Wednesday, October 30, 2019

The Human Genome Project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Human Genome Project - Essay Example As the reported given by the US Department of Energy said "The ultimate goal of this initiative is to understand the human genome" and "Knowledge of the human genome is as necessary to the continuing progress of medicine and other health sciences as knowledge of human anatomy has been for the present state of medicine." Officially, the project was founded in 1990 by the US Department of Energy and the US National institute of Health. It was estimated that the project would take 15 years, but advances in sequencing technology led to a faster completion of the project, the project being completed 2 years earlier that estimated, in 2003. Ari Patrinos, who is the head of the Office of Biological and Environmental Research, led the Human genome project that was initiated by the US Department of Energy. However, in the US, the Department of Energy was not the only institution that explored the human genome. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) also gave an effort in determining the huma n genome. From 1988 to 1992 the head of the National Center for Human Genome Research (NCHGR), which was a part of NIH was James Watson, who in April 1993 was replaced with Francis Collins, due to issue of patenting genes. The NCHGR) was also renamed in 1997 into National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI). ... At any given time, the Human Genome Project funded about 200 separate principal investigators. There were also many private research companies that conducted genome research. The most famous privetly owned company that was involved in the Human genome project was the company owned by Craig Venter and his company Celera Genomics, which gave considerable improvement to the project. It must be mentioned that this was also an international effort. There were at least 18 countries who had human genome research programs. Some of the larger programs are in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, European Union, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, Russia, Sweden, United Kingdom, and the United States. Some developing countries also participated in the project, mainly by studying sequencing techniques for genome research. The Human Genome Organisation (HUGO) coordinated this international effort. The estimated finances that were allocated to the Human genome project are around $ 3 billion. These not include the privately funded organizations and companies, but only the government projects. Celera Genomic states that around $ 300 million dollars were spend for the project, which was much less than the government-funded project. There were several main goals of the Human Genome project. The goals did not include only identifying the 3 billion nucleotides located in the DNA and to the discover 25 000 genes located there, but also to: Store this information in databases, Improve tools for data analysis, Transfer related technologies to the private sector, and Address the ethical, legal, and social issues (ELSI) that may arise from the project. Due to the massive funding, interest and international effort as well

Monday, October 28, 2019

How Technology Affects Library Referencing Essay Example for Free

How Technology Affects Library Referencing Essay It is indeed obvious and true how technology generates most of the things that humans deal with today. The global economy as for example is being controlled by massive computer programs for the sake of considerable advancements for the human society. Alongside with this particular advancement, educational sectors also take advantage of the major innovations made through the use of science and technology. As for this matter, it could be noted that library referencing have also been recreated to be able to support the needs of the present generation from referencing the books that are available through the libraries. How is this possible? The existence of numerous technology-based systems that are primarily made to ease the problems of file-fixing in the field of library-based jobs entirely makes the jobs of the Librarians quite easy to deal with today. As it could be noticed, years before, librarians are expected to type in several details with regards a certain book in card catalogs. Not to mention, alphabetizing them and in tall and long ended cabinets is not that easy to do. The procedure indeed takes time and the filing up takes so much space form the library. Seeing this situation, it could be observed that the technological changes that are appreciated by the libraries of the present generation are now able to increase the capabilities of the libraries to hold more students in terms of space and enhance the skills of the librarian in meeting the issues that concern the students in terms of library-based queries since they already have time for this unlike that of the past years? Furthermore, the question: â€Å"How is this possible† points out to one particular focus of discussion; knowing that technology causes changes to the system of cataloging in the libraries, how do these procedures of filing the book-informations so far helpful both to the students and the librarian as well regardless of the obvious disadvantages mentioned earlier? How are the students able to benefit from the technology-fixed files and informations of books? Does technology really affect the procedures of referencing in the future? These questions are the primary discussions that shall be tackled within the context of this paper. Library and Technology Cataloging is an olden time procedure that is made to arrange the collection of books within libraries. Of course, since libraries are considered to have a large collection of reading materials, arranging them into categories helps in the process of researching for the students or plain readers alone. However, this procedure of arranging the files and taking notes of the information with regards a certain book takes much time and effort from the librarians that they are already incapable of doing the primary responsibility that they should be addressing in their profession, assisting the readers. Today, the development of technology aides in libraries have created a radical change within the systems of arranging the files as well as redefined the role of librarians in completing the tasks appointed for them to finish. Several operating systems are created to be bale to assist the librarians and the readers in browsing the books that are collected by a certain library. What is an operating system, and how does it help in the procedure of making cataloging much easier for librarians? What are Operating Systems? Every computer system is controlled by an operating system. A pre-programmed system controls the operations that the computer system is supposed to perform. This mainly pertains to the responsibilities of the computer and how it is able to complete the tasks that are further addressed to its performance. At present, the operating systems are referred to as computer programs that are supposed to manage both the hardware and software systems of the entire computer facilities. There are . five main tasks that the OS performs as a program: †¢Controlling and Allocating Memory This task mainly focuses on the capability of the computer programs to assimilate the memory priorities of the entire computer system. To allocate the memory means designating the memory priorities on which its performance is most needed. †¢Prioritizing System Requests Most of the time, the system follows a â€Å"first Come First Serve† arrangement. As a result, in multi tasking systems the operations are carried on basing on what request came first, and what has been allocated by the system to come in priority. †¢Controlling Input and Output Devices The input devices are the ones used to enter information within the computer memory while the output devices are the ones used to produce hardcopy of the informations entered within the system. The operating systems that is present within the computer makes it possible for the computer device to perform well and do as it is programmed to. †¢Facilitating Networking To be able to connect to others, networking the systems is needed. Once an operating system is programmed to perform such tasks, it would be able to connect two different systems together to be able to have a connected exchange of information and communication as well. †¢Managing Files To manage files means to arrange them on what part of the memory should be utilized by the files. It also sorts out the files with the necessary section of the computer memory should it be stored in. (Source: Warford, J. Stanley. (2005). Computer Systems. Jones Bartlett Publishers; 3rd edition.. )

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Graduation Speech: Carry On! :: Graduation Speech, Commencement Address

I will open with a quote, "a failure is not someone who tries and fails, but rather someone who fails and gives up." I started my freshmen year of high school at East High. From the start I struggled to complete my school work. Low motivation was the major factor that eventually led to me failing english, math, science, physical education, you name it I failed it. As I began to lose more credits and fail more courses my self esteem plummeted along with my motivation. By my sophomore year I felt like a major failure and as such I wanted desperately to drop out of high school. With the little motivation I had left and tremendous support from my mother I continued school for another year. As my junior year wore on however it became apparent that I was falling in short in my courses once again. My failures seemed have stacked up all through high school and I was now left to face a pile of failings a mile high. In a last ditch effort I consulted my high school councilor and discussed what options I had to finished school. After careful consideration I decided that Winema was the option for me. I was wrong if I thought that Winema was just a means of getting my diploma. It goes fare beyond academic instruction only. Winema, I learned, is a place where you form friendships that contribute to your educational learning as well as to the development of your identity. Through the use of traditional and alternative teaching styles the school brings communication, art, and critical thinking into what could be the dry facts of curriculum. When I arrived for my first day at the high school I realized how very diverse we are as a student body. Even at a glance it is obvious that we come from all walks of life, all ages, and all colors. We each have different beliefs and religious affiliations, but we all have one thing in common. We are not failures. In spite of our disappointment at times or just the need to make a change we trudged on in order to get our high school diplomas. We relied on our friends and family and on each other to get through the tough times at Winema. When life was just not going well, and getting to school seemed like a monumental task, we persisted by continuing to attend and plowing the road that led to our diploma.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Compare & Contrats: Lineman Terms

