Thursday, November 28, 2019

Prp Theories free essay sample

HUMAN RESOUCE MANAGEMENT CONTENTS 1. Introduction1 2. Literature review2 2. 1Emergence of PRP2 2. 2Concept of PRP3 2. 3Relevant theories of PRP4 2. 3. 1Maslow’s hierarchy of needs Herzberg’s motivational theory4 2. 3. 2Equity theory in PRP5 3. Case study6 3. 1Case one: â€Å"Why Do Companies Use Performance-Related Pay for Their Executive Directors? † (Bender, 2004)6 3. 2Case two: â€Å"Evaluating performance-related pay for managers in the National Health Service† (Dowling Richardson, 1997)9 4. Analysis and Evaluation of PRP Theory in Business Organisations11 4. 1Comparison11 4. Contrast12 4. 3Performance related pay theory in business organizations13 4. 3. 1Motivates employees and improve their performance14 4. 3. 2Facilitates change to organizational cultural14 4. 3. 3Encourages the internalization of performance norms15 4. 4Problems of PRP in practice15 4. 4. 1Setting performance objectives16 4. 4. 2Assessment and ratings17 4. 4. 3Reward17 5. Conclus ion18 Reference19 Appendices21 1. Introduction Nowadays, Human Resource Management has become a strategic and coherent approach more than just managing the competencies and skills of employees in an organization. Armstrong (2002) noticed that HRM is much more focus on people not jobs, and so does business organization (Lewis, 1998). We will write a custom essay sample on Prp Theories or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Yet, people have been placed as an important role of business. To this extent, this essay will take a critical look at PRP which is based on people, and also considered as an essential and sensitive part of the HRM in organizations today. The paper starts with a brief review of recent literature which reports studies of PRP systems. It continues with describing two case studies related to the practical discrepancy to PRP theories. It goes on to our own independent critical analysis by comparing the PRP theories and practice in real world. Finally, there are conclusions being drawn about the appropriateness of PRP in a research environment. 2. Literature review 2. 1 Emergence of PRP Performance-related pay (PRP) emerged in the early 1980’s which attempts to relate individual performance at work to reward, aiming to motivate people ad develop performance-oriented cultures. Besides business organisations, some public institutions such as governments and universities also adopt PRP as an essential level for championing values. By comparing with other payment schemes, the PRP idea was whole-heartedly accepted by employers and played a much more positive effect on improving employees’ behaviour and organisations’ culture. According to the IPD research into performance management practices in 1997, 43 per cent of respondents had PRP; additionally, IBS research in 1998 showed that 61 per cent of answers satisfied their merit pay. These figures make it easy to see that PRP have been widely applied among organizations whatever businesslike or public facility (Armstrong, 2002). There are a variety of reasons why organization may applied PRP. Armstrong and Murlis (1994) stated that ‘it is right and proper for people to be rewarded in accordance with their contribution’. According to Pilbeam Colbridge (2002), there are a number of factors contributing to the emergence of PRP, which is identified in Figure 1. The Thatcher legacy and ‘enterprise’ values in the public sector Increasingly competitive environment and concern with employee performance Unitary and neo-unitary employment relations perspectives Reassertion of the ‘right to manage’ and increasing managerial control Influence of HRM demagogy Strategic integration of reward Trends towards individualism and the weakening of collectivism Emergence of PRP Figure 1: Factors contributing to the emergence of PRP (Pilbeam Corbridge, 2002) 2. 2 Concept of PRP ACAS (1990) defined individual performance-related pay (PRP) as â€Å"a method of payment where an individual employee receives increases in pay based wholly or partly on the regular and systematic assessment of job performance†. Additionally, Murlis (1996) claimed a significant distinction between the use of PRP to managing performance straight from the motivational stimulation of financial rewards (motivation) and the use of PRP to identify different levels of performance (reward). Based on these points, PRP can be commented as a combination of three key factors: motivation, performance and rewards, which work in two ways that motivating people to achieve expected performance; and rewarding these people who have achieved successful performance. Based on these three factors and their relationships, Pilbeam and Corbridge (2002) identified three stages for PRP application: Firstly, setting individual performance criteria by imposition, discussion or agreement firstly; secondly, assessing performance against individual performance criteria which established in stage1; thirdly, allocating pay to the assessment of performance by the exercise of managerial prerogative. 2. 3 Relevant theories of PRP 3. 2 2. 3. 1 Maslow’s hierarchy of needs Herzberg’s motivational theory in PRP Maslow’s (1943, 1987) hierarchy of needs and the two factor theory of Herzberg (1959) indicated that pay can be considered as the most effective way to satisfy human’s need and further to motivate people to work more effectively, which means appropriate payment can stimulate employee to achieve successful performance that maximizing organisation’s benefits. Kessler and Purcell (1922) noted that employees will be easily motivated if there is a direct and close relationship between performance and reward. Therefore, PRP schemes could motivate the employees to increase their efforts to accomplish good performance. 2. 3. 2 Equity theory in PRP The Equity theory of Adams (1965) identified that employees have a strong need to be treated fairly which can be balanced by an equity between their input like work performance and output like rewarding. Compared to other types of pay like non-incentive pay which is based on collectively-negotiated rule, PRP associates employees’ productivity with their behaviour, rewarding employees for their successful performance, which is much more fair and reasonable. From these theories, we can see that PRP has brought a lot of potential benefits on improving HRM efficiency of organization. However, there are some shortages in PRP application in practice, which will be discussed in following two empirical case analyses. 3. Case study 3. Case one: â€Å"Why Do Companies Use Performance-Related Pay for Their Executive Directors? † (Bender, 2004) The paper focused on the issue of rewards to the listed companies’ executive director. There are variable ways to pay the rewards. Thus the performance-related pay introduced to this paper. At the beginning of this paper prior research introduces three types of theory to explain why companies use performance-related pay: agency theory , motivation theories (expectancy, equity), and institutional and legitimacy theories. Research designing utilized 12 companies’ interviews with 35 persons who stand in different positions. These interviews lasted for two years from December 2001 to May 2003. The interviews reflected different opinions about the influence of PRP. Some of the answers demonstrated PRP could motivate people to do work well: Alan Wilson, chief executive of Skandia UK regarded pay as a motivator; a HR director thought if everyone was paid the same base salary, they would always do the same. But a part of the respondents denied that PRP made an effort in motivating people in the work. A CEO argued that whether PRP works depends on which market you were in and also on when the people were on flat salaries. Also another respondent held a neutral idea on motivation of PRP to managers. A CEO categorized his employees into two types: one type chased money and the other worked for vocational interests and he realized that PRP was in a position to exert influence on those who chased money and not on employees worked for vocational interests. At the end of this part the author reaches the conclusion that lack of money is a de-motivator. Furthermore, interviews demonstrated some different ideas: a) Payment represents personal value of employees. The more contribution you have made, the more you can earn; b) Focus and fairness: according to the answers from interviewees, we can find that the company adopts PRP with the intention to make executives focus on their work efforts and fairness can improve employees’ performance; c) The need to provide alignment: here is a large number of factors influence performance in long-term and some of those cannot be observed currently; d) Other reasons to introduce performance-related pay: the requirement of government to adopt PRP and because of everybody has it so you has to have it; e) Problems with performance-related pay: a consultant pointed out that PRP system would bring unpredictable problems especially in long-term and it is difficult to select appropriate measure and tar gets. Market Practices Need for Legitimacy Need to Attract and Retain Implement a performance-related reward scheme Set performance measures and targets and use it to communicate strategy Directors’ actions and behaviours Business performance Performance-related award Monetary award Increased human capital for future negotiations Effect on individual’s self worth Figure 2: Why Companies use performance-related pay (Bender, 2004) In the final part, the author summarizes this case study according to three theories mentioned at the beginning of our description and draws figure 1 to show why companies performance-related pay. . 2 Case two: â€Å"Evaluating performance-related pay for managers in the National Health Service† (Dowling Richardson, 1997) This paper includes 4 sections. Section 1 explains the NHS system which means the performance related pay system for general management in 1989. Section 2 concludes the evaluation criteria and explanatory framework. PRP is introduced on the initiative of management. According to Cannel an d Wood’s survey, PRP could be introduced to overcome problems with existing systems, o encourage employees’ motivation, to improve communication with work force, to reduce problems of recruitment. Kessler suggested that the PRP might also be used to improve the fairness of a payment system, to reduce union influence and the importance of collective bargaining, can also give additional influence to line managers. The purpose of PRP is said to reward those manage who achieve a more than competent standard of work and motivate managers to perform better. Section 3 values the efficiency of the scheme and four measures are utilized to check the outcome of the scheme. Managers had to be assessed by their supervisors and receive reward based on their performance if they had finished targets set at the beginning of the year. In NHS, the HR department designed the PRP system in order to motivate managers. However, through self-reported data from the managers covered by the PRP system, a majority of respondents saw the scheme as having little or no effect on their motivation to do their jobs well. Also the authors did not found solid evidence to show that there are corresponding negative consequences of PRP. The initial examination of the raw data clearly suggests that the three elements of the scheme achieved different degrees of success. The objective-setting elements seemed to be widely supported. It could be observed that the schemes rewards were either not appropriate or not sufficiently attractive to act as a motivator. PRP include the way in which performance standards are set and monitored. Section 4 explains the effects of PRP in the NHS. About 85% respondents showed satisfaction with the objective –setting process. Furthermore, they also agreed that the challenge offered by the objective measures increase their determination to achieve their goal set before. On the other hand, there was also much critical comment on reward system such as subjectivity and appraiser bias. In addition, the PRP reward system was always cash limited. 