Business ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Business ethics - Essay Example Based on ethical theories and literature, this paper will attempt to show that it is important for companies to embrace the concept of sustainable development in order to grow their bottom line and ensure future growth. Companies are required to embrace sustainable development because by doing so, they will be fulfilling their ethical obligations to sustainability. In order to understand these ethical obligations, this paper analyses the ethical theories related to sustainability and how they apply. In an article by Mohamed Eid (2012) on sustainable development, the author relates the four major ethical theories to sustainability. These theories help understand how sustainable development is critical to any company. The first ethical theory supporting sustainable development is utilitarian ethics, a theory that focuses on the need to maximize good and the promotion of happiness. Based on this theory, sustainable development is approached by looking at the balance between economic, social and environmental welfare. Companies are thus required to engage in actions that will promote the overall good by striking a balance between these aspects. Companies have to focus not only on themselves and the maj ority in society but include the minorities as well. This requires that future generations are considered when making critical decisions. This also demands a focus on the economic gains of the company that meet the needs of all stakeholders (Najam, 1999 p. 70). The utilitarian theory requires companies to use approaches and methods that promote happiness from the individual level to the wider society. Companies thus need to create an environment that guarantees a better future for everyone. Secondly, sustainability is also tied to the deontological theory in which it is argued that actions are either right or wrong irrespective of their consequences. In this case, actions need to be justified by accepted universal principles. Currently,

The Benefits of Interventions for Work-Related Stress Essay Example for Free

The Benefits of Interventions for Work-Related Stress Essay Objectives. This quantitative metaanalysis sought to determine the effectiveness of occupational stress–reducing interventions and the populations for which such interventions are most beneficial. Methods. Forty-eight experimental studies (n = 3736) were included in the analysis. Four intervention types were distinguished: cognitive–behavioral interventions, relaxation techniques, multimodal programs, and organizationfocused interventions. Results. A small but significant overall effect was found. A moderate effect was found for cognitive–behavioral interventions and multimodal interventions, and a small effect was found for relaxation techniques. The effect size for organization-focused interventions was nonsignificant. Effects were most pronounced on the following outcome categories: complaints, psychologic resources and responses, and perceived quality of work life. Conclusions. Stress management interventions are effective. Cognitive– behavioral interventions are more effective than the other intervention types. (Am J Public Health. 2001;91:270–276) Jac J. L. van der Klink, MD, MSc, Roland W. B. Blonk, PhD, Aart H. Schene, PhD, MD, and Frank J. H. van Dijk, PhD, MD The efficacy and cost-effectiveness of interventions designed for patients with emotional difficulties is a relevant topic in general practice.1 Such considerations also apply in occupational health care. With the increases in workloads of the past decades, the number of employees experiencing psychologic problems related to occupational stress has increased rapidly in Western countries.2 At the societal level, costs are considerable in terms of absenteeism, loss of productivity, and health care consumption. In Britain, it is estimated that 40 million workdays are lost to the nation’s economy owing to mental and emotional problems.3 At the individual level, there are costs in terms of high rates of tension, anger, anxiety, depressed mood, mental fatigue, and sleep disturbances. These problems, usually referred to in aggregate as distress, are often classified as neurasthenia, adjustment disorders, or burnout. Incidence rates in the Netherlands vary from 14 to 50 cases per year per 1000 patients.4 Interventions designed to reduce occupational stress can be categorized according to focus, content, method, and duration. In regard to focus, interventions can be categorized as (1) aiming to increase individual psychologic resources and responses (e.g., coping) or (2) aiming to change the occupational context. The first category of intervention is usually referred to as stress management training. However, stress management is the common denominator of an assortment of interventions ranging from relaxation methods5 to cognitive– behavioral interventions6,7 and client-centered therapy.8 The second category refers to interventions such as organizational development9,10 and job redesign.11 We distinguished 4 intervention types according to categorizations used in previous reviews12–14: cognitive–behavioral approaches, relaxation techniques, multimodal interventions, and organization-focused interventions. Cognitive–behavioral approaches aim at changing cognitions and subsequently reinforcing active coping skills.6,7 Relaxation techniques focus on physical or mental relaxation as a method to cope with the consequences of stress. Multimodal interventions emphasize the acquisition of both passive and active coping skills. The fourth intervention type involves a focus on the organization as a whole. Several reviews have been conducted of interventions designed to reduce occupational stress.2,5,12,14–16 The general finding of these reviews is that such interventions are effective. However, the reviews have been qualitative in nature and thus provide limited information on which type of intervention is most effective and for whom. Recently, Bamberg and Busch conducted the first meta-analysis on occupational stress–reducing interventions.17 However, they included only cognitive–behavioral interventions in their quantitative analyses. In the present quantitative review, the following research questions were posed: (1) Are stress interventions effective, as suggested by qualitative reviews of the literature? (2) If so, which type of stress intervention is most effective, and on which outcome measures? In addition to these research questions, exploratory analyses were conducted to determine what moderator variables (e.g., job characteristics, preventive/remedial nature of interventions, length of treatment) were related to the effectiveness of the interventions. Methods Search and Inclusion Criteria Two strategies were used to locate appropriate studies. First, 4 databases—Medline (1966–1996), ClinPsych (1980–1996), Current Contents (1997), and Nioshtic (1970– 1996)—were used to conduct a computerized search. Three groups of terms were composed for this search: (1) terms linked to stress-related psychologic problems (psychologic stress, work stress, job stress, neurasthenia, burnout, minor psychiatric problems, mental fatigue, minor depression, neurosis, distress, nervous breakdown, and adjustment disorder), (2) terms related to the intervention (therapy, treatment, protocol, program, intervention, primary care, prevention, and employee assistance program), and (3) terms related to the population (employee, occupational, vocational, rehabilitation, work, job, absenteeism, and sickness leave). Within each group of terms, searches were added. Subsequently, these searches were combined. Second, a manual search of relevant reviews, book chapters, and articles was conducted, with the objective of finding relevant references missed in the computerized search. To be included in our database, a study had to meet several criteria. First, the intervention was required to be specifically designed to prevent or reduce psychologic complaints related to occupational stress. Second, in terms of the target population, participants had to be recruited from the working population because of imminent or already-manifested stressrelated psychologic problems not diagnosed as involving a major psychiatric disorder (e.g., depression or posttraumatic stress disorder) or a stress-related somatic disorder (e.g., hypertension, coronary heart disease). Third, an experimental or quasi-experimental design involving a no-treatment control group had to be used. Within the quasi-experimental studies, we required that the experimental group and the control group be recruited from identical populations and have identical baseline values on dependent variables. In this high-quality group of primary studies, we applied no ranking for methodological quality aspects because the consequent choice of a weighting factor in the quantitative analyses would introduce an element of subjectivity. Fourth, outcome variables had to be well defined and of sufficient reliability. Finally, we required that the study be published as a journal article in English. Definitions The variables used in the meta-analysis included intervention-related variables, outcome variables, and population characteristics. February 2001, Vol. 91, No. 2 Intervention-related variables were (1) type of intervention, (2) total number of hours, (3) number of weeks, and (4) number of sessions. The latter 3 variables could be considered indexes of the intensity and extent of the intervention. Because they were relevant in assessing the cost-effectiveness and practical applicability of a program, we used these variables as moderators in the exploratory analyses. As described earlier, 4 intervention types were included; 3 involved a focus on individuals and 1 involved a focus on the organization. In several reviews, a third focus has been discerned: the interaction between the individual and the organization.14,18 Thus far, however, intervention studies conducted with this focus have been uncontrolled.19 The outcome variables included were placed into 5 categories: (1) quality of work life, including such aspects as job demands, work pressure, job control, working conditions, and social support from management and colleagues; (2) psychologic resources and responses, including measures of self-esteem, mastery, beliefs, and coping skills20; (3) physiology, including measures such as tension, electromyographic activity, (nor)adrenaline, and cholesterol level; (4) complaints, including stress or burnout rates or symptoms, somatic symptoms, and mental health status and symptoms (because of their significance in general health practice, depressive symptoms and anxiety symptoms were considered as separate subcategories); and (5) absenteeism. A number of population characteristics, such as sex, age, years of employment, occupational status, and baseline stress level, may be important moderators of treatment effects and thus may provide information on which types of interventions are effective and for whom. However, for most of these characteristics, the specific information required was not available in the studies; the exceptions were baseline stress level and occupational status. The predictive influence of these characteristics on treatment effects was investigated in a number of exploratory analyses. In line with Newman and Beehr12 and with Murphy,2 2 baseline stress level categories were distinguished, preventive and remedial. In the present meta-analysis, a study was considered preventive if no participant selection had taken place in regard to stress levels. A study was considered remedial if participants were selected by means of a criterion. As noted by Karasek and Theorell, occupational status may be indicative of level of job control.20 On the basis of Karasek and Theorell’s ratings, we categorized study samples as â€Å"high control† or â€Å"low control.† Two studies involving samples with mixed occupations were classified as low control because most of the participants in these studies had low-control jobs.21,22 Two studies were excluded from these exploratory analyses because of a lack of sufficient information.23,24 Statistical Analysis The Advanced BASIC Meta-Analysis program25 was used in conducting statistical analyses. In this program, several statistics (e.g., F, t, r, and P) can be entered, and a product–moment correlation is obtained. These effect size correlations are transformed to Fisher z scores. Subsequently, mean Fisher z scores are calculated and transformed back to effect size (r) values. If F or t values were reported, we used these values; if such values were not reported, they were computed if the required information was available. If this computation was not possible, P values were used; effects reported as nonsignificant were rated as P=0.5.26 A problem in meta-analyses is that studies with a relatively large number of outcome measures disproportionately affect the metaanalytic results. To counteract this problem, Rosenthal and Rubin27 proposed a method of computing a mean effect size in which the intercorrelation of outcome measures is taken into account.25(pp45–47) For all analyses, outcome variables were combined according to this method. We used all outcome measures reported in a study in calculating effect sizes. We report effect sizes in Cohen’s d, which can be derived directly from r values. Cohen’s d represents the standardized mean difference between the intervention group mean and the control group mean. Thus, a d value of 1 indicates that the intervention group performed 1 standard deviation above the control group on a particular outcome variable. Results Description of Studies Forty-eight studies10,21–24,28–67 conducted between 1977 and 1996 met the inclusion criteria; findings from these studies were published in 45 different articles. None of the 48 studies had a curative orientation in the usual sense (i.e., target population consisting of people seeking help). Four studies were considered remedial, because there was selection in regard to baseline stress level. Forty-one studies involved employees with jobs categorized as high in job control. Five studies evaluated an organizationfocused intervention, 18 evaluated a cognitive– behavioral intervention, 17 evaluated a relaxation technique, and 8 evaluated a multimodal approach. In all studies, several outcome analyses were conducted. The result was 99 intervention–outcome combinations. American Journal of Public Health 271 Twenty of the studies involved a followup assessment. In most cases, follow-up was either uncontrolled or reported in a way that allowed no retrieval of statistical metrics. Therefore, only the first postintervention assessment was included in the meta-analysis. The mean interval between preintervention and postintervention assessment was 9 weeks for interventions that focused on individuals (SD= 6 weeks). This deviation was merely due to dif- ferences in intervention duration. Differences in interval between intervention types were not significant. The interval for organizationfocused programs was considerably longer (38 weeks) owing to longer program durations and longer postintervention assessment intervals. Pretest-to-posttest dropout rates varied from 0% to 40%. The mean dropout rate for programs that focused on individuals was 11%; differences between intervention types were nonsignificant. Organization-focused programs had a mean dropout rate of 26%.

