The application of sustainability Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

The application of sustainability - Essay Example Hence, CABE, the government’s advisor on architecture, urban design and public space, considers investment in sustainable development as a national insurance policy, which makes cities better places to live in, creating new jobs and reducing fuel scarcity and traffic congestion. Seven issues have been highlighted by CABE to focus on while working towards sustainability. They are: reducing energy usage, optimising power supply to buildings, making streets fit for people, rethinking waste, planning for shortage/excess of water, moderating heat, and creating green spaces. The most important step towards achieving sustainability is reducing the inefficient use of finite resources. Reduction targets should be fixed, progress reviewed, effects updated regularly and published. The leaders should be able to think long-term and make long-term decisions and long-term goals. Energy and waste should be planned and managed together. There should be greater control of land and assets with i ncreased investment in energy security, flood protection and water supply. Investments should be made in urban forestry, and buildings should be assessed for sustainable designs. Valuation and asset management should be reviewed, shifting focus to long-term returns ensuring more protection from boom and bust cycles (CABE 2009, p.9). Fragmentation of land ownership could lead to sub-standard maintenance of land and the structures on it. Cities should create an energy strategy, involving the utility companies, tracing the current and future needs and planning for the future, prioritising low-carbon, sustainable energy sources. Efforts should be made to reduce energy consumption to power buildings. Renewable energy technologies should be used along with behavioural changes to ensure energy security. The transportation system, including the roads, should be planned is such a way that there is minimum need for travel. Streets should be maintained in an improved

Video game research coms 472 Essay Example for Free

Video game research coms 472 Essay Video Game and Harassment: The medium that will be used is through video. The narrative format will resemble half way between a TED talk and a report. This will enable me to criticize the current state of online gaming and the constant harassment that occurs for women gamer. I am attempting to schedule some interviews from women gamer in order to receive feedback on the topic. At the same time, I’ve organized a couple of interviews of friends that easily fit in the higher percentage of ‘hardcore’ gamers (+ 10hrs of gaming a week), that were testers for different genre of gaming. I will also utilize documentary footage and videos from various youtube channels in regards to state real statistics about gaming, as well as my own research when applicable. Segment I: Video Game Industry at a glimpse (~2-3mins) The aim in this section is to present the importance of gaming as an industry. Doing so will further the importance of female harassment that occurs within the medium. The origin of video games is highly debated among gamers. Some consider the birth of video games in 1961, when MIT students created Spacewar! Others believe the birth of video games, through the creation of an actual video game company, placing Atari and Pong as the soul founder of video game culture, in 1972. Regardless who stemmed the culture, the success of theses few games snowballed into the arcade age, where many arcade games such as Pac-Man, Asteroids, and Space Invaders were seen in malls, movie theaters, and even grocery stores. Unfortunately, Atari made a fundamental mistake. Believing they had struck a gold mine by creating a new market, they quickly produced multiple games with no regards to the quality of the individual games. Though gamers created a viable business for companies, they also were picky about what they wanted to play. Most of theses games did not create a turnover and forced Atari to go Bankrupt. In 1985, Nintendo came out with the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and moved the arcade to home entertainment system. It was bundled with Super Mario Bros and quickly became a huge success (Herz 20). During the 1980s, the video- game market became more and more popular, and the budget for the creation of video games increased as well, as more and more publishers and fans bought into the craze. It is at this time that the first console war occurred. Indeed, in 1989, Sega came out with the Sega Genesis, and Nintendo responded with the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Next came the Sega Saturn, and the Sony PlayStation in 1994 and 1995. Then came the Nintendo 64, in 1996 selling more than 1. 5 million units in just 3 months. By the end of this era, Sony had become a leader in the video-game market, while Sega had fallen behind and was not doing very well. Today video games (across all platforms) are a 101 billion-dollar industry, almost more then film and music combined (= 88. 3 +15). The GTA V from the Rockstar franchise has surpassed 1 billion dollars in revenue, and will most likely keep growing with a new release on recent platforms (PS4, XBOX 1). The budget for the recent Activision shooter title Destiny was near the 500 Million dollar mark. Nearly half of all US homes own one game entertainment system, and 23 percent own more than three, according to Nielsen Entertainment. Furthermore, the average age of the gamer is now 30 years old. It is not simply a hobby, but a clear culture, with different levels of gamers within it. Segment II: Who are the gamers? Where do women stand/rank? (5 mins) This segment will enable me to explain the importance of the female demographic and where they stand as a group. This segment will introduce certain interviews or comments I will capture during the 5 a 7 at the Concordia TAG center. (All stats from entertainment software association) Today from the way video games are marketed, anyone could think that the majority of gamers are men. Recent studies have debunked this myth by presenting an impressive 40% to 47% of the gaming population are actually women. Typically, the common response to this statement is quickly pushed aside; stereotyping girls to only certain genre of gaming, including limited relaxation/board games and cell phone games. Within that mindset it could legitimize the reason why certain games are only catered to men. But once again certain instances prove otherwise; in 2009 the most popular xbox game for boys/men was Halo 3, also the favourite among women! Furthermore, the top 8 favourite games on PC that year were the same among men and women! Women do play theses games, in fact there is close to 84 Million female gamer in the US alone. The issue not being addressed here is the way theses women are being treated within that culture. Segment III: Dark side of the gaming culture (5mins) This segment will enable me tackle head on the biggest issue that occurs within the gaming culture. It is not the sexist representation of women, it is not the violence depicted through different games. The biggest issue, and it solely could explain the gender divide among hard-core gamers (ratio is 1 to 7), is the recurring harassment. In this segment I will include small interviews of close friends that have been testing games for a while, and will have a critical view of the industry based on their experience. Out of all female gamers 68% of them have revealed to experience harassment from playing video games. It is a constant experience that is easily catalogued through different blogs. This is why women hide whom they are playing online, just to be able to indulge in North America new favourite pass time. There are many instances of theses accidents reported, and even gaming celebrities (Aris Bakhtanians) have shrugged the issue, explaining that it is what the culture has been built on and will not change. (â€Å"Sexual harassment is part of this culture†). Another instant is reporter Anita Sarkeesian who was harassed about her comments on the portrayal of women in video game and fundraiser attempts to raise awarness. She was forced to shut down all social media accounts due to recurring threats and phone calls threatening her. (A game was created with the simple purpose to beat this woman up). What we have here is a fundamental problem across all levels of the video game culture.

Essay --

Introduction According to the American Nurse Association, nursing has the second greatest job growth in all US professions. However, the number of nursing shortage is only increasing as the years go by. During the hard times that many Americans have been facing in this economy, there have been lots of nurses whom have been let go from their work field, have re-entered their field just so they can provide for their families, or even nursing students whom have felt discouraged from entering their field professionally because of the nursing shortage situations. To specify in a field, the reason for nursing shortage in the OR can be because of lack of peroperative education or experience, nurses wanting to work in other areas, or the trouble of drawing nurses into this field. Models of Transition When nurses chose to transition from their customary role to emerging roles in health care or maybe even away from nursing to another career, they might encounter challenges that may perhaps affect the way they feel about change. Bridges and Spencer and Adams summarize the models of transition and describe the challenges and difficulties that one may encounter when going through transition. According to Blais and Hayes, Bridges explains a model of general transition that all people go through when encountering change, whether it is obtaining a leadership role, transitioning from a school environment to an actual practice, or choosing to go back to school to further your education. It is broken down into three stages: the ending, the neutral zone, and the new beginnings. In the ending phase, an individual faces the beginning of change and might be resistant, but must learn to â€Å"let go† (Blais & Hayes, 2011, p. 5). This phase is then broke... ...xpand. Before choosing a program though to further your education, one must know exactly what goal they would like to achieve. Ones leadership roles, research ability, health care education, and overall general knowledge must advance in order to further their career. (Cunningham, 2012) Conclusion As I reflect on this paper, I realize that it is okay to feel a certain way when going through change. As a matter of fact, I have spoken to one of my peers who will also be applying to the nursing program this upcoming Fall and it turns out that she has also been feeling this way. I am not alone in this like I thought I was. I have realized that whatever is worth it, will not come easy. It is going to be an emotional roller coaster filled with doubts, excitement, success, let downs, but in the end it will definitely be worth it. I will be the nurse that I aspire to be.

