Nursing Profession †the Most Important in the Care of the Older Adult Essay

Nursing profession is most important in the care of the older adult. I so much agree on this notion and I believe it is true. The older adult, just like every other individual is a biopsychosocial being and therefore requires care that cuts across every aspect of his life and for this care to be given, it involves many disciplines/profession; but the nursing profession stands as an intermediary between these professions providing care in order to meet the older adult’s needs which is multidimensional. This autonomic profession is unique in function and responsible in providing holistic care. The developmental stage of the older adult is quite challenging and therefore requires a profession that will be capable of meeting this demanding task. The nursing profession is outstanding in providing needed care not just for the survival but also for a better quality of life of the older adults. As I discuss in this essay, I shall make this view point clearer and convincing. The nature of nursing care of the older adults. The International Council for Nurses (2003) defines nursing as: â€Å"Nursing encompasses the autonomous and collaborative care of individuals of all ages, families, groups and communities, sick or well and in all settings†. This definition gives us the knowledge that the older adult among other age groups needs health care involving an interdisciplinary team. Among members of this team, the geriatric nurse plays a very important role in caring for the older adult. The nurse considers the older adult as a biopsychosocial being and thus gives a comprehensive, holistic and transcultural care to the older adult which cuts across his physical, social, cultural and psychological life. The physician is only interested in the disease condition, the psychologist is interested in the behavior and state of mind, and the sociologist is interested in the environment. All these professionals and others consider only an aspect of the older adult’s life. On the other hand, the nursing profession stands to care for the older adult as an individual, considering all aspects of his life that he is made off (biological, social, psychological, cultural and spiritual). The nursing profession is capable of giving the older adults all they need for survival and good quality life at their â€Å"doorpost† The gerontological nurse has many roles: provider of care, teacher, manager, advocate, and research. As a provider of care, the nurse gives direct care to older adults in a variety of settings. The teaching of gerontological nurses often focuses on modifiable risk factors (e.g., healthy diet, physical activity, stress managenent). Gerontological nurse managers balance the concerns of the elderly, family and nurses and other interdisciplinary health team members. As an advocate, the gerontological nurse empowers elders by helping them remain independent and strengthen their autonomy and decision making. Being a research consumer requires nurses to read the latest professional literature for evidence-based practice to improve the quality of nursing care for the elderly. (Kozier & Erb, 2008). As a teacher, she is patient enough to help the older adult their health and health care procedures despite the decreased functioning of the organs and systems responsible for cognitive reasoning. Jones, an associate Professor at Samuel Merritt University in Oakland quotes: â€Å"Because nurses are the professionals that typically spend more time at the bedside than other disciplines, nursing assessment is very important in the plan of care for patients,†¦that nurses have been trained to view patients in a comprehensive or holistic manner, taking into account more than the patients’ physical needs. â€Å"This perspective translates well to caring for older adults, who often have complex health problems, social situations, and care giving needs,†Ã¢â‚¬  (Jones, 2009, www.agewell.com) The gerontological nurse work in variety of setting in caring for the older adult. The gerontological nurse plays a principal role in the care of the older adults across all the health care facilities/settings of the older adults. The older adults are the primary users of health care facilities to rehabilitation, long term care and community. While it is true that older adults compose more than 80% of nursing facilities such as nursing homes, in countries such as the US, they also use close to half of all hospital days, a quarter of ambulatory visit and more than 70% of home health services(Karen, 2013, www.nursingtogether.com). Since the nursing homes and other health facilities of the older adults are mostly occupied by older adults, it signifies that nursing enterprise is just too significant in their care. In acute care settings, nurses focus on protecting the health of the older adult. Examples of nursing activities in this setting include preventing nosocomial infections e.g., pneumonia; preventing complications e.g., pressure ulcer; treating the health problems that resulted in the older adult’s admission plus assessing for potential undiagnosed health problems. The nursing profession is the only profession among the medical professions capable of applying the principles of health protection and promotion that will help save the older adult from other problems. In long term care facilities the objective of nursing care is to provide a place of safety and care to attain optimal wellness and independence for each individual(Stanley et al; 2005, in Kozier & Erb, 2008, P.409). Because the older adults (referred as residents in this health facility) spend a very long time in this facility, the nurse spends most of the time with the older adults more than every other members of the health care team. In this facility the nurse is known as the older adult’s best friend. In hospices, majority of the clients are the older adults. Gerontological nurses are involved in caring for dying persons and their families. The gerontological nurse uses her patience and compassion skills in the hospices in providing care. In the community, the gerontological nurse provides nursing care in many types of community setting e.g., home care, Nurse-run clinics and Adult day clinic. She accesses the older adults needs and tries to match the need with a community resource. Gerontological nurses are everywhere and can be everywhere for the older adults. Considering the variety of settings where the geriatric nurse functions in caring for the older adults, it simply gives one the idea that no other professional enterprise can do this other than the nurse. In these settings, the nurse avails herself applying patience, expertise, understanding, interdisciplinary communication, advocative and compassion skills in caring for the older adult and the family. The gerontological nurse is therefore regarded as the â€Å"middle man† connecting other disciplines in order to render effective and efficient care to the older adults and their families. There is an increasing demand of geriatric nurses worldwide for the care of the increasing population of the older adults. Globally there is a great increase in the population of the older adult. â€Å"According to the World Health Association, the world’s population aged 60 and over will more than triple from 600 million to 2 billion in the next forty years.† (Karen, 2013, www.nursingtogether.com). This has resulted in increasing demand of the geriatric nurses in meeting the health care needs of this increasing group because the older adults need the nurses to survive. Karen explains that there is a growing demand for the skilled geriatric nursing work force to provide quality care across wide range of health care settings (Karen, 2013, www.nursingtogether.com). This increasing demand of the geriatric nurses is a reflection of the importance of nursing services in the care of the older adults. Ranking position (rating) of the Nursing Profession among other professions Among the medical profession and members of the health care team, the nurses are usually the most preferred. Medical professionals are among the most trusted people in the United States, a new Gallup survey shows, with 85% of survey respondents ranking nurses highest for honesty and ethics, followed by pharmacists (75%) and physicians (70%)†¦Ã¢â‚¬ This poll consistently shows that people connect with nurses and trust them to do the right thing,† said American Nurses Association President Karen A. Daley, PhD, MPH, RN, in an association news release. (www.diabetesincontrol.com, December 13, 2012). The older adult is considered â€Å"fragile† because of the changes that have occurred in his body systems over the years reflecting in reduced level of functioning, perception, activity, behavior and general living. Therefore a profession that maintains high morality, truth, trust, integrity, and ethical principles and respect for the older adult not intruding to his privacy, disregarding his personality and underrating his ego is what the older adult requires. For example, a gerontological nurse rendering a home care service is not expected to steal the older adult’s belongings because the nursing profession upholds truth which is visible worldwide. Conclusion The nature of nursing care, the increasing demand of gerontological nurses, and diversified health care settings for the older adults where nurses are the front-line care givers; all these and many more have projected nursing to the top among all other professions and enterprise in rendering services to the older adults which is dependent in their survival and quality of life.