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy And Exposure With Response Prevention In T

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy And Exposure With Response Prevention In The Treatment Of Bulimia Nervosa Bulimia nervosa is an eating disorder with psychological, physiological, developmental, and cultural components. The disorder is commonly characterized by binge eating followed by inappropriate compensatory behaviors, such as self-induced vomiting, excessive exercise, fasting, and the misuse of diuretics, laxatives or enemas. Patients properly diagnosed with bulimia nervosa endure many psychological and physiological problems. In order to alleviate these problems for the patient, usually some type of intervention is required. Considering the financial costs to the patient who seeks treatment, it is important to identify effective and efficient treatment programs. Due to the wide variety of individual patient differences, it would be unwise to proclaim one treatment method as the universal cure for bulimia nervosa. However, identifying what methods work under particular conditions may help therapists tailor an individualized treatment program after a careful assessme nt of the client. Having this knowledge would potentially save both the client and the therapist a lot of time and frustration; not to mention, the patient would be on the path to recovery sooner. Kaye et al (1999) stress the importance of making progress towards the understanding and treatment of anorexia and bulimia nervosa, in order to generate more specific and effective psychotherapies and pharmacologic interventions. In this paper, I will present my analysis of two methods used to treat bulimia nervosa. The first method is cognitive-behavioral therapy for bulimia nervosa; this method is quite popular among psychologist... ...ing in bulimia nervosa: A crossover study. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 177, 259-266. Sloan, D. M., & Mizes, J. S. (1999). Foundations of behavior therapy in the contemporary healthcare context. Clinical Psychology Review, 19, 255-274. Spangler, D. L. (1999). Cognitive-behavioral therapy for bulimia nervosa: An illustration Journal of Clinical Psychology, 55, 699-713. Steel, Z. P., Farag, P. A., & Blaszczynski, A. P. (1995). Interrupting the binge-purge cycle in bulimia: The use of planned binges. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 18, 199-208. Vaz, F. J. (1998). Outcome of bulimia nervosa: Prognostic indicators. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 45, 391-400. Walsh, B. T., & Devlin, M. J. (1998). Eating disorders: Progress and problems. Science, 280, 1387-1390.

Native American Culture Essay

The Native American culture is diverse in different aspects such as music, dances, performances and even arts. They have a variety of musical instruments and dancing styles. Each dance is performed during different occasions or activities. The Native Americans had different attires which were worn during different ceremonies such as religious functions, rituals and community gatherings (Leco Para 9). An example of the native ceremonies is the powwow. This is a gathering which is mainly composed of different Indian tribes. It involves different activities such as dancing competitions, narrating stories and other contests. These are activities which usually take place over the weekend in different areas and everyone is invited to attend this function (Leco Para 10). There are different types of dances such as jingle dance, war dances and other communal dances. The jingle dance is mostly a contest for women and the dancing attire is decorated with metallic material. Other dances include scarf dance which is performed in a bird like manner. The dress for this type of dance is painted and surrounded with beads (Leco Para15). There are different war dances which are mainly performed by the men. These include fancy dance and grass dance. The attires are decorated in different colors of beads, furs and feathers. The other kind of dance is the Kiowa gourd dance which is performed basically for the purpose of remembering great elders and warriors from different tribes. The Kiowa dance is for everyone including the spectators. This kind of dance brings people together and it serves to enhance peace and unity. Most of the Native American music involves dancing, chanting and different styles of dancing (Leco, Para 18). Native American Flute The Native American flute was a wooden type of flute. It has a whistle like mouth piece and was an important instrument in most occasions and ceremonies. The way it was curved is very different compared to the flutes found in Asia, Europe and Africa. The different types of flutes were made from different materials such as cedar, sweet grass and river cane. These flutes include black arrow flutes and Turtle Island flutes. The flutes were carried in bags made from deer skin (Native Languages of the Americans, Para 7). Flute bag Source: Native Languages of the Americans website Native American Drums The Native Americans had different types of drums such as Hoops drums, Shamanic drums, Foot drums, Powwow drums, Tom Tom drums and water drums. The hoop drums were used in different kinds of rituals and other ceremonies. They vary in diameter and are held in the hands. They produce different kinds of tunes depending on the diameters. Those that are big produce a deep voice compared to the smaller ones. These drums are normally made up of different kinds of materials such as skin and hides. They are painted in patterns using different colors (Godbole, Para 3). Shamanic drums are mostly used as tools used to connect with spirits. This practice is known as shamanism and it is a certain kind of ritual. There are different tribes that practiced shamanism such as Lakota tribe which is found in the North America. It helps in connecting these people to a completely different world when they are in a good state of mind. These drums are used during a number of performances and rituals (Godbole, Para 4). Shamanic drum Source: Native Languages of the Americans website The powwow drum is a special kind of drum used for a specific type of ritual known as the powwow. The powwow is a well known event among the Native Americans. This event involves a group of people who are involved in drumming. It is a drum which is bigger in size and requires a group of people to play it (usually 8 men) (Godbole Para 5). Powwow Drum Source: Native Languages of the Americans website The foot drum was used by tribes such as Hopi, Aztec, Miwok and Maidu. It’s a unique type of drum among the Native Americans in that it is played using the foot. They were made from hollow logs of wood which were struck using poles and this was followed by resonance from these drums. The Tom Tom drums were small drums which were easily held by the hands. They are longer and narrower in design. Contrary to other types of drums, the hands are used to play the Tom Tom drums (Godbole Para 6). On the other hand, water drums are made of wood and filled with water. The water drums occur in two different types namely; Iroqusi and Yaqui. There are other types of drums such as Tarahumara, apache drums and Lakota. These are, however, less popular than those mentioned above. Every music in the Native American culture had to be accompanied with a drum. This is due to the fact that the people believed that this was the only way to reach the spirits hence the only way to communicate with the gods (Godbole, Para 7). Water drum Source: Native Languages of the Americans website Tribes and Traditions The Native Americans consisted of different tribes each with unique types of traditions and cultures. Some of these tribes include Sarasi, Ute, Kiowa, Hidutsa among others. Each tribe had its own form of rituals and activities. They were involved in several ceremonies most of which were religious gatherings and rituals. An example of such ceremonies is the Sun dance which was attended by large groups of people. Sacrifices were made during this ceremony to ensure that peace prevails in the community. This ceremony was carried out by a priest who was well known in the community. The Native Americans had different kinds of traditions such as healing traditions (Desy Para. 4). Most of the modern forms of healing have their roots in the Native American culture. Every tribe had its own elder who was a healer. In addition to being herbalists, these elders were also designated the duty of connecting the people with the spirits. The tribes believed in dreams which were translated so as to know the meaning. The people had a unique way of ending quarrels by using the â€Å"Talking Sticks† These were passed from one person to the next during meetings. It was a way of showing respect to others. Other traditions include cleansing rituals and the use of animals as guides. The latter implies that when an animal was seen either in real life or in a dream, it was believed that they were a form of guides from the gods (Desy Para. 6). Works Cited Desy, Phylameana L. Native American Healing Traditions, Tools and Healing Practices, 2010. Retrieved on May 14, 2010 from: http://healing. about. com/od/tools/a/nativetools. htm Godbole, Medha. Native American Drum Music, 2010. Retrieved on May 14, 2010 from: http://www. buzzle. com/articles/native-american-drum-music. html Leco, Mike. Native American Indian Culture, 2010. Retrieved on May 14, 2010 from: http://www. usatourist. com/english/inside/indians2. html Native Languages of the Americans. Native America Indian Flutes, 2007. Retrieved on May 14, 2010 from: http://www. native-languages. org/flutes. htm

