Nurse and Friar Lawrence Essay

The Nurse and Friar Lawrence knew more about Romeo and Juliet than their parents. In Juliet’s case, it is due to the fact that she was raised and breastfed as a child and mentored her whole life by the Nurse. â€Å"When it did taste the wormwood on the nipple Of my dug and felt it bitter, pretty fool, To see it tetchy and fall out with the dug! Shake quoth the dove-house: ’twas no need, I trow, To bid me trudge: And since that time it is eleven years; For then she could stand alone; nay, by the rood, She could have run and waddled all about† (Act 1, Scene 3, verses 31-38) She probably respected and understood the nurse more than her own mother. For Romeo, he didn’t look like he enjoyed spending time with his family or friends; he was too busy falling in love with different women. And when Romeo had trouble with anything, he would consult with Friar Lawrence for help or guidance. Friar Lawrence also knew when something was bothering Romeo. â€Å"Therefore thy earliness doth me assure Thou art up-roused by some distemp’rature; Or if not so, then here I hit it right, Our Romeo hath not been in bed tonight. (Act 2, Scene 3, verses 39-43) Romeo and Juliet obviously felt like they could open up to the Nurse and Friar Lawrence, probably because their parents were very stubborn about each other’s families; and the Nurse and Friar Lawrence were not. Juliet enjoys spending time with the Nurse more than her own mother for several reasons. The Nurse always wants the best for Juliet, and she always wants Juliet to be happy and comfortable. She was also always looking out for Juliet, she even warned Romeo that if he was playing with Juliet she would take care of him. Now, afore God, I am so vexed, that every part about me quivers. Scurvy knave! Pray you, sir, a word: and as I told you, my young lady bade me inquire you out; what she bade me say, I will keep to myself: but first let me tell ye, if ye should lead her into a fool’s paradise, as they say, it were a very gross kind of behavior, as they say: for the gentlewoman is young; and, therefore, if you should deal double with her, truly it were an ill thing to be offered to any gentlewoman, and very weak dealing. (Act 2, Scene 4, verses 147-155) The Nurse always puts Juliet in her best interests. The Nurse also understands Juliet better than her mother does, and when she told the Nurse that she loved Romeo, the Nurse was a bit skeptic, but she understood completely. On the other hand, when her mother confronted her about marrying Paris, and Juliet said that she would not be a happy bride, her mother told her that her father would deal with her. When Juliet told the same thing to her father, he yelled at her and disowned her, and said she was a curse. â€Å"How now, how now, chop-logic! What is this? ‘Proud,’ and ‘I thank you,’ and ‘I thank you not;’ And yet ‘not proud,’ mistress minion, you, Thank me no thankings, nor, proud me no prouds, But fettle your fine joints ‘gainst Thursday next, To go with Paris to Saint Peter’s Church, Or I will drag thee on a hurdle thither. Out, you green-sickness carrion! out, you baggage! You tallow-face! (Act 3, Scene 5, verses 149-157) Juliet was closer to the Nurse because the Nurse was not strict or angry with her, ever. Romeo was often guided and given advice by Friar Lawrence. Romeo considered Friar Laurence someone he could confide in, and therefore told him about his newfound love, Juliet, as soon as possible. The Friar, however, was not convinced. He felt that Romeo was very hasty in his decisions, having been so infat uated with Rosaline, and stated, â€Å"Holy Saint Francis, what a change is here! Is Rosaline, whom thou didst love so dear, So soon forsaken? Young men’s love then lies Not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes. † (Act 2, Scene 3, verses 65-68) Being a very wise man, he warned Romeo to slow down a bit, but Romeo stood firm. At that point, the only good Friar Laurence saw in the relationship was that it could eventually bring together the houses of Capulet and Montague. That first scene with the Friar shows his careful, wise manner and his loving care for Romeo’s best interests. Friar Laurence stood firm throughout the book, as he attempted to guide Romeo and Juliet during their struggles. The Nurse and Friar Laurence were people that always had Romeo and Juliet’s best interests in mind, and they were easy for Romeo and Juliet to open up to. For these reasons, and the reasons stated in other paragraphs, Friar Lawrence and the Nurse were definitely stronger parental figures to Rome and Juliet.

Hazards of e-Waste

Hazards of Electronic waste Electronic waste, e-waste, e-scrap, or Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) describes loosely discarded, surplus, obsolete, or broken electrical or electronic devices. Informal processing of electronic waste in developing countries causes serious health and pollution problems. Some electronic scrap components, such as CRTs, contain contaminants such as lead, cadmium, beryllium, mercury, and brominated flame retardants.Even in developed countries recycling and disposal of e-waste may involve significant risk to workers and communities and great care must e taken to avoid unsafe exposure in recycling operations and leaching of material such as heavy metals from landfills and incinerator ashes. Scrap industry and USA EPA officials agree that materials should be managed with caution,and environmental dangers of unused electronics have not been exaggerated.Definitions â€Å"Electronic waste† may be defined as all secondary computers, entertai nment device electronics, mobile phones, and other items such as television sets and refrigerators, whether sold, donated, or discarded by their original owners. This definition includes sed electronics which are destined for reuse, resale, salvage, recycling, or disposal. Others define the re-usables (working and repairable electronics) and secondary scrap (copper, steel, plastic, etc. to be â€Å"commodities†, and reserve the term â€Å"waste† for residue or material which was represented as working or repairable but which is dumped or disposed or discarded by the buyer rather than recycled, including residue from reuse and recycling operations. Because loads of surplus electronics are frequently commingled (good, recyclable, and non-recyclable), several public olicy advocates apply the term â€Å"e-waste† broadly to all surplus electronics. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) includes discarded CRT monitors in its category of â€Å"hazard ous household waste†. l] but considers CRTs set aside for testing to be commodities if they are not discarded, speculatively accumulated, or left unprotected from weather and other damage. Debate continues over the distinction between â€Å"commodity† and â€Å"waste† electronics definitions. Some exporters are accused of deliberately leaving difficult-to-recycle, obsolete, or non- epairable equipment mixed in loads of working equipment (though this may also come through ignorance, or to avoid more costly treatment processes).Protectionists may broaden the definition of â€Å"waste† electronics in order to protect domestic markets from working secondary equipment. The high value of the computer recycling subset of electronic waste (working and reusable laptops, desktops, and components like RAM) can help pay the cost of transportation for a larger number of worthless pieces than can be achieved with display devices, which have less (or negative) scrap valu e.Problems Rapid changes in technology, changes in media (tapes, software, MP3), falling prices, and planned obsolescence have resulted in a fast-growing surplus of electronic waste around the glo e b . Dave Krucn o as For Laptops, regards electronic waste as a â€Å"rapidly expanding† issue. [2] Technical solutions are available, but in most cases a legal framework, a collection system, logistics, and other services need to be implemented before a technical solution can be applied. An estimated 50 million tons of E-waste is produced each year.The USA discards 30 million computers each ear and 100 million phones are disposed of in Europe each year. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that only 15-20% of e-waste is recycled, the rest of these electronics go directly into landfills and incinerators. According to a report by UNEP titled, â€Å"Recycling – from E-waste to Resources,† the amount of e-waste being produced – including mobile phones and computers – could rise by as much as 500 percent over the next decade in some countries, such as India [3].The United States is the world leader in producing electronic waste, tossing away about 3 million tonnes each year. China already produces about 2. million tonnes (2010 estimate) domestically, second only to the United States. And, despite having banned e-waste imports, China remains a major e-waste dumping ground for developed countries Electrical waste contains hazardous but also valuable and scarce materials. Up to 60 elements can be found in complex electronics. In the United States, an estimated 70% of heavy metals in landfills comes from discarded electronics.While there is agreement that the number of discarded electronic devices is increasing, there is considerable disagreement about the relative risk (compared to automobile scrap, for xample), and strong disagreement whether curtailing trade in used electronics will improve conditions, or make them worse. Accor ding to an article in Motherboard, attempts to restrict the trade have driven reputable companies out of the supply chain, with unintended consequences. Electrical waste contains hazardous but also valuable and scarce materials. Up to 60 elements can be found in complex electronics.In the United States, an estimated 70% of heavy metals in landfills comes from discarded electronics. While there is agreement that the number of discarded electronic devices is increasing, there is considerable disagreement about the elative risk (compared to automobile scrap, for example), and strong disagreement whether curtailing trade in used electronics will improve conditions, or make them worse. According to an article in Motherboard, attempts to restrict the trade have driven reputable companies out of the supply chain, with unintended consequences.Global trade issuesOne theory is that increased regulation of electronic waste and concern over the environmental harm in mature economies creates an economic disincentive to remove residues prior to export. Critics of trade in used electronics aintain that it is too easy for brokers calling themselves recyclers to export unscreened electronic waste to developing countries, such as China, India and parts of Africa, thus avoiding the expense of removing items like bad cathode ray tubes (the processing of which is expensive and difficult). The developing countries are becoming big dump yards of e-waste.Proponents of international trade point to the success of fair trade programs in other industries, where cooperation has led creation of sustainable Jobs, and can bring affordable technology in countries where repair and reuse rates are higher. Defenders of the trade in used electronics say that extraction of metals from virgin mining has also been shifted to developing countries. Hard-rock mining of copper, silver, gold and other materials extracted from electronics is considered tar more environmentally damaging than the recycling ot those materials.They also state that repair and reuse of computers and televisions has become a â€Å"lost art† in wealthier nations, and that refurbishing has traditionally been a path to development. South Korea, Taiwan, and southern China all excelled in finding â€Å"retained value† in used goods, and in some cases have set up billion-dollar ndustries in refurbishing used ink cartridges, single-use cameras, and working CRTs. Refurbishing has traditionally been a threat to established manufacturing, and simple protectionism explains some criticism of the trade.Works like â€Å"The Waste Makers† by Vance Packard explain some of the criticism of exports of working product, for example the ban on import of tested working Pentium 4 laptops to China, or the bans on export of used surplus working electronics by Japan. Opponents of surplus electronics exports argue that lower environmental and labor standards, cheap labor, and the relatively high value of recover ed raw materials leads to a ransfer of pollution-generating activities, such as burning of copper wire.In China, Malaysia, India, Kenya, and various African countries, electronic waste is being sent to these countries for processing, sometimes illegally. Many surplus laptops are routed to developing nations as â€Å"dumping grounds for e-waste†. Because the United States has not ratified the Basel Convention or its Ban Amendment, and has no domestic laws forbidding the export of toxic waste, the Basel Action Network estimates that about 80% of the electronic waste directed to recycling in the U. S. does not get ecycled there at all, but is put on container ships and sent to countries such as China.This figure is disputed as an exaggeration by the EPA, the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, and the World Reuse, Repair and Recycling Association. Independent research by Arizona State University showed that 87-88% of imported used computers did not have a higher value than the best value of the constituent materials they contained, and that â€Å"the official trade in end-of-life computers is thus driven by reuse as opposed to Guiyu in the Shantou region of China, Delhi and Bangalore in India as well as the Agbogbloshie site near Accra, Ghana have lectronic waste processing areas.Uncontrolled burning, disassembly, and disposal causes a variety of environmental problems such as groundwater contamination, atmospheric pollution, or even water pollution either by immediate discharge or due to surface runoff (especially near coastal areas), as well as health problems including occupational safety and health effects among those directly and indirectly involved, due to the methods of processing the waste. Thousands of men, women, and children are employed in highly polluting, primitive recycling technologies, extracting he metals, toners, and plastics from computers and other electronic waste.Recent studies show that 7 out of 10 children in this region have too much lead in their blood Proponents of the trade say growth of internet access is a stronger correlation to trade than poverty. Haiti is poor and closer to the port of New York than southeast Asia, but far more electronic waste is exported from New York to Asia than to Haiti. Thousands of men, women, and children are employed in reuse, refurbishing, repair, and remanufacturing, unsustainable industries in decline in developed countries.Denying developing nations access to used electronics may deny them sustainable employment, affordable products, and internet access, or force them to deal with even less scrupulous suppliers. In a series of seven articles for The Atlantic, Shanghai-based reporter Adam Minter describes many ot these computer repair and scrap separation activities as objectively sustainable. Opponents of the trade argue that developing countries utilize methods that are more harmful and more wasteful. An expedient and prevalent method is simply to toss equipment o nto an open fire, in order to melt plastics and to burn away unvaluable metals.This releases carcinogens and neurotoxins into the air, contributing to an acrid, lingering smog. These noxious fumes include dioxins and furans. [18] Bonfire refuse can be disposed of quickly into drainage ditches or waterways feeding the ocean or local water supplies. Recycling Today the electronic waste recycling business is in all areas of the developed world a large and rapidly consolidating business. Part of this evolution has involved greater diversion of electronic waste from energy-intensive downcycling processes (e. . , conventional recycling), where equipment is reverted to a raw material form. This iversion is achieved through reuse and refurbishing. The environmental and social benefits of reuse include diminished demand for new products and virgin raw materials (with their own environmental issues); larger quantities of pure water and electricity for associated manufacturing; less packaging per unit; availability of technology to wider swaths of society due to greater affordability of products; and diminished use of landfills.Audiovisual components, televisions, VCRs, stereo equipment, mobile phones, other handheld devices, and computer components contain valuable elements and substances suitable for reclamation, including lead, opper, and gold. One of the major challenges is recycling the printed circuit boards from the electronic wastes. The circuit boards contain such precious metals as gold, silver, platinum, etc. and such base metals as copper, iron, aluminum, etc. Conventional method employed is mechanical shredding and separation but the recycling efficiency is low.Alternative methods such as cryogenic decomposition have been studied for printed circuit board recycling, and some other methods are still under investigation. Hazardous Americium: smoke alarms (radioactive source). Mercury: fluorescent tubes (numerous applications), tilt switches (mechanical oorbell s, thermostats). [37] Sulfur: lead-acid batteries. PBBs: Predecessor of PCBs. Also used as flame retardant. Banned from 1973-1977 on. PCBs: prior to ban, almost all 1930s-1970s equipment, including capacitors, transformers, wiring insulation, paints, inks, and flexible sealants. Banned during the 1980s.