A Systemic Functional Analysis of the Advertisement of the Cadd

[pic] A Systemic Functional Analysis of the Advertisement of the CADD A statistic in 2008 shows that around one in six deaths on roads caused by drunk drivers. People may have wrong judgment and slower reaction after they drunk alcohols. A traffic accident is most likely to occur in such situations. As a consequence, a variety of campaigns have taken numerous actions to persuade people not to drink and drive. They built websites, and published advertisements and videos to promote their ideas. The Campaign Against Drinking & Driving is one of them.CADD is trying to free people whose relatives have died or injured in drunk driving from sorrows. This short essay will analyze a public service advertisement against drink and drive published in the website of the CADD. The visual images, verbal texts, and the linkage between them will be discussed in systemic functional approaches. The advertisement is displayed in a horizontal angle which involves viewers’ reflection. Two elements, a collection of smashed glasses and the sentence â€Å" What’s the price of a bottle of wine† are most salient in their color and size.In a blank background, the green glasses and the red sentence are enlarged to attract viewers’ attention. Furthermore, the distance between viewers and the visual image become intimate by close shot. Firstly, some visual metaphors can easily observed from the visual image of this advertisement. The shape of broken bottle is identical to a crashed car. The target domain is a collection of smashed glasses, while the source domain is a crashed car. The separated segment can be seen as the tyre of the crashed car. In addition, some small glasses that arranged to two lines can be regarded as car tracks.The designer used a broken bottle to form a scene of a car accident. The connection between the broken bottle and the crashed car is the wine, namely, the alcohol. It warns implicitly that a car accident will happen if the intake of al cohol is excessive. Apart from the connotation the metaphors contain, some other elements abd styles of representation are consisdered as carrriers of connotation (Machin,2007). Firstly, the participant can be analyzed. As there is no participant in the â€Å"crashed car†, it can be concluded that the result of drunk driving is being a victim in a car accident.Then, the color of these visual images also has connotations. The color of headline and text is red, while the wine bottle is green. Since the background is blank, these two contrastive colors form a sharp contrast to attract viewers’ attention. The red color also means warning, so that viewers will put more attention on the headline and text. Additionally, the linguistic messages cause the advertisement’s purpose more explicit. There are two clauses in the advertisement. The first clause is a special question which asks for the viewers’ responses.The designer wanted viewers to give an answer of â⠂¬Å"price†. According to the analysis, the â€Å"price† in the headline â€Å"what’s the price of a bottle of wine† can be analyzed in three levels. The first level is analyzing from its denotation. The â€Å"price† in this level will be the value labeled in the goods shelf. The second and third level meanings are connoted in the background. The â€Å"price† in these two levels are more likely consequences of drunk driving. As this advertisement aimed at persuading people not to drink and drive, the connotation of â€Å"price† can be derived from it.The â€Å"price† paid in the second level is drunk drivers’ health, even the life. In order to understand the third level, the background of the Campaign Against Drinking & Driving should be introduced. One of the CADD aims is providing support to the families of victims killed or injured by drunk drivers (CADD). If a person killed or injured because of drinking alcohol over l egal limit, his relatives will in grief for a long time. As a consequence, the â€Å"price† in the third level is the sorrows of relatives. A word play the designer made can be noticed after analyzed the three levels the headline contains.The viewers will understand the meaning of headline by digging into the word â€Å"price†. After the advertisement having guided viewers to consider the the consequences of drunk driving, the designer raise his idea timely in the following text. â€Å"Don’t drink and drive† is an imperative sentence which expresses the attitude of persuasion. If visual images linked together with linguistics messages, the advertisement will be understood better. The headline and the broken bottle are complementary in achieving the goal of the advertisement. The verbal texts appears in the top, and the image forms an illustration of it.A question is introduced by the headline, and the broken car extended viewers’ understanding of t his question. The viewers are led to the direction of the relationship between the wine and the car. In this way, the visual image extends the understanding of the verbal information. In addition, the second clause also can related with the logo in the advertisement. The logo was comprised of four capital letters: CADD; which is the abbreviation of the Campaign Against Drinking & Driving. The idea that transmitted by the campaign is not drinking and driving, which expresses the same meaning with the text.Moreover, there are a wine glass in the first letter D, while a car key in the latter letter D, and red slashes cut the letters. As a result of special form of letters, the topic of the advertisement is pointed out: do not drink and drive. Additionally, the red slashes echo the color used in the text and the headline, which connects the elements in this advertisement closely. In conclusion, this essay analyzed the visual images, linguistic messages and the connection between them in systematic functional approaches. The purpose of this advertisement is persuading people not to drink and drive.The designer guided people to think about the consequences of drunk driving in visual and verbal messages, then the designer’s purpose is achieved by a persuasive way. However, because the publisher of this advertisement is a campaign that mainly helps the drunk drivers’ relatives, more attention will be attracted, if some information about those people added. Word count:1022 Reference Machin, D. (2007) Introduction to Multimodal Analysis, Hodder Education CADD Retrieved from http://cadd. org. uk/aims. htm This advertisement is retrieved from http://gongyi. hexun. com/2011-08-12/132383278. html

Advanced Manufacturing Technology

The inspection process planning system is designed to produce an inspection process planning directly from CAD model. The prototype inspection process planning system includes  ®ve functional modules: the tolerance feature analysis, accessibility analysis, clustering algorithm, path generation and inspection process simulation. The tolerance feature analysis module is used to input tolerance information and establish the relationship between the tolerance information and surface feature. The accessibility analysis module evaluate all the accessible probe orientations for every surface feature. The clustering algorithm module groups the inspection probe and surface features into inspection group so that time for inspection probe exchange and calibration can be reduced to minimum. The path generation module determines the number of measurement points, their distribution and their inspection sequences. The inspection process simulation module animated display the inspection probe path and check whether a collision occurs between the part and the inspection probe. The methodology and theory for corresponding  ®ve functional modules are outlined. An example demonstrate the general process for the application of the inspection process planning system. The prototype inspection process planing system shown that the proposed theory and methods can be used in industry to generate an inspection process planning for a CMM. # 2000 Elsevier Science B. V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Inspection process planning; Co-ordinate measuring machines; Accessibility analysis; Clustering algorithm; Path generation 1. Introduction Recently, researches in inspection process planning have been increased [1]. Some prototypes inspection process planning systems have been developed. These systems include the task-decomposition inspection process planning system [2 ±5,11], the knowledge-based inspection process planning system [6,10] and some hybrid inspection process planning systems [7 ±9]. However, these systems are not satis ®ed by the industry. This paper outlined a prototype inspection process planning system. The inspection process planning system can be used to generate an inspection process planning for a CMM. It can be used as an integrated system starting from solid model and  ®nishing at production of inspection process planning  ®le. However, it can also be used as  ®ve stand alone function modules for the tolerance feature decomposition, accessibility analysis, clustering algorithm, path generation and the inspection process simulation, respectively. The inspection process planning system can be linked to a CAD system so that an inspection process planning can be produced directly once a part design has been  ®nished. It is expected that the laborious and error-prone manual programming currently used for a CMM can be replaced with the developed inspection process planning system. The lead-time for the CMM programming can be reduced signi ®cantly. . System framework The prototype inspection process planning system includes the tolerance feature analysis, accessibility analysis, clustering algorithm, path generation and inspection process simulation as shown in Fig. 1. The tolerance feature analysis module is used to input the tolerance information and then to decompose the tolerance features into individual surface inspection features. The accessibility analysis module evaluates all the possible probe orientations for a surface feature and represents these probe orientations with an accessibility cone. The probe orientation from the accessibility cone can guar- * Corresponding author. E-mail address: [emailprotected] co. uk (S. G. Zhang). 0924-0136/00/$  ± see front matter # 2000 Elsevier Science B. V. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 9 2 4 0 1 3 6 ( 0 0 ) 0 0 7 2 6 3 112 S. G. Zhang et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 107 (2000) 111 ±118 Fig. 1. Flow chart of integrated applications of the developed system. antee a no collision between the probe stylus and the part during the inspection process. The clustering algorithm module arranges both the inspection probes into probe cells and the surface features into feature families so that the time for probe exchange and calibration can be reduced. As a result, the number of the inspection groups is reduced to a minimum. A knowledge-based clustering algorithm is used in the module so that a partial separated block diagonal matrix can be obtained if it is not possible to obtain a complete separated block diagonal matrix. The path generation module determines the number of sampling points, their distributions, and the sequences. Then, the inspection process simulation module is used to simulate the inspection process on a computer video display unit intuitively. The collision check is also implemented in the inspection process simulation module so that a no collision occurs during a real inspection process. Finally, an inspection process  ®le is produced, which is a similar  ®le as DMIS command codes. The generated inspection process planning can be used both for automated and manual inspections. On an automated inspection system, it generates the inspection instruction codes directly according to the format of the CMM instruction codes. On a manual inspection system, it guides the CMM operator for the part installation, selection of probe orientations, and determination of the distribution of the measurement points. Fig. 2 shows main menu for the prototype inspection process planning system. 3. Tolerance feature analysis The tolerance information representation in CAD model has been a bottleneck for manufacturing industry. The size of the tolerance value is too small to be presented in CAD model with its real dimension. It has been judged that it is very dif ®cult to represent this information with a CSG solid model. Some CAD system, such as the AutoCAD system, uses a facility of DIMENSION to represent the tolerance information in a CAD drawing. However, this tolerance information is for displaying on the computer screen or for printing as a hard copy only. The tolerance information and its relationships to the surface features are not included in the database of the AutoCAD system. It is not possible to apply the tolerance information in the subsequent operations such as manufacturing and inspection process. Fig. 3 shows a 3D solid model that is used as a test component for the inspection process planning system. Surface features F10, F11, F14, F17, and F24 apply the dimensional or geometrical tolerances and will be inspected with a CMM. Other surface features will not be inspected with a CMM because those surface features either have the general tolerances that can be guaranteed by general manufacturing method or those tolerances are not suitable to inspect with a CMM. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a methodology to represent the tolerance information and its relationship to the surface features. In the project, tolerance information and its Fig. 2. Accessibility analysis The accessibility analysis module includes three submodules: Gauss mapping; accessibility cone calculation; discretisation of the accessibility cone. The Gauss map is used to analyse and to represent the normal directions for a surface feature. The Gauss map represents all the normal direction of a surface feature with a unit sphere.