6 C’s of Communication

Challenge Statement Kindergarten students should transition from books that offer chants, songs and memorized text to books that offer an opportunity to build decoding skills, sight vocabulary and slightly more difficult text. Instructional/Learning model specified Six C's of Motivation will be used to expose the kindergarteners to diverse types of literature and to encourage a love of reading through the use of the Georgia Picture Storybook Award winners and nominees for the award. Explanation of Instructional/Learning model Students have been given the basic letters and letter sounds to learn with no choice. Now is the next step of turning the students into motivated readers. The 6 C’s of Motivation will be the ideal theory to put into practice with this next step. Choice – Giving the students a more challenging selection of books such as the Georgia Picture Storybooks award winners and nominees demands a large next step in enthusiasm from the student. A major reason for the program is to get students involved in reading without creating a scenario where failure seems inevitable. Students strive to meet a reading/learning challenge. Adding the next level of books to the classroom reading time and leisure time will help the students to focus on this reading goal. Challenge – Students strive to meet a reading/learning challenge. Adding the next level of books to the classroom reading time and leisure time will help the students to focus on their next reading goal. Control – When students are given a wide selection, and control over what topic of book to read then they feel like they have ownership in their task. If the topic of the book is interesting to them then they will be motivated to read and learn the new words. Collaboration – The kindergarteners enjoy their Book Buddy (5th grade students) time. Book Buddies will come in and select a book with their apprentice and take turns reading it to each other and discussing what is going on in the story. Constructive Meaning – If the MKO (Book Buddy/parent/teacher) shows an interest in the new level of reading books and find meaning in what is written then the student will also find meaning n the words, sentences and story. The student finds value in being able to read the story and find that others value what the students is reading to them. They need to be given an opportunity to write and speak what the story was about. Consequences – Students will be given the opportunity to share with their Book Buddy class the story that was read together. These opportunities to share what they read will include pictures and written text that summarizes the story. The event will conclude with an ice cream party. When students become motivated, they choose to practice reading books that are more and more challenging. The six C's of Motivation provides six concepts that could be applied to encourage the development of intrinsic student motivation. As they continue to improve, they become even more excited about improving their reading skills. This process repeats itself while teachers, parents, and book buddies (MKO) praise the kids on their progress. The Six C’s of Motivation is the best choice of theories to use in this type of reading development.

Free Essays on Political Review

Multicultural Education The debate over Multicultural Education in America has long been called "The Melting Pot" due to the fact that it is made up of a varied mix of races,cultures and ethnicities. As more and more immigrants come to America in searching for a better life, the population naturally become more diverse. This has in turn spun a great debate over multiculturalism. One of the issues under debate is Who is benifiting from the education, and How to present the material in a way that does not offend the different cultures. In the 1930's several educators called for programs of cultural diversity that encouraged ethnic and minority students to study their respective heritages. This wasen't easy cause there is much diversity within individual cultures. A look at the 1990 census show that the American population has changed more noticably in the last ten years than in any other time in the twentieth century. With one out of every four Americans identifying themselves as Black, White, Asian, Hispanic, Pacific Islander or American Indian.(Gould198) The number of foreign born residents also reached an all time high of twenty million,easily passing the1980 record of fourteen million. Most people from educators to philosopers agree that an important first step in successfully joining multiple cultures is to develope an understanding of each other 's background. However the similarities stop there. Many try to suggest a different way of arriving at that culturally integrated society but to me everyone seem to have a different opion of what will work. Since education is at the root of the problem, it might be appropriate to use an example in that context. Although the debate at Stanford University ran much deeper than I can hope to touch in this paper, the root of the problem was as follows: In 1980, Stanford University came up with a program-later known as the " Stanford-style multicultural curriculum" which aimed to... Free Essays on Political Review Free Essays on Political Review Multicultural Education The debate over Multicultural Education in America has long been called "The Melting Pot" due to the fact that it is made up of a varied mix of races,cultures and ethnicities. As more and more immigrants come to America in searching for a better life, the population naturally become more diverse. This has in turn spun a great debate over multiculturalism. One of the issues under debate is Who is benifiting from the education, and How to present the material in a way that does not offend the different cultures. In the 1930's several educators called for programs of cultural diversity that encouraged ethnic and minority students to study their respective heritages. This wasen't easy cause there is much diversity within individual cultures. A look at the 1990 census show that the American population has changed more noticably in the last ten years than in any other time in the twentieth century. With one out of every four Americans identifying themselves as Black, White, Asian, Hispanic, Pacific Islander or American Indian.(Gould198) The number of foreign born residents also reached an all time high of twenty million,easily passing the1980 record of fourteen million. Most people from educators to philosopers agree that an important first step in successfully joining multiple cultures is to develope an understanding of each other 's background. However the similarities stop there. Many try to suggest a different way of arriving at that culturally integrated society but to me everyone seem to have a different opion of what will work. Since education is at the root of the problem, it might be appropriate to use an example in that context. Although the debate at Stanford University ran much deeper than I can hope to touch in this paper, the root of the problem was as follows: In 1980, Stanford University came up with a program-later known as the " Stanford-style multicultural curriculum" which aimed to...

Discipline Essays - Pedagogy, Educational Psychology, Human Behavior

Discipline Essays - Pedagogy, Educational Psychology, Human Behavior Discipline Discipline is more than keeping a group of children or young people quiet while being talked to. Preserving good behavior is certainly one aspect to discipline, for learning it in an atmosphere of confusion is difficult. Children have to learn to conform to the rules of behavior needed in a classroom. Teachers have the right to ask for a quiet class, keep the students in their seats, and have the right to discipline them if they do not cooperate. When a teacher expresses his or her thoughts, feelings, and beliefs in direct, honest, and appropriate ways that do not violate the right of others, and when the message does not humiliate, degrade, or dominate the one being talked to, he or she is using Assertive Discipline. In order for a teacher to maintain control of his or her class they must use Assertive Discipline. In order for a teacher to have his or her needs met, they can influence the behavior of the children. Without influence a teacher is "powerless" and will become "burned out." (Canter, 2) There is no simple answer to why this happens. A number of complex factors have combined to create an environment in which teachers are having trouble in getting personal and professional needs met. Until the past decade, the teacher was looked at as the main person in the classroom by students and parents. The teacher, simply because of their role status, had respect and authority. Thus, the teacher was a "powerful" figure in the eyes of the students and could easily influence the student's behavior, often with just a look, smile, or a threat.(Canter,3) All of that is now changed. Today, a teacher has to earn the respect of both the students and their parents. A teacher's basic techniques of influence, or discipline, is no longer as effective as getting the desired results. The discipline approaches of the 1950's and 1960's do not work with the students of the 1990's. In addition, the teacher cannot rely on the strong support of the parents anymore. Many parents are openly questioning, the education that their children are receiving, and do not feel they want to support the needs of their child's teachers. Teachers cannot get their needs met in a classroom unless they have an effective method of discipline in which they thoroughly understand and comfortable utilize. An assertive teacher is: "One who clearly and firmly communicates his or her wants and needs to his or her students, and is prepared to reinforce their words with appropriate actions." (Canter,9) When a teacher is assertive, and clearly and firmly communicates their wants and feelings to a child, they send a clear message. This message simply states: "I mean what I say and say what I mean."(Collins, 155) Lee Canter, a child guidance specialist, has found that while most teachers make lesson plans as a routine matter, very few make discipline plans. Planning is essential to teaching well. Lesson planning is second nature to teachers. Lesson plans are part of a professional routine, and are done almost automatically when the need arises. However, planning for discipline is an entirely different story. The vast majority of teachers have learned or have been exposed to the steps involved in planning discipline programs, especially those to be used specifically with disruptive students. Because of teachers' frustrations, all we often hear is their complaining about how difficult the students really are. Such complaining may help to relieve the strain of dealing with difficult students, but it in no way helps to solve the problem. Planning your discipline efforts, and utilizing assertive principles, are as essential to teaching as a lesson plan. (Charles,128) Discipline planning will structure and guide classroom management efforts the same as lesson planning for academic efforts. Discipline plans are important and helpful to all teachers. Charles, urges to make discipline plans according to the following steps: 1) Identify any existing or potential discipline problems. 2) Specify the behaviors you want the students to eliminate or engage in. 3) Decide on negative and positive consequences appropriate to the student and situation. 4) Decide how to execute the negative and positive consequences.(Charles, 129) Discipline planning is the systematic applications of the