4. Analysis and Evaluation of PRP Theory in Business Organisations 2 3 4. 1 Comparison Both of the two cases are involved in the topic of PRP, and focus on the effectiveness of PRP scheme. In addition, both of the researches partly agree that PRP is successful in some areas or in some extend, however, PRP is still not a perfect scheme due to various reasons. As what has been pointed out to be the problems in PRP, among all of the reasons mentioned in the papers, the objective-setting process has been pointed out in both of the researches, which indicates that this might be one of the key points which should be considered to improve PRP scheme. What is more, both of the papers mention that PRP is introduced in order to attract and retain executives with the potential of large earnings(Bender, 2004) and to improve the fairness of a payment system, to generate employee commitment (Dowling and Richardson, 1997), which can be considered as the positive points of PRP. 4. 2 Contrast The methods used in the research in the two cases are different. The case about PRP in the National Health Service used both quantitative and qualitative date from a questionnaire survey (Dowling and Richardson, 1997). While, the case conducted by Bender (2004) used qualitative date from an interview survey. Moreover, the perspectives used in the two papers also vary. As to the reasons why PRP is not more successful, Dowling and Richardson (1997) consider that there are three kinds of employees as being particularly important: firstly, those who think that the objective-setting process of PRP is coped with terribly; secondly, those who think the assessments are handled badly; lastly, those who believe that the rewards are not attractive enough to encourage their motivation. They hold the opinion that PRP has a less important influence on these people, which indicates that the improvement of objective-setting process, assessments and rewards might lead to improving the effect of PRP. While, the paper conducted by Bender (2004) indicates that the reason that PRP is not so successful is also related to the market in which directors are. Besides, salary and rewards are not the only recourses that could motivate managers. For instance, leisure can also play a significant role in the performance of managers. Additionally, PRP scheme has less important impact on those people who mainly work for vocational interests. Meanwhile, this paper (Bender, 2004) pays more attention to the reasons that PRP is used by companies. The writer points out some more reasons from interviews with directors other than the strong points of PRP which have been mentioned above. To be exactly, pay can be deemed as a symbol of worth and how much one can earn is associated with the self esteem for the executives. In the end, we can see from the two papers that PRP has developed successfully from 1997 to 2004 because what are reflected in the papers shows us that PRP has been used much more and been recognized in a wider range. As a result, we can conclude that with the use of PRP, this scheme has become and also will become more and more mature and contribute a lot to business organizations. 4. 3 Performance related pay theory in business organizations This section conducts analysis of two empirical cases critically and assesses the value of PRP theory and benefits it achieves in business organizations. The whole objective of pay related systems like the PRP and other HRM theories is obviously to bring or add to the value of business organizations. When we take a look at the first paper, it is obvious that on the average PRP increases an organization’s value. The following are the perceived benefits of the PRP theory: 4 5. 1 5. 2 5. 3 5. 4. 1 Motivates employees and improve their performance The human needs hierarchy theory of Maslow (1943, 1987) and the two factors theory of Herzberg (1959) indicate that in modern society satisfying human needs like payment is in a position to motivate people to work harder. Furthermore, in business organisations payment related to performance can stimulate people to accomplish the performance that organizations want. Kessler and Purcell (1992) claimed that if direct relationship exists between effort, performance and reward, employees would be motivated. PRP schemes act exactly as this direct link motivating the employees to increase their efforts. 5. 4. 2 Facilitates change to organizational cultural Kessler and Purcell (1992) argued that PRP refers to flexibility, dynamism, entrepreneurial spirit and careful allocation of resources, leading to a performance-orientated culture. Therefore, the introduction of PRP facilitates change in business organizations culture from collectively negotiated formula to individual contribution, which assists in solving problems, increasing value of organizations, and reducing problems of recruitment and retention. 5. 4. Encourages the internalization of performance norms â€Å"PRP can encourage the internalization of the organisation’s goal or norms of behaviour among the employees of the organization† (Geary, 1992). In the implementation of PRP, the organisation’s norms of behaviour can be enhanced by rewarding congruous work effects and by punishing incongruous performance. Th ereby, it strengthens management control and clarifies job roles within organizations. 5. 4 Problems of PRP in practice Theoretically, PRP can produce many benefits for organizations, which have been demonstrated above. However, there are always gaps between theories and practice of PRP. In this part data from the NHS case will be utilized to illustrate some problems of PRP. Figure 3 above shows that only 2 percent respondents consider PRP as the motivator for them to work harder while respondents with opposite idea accounts for 45 percent. Also 67 percent respondents embrace neutral idea on the question of whether PRP scheme affect motivation to do the job and 77 percent respondents did not feel more co-operation after the introduction of PRP scheme. Question| Negative Positive| Does PRP have effect on your motivation to do the job well? 2| 3| 67| 25| 4| You consciously work harder because of the PRP scheme. | 45| 26| 17| 10| 2| You focus on PRP objectives rather than other activities. | 34| 34| 20| 10| 2| PRP changes co-operation level among colleagues| 2| 12| 77| 8| 1| Figure 3: PRP in the National Health Service (Dowling and Richardson, 1997) 5. 5. 4 Setting performance objectives It is essential for organizations to set up clear and measurable objectives so that the behaviour of employees can be guided by objectives. However, imposition and narrowness of PRP in objective-setting could lead to failure of the implementation. What’s more, short term approach stemming from narrow and misleading objectives could make employees ignore intangible aspects and long-term tasks. Therefore, the weakness of PRP in objective-setting could discourage behaviour that is not financially rewarded and prevent business organizations from functioning well. 5. 5. 5 Assessment and ratings Assessment and ratings are indispensable stage of PRP system. In practice, two crucial elements during these processes, scales of ratings and fair appraisals made by managers are difficult to achieved, which make employees not satisfied with ratings given to them. As Belfield and Marsden (2002) argued that the use of PRP will do more harm than good if the right monitoring environment is not in place. 5. 5. 6 Reward PRP regards reward as the motivator for employees to work hard, which is often not the case in practice. Maslow’s theory of the Hierarchy of Needs (1943) stated that payment is not the only need of human beings. Besides payment, people also have mental requirements such as belongingness needs, esteem needs and self-actualization. 5. Conclusion After critical analysis and assessment we can finally reach the conclusion that in theory PRP is in a position to provide business organizations certain benefits such as motivating employees, improving their performance, attracting executives, facilitating change in organizational culture and encouraging the internalization of performance norms. However, due to imposition and narrowness in objective-setting, unfairness and inaccuracy in assessment and ratings, and diversification of human needs, theoretical benefits of PRP cannot be reached. Therefore, more attention should be paid on the gap between HRM theories and their application in practice so that HRM theories can assist business organizations in increasing their values. Reference ACAS, 1990. Appraisal-related Pay. London: ACAS. Adams, J. S. , 1965. Inequity in social exchange. In: Berkowitz, L. ed. , Advances in experimental social psychology. New York: Academic Press, 267-299. Armstrong, M. , 2002. Employee reward. 3rd ed. London: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. Armstrong, M. ; Murlis, H. , 1994. Reward Management, London: Kogan Page. Belfield, R. ; Marsden, D. , 2002. Matchmaking: the influence of monitoring environments on the effectiveness of performance pay systems. Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK. Bender, R. , 2004. Why Do Companies Use Performance-Related Pay for Their Executive Directors? Corporate Government, 12(4), pp. 521-533. Dowling, B. ; Richardson, R. , 1997. Evaluating performance-related pay for managers in the National Health Service. The Intematioruil Joumal of Human Resource Management, 8(3), pp. 348-366. Herzberg, F. , 1959. The Motivation to work, New York: John Wiley. Geary, J. F. , 1992. Pay, control and commitment: linking appraisal and reward. Human Resource Management Journal, 2(4), pp. 36-54. Kessler, I. ; Purcell, J. , 1992. Performance-related pay: objectives and application. Human resource management Journal, 2(3), pp. 16-23 Lewis, P. , 1998. Management performance-related pay based on evidence from the financial services sector. Human Resource Management Journal, 8(2), pp. 66-77 Maslow, A. H. , 1943. A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50, pp. 370-396. Maslow, A. H. , 1987. Motivation and Personality. New York: Harper ; Row. Murlis, H. , 1996. Pay at the Crossroads. London: Institute of Personnel Development. Pilbeam, S. ; Corbridge, M. , 2002. People Resourcing: HRM in Practice. 2nd ed. Harlow: FT Prentice Hall. Appendices Tow papers: Bender, R. , 2004. Why Do Companies Use Performance-Related Pay for Their Executive Directors? Corporate Government, 12(4), pp. 521-533. Dowling, B. ; Richardson, R. , 1997. Evaluating performance-related pay for managers in the National Health Service. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 8(3), pp. 348-366.