In the electrical construction business, power companies can choose whether to use contractors or their own workers to complete a job. They must consider the size of the job and time frame they have to complete the job. The work habits of contract linemen and Georgia Power Company linemen play a large part in the decision of which group will be the best to complete the job. Lineman use heavy equipment to complete their jobs. An aerial bucket is a truck that has a fiberglass boom, a long scissor like arm, with an isolated bucket attached so that linemen can use it to reach energized electrical lines. Some of these buckets have a special fiberglass arm at the end of the boom with a roller on it, called a jib, which uses a winch to lift heavy objects up to one thousand pounds, called material handlers. Contractors use a two man material handling bucket. Due to strict rules about working two conductors at the same time, Georgia Power lineman can’t work out of a two man bucket so they use a single man material handling truck. The next piece of equipment used by a lineman is a line truck. It has an auger attached to the boom that digs deep holes for the pole to be set. This truck also sets the pole and can lift heavy objects with its winch line, similar to how a crane works. The contractor’s truck has a center mounted boom, which has a seat mounted at the base on the boom. This truck can work the same strength from either side of the truck. Unlike the contractor’s truck, the Georgia Power lineman’s truck is a corner mounted boom, which is located on the rear passenger side of the truck. It has a farther reach off of the passenger side of the truck, but it is not as strong on the driver side of the truck. These trucks have to pull trailers behind them to haul poles around. A contract lineman uses a thirty foot pole trailer which is the standard size used to haul around a large number of poles. The company lineman uses a material trailer that is about fifteen foot long with boxes on the side to hold wire and materials. When they need to haul a pole, the tongue can be extended out to the length needed. This trailer can only haul about five poles at max. Although they use different trucks, the truck’s joysticks and levers all have the same functions. One of the major similarities between a contractor and a Georgia Power lineman is that they both have to follow rules and regulations from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the National Electrical Safety Code standards. They both have to wear a harness when working out of the bucket, and wear a body belt, has two d-rings placed at the hips that you attach a strap to, when they are six feet off the ground on a pole or ladder. Both types of lineman must wear rubber gloves while working in the bucket that cover hand up to the elbow. A contractor wears class three rubber gloves. They are rated for thirty thousand volts. Working on the same line, a Georgia Power lineman can wear class two gloves that are rated for twenty thousand volts. The reason for the difference in standards is the amount of cover-up used, which is another way linemen stay protected while working on electrical wires. It is called this because they use it to cover the energized lines. Cover-up is orange colored so that the linemen can easily see it and it comes in many forms. The contract linemen and company linemen use hoses, blankets, and hoods to cover-up the power lines. A hose, sometimes called an eel, is six feet long and slides over the wire to cover around it. A blanket is a four foot square that is used to wrap around the pole, its arms, or insulators. A hood is pre-formed to fit insulators perfectly, but not all linemen use them because they take up too much space on the truck. A contactor does not use the same amount of cover-up as a Georgia Power lineman would. Company linemen have a four step cover-up procedure. First, they must cover the conductors in the order they come to them. Second, before uncovering an energized conductor, all paths to ground must be covered. A ground is anything that an electric current can use to get back to the earth from the wire. Third, before working on a grounded component, all energized conductors must be covered. Last, the cover-up must be removed in the order it was placed. It makes for a little more work for the company lineman, but it keeps them from having to wear rubber sleeves. Unlike the company lineman, a contractor must wear rubber sleeves which start at the top of the shoulder and covers down to the wrist because they don’t use the four rules of cover-up. When the trucks are in an area of energized lines, a contract lineman always has to ground their truck to the pole ground. The truck ground is a copper wire that ties the truck through the pole ground to the system neutral to protect from accidental electrical charge. A power company lineman only has to ground their truck when setting oles and only if there is a chance of an accidental contact to the truck due to a broken insulator or pole. Contractors must do a lot of traveling in order to keep their job; they don’t have a set location to work from. At the power company, a lineman stays at the same headquarters during his career. Since the lineman is at home, the company calls him to work for local power outages. When major hurricanes strike the coast lines, tornados blow away cities, or blizzards freeze a mountain town, both types of linemen can be asked to help restore power to these communities. When a contractor goes out of town, his crew will be the only ones that work together during the restoration. They will meet up with fellow contract lineman only for meals and meetings. As a Georgia Power lineman, you are sent out with your whole region. A caravan of trucks and vans leave the headquarters and travel to their destination together to help restore power to the area. There are also support members from inside the office that travel with the team. While away from home, contract linemen either sleep in a hotel or, on occasion, sleep inside their trucks. The power company linemen have a support team to make sure they get a good place to sleep every night while on the storm group. So the likelihood of having to sleep in their trucks is slim to none. The quality of work differs between the contract lineman and a Georgia Power lineman. A contract lineman bids on the job and gets paid per task they complete. Because speed equals money, a contract lineman tends to rush through work to finish faster. Because he is rushed, the maybe work is unsatisfactory to trained company lineman. Contractors have a saying, â€Å"It looks good to me. You can’t see it from my house. † A company lineman can take his time and do his job safely and this reflects in his work. He takes pride in his work because he can ride around his community and look at project he has worked on. I know firsthand the work habits of a contract lineman and a Georgia Power Company lineman. I worked for contractors for five years before I was hired by the power company. After many years of line experience, I have noticed that my work and safety habits improved after becoming a company lineman. Even though both types of linemen have the same profession, they approach the job in different ways to complete it. A power company chooses contractors over company linemen when it is necessary to stay devoted to a single job they are working on. Company linemen have the responsibility of responding to power outages, and this extends the time it takes to complete the job. The pros and cons of both types of linemen and the time it takes to complete the job are the two major factors that are taken into consideration by Georgia Power Company when deciding which group will be assigned to the job.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Separation of Mixtures and Solids

After gathering all the material needed to conduct these experiments, the first experiment was initiated. The mixture of solids was weighed out as well as the 10cm square piece of paper and the weighing dish. The mixture was spread out in a very thin layer on a piece of paper, the magnet was wrapped with clear plastic and the magnet was passed over the mixture several times to remove the iron from the mixture.The iron was placed on the 10cm square paper and weighed. The next step was to separate out the sand. The sand was placed in the beaker with 50mL of water and heated to close to boiling. The hot liquid was poured into a Styrofoam cup and another 10mL of distilled water was added to the beaker and again it was heated to near boiling and poured into the same Styrofoam cup. The second heating was to ensure all the sodium chloride and benzoic acid was removed from the sand.The Styrofoam cup was placed into an ice bath, the benzoic acid began crystallizing in the ice bath as it start ed cooling. The sand in the beaker was heated very carefully to allow it to dry. After the sand was dried it was weighed. The benzoic acid and salt were separated. A filter paper was inserted in the funnel and the cup with the salt and benzoic acid was poured into the funnel. A graduated cylinder with 5mL of water was inserted into the ice bath; this was poured into the funnel to eliminate any of the sodium chloride that may have been missed.The filter paper was laid out on several paper towels to dry. After the filter paper has dried it will be weighed and the weight of the filter paper will be subtracted from the total to obtain the exact amount of the benzoic acid. The paper cup of sodium chloride was set aside to allow it to dry. Once it is dry it will be weighed and the weight of the paper cup will be subtracted to obtain the weight of the  sodium chloride.GramsPercent of MixtureTotalsSand5.4g54%54% Iron0.9g9%63% Dried Sand1.2g12%75% Salt1.8g18%93% Benzoic Acid0.7g7%100%Discu ssionI can see room for error when pouring the water out of the beaker some of the sand could be poured out with it, thereby creating an inaccurate result of dried sand. There is also the possibility of some of the benzoic acid and sodium chloride remaining in the beaker, getting stuck to the sides and again creating an inaccurate result for these two mixtures. When the water is poured through the paper in the funnel some of the benzoic acid could remain in the sodium chloride which would create another inaccurate amount for the benzoic acid.The iron could be slightly inaccurate due to the fact that it was not possible to get every single piece off the plastic wrap and into the dish, although the very small pieces may not have added up to much it might have contributed to an inaccurate amount. The initial sand weight is the most accurate; there was no room for error there.Questions1.How did your proposed procedures or flow charts at the beginning of this experiment compare to the ac tual procedures of this lab exercise? I knew the iron could be removed with a magnet. I wasn’t sure how to remove the sodium chloride and benzoic acid. 2.Discuss potential advantaged or disadvantaged of your proposed procedure compared to the one actually used. The only advantage to my procedure was using the magnet to remove the iron. I didn’t know how to remove the sodium chloride or benzoic acid. 3.How would you explain a sand recovery percentage that is higher than the original sand percentage?Perhaps you didn’t remove all the iron out or there was still some sodium chloride or benzoic acid still left in the sand. 4.What were potential sources of error in this experiment? When pouring water out of the beaker some of the sand could be poured out with it. There is also the  possibility of some of the benzoic acid and sodium chloride remaining in the beaker, getting stuck to the sides and again creating an inaccurate result for these two mixtures.When the wat er is poured through the paper in the funnel some of the benzoic acid could remain in the sodium chloride which would create another inaccurate amount for the benzoic acid. The iron could be slightly inaccurate due to the fact that it was not possible to get every single piece off the plastic wrap and into the dish, although the very small pieces may not have added up to much it might have contributed to an inaccurate amount.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Howards End as a realistic no essays

Howards End as a realistic no essays Howards End by E.M. Forster was written in 1910. It is considered to be a realistic novel presenting the English society during the early twentieth century in many aspects including social, economical, philosophical forces and mood reflecting the English people. Forster uses Howards End as a symbol of England, with its rural past and its more urban future, its quintessential English-ness, and its role in the lives of most of the main characters.(Sparknotes) The story reveals the plausible relationship and actions of people in different classes of the society who explore the changes taken place in Edwardian Era. The use of symbolism can be found throughout the book for the purpose of expressing the society in certain aspects. To one extent, the novel also gives clues to the future of England in the sense that which class of people would come to define the nation. To begin with the characters presented in the novel. Forster makes all the characters as realistic as possible. All the characters in Howards End portray the different social classes of England in the early years of twentieth century. There are three major families representing three different classes and ideologies: the Schlegels, the Wilcoxes and the Basts. Obviously, these three groups are set against one another in relief, gradually intertwining their stories. The Schlegels are the major focus of the book. Historically, they represent the liberal social attitudes of the Edwardian era then emerging in England after the death of Queen Victoria. The Schlegels consist of mainly three characters: Margaret Schlegel, Helen Schlegel and Tibby Schlegel. Margaret is a twenty-nine years old woman who plays as the chief protagonist of the story. She is the oldest sister of the family, having a younger sister Helen and the youngest brother Tibby. The Schlegels are the mixture of English and German heritage, representing the liberal, idealistic and ...