Country Profile Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Country Profile - Assignment Example In reference to the World Bank figures, the urban population in 1990 was 29 percent and 33 percent in 2013 (The World Bank). This shows that 71 percent of individuals were still living in rural areas in 1990 and 67 percent in 2013 hence the population has remained rural. In comparison, 75 percent of individuals in the United States was urbanized in 1990 and 81 percent in 2013, indicating an urbanized nation. In China, 26 percent of individuals lived in urban areas in 1990 and 53 percent in 2013 (The World Bank). This shows Chinas population has changed from a rural to a 50/50 population with approximately half of the population in rural areas and the other half in urban areas. In India, 26 percent lived in urban areas in 1990 and 32 percent in 2013, and 17 percent in 1990 and 25 percent in Kenya (The World Bank). Therefore, both India and Kenya have remained a rural population. South Africa, Zimbabwes immediate neighbor, had a 52 percent population living in urban areas and 64 percen t in 2013 (The World Bank). In this regard, South Africas population can be regarded as urbanized since more that 550 percent have lives in urban areas. B) Between 1990 and 2013, it is clear from the data set that Zimbabwes urban population growth rate was 2.5 percent indicating slow urbanization. In comparison, United States urban population growth was 0.9 percent between 1990 and 2013. This shows the population is not changing much at all. Conversely, Kenyas, Indias, and Chinas urban population growth rate between 1990 and 2013 was 4.4 percent, 2.4 percent, and 2.9 percent respectively. These figures are indicative of a slow urbanization rate in these three countries. South Africas urban population growth rate between 1990 and 2013 was 2.2 percent, an indication a slow pace of urbanization. C) According to 2013 statistics of Zimbabwe, the cities with the largest population were: Harare with a population of 1.5m, Bulawayo 0.7m, Chitungwiza 0.3m, and

What is the advantages of having green building and LEEDS certificate Essay

What is the advantages of having green building and LEEDS certificate - Essay Example Besides large windows the space is comfortable and remember the mantra happy employees lead to happy customers. Public Image is positive. Every stakeholder from the shareholder to the customer will be happy to be associated with such accompany or an organization. This will also build a brand for the business and you never know it might lead to more business for the organization. Lower operating cost are brought about this is because this building tend to have renewable source of energy such as solar and with this equipment’s installed can bring the cost of power lower therefore being able to save on some expenses in the organization. The future of business goes to those who minimize cost and maximize on sales. Community benefits such as ensure that there is water efficiency which can be used in other ways like planting of flowers and watering of flowers in the organization. They can also install water fountains which can be used in beautification of the

FACTORS INFLUENCING CHILDREN'S DEVELOPMENT include, ILNESSES, Research Paper

FACTORS INFLUENCING CHILDREN'S DEVELOPMENT include, ILNESSES, ACCIDENTS,INJURIES - Research Paper Example The health professionals have mainly figured out four main factors which are environmental factors, biological factors, early environment as well as experience. Child development process starts from prenatal stage, and so health and nutrition of pregnant women affect the development of the fetus. Proper nutrition, healthy life style like abstinence from smoking or alcohol during pregnancy can reduce the risk of premature birth and infant mortality. The most important phase of a human being is his or her early childhood that should be properly monitored and nurtured for efficient child development. The physical, social and cognitive development during early childhood has strong impact on physical diseases like obesity, heart disease, and also competence in literacy and numeracy. The experiences during early childhood period have lifelong impact on an individual. The focus of this paper is that a nurturing environment where children spend their growing and learning years has a major impact of child development. It is not possible for parents to provide a perfect environment for their children without the assistance of local, national and international agencies. Therefore, government and child care agencies should work in collaboration with families to provide a healthy and nurturing environment for children worldwide. Family is the most important source of experience for children as family members are the ones with whom children spend most of their childhood years, and family members act as mediators between children and the broader environment. An efficient family environment is dependant on social and economic factors. Social factors include education of parents, cultural practices, relations between different family members, and health conditions of family members. Economic factors include employments conditions, wealth and standard of li ving (Siddiqi, et al, 2007, pp.3-5). Child development is also a natural process

Learning many languages in the future Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Learning many languages in the future - Essay Example It is significant to point out where the problem lies in the language acquisition domains. The concern with people around the world is that they do not let their children learn many languages as they have distinctive dispositions and viewpoints. It is a problem because the parents do not realize that if they disallow their young ones from learning new languages, they are in essence asking them not to move ahead in life – both personally as well as professionally. There is an ignorant vibe that can be collected from the domains of the parents as they intend to upgrade the lives of their children. However what they seem to forget is the fact that these children have to see the new age which these parents might not be able to make it through. Since the children will be alive even after the parents have long gone by from this world, they need to set up a proper basis for their growth and development. This can be done when they allow their children to learn new languages and unders tand for their own selves how they will view life their own way. What is even more surprising is the fact that the parents have earmarked certain languages for their children and would forbid them to learn others. This is a negative approach as has been comprehended with the passage of time. The parents are perhaps feeling that their children are overburdened with studies already and if they try their hand at learning a new language, they will have an even harder time. What they seem to forget is the fact that the parents have a definite role under such scenarios. They need to make efforts to settle the difficulties once and for all. Learning new languages is not a negative aspect; rather it should be seen in a positive way. If they learn new languages, they will be at a benefit as compared to the people who do not have any know-how regarding a specific dictum. The most basic problem is that the parents do not understand the very problem. If realization of the problem is done, perha ps many things can be handled in an amicable fashion but unfortunately this is not the case. As (Paton 2012) depicts, â€Å"The number of schoolchildren shunning the subjects between the age of 14 and 16 has more than doubled since the late 90s, it was revealed.† In this day and age, learning new languages ensure that the children stay one step ahead of many of their colleagues and have an advantage over others when it comes to their professional domains and settings. Hence only when the problem is identified, can there be a solution found for it. Sadly and quite rightly so, the parents are unwary of the fact that their young ones are feeling left behind in this global rat race to reach the top and learning new languages can benefit them like none other. Also, (Paton 2012) believes that â€Å"The drop has been particularly marked in French and German – traditionally the two most popular languages at school – with both being named among the fastest declining sub jects at GCSE level last summer.† In essence, the cause of the problem revolves around the fact that parents have a non-serious role within such matters. They are the ones who would not let their young ones learn a new language merely because they would feel that by learning a new language, their children will be burdened immensely. Also the reason for this lies in the