Coloring Carnations Science Experiment

Coloring Carnations Science Experiment This fun home or school experiment shows your child how water flows through a flower from stem to petals, changing the color of carnations. If youve ever had cut flowers in a vase around the house, your child might have observed the water levels dropping. Your child may wonder why you have to keep watering houseplants. Where does all that water go? The Coloring Carnations Science Experiment helps to demonstrate that the water isnt just vanishing into thin air. Plus, in the end, youll have a very pretty bouquet of flowers. Materials You Will Need White carnations (1 for each color you would like to try to create)empty water bottles (1 for each carnation)food coloringwater24 to 48 hoursColoring Carnations Recording Sheet Directions for Coloring Carnations Experiment Peel the labels off the water bottles and fill each bottle about one-third full of water.Have your child add food coloring to each bottle, about 10 to 20 drops to make the color vibrant. If you would like to try to make a rainbow bouquet of carnations, you and your child will need to mix the primary colors to make purple and orange. (Most boxes of food coloring include a bottle of green.)Cut the stem of each carnation at an angle and place one in each water bottle. If your child wants to keep a picture diary of what is happening to the carnations, download and print the Coloring Carnations Recording Sheet and draw the first picture.Check the carnations every few hours to see if anything is happening. Some of the brighter colors may begin to show results in as little as two or three hours. Once you begin to see visible results, its a good time to have your child draw the second picture. Just remember to record how many hours have gone by!Keep an eye on the flowers for a day. By the en d of day one, the flowers should really be taking on color. Its a good time to ask your child questions about what shes observing. Try questions along the line of:Which color is working the quickest?What color isnt showing up well?Why do you think the carnations are turning colors? (see explanation below)Where is the color showing up?What do you think that means about which parts of the flower get the most food? At the end of the experiment (either one or two days, it depends on how vibrant you want your flowers to be) gather the carnations into one bouquet. It will look like a rainbow! Recording Sheet for the Coloring Carnations Science Experiment Make a four-box grid for your child to draw pictures of what happened in the experiment. What we did first: After ___ hours: After 1 day: What my flowers looked like: Coloring Carnations Science Experiment Why the Carnations Change Color Like any other plant, carnations get their nutrients through the water they absorb from the dirt they are planted in. When the flowers are cut, they no longer have roots  but continue to absorb water through their stems. As water evaporates from the leaves and petals of the plant, it sticks to other water molecules and pulls that water into the space left behind. The water in the vase travels up the stem of the flower like a drinking straw and is distributed to all of the parts of the plant that now need water. Since the nutrients in the water are dyed, the dye also travels up the stem of the flower.

The Microsoft trial the Pro an Cons Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Microsoft trial the Pro an Cons - Essay Example Microsoft countered that innovation and competition were not unlawful, and that the browser and the operating system were inseparable as the browser was not a separate product but a feature of the operating system. Microsoft purported to demonstrate this in court by showing a video of the sluggish performance and increase in errors that would occur if the browser was removed from the product. The DOJ submitted evidence to show that the browser and operating system were separable. They also pointed out that it was possible to obtain a standalone version of the browser, for example for the Macintosh operating system. Although Microsoft argued that the browser was being provided free, the DOJ adduced that the costs of the browser's development were incorporated into the cost of the operating system, and was partly responsible for the relatively high cost of the operating system. Microsoft further argued that the fact that the industry was unregulated had meant faster development, lower prices and more choice for consumers. This argument was echoed by other commentators (see Browne, 2001). However the manner in which the browser is integrated with the operating system means that even when a consumer prefers to use an alternative product the default browser would be Microsoft's. It was not possible for the consumer to backward engineer this, firstly because of the restrictions in the end user license agreement and secondly because most consumers would not know how to go about doing so. Hence in reality they were being forced to use Microsoft's browser whether they wished to or not (Chin, 2004). Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson held that Microsoft were in breach of both sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act and ordered that Microsoft should separate the browser and other applications from the operating system. However Microsoft appealed and Judge Jackson's decision was overturned by the DC Circuit Court of Appeals on the basis that since the Judge had given media interviews he had not retained his objectivity. The DC Circuit Court of Appeal remanded the case to be reheard on a reduced scope of liability. Ultimately the DOJ and Microsoft agreed to a settlement whereby Microsoft would provide its Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to third parties and set up a Technical Committee of 3 persons to oversee this for compliance. Despite opposition that this was no more than a slap on the wrist, the US Appeals court unanimously accepted this settlement and Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly directions. In an interview after the ruling a disappointed Massachusetts Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly said Microsoft "not only has been ruled a monopolist, they are now a protected monopolist. That's a very dangerous thing." Reilly said the case demonstrates that "our antitrust laws are not effective in protecting consumers," especially in the realm of high technology (quoted in Krim, 2004) All software companies benefit from Microsoft's 'victory' to the consumer's

The humpty dumpty falls scale Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The humpty dumpty falls scale - Essay Example This paper critically analyses the paper ‘The Humpty Dumpty Falls Scale: A Case–Control Study’ which reports the findings of the aforementioned research study and a critique of the various components of this paper is presented in the discussion that follows. Research Problem/Purpose or Question Hypothesis   The authors have clearly stated the purpose of the study as being an assessment of the efficacy of the newly developed Humpty Dumpty Falls Scale (HDFS) in predicting the risk of falls in pediatric hospitalized patients, in a separate section entitled ‘purpose’ (Hill-Rodriguez, et al., 2009). Moreover, in the same section, the choice of the study design, i.e. case control study has been justified and the authors have explicitly mentioned that the research question was to elucidate whether the risk of falls predicted by the screening tool in question was in conjunction with the actual risk of falls. This gives the readers a clear picture of the aim s and objectives of this study and the rationale behind the conduction of this study. Review of Literature   An adequate review of the existing literature has been provided. The authors have quoted statistics to emphasize the magnitude of the burden that the problem in question poses. As pointed out by the authors, there is ample literature on the issue of falls occurring in the elderly population, but there is a paucity of existing data on the pediatric population in this regard (Hill-Rodriguez, et al., 2009). The importance of the development and implementation of screening and preventive strategies in the pediatric population is underscored by authors in this section. Moreover, the authors have also identified the gaps in the existing literature and have thus provided the rationale of conducting this study in order to build upon the existing research findings and fill in the gaps which were identified. Theoretical/Conceptual Framework   No theoretical or conceptual framework for this study has been provided by the authors. However, the study design is such that it does not warrant the need for a theoretical/conceptual framework. Research Design   The study design employed in this study was a matched case control design (Hill-Rodriguez, et al., 2009). The cases and controls were matched in various regards such as This design is best suited for the research question identified by the authors, as case-control studies have been found to be a suitable study design to evaluate the effectiveness and usefulness of screening tools (Rothman, Greenland, & Lash, 2008). Sampling Method/Data Collection   The data was collected from five different in-patient and two ICU pediatric units from a single center. (Hill-Rodriguez, et al., 2009) The sampling method is not mentioned clearly but it can be extrapolated from the given information that purposive convenient sampling methodology was employed. Although no specific inclusion criteria or cut-offs for age are mentio ned, the exclusion criteria are defined and presented in the paper by the authors. The data collection tool used was the Humpty Dumpty Falls Scale (HDFS), which consisted of seven different assessment items. This tool was designed after input from various skilled and expert nurses and other medical personnel (Hill-Rodriguez,

SWOT analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

SWOT analysis - Essay Example This is followed by analyzing the internal and external factors that complement achieving of these objectives as well those which hinder achievement of the same objectives. It therefore gives business leaders a sense of direction and changes which need to be made to achieve the set business objectives. A business stands a better chance of success if they do understand the opportunities which exist in a particular market segment. A company can also exploit the weakness of a competitor n meeting market demand. At the same time a SWOT analysis can help a company avoid a saturated market or taking on an established competitor (Snelling, 2012). A detailed SWOT analysis helps a company identify potential hazards before entering a market. This is crucial in laying strategies to overcome these risks. These risks include those that a business entity has no direct control over such as the economy, forex rates or government policy. It is always the goal of any business to increase profitability while reducing costs. Identifying the strengths of a business helps in optimal allocation of resources (Snelling, 2012). For example the company can know how much it should spend on advertising, public relations activities as well as social responsibility depending on its position in the market it operates. Conducting a SWOT analysis helps a company identify vulnerable areas in its operations which can be used by competitors to their advantage. Identifying these weak points helps a company lay contingency plans to improve and deter external threats by competitors. The first step involves assembling the SWOT team and setting the SMART objectives which need to be achieved by conducting the SWOT. The objectives of course should be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time bound (Ferrell & Hartline, 2012). For example a SWOT analysis can be about expanding to a new market or starting a new product line. The second step is understanding the business

Applying Research in Practice Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Applying in Practice - Research Paper Example Evidence based research identifies practices for prevention and management of pressure ulcers that complement and support the institution’s recommendations. Continuous Bedside Pressure Mapping (CBPM) offers a basis for detecting pressures at different parts of a patient’s body and therefore helps to relocate the patient to offload pressure from the areas (Behrendt, Ghaznavi, Manhan, Craft, & Siddiqui, 2014). The authors established that CBPM reduces patients’ risk of developing pressure ulcers. In an experimental design, results reported 0.9 percent chance of developing pressure ulcers under CBPM and 4.8 percent chance without application of CBPM. The evidence identifies the guidelines’ objective for prevention and management of pressure ulcers but with inefficiency. While the guidelines identify need for repositioning in order to alleviate pressure, it fails to provide an approach for accurate determination of pressure levels for positioning. This means t hat according to the guidelines, positioning may be done when pressure is less than the threshold for causing or worsening pressure ulcers. Similarly, pressure at some point may exceed the threshold level but may not be detected for repositioning. The discrepancy between the guidelines and practice suggest inefficiency in prevention of pressure ulcers, under the guidelines, and this can be inferred to management. Nurses can resolve this by using technology to identify real time pressure at different points of a patient’s body. With such an approach, repositioning can be effective in preventing pressure ulcers and in offloading pressure from affected regions to facilitate recovery. In addition to accurate monitoring of pressure, nurses can also collaborate with physicians and surgeons to promote surgical intervention for management of pressure ulcers (Giaquinto-Cilliers, 2014). This can facilitate