Monday, October 21, 2019

Dont Overdo Do

Dont Overdo Do Dont Overdo Do Dont Overdo Do By Maeve Maddox Walking past a bank the other day I noticed a sign that said We do loans. Ive known for some time that some people do lunch, but I missed the transition from making loans to doing loans. This usage of all-purpose do in a multitude of expressions is nothing new in English. Ask Bessie to do the flowers for church. Mr. Ping does our garden. The stable boys do the horses. When is the painter going to do this room? I plan to do the room in red and gold. I can do you now, Sir, said the barber. Even the word do-able which sounds so modern and breezy to my ear has been around since 1449. c1449 PECOCK Repr. I. vii. 37 A lawe..which is doable and not oonli knoweable. (OED) No doubt about itdo is a handy word that serves us well. Professional writers, however, may want to add do to their list of words to cull in a final revision. Hair and flowers may be arranged, gardens tended, and rooms decorated. And banks make loans. (At least, theyre supposed to.) Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Running Amok or Running Amuck?If I Was vs. If I Were

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Vietnam War The Easter Offensive

Vietnam War The Easter Offensive The Easter Offensive occurred between March 30 and Oct. 22, 1972, and was a later campaign of the Vietnam War. Armies Commanders South Vietnam United States: Hoang Xuan LamNgo DzuNguyen Van Minh742,000 men North Vietnam: Van Tien DungTran Van TraHoang Minh Thao120,000 men Easter Offensive Background In 1971, following the failure of the South Vietnamese in Operation Lam Son 719, the North Vietnamese government began assessing the possibility of launching a conventional offensive in spring 1972. After extensive political infighting among senior government leaders, it was decided to move forward as a victory could influence the 1972 US presidential election as well improve the Norths bargaining position at the peace talks in Paris. Also, North Vietnamese commanders believed that the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) was overstretched and could be easily broken. Planning soon moved forward under the guidance of First Party Secretary Le Duan who was assisted by Vo Nguyen Giap. The main thrust was to come through the Demilitarized Zone with the goal of shattering ARVN forces in the area and drawing additional Southern forces north. With this accomplished, two secondary attacks would be launched against the Central Highlands (from Laos) and Saigon (from Cambodia). Dubbed the Nguyen Hue Offensive, the attack was intended to destroy elements of the ARVN, prove that Vietnamization was a failure, and possibly force the replacement of South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu. Fighting for Quang Tri The US and South Vietnam were aware that an offensive was in the offing, however, analysts disagreed as to when and where it would strike. Moving forward on March 30, 1972, Peoples Army of North Vietnam (PAVN) forces stormed across the DMZ supported by 200 tanks. Striking the ARVN I Corps, they sought to break through the ring of ARVN firebases located just below the DMZ. An additional division and armored regiment attacked east from Laos in support of the assault. On April 1, after heavy fighting, Brigadier General Vu Van Giai, whose ARVN 3rd Division had born the brunt of the fighting, ordered a retreat. That same day, the PAVN 324B Division moved east out of the Shau Valley and attacked towards the firebases protecting Hue. Capturing the DMZ firebases, PAVN troops were delayed by ARVN counterattacks for three weeks as they pressed towards the city of Quang Tri. Coming into force on April 27, PAVN formations succeeded in capturing Dong Ha and reaching the outskirts of Quang Tri. Beginning a withdrawal from the city, Giais units collapsed after receiving confusing orders from I Corps commander Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Lam. Ordering a general retreat to the My Chanh River, ARVN columns were hit hard as they fell back. To the south near Hue, Fire Support Bases Bastogne and Checkmate fell after prolonged fighting. PAVN troops captured Quang Tri on May 2, while President Thieu replaced Lam with Lieutenant General Ngo Quang Truong on the same day. Tasked with protecting Hue and re-establish the ARVN lines, Truong immediately set to work. While the initial fighting in the north proved disastrous for South Vietnam, staunch defending in some places and massive US air support, including B-52 raids, had inflicted heavy losses on the PAVN. Battle of An Loc On April 5, while fighting raged to the north, PAVN troops advanced south out of Cambodia into Binh Long Province. Targeting Loc Ninh, Quan Loi, and An Loc, the advance engaged troops from the ARVN III Corps. Assaulting Loc Ninh, they were repelled by Rangers and the ARVN 9th Regiment for two days before breaking through. Believing An Loc to be next target, the corps commander, Lieutenant General Nguyen Van Minh, dispatched the ARVN 5th Division to the town. By April 13, the garrison at An Loc was surrounded and under constant fire from PAVN troops. Repeatedly assaulting the towns defenses, PAVN troops ultimately reduced the ARVN perimeter to about a square kilometer. Working feverishly, American advisors coordinated massive air support to aid the beleaguered garrison. Launching major frontal attacks on May 11 and 14, PAVN forces were unable to take the town. The initiative lost, ARVN forces were able to push them out of An Loc by June 12 and six days later III Corps declared the siege to be over. As in the north, American air support had been vital to ARVN defense. Battle of Kontum On April 5, Viet Cong forces attacked firebases and Highway 1 in coastal Binh Dinh Province. These operations were designed to pull ARVN forces east away from a thrust against Kontum and Pleiku in the Central Highlands. Initially panicked, II Corps commander Lieutenant General Ngo Dzu was calmed by John Paul Vann who led the US Second Regional Assistance Group. Crossing the border Lieutenant General Hoang Minh Thaos PAVN troops won quick victories in the vicinity of Ben Het and Dak To. With the ARVN defense northwest of Kontum in a shambles, PAVN troops inexplicably halted for three weeks. With Dzu faltering, Vann effectively took command and organized the defense of Kontum with support from large-scale B-52 raids. On May 14, the PAVN advance resumed and reached the outskirts of the town. Though the ARVN defenders wavered, Vann directed B-52s against the attackers inflicting heavy losses and blunting the assault. Orchestrating Dzus replacement with Major General Nguyen Van Toan, Vann was able to hold Kontum through the liberal application of American airpower and ARVN counterattacks. By early June, PAVN forces began withdrawing west. Easter Offensive Aftermath With PAVN forces halted on all fronts, ARVN troops began a counterattack around Hue. This was supported by Operations Freedom Train (beginning in April) and Linebacker (beginning in May) which saw American aircraft striking at a variety of targets in North Vietnam. Led by Truong, ARVN forces recaptured the lost firebases and defeated the final PAVN attacks against the city. On June 28, Truong launched Operation Lam Son 72 which saw his forces reach Quang Tri in ten days. Wishing to bypass and isolate the city, he was overruled by Thieu who demanded its recapture. After heavy fighting, it fell on July 14. Exhausted after their efforts, both sides halted following the citys fall. The Easter Offensive cost the North Vietnamese around 40,000 killed and 60,000 wounded/missing. ARVN and American losses are estimated at 10,000 killed, 33,000 wounded, and 3,500 missing. Though the offensive was defeated, PAVN forces continued to occupy around ten percent of South Vietnam after its conclusion. As a result of the offensive, both sides softened their stance in Paris and were more willing to make concessions during negotiations.

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Gun control Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Gun control - Essay Example Many citizens consider it their right to be allowed guns so that they can fight for their protection when the law enforcement agencies fail to do so. On the other hand, there are opponents of the issue who believe that strict gun control measures are essential owing to the fact that they reduce the possibility of the weapons falling in the wrong hands. This debate of gun control has been an essential issue in the United States where it is still considered to be a controversial subject. The National Vital Statistics states the fact that many lives are lost as a result of injuries from firearms. 11,001 people succumbed to injuries resulting from gun shots by criminals only in the year 2001. It was also presented that in 2001, 16,455 lives were lost due to suicides which were committed by using firearms only. This indicates an important aspect that many deaths result in the United States due to guns and deaths due to firearms are labeled as the second cause of death in the country. But an interesting aspect is that the rate of people dying due to the gun shots has lowered following the year 1993 and it has been attributed to changes and leniencies in the gun control laws (Gold 2004). Many important figures in the United States have lost their lives resulting from gun shots. These include the devastating killings of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy that occurred in the year 1968 when these two exemplary figures were shot dead (Valdez 2003). Gun control is an essential subject in the history of the United States. The first most prominent ruling relating to this issue was passed in the year 1939 by the Supreme Court of the country. The court passed a ruling in favor of stricter gun control measures and the ban on personal usage of guns. It justified this on the grounds for the maintenance of security of the individuals. There has been much opposition to this ruling ever since 1939. Opponents of this law utilize the Second Amendment of the Constitution as a point of their justification. According to the Amendment, "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed." The opponents of gun control laws argue that this amendment of the constitution upholds the rights of the individuals for the possession of guns for their security. They argue that the denial of the guns for their safety is actually the breach of the constitution of the country as this amendment clearly states in favor of the possession of weapons (Associated Press 2007). Many members of the congress of the United States also consider it important that the ownership of guns is central to the security of their lives. According to the people who favor the possession of guns, firearms tend to provide higher security for the people when the law enforcement agency personnel are not present. Therefore, an individual can guard himself in all situations. These groups argue that after pr oper checking of the criminal records of the people, gun possession should be allowed as this would make the society a safer place to live (Nagourney et al 2011). Many researchers have upheld the benefits that the relaxations of the gun control laws have provided for the United States. According to a research that was done by Mauser, the crime rate in the United States has gone down to lower levels owing to relaxation in the firearm laws. The study upheld this fact with regard to