Woman Rights by Sarah Margaret Fuller Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Woman Rights by Sarah Margaret Fuller - Essay Example A woman's place was deeply connected to domestic duties. She was expected to cook and clean the house while tending to children's needs. She was not expected to hold elective offices or make decisions aside from her husband's approval. Moreover, she could claim no rights for children to which she gave birth. A woman's place was simple; she conformed. However, a different breed of woman was on the rise. Sarah Fuller's father instilled a somewhat nonconformist element in her at a very young age. Timothy Fuller, one who revered education, insisted his daughter fulfill a dual role-as caretaker of the household and as an educated individual (Macdonald). Before the age of four, Fuller's father forced her to read. By age eight, Fuller had to get out of bed at 5 a.m. to begin household duties but was not permitted to go to bed until completion of her lessons-which oftentimes was not until 11 p.m. In addition to tending to her six siblings, Fuller maintained the household and diligently studied. Not only did her father instill a love for learning in Fuller, but he also instilled an element not compatible with society's expectations of a woman. On one hand, society granted Fuller the opportunity to grow. She pursued the art of education and displayed her abilities through intellectual exchange with others.

Business communication writing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Business communication writing - Assignment Example Therefore, issues affecting customer loyalty must be handled with all the sobriety and attention that it deserves. Having deliberated through all your views, I think that we should sell through the remaining conventional wipes and not order new ones. This is because clearing our shelves completely as we wait for the newly formulated baby wipes will not only cause of loss of revenue. Where will we take all the conventional baby wipes that we have? We cannot just remove them and stash them away somewhere. The damage is already done with our customers’ loyalty, so the best thing is to make things right by not losing more customers as well as revenue. Secondly, clearing our shelf space all at once may make us lose our shelf space. Our competitors are looking for any slight opportunity to take advantage of any slip-up that might befall us. Therefore, if they notice our shelves are clear, they may find a way of taking our shelf space and even some of our loyal customers. The stock of conventional wipes that we have currently can last for a short period of time leading to sixty to ninety days loss of shelf space. In order to prevent this long period of shelf loss, we will pump more funds to into the research to ensure that the formula is arrived at within the shortest time possible. I have already talked with Martin Wolf and he reassured me that he will work extra hard with his team to ensure that we have the formula within fifty days. We will hire additional staff on contract basis to help him work day and night to ensure that the formula is a success. I am optimistic that by the time our customers will start experiencing the pinch of our dry shelves, we will have natural baby wipes back on our shelves. The buck now lies with the marketing team since they have a hard task of reassuring our customers that we have not changed on the promise we made to them. The marketing team will roll out a campaign to market the new natural baby wipes

Siemenss knowledge management strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Siemenss knowledge management strategy - Essay Example This essay discusses that the ability of the government to protect and make effective use of the intellectual capital of the workforce declines with an increase of the retirement rate among the federal workforce. The agency loses its timely decision making ability with the lack of critical knowledge. Where there is lack of knowledge management, agencies are neither able to execute their projects in a timely manner nor they able to complete the project within the estimated cost. Having assessed this dilemma, a representative of the Aberdeen Group said, â€Å"Knowledge workers today are losing productivity in an endless search for information they know resides in the organization but is not easily accessible†. One way for an agency to spread the critical knowledge of program to a wide range of stakeholders is by implementing an effective knowledge framework along with an enterprise-wide strategy of knowledge management. Teams benefit from this flexibility by gaining a way to com prehend the effects as well as interdependencies of the constantly changing environments along the project’s life. The data an agency has at a certain point in time is nothing more than mere representation of the temporal circumstances. There needs to be an appropriate knowledge management strategy in place to understand the relation of the data with different variables and to use it in the decision making process. The knowledge management strategy enables the workers to use the knowledge in the decision making process as they are able to completely understand different aspects of the knowledge. This paper looks into the knowledge management strategies implemented by the Siemens Company. Literature Review The Frid’s Knowledge Management Model Various strategies and models have been conventionally proposed for knowledge management. One of such models is the Frid’s Knowledge Management Model. The Frid’s Knowledge Management Model divides the assessment leve ls of knowledge management maturity into five levels. These five levels are â€Å"knowledge chaotic, knowledge aware, knowledge focused, knowledge managed, and knowledge centric† (Haslinda and Sarinah, 2009, p. 195). The first level proposes that organizations tend to comprehend and implement the Frid framework of knowledge management by working upon the vision, objectives, and indices of knowledge management. In order to optimize on their potential of knowledge management, organizations tend to advocate and adapt the departmental vision of knowledge management. The second level of knowledge awareness considers organizations to be at a higher step than the ones at knowledge chaotic. At this point, organizations need to focus on the development on a road map of knowledge management and a collaborative working with the office of knowledge management. The third level requires organizations to cover the aspects of implantation just like in the lower two levels. At this level, org anizations need to integrate the knowledge management into the process engineering, develop initial infrastructure of service, training and knowledge management, and make the budgets inclusive of knowledge management. â€Å"[T]he fourth level termed as knowledge managed adopt the fundamental activities suggested in level one, two and three other than organizations should attempt to embed knowledge management in performance reviews and also in business plans apart† (Haslinda and Sarinah, 2009, p. 193). Knowledge centric is the highest level of the implementation maturity of knowledge mana

In cold blood Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

In cold blood - Essay Example I loved the pie, but had no idea that the pie was going to be the last supper I would ever have with my bosom friend. In the book, In Cold Blood, (Capote) has not once, but several times discussed the last day events and activities of Clutters. For example, â€Å"Now, on this final day of her life, Mrs. Clutter hung in the closet the calico housedress she had been wearing†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Capote 35). It seems like Capote and I have the same way of recapitulating the memories of the gone. I believe that the idea presented in the book that mental illness inculcates criminal tendencies in people is totally right. In the book, Perry and Dick are shown to be suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and brain damage respectively. Their criminality has been attributed to their mental abnormalities. I approve this concept because I know a neighbor who was known to be suffering from brain tumor. The tumor developed in his brain over the years, and he transformed from a gay and obedient child to a violent adult with the passage of time. He was imprisoned for the charge of having killed his girlfriend. I am not sure if this is right to trace the roots of his criminality in his brain tumor, but the story of the book approves the existence of some kind of relationship between mental disorder of any type and criminal tendency.

Lecture Coherence Examples Essay Example for Free

Lecture Coherence Examples Essay Examples of paragraphs that shows coherence and unity: Example 1: This is a good example because it responds to the prompt in first person, the details are thoughtful and personal, and it follows the structure I’ve taught you very well. I slightly changed the topic sentence to make it connect better to the supporting sentence. I have also made some grammatical/vocab corrections so that you can focus on content and structure when you read. To get good grades in classes, I need to plan to do three things. First of all, listening carefully to the teacher in class makes me understand the lesson. If I listen carefully to what the teacher says, I can ask questions about things that I don’t understand. I can also do the right homework that the teacher assigned. Second, doing my homework every day makes me review the lesson from class. The homework helps me to practice many things from class. I can also find questions in the homework to ask the teacher that will make my English better. Third, making an effort to study gives me the will to learn. If I don’t make an effort, I will be lazy. The will to learn makes me try to finish the homework furst, and then I will let myself go out with my friends. Finally, I try to make a plan to get a good grade in class, and I will abide by it. Notice: The yellow topic sentence is echoed (but not repeated) in the yellow concluding sentence. The three green sentences introduce an idea (listening) and then gives more information about that idea. The three blue sentences introduce a second idea (homework) and then gives more information about that idea. The three pink sentences introduce a third idea (making the effort to study) and then gives more information about that idea. Notice the use of the transitions â€Å"first of all†, â€Å"second,† â€Å"third†, and â€Å"Finally.† Example 2: This is a good example because even though it responds to the prompt in second person, the details are again very thoughtful, and the paragraph has a strong structure. I have again made some grammatical/vocab corrections so that you can focus on content and structure when you read. There are some useful ways to get the grade you want in this class. Before the class, you must preview the lessons you will listen to tomorrow. Previewing is a perfect learning habit to help you improve your learning efficiency. After previewing, you can know what the teachers will teach the net day. Then you can listen to your teachers with the questions you found the day before. In the class, you have to listen to your teacher carefully. Your teachers are professional and dedicated, and they can solve all of your problems about your studies. Listening carefully can also help you to get more information or details about tests. You can also confirm the knowledge you are not sure about, and it is an important way to improve your grade. Practicing more after class is also an important part. More practice for grammar or writing can help you to memorize. Don’t be show – speak more English, and you will improve your speaking and listening. The more exercises you di, the higher grade you will get. If you want to get the grade you want in this class, do these things before, in, and after classes. Notice: The yellow topic sentence is echoed (but not repeated) in the yellow concluding sentence. The three green sentences introduce an idea (listening) and then gives more information about that idea. The three blue sentences introduce a second idea (homework) and then gives more information about that idea. The three pink sentences introduce a third idea (making the effort to study) and then gives more information about that idea. Notice the use of both time words and placement of time words as well as repeated words for transitions