U.K.FILM INDUSTRY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

U.K.FILM INDUSTRY - Essay Example On waking up, The Bride sets out on a bloody trail of vengeance killing her ex-colleagues one-by-one, leaving Bill for the end, thus deriving the eponymous name of the movie. Written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, the movie is divided into ten chapters, five per volume. Chronological fragmentation leaves the viewer guessing till the start of Volume 2 (Chapter six: Massacre at Two Pines) as to the exact motivations behind The Bride's gory path of violence. Most reviews were positive with some critics calling it a masterpiece. Detractors pointed to its questionable morality, pop-culture dialog and graphic depictions of extreme violence. Many scenes were filmed on location in China, Japan and North America and completed over eight months of shooting. Produced by Miramax Films a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company (Disney), it had an initial budget of US $42 million which shot to $60 million plus under the direction of Miramax' golden boy -Tarantino. Miramax, founded by brothers Harvey and Bob Weinstein in 1979, started life as a independent film distribution company before being acquired by Disney in 1993 for $80 million. From the beginning, the Weinstein brothers focused on the independent film segment, generally shunned by the big studios due to the perceived lack of commercial viability. A string of stellar hits made them an acquisition target for Disney and Harvey Weinstein grew to become the "darling" distributor of the experimental and independent feature film world and ultimately emerged as one of the most powerful and influential moguls in Hollywood.2 Kill Bill was distributed in the UK by Buena Vista International, the global distribution arm of Disney. Research Methods: The primary source of information in researching this paper has been the Internet. Material on subjects of popular culture like movies is exhaustively available, giving one a wide range of perspectives to study and analyze. One of the dangers with Internet based research is the larger scope for factual errors due to source inaccuracies. This has been largely mitigated by cross verifying the information from different sources. For example, the Harry Weinstein biography referenced here has been reviewed at Wikipedia3 as well as IMDB (Internet Movie Database)4 and Yahoo! Movies5. Evidence of Commercial Relevance: Originally, Kill Bill was written and filmed as a single movie extending slightly over four hours. Harvey Weinstein fearing audience fatigue over such a long movie hit upon the idea of editing it and shrewdly released it as two films during the last quarter of 2003 and the first quarter of 2004. The timing proved to be a stroke of marketing genius. The films featured in the top ranks in two consecutive years in addition to raking in a huge commercial gross. They were a big success ranking in the top 25 at the UK box office in both years of release, with combined worldwide receipts exceeding US $331 million6 ( 190 million). In the UK, their combined box office gross was over 20 million7. Video rental and DVD sales have also shown very strong numbers with rental figures touching $25 million (as of 25th April 2004) and first day US DVD sales reaching $40 million. Background: Movie genre classification is problematic in that most movies have long since crossed over from a rigid formulaic approach to entertainment with central themes spanning

Applying Research in Practice Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Applying in Practice - Research Paper Example Evidence based research identifies practices for prevention and management of pressure ulcers that complement and support the institution’s recommendations. Continuous Bedside Pressure Mapping (CBPM) offers a basis for detecting pressures at different parts of a patient’s body and therefore helps to relocate the patient to offload pressure from the areas (Behrendt, Ghaznavi, Manhan, Craft, & Siddiqui, 2014). The authors established that CBPM reduces patients’ risk of developing pressure ulcers. In an experimental design, results reported 0.9 percent chance of developing pressure ulcers under CBPM and 4.8 percent chance without application of CBPM. The evidence identifies the guidelines’ objective for prevention and management of pressure ulcers but with inefficiency. While the guidelines identify need for repositioning in order to alleviate pressure, it fails to provide an approach for accurate determination of pressure levels for positioning. This means t hat according to the guidelines, positioning may be done when pressure is less than the threshold for causing or worsening pressure ulcers. Similarly, pressure at some point may exceed the threshold level but may not be detected for repositioning. The discrepancy between the guidelines and practice suggest inefficiency in prevention of pressure ulcers, under the guidelines, and this can be inferred to management. Nurses can resolve this by using technology to identify real time pressure at different points of a patient’s body. With such an approach, repositioning can be effective in preventing pressure ulcers and in offloading pressure from affected regions to facilitate recovery. In addition to accurate monitoring of pressure, nurses can also collaborate with physicians and surgeons to promote surgical intervention for management of pressure ulcers (Giaquinto-Cilliers, 2014). This can facilitate

General Information System or Internet Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

General Information System or Internet - Essay Example The kingdom of Saudi Arabia allowed internet connection in the 1990’s after a long deliberation of the effect that it would have on its citizen (Ghafour , 2006). The internet connection  was allowed  with some censuring to eradicate materials that were against the culture of the people. This would  make sure  internet connection  was used  only for positive purposes. The internet led to adoption of e-government. This service would allow citizens receive most government services online without travelling to government offices. Internet connection  allows service access by even those citizens who are outside the physical boundaries of the Kingdom.    Government services provided online E-Health system This is an online electronic health system. It  was launched  after a series of tests to help in running of health services in the kingdom.   The system offers service of data collection and storage on patients. Hospitals are using it to manage both out patien ts and in patients. Clinics  have been provided  with access to the system to enable them in managing their resources.   Resources managed are laboratories equipment, medicine available in the pharmacy and staffing levels in the different clinics.  The ability of  the system to store information on patients, enable care taker access patients information in one file and automatically. The system eliminates the manual filing system that  was used  in storing information in hospitals. The multi user  ability, embedded in the system assists  in the elimination of  duplication of patient details. This  is enabled  by ability of multiple health units accessing the patient data from a central storage unit online. The advantages derived from using this web base system is allowing for timely access to data stored about patients. Analysis on common diseases can also be done. This only requires integrating the correct tools of data mining on the data store created to ge nerate a report. The reports  can be  used by government institutions in making proactive decisions of something that might happen in the future. The online system also enables health centres share information easily because of the uniform working platform provided. Data mining in the data centres  can be  done to  give  government with statistics to make decisions in the health centres. These statistics may include death rate and diseases causing deaths in the kingdom. Adoption of the e-health system  has been seen  as an advantage to the government in the health services provision. This is leading to need of connecting more and more health units to the system to improve on service delivery (Alcantara, 2008). Electronic immigration Services This is an online portal that enables Saudi Arabia nationals and expatriates receive immigration services through an online. The services  are provided by the  ministry of interior of Saudi charged with responsibility of offe ring and cancelling visas. The services provided online include visa application, resident  permit  application and checking on  the validity of one’s public health insurance. Prior registration  is needed  for users  to use  these services. A  need  for registration is to hold Saudi national identification number. The person visits the portal and feels this number for verification purposes. Verification will  make sure  that the number is genuine, and the holder has the right  to use  the portal. After verification, the portal has an automatic

Technology Making Our Lives Easier Essay Example for Free

Technology Making Our Lives Easier Essay As we are raised in a society where everything is simply handed to us, we tend to take many things for granted that others in the world do not have. Things like GPS, phones, credit cards, cameras, and insulin pumps help us live a qualitative and productive life and NASA has played a very key role in developing many technologies like these. From invisible braces to long-distance communication devices, NASA has brought up inventions that we consistently use every day in our lives. A device that many people in the world rely on everyday and something that has made a huge difference in peoples lives is the water filtration system(s). NASA first made it to be used on the space station or in a spacecraft, and since then the water filtration system is a must-have in any place in the world. NASA showed amazing ingenuity to control bacterial contamination in space, and because of that, we have learned how to control pollutants in water here on earth. We see water filtration systems more than we think, and it allows us to enjoy a healthy lifestyle. Whether its through swimming pools or manufacturing processes, the water filtration systems affects our lives every day in a positive way. There are many different types of water filters and you can classify them by the way they work, but they all need to do one job and thats effectively filter and purify water. One type of a water filtration system is the reverse osmosis, which is the process of removing dissolved inorganic solids out of a solution (water). This type of system involves using many different filters and membranes in order to purify and improve the drinking quality of water. There are also ultraviolet systems which do a remarkable job at disinfecting water. Ultraviolet systems can destroy 99. 99% of harmful microorganisms in the water very effectively and they do this by using a lamp or bulb which emits UV light which is then used as energy to attack the microorganism in the water and essentially destroy it, thus making the water free of future bacteria. There are many other type of systems like the Carefree Clearwater systems (which are based on NASAS late 1900s technology) which are not only used for drinking water in the home, but also for pool and shower water. These type of large-scale systems clean the water in a pool or hot-tub by using the same type of strategy as the UV systems. They release ions like copper and silver to destroy bacteria and algae in the system. These type of systems would work better than cleaning with chlorine because they have less nwanted side effects like burning eyes and bleached skin or hair (due to the copper and silver ions not dissipating from heat and sunlight, unlike chlorine) and they are more stable and productive to work with. Water filtration systems affect our lives everyday throughout everything we do. Without them, clean and purified water would be difficult to come across, and civilization would eventually come to a halt. Whether its the water that we drink or the pool that we love to sw im in, systems like the reverse osmosis and the Carefree Clearwater are at work and doing an incredible job in order to make our daily lives healthy and enjoyable.