“A Taste of Honey” Shelagh Delaney Essay

In â€Å"A Taste of Honey† Shelagh Delaney presents Jo as a young woman looking for security and love. Compare the relationships she has with Helen, her boyfriend and Geoff. To what extent does she find security and love with each? Shelagh Delaney the writer of the play â€Å"A Taste of Honey† was born on November 25th 1939 in Salford, England. It was in school when she saw her first play, an amateur performance of Shakespeare’s â€Å"Othello†. She was only twelve at the time, and the play made a great impression on her. When she was seventeen, she began writing â€Å"A Taste of Honey† as a novel but later realised that it would be better as a play so it was first performed in 1958, accepted by Joan Littlewood, a famous director of the Political Theatre who strongly believed that plays should be about ordinary people. â€Å"A Taste of Honey† is mainly about a young working class girl who refuses to conform to her dreary surroundings and way of life. When the play was introduced, it was rare to find any of the situations portrayed in any other plays as the circumstances of each of the characters in the play were polemic and unaccepted by a neglectful society. Keeping up the appearances was an important factor in life, and at the time public disgrace was a horrendous situation to be involved in., so it almost became a day to day struggle to keep others satisfied with a suitable personal image that no one had the right to question. People were often very prejudiced about things like origin and race, sexual inclination, promiscuity and sex before marriage. To be involved in any of those things was a serious act for concern from the family and members of the community. At the time people were very religious and strict with regards to homosexuality, promiscuity and sex before marriage, in households from the 20th century, there was rarely a laid back mentality when these situations happened in the conventional life of an ordinary person. It was very common for a youngster to be involved in any of the above, as the senior members relied on their traditional customs and philosophies and took a lot of care in their every move. Ironically this play doesn’t seem very concerned with all the issues that emerge from that society, and makes it a much more rebellious and interesting play to watch. However interesting it was, not everyone agreed with the content of the play, as some reviewers confessed that this was the first play they had seen with a coloured person and a homosexual man. Jo is a 15-year old girl who seems to have been unfortunate in life due to the circumstances that we see her in at the start of the play. By the way of life she leads, we learn that she is not happy or satisfied with herself or with her only relative, her mother. She displays inappropriate behaviour for a teenager of her time, â€Å"I don’t owe you a thing.† By saying this we learn that she has little respect for Helen and is very distant from her, she also sounds angry and frustrated because she knows she deserves much more and also because Helen has not been a proper mother to her in any way. Something else, which we are able to see from Jo’s lifestyle, is that she is frequently exposed by her mother, to different men coming in and out of Helen’s life. The best example is Peter, a â€Å"close† friend of Helen’s. This is evidently an unsuitable environment for a teenage girl, and clearly shows that Helen is not very concerned about the image she is creating in Jo’s mind. We can conclude that Helen is not only being a terrible example for daughter Jo, but also is offering no security in the sense of stable relationships that can benefit Jo in a good way. Helen doesn’t stand firm in front of Jo and by inviting men into her house, she is loosing all sense of respect for herself and most importantly, for her daughter. Its almost like Helen and Jo are friends who take â€Å"boyfriends† in for intimate relationships. At the start of the play we learn that Helen has a strong drinking problem, â€Å"drink, drink, drink, that’s all you’re fit for. You make me sick.† Jo is directly affected by it, as she has to co-exist with this habit in Helen’s life. We know that she clearly dislikes it and mentions how her mother isn’t good for anything else apart from drinking. This can represent the way Jo feels, since the time she started to realise her mother’s neglectful treat â€Å"you make me sick†, Jo’s frustration has become so great that she has started to hate her mother for being such a bad parent. By mentioning â€Å"that’s all you’re fit for† Jo tells us that Helen has been a total failure in every aspect of motherhood and wasn’t able to demonstrate even the smallest sign of care and affection for daughter Jo. Perhaps Helen thought that alcohol could help ease the pain of not being able to be a good parent and offer love and security to Jo. But once again we see that Helen makes the wrong choice and maybe unconsciously might not realise how much this is also affecting Jo. This drinking problem is once again an appalling example that Helen is transmitting to Jo, as she might think it’s acceptable to drink in order to ease the pain and attempt to sort out problems under a more relaxed but less rational approach. Some readers may think that at the point of Helen’s response to Jo’s comments about drinking, she is completely under the dominion of alcohol, and responds in a cynical way, â€Å"†¦Don’t just stand there shivering; have some of this if you’re so cold†. My reaction to this answer was of utter amazement as I am unable to believe the extent of Helen’s brutality and stupidity. She has just been told by Jo how much she dislikes the habit and still persists on acting irresponsibly and offering an intoxicating drink to her underage daughter. She should have been a little more considerate and thought of a more reasonable solution to Jo’s request. This once again leads us to believe that Helen is offering Jo no security, or protection in any way. Unexpectedly Jo enquires about her father just as her mother is getting ready to marry peter. As she is not pleased with what her mother responds, she declares her as a liar â€Å"You liar†¦ look at me†. This response was obviously generated from the way Helen answered Jo’s question, which evidently wasn’t tactful or sensitive. Until this point we learn that Jo is unaware of who her father is, and this sort of conversation appears to be a serious issue between mother and daughter. Jo seems to feel resentment towards her mother, by the way she says â€Å"you liar†. By hiding this important piece of information to Jo, I believe that Helen has disrespected her daughter in various aspects. Jo as being the product of an intimate relationship between Helen and the man in question is in her full right to demand respect and to know who her progenitor was. This reveals quite a lot about Helen’s personality, as she demonstrates cowardice at the single thought of facing her daughter and telling her the truth about her origin. When Jo says â€Å"look at me†, it becomes clear to us, that she has to prove or disprove her mother’s honesty with a single glance at her eyes. Jo is not entirely sure of this answer and proves to us that she does not trust her mother in her honesty and actions. Helen and Jo keep an uncharacteristic relationship; because it’s not one of mother and daughter love neither a friendly one. They just don’t seem to be able to understand each other as such and therefore have lost all mutual respect and affection, simply because Helen is far too selfish to give up her way of life to ultimately benefit her daughter and herself. It’s like they’ve swapped roles, Helen being the daughter and Jo being the mother, one more responsible and conscious than the other. Jo acts like an adult in many ways, as she shows a clear disapproval upon her surroundings and her mother’s drinking habits, she certainly feels uncomfortable at the men coming in and out of Helen’s life. â€Å"You’ve emptied more bottles down your throat in the last few weeks than I would have thought possible. If you don’t watch it, you’ll end up an old down-out boozer knocking back the meths† Jo is warning Helen that if she isn’t careful with her habits, she will be alcoholic and drinking illicit beverages â€Å"meths†. Jo sounds like she’s disturbed by her mother’s future and has a precautious tone in her voice that makes her sound like a worried mother or wife. At the start of the play, when we meet Helen and Jo, their relationship seems very weak, and doesn’t seem to get any better as the play proceeds; because of this I can predict that as they don’t dedicate sufficient time and effort to form stronger bonds they will not be able to progress and comprehend their individual needs and circumstances. â€Å"†¦Anyway, it’s your life, ruin it your own way†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Helen makes this very strong remark that suggests a very careless thought with regards to Jo’s future. She uses a common tactic that allows her to show a dignified attitude, by offering Jo sufficient freedom to ruin her future and hold her responsible for her actions, consequently saving herself from her daughter’s blame and pain of failing. This shows how careless she is at offering support in Jo’s plans ambitions and dreams. In a way this is a very sad thing to do, because not only does Jo lack financial stability, but also love and emotional security. On the other hand Jo is conscious of her mother’s intentions with regards to a good life for her. â€Å"Ruining my life. After all, you’ve had plenty of practice† this blame on Helen’s performance as mother is quite serious and is good at describing their relationship in general. This allegation is also good to prove the fact that Helen has offered no security or love to Jo. However making matters worse Helen accepts this accusation and unconsciously hurts Jo to a deeper extent saying â€Å"yes, give praise where praise is due, I always say†¦Ã¢â‚¬  pessimistically she responds with no hint of shame at what she has created in Jo, because of her neglectful behaviour. I don’t think that during the play their relationship gets to evolve in a positive or a negative way; however Helen may start to look at Jo as a woman rather than a girl due to the consequence of her relationship with â€Å"boy† and her pregnancy. In act 1 scene 2 Helen leaves her daughter Jo to go and get married to Peter, which in some way helps Jo’s emotional state, as it is supposedly the end of a most hated cohabitation, and the start of a new independent life. I believe that this action taken by Helen was by far the best thing she has done to benefit Jo, perhaps unconsciously but for the benefit of both sides. Helen has been a bad mother because she has never been able to offer Jo pure and unconditional love, instead she has made Jo’s existence imperfect and complicated without a reasonable purpose. I am not trying to justify un-motherly conduct, but she probably was never prepared to facet he responsibilities of a parent. It was completely inappropriate form Helen to allow men and alcohol form a barrier between herself and daughter Jo. Nearer to the conclusion of the play Helen returns to Jo, not to rectify her mistakes but only to make matters worse for poor Jo and her baby, I feel that she came back in a mood of pity and not love for a future single mother. However she may see herself reflected on Jo, and may feel is her duty to come to aid her. I feel great sympathy for Jo at the end of the play, because it seems to me that her life is a cycle that repeats itself over and over again. She is lonely even though she is due to have a baby and has her mother with her. Sadly Helen is still an alcoholic, and is penniless just as Jo is, which will unmistakeably make the baby suffer because of the circumstances. I also feel that since Jo and Helen have avoided resolving their differences and issues, their relationship will carry on deteriorating to a greater extent, until they will not be able to interact any longer as a team or â€Å"family†. Boy holds a fairly important role in the play, as Shelagh Delaney may have used him in order to represent a race and a whole group of people at the time. He is a twenty year old sailor that manages to infiltrate Jo’s heart and lighten up her life to a certain extent, for a short period of time. The reason why Shelagh Delaney doe not provide â€Å"boy† with a name, is because he ends up leaving her and breaking all his made promises, of returning and marrying her. His role in the play is of a young adult who meets Jo and eventually becomes her boyfriend. He also becomes the father of her baby, even though he is not aware of this. The relationship boy has with Jo is completely different to the ones she experiences with all the other characters, this one is of love and mutual understanding. â€Å"I love you†¦because you are daft.† I believe that the most important factor with regards to Jo’s feelings and other characters is that perhaps it is the first time she falls in love with someone, and is answered back in the same way. Even though â€Å"buy† offers love to Jo, he certainly doesn’t offer much security. This is because he enjoys having fun wherever he goes and is not able to make a promise and keep it. â€Å"you’re the first girl who I’ve met who really doesn’t care†¦Ã¢â‚¬  this quote shows that he is someone who’s had many relationships in the past, analyses different behaviours, and therefore has gained experience in the subject. I reckon that Shelagh Delaney wants to make the audience judgemental towards â€Å"boy† because of the way his relationship ends with Jo, and leaving to never come back. In my opinion â€Å"boy† only used Jo to sleep with and never really felt anything special for her, this truly shows the type f person he is. The audience may find that he is genuine and honest about his feelings but then turns out to be insincere and false, however what really damages his image to a higher extent is how he took advantage of Jo’s naivety and innocence. Geoff is another important character in the play, as Shelagh Delaney may have chosen him to represent the fears, hopes and dreams of a secluded group of people, who were judged by their sexual inclination. He is false a person who provides Jo with a strong friendship and some security that perhaps she took for granted. Geoff is someone who lacks self-confidence and is in desperate search for acceptance security and companionship, he wants Jo to look at him as a man with defects and expects from her as much as she receives from him. They have a peculiar relationship as Jo refers to him â€Å"as a big sister† or a womanly figure in the house, â€Å"you are just like an old woman really. You just unfold your bed, kiss me goodnight and sing me to sleep†. This kind of remark may have resulted embarrassing for him as he is a male and much older than Jo. Shelagh Delaney is very effective at revealing Geoff qualities, by telling us the large amounts of efforts he puts into Jo’s house and the way that he takes care of her, â€Å"someone’s got to look after you. You can’t look after yourself†. You would not expect this type of behaviour from a stranger and man in a male dominating society. Another good way the reader can see the qualities in Geoff is by comparing him to Helen, who is the total opposite of her and has taken better care of Jo in a short period of time than she has. From analysing Jo’s and Geoff relationship we can learn that during the time they spend living together they have both been happy and able to co-exist with each other, which is something Helen and Jo were never able to achieve. However there was always this barrier between Jo and Geoff, generated by their different attitudes towards life and other issues that revolved around their respective characters. While Geoff was optimistic, Jo was fairly negative and resembled Helen’s personality to some extent. This factor never really allowed them to enjoy their relationship and their time together to the maximum. â€Å"I think it would be best if you left this place Geoff I don’t think it’s doing you any good being here with me all the time† this tells us that Jo is being honest with him and knows about his need to experience a woman’s desire to prove whether his inclination towards a men is real. To some degree Jo is a little bit arrogant as she declares that she can be self-sufficient and doesn’t need from Geoff to carry on living a normal life. â€Å"Nobody asked you to stay here. You moved in on me, remember? If you don’t like it you can get out, can’t get†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Geoff is a maternal figure to Jo as he is making a great effort to help her out with the preparation for the coming of the baby; something Helen would be more appropriate at doing. â€Å"I thought you changed. Motherhood is supposed to come natural to women† he explain this which such patience and care that almost sounds like he has passed through motherhood himself. This maternal figure is very rare and distinctive in the play as he is the only in the play who offers this sort of care and guidance, despite him being a man. Geoff is nothing like Helen simply because they do not share any qualities or even defects. The only way in which he may resemble Helen’s behaviour is at the end of his role, when he decides to leave Jo and not rebel against Helen’s prejudices and power to throw him out of Jo’s and the baby’s life. just as Helen did, he ends up deserting Jo, and not thinking of the possible emotional crisis she may start to go through. At the end of the play Jo is left standing by herself lonely without anyone’s help and support to hep undergo the conceiving of her baby, and the rest of her life she may still have to live. The mood is quite bleak, grim and dull at this point most of the relationships between the characters have broken up. Helen has been thrown out of Peter’s house and longer is she able to enjoy financial stability or Peter’s company as a husband. I believe none of the relationships in the play were really meant to work just as much as Geoff and Jo would have never been able to coexist considering their different circumstances. Shelagh Delaney may have chosen the title â€Å"A Taste of Honey† because in a way all of the characters in the play find a hint of happiness for a short while, and then just as it came it quickly diminishes and becomes difficult once again. I believe that Shelagh Delaney was correct in choosing this title for the play because it is indeed a sequence of events that resemble the ups and downs in life and the way one can taste something good but then it’s taken away. It’s never really a constant patch of happiness throughout, but a constant struggle to keep going as much as possible.   

