will endeavour to outline the evidence-based practice for the management of patient-centred care and hostility in the workforce, in conjunction with the transitioning to registered nurse phase. It will be centralised around class discussion forums and how they impacted personally (Appendix 2A, 2B, 2C) in order to applicably manag e future situations. Patient-centred care is a fundamental issue which was discussed at great length during one of the forums (Appendix 2A). It seemed most students had their own opinion already formed about patient-centred care and in turn their own experiences. It was a topic which I felt needed further understanding due to a lack of consistency with student viewpoints and due to it being an ill managed issue within healthcare services. A recent study examining the barriers to overcome patient-centred care found that 64% of nurses were aware of deficits in standards of care, but felt they did not have enough time to perform vital nursing tasks such as addressing patient’s concerns and providing relevant information to both the patient and their family (West, Barron, & Reeves, 2005). Furthermore, nurses reported that a lack of staff, space and equipment were also to blame (West, Barron, & Reeves, 2005). Kvale & Bondevik, (2008) state that patient-centred care is a term which is globally used yet it is difficult to define, resulting in challenges in implementing appropriate interventions. This may be a result of patients differing satisfactions and expectations such as personal beliefs, ideas and opinions which are individual (Okougha, 2013). Research suggests that graduate registered nurses require guidance and education in order to gain confidence and empowerment (Glynn & Silva, 2013). A recent study found that when education was provided to nurses in relation to current patient-centred care and how to improve it, 90% of nurses positively changed their behaviour to increase patient satisfaction (Okougha, 2013). As a graduate registered nurse I need to have a profound and comprehensive understanding about patient-centred care and how to implement it in order to provide safe and effective management to all my patients. According to Cronin, (2004) patient-centred care is recognising each patient as an individual; building therapeutic relationships including with family and friends; and involving a multidisciplinary team. This in turn provides differing perspectives on the issue. The World Health Organisation uses the word ‘responsiveness’ in regards to patient centred care and states â€Å"recognising responsiveness is an intrinsic goal of the health care system and reinforces that the health care systems are there to serve the people† (World Health Organisation, 2000). A recent qualitative study examined patient’s perspectives in relation to patient-centred care (Griffiths et al, 2012). It found that although patients were different and required diverse needs, they also shared many similarities such as requiring empathy, listening, communication and non-judgemental patient-centred care (Griffiths et al, 2012). There was also concern if current education can develop a nurs e’s preparedness in delivering quality care (Griffiths et al, 2012). One of the participants stated â€Å"you might be the best clinician in the world but if you can’t communicate and you can’t listen properly to people and you don’t take on board and understand what they’re saying you may as well go dig the street† (Griffiths et al, 2012). Furthermore another participant stated â€Å"†¦each individual should be [evaluated] and their needs be assessed and implemented on that particular individual†¦I just feel it’s a conveyor belt system. Get them in and get them out sort of thing† (Griffiths et al, 2012). In another qualitative review which explored nurse’s perspectives on patient-centred care, suggested time management was the largest barrier preventing them from communicating effectively with their patients (Chan et al, 2012). One nurse stated â€Å"sometimes, I have to deal with 20 patients in one single shift†¦ if one needs 10 minutes and there are 20 patients in total, how much time would we have to spend on this? Don’t we need to do other tasks?† (Chan et al, 2012). According to the Australian Commission on safety and quality in health care, (2011) effective patient-centred care is employed through training health professionals to communicate simple information suc h as pharmaceutical knowledge and provide educational material which increases a patient’s self-assurance and understanding. Additionally, initiating patient surveys is an effective tool in order to determine the most appropriate interventions (Australian Commission on safety and quality in health care, 2011). Current research has found that better patient satisfaction and patient-centred care, results in a decreased length of stay; reduces readmission; decreases rates of hospital acquired infections; and improves preventative services (Boulding et al, 2011); (Flach et al, 2004). It is therefore imperative that all graduate nurses have an understanding about patient-centred care and successfully implement appropriate interventions. Patient-centred care has encouraged me to re-think how I view and treat my patients. Current literature has highlighted the importance that patient-centred care plays in delivering quality and safe care as a graduate registered nurse. In respect to Appendix 1, the toolkit and strategies developed from the discussion forums have provided me with a clearer understanding