HR Analisys Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

HR Analisys - Essay Example Similarly, it can affect the financial performance of this organization; however, this might vary from one state to the next depending on the HR practices that Organizations embraces in such states (Bauernberger, 2007). It is vital to recognize that the decisions that the company makes on who to hire, what to pay, what training to offer, how employees’ performance is appraised, and other credible HR provisions directly affect employees’ motivation and ability to provide goods and services that customers value. Consequently, Organizations, as an MNC, must consider such factors through the HR department so as to realize credible organizational performance. Generally, HR manager’s roles in this MNC might eventually affect its prosperity, market relevance, and financial aspects. The strategic HRM management practices chosen in this context incorporate recruitment, selection, training and development, compensation, employee relations, and performance management (Colli ns 5). However, three of them have been discerned in diverse ways so as to understand the novel HRM concepts that Organizations can establish and implement so as to remain relevant in the HR management arenas. They have been intertwined so as to emerge with a concrete management provisions that Organizations, through its newly managed HR department, should establish, implement and embrace to benefit the company. Organizations should implement various HRM management practices in order to remain relevant in the global market. Due to its production and marketing capacity, the organization demands novel HRM practices in the context of HR planning, recruitment of employees, selection criteria, training and development provisions, compensation plans, as well as performance management. Another credible provision is the establishment and ratification of diversity provisions within the Organizations’ workforce. Cultural diversity is increasingly being a

Friday, October 18, 2019

Strategy and Competition Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Strategy and Competition - Case Study Example In 2008, the company recorded revenue of $ 705 million which is far better when compared to 2004’s $9.7 million (Ivey, 2010, p.8). This was attributed to the support that several authorities within the world have given which promoted the execution of the PV technology. Canadian Solar Company has been experiencing losses over the past few years though its revenues have grown by more than 135 percent over the years (Ivey, 2010, p.8). These loses have been attributed to the high competition around the world which have contributed to a decrease in the company’s market share (Ivey, 2010, p.9). The management under the leadership of Dr. Qu is faced with the mandate of turning the losses into profits amid the high international competition and economic crisis by formulating and executing a viable profit plan. No business can operate in a vacuum. Each and every business requires an environment to operate in. After a thorough analysis, the external environment of Canadian solar company consist of the political environment, the technological environment, the social environment, the economical environment, competitors in the industry and the industry itself. According to Porter’s five forces model, Industry encompasses the competitors, the suppliers, the consumers or the customers, technology available and the restrictions available for entry and exit in the industry by firms. The market consists of potential customers who include the domestic users and commercial users. Canadian Solar incorporation produces a wide variety of products such as the industrial and automotive and consumer products (Ivey, 2010, p.6) to suffice the customer’s needs. The various authorities in the different countries have greatly promoted and encouraged production of and the technology of the PV cells. Most of the countries across the universe in 2008 and 2009 provided incentives for the development of the technology e.g. China and Canada (Ivey, 2010, p.7). Government

Potential Hardship that young adult encounter after aging out of Dissertation

Potential Hardship that young adult encounter after aging out of foster care - Dissertation Example It is evident from the study that since the inception of foster care in the United States, over half a million children have been placed in these homes from the end of the year 2000. The authors continue to state that these numbers have been decreasing in the recent past with 423,773 children being in this care in the year 2009. This represents a 20% drop in their numbers during that decade, and the number of African American children in this care accounts for 40% of the children, whereas Whites account for 20% of children under foster care. The remaining percentage of children in foster care is composed of children from the Hispanic community. Other reports by Krebs and Pitcoff indicate that most of the children who enter this care do so involuntarily. This occurs when the children encounter neglect from their guardians, and are bound to encounter many physical or psychosomatic problems. However, the placement of children in foster care could also be voluntary, and could occur when their guardians are unable to cater for their needs. A survey carried out in the state of Missouri on 325 children to ascertain the differences that existed after foster care found out that their mental abilities decreased by about 60% after a month of leaving this care. Many of the persons leaving foster care withdraw from taking medication for their mental problems out of their own consent. The mental abilities of the young people leaving the care centers decrease because of various circumstances. These circumstances include the absence of managers for controlling them, the aging out from the pediatric systems and shifts in decision-making as the child matures. Shifts in the care for the young people from foster homes to insurance companies who are responsible for covering the expenses incurred on their care is another cause of reduced mental abilities, and this is because the children are no longer funded (Meltzer, 2003). The problem identified is that most states do not continue offering foster care services for children who have left the foster homes (Stott, 2007). For this reason, governments are urged to continue providing Medicare through the Medicaid scheme, which guarantees medical attention for the vulnerable youth leaving foster care (Ward, Henderson and Pearson, 2003). There are several states in America, which offer the Medicaid option including Missouri, Michigan, Massachusetts, West Virginia and Minnesota among others (Stott, 2007). The inability of various foster care homes to account for many of the children who leave their homes arises from the fact that most are incarcerated, die or join the military and dropout of these systems (Meltzer, 2003). Reports by Ward, Henderson and Pearson (2003) in their book â€Å"One Problem among Many: Drug Use among Care Leavers in Transition to Independent Living† indicate that many youths encounter problems in their access and use of medication. There is a decline in

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Trading Financial Risks and Jobs & Crossing Borders Essay

Trading Financial Risks and Jobs & Crossing Borders - Essay Example the US government must relax its rules on immigration and welcome more foreign skills into our land because these immigrant skilled workers create jobs in America and even for Americans. It is a very interesting idea, indeed. The aforementioned proposition was the theme of the two articles which are the subject of rhetorical analysis in this paper. The first article is Thomas L. Friedman: The open-door bailout, written by Thomas L. Friedman in Bangalore, India and published by the New York Times on November 1, 2009. The second article is Bill Gates: Testimony before the Committee on Science and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives, a transcript of the testimony given by the Chairman of Microsoft before the US Congress on March 12, 2008 and published in the Microsoft website. After a thorough evaluation of the two articles, the formal and technical arguments made by Bill Gates proved to be more convincing and more effective than the conversational and layman line of reasoning presented by Thomas Friedman. Both authors addressed their papers to the US government because the solution that they are proposing involves a shift in US immigration policies from that of protectionism to free access to foreign skilled labor. If indeed the US government decides to relax its stringent rules on immigration and issues more of H-1B visas, Bill Gates would have the better right to claim credit for the change in policy than Friedman. Gates would be in a better position to assert that his voice was heard and seriously considered by the government’s policy-makers. Gates can validly declare that his presentation have influenced, in whatever degree, the decision-making in US immigration policies. Foremost, Gates was invited by and was directly addressing the US Congress. The Committee on Science and Technology was interested in what Gates had to say. As a matter of fact, after his speech, the members of the committee took turns in asking questions and Gates had the

Kitchen demo Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Kitchen demo - Assignment Example The study will further provide a discussion of a food service system to be employed. Menu that illustrates proper and sufficient utilization of the existing kitchen In this study a menu to be employed will involve a blue print on how the available kitchen will be utilized to prevent overlapping and under utilization of the available space and equipment (Baraban & Durocher, 2010). The menu may help to determine the level of skills required among the Chefs, the purchase prices for the items as well as energy cost to be incurred (Walker & Lundberg, 2007). Connectively it is important to that a commercial kitchen should be designed in such a manner that mobility of employees in the kitchen is easier. This may help in ensuring that there is maximum safety and efficiency (Baraban & Durocher, 2010). Whereby the available walking space left can allow employees to move easily and respond quickly to customer’s request. Below is a presentation of how the available kitchen space may be ut ilized and annual maintenance cost for the available space as well as revenues break down. ... Amount of unit sale if $850 is to generated=850?Y.units=Ä ¬,000 Y=353units sale Amount of unit sale if $1000 is to generated=$1000?Yunits=$300,000 Y=300unit sales Maintenance cost for the remaining space per month=$50?200 =10,000 Maintenance cost for the remaining space per year=($50?200)12 =$120,000 Total annual revenues and maintenance expenditure $300,000 $6000+120,000=$126000 Net revenue after deduction of space expenditure on spa $174,000 Rent per square feet annually = $50,000 Rent per year =$300,000 Amount to be generated per day to make profits ($850-$1,000unit sales) = $300,000per year Total space for the room = 30?20=300unit Kitchen (1/3?300) = 100units Remaining floor space= 200 to be used for setting up seats for customers who will be to buy meal. Discussion of a food service system to be employed The commercial food service system will employ various techniques to ensure that different food menu is available on daily basis to meet dynamics needs of the customers. Additi onally both unskilled and skilled labor will be required in the system. In above connection, the food service model will employ some energy efficient measure to ensure that the energy cost is minimized while maximizing profits at the same time (Lewis & Slack, 2003). The commercial services equipments will be pre tested to determine water and energy consumption pattern. This measure will help to ensure there is efficiency in the amount of water and energy utilized (Wentz, 2007). Additionally, the model utilize modern equipments for cooking and for preserving food staffs in order to ensure that there will be effectiveness and efficiency on the services rendered to the customers (Wentz, 2007). Among the cooking equipments that will be employed include: Large vat fryers, steam cookers,

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Trading Financial Risks and Jobs & Crossing Borders Essay

Trading Financial Risks and Jobs & Crossing Borders - Essay Example the US government must relax its rules on immigration and welcome more foreign skills into our land because these immigrant skilled workers create jobs in America and even for Americans. It is a very interesting idea, indeed. The aforementioned proposition was the theme of the two articles which are the subject of rhetorical analysis in this paper. The first article is Thomas L. Friedman: The open-door bailout, written by Thomas L. Friedman in Bangalore, India and published by the New York Times on November 1, 2009. The second article is Bill Gates: Testimony before the Committee on Science and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives, a transcript of the testimony given by the Chairman of Microsoft before the US Congress on March 12, 2008 and published in the Microsoft website. After a thorough evaluation of the two articles, the formal and technical arguments made by Bill Gates proved to be more convincing and more effective than the conversational and layman line of reasoning presented by Thomas Friedman. Both authors addressed their papers to the US government because the solution that they are proposing involves a shift in US immigration policies from that of protectionism to free access to foreign skilled labor. If indeed the US government decides to relax its stringent rules on immigration and issues more of H-1B visas, Bill Gates would have the better right to claim credit for the change in policy than Friedman. Gates would be in a better position to assert that his voice was heard and seriously considered by the government’s policy-makers. Gates can validly declare that his presentation have influenced, in whatever degree, the decision-making in US immigration policies. Foremost, Gates was invited by and was directly addressing the US Congress. The Committee on Science and Technology was interested in what Gates had to say. As a matter of fact, after his speech, the members of the committee took turns in asking questions and Gates had the