Need for the study Essay

Empirical studies about the impact of globalization on Belize are rare. This paper studies the economic development of Belize in the light of globalization, privatization and economic liberalization. It studies how beneficial the economy has been to the people after the opening of the economy. It perceives and looks at the performance of BTL and its role in contributing to the development of the country. Research Questions The following research questions are asked in this paper: 1. How has globalization affected the economic development of Belize? 2. How has globalization affected the welfare of its people? 3. How has globalization affected the success of the dominant telecommunications company BTL? Purpose of the Study The research methodology is the set of processes used to collect and analyze data. Research methodology is defined as a structured set of guidelines or activities to assist in generating valid and reliable research results. This part describes the research methods and procedures used to obtain and analyze data in this study. Research design reflects the structure of the research project and provides the means of collecting suitable data to answer the research questions. This paper seeks to identify the social, political, economic and cultural issues and outcomes which have emerged from globalization in Belize. It reviews the telecommunication sector of the country by looking at the reports of BTL. It studies the performance of the BTL. It highlights the achievements and failures of the company. It researches and examines the company’s services in the light of the government’s telecommunication industry. A detailed analysis is conducted about the success and failure of globalization in Belize by using studies which provide analysis on the economic performance of the country. Finally the study uses research material to examine the globalization success or failure in Belize as compared with its neighbors. The impact of telecommunications industry in the light of globalization is studied and researched extensively in the paper. Literature Review Belize is a Central American state which became independent in the early 1980s. The country has a multicultural society with various ethnic and racial groups. The country has pursued an economic policy which is dependant on free trade and foreign investment. Agriculture exports comprise the majority of the country’s exports. An estimated one hundred and eighty five American companies have invested in the country’s infrastructure and telecommunications sector. With a population of three hundred thousand people, the government continues to invest in developing the infrastructure of the country (Neuman 26, 2003). The country enjoys decent standards of living with relatively stable electrical, telephone, and water infrastructure. However major roads of the country are hampered by lack of development. Belize City and Dangriga are the important sea ports which handle shipping arriving from the United States of America. All major international airlines provide regular flights to the country. Belize has embarked upon a program of economic liberalization which includes a fifteen million dollar electricity program (Neuman 27, 2003). Estimated twenty million dollars funds have also been received from the Inter American Development Bank. This money will be used to invest in social sectors and services. Another two million dollars have been collected to invest in poverty reduction programs. Another major investment project is the Agricultural Health Project which seeks to modernize the agricultural production and distribution sector. Brazil has provided assistance for the development of soybean in the country. The aim of the government has been to diversify its agricultural exports and decrease reliance on the export of sugar cane.