Monday, November 25, 2019

Cherokee essays

Cherokee essays The Cherokee Indians were one of the most prosperous and progressive tribes in the country. They were also the largest tribe in the southeastern part of the United States. The Cherokee were a branch off the Iroquois Nation. The language they spoke was Iroquian. They got their name from Chelokee meaning people of different speech, and in their language they called themselves Aniyunwiya meaning principle people. A Cherokee named, Sequoyah, invented a system for the Cherokees to write their language. There were 86 characters in his syllabary and each were based on individual syllables in the words. Anybody who could speak Cherokee could also read and write it after learning the 86 symbols. Their native territory included portions of present Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama. Their population was estimated around 22,500. They lived in small communities, usually located near the river bottoms. Their homes were wooden frames covered with woven vines and saplings plastered with mud. Each community had a council house where ceremonies and tribal meetings were held. The council house was seven-sided to represent the seven clans of the Cherokee: bird, paint, deer, wolf, blue, long hair, and wild potato. Each tribe elected 2 chiefs. A peace chief who counseled during peaceful times and a war chief who made decisions during times of war. Towns classified themselves as red or white at any given point in time. A red town was in a state of war, under leadership of young men. A white town was at peace, with old men at the helm. (Bender 16). Cherokee was a matriarchy. The children took the clan of the mother and the relatives were traced through th e mothers family. Women had an equal say in the affairs of the tribe. Women could also be peace and war leaders depending on their standing ...

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness Essay

Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness - Essay Example He had a strong vision for the United States of America to this end and envisioned a country in which respect for the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness was the order of the day. No wonder, his draft of the Declaration of Independence stated, We hold these truths to be sacred & undeniable; that all men are created equal & independant, that from that equal creation they derive rights inherent & inalienable, among which are the preservation of life, & liberty, & the pursuit of happiness. (Boyd 438) The independence of the United States has seen many changes to the way life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness have been treated. While the citizens of the U.S. enjoy these three natural rights to a greater extent than they did before independence, the country is yet to fully realize Jefferson’s dream for the country. This paper will analyze the extent to which the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are respected in the U.S. today. Before engaging in a discourse on the subject of the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, it is important that the three subjects (life, liberty, and happiness) are defined. Life basically is the characteristic that living things have and that non living objects do not have as noted by Alberts (45). In other words, it is what distinguishes objects that have self-sustaining processes from those that lack them. Biologically, living objects or organisms have the capacity to grow, reproduce, respond to stimuli, maintain homeostasis and metabolize (Alberts 47). On the other hand, non-living objects have no capacity to perform these processes. When life is taken off an organism, the organism is considered to be dead or non-living. Liberty, on the other hand, is the quality that one enjoys when they can personally control their actions as noted by Westbrooks (134). In other words, liberty has a lot to do with

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

HIS 122 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

HIS 122 - Essay Example ïÆ' ¨ This book discusses the theology, history, and political theories surroundings the Declaration of Independence. Several published writings and letters of Franklin, Jefferson, and others are presented in the book. The interesting thing about the book is how it explored the idea that the men who fought for, authored, and amended the Declaration of Independence did not have establishing a Christian nation in mind. The author presented data showing that the values of the Orthodox Christian Church are all rejected by Thomas Jefferson. Also, it explores on the concept that equality, and not slavery, is the purpose of the Declaration. Dershowitz presented data supporting the idea that Jefferson rejects the concept of slavery and supports the â€Å"secular humanist† concept. It is controversial, challenging, and disturbing, because it requires readers to rethink their opinions regarding the Declaration ïÆ' ¨ Of all the books reviewed, this is considered the most interesting exploration on the different sides of diplomacy during the American Revolution. It provides an easy and interesting read, thus giving the book a wide array of target readers. It catches the interest even of a general reader, yet provides well-researched data that will also interest any historian. The diplomatic history of the American Revolution is presented in several angles, including America’s diplomatic ties with France, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Russia, and Spain. ïÆ' ¨ Simple and straightforward, the book discusses a lot of unfinished businesses caused by the American Revolution. Mainly, there are two very interesting articles that provide a great eye-opener for any reader: â€Å"Two Republics in a Hostile World† by Jonathan Dull, and â€Å"The Ambiguities of Power† by J.R. Pole. The book, particularly these two articles, can be compared to the ideas presented in the book by Dershowitz --- it makes one rethink of their personal opinions on the