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

The life AND death of Tiberius Gracchus Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

The life AND death of Tiberius Gracchus - Essay Example Tiberius began his military carrier during the Third Punic war when he was appointed in a military tribune attached to Scipio Aemilianus (his brother in law) staff. The period he served under Aemilianus as a military tribune built his status making him popular, thanks to his bravery and discipline. He is remembered as the first of his kind to scale the enemy walls. His outstanding performance earned him another significant appointment in 137 BC as the questor to consul Gaius Hostilius Mancinus. This position saw him serve in Numantia , a region found in the Hispania province. Here, he was among the army that took part in the botched Numantine that saw mancinus army suffer major defeats. During this war Mancinus made an unwise decision of withdrawing his army at night causing not only the defeat but also loss of their possession as their camp was looted. Seeing the danger that lingered, particularly on the army, Tiberius took advantage of his position as quaestor to sign a peace treat y with the Numantines against the general requirement that required a legate to complete the signing. During the negotiation, Tiberius revisited the adventures of Tiberiu Elder (the father), who equally fought in Spain but negotiated a peace accord with (Numantines, 24). This move caused him be regarded highly by the Numantines so much that when they discovered their army had taken his ledger in the process of despoiling the Roman camp, they made arrangement to have him get it back. Such is the case that they invited him in person, throwing a banquet in his honor and allowed him not only to recover his ledger but also take any other thing he wished to have from the spoils. Tiberius integrity could not permit him to do as they asked but instead he took back his ledger and only accepted some incense used for sacrificial rituals. There was so much frenzy in Rome on account of this

Monday, October 14, 2019

Dialog Different Means of Travelling Essay Example for Free

Dialog Different Means of Travelling Essay L – daughter O – father S – mother S: Darling, wherere you? Weve already been sitting here for 20 minutes. Come on! Leave your  «Babe » for a while. Its important! L: Yeah, daddy, please. Im very tired and I want to snooze (Ð ²Ã ·Ã ´Ã'€Ð µÃ ¼Ã ½Ã'Æ'Ã'‚Ã'Å'), but mom said that I wouldnt go to bed until we came to an agreement. O: All right, all right. Im here.  «Babe », Ill be back soon. S: Oh, your car wont disappear unlike us. If you want to stay at home with your dear bucket (Ð ³Ã'€Ã'Æ'Ð ´Ã ° Ð ¼Ã µÃ'‚Ð °Ã »Ã »Ã ¾Ã »Ã ¾Ã ¼Ã °), I can easily arrange it for you, and we with Susan will travel the world alone. O: Oh, women-women, what a wet blanket they are! (Murmuring) L: Daddy, weve heard every word youve said. S: Well, we have to define 2 main points: the first one is where to go and the second one is which means of travelling to choose. O: As for me, theres nothing better than to travel by car – a good, fast car, I mean. When youre in a plane or smth like that you have to be driven by someone else, but travel by car is a more personal experience, for there you can drive yourself. S: Darling, your racers past wont live till your death. How could you be so bigoted? You cant stop thinking about your racing car even for a minute! L: Mom, I think that you too exaggerate. Dont be jealous. I absolutely agree with dad. What can be better than a spin in his car at a weekend! What a thrill its to feel the car rush forward and to feel the wind in your face! S: Sweetie, I know that car has a plenty of advantages, for example, it gives a possibility to go as slowly, or as fast as you wish, stop when and where you choose, get out at any time and walk where you like, but it has some disadvantages too. O: Can you tell them to us, please? Im sure that youre going to recollect our last trip to Wales by car that was 10 years ago! Am I right? S: As always! I remember quite well how we got stuck in the mud and then got a flat tyre. Besides it was a real torture to ride on a bumpy road and had no conveniences at hand. L: Its true, dad, nowadays therere speed limits practically everywhere, and so we wont be able to experience the real joy of speed. Moreover, therere numerous traffic jams, hold-ups and round-abouts on the roads, so our journey will be  very slow. S: And despite of the absence of timetable, which is so hateful for me, I want all of us to have a pleasant and interesting rest and car, unfortunately, isnt the best variant, because it can be extremely tiring for you. O: So kind of you to take care of me in such a way. So lets choose some other alternative. What do you think about travelling by plane? L: Its cool! Im simply fascinated by this means of transport. Its the fastest and the most convenient one, I think. We can travel to any part of the world, even to New Zealand. I want to see kiwi bird with my own eyes. Its a national symbol of this country. S: Im very glad that my family isnt airsick, but youve forgotten about me. O: No, we havent. Youre not airsick too and you cant be, because youre a flight attendant, my darling. Besides, itll be very easy for you to arrange our flight and maybe well have some discounts from your airline. S: You both are impossible. I want to recharge my batteries too and to have a rest from my work, from airplanes, from hitting air-pockets, from lots of registration formalities. And dont you know that this means of transport depends on the weather greatly. L: We know, mommy. Dont worry; we wont travel by plane this time. Still, we dont have a great desire to contact with new problems and as you always say, Heathrow has a plenty of them – too many people, too many planes and too much crime. S: Thank you very much for your understanding. And what is your opinion about travelling by ship, to Spain, maybe or somewhere else? Weve never been on a voyage. Besides as far as I remember therere more than 10 major ports in Britain. O: And I know that sea passengers can use roll-on-roll-off ferries, hovercrafts, hydrofoils and high-speed catamarans. I reckon that travelling with the help of such unusual means of transport will be very exciting. L: And Id like to see those colossal ships, I dont remember their name†¦ S: Cruisers, I suppose†¦ L: Yes, mom thanks. So Id like to see cruisers from the landing-stage along the quay, to stand on the top deck and imagine that I’m Rose, the main heroine of the film  «Titanic ». O: Susan Brown! Youre too young for this kind of adventures and tragic love! All in all, youre not adult enough to have a boyfriend! L: Nothing serious, it was just a little joke, but it was so laughable to see your eyes which were those of a frightened child, and by the way, daddy, Im 14. S: Sweetie, stop making fun of your father. We both  are in anxiety about you. But lets return to travelling by ship. Im sure that breathing a fresh air and admiring sunsets will return a good condition to our nerves and health. O: Darling, thats all very nice, but Im not sure about the possible cost of such voyage. It seems to me that itll be very high, because therere a lot of activities for recreation and entertainment, good conveniences and so on. L: What are you driving at, daddy? Ive always thought that we have enough money to afford this. Am I right? O: Yes, of course, but your mother wanted to make renovations not so long ago. So I guess that too big expenses are unnecessary now. S: Well-well-well. Its clear for me that theres smth else in what youre saying. Im almost sure that your  «Babe » has gone dead on you again and you need a repair part. Is it true? O: Hmmm†¦ Yes (sadly), its true. L: And what is wrong with it now? O: Headlights and rear light have broken down. L: What a pity, daddy. S: Well, I think that your car and my renovations will wait for some time. We wont need them during our holiday. So its settled, lets travel by ship and itll be unforgettable. L: Oh, my God! Mom! Dad! O: What, sweetie? L: It has just come to my mind that I can probably get seasick and not only I but all of us, because weve never experienced it. And if it really be so, our pleasant holiday will become exhaustion for us. I dont want see pink elephants and to suffer from dizziness and nausea at all. O: What a bad fortune! We cant risk, so we have to choose smth else. What do you think about hitch-hiking? Its the cheapest kind of travelling. S: The cheapest one? Ive said that your car will wait. Moreover, its very dangerous and I dont want to be killed or robbed. Therere a lot of mad people everywhere. L: Yeah, dad, besides well have to walk for some time, but my leg still hurts a little bit, as you remember Ive broken it 2 months ago. O: Well, I admit that Ive blundered out (Ã' Ã ºÃ °Ã ·Ã °Ã'‚Ã'Å' Ð ³Ã »Ã'Æ'Ð ¿Ã ¾Ã' Ã'‚Ã'Å'). So there is one more option travelling by plane. Ill be very grateful if itll suit us and satisfy all our requirements. S: First of all, I think that its very convenient and safe. Secondly, I dont want to hustle and rush somewhere, so  train is an excellent variant, because it provides calm and comfortable journey notwithstanding Ill have to keep to the timetable again. L: And from the history lesson I know that in the end of the 20th century the railway underwater tunnel, the Channel Tunnel, was opened. And it takes only 25 minutes to travel by train from Britain to France. Isnt it awesome? O: Of course, sweetie, besides we can take a train from 2 international railway stations in London – Waterloo and St. Pancras. I hope that well be able to buy tickets at a reasonable price. S: Surely, well exactly have a discount for our daughter. O: That sounds great, but I also think that wed better buy a full compartment in order to escape from fellow passengers and crowded corridor, if well travel at a long distance. L: Good idea, dad! So fortunately, weve come to an agreement. In train we wont get sick, wont spend too much money, wont waste our nerves and well be able to travel around all Europe and wont disturb my poor leg. O: So I can return to my  «Babe ». Im going†¦ S: And we can go to the travel agency after you take a nap (Ð ²Ã ·Ã ´Ã'€Ð µÃ ¼Ã ½Ã'Æ'Ã'‚Ã'Å'). L: All right. Lets go.