Getting to grips with using that and which - Emphasis

Getting to grips with using that and which Getting to grips with using that and which That and which can sometimes be used interchangeably. But it’s not always correct to do so. The general rule is: use ‘that’ to define and use ‘which’ to inform or add information. Defining These are the spending cuts that the Board agreed. Here, the spending cuts in question are defined and limited to being the ones agreed to by the Board (as opposed to any others that might be enforced). It is actually not wrong to substitute ‘which’ here in British English, although American English would probably only use ‘that’. Informing The spending cuts, which the Board decided, have been very effective. Here, ‘which’ introduces additional information – the people behind the spending cuts. The main point is that all the cuts being discussed here have been effective; and, incidentally, they were (all) decided by the Board. Note the two commas necessary when using ‘which’ this way: the additional information within them could be removed and still leave a full sentence. Only ‘which’ can be used for this purpose. It’s incorrect to use ‘that’ when introducing extra information. Punctuating Although it is not wrong to use ‘which’ in place of ‘that’ to define or limit something, you have to be careful how you punctuate around it. There has been very positive customer feedback on the new desserts which are made with dark chocolate. With no comma before it, this ‘which’ is being used to define and limit the desserts which had good feedback as the ones made with dark chocolate. There are probably other flavours of dessert, but the response to those may have been less upbeat. There has been very positive customer feedback on the new desserts, which are made with dark chocolate. With a comma before it, this ‘which’ is being used to inform (the second comma has been replaced with a full stop). The part of the sentence after the comma is additional information about the first part. This means that all the new desserts had positive feedback and, by the way, they are all made with dark chocolate. As you can see, altering punctuation even slightly can change the meaning of your sentence and could result in you accidentally misleading your reader. Would you like more help with grammar? Have a look at our Essential grammar and punctuation training.

22 Famous Quotes for Easing Heartbreak

22 Famous Quotes for Easing Heartbreak When lovers fight, they often say nasty things to each other. Words fly out without thought or reason  and end up hurting their relationship. In extreme cases, love is shredded to pieces, and the couple breaks up. Did you ever hurt the person you loved? Did you say unwanted things? If you have hurt someone you loved, you have committed a grave folly. It is not easy to repair this mistake. Hurting a person you love may temporarily give you some relief, but it will leave you empty. Sometimes, your loved one ends up so badly hurt that it affects them to the core. She could harden up, and never again expose her vulnerability to you. She may shut herself, not just to you, but also to the rest of the world. If you have hurt someone deliberately or unknowingly, it is time to seek forgiveness. You may have to go to great lengths to win over her trust once again. To be truly repentant, you have to promise yourself never to hurt your loved one again. Watch your words even when you are in a fit of temper. Weigh the pros and cons of every word you utter. If you want to express your anger at an event, target the incident and not the person. Do not make personal comments that slander a persons race, gender, caste, creed, intellect, appearance, character or family. Read these hurting love quotes to understand more about love and hurt. Be sensitive to anothers pain, and feel their sorrow. Mignon McLaughlin In the arithmetic of love, one plus one equals everything, and two minus one equals nothing Mario Puzo, Fools Die Do you believe a man can truly love a woman and constantly betray her? Never mind physically but betray her in his mind, in the very poetry of his soul? Well, its not easy but men do it all the time Henry Rollins Dont do anything by half. If you love someone, love them with all your soul. When you go to work, work your ass off. When you hate someone, hate them until it hurts Kahlil Gibran Ever has it been that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation Natasha Gregson Wagner Falling in love for the first time, and then the heartbreak of having it end, is difficult, but I dont think it would ever hurt as much as when my mother was killed in the boating accident. I feel a part of my heart has already been broken, and that place is reserved for mother Keith Urban For me, my gift is music, and I would probably play a song for them and let them find something in there that they connect with because everybodys struggles are different. Its easy for someone whos not going through it to say, Oh, well just hang in there, but I think its okay to be hurt and crushed and cry and be angry and frustrated - thats all part of it. I think people stopping you from doing that is not helpful at all. Its important to rally around people that love you, because you tend to I certainly tend to isolate myself away from people so as to not worry them, but the people that love you worry anyway, so, you may as well rally yourself around them and let them be there for you cause theres a huge chance that theyll need you some time too Edmund Spenser I hate the day because it lendeth light To see all things, but not my love to see Mary-Kate Olsen I miss him and I love him, and I dont speak with him anymore. Its a hurtful and painful subject Chester Brown I think people should have the legal right to hurt themselves without fearing that theyre going to get locked up for doing so. But on a personal level, if someone I loved was hurting himself or herself in front of me, I would, of course, try to restrain them J. R. R. Tolkien From Return of the Kings But I have been too deeply hurt, Sam. I tried to save the Shire, and it has been saved, but not for me. It must often be so, Sam, when things are in danger: someone has to give them up, lose them, so that others may keep them Barbara Mandrell By our Heavenly Father and only because of God, only because of God. Were like other couples. We do not get along perfectly; we do not go without arguments and, as I call them, fights, and heartache and pain and hurting each other. But a marriage is three of us Rupert Brooke I thought when love for you died, I should die   Its dead. Alone, most strangely, I live on Jennifer Aniston I throw myself into love because I believe in it, but when things dont work you have to take responsibility. You all know things have gone wrong for me. Everybody has laughed, everybody has had a knock at me. It hurts, it always does Tara Reid I wish all the mean people if you want to be mean to each other, just buy a country together and blow each other up. Then wed have no terrorists left. Like, dont kill innocent people for no reason. Its not fair. We love everybody. Wed even like them if they said theyre sorry. Its not fair that innocent people are getting hurt. It makes me sad Janine Turner I wrote my childrens book because I believe there are children that are hurting and may need to know that there is love out there for them- Gods love Francois Duc de La Rochefoucauld, Maxims In jealousy, there is more self-love than love Samuel Butler But is it not Tennyson who has said: Tis better to have loved and lost, than never to have lost at all? Anne Hathaway Ive worked with people and Ive known people that were really competitive but Ive always said that I take an Elizabeth Bennett philosophy of life I laugh. I love my job but if it means hurting someone, I wont do it James Matthew Barrie Let no one who loves be unhappy even love unreturned has its rainbow Roy Orbison Love hurts, love scars, love wounds, and mars Thomas Campbell My love lies bleeding Charlie Brown Nothing takes the taste out of peanut butter quite like unrequited love.

Coffee Growing Regions

Coffee Growing Regions Every morning, millions of people around the world enjoy a cup of coffee to get a jump start on their day. In doing so, they may not be aware of the specific locations that produced the beans used in their latte or black coffee. Top Coffee Growing and Exporting Regions of the World Generally, there are three primary coffee growing and exporting areas throughout the world and all are in the equatorial region. The specific areas are Central and South America, Africa and the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. National Geographic calls this area between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn the Bean Belt as nearly all of the commercially grown coffee in the world comes out of these regions. These are the supreme growing areas because the best beans produced are those grown at high altitudes, in a moist, tropical climate, with rich soils and temperatures around 70 °F (21 °C) all of which the tropics have to offer. Similar to fine wine growing regions, however, there are variations on each of the three different coffee growing regions as well, which affects the overall flavor of the coffee. This makes each type of coffee distinct to its particular region and explains why Starbucks says, Geography is a flavor, when describing the different growing regions around the world. Central and South America Central and South America produce the most coffee out of the three growing locations, with Brazil and Colombia leading the way. Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Panama also play a role here. In terms of flavor, these coffees are considered mild, medium bodied, and aromatic. Colombia is the most well-known coffee producing country and is unique because of its exceptionally rugged landscape. However, this allows small family farms to produce the coffee and, as a result, it is consistently ranked well. Colombian Supremo is the highest grade. Africa and the Middle East The most famous coffees from Africa and the Middle East originate in Kenya and the Arabian Peninsula. Kenyan coffee is generally grown in the foothills of Mount Kenya and is full bodied and very fragrant, while the Arabian version tends to have a fruity flavor. Ethiopia is also a famous place for coffee in this region and is where coffee originated around 800 C.E. Even today, though, coffee is harvested there off of wild coffee trees. It mainly comes from Sidamo, Harer, or Kaffa   the three growing regions within the country. Ethiopian coffee is both full flavored and full bodied. Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is particularly popular for coffees from Indonesia and Vietnam. The Indonesian islands of Sumatra, Java, and Sulawesi are famous around the world for their rich, full-bodied coffees with earthy flavors, whereas Vietnamese coffee is known for its medium bodied light flavor. Additionally, Indonesia is known for its warehouse aged coffees that originated when farmers wanted to store the coffee and sell it at a later date for a higher profit. It has since become highly valued for its unique flavor. After being grown and harvested in each of these different locations, the coffee beans are then shipped to countries around the world where they are roasted and then distributed to consumers and cafes. Some of the top coffee importing countries are  the United States, Germany, Japan, France, and Italy. Each of the aforementioned coffee exporting areas produce  coffee that is distinctive of its climate, topography  and even its growing practices. All of them, however, grow coffees that are famous around the world for their individual tastes and millions of people enjoy them every day.