Report style Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Report style - Essay Example One of the most important target audiences would be teens and adults that embrace a healthier lifestyle, and as such it is the case that a soft drink could be developed to match the needs of this demographic. A few considerations should be made as to what people would be looking for. Should a drink be made no-calorie, mid-calorie or standard-calorie? If designing a drink around health benefits one is naturally inclined to desire a no-calorie drink however this may draw attention from consumers who are opposed to using aspartame or other non sugar based sweeteners. Moreover the company does not want to draw comparisons with their last mid calorie drink launch ‘Coke Blak† which more or less was a ultimately withdrawn from the market owing to the fact that he company had a poor marketing strategy and the product generally had a displeasing taste. In this regard the company could look to a full calorie beverage but the question remains as to how a healthy image could be promo ted? In this regard, Coca-Cola should look to creating a natural version of its drink which has all of the same properties of its current beverage but without using high fructose corn syrup, preservatives, colouring and utilizing naturally sourced ingredients. From this perspective the company can compete head on with Pepsi-Raw but it can still be promoted as a healthy alternative to most soft drinks. Why this proposal would be successful is two fold. Firstly this product satisfies a need in the market owing to the fact that most soft-drinks and energy drinks are either saturated with standard sweetning agents or with sugar substitutes where there has been very little presence of a ‘all natural’ soft drink. Moreover this product could appeal to a generation of people that are still interested in treating themselves to a soft-drink yet do not want to drink all of the related chemicals assuming an effective marketing and promotion strategy is

Relativism-Religion Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5250 words

Relativism-Religion - Term Paper Example In the modern America, most university students endure a level of intellectual frustration through his academic years. This book provides an understanding of the utility of ancient philosophy and is enriched with true knowledge of mankind’s existence. Bloom’s book portrays a critical view of the modern universities and their education system. Bloom says that the education system fails to stimulate the students as it cannot connect with their aspirations. He has essentially taken a pessimistic view of modern education system as cultivated by university professors. Critics have assessed the book as an attempt to undermine all the liberal professors by conservatism. In reality, Bloom supported the theories of the old philosophers since he believed that they were the ones who searched for spiritual answers that are roots to man’s creation. He takes a critical view of the modern philosophers whose lucid analysis of language fails to explain the ethical and political a spects. The modern professors of literature take a skeptical view of truth and morality that are promoted by genuine philosophy, thus narrowing the intellects of students. According to Bloom, only the study of ancient philosophy can make students comprehend the existence of mankind and get connected with the profundity of life. Bloom cannot be considered as a conservative; he simply wants the modern students to question about existence. In the contemporary world, students of all social and economic backgrounds are confined to the narrow view of life, thus getting more disconnected from the ancient thoughts. The minds of the American people are incapable of understanding the concepts of life and existence as they are instilled with distorted ideas. Bloom stresses that the modern professors cannot understand life’s profound questions let alone finding answers to those questions. The ancient philosophies like Pluto and Socrates can act as guide for liberation of thought, but the y are eclipsed by contemporary liberal philosophy. Bloom lists â€Å"reason-revelation, freedom-necessity, democracy-aristocracy, good-evil, body-soul, self-other, city-man, eternity-time, being-nothing† as polar opposites and says that â€Å"a serious life means being fully aware of the alternatives, thinking about them with all the intensity one brings to bear on life-and-death questions, in full recognition that every choice is a great risk with necessary consequences that are hard to bear.† (Bloom, 1988, p.127) Bloom argues that modern education does not encourage students to confront these polarities, thus they remain ignorant of life’s choices of good and bad. Bloom’s attempt is to make students aware of the myriad concepts of mankind, and that they must deal with these ideas to lead a philosophical life. The major portion of this book focuses on portraying a contrasting view between the modern and ancient philosophies and mind-sets. It says that hu man beings today are more interested in pursuing commercial pleasures, and that the value of philosophical search for truth is being largely ignored. In the book Beyond Good and Evil, the author Friedrich Nietzsche has stated that human beings are inquisitive in nature because of their thirst for truth. Nietzsche argues that the world is divided into opposite values, and the connection between the opposites is a complex philosophy. He says that human beings are so immersed in prejudices and false notions that whatever man considers as truth is actually a manifestation of his own falsehood. The conscious thinking of man is contrasted by his instinct, although Nietzsche believes that instinct is the source of information for conscious thinking. He says that falsehood is the

Western Civilization and Human Development (current controversy about Essay

Western Civilization and Human Development (current controversy about corporal punishment in child-rearing with reference to the historical origins of this debate) - Essay Example The issue of disciplining children has caused so much controversy in this modernized world. Talks of rights are all over the place with children demanding the same. Corporal punishment and spanking have become a legal affair. Under what circumstances can one justify the mode of disciplining to be used on children? Development has contributed to the changing talk on childrearing. Decades ago, childrearing was a communal responsibility. A child belonged to the society. Everyone took it upon themselves to ensure that a child was well brought up. Therefore, matters of discipline were not debatable. If a child was caught in the wrong, any old person could deal with the child on the spot. The child knew better than to report home that they were spanked since that called for more beating from the parents. A child could not question an older person’s authority over them. The family was characterized by strong links amongst parents, uncles, aunts, grandparents and children. However, this is not the case in society today. Parents themselves have to think twice before spanking their own children. Society s divided into different groups that advocate for spanking and those that are against it. One group that strongly advocates for spanking is people from the Christian faith. James Dobson is one such person. As a radio talk show host, Dobson is very vocal on this matter. According to him (1992), spanking should be encouraged. He relates his own childhood where his mother disciplined him appropriately. He owes his growth and good development to his mother. Dobson and other likeminded people believe that disciplining a child is paramount to molding him or her into being a person that the society will hold in high regard. He holds that spanking should not be the only mode of punishment, but as a last result. The anti-spanking group argues that spanking is a form of child abuse. They argue that once the parent gets into the habit of spanking their

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

Review - Essay Example The article mentions that in the year of 1999, 38% of the teenagers in the United States spent their money in churches. The article states that young adults have lower income resources and financial stability as compared to adults of the society and still, in 2004, the researchers found that 3 out of every 10 young adults donated money to churches as compared to 6 out of 10 adults. So, we see that the rate of donor young adults is almost half of the older adults, which is very good for the age of young adults. The article further mentions that the government of the United States expects to project nearly $15 trillion as an â€Å"intergenerational transfer of wealth† between years 2006 and 2021. This is a significant amount of money that is transferred among the peers of a generation, and the generation being discussed here is the young adults. This means, that young adults of the society are responsible enough to think how to save extra bucks and spend them in charities so tha t some poor person is helped out of his miseries. This is actually the actual love for humanity which is the real essence of philanthropy. The article also suggests that young adults tend to give more volunteer time as compared to older adults, if they have very little to donate to charities.

The importance of listing and conserving historic buildings Essay

The importance of listing and conserving historic buildings - Essay Example The fight to save particular buildings or groups of buildings is not the fancy of some impractical antiquarian. It is part of the battle for the sane use of all our resources. The visible link with the past that old buildings give us is important both as a fascinating insight into history and as an expression of the relative permanence of civilized society. Conservation to the architect and public alike is not a fad, fetter or curse: it is a necessity which should also be seen as a stimulating challenge. The built heritage being an irreplaceable and finite resource deserves dedicated protection for the enjoyment of current and future generations (Maintenance and Repair, n.d.). Buildings possess artistic, technological, cultural and emotive significance not only to individuals but also to the public at large (Maintenance and Repair, n.d.). The loss of buildings of architectural or historic significance is a matter of public interest and is hence considered to be a national threat (Maintenance and Repair, n.d.). Historic buildings following the law of nature are exposed to decay making it certain that certain buildings are facing the risk of falling into disrepair or becoming redundant (Maintenance and Repair, n.d.). However, through proper maintenance such buildings can be made to survive to be witnessed and cherished by many generations (Maintenance and Repair, n.d.). The cost involving regular maintenance and repairs is less (Maintenance and Repair, n.d.). However, constant neglect will only deteriorate the condition (Maintenance and Repair, n.d.). Apathy or deliberate ignorance will only make things out of control and beyond the financial reach of owners (Maintenance and Repair, n.d.). Though modern published figures by the heritage sector indicate more popularity of history and heritage than ever before, some of our most cherished historic buildings at the very heart

Project Management -- Network Planning Techniques Essay

Project Management -- Network Planning Techniques - Essay Example The critical path enables the manager to decide in what sequence a set of activities will be performed and when they should start and be completed. By knowing which tasks are non-critical the manager is better able to reconcile his project with his resource constraints. Another major advantage of using the critical path method is that the manager is able to perform â€Å"what if† exercises. If the start date of the project (a, 0) has been fixed as Tuesday January 4th, 2011 and assuming that work is done only on Monday through Friday with no holidays, the earliest projected calendar finish date of the project is June 24th, 2011. By default, all critical tasks have zero slack. The task with the largest free slack occurs at node L, which is GFE delivery. The manager could use the slack to manage scope creep, to monitor and update his schedule and to revise his risk assessment. From our critical path diagram it is evident that dates for delivery of the engine and for the GFE payload are non-critical, therefore we shall set the date of delivery for both to be March 30th, 2011 because any date before vehicle integration begins on April 1st, 2011 will suffice. The critical path remains the same but completion date is pushed forward to June 28th, 2011 because total number of days needed to complete the project increases from 124 to 128. We also notice that the slack days also go up. The impact of this change will have to be reflected with a revision of project