Monday, November 18, 2019

Is the military-industrial complex a result of the reliance of the Essay

Is the military-industrial complex a result of the reliance of the capitalist economy on military production as a stabiliser of - Essay Example President Eisenhower used the term to refer to the close ties between the military and industrial sectors. The origin of military industrial complex can be traced during World War II period, when many companies came into contact with the state. Majority of the companies started manufacturing armaments and tanks for the government on a large scale. During the world war, the Department of Defense granted many private companies military contracts in aerospace and the production of military weapons, tanks and vehicles. The US government was not producing weapons like other countries, but contracted private companies to supply the needed military material. As a result of the cold war tensions, many con-agglomerates won valuable defense contracts. This contributed to the rise of stock prices in the year 1960 (Geisst 2006, p.272). The private companies relied on government contracts to get their revenue. The government also appointed high rank officials in the military as executives and con sultants. This gave rise to a close relationship between the military and private corporations, which received a lot of criticism. In the recent years, the military-industrial complex terminology has fallen out of use. However, it is still used in reference to the relationship between governments and armaments producers, who spend enormous amount of budget on the defence sector (Geisst 2006, p. 273). Many governments prefer to buy military equipments and supplies from local private companies at an additional cost. This is what yields the label military-industrial complex, which is an established relationship between the defense establishments and the domestic industries. Military hardware accounts for the largest expenditure on total government equipment expenditure. Contracts awarded by department of defense provide suppliers with competitive advantage in financial, technological and commercial terms. The reliance on supplies and armor produced by a state own factory is thought to reduce the dependence on private supplies and the vulnerability of a nation to arms embargo. The production of arms by government can help reduce overpricing, abuse and long term dependence on foreign arm producers and private corporations in a country directly (Schiavo-Campo and Hazel 2008, p.271). The United States has become the powerful and incontestable power that has emerged from the centuries of the development of capitalistic economies. The US takes a center stage on the international economic structure, which relies on the economies of the underdeveloped counties. The U.S internal economy is tied to the world economic system through its continued dependency on its military expenditures and its extended exploitation of third world countries. The emergency of U.S as a world power dates back in mechanical production and technological innovation in the years before 1914. Before the year 1914, America had made access to its expansive natural resources and exploited them, which s timulated foreign trade outlets. This also led to the establishment of a flexible protective tariff system making U.S to benefit from financial assistance from older nations. This made it possible for U.S to develop a good network of transport and communication. During the World war I, U.S business increased as it move in to take advantage of the markets in the post war era (Cannon and Emile 2011, p.15). During this time, Latin America formed a main target for U.S because it was