An Analytical Response to Billions Over Baghdad Essay

An Analytical Response to Billions Over Baghdad - Essay Example Everyone has waited for the smoke to clear, and viola, the rats–the Coalition Provisional Authority (C.P.A.) that is–have to do some explaining, and if possible some serious accounting. The tone varies from being argumentative and provoking. It has also galvanized someone else’s belief that indeed there is corruption and that the US government â€Å"cares only about ensuring that an accounting does not occur.† The level of discourse is already appropriate to young adults. The only problem it posed is the nature of the issue. Although â€Å"Billions over Baghdad† is good to be read, the issue does not appeal well to the majority of the adolescents except to those interested in listening intrigues. The issue never went to center stage except for some congressional hearings and immediately after the series of hearings it all gone like nothing happened. Another setback is the quantity and quality of details. The authors, however, can’t be faulted in the lack of details because a controversy like this is so secretive that people inside refused to talk. Now the hanging inquiries left by the authors dwell on the certainty of accounting the lost $9 billion out of the $12 billion shipped from Federal Reserve to Baghdad and how it vanished so quickly. It also made ourselves ask why the people in Department of Defense and C.P.A. are so unwilling to talk about the unaccounted $9 Billion. The claim of the author is that the people behind the C.P.A. and even the Department of Defense had allowed all the circumstances for the cesspool to propagate. Consequently, the Department of Defense hasn’t shown any determination to resolve the scandal. The secretary of Defense is reluctant to clear the matter and C.P.A. administrator L. Paul Bremer III has also decided to let go of the contractors who profited. All the Department of Defense has done is to shrug it off. The author is correct in pointing out that the situation is indeed odd . With the way how the administration handled the scandal and its jaded effort to put the responsible behind bars, the C.P.A. mess might not be proven under court proceedings. Another claim rightfully pointed out by the author is the existence of widespread corruption. They pointed out that opportunity of corruption exists everywhere from earning kickbacks, having ghost employees and bloating the charge even for daily meals. They also pointed out the widespread mismanagement and the failure to exercise command responsibility. It was very distressing when an army officer representing C.P.A. â€Å"had crossed out the original price and doubled it† after the hospital administrator signed the contract. Another was what Frank Willis has encountered during his stint as a senior adviser to the Iraqi transportation ministry. â€Å"The neat bundles of cash looked almost like play money and the temptation to handle them was irresistible,† Willis said when he returned to his offi ce to find â€Å"piles and piles of shrink-wrapped $100 bills stacked on a table† (vanityfair.com). Good enough that the Billions over Baghdad has included the NorthStar and the Custer Battles in the frame to magnify more the claim that there are corruption and mismanagement. It was a diligent effort by Steele to uncover the shrouded NorthStar; and his effort have made it clear to everyone that the C.P.A. was never sincere in the way it discharged its duties and

1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

1 - Essay Example The paper is made from trees and is responsible for increasing deforestation which is having serious repercussions on the ecology system. The gradual depletion of the natural resources through deforestation became responsible for the slow death of the plants and animals which were interdependent on each other. Lack of trees and plants is also one of the main reasons for barren land because the loose soil tends to blow away the seeds, saplings and essential minerals which are prerequisite for fertile land. The forest with its tall trees also protects the species from natural catastrophes like storms and hurricanes. There are many socio-economical concerns like growing population, housing problems, water and sanitation etc. that might necessitate deforestation but a sustainable development strategy would ensure regeneration and safeguard of natural resources. It is especially true in the contemporary time when the need for sustainable development has become one of the most crucial factors of our life. The use of plastic goods and non biodegradable products has adversely impacted the ecological system. Through the evolving process of entrepreneurial creativeness, people must make efforts to adopt ‘green’ habits and promote goods and services that are intrinsically linked with environment conservation and preservation. The creative ideas have the power to even transform and add value to the ordinary, old household items and make them into fashion accessories of great beauty and value. The goods made from recycled paper, therefore, need to be used in our daily life to promote sustainable promotion activities. The fast changing socio economic dynamics have created a fiercely competitive business environment and organizations tend to adapt to the constantly evolving business environment. The main objective of any

Groupware SLP Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Groupware SLP - Research Paper Example The organization further subdivided its members in to Special Interest Groups of 34 different areas such as computer-human interaction and mobile communications. The ACM website (www.acm.org) is a large website which consisted of variety of resources such as journal articles, special interest groups, details about conferences, blogs, and news. All though some of the resources are free, paid membership is necessary to access the digital library and other benefits including awards and conferences. The website (home page) links with about 18 sections including publications, special interest groups, news and awards. Since the ACM try to cover all possible details about computing, the contents of the site are less specific and diluted. Although they do not publish commercial advertisement (such as Google ads) in the home page they have used much of it space (in the home page) to popularize their activities which usually require a paid membership. Photographs and quotes of the members and winners have been used for these purposes. They have placed commercial advertisements mostly as banners in some of the links/sections (example: ads in the section â€Å"Online Books & Courses†). Irrespective to its usage of â€Å"org† (organization) in the web address it provides very limited amount of free/open access information to the internet users where the usual practice of the most organizations is to provide more free information much as possible (Postel, 1984 & Gray, 1999) . According to the ACM the target audience is anyone interested on professional or educational computing (ACM, 2005). However the content and the arrangement of the website are not interesting and not attractive. They were unable to narrow down the activities to meet with the objectives. The real purpose of this website and the benefit to the audience is difficult to understand. Further the real effect and the validity of the activities such as conferences and the awards are not clear. Even though

Sustainable design Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Sustainable design - Essay Example Sustainability involves all spheres of life and none of the spheres could be ignored as these spheres are interrelated. Sustainability involves development of an ecologically aware, socially just and economically responsible society (Web: "What is Sustainability & Why Is It so Important"). Sustainability as defined by World Commission on Environment and Development (1987) is, "forms of progress that meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs" (Web: "Definition For Sustainability"). Sustainability is imperative in order to assure that a constant supply of water, material and resources will be available to prevent health and well being of the living beings and on the other hand to protect the environment from hazards (Web: "Sustainability"). E.g. A continuous water wastage may lead to water scarcity for future generations. However, it is destined to desalinate saltwater, with sustainable use of water one can postpone the fat ed time. 2. How is sustainability a new way of thinking? How is it related to ecology and systems thinking? Sustainability enables one to think in a novel way. It enables one to understand the balance between society and natural resources as natural resources play vital role for the existence of life on the planet. However, the natural capital stock and services of ecological systems contribute for the welfare of human beings (directly or indirectly) and represent the economy of earth. Estimations reveal that economic value for the whole biosphere approximates to US$ 16-54 trillion per annum. It is essential to understand the estimates to make the services of ecosystems apparent, to highlight the magnitude of global ecosystem services, to understand the areas seeking urgent attention, motivate research and debate. It could be concluded that problems and uncertainties are attributed to the representation of minimum values. Ecosystem involves habitat and biological systems. Living bei ngs derive food (goods) from the ecosystem while services in the form of waste assimilation, together they are referred as ecosystem services. E.g. natural resources provide job prospects to many while living forms fulfill some part of the nature's requirement (Costanza et al., 1997). 3. How can designers integrate principles of sustainability into their designs and promote the sustainability movement? Why are the social and cultural aspects of sustainability so important? A growing concern is observed regarding appreciation of nature among the policy makers and decision maker in private companies to transform an unsustainable system to a sustainable system by involving the fundamental that economic growth is not solely a social event but it is also an environmental episode. Thereby, igniting a feeling to focus on green economy to make certain a sustainable as well as desirable future. Therefore social and cultural aspects of sustainability is imperative in order to promote social e quality, eradication of poverty and to secure future of the coming generations in terms of natural resources. Such focus is further harmonized by means of biodiversity as well as ecosystem services, since resilient ecosystem is essential for long-term socio-economic development (Web: "Nature And Its Role In The Transition To A Green Economy"). Principles of Sustainable Design and Pollution Prevention (Kim, 1998) Economy of Resources- Strategies include conservation of energy, water and