Assignment 5 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

5 - Assignment Example In the initial phase, there is a need for segregating all junk mails which arrive from different recipients. It is worth mentioning that the mail process would only reply to the issue letters. Thus, after segregating junk mails, it will be decided that whether the letters possess any issue or not. Issue letters are considered as those letters which advocate a position and most of them arrive from arranged campaigns. After identifying the issue letters, they would be scanned and processed for recognizing the issues which require strict attention from senator. Most of the issues which are described in those letters are from several agencies or on behalf of certain citizens. Thus, it is vital for the Senator’s office to scan and process them accordingly to recognize how the issues can be dealt with. A decision would be made regarding whether to respond to the identified issues or not in the letters. In some cases, letters do not contain any kind of return addresses, to which they can be mailed back to the respondents. Besides, at times, these issues also requests for special visits and favors. Thus, in such circumstances, a few of the issue letters would not be responded. In such letters, a position would be created in the computer database of Senator’s office. For the letters that would be decided to respond, they would be printed and then mailed to the respondents. Apart from flow chart, there are several other tools which can be used for improving the process of issue mail processing such as check sheet and cause and effect diagram. Check sheet is considered as an organized method of collecting and structuring information. The objective of check sheet is to collect the information in the most effective way and check them accordingly against prearranged groups of measurements (Soković, Jovanović, Krivokapić & Vujović 1-9). Cause and effect