Database Management System

Database Management System Database for more Complex Information data Aim To review Why OODBMS is the DBMS of Choice for Complex data. Introduction: The aim of this research is to review why Object oriented database system (OODBMS) is the database management system of choice for complex data application OODBMS is a database management system that supports the modelling and creation of data as objects, includes supports for classes of objects, inheritance of class properties, methods by subclasses and their objects. Some Client Server application uses RDBMS for data storage and Object oriented programming language for development. This type of scenario would have performance issues because objects must be mapped to the database tables this is referred to as impedance mismatch. To avoid this object-relational impedance mismatch problems caused by having to map object, it became necessary to have an alterative method of storing and mapping data. Client server application using RDBMS as described above is not a good choice for complex data as such OODBMS provides a better alternative. Origin and History of OODBMS Database Management System (DBMS) is software designed for managing and controlling access to databases. DBMS is â€Å"a shared collection of logically related data (and a description of this data) designed to meet the information needs of an organisation† (Connolly Begg). The first DBMS was introduced in the ‘60s and before this time, data handling was done using file based method. File based method stored data in individual data files with interface between programmes and files. Mapping happens between physical and logical file, where one file correspond to one or more several other programs. Extensive programming in third generation language like Cobol, were used in creating, manipulating and accessing data. There are so many problems with this method of storing data e.g. increased programme maintenance and development time, redundant data, weak security, separation and isolation which means each program maintains its own set of data, users of one program may not be aware of holding or blocking by other programs. As a result of the limitations in File based method a better way of data handling was required which led to the creation of DBMS to address these problems. The need to organise and share data on large sized projects also contributed to the creation of DBMS. DBMS control the organisation and structure of the data storage and is independent of the program that is being used to access the data. Early DBMS systems represent the first generation of DBMS and theses are: Hierarchical design by IBM Information Management System IMS.IMS is still the main hierarchical DBMS used by most large mainframe installations. Network design by General Electric Integrated Data Store (IDS) -CODASYL (Conference on Data Systems Languages) or DBTG Systems The main problems with the Hierarchical and Network designs are that the Systems lack structural independence and are very complex The distinguishing feature of storing data in files and databases is that multiple programs and types of users are able to use the databases. Relational database management system (RDBMS) The term Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) was introduced by Edgar Frank Codd in his paper, â€Å"A Relational Model of Data for Large Shared Data Banks† which was published in 1970. This paper formalized the basis for a RDBMS. RDBMSs are referred to as the second-generation Database Management systems, and the definition of what constitutes a relational database system with the guideline for the development of RDBMS is in Codds 12 Rules for relational systems published in 1985. RDBMS has three main characteristics which are: Information are held in form of a table, where data are described using values. Data in the table columns should not be repeated. Use of Standard Query Language (SQL). Relational model is the main data model and the foundation for many leading database products that include DB2 from IBM, Informix, Oracle, Sybase, Microsofts Access and SQL Server, and Ingres. The market for RDBMS represent close to a multibillion-dollar. No need for the use of predefined keys to input information in RDBMS which make it more flexible than the first generation DBMS. Also SQL is easy to learn making RDBMS more productive. the main advantage of RDBMSs is the ease with which users can easily create, access and manipulate data if need be. Other benefits of RDBMS are: Multi-threading for users. Asynchronous Input/Output for performance issues. Data Partitioning. Parallel database queries for processing complex query. Scalable architecture. Advanced management tools and security with automatic data logging and recovery Referential Integrity for Data consistency. Transactional management features for database consistency Though RDBMSs has served effectively for number of years, it has certain limitations that were exposed by increasingly demands for complex data types and high performance applications. RDBMS limitations include but not limited to the following: Relational databases are unable to handle complex multimedia data such as images, video and audio clips due to lack of storage capacity. RDBMS support only few simple datatypes, e.g. integer, floating point, character string and date/time. These user-defined datatypes are useful just for defining value domains. Some RDBMS support binary large objects (BLOBs, image, text) which are used as pointers to external storage, these objects are difficult to manage and exchange. Standard SQL is limiting, which made vendor to create specific extensions such as, Sybase Transact-SQL, Oracle SQL*Plus. Also RDBMS do not work efficiently with languages such as Java scripts and C++ which emerged after the RDBMS original development Impedance mismatch: The data type in the database systems is mismatching with the complex data structure created by application. RDBMS also uses mixed different programming paradigms, in which data with different types and locations are handled at the same time. Information in RDBMS are in tables where relationships between the entities are defined by values. Data in RDBMS cannot represent Real World Entities; normalization leads to relations that do not correspond to object in the real world Because of the above limitations and the challenges of Complex data applications, Internet and the Web usage, Object-oriented databases management system (OODBMS) was introduced in the 1980s. OODBMS offer extensible and controlled data management services, consistency, data independent and secure environment, to object-oriented model. OODBMS handle big and complex information systems that RDBMS was unable to handle. RDBMS has been very successful with huge investments in its development by many big database vendors. RDBMS has many loyal customer base in the corporate relational databases community and a large Industry based on RDBMS applications and systems development. Because of this, major RDBMS vendors (Oracle, IBM, and Informix) came up with another DBMS called Object Related Database Management System (ORDBMS) to allow organisations to run legacy systems and new Object Oriented based systems in parallel, and gradually migrates to the new ORDBMS technology as its benefits become more apparent Thus RDBMS vendors developed ORDBMS as a way to meet the challenges of the traditional RDBMSs and as a future proof for corporate investment. However ORDBMS still fail to hide the inherent mismatch between relational and object oriented database models. Object oriented database system (OODBMS) have their origin in Object Oriented Programming Languages (OOPL). OODBMS started as a research in the mid ‘70s, the research is based on having a real database management support for graph-structured objects. Around this time also, several shortcomings of RDBMS were highlighted within the database community and It was also acknowledge that OOPL had very strong advantages over the non-OOPL for many programming applications. Some of the advantages are: Strong encapsulations which make it easier to program large and complex applications Inheritance features, which enable code reuse. Application programmers also want to make object persistent that is object lifespan should extend beyond single program execution One of the early researches project on OODBMS was the ORION Research Project in the early 1980, which was conducted by Won Kim at the Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation (MCC). Two products were developed from the research, the ITASCA that is no longer in existence and the Versant OODBMS. Some other OODBMS commercial products are Gemstone that was known before as Servio Logic, Gbase (Graphael) and Vbase (Ontologic) In the early ‘90s addition products entered the market, some of these are: Objectivity/DB (Objectivity, Inc) ObjectStore (Progress Software, as acquisition from excelon which was originally Object Design) O2 snd Versant Object database (Versant Corporation) ONTOS (Ontos Inc formally Ontologic) ITASCA Jasmine (Fujitsu, marketed by Computer Associates) Some of these products are still available in the market with the introduction of new commercial Open source products in early 2004 e.g InterSystems , Ozone, Zope , FramerD and XL2. The open source products are gaining high recognition in the markets. The concepts of persistence to object programming language have been added to OODBMS. Early commercial products were integrated with programming languages e.g. Gemstone uses Smalltalk, Gbase uses LSIP and Vbase uses COP. C++ is the dominant language during the early 90s for OODBMS markets. Java and C# were introduce by vendors in the late 90s. The open source object databases are entirely written in Object Oriented Programme languages like Java or C#, e.g. db4objects (db4o) and Perst (McObject). Chris Muller has also recently created another open source Object database called Magma (Written in Squeak). Open Source products are reasonably affordable and easy to use and this opes the second growth period for Object database. Manifestos â€Å"The Object Oriented Database Manifesto† by Atkinson et al, 1989 listed the mandatory features that a system needs before it can be known as an OODBMS. Object oriented database manifesto abandons the relational model design by determining the basic rules of object database systems. The characteristics of the object DBMS is grouped into three by the Manifesto. Mandatory: Encapsulation, Object identity, types/classes, complex objects, overriding combined with late binding, inheritance, extensibility, persistence, computational completeness, concurrency, ad hoc query , secondary storage management and recovery facilities.. Open: this is decided on by the designer and include the representation of system, uniformity of type system and the programming paradigm Optional: includes multiple inheritance, type checking, inferring, distributions, versions and design transactions The OODBMS manifesto was unacceptable by some relational database professional, so another competitive manifestos was introduced â€Å"The Third-generation System Manifesto† by Stonebraker et al 1990.This manifesto retain all features of relational Database System that are practically proven (e.g. SQL) and augment the old features with new ones, e.g. the object-oriented concepts. â€Å"The Third Manifesto† which is written by Darwen and Date 1995 rejected both the object-oriented ideas and SQL which according to them defeat the relational models ideas, and to return to the genuine relational model and Codds 12 rule. The document produced for this manifesto is very controversial, from the current way software engineering and query/programming languages are done now. The arguments presented in this manifesto are more ideological rather than technical and this make the manifesto very difficult to be accepted by many databases professional. The newest version of the manifesto (2006) still retains these ideological assertions. Object-Oriented Database Management System Development review OODBMS stores Objects rather than data such as Integers, strings and real numbers, Objects consists of Attributes and Methods Attributes: They are data that defines the characteristics of an object. This data may be integers, strings and real number, or the data may be a reference to a complex object. Methods: This defines the behaviour of an object and methods are procedures or functions. The introduction of OODBMS was to reduce impedance mismatch between programming languages and database management system, to offer performance advantages and to provide clear support for complex user defined type including the ability to call, store and query complex object directly The developments of OODBMS support the modelling and creation of data as objects, extends programming languages with capabilities like data recovery, concurrency control, persistent and other relational capabilities. OODBMS are used when there is a need for good performance processing on complex applications because it takes a revolutionary approach to database management. OODBMS do not use table to store data, data are stored in objects and it handles concurrent access and provides a persistent store for objects in a multi-user client/server environment. OODBMS uses class definitions and traditional Object Oriented languages such as, C++ and Smalltalk for defining and accessing data instead of using separate language like SQL in defining, manipulating and retrieving data. OODBMS can be viewed as an extension of the OO language, providing direct integration to database capabilities. Object-Oriented database development initially focuses only on application that manages complex information like the Computer Aided Software Engineering, Aided Manufacturing (CAM) and Computer Aided design (CAD) applications. Other applications where object-oriented database technologies are now being used include: Telecommunications applications Hospital applications Finance institutions Multimedia applications Document/quality management OODBMS development enforces object oriented programming concepts such as data encapsulation, polymorphism, object Identity, inheritance as well as database transaction management concepts e.g the ACID PROPERTIES (Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation and Durability) which improve the integrity of the system.. OODBMS also support secondary storage management systems with ad hoc query languages , these permits the management of very large data. The inclusion of data definition within operations definitions in Object Oriented Database Management System has the following advantages: The defined operations are not dependent on the database application running at the moment and they apply ubiquitously. Inheritance allows the development of solutions for complex problems incrementally, and this is achieved by defining new objects in terms of the previously defined objects. Extension of Datatypes to support complex data such as multi-media, this is done by defining new object classes which