The Growth And Decline Of Bebop Media Essay

The Growth And Decline Of Bebop Media Essay Jazz music has existed for nearly 100 years producing many subgenres of music and evolving styles along the way; starting with Ragtime in the late 1890s early 1920s, moving on to the prominence of the big band, to the syncopated feel of Swing (that led to the mainstream popularity of Jazz); during the 1930s. These progressions in Jazz led to the formation of a new subgenre, Bebop. Swing music brought two main developments to the Jazz genre; firstly throwing Jazz into the limelight, and secondly becoming a popular type of Jazz music people could dance to. However, the conformity of Swing constrained Musicians freedom to experiment and gain personal acclaim through the opportunity to play solo passages. The frustration this led some Jazz musicians to branch out and develop a music genre known as Bebop. This new style of Jazz (named Bebop but often referred to as bop or Rebop); emerged in the main, from Swing bands around the 1940s. The music placed larger emphasis on technique, speed and complex harmonies than swing; making it almost impossible to dance to which was the intention of the musicians who wanted their music to be appreciated through listening. Despite this causing much controversy, musicians were content with the longer solo time and smaller band sizes this style offered. Historically, Bebop is referred to as the first modern Jazz style originating in New York, through such artists as Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, Kenny Clarke and Charlie Christian. The freedom of this style soon attracted other musicians drawn to its complexity, lack of structure and very experimental style Musicians often used different types of ornamentation to aid the complex melodies and harmonies. Features such as comping, sliding, parallel octaves (often borrowed from piano by guitar), improvisation and emphasis on the 3rd and 7th notes of a chord, were all common features of Bebop. 2. The rise of Bebop Bebop music, whose roots are founded in Swing, began to emerge in the mid 1940s when musicians became frustrated with swing and began working on a new, more technical type of Jazz. Its growth and development continued until around 1955. Aimed at destabilising swing music and excluding the less talented, white musicians that had latched onto what had once been a black innovation; bebop was seen as a chaotic revolution in the Jazz genre. In his book, Jazz 101, Szwed states that, To non-jazz fans or swing devotees, bop was a musical affront, a deliberate provocation, a scandal.3 pg161 Another contributing factor to the rise of Bebop was the commercialisation of swing music and its increasing status as the Pop music of America4 pg162 when it had previously been seen as more ethnic, alternative type of music. This commercialisation led to Swing becoming more focussed on pleasing mainstream audiences and making money. Bop originated in New York as artists who were already playing large shows in the city would often find smaller venues to practice and refine the more technical aspects of the music. Bars and clubs that were often too small for the dancing encouraged by swing were perfect for the groups of 4-6 musicians needed for a Bebop combo. One of the more famous venues for the development of Bebop was Mintons playhouse; where many jam sessions took place involving renowned musicians and some of the most famous Bebop music was played. 3. The influences leading to the evolution of Bebop Political/Economic/Social During this time in history a number of political, social and economic factors can be seen as influential and relevant to the ways in which Jazz music evolved. Firstly, racism and a lack of civil rights had a significant impact on black African American communities and black musicians were no exception. The majority of black musicians struggled to profit in the music industry and White musicians were alleged to have frequently stolen black musicians ideas. Furthermore, many black musicians were prevented from performing concerts or recording their music. Secondly, World War II had a significant impact on Jazz as a whole due to musicians that played in big bands being drafted into the army. Thirdly, the economic depression during this time made life hard. Many families did not have enough money to live and feed themselves. There were frequent riots in major cities, led by black people revolting against their terrible living conditions and unjust treatment. In contrast, increasing industrialism and mass production significantly reduced prices of products such as radios and cars. Most households owned a radio which made Jazz Music more accessible to the mainstream including young, impressionable artists who were able to listen to their idols. Musician Preference As previously mentioned, one of the largest contributing factors to the growth of Bebop music was musicians frustration with swing and big bands. Despite the generic success of swing music through its easy melodies and dance like feel, many artists felt unfulfilled when playing it. There were constraints on what they could play with only a few musicians having the chance to solo for short periods. Many performers believed their music should be appreciated through listening rather than dancing. Skilled and experienced musicians wanted to exclude amateur musicians joining in with jam sessions and thus invented more elaborate, complex ways of playing that only professional musicians could accomplish. What changed? The developments from Swing to Bebop Band sizes Bebop was seen as a more collaborative and intimate type of music than Swing with bands consisting of only 4-6 musicians; thus allowing for greater cohesion between musicians and more time dedicated to individuals soloing. In addition, the musicians would often play off one another trading fourths, which involved the soloist exchanging a 4 bar progression with another musician or the drummer. This was very engaging to audiences. Bop became music for the elite rather than the masses and was associated with more accomplished and skilled musicians. Chances for soloing Due to smaller band sizes, Jazz musicians were given longer sections for soloing; including bassists and drummers which was very appealing to musicians who had previously been playing simple beats or chords in the background. The band would play a melody before individual musicians would solo over the songs chord progression, making the melody secondary, with a greater emphasis on solos. Instruments and Rhythm The rise of Bebop music saw the end of rhythm guitar and clarinet. The typical big band size of 10 or more musicians was reduced to 4-6, and often did not include more than one of each instrument. A typical Bop combo would consist of drums, double bass, piano and either a guitar, trumpet or saxophone. Rhythm guitar was only used for accompanying another instrument during its solo, when other musicians would be playing a complex melody or head in unison. Bassists would play a walking bass line that consists of a mixture of scale tones (arpeggios or chromatic runs) that outline the chord progression of the song. Drummers relied less on the kick drum and more on the cymbals to maintain the often complex and fast paced rhythm. For example Nicas Dream (a song played by many artists) switches between 4/4 Latin or Samba and 4/4 Swing, creating a complex rhythm. Above are the two different rhythms used during the song Nicas Dream There was significant emphasis placed on the 1st and 3rd beats of the bar by musicians during the swing era. However, during the Bebop period, the rhythmic prominence changed to the 2nd and 4th beats of the measure. These techniques created a feel of solos (characteristic of Bebop music) being more free and less rigidly tied into the song. This genre was characterised in part by its unpredictable rhythms. The scales, notation and approach to playing Although the approach to playing and soloing was different in Bebop in comparison to swing, most sections played were based on the melody of a song. Bop musicians employed chromatics and favoured the use of the 3rd, 5th, and flat 7th notes of the chords for improvisation. The faster tempo made the music more frantic and energetic which also led to a greater display of musicians technical talent. The use of harmony became significantly less fashionable for the greater part of the Bebop period and most melodies or heads were played in unison. Guitarists incorporated the use of unison octaves (made famous by Wes Montgomery) for solos. Song Analysis The following two songs are great examples of Bebop music, containing many of the features commonly associated with this genre: Billies Bounce Recorded in 1945, Billies bounce is a through composed Jazz-blues song written by Charlie Parker. The song was recorded by a quintet consisting of a young Miles Davis, Curley Russell on bass, Dizzy Gillespie on piano and Max Roach on drums. The song is in F major or D for alto sax and 4/4 time. The general chord progression of the song is in F blues, however the melodic tonality of the head and the solos are more characteristic of Jazz and the tempo, indicative of Bebop. It is described as a Bebop head over a variation of the 12-measure blues progression in which a I-VI-II-V7 substitutes for V7 V7- IV7, IV in the last six measure. The light, bubbly piano intro from Dizzy Gillespie outlines the beat and style of the song. This is followed by the head that is played in unison 3rds and octaves with both the saxophone and trumpet. In bars 11 and 12 we see a repeat of the earlier 2 note theme seen in bars 2 and 3 to end the head. Throughout the melody there are examples of chromatics and slurred triplet notes that are seen later during the solos. The first 7 bars of the song are in standard F blues; however in bar 8 there is an Am7, followed by an Abm7. This chromatically sets up the Gm7 in bar 9. A standard blues would see bar 9 and 10 contain the chords C7 and Bb7 respectively, but Billies bounce extends the C7 over 2 bars and then re-harmonizes it with a standard II-V7 progression that turns to F in the last 2 bars. The beginning of the first solo sees a chromatic passing note between the G and A and again between the Bb and C. At the end of the second bar the notes of the chord Dm7/C are played over the Bb7 chord. In the third bar, Charlie Parker uses the notes of the Eb Mixolydian scale. The movement of the whole song is highly arpeggiated in both directions and there is some trace of a stepwise movement. Parker used a licks-based approach to the solo; however he was also very adept at altering the licks already in his vocabulary and changing them in more creative ways. He had a very flexible sense of harmonic placement that allowed him to change the duration of chords by either hitting them early or prolonging them and even sometimes adding progressions that were not part of the accompaniment. Above is a list of the guide tone lines for measures 1-7 as notes in a staff. Above the staff are chord options implied by Parker occasionally. Four on Six Wes Montgomery Four on six is a Bebop Jazz piece written by Wes Montgomery. The song is in Bb major and 4/4 time. The Harmony is based around the intro