3th Amendment to the Constitution of Bangladesh Essay Example for Free

3th Amendment to the Constitution of Bangladesh Essay Sandy Hook Shooting: Is It Time to Change the Second Amendment? Sandy Hook Shooting Is It Time to Change the Second Amendment About 80 million Americans, representing half of U.S. homes, own more than 223 million guns. The debate about the Second Amendment has been fierce, but after the horrible atrocity that just happened in Newtown, Connecticut, the time has come to rethink the amendment and change it. The change of the amendment in terms of availability of weapons, and who has the right to possess them, would create a safer society and lower the gun homicide rate in the U. S. — a figure that currently makes the U.S. the highest in the world. The change would include a certain necessary procedure in order to get a license for possessing a gun. Moreover, this procedure should include medical checks, full criminal history, and a police interview to prove they actually need a gun. Atrocities like what happened today could theoretically be prevented if it were more difficult to come into possession of weapons in the U.S. At this moment, there is a widely accepted misconception about the history of the amendment and its purpose within American society. When the founding fathers implemented Second Amendment the main idea behind it was to provide citizens with a way to oppose possible tyrannical government. However, today it is widely believed that the Second Amendment is there to provide you with a way to protect yourself from other individuals. The debate is also present over whether the Second Amendment provides for collective or individual rights. However, in 2008, in the District of Columbia v. Heller case before the Supreme Court, the Court ruled that the Second Amendment protects an individuals right to possess a firearm, unconnected to service in a militia and to use that arm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home. In a 2011 Gallup poll, only 26% of American citizens said they would support the handgun ban. When Gallup first asked Americans this question in 1959, 60% favored banning handguns. But since 1975, the majority of Americans have opposed such a measure, with opposition around 70% in recent years. Americans have shifted to a more pro-gun view on gun laws, with record-low support for bans on handguns, assault rifle bans, and stricter gun laws in general. This remains true even as high-profile incidents of gun violence continue across the United States. The reasons for this ideological shift do not appear to be reactions to the crime situation, and are probably rather related to a widespread acceptance of guns by the  American public. It is widely believed that having the right to bear arms contributes to higher security. By enabling a great number of people to carry weapons, the society as a whole will not benefit from greater security. Moreover, it will become more unstable. The control of the weapons must be toughened and the right to possess and bear them restricted. The cases of shootings on American campuses and in schools are numerous and an argument that stricter gun control laws should be enforced stands strong. With medical and background checks, people who want to possess a gun won’t be stopped. However, the chance that someone with a mental disorder will have access to arsenal gets lower. The U.S. has the highest rate of gun ownership and of gun homicide in the developed world, it can definitely be argued that the amount of guns present the homicide rate will also be reduced. In 2012, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton agreed with the U.N. to set a timetable for the regulation of the arms trade between the states. The United States joined 152 other countries in support of the Arms Trade Treaty Resolution, which establishes the dates for the 2012 UN conference intended to further regulate gun trade around the world. Many in the U.S. have seen this treaty as an introduction to domestic firearm control, even though this is wrong. In order to change the Second Amendment, a two-thirds majority in the Senate is required and at this point chances of changing that happening are slim. Throughout the world there are different regulations about gun ownership. Great Britain banned private ownership of guns in 1997; Australia also followed the same path. A 1999 Harvard School of Public Health study revealed that, Americans feel less safe as more people in their community begin to carry guns, and that 90% believe that regular citizens should be prohibited from bringing guns into most public places, including stadiums, restaurants, hospitals, college campuses, and places of worship. We should not have the illusion that the world can overnight become a safe place where guns are not needed. These are dark times for those who demand sane regulation of gun ownership. The courts come and go. Public opinion and political power, like the common law, changes and evolves. Guns must not be accessible to all and they must be restricted. By restricting the gun availability, the possibility for situations like the Newtown massacre would be dramatically lowered. Even if we assume that one day a tyrannical government may come to power, under the current circumstances, with the U.S.  government in possession of tanks, airplanes and drones, one can argue that the light weapons held by the citizens would not be enough. The argument of the founding fathers therefore becomes obsolete and the amendment must be changed to ensure the greater safety of American citizens. The Second Amendment Eleven years later, after the war for independence had been won, our Founders assembled once again to draw up a plan for governing the new nation. That plan would be ratified two years later as the Constitution of the United States of America. To understand the true meaning of the Second Amendment, it is important to understand the men who wrote and ratified it, and the issues they faced in creating the Constitution. During the debate over the ratification of the Constitution, there was significant concern that a  strong federal government would trample on the individual rights of citizensas had happened under British rule. To protect the basic rights of Americansrights which each person possesses and that are guaranteed, but not granted, by any governmentthe framers added the first ten amendments to the Constitution as a package. Those amendments have come to be known as the Bill of Rights. They represent the fundamental freedoms that are at the heart of our society, including fre edom of speech, freedom of religion and the right of the people to keep and bear arms. The History of Our Rights The British people did not have a written constitution as we have in the United States. However, they did have a tradition of protecting individual rights from government. Those rights were set forth in a number of documents, including the Magna Carta and the English Declaration of Rights. The Founders who wrote the Bill of Rights drew many of their ideas from the traditions of English common law, which is the body of legal tradition and court decisions that acted as an unwritten constitution and as a balance to the power of English kings. The Founders believed in the basic rights of men as described in written legal documents and in unwritten legal traditions. One of these was the right of the common people to bear arms, which was specifically recognized in the English Declaration of Rights of 1689. However, the Founders also recognized that without a blueprint for what powers government could exercise, the rights of the people would always be subject to being violated. The Constitution, and particularly the Bill of Rights, was created to specifically describe the powers of government and the rights of individuals government was not allowed to infringe. 1. Does the Second Amendment Describe An Individual Right? Some people claim that there is no individual right to own firearms. However, anyone familiar with the principles upon which this country was founded will recognize this claim`s most glaring flaw: in America, rightsby definitionbelong to individuals. The Founding Fathers created the Bill of Rights to protect the rights of individuals. The freedoms of religion, speech, association, and the rest all refer to individual liberties. The Second Amendment right to keep and bear  arms is no different. When the first Congress penned the Second Amendment in 1789, it took the wording, with some style changes, from a list of rights introduced by James Madison of Virginia. Congressman Madison had promised the Virginia ratifying convention that he would sponsor a Bill of Rights if the Constitution were ratified. The amendments he wrote would not change anything in the original Constitution. Madison repeatedly insisted that nothing in the original Constitution empowered the federal government to infringe on the rights of the people, specifically including the right of individuals to have guns. In constructing the Bill of Rights, Madison followed the recommendations of the state ratifying conventions. Though they ratified the Constitution, several of those conventions had recommended adding provisions about specific rights. Five conventions recommended adding a right to arms; by comparison, only three conventions mentioned free speech. Members of Congress had no doubt as to the amendment`s meaning. They and their contemporaries were firearm owners, hunters and in some cases gun collectors (George Washington and Thomas Jefferson exchanged letters about their collections). They had just finished winning their freedoms with gun in hand, and would, in their next session, pass legislation requiring most male citizens to buy and own at least one firearm and 30 rounds of ammunition. The only reason there is a controversy about the Second Amendment is that on this subject many highly vocal and influential 21st Century Americans reject what seemed elementary common senseand basic principleto our Founding Fathers. The words of the founders make clear they believed the individual right to own firearms was very important: Thomas Jefferson said, No free man shall be debarred the use of arms. Patrick Henry said, The great object is, that every man be armed. Richard Henry Lee wrote that, to preserve liberty it is essential that the whole body of people always possess arms. Thomas Paine noted, [A]rms . . . discourage and keep the invader and the  plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as property. Samuel Adams warned that: The said Constitution be never construed to authorize Congress to infringe the just liberty of the press, or the rights of conscience; or to prevent the people of the United States, who are peaceable citizens, from keeping their own arms. The Constitution and Bill of Rights repeatedly refer to the rights of the people and to the powers of government. The Supreme Court has recognized that the phrase the people, which is used in numerous parts of the Constitution, including the Preamble, the Second, Fourth, Ninth and Tenth Amendments, refers to people as individuals. In each case, rights belonging to the people are without question the rights of individuals. Dozens of essays have been written by the nation`s foremost authorities on the Constitution, supporting the traditional understanding of the right to arms as an individual right, protected by the Second Amendment. 2. Isn`t the well regulated militia the National Guard? Gun control supporters insist that the right of the people really means the right of the state to maintain the militia, and that this militia is the National Guard. This is not only inconsistent with the statements of America`s Founders and the concept of individual rights, it also wrongly defines the term militia. Centuries before the Second Amendment was drafted, European political writers used the term well regulated militia to refer to all the people, armed with their own firearms or swords, bows or spears, led by officers they chose. America`s Founders defined the militia the same way. Richard Henry Lee wrote, A militia when properly formed are in fact the people themselves . . . and include all men capable of bearing arms. . . . Making the same point, Tench Coxe wrote that the militia are in fact the effective part of the people at large. George Mason asked, [W]ho are the militia? They consist now of the  whole people, except a few public officers. The Militia Act of 1792, adopted the year after the Second Amendment was ratified, declared that the Militia of the United States (members of the militia who had to serve if called upon by the government) included all able-bodied adult males. The National Guard was not established until 1903. In 1920 it was designated one part of the Militia of the United States. The other part included other able-bodied adult men, plus some other men and women. However, in 1990, the Supreme Court held that the federal government possesses complete power over the National Guard. The Guard is the third part of the United States Army, along with the regular Army and Army Reserve. The Framers` independent well regulated militia remains as they intended, America`s armed citizenry. 3. Have the Courts or Congress ever studied the meaning of the Second Amendment? On June 26, 2008, the Supreme Court issued its decision in the case of District of Columbia v. Heller. In a 5-4 decision, the Court upheld the ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit that the Second Amendment protects a right to possess firearms for individuals, and not just a right to have them as part of a militia or the National Guard. The Court also held that the Second Amendment is not meant to protect a â€Å"state’s right† to maintain a militia or National Guard. The decision struck down the District’s bans on handguns and on having any gun in usable condition as violations of the Second Amendment, and prohibited the District from denying a person a permit to carry a firearm within his home on without cause. Highlights of the majority opinion, written by Justice Antonin Scalia and joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Samuel Alito, Anthony Kennedy, and Clarence Thomas, can be found here: /Issues/FactSheets/Read.aspx?id=235issue=010. The Court ruled that â€Å"[T]he operative clause [of the Second Amendment] codifies a ‘right of the people.† And went on to explain: â€Å"In all six other provisions of the Constitution that mention ‘the people,’ the term unambiguously refers to all members of the political community, not an unspecified subset. . . .’† Put plainly, the Heller decision says that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess firearms for legal purposes, including for sporting use and for self-defense. In coming to this conclusion, the courts examined the meaning of the words in the Second Amendment, including the meaning of â€Å"arms† the phrase â€Å"to bear arms† and to â€Å"keep â€Å" arms. The court also carefully considered the meaning of â€Å"militia† and the relationship between the militia and the â€Å"right to keep and bear arms.† In the majority opinion, the court clearly rejected the idea of a â€Å"collective or group right, that is, a right held by the states. The court found that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess firearms. The full impact of the Heller decision is still not known. States and cities with restrictive gun laws are now facing challenges to their specific laws and future court cases will continue to define the how the Second Amendment protects individual rights and what types of gun laws will be allowed. Before the Heller decision, the most thorough examination of the Second Amendment and related issues ever undertaken by a court is the 2001 decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in U.S. v. Emerson. In Emerson, the Appeals court devoted dozens of pages of its decision to studying the Second Amendment’s history and text. It began by examining the Supreme Court’s decision in U.S. v. Miller (1939), which individual rights opponents claim supports the notion of the Second Amendment protecting only a â€Å"collective right† of a state to maintain a militia. The Fifth Circuit disagreed. â€Å"We conclude that Miller does not support the collective rights or sophisticated collective rights approach to the Second Amendment.† The court then turned to the history and text of the Second Amendment. â€Å"There is no evidence in the text of the Second Amendment, or any other part of the Constitution, that the words ‘the people’ have a different connotation within the Second Amendment than when employed elsewhere in the Constitution. In fact, the text of the Constitution, as a whole, strongly suggests that the words ‘the people’ have precisely the same meaning within the Second Amendment as without. And as used throughout the Constitution, ‘the people’ have ‘rights’ and ‘powers,’ but federal and state governments only have ‘powers’ or ‘authority’, never ‘rights.’† The court concluded, â€Å"We have found no historical evidence that the Second Amendment was intended to convey militia power to the states, limit the federal government’s power to maintain a standing army, or applies only to members of a select militia while on active duty. All of the evidence indicates that the Second Amendment, like other parts of the Bill of Rights, applies to and protects individual Americans. We find that the history of the Second Amendment reinforces the plain meaning of its text, namely that it protects individual Americans in their right to keep and bear arms whether or not they are a member of a select militia or performing active military service or training.† Four times in American history, Congress has enacted legislation declaring its clear understanding of the Second Amendment`s meaning. Congress has never given any support for the newly minted argument that the amendment fails to protect any right of the people, and instead ensures a â€Å"collective right† of states to maintain militias. In 1866, 1941, 1986, and 2005, Congress passed laws to reaffirm this guarantee of personal freedom and to adopt specific safeguards to enforce it. The Freedmen’s Bureau Act of 1866 was enacted to protect the rights of freed slaves to keep and bear arms following the Civil War and at the outset of the chaotic Reconstruction period. The act declared protection for the â€Å"full and equal benefit of all laws and proceedings concerning personal liberty, personal security, and . . . estate . . . including the constitutional right to bear arms. . . .† The Property Requisition Act of 1941 was intended to reassure Americans that preparations for war would not include repressive or tyrannical policies against firearms owners. It was passed shortly before the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, which led the United States into World War II. The act declared that it would not â€Å"authorize the requisitioning or require the registration of any firearms possessed by any individual for his personal protection or sport,† or â€Å"to impair or infringe in any manner the right of any individual to keep and bear arms. . . .† The two more recent laws sought to reverse excesses involving America’s legal system. In the Firearms Owners’ Protection Act of 1986, Congress reacted to overzealous enforcement policies under the federal firearms law: The Congress finds that the rights of citizens to keep and bear arms under the second amendment to the United States Constitution; to security against illegal and unreasonable searches and seizures under the fourth amendment; against uncompensated taking of property, double jeopardy, and assurance of due process of law under the fifth amendment; and against unconstitutional exercise of authority under the ninth and tenth amendments; require additional legislation to correct existing firearms statutes and enforcement policies. . . . And in 2005, as a result of lawsuits aiming to destroy America’s firearms industry, Congress passed the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act to end this threat to the Second Amendment. The act begins with findings that go to the heart of the matter: Congress finds the following: (1) The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. (2) The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution protects the rights of individuals, including those who are not members of a militia or engaged in military service or training, to keep and bear arms. 4. What are gun control laws? Gun control is the popular name for laws that regulate, limit or prohibit the purchase and possession of firearms. Gun control laws are usually  proposed on the grounds they will stop the criminal misuse of firearms, but they are almost never actually targeted at criminals. Supporters of gun control most commonly call for laws that restrict law-abiding people, the only ones who will obey them. Laws prohibiting the possession of a firearm are unlikely to stop a person willing to commit robbery, assault or murder. On the other hand, honest citizens who respect the law will submit to the gun control laws, even if the laws do not make them safer.