Friday, November 15, 2019

Psychology Essays Amnesic Syndrome Amnesia

Psychology Essays Amnesic Syndrome Amnesia Amnesic Syndrome Amnesia Hypothetical amnesic syndrome single case intervention: Clive Wearing Amensia Amnesic Syndrome Amnesia is a general, classically used term essentially to describe the partial or total loss of memory. Due to the complexity of human memory functioning, several different types of amnesia exist, in particular, Amnesic Syndrome (A.S.) which, in its most coherent, is a cluster of amnesic symptoms. Amnesic syndrome is characterised by the permanent memory impairment which can occur in anterograde form the syndrome’s defining feature and retrograde form. Unlike general amnesic condition, the diagnostic origin of A.S. excludes degenerative disorders, for example Parkison’s; transient amnesias; and psychogenic disorders. The aetiology of A.S. include those brought on by (direct or indirect) injury to the brain and damage to any number of neuroanatomical locations responsible for memory functioning, namely subcortical areas the diencephalon, a major region of the brain that includes the third ventricle, thalamus, hypothalamus, and pituitary gland; and also cortical areas covering the medial surfaces of the temporal lobe, especially the hippocampus. Understanding the effects of this damage is possible in no small part to using the modular memory system approach and observing the pattern of preservation and loss in other words, what the patient is and is not capable of. It is understood that long term memory (LTM) is structured as to distinguish declarative memory of what we know to be as ‘fact’ from less explicitly accessible memory functioning such as those implicitly stored and that which is not pertaining to factual information, referred to as non-declarative memory. Aggleton Brown (1999) reported that both the subcortical and cortical locations, as mentioned above, are components of the same memory system concerned with the explicit, declarative memory. This declarative memory is made up of the subcategories episodic personal events one experiences; and semantic relating to vocabulary, language ability and object recognition. It is therefore clear that the damage suffered to part or all of these areas of the brain would largely affect the declarative memory of a patient, whilst leaving the implicit, non-declarative memory relatively unimpaired. This is true in cases of both anterograde and retrograde amnesic syndrome. There are also several non memory related characteristics of amnesia which appear in A.S., degrees of which depend on the origin of the syndrome, for instance the location of injury and which parts of the brain are affected. Characteristics include orientation, intellectual deficit and confabulation. Confabulation, sometimes referred to as ‘islands of confabulation’, describes the attempts made to rationalise memories (or voids in memory) in order to make sense to the self and others, which may involve the production of false information. Single Case: Clive Wearing Clive Wearing is considered by many to be the most sever case of amnesia. Once a renowned and eminent musician and musicologist, Clive was struck by an inflammatory brain infection herpes encephalitis, in March of 1985. An initial CT and subsequent MRI scan reported major and significant damage to the left temporal lobe, also extending into the inferior and posterior frontal lobe as well as damage to the medial side of the right temporal lobe. This was accompanied by indications of involvement of the left lateral ventricle and third ventricle part of the diencephalon, along with the almost complete destruction of the hippocampus. It is believed that these areas of damage are the cause of several behaviours Clive Wearing exhibited and continues to do so today. It is well reported that Clive (CW) has severe episodic memory dysfunction, resulting in retrograde amnesia for virtually the whole of his adult life and much of his childhood along with anterograde amnesia demonstrated by his incapacity for explicit learning. CW has become synonymous for his moment to moment consciousness whereby the period of seconds is lost in a perceptual time void and where perceived information is lost as soon as his eyes close quite literally in a blink only to be confronted with the experience of a completely new ‘awakening’ repeated many times. CW’s semantic memory, though generally preserved in A.S., showed evidence of impairment as he is unable to produce object names, define words and comprehend written material, instead lending himself towards confabulation. CW’s pattern of deficits in declarative memory can be explained by the neurological damage that he suffered. The major damage to the hippocampus (relatively destroying it) is the most likely cause of the severity of his amnesia, whereas the retrograde amnesia is attributed to the diencephalic damage, and semantic memory impairment adheres to the more widespread temporal lobe damage. Functioning and Indications for Intervention Contrary to CW’s deficit in declarative memory, his non declarative memory is left relatively unimpaired. There are many reports of CW’s implicit memory functioning, most notably his procedural memory for reading, playing, conducting and singing music which are practically preserved. Clive has, on more than one occasion, denied seeing a piece of music or even playing the piano, only to (when directed), sit down and play the piece and add â€Å"I remember this one†. Additional evidence for CW’s implicit memory comes from the first few years of his condition where he began to abbreviate his questions, he would only need to ask his wife ‘How long?’ to be understood as to what was meant, ‘How long have I been ill?’ suggesting an awareness, on some level, that the question has been asked before, as well as the knowledge of the fact that she knows what it means. Evidence for implicit learning comes from the report after eighteen months of his new home, where he has been taken for daily walks to feed the ducks, now asks ‘do the ducks want their tea?’ when prompted to put on his coat, ceasing to ask how long he has been ill a seven-year obsessive habit. Though his apparent disorientation, he has also gained other (purely) implicit memories like the layout of his residence where he is able to go to the bathroom, kitchen and dining room unsupervised. However, if he stops, gets distracted, or thinks en route he becomes lost. And though not able to describe his residence, his wife Deborah has reported how he will undo his seat belt and offer to get out and open the gate as they draw near. He is unable to explicitly identify the locations but is capable of action. The role of music in CW’s implicit learning is certainly an interesting one, as not only is his procedural memory relatively unimpaired but he is also capable, providing someone puts the music before him to get him into action, of learning and practicing new pieces. It is also reported that he also hummed something which he had not played for half an hour. This discovery is of great relevance to the following section on intervention as it suggests that this is could be down to rehearsal of it subvocally, perhaps reflecting use of the phonological loop process in memory encoding. Broca’s area is a relatively contained section in the inferior frontal gyrus of the frontal lobe and is namely responsible for the production of speech and sounds. There is little evidence to suggest of a deficit in CW’s ability to produce speech and sound and therefore any relative damage to this area, which in turn enables the seeming subvocal rehearsal that has been reported. Seeing as CW appears to have some phonological functioning and fairly preserved implicit memory, this seems a rational starting point for rehabilitative intervention. Proposed Intervention Whereas in previous clinical approaches where rehabilitation was usually based on a broad range of therapies (CBT, psychotherapy, etc), neuropsychological therapy tackles small areas either to test theories or to increase the understanding of a particular subject area. In the case CW, it is the impairment experienced involving disorientation that will be the focal point of this intervention. The intervention will operate at the level of impairment the specific problem being disorientation. In terms of the intervention mechanism restoring or reinstating the original function this seems very unlikely to be possible. The alternative therefore, is to instate an intervention mechanism that will utilise and develop existing capacities with the use of external aids and strategies to overcome the problem. Implicit learning of routes through basic repetition would not be recommended in this case. Instead, it would be preferable to use the available existing/surviving capacities (i.e. subvocal rehearsal and procedural memory) as this approach, if sufficiently effective, could be transferred for other possible applications in different situations. CW’s procedural memory of music lends itself extremely neatly to the notion of journeys and routes due to its formulative and progressive nature. CW’s wife Deborah speaks of the â€Å"momentum of music† where it is said that music, much like any route has steps, phrases, beginnings and ends (Wearing and Wilson, 1995). In an article, author and neurologist Oliver Sacks (2007) provides a compelling narrative of this momentum indicating the link of memory and melody: There is not a process of recalling, assembling, recategorizing, as when one attempts to reconstruct or remember an event or a scene from the past. We recall one tone at a time, and each tone entirely fills our consciousness yet simultaneously relates to the whole. It is similar when we walk or run or swim—we do so one step, one stroke at a time, yet each step or stroke is an integral part of the whole. Indeed, if we think of each note or step too consciously, we may lose the thread, the motor melody. (Sacks, 2007) In normal automatisation of procedural information which can range from making a cup of tea to driving a vehicle, the memory trace of each encounter is encoded and strengthened with each practise so that in future cases relevant information is retrieved quickly. In the case of CW this report suggests that a method of auditory mnemonic reduction encoding be used, set up with vanishing retrieval cues, gradually removed so as to encourage the strengthening of the mnemonic information in an errorless learning environment. Encoding with visual and auditory mnemonics has been shown to be very effective in the development of creating links and encoding memorable retrieval cues (e.g. Burrows Solomon, 1975; Sharps Price, 1991; Haan et al., 2000) and provides a supported approach to the proposal intervention. The use of vanishing cues enables a ‘length’ of information to be divided into a number of relevant cues that are subsequently and gradually removed, thus resulting in a scope of learnt information which may require very few or even no recall cues. Errorless learning has been effective in a number memory-impairment cases (e.g. Tailby Haslam, 2003; Page et al., 2006), where errorless learning employs a 100% correct response technique in strengthening memory traces. Single Case Design Proposal Neuropsychological intervention of any sort would usually naturally happen once the patient starts to demonstrate gaining a sense of normal functioning, that is after the initial period of spontaneous recovering has occurred, as initiating intervention during this time of innate recovery is not suggestible results may show absent or false improvement. In the case of CW however, this is not an area of concern. The intervention will operate with auditory mnemonics and vanishing cues. It will be a tri-level multiple baseline design as to assess its effectiveness across and between situations. Three routes / journeys will be decided upon in relation to CW’s most important or habitual preferences. For the purpose of this proposal the three routes will be that from his room: (a) to the dining room (b) to the hall the location of his piano and (c) outside via fire escape route. The initial phase of the intervention will be reporting the baseline measurement for each route. This will be the amount of time it takes CW to get from his room to the each of the destinations, observations will also be made as of any experiences of disorientation and if so note down where along the route and how often they occur, using several measures maximise the stability of the assessment as they will be compared with the results of the intervention phase. The measurement phase will continue for 1 month before the first-level intervention is employed. The second phase will start with the implementation of the first-level intervention for the first situation (a). The route that CW takes will be marked off using posters showing a coloured symbol (e.g. a green triangle) at significant points. CW will also have accompanied with him a device that allows him to play a single relatively short melody, one that he is familiar with. This will then be set to repeat, although it is assumed that one piece played from start to finish should last for more than sufficient time than it takes him to reach his destination in this case the dinning room. During this time CW is encouraged to hum or sing the melody out loud. This first-level intervention for the first situation will continue for 2 months and measurements will be taken following the same concept as those in the baseline phase. Following this will be the second-level intervention where the visual cues (green triangles) are gradually removed in suitable order so that there are no significantly unequal ‘gaps’ in cues along the route. CW will at this time still be encouraged to play and hum to the chosen melody along the route. This phase will be carried out over a total of 2 months, again, whilst measurements are taken. The third-level intervention will entail CW not having access to the melody playing device, however he will still be encouraged to hum or sing what could be referred to at this point as the ‘dinning room melody’. Measurements will be carried out as previously done. This stage will continue for 1 month and then conclude the second phase of the intervention. After which the additional two routes will be initiated in sequence following the example of the first situation. A summarised list of the programme will look as follows. Phase 1 Multiple baseline recording Measurements are taken across all situations (length: 1 month) Phase 2 Intervention of first situation (a) to dinning room Level 1 melody played with cues (length: 2 months) Level 2 cues gradually removed (length: 2 months) Level 3 melody device removed (length: 1 month) Phase 3 Intervention of second situation (b) to hall Level 1 melody played with cues (length: 2 months) Level 2 cues gradually removed (length: 2 months) Level 3 melody device removed (length: 1 month) Phase 4 Intervention of third situation (c) fire escape route Level 1 melody played with cues (length: 2 months) Level 2 cues gradually removed (length: 2 months) Level 3 melody device removed (length: 1 month) Phase 5 Assessment of results The appendix includes graphs that represent three possible outcomes of the intervention. The first in Appendix 1 demonstrates a successful intervention, evaluation of which will be discussed below. The second in Appendix 2 illustrates a clearly unsuccessful intervention whereas the third in Appendix 3 illustrates the possible results of a temporary positive effect of intervention followed by a decline in improved performance. Signs that the intervention is successful will be a significant improvement in performance compare with baseline measurements. That is not necessarily to say that route-taking will be quicker, but that incidence of disorientation would have been significantly reduced. The proposed evaluation of the intervention will consist of checking whether it has been successful in its aim and the reasons behind this outcome. If an improvement has been demonstrated it must be examined as to the source of change. Sources of change vary in terms of the circumstances of the case, for instance spontaneous recovery and innate brain recovery at this stage of the condition is highly unlikely and would have been captured in baseline measurements. General treatment effects i.e. what happens in CW’s home such as care and interactions are also another source of change which, in other cases may be an affect. The length of the intervention may allow changes in circumstance to affect performance. Major changes of this sort are unlikely however it would still be advisable to report any relevant changes. If an improvement has not been affirmed the intervention will be seen as not effective. This doesn’t necessarily that the theoretical basis was at fault, the judgement of available case information may not have been sufficient. Problematic methodology could also be a cause. If the phases (and containing levels of aid) of the intervention were not carried out for long enough, or correctly the effectiveness of the proposed intervention would be compromised. Providing the intervention was successful and improvement was made, it would be critical to examine the genuine extent to which the person’s life had changed for the better. This could take the form of improved functioning, increased independence and improved sense of well-being. It would also be relevant to examine the capacity to generalise the principle for application in other situations. The nature of the proposed multiple baseline design allows, on demonstration of positive results, that the intervention could be applied to similar situations and even for use in other cases of similar patients with A.S. References Aggleton, J. P., and Brown, M. W. (1999) Episodic memory, amnesia, and the hippocampal-anterior thalamic axis. Behavioral and Brain Sciences. 22 (4). pp. 425-440 Burrows, D. and Solomon, B. A. (1975). Parallel scanning of auditory and visual information. Memory and Cognition. 3 (4). pp. 416-420. Haan, E. H. F., Appels, B., Aleman, A. and Postma, A. (2000). Inter-and intra-modal encoding of auditory and visual presentation of material: Effects on memory performance. The Psychological Record. 50 (3). pp. 577-86. Page, M., Wilson, B. A, Shiel, A., Carter, G. and Norris, D. (2006) What is the locus of the errorless-learning advantage? Neuropsychologia. 44 (1). pp. 90-100 Sacks, O. (2007) The Abyss; A Neurologists Notebook. The New Yorker. New York. 83 (28). pp.100. Sharps, M. J. and Price, J. L. (1991). Auditory imagery and free recall. The Journal of General Psychology. 119 (1). pp. 81-87. Tailby. R. and Haslam C. (2003) An investigation of errorless learning in memory-impaired patients: improving the technique and clarifying theory. Neuropsychologia. 41 (9). pp. 1230-40. Wilson, B.A. and Wearing, D. (1995) Prisoner of Consciousness: A state of just awakening following Herpes Simplex Encephalitis, In Campbell, R. Conway, M. Broken Memories: Neuropsychological Case Studies. Oxford: Blackwell. pp. 15-30