made entirely of 5ths and played in unison with the bass and piano. The intro that precedes the solo sections, sees the drums playing a simple crotchet rhythm on alternate cymbals to create a 2/2 feel. Following the intro of 5ths, Wes plays a small break that consists of the four chords Bbmaj7, Gm7, G#m11, Am11 and D7(#9). The chords played in the break are similar to those that form the intro of 5ths, but are however played of a much smaller time frame. After the break there is a Small melody. This modal melody line moves around the notes of Gm9. The backing chords for the melody are the same as those seen in the first 2 bars of the song, however the Gm now includes the 7th note; a note often used in bebop scales and songs. The melody is followed by a II V chord sequence with strong accents. These II V chords follow the harmony of the intro. The ch ords used are Cm9, F7(#9b11), Bbm9, Eb7(#11b9), Am9, D7(#11b9), Ebm9 and Ab9(#11). The chord sequence is descending and contains many chromatic notes that are very characteristic of bebop music. After the melody and chord sequence the solo section of the song begins. The chord accompaniment for this section is very similar to that of the intro. The chords cycle through 4 bars of Gm7, then simplified version of the descending sequence. For improvisation over the solo section there are a few scales that Wes Montgomery generally used that fit his style and way of playing. Over the Gm7 part Wes would use a G Dorian scale consisting of the notes G, A, Bb, C, D, E and F. Wes made sure that he was ever confined to one position on the neck and therefore learned the scale across the whole guitar neck. An alternative to the Dorian scale is the G minor pentatonic scale with or without the blues notes. This scale consists of the notes G, Bb, C, Db (blues), D and F. The blues notes are used to s lide from the C to the D. The advantage of the pentatonic scale in this situation is that all of the notes are either the root notes of the chords or a note inside the chords of the song. Wes uses many of his signature licks during his solos and even throws different styles into the mix. Above is an example of simple melody that includes a big jump across the fret board of the guitar. It uses a Gm(7) arpeggio with extensions. Wes also uses other styles such as blues in his solos. Below are two examples of this. This is a unison-interval blues clichà © played over the Gm7/maj7 and C7 chords. There are two hammer-ons and pull-offs during the melody to make a faster, smoother transition between notes. Above is a series of four repeated II-Vs. In the theme the dominant chords contain a natural 9 and Sharp 11 (F9#11). The scale played over these chords is a melodic minor scale. Over the Cm7 and F7 a C melodic minor scale can be played, however the name of this scale over the F7 is the Lydian dominant scale (5th mode of the melodic minor). Wes Montgomery doesnt think in scales for this part but in melodic patterns. Because the tempo is so fast this is an advantage as fast tempos make scales difficult to play musically. He frequently plays a pattern on the first II V and transposes it down the neck for the rest of the II Vs. Features The evolution to Bebop music created many stylistic changes and new musical features, which not only livened up the music but made it more contemporary, and distinguished the more accomplished musicians. The melodies were different from those previously associated with Jazz and were the base for most improvisational solos. Scales Jazz musicians typically used complex scales for their solos. The generic Bebop scale was made by adding either a major 7 to a Mixolydian scale or a major 3 to a Dorian scale. For solos, musicians preferred to use the 1, 3, 5 and flat 7th notes of the scale. Illustration of a C Major Bebop Scale The freedom of the melodies and complex chords of Bop opened up new possibilities for soloing. Musicians could play over the whole register of their instruments and find notes in any range that fitted into the chord progression; aided through the use of chromatics. Musicians used other scales such as the blues or enclosed scales (which use the technique enclosure- taking a note and playing one note above it and one note below before arriving at the note you were targeting.) Comping Although Rhythm guitar had essentially been excluded from Bebop bands, it was still used when accompanying a soloist through the comping (staccato chord playing) technique. However, as Bebop did not often follow a simple time signature, comping was not used frequently. Furthermore, the rhythms used by musicians were commonly irregular and thus the regular strumming pattern of comping may have disturbed the soloist. Chord melody Some musicians played solo arrangements by simultaneously playing chords in the background and the melody over the top. This was most commonly associated with piano and guitar. Decline of Bebop Economic Although considered a significant musical achievement by many musicians, by the 1950s bop music had begun to decline; partly due to its lack of commercial viability and niche market appeal. Variety magazine, an entertainment trade magazine based in New York reported Bop is a flop in late 1949. Many musicians such as Charlie Barnet, Benny Goodman and Woody Herman (who was $175,000 in debt) had to break up their bands during this decline. Cool Jazz and Hard bop The decline of Bebop music served as a platform for 2 new subgenres in Jazz. Firstly, Cool Jazz which was developed by many bop musicians such as Chet Baker, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie and newer musicians such as Dave Brubeck and Gerry Mulligan; was a direct contrast to bop with its more relaxed tempo, lighter tone and more traditional harmonies. In response to this progression and to maintain some of the features of Bebop, another subgenre developed known as Hard bop. This music was less extreme than Bebop music, had a more soulful feel rooted in traditional African and Blues music but still incorporating many phrases and notes from Bebop. These differences made Hard bop more accessible to beginner musicians and brought back a rhythm section. Artists Many artists that had been prominent during the Bebop era such as John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk and Charlie Parker; continued playing into the Hard bop and Cool Jazz period that subsequently followed. The most prominent cross-over artist of the two genres was Miles Davis who became very popular and well-known, especially with the release of his record Birth of Cool which was acclaimed within the Jazz world. Conclusion At the height of its popularity, Bebop introduced many innovations into the world of not only Jazz, but other genres of music. It changed the way musicians and listeners alike viewed Jazz and opened up many doorways to other styles, genres and artists. Bebop music has been an innovation and the ideas that have been created are still used to this day. In modern day jam sessions, Bebop is one of the most employed genres due to its small band sizes and simple structure (melody followed by solos). It gives many musicians the chance to improvise and explore different avenues of Jazz, allowing for the progression of new music in the modern industry. Even After its decline, bop music is still influencing instrumentalists and their music today Bibliography Websites http://library.thinkquest.org/18602/history/bop/bopstart.html http://www.scaruffi.com/history/jazz8.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bebop http://www.jazzguitar.be/bebopscale.html http://www.jazzguitar.be/bebop.html http://www.jazzquotations.com/2010/05/brief-history-of-bebop.html (function() { var scribd = document.createElement("script"); scribd.type = "text/javascript"; scribd.async = true; scribd.src = "https://www.scribd.com/javascripts/embed_code/inject.js"; var s = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(scribd, s); })() http://leadsheetmusic.com/multifakebooks.brooklyn/01_Fake_and_Real_Books/Play_Along/Vol_62_Wes_Montgomery_v2.pdf http://www.hypermusic.ca/jazz/bop.html http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090202152858AAjScZJ http://www.mattwarnockguitar.com/bebop-scale-patterns-for-guitar http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-bebop-music.htm http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/jazz/ambassadors/Lesson6.html http://www.jazzguitar.com/lessons.html http://books.google.co.nz/books?id=hNTLZ3bpBFcCpg=PA447lpg=PA447dq=decline+of+bebopsource=blots=_GLiz0J9Zpsig=6xcoNDngRNtGHsXwTlJc81fek54hl=ensa=Xei=MdTFT9mfFcHYigeSs62hAwved=0CFkQ6AEwAw v=onepageq=decline%20of%20bebopf=false http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wes_Montgomery http://www.jazzguitar.be/premium-issue-1.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazz_guitar http://www.jazzguitarlessons.net/jazz-improvisation-2.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead_guitar Creating_lead_guitar_lines http://www.guitarplayer.com/article/jazz-picking-and-phrasing/663 http://www.theguitarschool.com/CharlieParker.html http://airjudden.tripod.com/jazz/styles.html http://www.learning-charlie-parker.com/licks.php http://web.archive.org/web/20070812145101/http://www.vervemusicgroup.com/history.aspx?hid=20 http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/bhistory/history_of_jazz.htm (function() { var scribd = document.createElement("script"); scribd.type = "text/javascript"; scribd.async = true; scribd.src = "https://www.scribd.com/javascripts/embed_code/inject.js"; var s = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(scribd, s); })() http://www.jazzinamerica.org/LessonPlan/5/5/230 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bassline Walking_bass http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_bop http://www.timeisonourside.com/STBop.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cool_jazz http://forums.allaboutjazz.com/showthread.php?t=37646 http://forum.saxontheweb.net/showthread.php?35319-BeBop-HardBop http://www.jazzinamerica.org/LessonPlan/8/6/211 http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/music/popular_music/jazz3.shtml http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080228152849AAQMyaT http://xroads.virginia.edu/~asi/musi212/margaret/martist.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ii-V-I_turnaround#Jazz http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ii-V-I_turnaround#Jazz http://www.musicbanter.com/jazz-blues/58195-jazz-progression-2-5-1-a.html http://peterspitzer.blogspot.co.nz/2011/07/analysis-of-charlie-parkers-billies.html http://ebmusicman.blogspot.co.nz/2008/03/billies-bounce-part-1.html http://s130.photobucket.com/albums/p261/liquidtensionxpr/blog/?action=viewcurrent=billiesbounce-simplified-part1.jpg http://s130.photobucket.com/albums/p261/liquidtensionxpr/blog/?action=viewcurrent=reharm-04b.gif http://www.jazzguitar.be/billies_bounce_lesson.html Books Roads of Jazz Peter Bole Jazz: A history of Americas music Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns The Chronicle of Jazz Mervyn Cooke Discography Song Played by Nicas Dream Wes Montgomery Tune up Miles Davis Airegin Sonny Rollins Four on Six Wes Montgomery Billies Bounce Charlie Parker