Toy Business Plan Essay Example for Free

Toy Business Plan Essay 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   executive summary This project proposal is being submitted in fair view of globalised businesses and the success it has achieved. Internet technology is enabling to the growth of SMEs apart from multinational businesses. There is greater scope for new opportunities with optimized skill and knowledge invested as the basic requisite to begin any venture. Times always change and so also generation of entrenpreneurs. There are many advancements in the present technology times, the present generation of people are much faster, quickly grasp and in possess potential abilities at a young age to start off businesses on ownership. On a single platform there is a rapid growth of business with the skills and expertise knowledge in a particular field. There are many developments, changes happening around the world and essentially among all financial independence is the most important in order to live well. With this view, after coming to an understanding, that people who possess excellent business skills and have adequate knowledge to run a business, this business plan of toy currency has been prepared with a motive to serve customers and to provide employment to other people as an income source. Toddlers are the precious customers who are going to making this business much bigger. Toddlers are most individualistic in perception, who do not permit others to involve in play time. Toy currency is being extended to children who are one year old or above who can learn and understand about currency coins, denominations and how it is counted and used. Although the idea of money is a big word for children who are one year old, pronunciation of dollar currency, learning about denominations, counting currency are some of the basics that are being promoted to children. Objective 1 Objective Time frame  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Dollar currency An excellent product.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Educational toy for children Business that can tap toy market.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Age group 1year and above Returns in a span of 6-12 months Objective 2 Objective Time frame  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To entertain and educate children.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To market innovative and useful toy products 6-12 months  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To be a leader in toy industry 3-5 yrs. cash flow   graphic 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Introduction 2.1.  Ã‚   Purpose The purpose of this business plan is to start a dollar currency game for toddlers as a promotion of education.   The proposed education game is non-hazardous and extremely attractive for toddlers as a tool for pre-school learning at home.   This business plan requires minimum investment and minimum number of workers whereas its idea is to reach a large pool of customers on a global level. Although the business is not too motivated towards making quick profits, with the entrepreneurs experience and energy, this business would like to expand in future years on a consistent pace marking a reputation in the market. 2.2.  Ã‚   Description of the product/service Product distribution rights are freely available in retail chain and wholesale market apart from franchise outlets. However, the distributors and franchisees are expected to have a permit license to sell toys and also must abide by the legal terms and conditions that are provided by the company.   Further wholesalers and retailers are not authorized to claim any legal rights about the toy apart from distribution and sale. The entire ownership and copyrights of toys rest with the   manufacturing company. Further apart from consumer market, the toy would also be available for preparatory model schools, kindergarten and upper kindergarten schools. This is permitted in order to bring awareness among schools that such educational toys are also being promoted in order to make teaching skills much easier. 2.3.  Ã‚   Background The motive behind this business is to start an independent unit which is both useful and that sells all through the year without any halt. Both entrepreneurs have excellent business skills, one with a degree in MBA and the other with M.A (Child psychology) Both are of the view that launching an educational toy would be a massive success as this product is presently not available in the market and with this innovative idea, entrepreneurs are also of the opinion that the business would also provide employment to those who are jobless. Appendix I : Details of proprietors. Purchase of on-going concern is also a good idea, as most of the manufacturing equipment, office systems, and manpower are readily available for takeover whereas minimum operating expenses and start-up expenses are the only major expenses.   Another opinion is also stated here that a new set up of business is also a good idea whereas extra efforts and care is required until business takes its shape for start-off and take-off. 2.4.  Ã‚   Assumptions There are absolutely no assumptions that do not materialise or work in a practical manner.   This proposed business being a mathematical and educational toy/game for kids; there are no misconeptions about the acceptance and success of currency toy/game in the toy market. 2.5.  Ã‚   Definitions Toy dollar currency : This means that U.S currency in wood or plastic form is designed only for learning or for playing for little children. This currency carries no commercial value or resale value. Wholesaler : Wholesaler is a licensed toy seller   who is authorised to distribute toy dollar currency game to retail stores, schools, educational institutions or any other place where pre-school training or learning is provided. Franchisees : Franchisees are those who enter into contract with the entrepreneurs that no other product franchise would be undertaken within the contract period and carry exclusive rights to market toy dollar currency at a global pace with the medium of Internet or through any other effective marketing tool under the disclosure of owners of business. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   GENERAL analysis 3.1.  Ã‚   Business Mission The mission of business is to promote healthy, innovative and knowledgeable products for growing generation. In this global arena, it is required that kids have to be in a learning environment which would shape kids in a better way in development of personalities.   Globalisation has evolved several global businesses wherein every business produces a new product, new idea, new promotion and motive is ultimately to make quick profits whereas our mission is far distant to such speedy money sources. Business   must extend a product that is useful to consumers and in return consumers take care of companies to grow and prosper which is the give-n-take policy of this   business.   In fact businesses must grow along with consumers which gives a complete satisfaction both to consumers as well to entrepreneurs. The purpose of this product is to assist kids to learn about dollar currency counting in the initial stages of learning.   Especially toddlers taste every toy and find out what it is meant for. That is the origin of child psychology. Whether it is a candy or a toy, toddler identifies only by tasting it.   Toddlers prefer exclusive premise for breakfast, lunch and dinner and so also for play time. At times, if there is a disturbance to privacy or interest, toddlers yell in order to tell how big and important the meal and play time is. In such instance, a think over plan is here to provide knowledge to toddler about dollar currency beginning from cents. This toy comes in a 30L x 15B box with a 3 steel/plastic rods fixed in it. Coins beginning from 1 cent to 100 cents are fixed to enable toddler to learn counting of cents.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The second rod contains coins beginning from 1 dollar to 100 dollars. The third rod contains coins beginning from 1 million to 100 million.   The rods cannot be removed and neither the coins. The toddler can only push from one end to the other by counting cents, dollars and millions.   Three colors are chosen for three rods and also for coins for easy identification of coins denomination.   There is a provision for learning addition, subtraction, multiplication and division (BODMAS) whereas it is not a must for toddlers. The market served would be entire domestic market and also depending on the marketing methods, export of sales to other countries are   expected. In the initial period of launch of product, the owners are expecting a good feedback from wholesalers and franchisees.   The pricing of toy would be reasonable costing $5.00 and after when sales pick up in a span of one year or more, there is a probability to increase the selling price by another $1.00. Primarily the owners would like to tap success in toy market by launching this product and also with the motive to satisfy customers who are looking for such educational promoting product.   Owners would like to consult parents, buyers and other distributors for feedback and also consider opinions about the product from time to time. Goal of business would be to run a self-sufficient business apart from offering employment to others, as jobs have become necessary particularly in a country like U.S where people are working 16-18 hrs per day doing two or more part/full time jobs, the owners believe that ‘live and let others also live’.   Owners are also of the fact that, money making in business is important   whereas customer satisfaction is equally important.  Ã‚   Many businesses in the past have proved this fact that ethics in business are very important in order to grow consistently and to stay in business market. Individuals who are educated and mastered the skills for doing excellent business can very well float a business independently instead of working elsewhere and as a matter of fact, there are many housewives and couples who have begun businesses in kitchen which have later grown to be multinationals which reiterates that skill, dedication and customer satisfaction are three variables that have to be looked into to enter business field. 3.2.  Ã‚   Business Structure and Management The proposed business would be a private limited company with two important entrepreneurs as the driving force behind the business plan.  Ã‚   The management considers the advice of business consultants, accountants and legal experts in order to incorporate a private limited company, establish manufacturing unit, and commence business with administrative staff viz., accountant, marketing manager, reception desk and skilled labor . While accountant would be taking care of complete financial system of company, marketing manager would be completely responsible for marketing the product and inform management on daily basis about the feedback and response from the market. Reception would be responding to enquiries for distributors, wholesalers, retailers and other educational institutions and provide complete information to management on every day basis. Workforce would be approximately less or equal to 10   individuals in order to manufacture plastic coins and rods, make carton boxes, arrange and pack and load into transport or deliver the product to the destination.  Ã‚   There should also be provision for trucks, drivers and   helping boys to load cartons from one place to another. Further company’s web site neatly designed providing a complete set of information about product, facility for online purchase, email, enquiry form should be made available in order to tap online sales for the product. 3.3.  Ã‚   Market Environment Management is confident that the product would be very well accepted in the market and would increase sales in the first month of its launch. The reason for this assessment is due to the fact that there is no other isolated currency toy in the market at present whereas other games include business as a concept for the age group of above 8yrs which are called as ‘monopoly’ . This game encourages children to count paper currency, buy hotels, resorts, which explain children that business and personal income can be earned in various forms and methods by doing buying and selling with the medium of currency. Similarly, a toddler hardly when one year old, when begins to learn alphabets and digits, a concept of currency counting helps child to gain knowledge about money and how it is counted and what are its forms.   This game faces absolutely no competition as it is the first ever toy that is being launched in market for this age group of one year and above especially when it is coming in educational promotion. This does not mean that educational toys are not available in the market. There are many for kindergarten for learning alphabets, maths, science and many other I.Q games and toys.   This particular model of toy is not available in the market and with this stance, when a discussion was held, many toy market experts were of the opinion that toy price being moderately low, there is absolutely no question as to why the product cannot tap success and above all, all group of consumers would evince interest in buying this product as it was revealed in a survey. 3.4.  Ã‚   Plant Equipment Plant and equipment required for starting this venture is no more than $50,000 which includes operating expenses. Machinery for manufacture of plastic coins, embossing of currency in various denominations, colouring, printing and steel rods manufacturing machinery and machinery for making 3015 plastic boxes.   This is the major equipment that is required in order to manufacture toy currency. 3.5.  Ã‚   Skills Assessment There is a consultant who is experienced and who is an expert in toy market especially in designing currency, who is hired by management until the commencement of business.   The guidance of expert is proving to be the most precious for the management in order to train the labor to perform and produce the desired quality of toy. One of the owners is an MBA graduate who completely acquainted with business skills to motivate labor, and maintain good HR practices with workers and employees. Apart from this capital budget, finance budget and forecast of sales is also an expertise field of this MBA graduate entrepreneur. The other owner who is M.A in psychology understands and has the ability to promote this educational toy to schools and educational institutions for bringing awareness about toy currency and its important in development of child psychology.   The importance of money can never be taken for granted and it is important for parents and society to train children as how to handle money matters and how a currency can be useful in day-to-day life. In a way, this can be described as teaching of money management for children. 3.6 Risk Analysis At present, owners do not foresee any risks in commencement of business.   