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Dylan Thomas Essay -- Dylan Thomas Poetry Poets Biography Essays

Dylan Thomas Dylan Thomas was born on October 27, 1914 in Swansea, Wales. His father was a teacher and his mother was a housewife. Thomas was a sickly child who had a slightly introverted personality and shied away from school. He didn’t do well in math or science, but excelled in Reading and English. He left school at age 17 to become a journalist. In November of 1934, at age 20, he moved to London to continue to pursue a career in writing. His first collection of poems called 18 Poems was released in 1934. Many people loved his work, and he gained instant recognition. His second collection released in 1936, 25 Poems, was also popular. The year he released his second collaboration of poems was also the year that he met his future wife, Caitlin MacNamera. They decided to get married in July of 1937, and moved to Laugharne, Wales in 1938. One year later, they had their first child, Llewelyn. He was followed by Aeronwyn in 1943 and Colm in 1949. Thomas’ poetry reflected much about his life style and outlandish way of thinking. He was particularly interested in writing about death, and most of his poems have hidden messages relating to death and his fascination with it. Thomas went back and forth with religion, the meaning of life, and what happens in the after life. His fickle beliefs went from joyous faith in God to extreme religious doubt. Thomas’ vacillating religious beliefs had a lot to do with his reckless lifestyle and love for the drink. He would often go out to the bars and be gone for hours at a time, leaving his worried wife and children oblivious to what he was doing. His wife soon found out about his problem, and became concerned. His drinking began to get out of control when he would get ... ...ink Dylan Thomas set out to convey a message about not giving up on anything but especially not on and he certainly gets this point over meaning his poem is very successful. Christina Rossetti tries to get a very different message across and she's trying to help people accept the death of people they loved. Her poem is also effective as it calms and tries to soothe the reader into accepting dying is a part of life and yes we may be sad but we have to learn to live with it, to accept it and to cope with it as life goes on Dylan Thomas' poem made more of an impact on me because it is so much more powerful and I can feel the atmosphere he creates. Also I agree with how he feels and what his poem says which always helps when trying to create an impact. I like the narrator's perspective in Thomas' poem, which is effective in enabling me to empathize with him. Dylan Thomas Essay -- Dylan Thomas Poetry Poets Biography Essays Dylan Thomas Dylan Thomas was born on October 27, 1914 in Swansea, Wales. His father was a teacher and his mother was a housewife. Thomas was a sickly child who had a slightly introverted personality and shied away from school. He didn’t do well in math or science, but excelled in Reading and English. He left school at age 17 to become a journalist. In November of 1934, at age 20, he moved to London to continue to pursue a career in writing. His first collection of poems called 18 Poems was released in 1934. Many people loved his work, and he gained instant recognition. His second collection released in 1936, 25 Poems, was also popular. The year he released his second collaboration of poems was also the year that he met his future wife, Caitlin MacNamera. They decided to get married in July of 1937, and moved to Laugharne, Wales in 1938. One year later, they had their first child, Llewelyn. He was followed by Aeronwyn in 1943 and Colm in 1949. Thomas’ poetry reflected much about his life style and outlandish way of thinking. He was particularly interested in writing about death, and most of his poems have hidden messages relating to death and his fascination with it. Thomas went back and forth with religion, the meaning of life, and what happens in the after life. His fickle beliefs went from joyous faith in God to extreme religious doubt. Thomas’ vacillating religious beliefs had a lot to do with his reckless lifestyle and love for the drink. He would often go out to the bars and be gone for hours at a time, leaving his worried wife and children oblivious to what he was doing. His wife soon found out about his problem, and became concerned. His drinking began to get out of control when he would get ... ...ink Dylan Thomas set out to convey a message about not giving up on anything but especially not on and he certainly gets this point over meaning his poem is very successful. Christina Rossetti tries to get a very different message across and she's trying to help people accept the death of people they loved. Her poem is also effective as it calms and tries to soothe the reader into accepting dying is a part of life and yes we may be sad but we have to learn to live with it, to accept it and to cope with it as life goes on Dylan Thomas' poem made more of an impact on me because it is so much more powerful and I can feel the atmosphere he creates. Also I agree with how he feels and what his poem says which always helps when trying to create an impact. I like the narrator's perspective in Thomas' poem, which is effective in enabling me to empathize with him.