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Eindhoven Model Of Incident Causation Nursing Essay

Eindhoven Model Of Incident Causation Nursing Essay Patient safety is the foundation stone and one of the central concerns in quality improvement for the health care institution. Keeping our patients safe is a challenging issue because errors and mistakes can and do occur any time. Human error is inevitable, reducing error and minimizing the consequences of error is best achieved by learning from mistake, rather than blaming attitude. Over the years, nurses have assumed roles in various quality improvement and health care risk management activities. Learning from errors and near misses helps to provide opportunities to overcome system gaps, design solutions and modify management systems can reduce the chances of future errors and prevent disaster. According to U.S Agency report (2001) patient safety practice is a type of process or structure whose application reduces the probability of adverse events resulting from exposure to the health care system across a range of diseases and procedures. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) reported that between 44,000 and 98,000 patients die in hospitals setting in 1997 in the United State of America (USA) each year as a result of health care errors which includes, transfusion of incompatible blood products, medication errors, foreign objects left in bodies, equipment failures, mistaken identities of patients or body parts. These errors occurred at any phase of the health care delivery system, errors with serious consequences were observed in most vulnerable clinical settings. Department of health (2001) An Australian study reported adverse event rates of 16.6% of which 13.7% resulted in permanent disability (Wilson, 1995). The Institute of Medicine (IOM) released (2001) a report on To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System On the basis of two research studies: one conducted in Colorado and Utah found that 6.6 percent of adverse events led to death, as compared with another study conducted at New York, found that adverse events occurred in 13.6 percent in New York hospitals. In both of these studies over half of these adverse events resulted from medical errors and could have been prevented. When extrapolated to the over 33.6 million admissions to U.S. hospitals in 1997, the results of the study in Colorado and Utah imply that at least 44,000 Americans die each year as a result of medical errors. The results of the New York Study concluded that deaths due to medical errors exceed the number attributable to the 8th leading cause of death. Scenario During my clinical experience, I encountered a situation where I received call from hospital incharge and reporting one sentinel event, series of e-mail exchanged and on call administrator requested me to terminate assigned staff who did an error. I have utilized my leadership knowledge and skills to the best of my understanding. The scenario was an 11 years old boy (Patient A) presented to hospital with the complaint of fever, headache and vomiting. 40 years obstetrics (Patient B) was admitted through emergency department for induction of labour. Both Patients blood was arranged and both have different blood groups. At night physician order to transfused blood to Patient A. Assigned nursing staff went to the laboratory with correct transfusion request slip and blood releasing form but unfortunately Patient B blood pack was picked instead of Patient A from the blood refrigerator at laboratory. Blood checked by same nurse with on call assigned physician before transfusion but again fa iled to check for correct identification at the bed side. Transfusion started to Patient A at 0700 hours. Shift changed at 0800 hours, over taken from night staff with blood transfusion but again verification was not done as a result unrecognized transfusion reaction occurred and ultimately Patient A expired at 13:00 hrs. I have investigated the case and requested respective assigned team and stake holders for root cause analysis. The situation was very painful and challenging as an eleven years old child died due to error but it gave me lots of opportunity to identify the system gaps in order to prevent from re-occurrence in future. As a management position, I requested multidisciplinary team to do the root cause analysis. Root cause analysis is a process for identifying the factors that underlie variation in performance, including the occurrence or possible occurrence of a sentinel event. A root cause analysis focuses primarily on systems and processes, not on individual performance. The analysis progresses from special causes, clinical processes, organizational processes and systems, identify potential improvements in these processes or systems. After did a root cause analysis the incidence was categorized as sentinel event. A sentinel event is an unexpected occurrence involving death or serious physical or psychological injury, or the risk thereof. Serious injury specifically includes loss of limb or function. Such events are called sentinel because they signal the need for immediate investigation and response. Sentinel events are identified under the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) and emphasized those policies helps organization to develop preventative measures. (The Joint Commission, 2011). The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) has placed considerable emphasis on promoting patient safety through a variety of mechanisms, including the reporting and analysis of sentinel events that can lead to modifications and improvements in policy and practice within health care settings. We must apply the same principles learnt from our experiences. When a sentinel event occurs in a health care organization, it is necessary that appropriate individuals within the organization be aware of the event, investigate, understand the causes that underlie the event, and make changes in the organizations systems and processes to reduce the probability of such an event in the future. As a key management position it is my prime responsibility to work as a team with multidisciplinary approach, take as an opportunity to improve the system and ensure the compliances of the institution policies and procedure by nursing division. An organized approach for identification, analysis and evaluation of risks and the devising a plan to decrease the occurrence of accidents, incidents and injuries (Sullivan Decker, 2000). The Institute of Medicine has designed six aims for improving the delivery of care in the United States which includes; Safe, effective, efficient, timely provision, equitable and Patient centered approach in order to provide safe and quality health care services. (Institute of Medicine, 2001). According to Pelletier and Beaudin (2004) The Institute of Medicine defines healthcare quality as the extent to which health services provided to individuals and patient populations improve desired health outcomes. The care should be based on the strongest clinical evidence and provided in a technically and culturally competent manner with good communication and shared decision making. During root cause analysis I came across lots of areas which was identified for areas of improvement that, leadership needs to provide resources in order to provide quality services as evidence by provision of resources was absent in laboratory which resulted that in night shift staff went to receive blood by herself and no check and balance of patient identification was done. However, it is not clearly defined in the policy that what will be the mechanism of check and balance at laboratory end. At secondary hospital laboratory services timing is from 0800 hours to 2300 hours, but what if need arises after wards. It was taken as a granted that services will not require in night timings. In addition, it was not clearly defined in the blood transfusion policy which defines the first steps of checking blood for correct identification at laboratory level. According to Daniel (2004) Clinical Management refers to diagnosis, treatment planning and delivery and ensuring the correct identific ation of each patient and procedure. As a nursing departmental heads the need was identified to review the policies and procedure, structured quality assurance program and Total Quality Management system (TQM) is required in order to prevent from reoccurrence. TQM is a management philosophy that emphasizes a commitment to excellence throughout the organization (Sullivan Decker, 2000). Total Quality Management (TQM) is a sub-discipline of management science which deals with the issue of standardization and enhancement of organizational performance. According to Khan (personal communication November 20, 2012) research was carried out in 2006-2009 by for critical analysis of TQM implementation in Pakistani organizations located on geographical basis. This study explores the factors influencing the success and failure of the TQM program in the organizations. It particularly explores how these programs work within the context of various organizational profiles, dynamics and culture. The study found that TQM implementation is heavily dependent on various factors related to organizational context and culture. It also identified that the end results and changes expected by organizations from TQM implementation are not only dependent on its own framework but on many other cultural related intermediate impacts. These intermediate impacts are mostly related to organizational dynamics and culture and are ignored in most of the firms, resulting in early failure of TQM. Based on the findings of this research and the practical experience of implementing TQM in different organizations, the author also proposes a new framework of TQM implementation named as MSAC cycle i.e. Mobilization (trial phase), Standardization (Short term phase), Acclimatization (mid-term phase) and Culturization (long term phase). This study and the proposed TQM implementation framework is quite valuable for the organization who are presently implementing or desirous to implement TQM more effectively and successfully. The Aga Khan University Hospital started its operation in 1985. Basic quality assurance methodologies were introduced and from 1994 onwards, the continuous quality improvement (CQI) model of AKUH fostered a positive culture of change by establishing lots of core quality activities across the clinical and managerial disciplines; which includes, quality circles, basic quality control tools, education and training in quality, monitoring of quality indicators, health care professionals credentialing, Patient complaints, Patient satisfaction, morbidity and mortality reviews, nursing quality assurance program and quality grand rounds. Finally in 2006, AKUH acquired the gold seal of international accreditation in health care by the Joint Commission International Accreditation (JCIA) with the unique distinction of being the first hospital in Pakistan and among few universities based hospitals in the world to get the quality recognition. AKUH is now on the expansion and integration phase of i ts quality journey, the central driving force towards its quality vision is improvement of processes and outcomes and achieving a strong customer orientation towards both external and internal customers. This will be achieved through concentrating on the goals and strategies of the hospital and all its departments to these three major themes that is improvement in quality of care, services and cost-effectiveness. It is widely recognized that quality indicators or performance indicators can give a valuable insight into the quality of care being provided to patients. Performance indicators are best way to learn and improve, but to instill ownership in the heart of every individual is the key to having meaningful indicators. Thus making performance indicators a part of a physicians and nursing performance evaluation not only ensure that they actively participate in improving their own performance, but also ensure that, quality of care provided to the patients is always and continuously improving. In this clinical situation I also participated in developing the policies with multidisciplinary team and tool in order to control quality system and to evaluate the compliances of practice for sustainability. Fostering a culture of safety requires more than introducing new policies and procedures. Developing a culture of safety requires critical thinking, problem solving, risk identification management and human factor training. The relevant literature and websites on patient safety program has suggested many safety related performance indicators and sy stems of check and balances which can ensure patients safety during patients stay at hospital. A systematic and multidisciplinary approach is, therefore, very imperative to pick-up medical errors and devise strategies to reduce them as it defiantly plays an important part in patient safety. Literature Review The literature review will address overall concept of patient safety and its related issues and concerns, international perspective of error occurrences, safety related performance indicators and measures to create positive safety culture. Several studies are carried out on measuring and evaluating patient safety and outcomes at several health care institutions (Baker 2003; Arah, 2004; Colla, 2005; Karsh, 2006). According to Colla (2005) Achievement of a culture conducive to patient safety may be an admirable goal in its own right, but more effort should be expended on understanding the relationship between measures of safety climate and patient outcomes. The Luxembourg Declaration on Patient Safety (2005) has observed that the health sector is a high-risk area because adverse events, arising from treatment rather than disease, can lead to death, serious damage, complications and patient suffering. Although many hospitals and healthcare settings have procedures in place to ensure patient safety, the health care sector still lags behind other industries and services that have introduced systematic safety processes. Almost fifty percent of joint commission standards are directly related to safety, addressing such issues as medication usage, infection control, surgery and anesthesia, blood transfusions reactions, staff credentialing, fire safety, medical equipment, disaster management, risk identification and management, sentinel event monitoring, safety and security structures. These standards address a number of significant patient safety issues, including the implementation of patient safety programs; the response to adverse events when they occur; the prevention of accidental harm through the prospective analysis and redesigning of vulnerable patient systems and its the organizations responsibility to transparent and take ownership and accountability. Agency for Health Research and Quality (AHRQ) reports (2001) has suggested the same that to review best practices from scientific literature, Redesign care based on best practices through collaboration of multiple departments, Evaluate technology solutions, Implement