in how to manage effective patient-centred care. The strategies developed are simple and easy to follow and include recognising each patient as an individual; and focus on communication to build a therapeutic relationship. I now understand the importance of having a structured support network within the workplace in order to maintain regular support and direction. In future practice as a graduate registered nurse I will endeavour to find an appropriate mentor which will provide insightful knowledge and realistic expectations. As stated in Appendix 2A I now recognise it is necessary to have an understanding about patient centred care in order to successfully manage a patient’s individual needs. Without knowledge within this area a nurse is unable to properly care for their patients. Hostility in the workforce was another topic which swayed my attention during the discussion forums (Appendix 2B). It was an issue which I had not considered to be a problem once becoming a registered nurse and working within a professional group. However, as the class discussed their own personal experiences in regards to being a student and coming across hostility, I too remembered that nurses are often intimidating and unapproachable during clinical placements. This issue is important as research has suggested graduate registered nur ses demonstrate vulnerability which can easily lead to bulling or hostility in the workforce (Hickson, 2013). Hostility in the workforce has been viewed as a rite of passage, suggesting new graduates need to experience the language, culture and rules of the workforce (Hickson, 2013). In a study conducted by McKenna et al, (2003) it found many new graduates experienced some form of hostility but due to fear they did not report the occurrence. The study also highlighted that new graduates felt resentment in the form of interpersonal conflicts; blocked learning; emotional neglect; feeling undervalued; lack of supervision; threat of rumours or lies being spread in response to speaking out (McKenna et al, 2003). In another recent study it found that 46% of the nurses identified hostility in the workforce as serious or somewhat serious (Stanley et al, 2007). It also discovered that 65% of the nurses had observed hostile behaviours by fellow co-workers (Stanley et al, 2007). Furthermore, Simon, (2008) revealed that 48% of nurses that were less than five years in a unit were the most frequently bullied. Additionally, 31% of new graduates reported they were bullied significantly generating intent to leave (Simon, 2008). In respect to Appendix 2B, this issue is vitally imp ortant to me as I have seen first-hand how hostility in the nursing environment can occur. I can appreciate that as new graduates we need guidance and support during such a vulnerable transition. I furthermore recognise how hostility and bullying can impact on a nurse’s performance, job satisfaction and patient safety. It is therefore imperative that I have an understanding about appropriate strategies for resolving these issues. According to the American Nurses Association, (2012) any form of abuse against nurses is a violation of inherent worth, dignity and human rights. Also that abusive behaviour by a nurse is viewed as violence against the nursing code of ethics (American Nurses Association, 2012). Growe, (2013) suggests hostility can also be described as bullying, lateral violence, horizontal violence and disruptive behaviour. Additionally, it is behaviour that is persistent and ongoing; unwanted comments or actions affecting a person’s dignity, and overt and covert actions which threaten the performance of a health care worker (Growe, 2013). A study conducted by Kelly and Ahern, (2009) reviewed the perspectives of new graduates in Australia. They discovered there were three key themes which prevented a successful socialisation process (Kelly & Aher n, 2009). They included language barriers, which required the nurses learn the culture of the language; ‘eating their young’ or power games and unpreparedness (Kelly & Ahern, 2009). One graduate nurse stated â€Å"I think that a lot of RN’s out there are on a power trip and think that the best way to teach students is by humiliating them and putting them down as much as possible and saying, surely you know that† (Kelly & Ahern, 2009). Another graduate stated â€Å"The sharpness of some of the staff, the way some of them speak to you has become an increasing burden† (Kelly & Ahern, 2009). In another recent qualitative study, it reviewed registered nurses’ perspectives in regards to graduate nurses (Baumberger-Henry, 2012). It found two themes which involved lacking confidence and fitting in with the units culture (Baumberger-Henry, 2012). One nurse stated â€Å"†¦not knowing what to do and having to request assistance is perceived as a weakness tha t contrasts the need to feel independent†¦keeps the advanced beginner from asking questions, creating a catch 22 situation†¦other nurses view new graduates as weak and burdensome† (Baumberger-Henry, 2012). Another participant stated â€Å"some nurses turn their backs when new graduates ask a question†¦sometimes new graduates don’t make it just because of other personalities†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Baumberger-Henry, 2012). It is clear from the evidence that hostility in the workforce is a widespread issue. Furthermore, it can be seen that graduate registered nurses are the ones most at risk and burdened with this problem. It is therefore necessary that all nurses have