Monday, November 11, 2019

Impact of Affordable Care Act on North Carolina Uninsured Population

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is in vigor since January 1, 2014, and hospitals and health care providers are not sure about how many people will knock at their door for health care. So far, according to Camp (2014) â€Å"More than two million people across the country have signed up for healthcare under the ACA and hospitals are bracing for a wave of newly insured patients†. How does that affect the uninsured people in North Carolina is an unanswered question. Seventeen percent of North Carolina’s residents are uninsured, according to Kaiser Foundation (2012).Health Care reform brings controversial and uneasy ethic issues to the population as well as to legislators. North Carolina can opt to expand Medicaid coverage to all individuals that have a household income less than 138% of the federal poverty level, but the question in the air is how NC will make it happen?. Financial Impact of ACA on North Carolina North Carolina has one of the highest index of the uninsured po pulation when compared to States at the same size, 17% accruing to 1,604,300 residents.Michigan has 12 percent; New Jersey has 15 percent; Virginia has 13 percent, according to Kaiser Foundation (2012). Milstead (2013) assures â€Å"Based on the Affordable Care Act, beginning in 2014 adults can qualify for Medicaid if their income is no greater than 138 percent of the Federal Poverty Level ($30,429 for a family of four in 2010)†. Besides of what the ACA says each State has its own policies for Medicaid eligibility, being it a joint initiative between State and Federal funds.According to American College of Physicians (2013) â€Å" Unfortunately, the state has chosen not to expand its program at this time. The Urban Institute estimates that about 632,000 uninsured North Carolinians with incomes under 100% FPL would be denied coverage if North Carolina chooses not to expand its Medicaid program†. Governor McCrory is committed to envigorate the Health Care program in his budget delivance for 2013-2015 in North Carolina (NC,) and assures that $575M will be added to Medicaid budget, $7.2M will be given for Drug Treatment Courts, and $30M to open a new psychiatric hospital, all to be delivered in two fiscal years period (Newsroom, 2013).Overall NC’s State economy seems to be picking up with an underemployment rate dropping from 17 percent in October 2011-2012, to 14. 9 percent from October 2012-2013 (Robesonian News, 2013). In addition, Murawsk (2013) assures â€Å"the economy is indisputably building up steam and moving in a direction we haven’t seen in years†. With NC State biannual budget investing $612.2 M in three important areas of health care and the general economy steaming up it seems that more of NC uninsured community will be able to have an employer sponsored health care insurance, or be able to afford health insurance in the marketplace. It looks like a promising situation, that will surely help to banish the ghost of unfunded mandates, but if 100 percent of NC uninsured population will get what ACA proposes is something to be checked in the future.Ethics and Quality of Health CareA citation of Frederick Douglass’ delivery for the Civil Rights in October 1883 comes in hand he said â€Å"Only base men and oppressors can rejoice in a triumph of injustice over the weak and defenceless, for weakness ought itself to protect from assaults of pride, prejudice and power†. As health care reform proceeds to its implementation around the country many issues come to our mind such, are there enough resources to attend everyone or we will have an incoming chaos? Will American society finally have an equally health care system distribution?How are 32 million new health care system’s users fit into an already deficient system? Will there be enough nurses and doctors to deliver the quality of care that everyone is entitled? Is it a fair system for the society, is everyone getting what is dese rved? Many people would like to speak up what they think about health care: What do Americans want from their health care system? Four fundamental goals have shaped our system. First, we want high quality health care that can provide the greatest benefits.Second, we want freedom of choice so that we can decide the â€Å"who, when, and where† for our health care. Third, we expect our health care to be affordable so that we have resources for all of the other things we need or want. Fourth, we want our fellow citizens to share in the costs and also benefits of health care† (Sorrell, 2012). At one hand Franklin Roosevelt (1944) in the â€Å"Second Bill of Rights† mentions â€Å"the right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health†.At the second hand who is paing for the good health care that everyone wants? Health care providers would they be nurses or doctors have their part to do in the delivery of quality health care, but a health care system that makes justice to everyone depends on the whole society. I believe adopting a modern system of nationwide assessment and intervention such â€Å"Population Health Model† (Kovner & Knickman, 2011,) would have a high impact on the financial and workforce redistribution, a great tool that can bring results using the integration model.Summary ACA’s implementation has started and hospitals and health care providers are ready to receive new customers. North Carolina’s steaming up general economy and government’s budget can greatly help the population to get the health care they need. The right to health care comes to play when talking about health care reform, and we wonder if the new system will deliver the quality of care it proposes. Adopting Population Health Model for health assessment and intervention can be a solution for the health care issues in the U. S.. Impact of Affordable Care Act on North Carolina Uninsured Population The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is in vigor since January 1, 2014, and hospitals and health care providers are not sure about how many people will knock at their door for health care. So far, according to Camp (2014) â€Å"More than two million people across the country have signed up for healthcare under the ACA and hospitals are bracing for a wave of newly insured patients†. How does that affect the uninsured people in North Carolina is an unanswered question. Seventeen percent of North Carolina’s residents are uninsured, according to Kaiser Foundation (2012).Health Care reform brings controversial and uneasy ethic issues to the population as well as to legislators. North Carolina can opt to expand Medicaid coverage to all individuals that have a household income less than 138% of the federal poverty level, but the question in the air is how NC will make it happen?. Financial Impact of ACA on North Carolina North Carolina has one of the highest index of the uninsured po pulation when compared to States at the same size, 17% accruing to 1,604,300 residents.Michigan has 12 percent; New Jersey has 15 percent; Virginia has 13 percent, according to Kaiser Foundation (2012). Milstead (2013) assures â€Å"Based on the Affordable Care Act, beginning in 2014 adults can qualify for Medicaid if their income is no greater than 138 percent of the Federal Poverty Level ($30,429 for a family of four in 2010)†. Besides of what the ACA says each State has its own policies for Medicaid eligibility, being it a joint initiative between State and Federal funds.According to American College of Physicians (2013) â€Å" Unfortunately, the state has chosen not to expand its program at this time. The Urban Institute estimates that about 632,000 uninsured North Carolinians with incomes under 100% FPL would be denied coverage if North Carolina chooses not to expand its Medicaid program†.Governor McCrory is committed to envigorate the Health Care program in his b udget delivance for 2013-2015 in North Carolina (NC,) and assures that $575M will be added to Medicaid budget, $7.2M will be given for Drug Treatment Courts, and $30M to open a new psychiatric hospital, all to be delivered in two fiscal years period (Newsroom, 2013). Overall NC’s State economy seems to be picking up with an underemployment rate dropping from 17 percent in October 2011-2012, to 14. 9 percent from October 2012-2013 (Robesonian News, 2013). In addition, Murawsk (2013) assures â€Å"the economy is indisputably building up steam and moving in a direction we haven’t seen in years†.With NC State biannual budget investing $612.2 M in three important areas of health care and the general economy steaming up it seems that more of NC uninsured community will be able to have an employer sponsored health care insurance, or be able to afford health insurance in the marketplace. It looks like a promising situation, that will surely help to banish the ghost of u nfunded mandates, but if 100 percent of NC uninsured population will get what ACA proposes is something to be checked in the future. Ethics and Quality of Health CareA citation of Frederick Douglass’ delivery for the Civil Rights in October 1883 comes in hand he said â€Å"Only base men and oppressors can rejoice in a triumph of injustice over the weak and defenceless, for weakness ought itself to protect from assaults of pride, prejudice and power†. As health care reform proceeds to its implementation around the country many issues come to our mind such, are there enough resources to attend everyone or we will have an incoming chaos? Will American society finally have an equally health care system distribution?How are 32 million new health care system’s users fit into an already deficient system? Will there be enough nurses and doctors to deliver the quality of care that everyone is entitled? Is it a fair system for the society, is everyone getting what is dese rved? Many people would like to speak up what they think about health care: What do Americans want from their health care system? Four fundamental goals have shaped our system. First, we want high quality health care that can provide the greatest benefits.Second, we want freedom of choice so that we can decide the â€Å"who, when, and where† for our health care. Third, we expect our health care to be affordable so that we have resources for all of the other things we need or want. Fourth, we want our fellow citizens to share in the costs and also benefits of health care† (Sorrell, 2012). At one hand Franklin Roosevelt (1944) in the â€Å"Second Bill of Rights† mentions â€Å"the right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health†.At the second hand who is paing for the good health care that everyone wants? Health care providers would they be nurses or doctors have their part to do in the delivery of quality health care, but a health care system that makes justice to everyone depends on the whole society. I believe adopting a modern system of nationwide assessment and intervention such â€Å"Population Health Model† (Kovner & Knickman, 2011,) would have a high impact on the financial and workforce redistribution, a great tool that can bring results using the integration model.Summary ACA’s implementation has started and hospitals and health care providers are ready to receive new customers. North Carolina’s steaming up general economy and government’s budget can greatly help the population to get the health care they need. The right to health care comes to play when talking about health care reform, and we wonder if the new system will deliver the quality of care it proposes. Adopting Population Health Model for health assessment and intervention can be a solution for the health care issues in the U. S.

Friday, November 8, 2019

Intercultural Sensitivity.