performance measurements and Monitor selected measurements and present summary reports to senior leadership. Moreover, the Advisory Board Research document supports the type of error mentioned in the AHRQ 2000 reports that the most common errors per 1,000 visits are: 65 incidents per due to adverse drug events, 60 incidents due to hospital acquired infections, 51 incidents related to procedural complications and 15 incidents related to falls. Besides analyzing the common errors in terms of patient safety, Mrayyan and Huber (2003) discussed three aspects of patient safety issues. First is the fear that is whenever any unfortunate incident happens and it is publicized; it creates fear and apprehension among team members. Second issue is errors as a system problem, which involves repetition of same type of error that requires close and immediate interventions. Third is the link between errors and inadequate resources that means inadequate number of staffs or inadequate trained staff that can jeopardize patient safety. The medical error and harm to patient safety does not only let the patient suffer but brings an impact on society at large. The Danish Society for Patient Safety (2005) discussed the effects that adverse events can have on patients; health care personnel and society at large are significant. Patients may suffer both physically and psychologically from sufferings created by the injury itself, but also by the way the incident is handled. Health care personnel on the other hand may experience shame, guilt and depression, with litigations and complaints imposing an additional burden. Society at large suffers from a lower quality of life of its members, with associated extra health care costs but also costs caused by a lower productivity of the society. After root cause analysis I also felt that it is necessary to have interaction one is to one basis to relevant health care personal who did an error in order to sensitized them and mentored through education path rather than terminating the employee, give them insight that the will be the future ambassador for patient safety because, I personally believe that quality reflect when person itself willing to do so, it should be our constant commitment towards organization that patient safety should be our top priority, which infuses the entire organization, for that it is mandatory that first we should acknowledge the error then promote blame-free environment where individuals are empowered to report errors without any fear and punishment so they can willingly address safety concerns. Daniel (2004) explains that, what can be done today to improve patient safety while we are waiting for evidence on effective interventions. First, we need leaders those at the top of organizational charts as well as leaders at all level, second, we need to focus on comprehensive systems of safety rather than attempting to address safety one problem at a time. Three elements comprise comprehensive patient safety: active case finding, methodical analysis, and system redesign. Patient safety initiatives and programs vary from institution to institution but the aim remains the same that is reducing errors and promote safety. Klazinga and Arah (2004) said it is evident that current efforts focus too narrowly on the patient with little explicit linkage to wider aspects of health system safety. Risks management entails reducing harm not just to patients but also to staff, visitors and the environment including society. Some of the patient safety alternatives and solutions proposed by Mrayyan and Hubber (2003) are emphasizing on strengthening system of error reporting and correction that is error detection and reporting system within organization to reduce medical error, patient education in all aspects of care and applying risk management skills by healthcare personnel. In addition, creating an information system and building evidence base for patient safety, analyzing the impact of various management practices like staffing, increasing of medical errors and high risk population and monitoring error rates with necessary actions can reduce medical errors and also use of information technology can work towards enhancing patient safety. Besides all this, commitment of the healthcare professional to reduce errors and promote safety in any organization enhances safety not only for patients but also for the healthcare staff and society in general. This position paper related to sentinel event also gives me insight to do a self-reflection of my job related competencies as a key management representative. I personally believe that, Knowledge can be achieve by reading literature but the art of utilizing that knowledge and skills will give confidence to fulfill job in an effective way. According to (Barker, Sullivian Emery 2006). describe three key roles organized in to three categories called interpersonal roles, informational roles and decisional roles. In interpersonal roles manager has lots of job responsibilities in order to full fill organizational goals, informational roles comprises of monitor and disseminator as that manager is the focal person and considered an as nerve center. Third category is decisional roles which consist of entrepreneur, disturbance handler, resource allocator and negotiator. The first two categories are related to day to day operation However, the third category need that how manager use his/her c ompetency in clear direction which meet the organization vision and mission. Integration of Model There are number of the clinical theories and models regarding the human error are discussed in management. Among which I have selected the Eindhoven model of incident causation. Eindhoven Model of Incident Causation: This model was originally developed to identify root causes of safety related incidents in the Netherlands and has since been tested in industrial and health care settings. The Eindhoven Model of incident causation identifies three main causes of error: human operator, organizational and technical failure. These failures, alone or in combination, are through responsible for reinitiating a chain of events that may ultimately lead to an adverse patient outcome. In performance improvement terminology, such a failure would be considered the root cause of an incident. According to this model, high risk situations will develop into incidents if inadequate system defenses are available to remediate the problem. The Eindhoven Model of Incident Causation served as the theoretical basis for developing the Eindhoven Classification Model, which has since been adapted for the health care domain (Jacob Cherry 2011). This classification model claims that errors occur either because of active failu res or latent conditions. Human Operator Error: (Active failure): Human operator errors are those made by individuals at the sharp end by health care workers. They are also referred to as active failures or active errors. Active failures fall into three major categories; skill based, rule-based or knowledge-based. Skill based error occur when an individual makes an error during the performance of a routine task that requires little conscious effort as evidence by its routine practice of nurses to bring blood from laboratory or its routine to take daily over from upcoming shift but in different intervals but nurse fails to check for correct identification with patient name and medical record number. An example of a skill based error would be a nurse forgetting to push the start button on an IV pump after priming the tubing. A rule based error occurs when an individual fails to perform a procedure or protocol correctly or chooses the wrong procedure as in this sentinel event nurse and physician fails to compliance with policies and procedure as a res ult wrong blood was transfused. An example of a fuel-based error is a phlebotomist failing to check the patients identification before obtaining a blood specimen. A knowledge based error refers to the conscious but incorrect application of existing knowledge to a new situation. An example of a knowledge-based error would be when first patient develop fever or sign of reaction she took as an granted and stop blood for time being neither nurse or physician utilized their knowledge and integrated theory in to practice or critically analyze that what would be the possible reasons for fever. Human errors have typically been the focus of traditional incident report monitoring because they are more obvious that latent conditions. Although some of the factors leading to human error are amenable such as knowledge deficit, staffing shortages, work over load etc. Technical or organizational error (Latent Condition/ Latent error): Technical and organizational errors are referred to as latent condition or latent errors. Latent conditions result from sanctions or decisions made by administrators or others in leadership positions that affect technical issues, organizational policy or the allocation of resources. These errors are called latent because of the delayed and unintended consequences that may affect patient safety at a later point. Technical error occurs when there are problems with equipment, forms, labels, etc. (e.g. a computer does not print out patient identification labels in a timely manner). Organizational error can be related to various, often complex issues involving management priorities and organizational culture. An Example of a latent error would be an organizational decision not to use a computerized provider order entry system which results in a high number of medication errors related to illegible handwriting. Other Error (Unclassified): A third category in the Einhoven Classification Model accounts for errors that cannot be classified as active or latent. In health care, such errors are generally due to patient-related factors that contribute to error, for instance, if patient gave the history of allergy and this can lead to potential medication error. An error whose cause cannot be placed in any category (i.e. latent, active, or patient-related) is termed unclassifiable. In order to continuous quality improvement and promote patient safety culture it is necessary to promote culture of reporting of errors is the first step along with a constructive process towards understanding that what factors within a system enable an error to take place. This systems approach is gaining ground and many hospital administrators are becoming well versed in its theory and practice. To promote a culture of safety the leadership of an organization promulgates an atmosphere in which the reporting of errors is welcomed, so that others may benefit from knowledge of the situation and can develop strategies based on the data. A major element of this framework is a non-punitive stance towards the individual who reports or who has involved in an incident. In a just culture an organization lets its employee know that they will not be disciplined for making mistakes and that the leaders value the importance of learning from mishaps and seek to improve the system that allowed the m to occur. Recommendation Based on sentinel event which I address in my position paper and in light of literature, I would like to recommend few suggestions/ recommendations to strengthen our quality system. First in order to promote in healthcare organization, major emphasis required in order to create non-punitive environment where health care workers can report events, errors and near misses without fear of reprisal or disciplinary action. Next, the risk management forum should be structured at organizational level where relevant multidisciplinary key stake holders should identified in order to take ownership and facilitate clinicians and organizational managers at all levels, the in order to create such an atmosphere which promotes patient safety culture in an organizations. Needs to develop and implement a reporting system that encourages and enhances reporting by all department and staff. Educate all clinicians, staff, and management personnel on the nature and importance of the event reporting process, including disclosure and discovery issue. Needs to do timely and accurate documentation of sentinel events help organizations improve their safety and quality of care and learn from other organizations unexpected outcomes, which allow other health care organizations to be aware of the possibility of certain sentinel events, thus giving staff the time and knowledge to develop strategies to avoid these events before they actually occur. Utilization of event report data to trend and analyzes organizational risks and distributes this information to appropriate staff of the organization so that risk-prevention measures can be developed and implemented. Last but not least provide clinicians and staff ongoing feedback on their risk-reduction efforts, results of event reporting should be discussed at the departmental level, and input on corrective actions/process improvements should be solicited. Conclusion: In conclusion, I must say that errors can occur at any point in the health care delivery system. Acknowledging that errors, learning from those errors, and working to prevent future errors represents a major change in the culture of health care, a paradigm shift from blame and punishment to analysis of the root causes of errors and strategies to improve systems and processes by implementing patient safety measures which provide an objective, validated measure for identifying Potential Safety Issues. Management should make an effort to break down barriers by adopting non-punitive cultures based on industry best practices. This will sheds new light on traditional methods for removing reporting barriers, develop employee commitment to recognize and report errors or incident occurrences. When the staff proactively participates in reporting, the reporting process becomes a vehicle for making practices improvements in the delivery of patient health care and management receives information that otherwise would not be available. As one manager said, if nobody reports it, you dont know. When some occurrences are not reported, management receives limited information on which to base their decision. It goes without saying that better data mean better decisions. According to Daniel (2004) the goal should be not only to increase the number and quality of reports but also to increase their usefulness as rich sources of information for the generation of strategies tactics aimed toward medical-error reduction (p. 27). According to Minesota Alliance for Patient Safety (2005) safety culture is not blame-free approach; it is an approach that balances the need to promote open reporting and the need to hold practitioners accountable for their behavioral choices. Hospitals should identify potential safety issues, having proactive approach, measure baseline performance, and set priorities for process improvement efforts. Using this methodology, hospitals can implement patient safety program with minimal investment on their part. Informational reports can be generated and disseminated to proactively identify safety issues and drive improvements for the better health care outcomes.