an appropriate understanding about how to deal with these situations effectively in order to create job satisfaction. According to Vessey et al, (2012), workplace hostility can be decreased by involving the whole nursing team, providing information on what is good and bad practice, and making the staff more aware of the issue. Hostility in the workforce has made me apprehensive about starting out as a new graduate in the health care setting. However, from current literature I feel more confident in recognising signs of hostility or bullying, and feel capable in addressing the problem with either my mentor, or if applicable, senior staff. From the toolkit in Appendix 1, the strategies were developed for graduate nurses like myself. They suggested simple strategies which may help prevent other nurses from becoming annoyed and frustrated with new graduates. The strategies include using a communication tool such as ‘SBAR’ in order to appropriately address what needs to be done; not to take conflicts personally; know your own scope of practice in order to maintain safe and competent work; skill up to gain additional knowledge and experience; and know your professional boundaries. From the current literature and toolkit strategies I now have a deeper understanding about the impacts of workplace bullying and how it affects graduate nurse’s performance and job satisfaction. By having a clearer understanding a bout the issue I feel confident in being able to apply these strategies when challenged with a similar circumstance. This essay has reviewed the evidence-based practice for the management of patient centred care and hostility in the workforce. It was conducted in conjunction with the transitioning to registered nurse phase. By examining current literature and differing perspectives on these issues, a clearer understanding about their impacts and managements strategies have been developed. It is important that all nurses have an adequate understanding about patient centred care and hostility in the workforce given their impacts on quality patient management and safety. The toolkit in Appendix 1 has provided insightful strategies in order to help graduates deal with these situations once within the workforce. In regards to Appendix 2A and 2B, these topics have provided me with a deeper understanding about expectations as a graduate registered nurse. Additionally, they have allowed me to gain insight and preparedness in relation to entering the workforce. It is evident that having a clear understanding about both issues is vital in order to be successful within nursing in future industries. References American Nurses Association. (2012). Combating Disruptive Behaviours: Strategies to promote a healthy work environment. Retrieved 22/5/2013 from: http://nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAMarketplace/ANAPeriodicals/OJIN/TableofContents/Vol152010/No1Jan2010/Combating-Disruptive-Behaviors.html Australian Commission on safety and quality in health care. (2011). Patient centred care: improving quality and safety through partnerships with patients and concurmers. ACSOQHC, Sydney. Retrieved 24/5/2013 from: http://www.healthissuescentre.org.au/documents/items/2012/02/405982-upload-00001.pdf Baumberger-Henry, M. (2012). Registered nurses’ perspectives on the new graduate working in the emgerncy department or critical care unit. Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 43(7), 299-305.doi:10.3928/00220124-20111115-02 Boulding, W., Glickman, S., Manary, M., Shulman, K., Staelin, R. (2011). Relationship between patient satisfaction with in patient care and hospital readmission with in 30 days. 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The World Health Report 2000- Health System: Improving Performance. Geneva, World Health Organisation, 1-215 Appendix 1 Discussion Forum 1 – Learning and Teaching being a teacher and a learner in a health care environment 1. List strategies that can reassure a graduate registered nurse that a patient’s learning needs are met | Strategy | Rationale| 1.| Build rapport.| This reduces fear and anxiety, allowing patients to ask more questions and be involved in their own treatment.| 2.| Get them to repeat what you say in their own words.| This reassures they have understood what you have explained.| 3.| Write important information down and/or provide educational material.| This allows patients to reflect on information in their own time.| 4.| Ask the patient what the need clarifying.| Some patient may withdraw from asking simple questions as nurses appear too busy. | 5.| | | 2. List strategies that will ensure that a graduate registered nurse can be a lifelong learner in a health care setting | Strategy | Rationale| 1.| Communicate clearly| To improve interprofessional communication; increases trust and respect. | 2.| Recognise each patient as an individual with their own needs| To develop quality patient centered care.| 3.| Focus on patient centered communication to build therapeutic relationships| This help improve effective patient centered care and provides and safe and quality nursing.| 4.| Create a career vision| Provides a pathway in which goals can then be developed and attained.| 5.| Develop a professional portfolio| Provides a reference point to store and sort important information and documents.| Discussion Forum 2 Workforce issues and challenges 1. List strategies that will ensure that a graduate registered nurses are effective team members | Strategy | Rationale| 1.