Listening Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Listening - Essay Example In my opinion, this goes hand in hand with listening. Listening to what the client is saying shows that you are interested and hence elevates the chances of success. Sales people are required to possess effective communication skills such that they are able to communicate audibly to a customer and subsequently listen attentively. This paper describes the ‘why’ and ‘how’ listening is one of the most important components of successful salesmanship in the context of the residential renovation industry. There are various ways that a good salesman can adopt the skills of becoming a good listener. To become a better listener, a salesman is advised to first pay attention and listen to the other person before talking, exercise tolerance, persistence, and shun complains. In the modern world, the residential renovation industry has grown into a multi-billion dollar industry. In general, listening has its importance in business communication. It is a key factor of prod uctivity and success in an institution. Listening is important in the establishment of effective and successful associations and relations within the workplace. This is also applicable in the residential renovation industry. Through listening, a salesman is able to establish a relationship or association with the customer. Listening makes it easier for the salesman to converse with the client as s/he is able to comprehend issues effectively. Salesmen are advised to ensure that they develop their listening abilities through offering their complete concentration to their clients and retain eye contact with the client (Green 98). Consequently, a salesman is advised to seek clarification of the statement or arguments brought forward by the client to ensure effective comprehension. A salesperson in the residential renovation industry is ought to listen to the client genuinely and openly. S/he is ought to consider the fact that the whole process is client based, so every attention should be focused towards the client. Listening to the need s of the clients ensures that all renovation work or sale conducted on behalf of the client meets his/her requirements. To elucidate the ‘how’ to listen, Green posits that: Active listeners have a good perspective of, and a strong handle on, paraphrasing, restating, summarizing, responding to nonverbal messages, and responding to feelings. These active listening techniques enable salespeople to hold three important things in their grasp. Listening results in a better understanding of what prospects are saying, listening causes a greater flow of information from prospects, and is the basis for tailoring a sales approach that matches the prospect (97). Listening makes it possible for a salesperson to grasp information and details presented by the client that are beneficial in establishing and putting forward resolutions geared towards benefiting the organization dealing with residential renovation services. This is attr ibuted to the fact that through listening, a salesman has a chance to identify and ascertain the feelings and thought of a particular customer on a particular issue of activity. The information gathered by the salesperson can subsequently be incorporated in chatting the way forward to meet the requirements of the client. Listening helps both the client and the salesperson to build conviction and confidence towards each other. Subsequently, listening helps the salesperson to

Policy issues that should be addressed over the coming years by the Essay

Policy issues that should be addressed over the coming years by the Department of Finance Canada - Essay Example Welfare is not traditionally something that is in the purview of the Canadian Department of Finance. Other social issues, however, such as strengthening and continuing investments in health care, post-secondary education and financial assistance, are a core part of its functions, so undertaking an attempt to aid low-income families is not something that is wildly outside of its mandate. Furthermore, a properly run welfare system can have great economic advantage for the country, increasing productivity, employees skill sets and so on, along with improving social conditions. In order to attempt to reform aid to low-income people and families without overstepping its bounds, the Canadian Department of Finance would have to channel its reform or assistance through one of its existing areas of expertise. A prime area for this change would be a somewhat radical overhaul to the tax system by introducing reverse taxes for incredibly low-income people and families to help them get out of pov erty. A reverse tax would operate something like a guaranteed minimum income – if someone’s taxable income is below a certain threshold (the particular number would have to be negotiated) the reverse tax would kick in, giving money to those people to help compensate for their low income. One of the biggest problems with existing tax structures is the fact that many social help programs, from business expenses to college tuition, are only available in the form of tax deductions. For people who need this help the most, those with incredibly low incomes, these programs are completely inaccessible to people who do not make enough to have a high enough tax bracket to access those deductions. Existing welfare systems come with so many strings attached that they keep people in welfare, unable to take risks to get a better chance in life, so a reverse tax could also help people get out of welfare, as test programs for guaranteed minimum income programs have demonstrated feasib le (). This proposal would have a variety of economic consequences. The first is obvious: higher taxes. In order to fund giving more money back to people who need it, taxes would have to be higher. Higher taxes have the possibility of limiting economic growth, so the best way to fund this program might be from sin taxes, and or from eliminating existing tax deductions to people who reach a certain income threshold, compensated hopefully by the economic gains of having a reverse tax (which will be discussed below). The bottom line is that systems of wealth exchange always have a degree of inefficiency to them, which means that a reverse tax will remove money, at least from the short term, from the economy. There are economic upsides to this scheme as well, however. One of the major ones is that if executed correctly, a reverse tax has the possibility of replacing much of the current welfare system, which is incredibly wasteful and has demonstrated little ability to get people off of welfare due to punishing rather than rewarding employment and having too much

Listening Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Listening - Essay Example In my opinion, this goes hand in hand with listening. Listening to what the client is saying shows that you are interested and hence elevates the chances of success. Sales people are required to possess effective communication skills such that they are able to communicate audibly to a customer and subsequently listen attentively. This paper describes the ‘why’ and ‘how’ listening is one of the most important components of successful salesmanship in the context of the residential renovation industry. There are various ways that a good salesman can adopt the skills of becoming a good listener. To become a better listener, a salesman is advised to first pay attention and listen to the other person before talking, exercise tolerance, persistence, and shun complains. In the modern world, the residential renovation industry has grown into a multi-billion dollar industry. In general, listening has its importance in business communication. It is a key factor of prod uctivity and success in an institution. Listening is important in the establishment of effective and successful associations and relations within the workplace. This is also applicable in the residential renovation industry. Through listening, a salesman is able to establish a relationship or association with the customer. Listening makes it easier for the salesman to converse with the client as s/he is able to comprehend issues effectively. Salesmen are advised to ensure that they develop their listening abilities through offering their complete concentration to their clients and retain eye contact with the client (Green 98). Consequently, a salesman is advised to seek clarification of the statement or arguments brought forward by the client to ensure effective comprehension. A salesperson in the residential renovation industry is ought to listen to the client genuinely and openly. S/he is ought to consider the fact that the whole process is client based, so every attention should be focused towards the client. Listening to the need s of the clients ensures that all renovation work or sale conducted on behalf of the client meets his/her requirements. To elucidate the ‘how’ to listen, Green posits that: Active listeners have a good perspective of, and a strong handle on, paraphrasing, restating, summarizing, responding to nonverbal messages, and responding to feelings. These active listening techniques enable salespeople to hold three important things in their grasp. Listening results in a better understanding of what prospects are saying, listening causes a greater flow of information from prospects, and is the basis for tailoring a sales approach that matches the prospect (97). Listening makes it possible for a salesperson to grasp information and details presented by the client that are beneficial in establishing and putting forward resolutions geared towards benefiting the organization dealing with residential renovation services. This is attr ibuted to the fact that through listening, a salesman has a chance to identify and ascertain the feelings and thought of a particular customer on a particular issue of activity. The information gathered by the salesperson can subsequently be incorporated in chatting the way forward to meet the requirements of the client. Listening helps both the client and the salesperson to build conviction and confidence towards each other. Subsequently, listening helps the salesperson to

Use of Computer based Technology in Engineering Design Assignment

Use of Computer based Technology in Engineering Design - Assignment Example Use of Computer based Technology in Engineering Design Many software applications have been developed to help engineers in this course of design. The most utilised software is AutoCAD. It is an application capable of achieving 2D and 3D designs. The founders of AutoCAD made a decision to code it using C programming language. That is the main reason why AutoCAD is able to support object customization through C++ Application Programming Interface (API). The design tool has a set of basic modelling tools for solids in 2D and 3D orientations. Earlier versions of the design tool made use of lines, arcs, circles and polylines while modern tools have additional functionalities like mental ray engine. The modern design tool has made quality designs achievable. The design is done on a space with provision of user interface aid standards. The standard tool bar is at the top, it lists label from left to right. The designer uses the menu bar; tool sets palette and command line at the bottom to access the very many available objects and commands. By clicking on them the cursor changes to the object of interest. The drawing space displays an XY axis of a rectangular. This is a coordinate system (UCS). Before starting a design, select units for the line and angle of the drawing (Gindis). The CAD tool allows the designer to draw, format, edit, save and retrieve drawing. Like all the other applications, to save a drawing click FILE then proceed to save. To retrieve, click on FILE and proceed to open an existing drawing. The software allows importing of objects from other external sources so ling as they are of compatible formats. Ones a drawing has been imported, editing can be done and even saving of changes made. AutoCAD has calculation functionalities that ensure engineers use the shortest time possible to complete a given project. The application provides the Cam Generator and the Beam Calculation at your disposal. The Cam generator allows plate and cylindrical cam creations. It performs the calculations of velocity and acceler ation. In addition to calculations, the design tool plots cam path. Mechanical engineering has almost the trickiest design set where designs need be of utmost accuracy. The tool offers shaft calculations including deflection lines, bending moment, torsion moment, supporting force, torque rotational angle, equivalent tension and other safety factors. Mechanical designs require perfect fit and that is why the screw pre-calculation tool comes in handy. Other calculation tools include Bearing and screw calculations. With this tools functionalities like stress points, load and line loadings can be analysed with ease (Gindis). Functionalities of Integrated circuit design are available within the software standards. The library has a number of the components that make up integrated circuits and standard integrated circuit that have been made. By selecting the components, the designer is able to create a complete circuit that follows electrical engineering standards of design. The CAD softw are allows the designer to simulate and check the performance of the circuit. The simulation tool can plot graphs of the various parameters as the designer may see fit. This is performed for both AC, DC and transient analysis. Capturing a schematic design is of importance to electrical engineers when using the electronic design automation tool. Electronic circuit design can also become a complex idea to undertake; especially in the design of integrated circuits. For this reason CAD software, have schematic editors. AutoCAD electrical has