Intercultural Sensitivity. The developmental stage of intercultural sensitivity that best fits me at this point in my life is the one listed as number five, Adaptation. I feel this way because I can evaluate other's behavior from their frame of reference in most instances, and can adapt my behavior to fit the norms of their culture, if needed. I am a very flexible person when it comes to cultural values. I know what I value, but I also know that the things I value are not always the same as other cultures. I can easily and quickly adapt to others needs in most situations. I think that being able to do this will help me tremendously in dealing with parents from different cultures. I think it will show them that I have a respect for them and their way of life, and will encourage them to be more respectful when dealing with me.Authors considering attachment in non-western cult...I think that respect is a big issue with almost all cultures and I want to make sure that I am always treating others with respect. I al so would not want parents to feel uncomfortable talking to me about any issue that they may be having.The main reason I see myself in the adaptation stage is that I have grown up working with and playing with and dealing on a daily basis with people from different cultures. I wouldn't say that I could integrate with any other culture completely, but I am able to adapt to their ways of doing things at least for small periods of time when needed. I was never really in the denial stage because I have always know that there are cultural differences in people, and I am able to recognize them fairly quickly. Also I have never really looked at the difference...

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Detecting Signs of E.T.

Detecting Signs of E.T. From time to time, the news media falls in love with stories about how aliens have been found. From the detection of a possible signal from a distant civilization to tales of an alien megastructure around a star observed by the Kepler Space Telescope to the story of the WOW! signal detected in 1977 by an astronomer at Ohio State University, any time theres a hint of a puzzling discovery in astronomy, we see breathless headlines that aliens have been found.   In point of fact, there hasnt been an alien civilization found...yet. But, astronomers keep looking! Finding Something Weird In late summer 2016, astronomers picked up what seemed like a signal from a distant sun-like star called HD 164595. Preliminary searches using the Allen Telescope Array in California showed that the signal picked up by a Russian telescope was not likely from an alien civilization. However, more telescopes will check out the signal to understand what it is and what could be making it. For   now, however, its problem not little green aliens sending us a howdy.   Another star, called KIC 8462852, was observed by Kepler for more than four years. It appears to have a variability in its brightness. That is, the light we perceive coming from this F-type star dims periodically. Its not a regular period of time, so its probably not caused by an orbiting planet. Such planet-caused dimmings are called transits. Kepler has cataloged many stars using the transit method and found thousands of planets this way. But, the dimming of KIC 8462852 was just too irregular. While astronomers and observers worked on cataloging its dimmings, they also talked to an astronomer who had been thinking hard about what we might see if a distant star had planets with life on them. And, in particular, if that life was technologically able to build superstructures around their star to harvest its light (for example).    What Could it Be? If a big structure orbited a star, it could cause the variability in the stars brightness to be irregular or even random-seeming. Of course, there are some caveats with this idea. First, distance is a problem. Even a fairly large structure would be difficult to detect from Earth, even with very strong detectors. Second, the star itself could have some strange variable pattern, and astronomers would need to observe it for longer periods of time to figure out what it is. Third, stars with dust clouds around them can also have fairly large planetary structures forming. Those planetesimals could also cause irregular brightness dips in the starlight we detect from Earth, especially if they were orbiting at staggered distances. Finally, catastrophic collisions between clumps of material around a star could deliver huge groups of objects such as cometary nuclei in orbit around the star. Those could also affected the perceived brightness of the star.   The Simple Truth In science, theres a rule that we follow called Occams Razor - it means, essentially, for any given event or object you observe, generally the most plausible explanation is the simplest one.   In this case, stars with clumps of dust, planetesimals, or roving exo-comets are more likely than aliens. Thats because stars FORM in cloud of gas and dust, and younger stars still have material around them left over from the formation of their planets. KIC 8462852 could be in in a planet-forming stage, consistent with its age and mass (its about 1.4 times the mass of the Sun and a bit younger than our star). So, the simplest explanation here is NOT an alien megacomplex, but swarms of comets.   The Search Protocol The search for extrasolar planets has always been a prelude to a search for life elsewhere in the universe. Each star and planet system discovered to have worlds has to be examined carefully so that astronomers understand its inventory of planets, moons, rings, asteroids, and comets. Once thats done, the next step is to figure out if the worlds are friendly to life -- that is, are they habitable? They do this by trying to understand if the world has an atmosphere, where it is in its orbit around the star, and what its evolutionary state might be.   So far, none have been found hospitable. But, theyll be found. Odds are, there is intelligent life elsewere in the universe. Eventually, we will detect it - or it will find us. In the meantime, astronomers on Earth continue to search for habitable planets around likely stars. The more they study, they more theyll be ready to recognize lifes effects elsewhere.

Monday, November 4, 2019

Hypervisor Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Hypervisor - Term Paper Example The server virtualization also allows the organizations to run different software applications on diverse operating system to fully utilize system resources of a single physical machine. The operating system can run in isolation and / or side by side on the same physical machine. Each virtual machine (operating system) has its own allocated virtual hardware (e.g. Random Access Memory, Central Processing Unit, NIC, etc.) to load one operating system along with software applications. It is vital to state that the operating system uses the allocated virtual hardware resources, consistently and usually regardless of the actual physical hardware components (Bento, 2012). Advantages of Hypervisor Several advantages can be availed by an organization utilizing the technology of server virtualization. The server virtualization facilitates the organizations to combine the workloads of the underutilized server machines onto a smaller number of fully utilized machines. Keeping in view the fact o f utilizing comparatively less number of servers for the multiple operating systems and software applications to manage the workload, it can be stated that the server virtualization can be cost effective for the organizations. ... The utilization of hypervisor in the hardware infrastructure of an enterprise provides features of securely splitting each virtual machine / operating system and supports the legacy software systems as well as new software applications on the same server (Shavit, 2008). Disadvantages of Hypervisor for an Organization For every advantage there exist one or several disadvantages, therefore, the hypervisor has disadvantages as well. Comparatively, one of the main disadvantages of utilizing the native hypervisor is that the hypervisor reduces the performance of the operating system as well as the installed applications run slowly. While using the host hypervisor limits the enterprise to install the operating systems as per the limitations of the host operating system. The disadvantages of utilizing hypervisor in the enterprises include but are not limited to the requirements of servers with high specifications (i-e Randon Acess Memory, Central Processing Unit etc.), it requires additiona l hardware components and difficult to use console interface. The type two (2) or host hypervisors lead to the loss of centralized management, it has lower density and therefore, it becomes difficult to install many virtual machines of the first type. The organizations have to suffer with less security while utilizing the host hypervisors. It is pertinent to mention here that there are few operating systems cannot be installed simultaneously utilizing the hypervisors. The hypervisor technology only supports the Intel operating systems, whereas, the type 1 or native hypervisor does not support Solaris SPARC, AIX, HPUX, and the high-End UNIX systems. Introduction to

Friday, November 1, 2019

Food Security Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Food Security - Essay Example Global warming has worked to exacerbate tensions rising over food insecurity concerns. The influence of climate on food supplies is so phenomenal that both entities are popularized as being inextricably linked to each other. Food shortage is the reason why people in many parts of the world are driven toward the practice of committing suicide. This is because hunger is a great punishment and many people are bound to suffer from this punishment at hands of heaven-kissing food rates. People from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds suffer the most from this shortage of food supplies and resulting high food rates. The suicide rate is also particularly common among such groups. As food prices spiral out of control and agricultural practices get the worst of climate change, the world is advised to prepare for an upcoming dearth of many basic food products. What is so different now from the past is that masses of people have moved from calm rural areas to chaotic urban areas in respo nse to industrialization and these areas suffer from a climatic risk that is more deadly and influential. It is the result of such mass migration of as many as 650 million people to arid or semi-arid areas that problems like the flood, droughts, and skyrocketing food prices affect them the most. This small statistic helps to gain an insight into the awry situation of the food problem in present contemporary times.  Human numbers increasing at an unprecedented rate also serve to exacerbate food insecurity issues.Â