have operations to support the new kinds of information. Object identity (OID) enables objects to be independent of each other in the database. Data encapsulation, this allows the internal state of the object to be hidden. Objects that are encapsulated are the ones that can only be assessed by their methods instead of their internal states. There are three types of encapsulated objects: Full encapsulation, here all the operations on objects are performed through message sending and by the execution of method. Write encapsulation, here the internal state of the object is allowed for reading operations only. Partial encapsulations, this allows direct access to reading and writing to some part of the internal state Another distinguishing characteristic of objects is that they have an identity that is independent of the state of the object. For example, if one has a car object and we remodel the car and change its appearance, the brake and the tires so that it looks entirely different, it would still be recognized as the same object we had originally before the changes were applied. Object-identity allows objects to be related as well as shared within a distributed computing network. All of these advantages come together to provide significant help to database application developers making development easier. The advantages also allow object-oriented databases development to solve information management problems that are characterized by the need to manage: A large number of different data types, A large number of relationships between the objects, and Objects with complex behaviours. An application development where this kind of complexity exists includes engineering, manufacturing, simulations, office automation and large information systems. Currently there is no widely agreed standard for what constitutes an OODBMS and no standard query language for OODBMS that is equivalent to what SQL is to the RDBMS. The Object Data Management Group (ODMG) a consortium of Object-Oriented Database Management System (ODBMS) vendors and interested parties working on standards to allow the portability of customer software across ODBMS products and to create a standardized Object Query Language (OQL) and object definition language (ODL). The work of ODMG on object data management standards completed in 2001 and the group was disbanded. The final release of the ODMG standard is: Object Database Standard (ODMG-3.0). Because the ODMG group was dissolved in 2001and this made the standardization of Object database languished. Another group was formed in 2005 called the OMG,s Object Database Technology Working group (ODBTWG) which is now working on a new standard to reflect recent changes in OODBMS technology. The main features of an OODBMS development is the way in which object is access in a transparent way such that interaction with persistent objects is the same as interacting with in memory objects. RDBMSs require the use of interaction through a query sub-language like SQL and the use of ODBC, ADO or JDBC. All this is unnecessary with OODBMS. In OODBMS when a request is made for an object in the database, the object is transferred into the applications cache where it is either used as a temporary value that is detached from the main version in the database so any updates to the cached object will not affect the object in the database. Object can also be used as the exact copy of the version in the database, so here any updates to the object are shown in the database and any changes to object in the database means the object has to be retrieved again from the OODBMS. There are a number of implementation of OODBMS with both research and commercial application. Each implementation is different based on the Object oriented languages, which form their origin. Some of these developments are discussed below: Gemstone: This was mainly based on smalltalk and its data definition and manipulation language is called opal. Gemstone do not provide all of most of the object-oriented features, it does not provide multiple inheritance. Iris: This is a research prototype, with the purpose if meeting the needs of applications like CASE tools, CAD etc. (Fisman et al (1987). It is designed to be accessible from any number of programming languages VBase: This is commercially available and is built with a schema definition language concept when objects are defined as data types. The main purposed of Vbase is to combine the procedural language with persistent object support, it also has the strong typing inherent in object systems for both language and database. O2: This is based on the framework of a set and tuple data model. It is designed with the purposed of integrating database technology with the object- oriented approach, for an all in one system. (Lecluse , et al 1988) Most of the OODBMS development discussed, tried to meet object orientation approach in someway, they do this by implementing various OODBMS features. There are major differences in the physical implementation of each model as well as the number of features implemented. Two Examples of companies using OODBMS are: British Telecominication uses Versant Mclaren develop the Formula one racing car uses Jasmine OODBMS Comparison criteria between RDBMS and OODBMS including the pros and cons. RDBMS and OODBMS differ in many ways example is in application domain, performance, usage, current market demand and support from vendors. RDBMS and OODBMS comparisons are done to get a better understanding for how the two databases differ and why OODBMS is better for large complex applications. A significant difference between object-oriented databases and relational databases is that object-oriented databases represent relationships explicitly, supporting both navigational and associative access to information data. As the complexity of the interrelation between database information increases, so is the advantage of representing relationships explicitly increase too. Explicit relationships usage also improves data access performance over relational value-based applications. Support for Object Oriented Programming Language (OOPL): Object Oriented Programming is not ideal for RDBMS, programmers spend most of the of coding time mapping the program object to the database In OODBMS, programming is direct and extensive, OOPL are designed to allow an application developer to create a complex sequence of instructions with less difficulty Standards: The defined standard for RDBMS is SQL, with main elements being DDL, DML DCL. The current version of the standard is SQL 3, SQL 3 defines the new features used in ORDBMS. ODMG is the group that maintains the standards for OODBMS the main components of standard being ODL and OQL. Most recent version of this standard is ODMG-3.0 and there are no new standard yet to reflect the advances in OODBMS technology. Product Maturity: RDBMS is a second generation and in a much matured stage. RDBMSs have good implementation with many support services such as the tool support for reporting, data transformations, OLAP tools etc. RDBMS is available from many vendors; this made it an obvious choice for most of the users. OODBMS is the 3rd generation DBMS making it relatively new, it emerged after the RDBMS, new ODMG standard still not in the final stage. Some implementations are available but still do not fully support all the features. Simplicity of use: The table structure in RDBMS is very easy to understand by user and also RDBMS has many end-user tools. OODBMS is mainly for developers, not many end user tools are available for object database products but this is hopefully expected to improve over time. Versioning of Data: Versioning of data is not supported by RDBMS but the user using multiple records with some of the attributes describing the versioning information can implement this feature. Versioning are defined by the user Versioning is supported naturally by OODBMS this is to maintain multiple versions of the data objects Complex data relationships: RDBMS provides basic relational tables, user-defined sets of records with system-defined domains, in addition to more high-level types defined in application. OODBMS has the same type system for system-defined and user-defined types. It is open-ended. Performance: OODBMS performed better than RDBMS based on the Object Operations version OO1 benchmark that was done on the OODBMS software (GemStone, Objectivit0079/DB, Ontos, Objectstore) and RDBMSs (Ingres and Sybase) in 1989 and 1990. Object in OODBMS is a better model of the real world entity than the relational rows in regards to complex applications. OODBMS outperform RDBMS when it comes to handling complex and interrelated data. Also the lack of impedance mismatch in OODBMS means they provide significantly better performance than RDBMS. Impedance mismatch require the mapping of one data structure i.e. tables to another data structure i.e. objects and this slows down performance on in RDBMs. Also the client catching features in OODBMS improve performance and also no joins are required in OODBMS Application Domain: RDBMS is used for large administrative systems, with many instances of simple data types; it can only handle short transactions and few data at a time. OODBMS is for design applications, with many and complex object oriented data types, handles long transactions and large client data. Semantic Gap (DDL/DML Vs. PL): RDBMS offers relational tables in some DDL and a standardized DML with client/server support and with embedded SQL in many Programming languages(PL). SQL is not computationally complete. Applications may have further, often high-level types and special storage structures expressed in some PL. In OODBMS, same OBJECT-ORIENTED PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES like C++ and small talk is used for both client and server. It does accommodate only object-oriented languages and does not accommodate cobol. The database PL is computationally complete. Query Optimization: This is very strong in RDBMS because of the restricted set of data type. OODBMS has poor query optimization because of the complex data structure Primary Keys: In RDBMS rows are uniquely identifying based on the value and also no two records can have the same primary key values this is to avoid error conditions. In an OODBMS, Object Identifiers (OID) which are system generated are used to uniquely identify an object and this is done behind the scenes and this is completely invisible to the user. With this feature in OODBMS there is no limitation on the value that can be stored in an object, thus increasing the efficiency of the database. Vendors Support : RDBMS is highly successful because of the large market size but most of the vendors of RDBMS are adding the capabilities of Object oriented to their applications so they are moving towards ORDBMS. OODBMS are targeting niche market because they lack of support from Vendors. This is due to the fact that the market for RDBMS is very large and it is difficult for vendors to move away from legacy systems that are mostly based on RDBMS. OODBMS Functionality and performance review: Complex process integration among companies is the driving force for adopting OODBMS. The capabilities of Objected-oriented programming language are integrated to the technology of DBMS in OODBMS. Designs of Object database are quite different because object database design is the essential part of the overall application design process. In OODBMS the Object classes used is the same as the classes used by the programming language. Data are stored in tables with columns and rows in relational databases i.e. data are represented in two-dimensional view. This is effective for applications that are simple, straightforward system, possessing low volume. RDBMS is good for application with simple relationships between data. Relational database technology failed to handle the needs of complex information systems because it requires the developer to force an information model into tables where relationships between entities are defined by values and, Relational database requires translation of sub-language like SQL and call interface like JDBC/ODBC. All these slows down the RDBMS data performance Support of abstract object interfaces is actively provided by OODBMS. It manages types, classes and methods, including the execution of methods. Data can be represented in more than two-dimensional view and relationships between data are represented explicitly which improve data access performance The basic functionality of relational database management systems is combined with new functionality of Object oriented in OODBMS. The basic functionalities are: Persistence Transaction Management and Concurrency control Security Recovery Data Access performance Query. Persistence: This is the ability of an object to be stored on a permanent medium and can survive program termination or shutdown. i.e. it can survive the duration of the OS process in which it resides. Persistence data to survive transaction updates they have to be stored outside transaction context. The addition of persistent to objects is essential to making OODBMS applications useful in practice this because most applications need to handle persistent data. Persistence is dealt with in OODBMS by the addition of persistence to object programming language like C++, Smalltalk and Java. OODBMS support persistent objects from data distribution, programming languages, transaction model, versions, schema evolution and generation of new types. Another way OODBMS offer persistence is through Inheriting from a common class. Transaction Management and Concurrency control: The use some form of versioning systems is the means of managing updates to multiple data at the same time in OODBMS, without any interference from one another. OODBMS products allow the objects to remain in the client cache after committing a transaction this is done so that the application is able to reference it again soon. This feature increase performance with the way data are stored and retrieved from the database. Concurrency control enables users to see the same view of object data in OODBMS. This allows a lot of reads and writes operations to go on in parallel while ensuring that the data is in consistent and good state. Security: Secure OODBMSs have certain characteristics that make them unique. The concepts of encapsulation, inheritance, information hiding, methods, and the ability to model real-world entities in object oriented environment provide security model in OODBMS. OODBMS may encapsulate a series of basic access commands into a method and make it public for users, while keeping basic commands themselves away from users. Little work has been done in OODBMS application to add security mechanism against malicious misuse of data. Recovery: Recovery features in OODBMS allow a consistent state of the database to be reinstated after a system crash or failure. This is done by either by rolling back the uncommitted transaction or rolling forward of transactions that has been committed but not completely flushed to disk. Data Access performance