Health Essays Chronic Disease Management

Health Essays Chronic Disease Management Chronic Disease Management Chronic diseases have an effect on all countries, and the augment in their prevalence is to a great extend attributed to varying demographics, improved life expectancy, changing lifestyles, better disease management and management and a better understanding of the factors that cause poor health and disease. Laboratory, clinical and population-based research has revealed that a few risk factors are responsible for the prevalence of most chronic diseases: unhealthy diet and high energy ingestion, lack of physical activity and use of tobacco. Alcohol intake, environmental pollutants, age and hereditary factors also play a role. These risk factors are the same in men and women and across all regions in the world. The associated healthcare, financial and social burden of chronic diseases, which include diabetes mellitus, coronary heart disease, asthma, chronic obstructive airway disease, hypertension, chronic depression, osteoporosis, end stage renal failure and stroke, are progressively on the increase. In the US alone to be specific, some 125 million people now suffer from at least one chronic disease. Chronic diseases are a tremendous burden to individuals and to countries and the available traditional healthcare methods are not able to meet the requirements for preventing and reducing this burden. It is because of this problem that chronic disease management has emerged as a new approach towards caring for patients with chronic diseases. Chronic disease management in clinical circles can be defined as an elaborate, systematic, multicomponent strategy to delivering healthcare while involving all members in the population or community who suffer from similar infections. Cardiovascular disease is chronic and is the first cause of death among the elderly in all countries. This observable fact was evident even 60 years ago, as Roberts noted that diseases of the circulatory system and pneumonia were the first causes of death among the aged in Jamaica in 1950. These diseases are to some extent the sequelae of advancing age. As life expectancies are increasing the prevalence of all noncommunicable disease is also increasing. Thus, one could adopt the approach that these are an foreseeable consequence of ageing and the focus therefore has to be on simply treating them when they do occur and applying the acknowledged interventions for secondary prevention once the first disease episode has occurred. It is possible to reduce the mortality from chronic diseases in general. Some of the developed countries such as Canada, Australia and the United States have succeeded in reducing mortality by applying preventive measures. Meeting the multifaceted needs of patients with chronic diseases is the single supreme challenge facing our healthcare system in most countries today. With the increasing numbers of patients suffering from chronic diseases, it is of the essence that clinicians, healthcare administrators and health policy makers plan and ensure that the healthcare delivery system is tailored to provide care for these patients across the band of their healthcare needs. Chronic disease management has been known to be the best and most comprehensive approach for providing holistic and comprehensive care for patients with chronic illnesses. The Kaiser Permanente care triangle has frequently been used to conceptualize Chronic disease care at three main levels Supporting self-care for patients suffering from chronic disease who are at low risk of complications and hospitalization. Disease management for people who are in need of regular routine follow-up and are at high risk of chronic disease. Case management for people who have complex needs and those who are high-intensity users of unplanned less important care. Managing chronic diseases at the system level has been the focus of many latest publications.1-4 In the US, the recent Institute of Medicine Report – Crossing the Quality Chasm – focused on the need to reorganize care delivery to meet the healthcare demands of populations of patients who suffer from chronic illnesses. In October 2001, the British Medical Journal and the Western Journal of Medicine both published special issues focusing on the problem of chronic diseases and tinted how various nations are dealing with this ever rising epidemic. It is therefore timely that all nations focuses on coming up with a better program to address the needs of patients with chronic disease, on the advances in clinical and non-pharmacological management, and the challenges faced in ensuring that patients receive optimal care meeting the needs at the various stages of their disease. Programme for chronic disease management A successful chronic disease management program should be designed while considering fundamental factors that are critical to its sustainability. First of all the program should be aimed at a certain specific condition within the population suffering. Then the nest important factor concerns the availability of evidence on which its functions should be based. A good program has to keep in its consideration the existence of obstacles which may be a hindrance to its successful implementation. Adequate measures should be put in check to ensure that there is a balance between quality and the economic of the objectives of the care to be given United States In the United States chronic disease management programs, also known as chronic care management, have become extensive. They are being favored by employer groups, health-care organizations and health payers, these programs are being increasingly raising concern because very little scientific evidence is available to justify their effectiveness and economic impact. Disease management was introduced and launched in 1990 by drug companies for the purpose of helping patients to comply with various medications and also to increase their sales. This programs have developed in the private sector to become such a competitive industry that these companies contract health plans to offer comprehensive care to various groups. They are then paid a fee by the health plans to guarantee a saving. Disease management programs are wide in the private sector; they offer care and support as part of benefits and support from physicians. Some programs have been organized in such a way that the physician can receive alerts whenever the patient needs medical attention or even when the services for preventing chronic diseases are long overdue. Some use professional clinical information systems which can integrate participant’s data for instance data which concerns claims data or self reports. This can be even acquired from multiples sources. However there is only a small number of beneficiaries who suffer from chronic illness and therefore account for the unproportionate share of medical expenditure. This results in such patients receiving fragmented care from a number of site providers and to add on the insult they receive repeated and costly hospitalization. The manifestation project was endorsed by the Medicare, Medicaid,and SCHIP Benefits Improvement and Protection Act of 2000 (BIPA). In adding together to the BIPA projects, there arenumerous of other coordinated care demonstrations approvedby Congress in the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, a capitatedDM demonstration recently initiated by the Bush administration,and an end-stage renal disease management demonstration. People are demandingto figure out ways to do disease management in the public sector that act in responseto patient-privacy concerns and that admiration the traditionalrole of the physician. Disease management programs have no effect on the state budget as they pay for administrative services while they are guaranteed by the government a savings offset in form of claims reduction. It is important to point out that even though the opportunities for cost savings and step up inhealth outcomes is great, the challenges of introducing disease management onwide scale in the Medicare program are momentous The patients increasing population is likely to bring up challenges which are not found in the private sector. France In France studies have shown a tremendous improvement in the state of health and quality of life for chronic illness patients. There has also been significant reduction in costs due to the implementation of coordinated networks for the treatment of asthma. The reduction in costs cannot be attributed to spontaneous national changes in management but rather it can be explained by the effect of the intervention program. This initiative can be said to be the first attempt towards implementation ofa disease management program in France. Italy In Italy the health system is aiming at utilizing Information technology tools to manage chronic diseases. In this country the population f over 65 years has be noted to be on the rise. What is worrying is that the number of chronic diseases also increases with this range of age. Approximately 90% of the aged people are suffering form chronic diseases and something has to be done in effect to prevent further repercussions. In the past Italian doctors have raised concern over the time that is used in treating patients with chronic diseases and therefore cam up with a resolution to use community care which such a program there is a shift from hospital based care to community based care. Such a program aims at reducing on the number of patients admitted with chronic diseases, removes patients out of hospital quicker and improving on the network for helping people with chronic diseases. This is to be done while the records are kept centrally and monitored while the services are moved to the community. In Italy there is also another program being put in place and it is called sole project as it is aiming at networking all hospitals with communities to give the citizens services. The program is also aiming at controlling flow of information so as to help the elderly patients. The idea must have been copied from the UKs pathways to telecare. Germany In German two laws were passed in the year 2001 to address the main problems in the healthcare system. Despite advance which have been made in diagnosis and treatment of diabetes, patients still experience secondary complications, The purpose of disease management program in Germany is to avoid repetition of diagnostic testing, by specialists or in hospitals thus assisting in containing the cost. In Germany chronic diseases management programs have a legal basis under which they operate. For instance in the year 2002 there was a reform law which laid down a complicated procedure for the establishment and implementation of disease management programs. These procedures included the characteristic features of a disease which qualifies to be included in the management programs. Implementation of disease management programs in Germany has been influenced by politics which is not like in the other countries. Germany has a longer experience with disease management programmes than the United States. The healthcare system in Germany has characteristics which have seen the introduction of disease management programs. This includes the free choice of the non-profit sickness funds who have to strike a balance between spending and income. There are also issues regarding to efficiency and quality on the side of those who are chronically sick The ministry of health in Germany anticipated that disease management programs will help to reorganize the fragment care for people suffering from chronic illnesses. The main challenge towards implementation of the programs regards to the defining of the minimum standards proves to be contentious and time consuming as people continue to suffer. Another challenge has been on implementing the program for Diabetes whose care requirements has been attacked by more than ten scientific societies. These scientists argue that the government and the sickness funds favored a minimal program which was created basing on studies with the highest level of evidence. Some claim that the programs were created under extreme time pressure. (R. Busse 2001) By way of the German-style DM programs the government anticipated a radicalGordian explanation to a knot of disheveled problems. While theauthentic experience with DM programs is by a long way larger and longerin the United States than in Germany, the German strategy couldbe of interest in the United States, where we have cream skimming andadverse selection having in fact blocked managed care infiltrationinto the Medicare population. One observable difference is theownership of the DM programs; in the United States they are to some extent connected with pharmaceutical companies or special DMP vendors. Whendisease management came up in Germany, analogous companies appearedon the market, with the hope for commercial triumph. Some sicknessfunds contracted them to assist them in preparing DM programs, but suchcompanies have more or less disappeared from the market The UK According to statistics in the U K lack of proper care to manage chronic diseases on a day today basis can lead to unnecessary complications and premature death. Children also suffer from chronic diseases for instance children below five years account for 15% of the cases(General household survey 2002) Self care has sometimes been ignored in the UK but it is a well proven approach to improving the situation of chronic diseases. According to data from the Department of Health’s Economic and Operational Research the effects of self care include; Reduced to visits to GP Sby over 40% for the high risk cases. Reduction in admissions to hospitals by about 50% in a Parkinson’s diseases The length of stay in hospitals for mental health problems reduce. Off work days can reduce by even more than 50% for patients suffering from arthritis Self care or management is not just an issue of providing information to the patients but it involves a range of other things to make it workable. Patients need care education regarding to self management of their sickness by helping stand what they ought to do and how to make adjustments towards their medical dosage and how and when they need healthcare. They also need quick reminders of when they should be attending to certain measures concerning their health. They need support from knowledgeable patients or even an expert in their disease and broader networks which can include attending to group practices involving the same kind of health condition. Their s uncertainty as regarding to self care however it is likely to improve in relevance because of the following: The increase of information that is availed to the patients. The ability of information technology to support self care. The possibility of having reliable and accurate home monitoring systems. The greater anticipation by many patients to be the locus of control. In the UK the main providers of care for chronic diseases are the primary care teams. They include community nurses, pharmacists, dieticians, opticians, podiatrists, and physiotherapists. Barriers for implementing disease management programs One major factor which hinders the implementation of these programs is the lack of proven after investment. This has tended to limit the health plan and interest of the disease management organization. Future of Disease management programs There is no acceptable best way to chronic disease management. Evidence that has been observed throughout the world brings out clearly that, to be successful, policy-makers should put into consideration: Providing well-built leadership and vision at the national, regional or organizational level which should oversee all that is required for the programs to succeed. They should ensure full-bodied collection of information and data-sharing among all the stakeholders in the health sector. Care should be provided based on people’s needs and an ability to identify people with different levels of need; They should also put in place measures that target key risk factors, including widespread disease prevention initiatives. Growing towards supporting self-management and empowerment of people with chronic diseases Policy brief should involving a wide range of stakeholders such as individuals, the voluntary and community sector, clinicians, private industry and public services. Future Disease management programs should be tailored to reduce the costs associated with care for people suffering from chronic illnesses. The growing costs of operations such as dialysis are still a major concern in most countries. But with the Disease management programs in place these costs are expected to decline and lead to improved care even through public health for chronic disease cases. However reducing the costs with DM programs has been successful in some areas but the drug treatment especially in diabetic cases seems to be an area where the growing costs are inevitable.