The SWOT analysis reveals that a great strength and energy exists with owners with the fact that an innovative product is being launched with a motive to serve and educate customers. This concludes another fact that motives matter most in business and good businesses thrive on honest motives. Apart from this, MBA graduate is fully conversant with business laws, legal and corporate laws. M.A child psychology helps even better to launch more number of good toys in the market which is also another strength of the making this business plan a success. There are no possible weaknesses in the business with the fact that both the entrepreneurs have a mixed strength and good motives. Unless there is a massive unforeseen loss or event that hampers the production of business, there is no scope for any crop up of weaknesses. Opportunities are many in toy market. In fact toy market is never saturated unlike other industries. There is always something new and also there is no end for demand and supply. Threats in toy market are although at a moderate percentage, the proposed toy currency is free from any hazards as the children cannot dislocate coins and have to sit at one place and play as long as the interest goes on. Record the SWOT details in Appendix:II 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   operational plan 4.1.  Ã‚   Key Business Objectives Key business objectives in â€Å"SMART† system are as follows: S – Specific : To promote toy currency as a good product in toy market. The objective of the business is to promote educational products to children under the age of 5. Certainly the motive is not behind making quick money and rather serving customers useful products   and definitely making a new pattern of design and mark in business. Therefore, there is a professional code in starting this business which is why the objectives of business are very specific. M – Measurable : The performance of business is forecasted to do extremely well with toy currency entry into the market. Initial sales volume is expected to sell approximately 10000 toys in the first 5 months of launch and thereafter there is a proposal to increase 1000 nos by every month.   As this is only an assumption whereas when the product truly available in market, the sales are expected to rise above assumptions. In a span of three years, i.e. by 2010, the business is expected to be really doing well with a proportionate share of sale of product in the toy market. A – Achievable : The targets set before Achievable targets within the limitations of business. Depending on the orders that would be received from various distributors, the production would be made. Although, the start-up appears to be at a low pace, there is a guarantee that future targets would be quite achievable depending on the sales and order volumes recorded each year. R – Results oriented : This business is quite practical and extends knowledge and comfort to customers. There would be no difficulties or any problems that can occur with the usage of product. The product is absolutely result-oriented and there is a premonition that by the end of first month of production, there may be a requirement to double the production in order to meet the demand of product. T – From the very first day business , management is active working operations, collecting feedback, finding new customers, distributors, picking up of orders and paying more attention that quality of goods is perfect. Initially at the end of every month, there would be a trial balance, balance sheet for taking note of sales and profits. Once the financial statements are indicating good sales track and profits, quarterly PL and thereafter half-yearly and yearly.   For any business to mark success, time is the essence whereas for this project,   there are absolute guarantees for success with the fact that this is an innovative product being manufactured in the interest of future generation of children. Objective 1  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Objective Time frame  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Conduct a professional standard  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Run an efficient business 1-5 yrs  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Practice business ethics 4.1.1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Implementation Strategy In this stage of implementation, firstly the incorporation certificate is to be obtained that a private limited company is being incorporated with the name â€Å"Currency Point Pvt Ltd† The two directors would be Bill Joe and Charles who would be busy in commencement of business operations. A suitable location is to be selected for installing machinery to begin production. The premises would include both production and administrative office. Staff and workers have to attend regularly until orders are picked up. Advertisement through brochures, television, classified ads and websites would enable fast pick up of sales. Further designing of website and launching for marketing is also essential.   Preparation of monthly sales report, marketing report, Income and expenditure statement and targets for future months have to be recorded on a monthly basis.   Suitable guidance, training and advice must be provided to workers and employees in both administration and in production. It is also good to retain employees with the fact that frequent new appointments require excessive time in recruitment, training and guidance.   Appendix:IV Development Brief description rationale Cost 2008  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   First year of commencement of business. The objective is to market product and record sales as much as possible 10000 2009  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Market and sell the product and aim to record a higher sales volume. 20000 2010  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Increase business volume by exporting and also open RD centre for working on new educational toys for children. 30000 4.2   Marketing 4.2.1Market Research According to the market research conducted, toy currency is not available in the market which is designed especially for toddlers between the age group of 1 and 1 ½ years. 4.2.2  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Positioning in the Market There is zero competition from competitors as there are no companies which are manufacturing this product and in fact the management owns the complete credibility of the product from the groundwork till the launch of product into the market. 4.2.3  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Pricing Strategy Pricing of the product is fixed at an affordable rate keeping in the view of both poor and middle class families.   Toy currency is fixed at $5.00 as MRP price in the market. 4.2.4  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Target Market The market focus would be all through the United States and Europe and thereafter marketing would be shifted to Asia, Africa and other parts of the world.   Here at this, it is important to take note that if orders being booked for Europe, company management would consider the opinion of customers whether the toy currency should be indicated as ‘Euro’ for European buyers and so also for other parts of the world. It is true that toy is being manufactured in dollar currency, wheras if other global customers prefer regional currencies, a provision is included to manufacture according to the currency required.   However, this is only a provision and not mandatory to meet as an obligation in order increase order supplies. Toy currency is aimed at entertaining toddlers whereas if it is entertaining upper age group, this business appreciates the interest.   There are no limitations or no rules for customers to buy this product. It is displayed in retail stores for $5.00 and any number of volumes can be purchased with proper billing system. 4.2.5  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Distribution Licenced distributors for toys are permitted to distribute toy currency after signing a contract with the company. Depending on the orders, each distributor generates, fixed incentive would be paid.   E.g. 500 orders per month would give an incentive of 0.25 cents x 500 = $125.00.   This rate of incentive is also applicable for franchisees.   Further franchisees are not permitted to promote any other product other than toy currency. 4.2.6  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Promotional Strategy Visiting Montessori schools,   collecting data about distributors, franchisees, advertisement are some of promotional strategies. These efforts are made in order to market toy currency in various places.   The company would like to stay focused with this product at least for a period of 3 years until business is stabilised. Further company promises excellent customers service, packing and forwarding , apart from good methods of publicity through door-to-door campaign, brochures and schools. 4.2.7  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Sales Targets The first year of selling is targeted to be at least 10,000 nos. The second year of selling is targeted to be 50,000 nos and the third year of selling is targeted to be 100000 and above. One of the reason to target an increase by 100 fold is the pricing of toy currency is at an affordable rate and it can purchased by every parent. 4.3. Financial Plan. 4.3.1  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Start-up Capital Description Budget-Amt Incorporation expenses $   1,000 Premises for Rent $   4,000 Machinery $ 60,000 Installation $  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   500 Electricity and fixtures, fittings $  Ã‚   1,000 Raw materials $ 10,000 Miscellaneous $  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   500 Total $   77,000 Loan financing $ 100,000 Here there is a margin of $ 23000 as a safe mode of operation in order to meet other expenses if any occur at the time of production. 4.3.3 Assessment of Financial Viability of Proposed Business Owners are not investing any amount and financing of $100000 is sought from SBA or from other FIs and the repayment would be yearly $ 5000   which would take 20 months to refund entire loan amount. The cost of manufacturing of each toy currency box at production level would be $4.00 and with a profit of $1.00 the product would be marketed in consumer market.   This margin of profit if it is maintained, depending on the sales, the company can record huge volume of business even in the first year of business. For e.g. $ 5.00 x 10,000 = 50,000 (profit   = S.P – C.P, $ 50,000 $ 40,000 = $ 10,000)   If it is assumed that in the first 6 months on an average there is a sale of 10,000 nos the profit is $ 10,000 and this is after payment of salaries and expenses, which is reasonably good. Breakeven = Operating expenses / Gross profit margin Operating expenses Gross profit margin Breakeven 2008 $ 15,000   $   20,000 0.75 2009 $ 10,000 $ 120,000 0.83 2010 $ 12,000 $   220,000 0.054 4.3.4  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Cash Flow/Cash Position   Cash flow on monthly basis is expected to be moderately good. It can be further calculated as on an average if there is a sale of 200 nos per day 15 x $ 5.00 = $ 750 and monthly cash flow would be $ 750 x 26 (exclude Sundays) $ 19,500. If this is carried forward on for 12 months $ 19,500 x 12   = $ 234,000.   The proposed annual cash flow at the end of three years would be $ 234000 x 3 = $ 702,000. Out of the above, it is required to exclude salaries, tax payments and raw material expenses or any other expenses such as depreciation to machinery, rent and payment of electricity bills. 4.3.5  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Profit and Loss Depending on the sales, a forecast of profit is made approximately to $ 10,000 in the first year as $ 10,000   and for three years the profit would be $ 30,000. 4.3.6  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Balance Sheet The equity share capital which is invested to an extent of $ 100,000 is used in fixed assets and in commencement of business. 4.3.7 Ratio Calculations Profitability =   Earnings after Taxes / Sales I year : 12000/100,000 = 0.12 II year : 28000/200,000 = 0.14 III year: 192000/300,000 = 0.64 Return on Assets = Earnings after Assets / Total Assets APPENDIX I – CURRICULUM VITAE OF DIRECTORS Name : Bill Joe Age   Ã‚  Ã‚  : 26 yrs Education : M.B.A from Kelloggs school of business. Experience : 2 years as Business executive in Stand Still Toys Ltd., Los Angeles. Skills Category Grading of Skills Underdeveloped  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Well Developed List of relevant skill categories 1 2 3 4 5 Dynamic, energetic and potential abilities √ Excellent business and marketing skills √ Good and hardworking √ Name : Charles Age  Ã‚  Ã‚   : 26 yrs Education : M.A in Child psychology from St.Mary’s University, California Experience : 2 years as Schoolteacher in   St.Paul’s model school, Los Angeles. Skills Category Grading of Skills Underdeveloped  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Well Developed List of relevant skill categories 1 2 3 4 5 Dynamic, energetic and potential abilities √ Excellent educational skills √ Good and hardworking √ APPENDIX II – SWOT ANALYSIS STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Education and experience OPPORTUNITIES THREATS  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Great scope for developing new toys. APPENDIX III – TIMELINE OF GOALS OBJECTIVES First Year Operation Development Brief description rationale Cost First year-2008 Establishing business  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Production, marketing and selling. $ 100,000 Second year-2009 Pick up of sales  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Increase in sales volume $ 200,000 Third year-2010 Stabilise business  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Domestic and export market $ 300,000 APPENDIX IV – MARKETING IMPLEMENTATION PLAN BUDGET    Marketing Plan Implementation Plan Budget for MI First year-2008 Establishing business and reach out for consumers Production and supply of product in domestic market. $ 100,000 Second year-2009 Identify new areas Increase in sales volume $ 200,000 Third year-2010 Stabilise business Domestic and export market $ 300,000 Appendix V Cash Flow Projections Cash flow statement Sources of funds 2008 2009 2010 Beginning cash 40,000 50,000 60,000 Sales / Income 100,000 200,000 300,000 Contributed capital 100,000 Available cash $140,000 $250,000 $360,000 Usage of funds Salaries 15,000 25,000 30,000 Operating expenses 15,000 10,000 12,000 Loan payments 0 5,000 5,000 5,000 Tax payments 2,000 2,000 2,000 Total cash out $27,000 $47,000 $49,000 Net cash flow $140,000 $250,000 $360,000 PROFIT AND LOSS Profit and Loss Account    2008 2009 2010 Total Sales 100,000 200,000 300,000 Cost of sales 80,000 160,000 240,000 Gross profit 20,000 40,000 60,000 Expenses Electricity, phone and internet 1,000 1,000 1,000 Travelling charges 1,000 500 500 Marketing 1,000 500 500 Raw material 5,000 10,000 20,000 Net profit $12,000 28,000 $38,000 BALANCE SHEET Balance Sheet 2008 2009 2010 Assets Cash and dues 40,000 35,000 30,000 Machinery 60,000 60,000 60,000 Total Assets Liabilities Loan 100,000 95,000 90,000 Total Assets 100,000 95,000 90,000 Total Liabilities 100,000 95,000 90,000 References The Business Plan is not Just a Plan, but Selling a Document Accessed January 11, 2008 http://www.1000ventures.com/business_guide/bp_startup_byvk.html Get the most out of your planning by setting smart objectives Accessed January 11, 2008 from http://www.smartmonkeymarketing.co.uk/news.php?a=20070612-1-SmartObjectives Three year projected income statement Accessed January 11, 2008 http://www.state.co.us/oed/sbdc/business/threeyear.pdf NxLeveLâ„ ¢Ã‚  Entrepreneur Business Plans Accessed January 11, 2008 http://www.nxlevel.org/download/123321_c_sU128881_s_i1591/e+bp+sum.doc