Examining the American Culture Essay -- Papers

Examining the American Culture In order to understand this immense country that we call America, we need to study the culture. More specifically, we need to study the form of society in America. Is this society changing, or does it remain fixed throughout time? There are many aspects of our society, some of which are: traditions, values, and religion. The many realms of society contribute to a conglomerate culture, which cannot be described simply. The American culture is diverse and constantly evolving due to many various aspects of society, including, but not limited to, religion. It cannot be said that there is one American culture because there is no national language in America. Also, the lack of a single culture is displayed by the strong need for political correctness in America. Finally, it is evident that the culture in America has changed through the years due to changes in American religion. Since language is an essential part of culture, and America has no national language, then America is not tied together with one culture. There are reasons why the U.S. Government has not declared an official language. The most important being that an official language of English would promote xenophobia, making the English speaking afraid of new immigrants or vice versa. It would also deprive the American citizens who do not speak English of some of their basic rights. For example, how could someone vote, or take a driving test, if they do not know the language. On the other hand, immigrants would benefit if they were forced to learn a national language in America. They would be able to receive a better education, find a better job, and participate more completely in society (Gallegos, 1994). The fact that h... ...chings have also been a strong influence on our ignorant society, especially on those who haven’t taken the time to research the doctrines of various religions. Because of the diversity in America, there is no prevalent culture, nor does the culture of tomorrow replicate the culture of yesterday. Bibliography: BIBLIOGRAPHY Gallegos, Bee. (Ed.). (1994). English: Our official Language. New York: The H. W. Wilson Company. Heston, Charlton. (1999). Winning the Culture War, [Online]. Available: http://www.mere-christianity.org [1999, July 5]. Wolfe, Alan. (Ed.). (1991). America At Century’s End. Los Angeles: University of California Press. Author Unnamed. (1999). Roman Catholicism: Christian or Pagan, [Online]. Available: http://www.personal.s1.umich.edu [1999, July 7]. Wickham, R. (1999). Lecture Notes. R/ST 302I. [1999, June 24, July 7].

Have North Americans Stopped Caring Essay

In Chapter 7 of Interest-Group Participation in American Democracy, an online source, an interest group is defined as an â€Å"organization or association of people with common interests that engages in politics on behalf of its members† (190). Since people cannot directly participate in governance, they associate themselves with groups that aim to change the political landscape. According to the same source, the rights of individuals to form such groups are protected by the Constitution (213). In spite of this, there seems to be a decline in participation of these groups. This paper aims to explain why. One of the factors that caused the said decline may be attributed to the dominance of the elite in political campaigns. In the past, citizens who share a common goal volunteered their time and energy to these endeavors. Today, campaigns require mammoth financial backing up to fund campaign activities opening doors for big corporations and the wealthy to make hefty contributions. The bottom line in the political industry is this: financial capital – the wherewithal for mass marketing – has steadily replaced social capital – that is, grassroots citizen networks – as the coin of the realm. † (Putnam, 39 – 40) An increase in cynicism is another cause for the decline in participation. According to Morris P. Firiona, people feel that only the â€Å"extreme voices† are heard leaving the â€Å"moderate middle† a couple of steps behind (395-425). Firiona also asserts that the transparency in the workings of the government showed people how messy policy making can get (Firiona, 395-425). However, it is important to note that the disillusionment is not completely depleting participation. Interest-Group Participation in American Democracy argues that the advancements in technology allow individuals to get involved without needing to go out to the streets to proclaim what they believe is right (204). With just a few clicks on the internet, current events unfold before the readers eyes. Discussion and blog sites are avenues which people take to express their thoughts and sentiments. These non-traditional means of participation are more convenient and less energy-consuming. These are popular especially among the youth who, according to Warren E. Miller and J. Merrill Shanks, have grown apathetic compared to previous generations (69). The dominance of certain groups such as the elite and the extremists, the increase in distrust in the government, and the waning of youth involvement are only some of the reasons why there is a decline in participation. This does not mean that citizens have stopped caring. As mentioned in the previous paragraph, non-traditional means of contribution is gaining momentum in this modern age.

Summary of the Supply Chain for Iphone in China

Summary of Supply Chain for iPhone Highlights Costs in China David Barboza states that for nearly years, the cost of the supply chain for iPhone in China has increased significantly. However, the labor cost is still remaining unchanged, which is relatively low. This often takes place in the Southern China, where workers are paid less than a dollar an hour in the production process of this high-end product. The company spends only 7 percents of the total cost on paying labors that involved in the final assembly while the remaining parts are spent mostly on the other components involved in the supply chain, such as microchips. Due to the higher costs in the supply chain, Apple has to squeeze more costs out of the system as Jenny Lai has mentioned in the article. In order to cut down the cost, the company planned to relocate the factories and workers to other parts of China, where the cost for labor and raw materials is cheaper; the strengthening Chinese currency makes exports more expensive, as well as the high inflation rate and housing cost, hence the cost of making devices increased. According to the analysts, the manufacturers with low-margin profit are unflavored for Apple to contract with. Meanwhile, owing to the comments made by Professor Jason Dedrick, the world of contract manufacturers is unfair to the workers in the fact that they have to work under great pressure with a low wage and insufficient rest. Therefore, since 2005, the underpaid workers started pressing the pressure to the company by acquiring a raised wage. However, Foxconn, one of the Apple’s major manufacturers is considering moving inland. It is because this can help to maintain a lower wage and cheaper source of raw materials for the production of iPhone. Many analysts are optimistic in finding new innovations to improve profitability in relative to the high cost in the supply chain. Yet, the ways they used is to pressurize the workers to work in an inhuman system. Therefore, Mr. Wang at iSuppli Research has concluded that the labor-intensive model is not sustainable in China. To conclude, this type of low-end assembly work doesn’t produce big returns for iPhone in China. Due to the fact that China doesn’t want to work for other countries, it would like to attain its real value which knowledge can be found.