Saturday, October 12, 2019

KOSOVO PEACE ACCORD :: essays research papers

Kosovo Peace Accord Kosovo is the southern province of Yugoslavia and is spread over an area of approximately 4300 miles; of the two million population, 90% are Muslims and 10% are Serbs. The Muslims had been demanding independence for the past few years but the Yugoslavian President Slobodan Milosovic played the butcher's role by shelling and destroying valleys of the Albanian Muslims. The Serbs, under his orders, committed heinous crimes, which included gang rapes of Muslim women and torturing thousands of Kosovers to death. The world condemmed Serb atrocities but Milosovic was unmoved and continued his brutal behavior. When the situation got worsened, the European Council and the NATO took a serious note of it. NATO threatened Yugoslavia with air strikes if Milosovic did not come to terms. Peace talks were arranged in France and draft of the peace Agreement was prepared. The Kosovo Albanians signed an international peace plan in 1999 but Milosovic did not sign it, and consequently NATO gave March 24, 1999 as the deadline to Milosovic to sign the peace plan failing which Yugoslavia would face NATO air strikes. NATO started its air strike when Milosevic failed to sign the peace accord by March 24, 1999. It bombed civil and military targets all over the Yugoslavia, which included military installations, oil refineries, ammunition stores, airfields, Radio and T.V. Stations etc. These air strikes continued for 79 days till 10 June 1999, but during this period, the Serb atrocities continued, which forced about half the Muslim population (Muslim Albanians) to leave Kosovo and seek refuge in Albania and Macedonia. Apart from supporting NATO, the United Nations also helped the refugees by providing them food and shelter. The NATO strikes inflicted heavy damages upon Yugoslavia, which forced Milosovic to accept the international peace plan. With the acceptance of the peace plan by Belgrade, the 79 days NATO bombing was temporarily suspended on 10 June 1999. Simultaneously the Serb troops were withdrawn, and NATO and Yugoslavia military commanders held talks in Macedonia to implement the peace terms. The Serb troops were replaced by the UN peacekeeping force (KFOR); thus, began the "Operation Joint Guardian" aiming at the return and rehabilitation of Kosovo refugees in Kosovo. It was a huge and challenging task as the province of Kosovo was badly damaged due to the war. The UN Security Council, on 10 June 1999, had adopted the peace plan for Kosovo by 14-0 votes which asked for the replacement of the Serb forces by the 50,000 peace-keeping force (KFOR) in Kosovo.

Friday, October 11, 2019

Ronald Reagan – Psychological Eval

He has been called the most significant President of the 20th century. Ronald Reagan’s devotion to the American people and his unwavering commitment to managing both domestic and foreign affairs with sincerity, composure and efficiency provided a beacon of hope in an era that was marked by economic turmoil on the homefront and an impending threat of nuclear war. An analysis of Reagan’s life history, from a psychological standpoint, seeks to reveal the significant factors and influential events that may shed light on how he acquired the distinctive characteristics and how the interplay of how these factors subsequently shaped the extraordinary person he became. It is necessary to consider the influence of heredity, certain family issues, social systems and environment on psychological development. Ronald Reagan was born on February 6, 1911 in the small midwestern town of Tampico, Illinois to Nell (mother) and Jack (father) and older brother Neil. Jack Reagan was a salesman, a staunch Irish- Catholic, a Democrat, despised bigotry and racial discrimination, supported blue collar workers and instilled in his sons the same values. Possibly more influential to Ronald’s psychological development was that his father was also an alcoholic (Gilbert, 2007). This was very difficult aspect of Reagan’s childhood and he struggled to cope with his reality and make sense of his father’s behavior. Ronald's mother, Nelle was a very patient and nurturing woman who doted on her sons. She can be credited for familiarizing Ronald to theater and the stage by sharing with him her love of acting, as she was an actress herself. Being on stage and performing proved to be enjoyable for Ronald, so much so that he went on to star in various Hollywood movies. He even confessed that, â€Å"for a kid suffering childhood pangs of insecurity, the applause was music† (Will, 1990). She made a concerted effort to help them recognize that their fathers alcoholism, while upsetting and hard to understand, was a disease. Nelle was sympathetic in helping her sons deal with their father’s affliction and urged them not to blame their father for succumbing to the disease. She functioned as the constant source of unconditional loving care that seemed to lessen, though not completely diminish, the impact of Jack’s disease (Gilbert, 2007). She reminded her sons how evident their father’s love was when he was not drinking and helped them to maintain love and respect for their father in spite of his weakness. Nelle was a faithfully eligious woman and frequently made visits to families in need, the sick and went out of her way to lend a helping hand to anyone she was able help. Her generosity, kindness and unconditional love had a profound impact on her sons and masked some of the pain and disillusionment associated with their fathers’ alcoholism (Gilbert, 2007). For Reagan, growing up in an environment marked by the staggering paradox of his parents left an indelible impact on his life. His mother was the dependable parent who provided consistent love and guidance. In contrast, Jack Reagan’s alcoholism caused his sons considerable grief and confusion as to why he was unable to conquer his disease. Nelle Reagan wanted to protect her sons by rationalizing Jack’s behavior hoping they would not develop resentment towards their father. These efforts by Nelle, while well intentioned, served to create the illusion that the Reagan home environment was less dysfunctional than it truly was. According to Psychodynamic Theory, her behavior could be interpreted as reflective of an unconscious need to protect her children. Making a consistent effort to assure her sons that their father was the victim of a disease and powerless against his alcoholism could be classified as an illustration of both denial and rationalization. Denial is defined as, â€Å"the persons refusal to acknowledge external realities or emotions† (Kowalski and Westen, 2009). Rationalization can be identified as, â€Å"explaining away actions in a seemingly logical way to avoid uncomfortable feelings† (Kowalski and Westen, 2009). The Reagan family moved many times as a result of Jack’s inability to maintain work. This made it difficult for Ronald to build friendships which inevitably took a toll on his social skills as a boy and his ability to have meaningful relationships as an adult. As a child, Ronald Reagan was an introverted child with low self esteem (Gilbert, 2007). This is highly characteristic of children with alcoholic parents. Many individuals in Reagan’s close knit inner circle observed his reluctance, even inability, to sustain intimate and meaningful relationships with very many individuals. This is consistent to what research suggests about children who grow up in families in which at least one of the parents is an alcoholic. According to an article in the International Journal of Social Sciences and General Studies, â€Å"since the family is the context in which children usually learn to express their feelings, to love and express affection and to trust and share intimate aspects of their lives; it is understandable that many adult children of alcoholics have significant problems with psychosocial adjustment. They show extreme difficulty in sharing themselves in intimate ways with other people† (2010). It seems unlikely that Ronald Reagan, or any child who endures such unfortunate experiences, would ultimately be an actor or the president of the United States! However, the attention that Reagan sought was passive attention. He did not necessarily have to interact with audience members or constituents on a level that forced him to create any intimate, personal bond with these persons. Rather, he was able to operate from a secluded platform where he was able to control people’s perceptions of him. While he proved to be an effective leader and loved President, his childhood and subsequent development were certainly noticeable and undoubtedly affected how he operated as the leader of the free world.