DHTML Lessons :: Technology, Informative

DHTML LESSONS Lesson 1 - Introduction What you should already know Before you continue you should have a basic understanding of the following: „X WWW, HTML and the basics of building Web pages „X Cascading Style Sheets „X JavaScript If you want to study these subjects first, go to our Home Page DHTML does not exist ! DHTML is an abbreviation for the term "Dynamic HTML". But DHTML is just a buzzword. DHTML does not exist. It is not a "thing" or a standard defined by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). It is not defined anywhere. It is just a fancy word. It is important that you know this (so you don't make a fool of yourself when you are talking with the pros). So what is DHTML? To most people DHTML means a combination of HTML 4.0, Style Sheets and JavaScript. W3C once said this: "Dynamic HTML is a term used by some vendors to describe the combination of HTML, style sheets and scripts that allows documents to be animated." The Elements of DHTML HTML 4.0 HTML 4.0 introduced two important things: Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), and the Document Object Model (DOM). Creating dynamic HTML documents would not be possible without these two additions. Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) With CSS we got a style and layout model for HTML documents. Creating dynamic HTML documents would not be possible without CSS. Document Object Model With the DOM we got a document content model for HTML documents. Creating dynamic HTML documents would not be possible without the DOM. JavaScript (and VBScript) With HTML 4.

Wedding Toasts †Topics to Avoid :: Wedding Toasts Roasts Speeches

Wedding Toasts – Topics to Avoid Don’t Mention Anything About â€Å"Milk† or â€Å"Cows† At the rehearsal dinner, one of the bridesmaids, who had been drinking, gave a toast. It started off just fine, but then she ended it with " thank God, sometimes guys do buy the cow even when they get the milk for free!" Don’t Blasphemy About a year ago, my fiancà © and I attended the wedding of my cousin. She married her college sweetheart, and the bridal party was made up mostly of their college friends. During the toast, the best man decides to talk about when he first knew the groom was going to propose. He says that he and the groom were in New Orleans celebrating Mardi Gras. He was surprised to hear about the upcoming proposal at that time, given that they were surrounded by women taking their tops off to get beads. The conclusion he comes to--and proceeds to tell the whole group of family, friends, and of course the bride's father--is that my cousin "must have better breasts than God." Don’t Comment on the Many Years it took for the Bride to Find a Sucker (Husband) At my wedding a year ago, my father gave a toast that went over like a lead balloon. He said (in paraphrase), "I've seen my daughter grow through the years and have had a few laughs, like the time she fell in the toilet as a small child. She was so mad at me for laughing at her, that I think maybe that's why it took her so long to find a man to marry." (I was 32 when I got married.) Remember, It’s a Wedding Toast, not an Esoteric Diatribe My husband's brother is well known for his selfishness. He was the best man in our wedding and gave the worst toast you could ever imagine. The speech was typed, single-spaced, on 5 pages, front and back. It lasted about 20 minutes and I (the bride) don't recall being mentioned once. The theme of the speech was "I'm losing my brother" and contained gems like "I can't believe he is getting married", "it's going to be so weird" and "we won't be able to hang out anymore". I was not welcomed to the family, not congratulated, not spoken to or looked at. And we get along just fine -- it wasn't intended to be disrespectful.

The Matrix Essay -- essays research papers

<a href="http://www.geocities.com/vaksam/">Sam Vaknin's Psychology, Philosophy, Economics and Foreign Affairs Web Sites It is easy to confuse the concepts of "virtual reality" and a "computerized model of reality (simulation)". The former is a self-contained Universe, replete with its "laws of physics" and "logic". It can bear resemblance to the real world or not. It can be consistent or not. It can interact with the real world or not. In short, it is an arbitrary environment. In contrast, a model of reality must have a direct and strong relationship to the world. It must obey the rules of physics and of logic. The absence of such a relationship renders it meaningless. A flight simulator is not much good in a world without aeroplanes or if it ignores the laws of nature. A technical analysis program is useless without a stock exchange or if its mathematically erroneous. Yet, the two concepts are often confused because they are both mediated by and reside on computers. The computer is a self-contained (though not closed) Universe. It incorporates the hardware, the data and the instructions for the manipulation of the data (software). It is, therefore, by definition, a virtual reality. It is versatile and can correlate its reality with the world outside. But it can also refrain from doing so. This is the ominous "what if" in artificial intelligence (AI). What if a computer were to refuse to correlate its internal (virtual) reality with the reality of its makers? What if it were to impose its own reality on us and make it the privileged one? In the visually tantalizing movie, "The Matrix", a breed of AI computers takes over the world. It harvests human embryos in laboratories called "fields". It then feeds them through grim looking tubes and keeps them immersed in gelatinous liquid in cocoons. This new "machine species" derives its energy needs from the electricity produced by the billions of human bodies thus preserved. A sophisticated, all-pervasive, computer program called "The Matrix" generates a "world" inhabited by the consciousness of the unfortunate human batteries. Ensconced in their shells, they see themselves walking, talking, working and making love. This is a tangible and olfactory phantasm masterfully created by the Matrix. Its ... ... people the same way that the Universe triggers a time sensation in us. Something does happen OUT THERE and it is called the Matrix. In this sense, the Matrix is real, it is the reality of these humans. It maintains the requirement of the first type of flow of data. But it fails the second test: people do not know that it exists or any of its attributes, nor do they affect it irreversibly. They do not change the Matrix. Paradoxically, the rebels do affect the Matrix (they almost destroy it). In doing so, they make it REAL. It is their REALITY because they KNOW it and they irreversibly CHANGE it. Applying this dual-track test, "virtual" reality IS a reality, albeit, at this stage, of a deterministic type. It affects our minds, we know that it exists and we affect it in return. Our choices and actions irreversibly alter the state of the system. This altered state, in turn, affects our minds. This interaction IS what we call "reality". With the advent of stochastic and quantum virtual reality generators - the distinction between "real" and "virtual" will fade. The Matrix thus is not impossible. But that it is possible - does not make it real.

Walmart

WAL-MART’S COST LEADERSHIP STRATEGY HISTORY OF WALMART ? 1962, Sam Walton starts WAL-MART ? In 5 years expanded to 24 stores revenue more than 12. 6 million in sales ? 1972, listed in New York Stock Exchange MARKETS OF WAL-MART (2003) o Total Sale of Wal-mart o Total Retail Area o Total Employers US $ 313 Billion 663 Million Sq. ft. 1700,000 SALES & INCOME GROWTH (PAST 12 MONTH) COMPANY INDUSTRY SALES GROWTH INCOME GROWTH 12. 00% 5. 20% 11. 50% 5. 90% NET PROFIT MARGINS (%) COMPANY COMPANY 5YEAR AVG. INDUSTRY 3. 6% 3. 5% 3. 6% WAL-MART TODAY ? Operates 6,500 stores in 15 countries ?Serves more than 176 million customers around the globe ? Employs 1. 8 million worldwide ? Health plans insure more than 1 million people ? Saves the average American household more than $2,300 per year Let us start the journey†¦. 1960’s†¦.. The Success Term was EDLP ? EVERY DAY LOW PRICING ? To provide customers – a wide variety of high quality, branded and unbranded product s at the lowest possible price, offering better value for their money EDLP : The strategy ? To procure products in bulk at the lowest possible prices from the manufacturers ? Sharing the savings with customers ?Wal-Mart’s products were usually priced 20% lower than its competitors Wal-Mart’s advertisement describing EDLP said: â€Å"Because you work hard for your every dollar, you deserve the lowest price we can offer every time you make a purchase. You deserve our Every Day Low Price. It’s not a sale; it’s a great price you can count on every day to make your dollar go further at WalMart † Explaining his pricing strategy Mr. Sam Walton said: â€Å" By cutting your price, you can boost your sales to a point where you earn far more at the cheaper retail price than you would have by selling the item at the higher price.In retailer language; you can lower your markup but earn more because of the increased volume† EDLP : WAS A HIT ? This led to increase loyalty from priceconscious rural customers. ? The surplus generated was re-invested in – Building facilities of an efficient scale – Purchasing modern business related equipment – And employing the latest technology Other areas where the cost was checked ? The stores were set up in large buildings, while ensuring that the rent paid was minimal ? Not much emphasis was laid on the interiors of the store ? Did not invest in standardized ordering programmes ?Did not even have a standard distribution system in place ? Accounting data were manually written-up ? There was a high check in recruiting the staff 1970’s†¦. ? Wal-Mart became public-held company ? Equipped with funds, it started reorganizationing its business activities. ? The foremost challenge was to put in place a standard distribution and interstore communication system ? So it came up with the most popular Hub And Spoke Structure The Hub And Spoke Structure ? Goods were centrally or dered ? Assembled at the distribution center (hub) ?From where they were dispatched to the individual stores (spokes) as per the orders received from stores. STORE STORE D. C. STORE STORE The benefits of Hub and Spoke structure ? Centralized purchase of goods in huge quantities ? Distribution of them through its own fast and responsive logistics infrastructure to the retail stores ? By passing all intermediaries, they managed to get the goods at lowest price ? The company was able to replenish the store twice a week ? In 1978, Wal-Mart became the first company to establish a fullyautomated distribution centerClaude Harris once stated that : â€Å"Don’t ever feel sorry for a vendor. He always knows what he can sell, and we want his bottom price. We would tell the vendors ‘ don’t leave in any room for a kickback because we don’t do it here. † Massive expansion strategy ? Strategy was to build stores around the distribution centers ? That is to be effe ctively served by the center and controlled by district managers and to management at Bentonville ? The store needs to be a maximum of a day’s drive away from the center Benefits of massive expansion strategy Wal-Mart was able to accelerate its revenue growth and reap significant economies of scale ? As the number of store increased the popularity of the company increased ? Since the company generated tremendous word of mouth publicity, it was able to minimize spending on advertising and promotion activities 1980’s†¦..Maintaining cost through re-investment ? In 1983, Wal-Mart ventured into the membership club business – called Sam’s Club ? Installed the Point of Sale (POS) scanning system to further reduce the cost Maintaining cost through re-investment (contd. ) In 1987, it installed a Satellite Communication System (SCS) ? In December 1987, Wal-Mart opened its first hyper-mart in the US 1990’s†¦.. ? Supercenters and Sam’s club we re more focused to fuel the growth ? In 1994, Wal-Mart bought 99 Pace membership warehouses Wal-Mart’s store count (1991-2003) Format________ year 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 Discount Sam’s club stores 1573 1720 1850 1953 1990 Super center 3 6 30 68 143 Neighbourhood markets – 148 208 256 419 428 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 1995 1960 1921 1869 1801 1736 1647 433 436 443 564 721 888 1066 219 44 441 451 463 475 500 1 1 7 19 31 2003 1568 1258 525 49 Source : Wal-Mart Annual Report 2003 ? Employed improved inventory management practices and upgraded its IT systems ? Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) AND THE RESULTS WERE GOOD†¦. ? Amount of inventory reduced by an estimated $ 2 billion ? Savings of $ 150 million on interest cost were generated 2000’s†¦.. ? Wal-Mart launched a programme called ‘Store of the community’ ? ‘Global Sourcing’ was initiated (2002) Strengths of Wal-Mart Wal-mart’s SUBSIDIARIES Discount st ores Neighbourhood market Sam’s Club Super centerYearly sales Total employees across the globe (approximately) Number of stores worldwide Number of new stores opened in 2003 (worldwide) Total number of suppliers Wal-Mart’s rank/position among all retailers across the globe (in terms of sales) Number of pallets shipped by Wal-Mart truck every week (2002) Total occupied floor area of Wal-Mart (2002) Yearly advertising expenditure (2002) Highest one-day sales record till date (November 28, 2003) Number of customers every week at Wal-Mart stores worldwide (approximately) Estimated market capitalization of Wal-Mart in 2020 Source : Wal-Mart Annual Report 2003 244. 5 billion 1. 3 million 4,688 274 65,000 1 50 million 18. 3 square miles $498 million $1. 52 billion 138 million $11. 1 trillion Revenue (%) of the major consumer goods companies in the US through Wal-Mart Company P&G Tandy Brand’s Accessories RJR Tobacco Dial’s Del Monte Foods’ Clorox’ Revlon’s % Share (As a % of total sales) 17 % 39 % 20 % 28 24 % 23 % 23 % Source : BusinessWeek, October 2003 †¦. and the journey still continues †¦ PRESENTED BY :~ o o o o o o Prashant Wankhede Prajakta Sane R. Maruthi Yeshwanth Vikram Gharmalkar Mehul Chheda Nitin Agrawal