| Participate in further education| Shows enthusiasm and provides further knowledge.| 2.| Seek critical feedback from senior staff| Outlines how one is perceived and thus they will have a deeper understanding about themselves.| 3.| Always use professional and polite language. | Encourages rapport and friendliness within the staff| 4.| | | 5.| | | 2. List strategies that a graduate registered nurse can use to reduce their theory practice gap. Give a GRN specific rationale to support each strategy | Strategy | Rationale| 1.| Establish a bond with a mentor or preceptor.| As a GRN this will provide support and guidance in order to applicable use theory in practice.| 2.| Develop effective communication skills.| This establishes rapport with patients and other colleagues. | 3.| Write reflections.| Allows GRN to identify their strengths and weakness | 4.| Skill up where possible| This provide GRN with further knowledge and understand in a particular field| 5.| | | Discussion Forum 3 Workplace issues and challenges 1. List strategies that will empower a graduate registered nurse to work effectively in a hostile and aggressive environment | Strategy | Rationale| 1.| Assertive communication| By using communication tools and assertive language, GRN can effectively explain what it is they need in a professional manner. | 2.| Scope of practice| It’s important to know one’s own scope of practice in order to provide safe and quality nursing care.| 3.| Professional Boundaries| Important in order to not cross any professional boundaries, impacting on employment status.| 4.| Know where to report in your health facility| Many healthcare setting have their own way of reporting workplace violence, so it’s important to know how to manage the situation. | 5.| Mediate – â€Å"in house†| this is generally the first step, talking to the NUM, in order to try to resolve the issue before it get too out of control| 2. List strategies that a graduate registered nurse can use to delegate tasks effectively | Strategy | Rationale| 1.| Delegate to the right person| Important to know their competencies and qualifications, this can be achieved simply by asking.| 2.| Make sure timing is right| Be sure not to delegate to a person who appears very busy as this can cause conflicts and also poor management.| 3.| Use appropriate positive words| Provide the reason why you need the help and why you cannot complete it, in order for the other person to fully understand. | 4.| Never redo delegated tasks| As this will diminish authority and allow other nurses to ‘walk over’ you. | 5.| | | Discussion Forum 4 Ethical and Legal Issues and Challenges 1. List strategies that will empower a graduate registered nurse to transition effectively to their new roles and responsibilities | Strategy | Rationale| 1.| Find a mentor.| Provides necessary leadership, support and guidance.| 2.| Develop good organisational skills.| This increase time management and maintains patient safety.| 3.| Never be afraid to ask questions| This increases knowledge and understanding and thus decreases adverse events.| 4.| Understand yourself and limitations.| Helps to identify what learning pathways may need to be further established.| 5.| | | 2. List strategies that a graduate registered nurse can use to advocate for best practice policies to be followed | Strategy | Rationale| 1.| Know when to partake in mandatory reporting| Important in order to provide safe nursing practice.| 2.| Know who to talk to if a problem arises in the workforce| Provides a support network. | 3.| Seek advice from regulatory councils| Provides further knowledge and guidance into a situation in regards to the law. | 4.| Collaborate as an interdisciplinary team| This provides safe and effective care to all patients. | 5.| | | Appendix 2A Reflection: Patient-Centred Care During the discussion forums in my tutorial class, patient-centred care was one of the topics which grasped my attention. The forum provided an insight into what is involved in patient-centred and examined some effective strategies. I found this topic interesting as the class shared their experiences and viewpoints on the issue. One participant shared that when recently working in aged care as an assistant nurse, patient care was often carried out in regards to time restraints and thus resulting in patients being rushed through their daily cares and/or being woken up very early to accommodate nursing staff. I found this very worrying as I don’t believe that the described experience is appropriate patient-centred care and therefore these aged care patients are not being effectively cared for. However, it also made me wonder where else in the clinical setting is patient-centred care being ill-managed? The discussion forum outlined that patient centred care is providing adequate cares, gathering appropriate information, respecting values, educating the patient, involving their family and friends and providing emotional support. Also, without knowledge within this area, a nurse is unable to successfully care and manage their patients. It is important to have an understanding about patient centred care in nursing as effectively that’s what nurses should be advocating. Patient centred-care is individual and requires building a therapeutic relationship to allow the patient be actively involved. Additionally, patient-centred care is vital role in providing safe and appropriate treatment to all patients. This forum topic has provided me with a deeper understanding about the importance patient centred care in order to be a