Effects of parental marital instability to children Essay Example for Free

Effects of parental marital instability to children Essay Parental divorce has a substantial effect on children which can be long-term or short term. Long term effects can range from long-term financial difficulties, psychological, mental, physical and also social problems. This could be as a result of lack of both emotional and social support that is derived from stable families. Divorce entails separation of parents leaving the family broken, a situation that denies the children a safe and steady informal environment for learning. It also minimizes the ability of parents to guard their children against negative influences from the surrounding environment. However, there are some cases where divorce brings about short term relieve to children especially where violence that is directed to children and a parent is involved. Although this may reduce short-term physical together with psychological effects, long-tem effects are bound to occur (Amato, 2000). Financial effects: this arises due to the break up of the family’s financial structure forcing each of the parents to rely on their personal incomes for survival unlike previously when they could pool their incomes together. Since the success of children relies on both financial and social support from parents, children who are brought up in a family with two parents are likely to have high achievements compared to those with one because of the presence of both parents who could offer complementary resources when needed. Each of the divorced parents will be forced to use available resources in trying to set up a new home at the expense of the children’s needs of quality education and better health services. In some cases where fathers start new families, the possibility of children being affected financially rises because the father could end up spending less on them (Cherlin, Kiernan Chase-Lansdale, 1995). Social impact: the social impact of divorce on children has been found to be massive. Children whose parents divorce during their formative years have been found to be greatly affected compared to those who their parents divorce at a later date. These children become prone to divorce in their later lives. This is so because, during formative years, children require both parents for effective development of skills and values that are necessary in development of stable relationships in future. It is evident in men who grow with single mothers who tend to behave in a deviant way with violent natures who eventually end up being involved in criminal activities (Amato, 2001). Because the children are not able take sides during divorce, they feel as if they are the cause of the divorce. As a result, they may end up getting depressed and eventually becoming suicidal. Their personality and sense of confidence is affected by the regular arguments and fights that their parents may have had. Eventually, after divorce if proper measures such as counseling are not taken, they may become emotionally destabilized which may lead to drug abuse and suicide (D’Onofrio et al, 2003). When the non custodian parent moves far away from the other and does not communicate frequently or in totality to the children, they may feel a sense of loose of a parent. Girls get affected by their father’s absence whereby they may become emotionally withdrawn from both boys and men during growth and later on in life. Divorce cases tend to affect boys more than girls. Boys tend to show signs of violent and criminal behaviors while girls become neurotic depressive which mostly depends on their mother’s behavior. They carry these behaviors to their relationships in future which explain why most marriages of such children do not last (Furstenberg Teitler, 1994). According to Cherlin, Chase-Lansdale McRae (1998), divorce may cause long term mental disorders for children between the age bracket 0 and 4. This is so because of lack of care that is essential for full development of the child. An example is when the father is given custody of the child, the child misses an opportunity to breast feed and receive post-natal care which may lead to mental defects later on in life. This affects their ability to perform in sports and school activities (D’Onofrio et al, 2005). To enhance adjustment of the child to the situation, it is recommended that: parents should discuss the impending divorce to ensure that its done at a level where it will not have a great effect to the child, they should be able to answer any question that the child could be having about the situation, the child should be assured that it was not by his/her fault that they separated, the child should be assured that both parents will continue loving him/her, the child’s needs should be the parents’ priority, the parent in custody of the child should not expect his/her emotional needs to be met by the child, parenting should continue as usual, continued visitation of the child by the other parent who doesn’t have custody of the child should be ensured, parents should avoid being critical of the other and avoid interrogating the child about visits made by the other parent (Caspi et al, 2004). In conclusion, the effects of divorce to children are damaging to the child’s development leading to both physical and psychological disorders. This affects the child’s ability to develop social skills which are important in developing stable relationships later on in life. It also affects both financial and social well being of the children involved. The effects can be controlled through ensuring that the affected children are surrounded by an enabling environment which will help them acquire the required social, emotional and financial support. This will help reduce the long-term effects that result from such cases. Other ways that could be considered in trying to reduce these long term effects include looking for a step family or introduction of special mentorship programs in schools. Because of the effects involved, there is need for child mental health specialists who are familiar with the wide range of complications that divorce may have on the child so that they can help reduce if not prevent the effects. References Amato, P. R. (2000). The consequences of divorce for adults and children: Journal of Marriage and the Family, 62, 1269–1287. Amato, P. R. (2001). Children of divorce in the 1990s: An update of the Amato and Keith (1991) meta-analysis. Journal of Family Psychology, 15, 355–370. Caspi, A. , Moffitt, T. E. , Morgan, J. , Rutter, M. , Taylor, A. , Arseneault, L. , et al. (2004). Maternal expressed emotion predicts children’s antisocialbehavior problems: Using monozygotic-twin differences to identify environmental effects on behavioral development. Developmental Psychology, 40, 149–161. Cherlin, A. J. , Chase-Lansdale, P. L. , McRae, C. (1998). Effects of parental divorce on mental health throughout the life course. American Sociological Review, 63, 239–249. Cherlin, A. J. , Kiernan, K. E. , Chase-Lansdale, P. L. (1995). Parental divorce in childhood and demographic outcomes in young adulthood. Demography, 32, 299–318. D’Onofrio, B. M. , Turkheimer, E. , Eaves, L. J. , Corey, L. A. , Berg, K. ,Solaas, M. H. , Emery, R. E. (2003). The role of the children of twins design in elucidating causal relations between parent characteristics and child outcomes. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 44, 1130–1144. D’Onofrio, B. M. , Turkheimer, E. , Emery, R. E. , Slutske, W. S. , Heath, A. C. , Madden, P. A. , Martin, N. G. (2005). A genetically informed study of marital instability and its association with offspring psychopathology. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 114, 570–586. Furstenberg, F. F. , Jr. , Teitler, J. O. (1994). Reconsidering the effects of marital disruption: What happens to children of divorce in young adulthood? Journal of Family Issues, 15, 173–190.