Poverty and Domestic Violence

The topics chosen from the given scenario are domestic violence, poverty and feminism. Women's Aid (2009) defines domestic violence as physical, sexual, psychological, or financial. This takes place within an intimate or family type relationship. All forms of domestic violence come from the abuser's desire for power and control. The perpetrator is most commonly male but can be female. For the purpose of the assignment I will use the terminology domestic violence rather than domestic abuse because although the latter is the preferred term a lot of the texts still refer to this as violence. One in four women will be a victim of domestic violence in their lifetime; many of these on a number of occasions. One incident of domestic violence is reported to the police every minute and on average two women are killed by a current or former partner every week (Women's Aid, 2009). These statistics speak volumes as to the enormous problem we as social workers face. This assignment will briefly discuss interventions employed to ease poverty in history. Social policy and laws pertaining to domestic violence will be highlighted. Feminism will be used to mention the origins and dynamics of domestic violence. The Ecological Theory and its relevance to social work practice will be demonstrated. Personal reflection will be given and finally a conclusion will draw together the aforementioned topics. History and political development Domestic abuse can be resultant of social structural factors such as bad housing, unemployment and poverty. One can not plot the history of domestic abuse because historically it was seen as a private family matter rather than a societal issue but it is possible to look at a potential causal issue: poverty. An act which was designed to alleviate poverty was the English Poor Laws introduced in 1601 this dictated that the poor and disabled were taken care of by the working able bodied and the local parishes. The work houses accommodated thousands of poor people who had no choice but to enter these foreboding establishments if they could not find work. Prior to this the poor were cared for by charity (Marshall, 2002). Enlightenment arose in the eighteenth century as a result of the French addressing their problem of poverty, this was more a way of thinking than a movement but this spread across Europe. This belief was that the government should reward efforts of those working and should not make those poorer when they are willing to work by failing to provide employment. (McStay Adams, 1991). Less known for helping the poor is the contribution of religious women, one such example being the Sisters of Mercy who for many years during the 1800's provided direct aid to the poor. The Sisters of Mercy helped establish social welfare systems and according to Luquet (2005) contributed to what became social work. In 1942 the Beveridge Report highlighted what was referred to as the ‘five giants'. These were idleness, squalor, want, disease and ignorance. As a result of this a programme of employment was introduced, new houses were built, benefit schemes were initiated, free healthcare was available to everyone and free secondary education was provided by the state (Aslangul et al, 2000). Thatcherism is the term referred to during the period between 1979 and 1991 when Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister. During her time in office she was concerned with controlling Britain's money supply, known as monetarism. She began privatising public companies and introduced the controversial poll tax. When New Labour was elected they merely retreated further from a commitment to welfare. Basically, they moved away from their traditional roots (McAuley, 2003). Social policy and law Social work has witnessed unprecedented changes as a result of the ever changing social policies and new laws which in turn have forced social work to adapt at an alarming rate. Humphrey cited in Davies (2008) in reference to domestic violence wrote; significant barriers are apparent when working in this area but the increase in awareness has resulted in the development of legislation, policy and practice. The Women's Movement in Britain during the 1960's and 1970's was influenced by radical feminism from USA. The ideology of this was to campaign for equal pay, job opportunities, education, reproductive freedom, childcare, financial and legal independence and end violence against women (Dobash and Dobash, 1992). The acknowledgment of violence in families was over 150 years ago when The Act for Prevention and Punishment of Aggravated Assaults on Women and Children 1853 and the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 (McKie, 2005). The first legal recognition in recent history was given to domestic abuse and the women's need to escape from violence in their homes with the introduction of The Domestic Violence Act 1976 (Pascall, 1997). Interagency collaboration is essential when working in the area of domestic violence. Working Together provides comprehensive and detailed guidance for professionals (Department for Education and Skills, 2006). To protect the victim of domestic violence the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 is in place which can be used to protect someone from behaviour which causes psychological injury. The Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004 extend this power (Brayne and Carr, 2008). The Adoption and Children Act 2002 was amended to include the definition of harm, which now states ‘impairment suffered from seeing or hearing the ill treatment of another'. Those vulnerable because of domestic violence or the threat of violence are given priority for housing according to the Homeless Act 2002 (Alcock, 2008). Chung et al (2001) reported that the government suggested to gp's to consider routinely screening women for domestic violence to try and increase rates of identification. However, it is only recently that this concept has been implemented in midwifery but has yet to become commonplace in general practice. This is disappointing because more women are seen by gp's. Also, women may see their doctor about something which may appear unrelated but as Humphreys and Thiara (2003) explain depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and self harm are so prevalent amongst abused women these are referred to as ‘symptoms of abuse' which could be picked up and acted upon by gp's. Feminism Dutton (2007) wrote that psychiatry in the early twentieth century had determined that women remain in abusive relationships because the punishment fills an unconscious need in them. Fortunately, this viewpoint was seen as victim blaming by feminists. Feminists all share the same basic philosophy of wanting fairness and equality. There are however several feminist theories such as radical feminism. It was feminists who first highlighted domestic violence and other taboo issues which were previously beyond public scrutiny because it was thought these belonged to the private sphere of the family (Hester and Pearson cited in Trevithick 2005). Research shows there is a link between domestic violence and child abuse. Women with learning disabilities have been found to be vulnerable as are physically disabled women (Humphries cited in Davies, 2008). A very powerful statement by Stacey and Price cited in Pascall (1997) wrote domestic violence is a way men assert power over women. Foucalt (1979) disputes this suggestion because he says power is not used against another and power is not seen as a property or possession. Karl Marx highlighted women's inequalities and their oppression within society but capitalism was mentioned as being the main reason for this (McAuley, 2003). According to Harris (2005) feminists criticise the media especially the film industry for the film industry for their explicit portrayal of sex and glorifying male violence against women. Similarly, reported allegations of rape are increasing while convictions in the UK decline (McKie, 2005). This knowledge does not instil much confidence in women and in my opinion damages the feminist principles that have taken so long to construct. It must be recognised that only a small number of men are interested in pro-feminist theories and ideas. Ecological theory, social work practice and reflection. The ecological theory in sociology has a direct connection to human interactions. It explores the relationship of the physical environment and human culture (Macionis and Plummer, 2005). Using this theory it attempts to link violence in the family to the broader social environment. As a social worker one must recognise women who are being subjected to domestic violence and need a network of support. These include cultural, formal, informal social family networks, the closer family setting and circumstances and family history. It is important to know the policies and laws pertaining to domestic violence. Also, it is beneficial to have knowledge of safe houses, counselling services and practical support. My personal opinion about domestic violence has not changed over the years. Although, I have recently recognised and accept the relationship between low self esteem and domestic violence. I had a fortunate upbringing and my father always instilled in me the importance of having self respect first and foremost when meeting people. I did have a friend who was subjected to domestic violence but she did not confide in me until her boyfriend had left her for another woman, which I told her was a blessing for her. The thought of someone being violent towards another human being makes me feel sick and I can not comprehend what motivates anyone to abuse another person. Conclusion This assignment has explored domestic violence, poverty, history and politics in relation to poverty. Policies and laws were mentioned which protect those subjected to domestic violence. Feminism was discussed, the ecological theory was briefly applied to domestic violence and an explanation was given to its relevance to social work. Finally, I reflected on my own thoughts and feelings in relation to domestic violence. Having completed this assignment and read widely on the subject of domestic violence I feel this is an emotive area which requires much empathy and support. I believe the most important qualities when working with this issue is to be the victims advocate and empower them on their terms.