Alzheimers Disease: Biology, Etiology and Solutions

Alzheimers Disease: Biology, Etiology and Solutions Introduction Alzheimers disease (AD) is a type of dementia characterized by the progressive loss in cognitive function due to neurodegeneration that results in gradual memory loss and eventually the inability to carry out tasks of daily living. The two types of AD are distinguished by age of onset and etiologies; early-onset AD develops prior to age 65 and has strong genetic associations while late-onset AD develops after age 65 with a more complex etiology. Late-onset AD accounts for 90-95% of AD cases (Harman 2002). Aging is a strong risk factor for developing late-onset AD. Given that the global population of people ages 65 and up is expected to increase from 26.6 million in 2006 to 106.8 million by 2050 (Brookmeyer et al. 2007) AD is a growing public health concern in regards to disease management and development of innovative treatments. The prevalence of AD globally is 4.4%, with 1 in 10 people over age 65 and nearly one-third of people over age 85 affected by dementia in developed countries (Qiu et al. 2009). AD prevalence is the greatest in East Asia, followed by Western Europe, South Asia, and North America (Prince et al. 2015). Disease burden is anticipated to be the greatest in low and middle-income countries with the fastest growth in the elderly population and limited access to care (Prince et al. 2015). By 2050, the U.S. population of adults with AD is projected to increase to 13.2 million. With 43% of AD patients requiring a high level of care, the financial and healthcare burden of AD is expected to rise (Qiu et al. 2009). Given that the burden of AD will increase over the coming decades with costly impacts on health care and social services, it is necessary to continue AD research to identify a cause and develop novel therapies. Etiology Alzheimer’s disease is a multifactorial disease with several genetic, person, and lifestyle risk factors that contribute to development of disease. Although many risk factors for AD have been identified a cause has not yet been found. Of the genetic risk factors identified, apolipoprotein E alleles, with ethnic and sex variability in risk of developing AD, and TREM2 gene mutations have the strongest associations with AD. Lifestyle risk factors include hypertension, obesity, diabetes, and education. The development of AD requires a combination of these risk factors that induce the production of neurotoxic amyloid beta (Aß) and neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs), the agents of AD. Apolipoprotein E (apoE) has been identified as playing a role in AD pathology. ApoE is naturally produced and is involved in lipid transport (Ridge et al. 2013; 2018 Feb 27).   In AD it is thought that apoE regulation of Aß is altered (Kanekiyo et al. 2014). There are three apoE alleles that differ in the risk they confer to AD; the ÃŽ µ2 and ÃŽ µ3 alleles are protective but the ÃŽ µ4 allele increases risk for AD (Ridge et al. 2013). Additionally, it appears that ethnicity modulates the risk of AD conferred by the apoE ÃŽ µ4 allele, conferring greater risk among Caucasians and Japanese than African Americans and Hispanics (Ridge et al., 2013). The apoE ÃŽ µ4 allele is an established risk factor for the development of AD however it is not causative and the risk that carrying this gene confers is likely modulated by other factors such as ethnicity and lifestyle.   Mutations in the TREM2 gene have also been implicated in AD pathology. The TREM2 gene codes for a receptor expressed in myeloid cells, the principal innate immune cell in the brain (Hickman and El Khoury 2014) and in greater abundance in the hippocampus and neocortex, brain structures affected by neurodegeneration in AD (Guerreiro et al. 2013 Jan 9). A rare missense mutation in the TREM2 gene was identified in Islanders that confers significant risk of AD (Jonsson et al. 2013 Jan 9) and a loss of function mutation increases the risk of late-onset AD in heterozygous carriers (Hickman and El Khoury 2014). This loss of function mutation promotes the production of Aß and reduces Aß phagocytosis and degradation (Hickman and El Khoury 2014). In addition to the genetic risk factors discussed above, several lifestyle risk factors for AD have been identified including cardiovascular risk factors and obesity. Cardiovascular risk factors (smoking, hypertension, high cholesterol, and diabetes) in mid-life are associated with a 20-40% increased risk of AD in a dose-dependent fashion (Whitmer et al. 2005). Hypertension that develops in mid-life and persists into late-life is associated with a greater risk of dementia (McGrath et al. 2017). Furthermore, the risk of hypertension for AD in late-life might be influenced by sex, with females having a 65% increased risk of developing dementia if hypertensive in mid-life but no such association among males (Gilsanz et al. 2017). Midlife insulin resistance is also a risk factor for Aß accumulation (Ekblad et al. 2018 Feb 23) and patients with diabetes and the apoE ÃŽ µ4 allele have more Aß plaques and NFTs in the brain (Peila et al. 2002). Obesity is linked to AD via several singl e-nucleotide polymorphisms (Hinney et al. 2014). In people who are obese, leptin and adiponectin lose their neuroprotective role as the brain becomes resistant to leptin and the levels of adiponectin decrease (Letra et al. 2014). Research conducted by Nuzzo et al. (2015) further supports this association, finding that obese mice fed a high-fat diet had elevated Aß accumulation. Addressing these modifiable risk factors in mid-life may help reduce the risk of developing AD in late-life. Higher educational attainment and continued cognitive stimulation in later life are protective against AD. Amieva et al. (2014) found that individuals with AD who had education beyond 6 years of primary school showed delayed cognitive decline before diagnosis compared to individuals with less education. Participating in cognitive leisure activities in late-life, like reading books, newspapers, and magazines, solving crossword puzzles, and attending courses and professional training, has a protective effect as well (Sattler et al. 2012). Higher educational attainment may be associated with reduced risk of AD and delayed cognitive decline if AD develops because of its association with increased hippocampi and amygdalae size. In individuals with AD, the hippocampi are larger in those who had 20 years of formal education compared to those with 6 years (Shpanskaya et al. 2014). The role of education in hippocampal size is further implicated by Tang, Varma, Miller, and Carlson (2017) who f ound that the left hippocampus is larger than the right, possibly due to education honing retrieval of verbal memory by the left hippocampus through increasing intellectual ability and literacy skills.   Biology   Alzheimer’s disease results in the progressive loss of neurons in the cerebrum. The first structures affected are the hippocampi followed by the amygdala (Pini et al. 2016). As the disease progresses so does neuronal loss throughout the cerebrum. In AD, Aß peptides and neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) formed by tau protein cause synaptic damage that leads to apoptosis. Additionally, the innate immune system in the brain does not function properly in AD and therefore does not remove Aß peptides before they aggregate to form plaques.   Amyloid beta is naturally produced in the brain by the cleavage of amyloid precursor protein (APP), but when APP is cleaved by ß-secretase Aß peptides are formed that can cause synaptic and mitochondrial damage and aggregate to form plaques (Querfurth and LaFerla 2010). In healthy individuals, Aß peptides are cleared by microglia and enzymes but these mechanisms deteriorate in individuals with AD and the Aß peptides accumulate and result in neurodegeneration (Sarlus and Heneka 2017). Aß plaques cause neuronal cell death by accumulating around neurons, impairing normal function and inducing an inflammatory response. More attention recently has been given to Aß peptides, which lead to apoptosis in neurons through synaptic damage and inhibition of mitochondrial function. Aß peptides cause synaptic damage in the hippocampus by aggregating and creating pores in the cell membranes that allows calcium ion entry into the cell. Over time, these pores become non-selective and allow flux of large molecules like ATP and glucose that alters cell metabolism and disrupts homeostasis resulting in apoptosis (Sepà ºlveda et al. 2014). Aß also produces reactive oxygen species that initiate oxidative stress which leads to mitochondria in the cell releasing cytochrome C and inducing apoptosis (Querfurth and LaFerla 2010). Both Aß peptides and APP can enter the mitochondria where they disrupt the electron transport chain and ATP production (Caspersen et al. 2005; Reddy and Beal 2008). Synapses are sites of high mitochondrial activity because ATP is needed for neurotransmitter release (Reddy and Beal 2008), so inhibition of mitochondrial activity by Aß also results in synaptic damage. NFTs are intracellular aggregations of hyperphosphorylated tau protein and also cause neurodegeneration. Tau protein is a component of the cytoskeleton of neural cells but when hyperphosphorylated tau proteins have an affinity for themselves and destabilize the cytoskeleton (Iqbal et al. 2005; Spillantini and Goedert 2013). Tau protein is phosphorylated by glycogen synthase kinase -3ß (GSK-3ß) (Rankin et al. 2007) which can be activated by Aß peptides (Takashima 2006). Tau protein mediates synaptic damage by inhibiting extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) signaling that is key in cell survival (Sun et al. 2016). Approaches Current treatment of AD relies on two types of medications: acetylcholine esterase inhibitors (AChEIs) and N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonists. AChEIs work by slowing the degradation of acetylcholine (ACh) by inhibiting acetylcholine esterase which allows more ACh action at the synapses (Nelson and Tabet 2015). When cholinergic neurons are lost during the course of AD, ACh synthesis and receptor signaling are reduced (Auld et al. 2002). AChEIs are most effective in slowing progression of cognitive decline in mild to moderate cases and less effective in severe AD (Gillette-Guyonnet et al. 2011). Memantine is an NMDA receptor antagonist (Tariot et al. 2004) that helps mitigate the loss of NMDA receptor function due to Aß peptides (Snyder et al. 2005). Memantine is not effective for mild cases of AD (Nelson and Tabet 2015) but it is effective in moderate to severe cases, especially when used in combination with AChEIs (Tariot et al. 2004). Although AChEIs and NMDA receptor antagonists are the current pharmacological treatments available for AD, they are only able to slow the progression of the disease and lose effectiveness as AD progresses. The challenge in designing a drug to prevent or cure AD is the multifactorial nature of the disease with genetic and lifestyle risk factors. Even when non-pharmacologic interventions (controlling blood pressure, cognitive stimulation therapy, healthy diet and exercise, and maintaining social networks) (Nelson and Tabet 2015) are used as part of a comprehensive treatment plan and initiated early in disease progression, the best that current treatments can offer is to slow the natural progression of the disease With AD prevalence expected to increase worldwide across all races and ethnicities, the culture of different populations is an important consideration when designing intervention strategies. Social and economic barriers that prevent access to health care and social services among different populations need to be understood to identify and implement the best treatment specific to that population. Cultures also differ in how they view AD-related cognitive decline and may consider the memory loss a part of normal aging and therefore delay seeking treatment. An awareness of how cognitive decline in older age is defined culturally, how cultures differ in caring for the elderly, and how barriers to AD care services impacts each culture’s choice of treatment is key to developing successful interventions. Proposed Solutions The greatest challenge in developing treatment for AD that can prevent AD development or progression is that a specific cause has not yet been identified. However, recent research has identified new pharmacologic targets involved in the production of Aß and new therapies to reduce Aß and tau pathology. Research by Hu, Das, Hou, He, and Yan (2018) identified the ß-secretase BACE1 as a potential pharmacological target for the treatment of AD. In a mouse model of AD in adults with BACE1 inhibition, it was observed that synaptic function improved and Aß plaque formation was prevented. Although some clinical trials of BACE1 inhibitors have stalled, with Merck stopping its clinical trial of verubecestat in February 2018 (Merck 2018), there is still hope of developing pharmacologic treatments targeting Aß and tau proteins (Amgen 2017). A novel therapeutic approach being researched is the use of optogenetic stimulation to reduce Aß and tau phosphorylation. Using a light flickering at 40 hertz, (Iaccarino et al. 2016) found they could stimulate brain waves called gamma oscillations in a mouse model of AD and observed reduced Aß plaque formation and tau phosphorylation. This may lead to new non-invasive AD therapies, but more research is needed to investigate its effectiveness in humans. With treatment approaches that target the production of toxic Aß and abnormal tau phosphorylation, it is conceivable that in the future we may be better able to prevent and stop the progression of AD. References Amgen. 2017 Nov 2. 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