Outline of the clinical characteristics of depression

Outline of the clinical characteristics of depression The formal diagnosis of major depression requires five of the following symptoms and evidence of serious distress or failure to function in everyday life. The following symptoms must be present for most of the time over a minimum period of two weeks. Symptoms of depression Sad depressed mood and feeling or behaving sad and empty Loss of interest and pleasure in usual activities Difficulty in sleeping ( insomnia or hypersomnia ) Lethargic or agitated Appetite ( loss so weight loss or increased so weight gain ) Loss of energy or great fatigue Negative self concept feeling of worthlessness and guilt. Difficulty in concentrating ( slowed thinking or indecisiveness ) Recurrent thoughts of death or suicide. Give two or more psychological causes of depression Cognitive Views about the worldPsychologist Aaron Beck suggested depression is the result of negative thinking and catastrophising which he called cognitive errors. (Beck 1991) maintained there are three components to depression which he called the cognitive triad. The cognitive triad. Views about oneself Views about the future As the cognitive triad components interact they interfere with normal cognitive processing which then leads to impairments in perception, memory and problem solving, the person then becomes obsessed with negative thoughts. In addition to the cognitive triad beck believed that depression prone individuals develop a negative self schema which means they possess a set of beliefs and expectations about themselves that are negative and pessimistic, which leads on to feeling and symptoms of depression. Negative self schemas can be acquired in childhood as a result of a traumatic event such as the death of a parent or sibling, parental rejection, bulling at home or school for example. People with negative self schemas become prone to making logical errors in their thinking and they tend to focus selectively on certain aspects of a situation while ignoring equally relevant information this is called cognitive distortions. An example of a cognitive distortion is someone believing that someone is whispering about them and they automatically assume it must be bad, ignoring the fact they could be whispering something good. Cognitive distortions include the following Arbitrary interference: drawing conclusions on the basis of sufficient or irrelevant evidence for example thinking you are worthless because a show you were going too was cancelled. Selective abstraction : focusing on a single aspect of a situation and ignoring others for example you feel responsible for your netball team losing a game even though your just one player on the team. Over generalisation: making a sweeping conclusion on the basis of a single event. Failing an exam, this means you will fail all exams and that you are stupid. Magnification and minimisation: exaggerating or underplaying the significant of an event for example you scratch the paint work on your car and therefore see yourself as a terrible driver. Personalisation: This is attributing the negative feelings of others to yourself for example your friend enters the room looking upset; you believe you must have upset her. Beck also suggested that that there individual differences that determine the type of event that can trigger depression for example sociotrapic personalities base their self esteem on the approval of others where as an autonomous person would react badly to their independence being challenged. The cognitive theory is one of the most influential models that explain negative thought processes. It explains that our emotional reaction seems to come from how we interpret and predict the world around us. The main problem with the cognitive approach to depression is that the theory is correlational, and that the argument is a circular one. Does depression cause negative thinking, or does negative thinking cause depression? Also it is a theory which is hard to test and research people seeking help for depression already have negative emotions and so it is not possible to access their cognitive process prior to the onset of the disorder. Secondly when participants are tested in research they are often already on drugs to manage the depression which could affect the result of the study. Finally thoughts are subjective experiences that are hard to test and measure which make proving the theory extremely difficult. A positive of the cognitive approach to depression is that it has many useful applications and has contributed to our understanding of human phenomenon and it has integrated well with other approaches. The psychodynamic explanation of the causes of depression The psychodynamic approach to understanding depression focuses on how the unconscious motives drive our behaviours and experiences. Freud explanation of depression lies in the early relationships with are parents, he noted that there is a similarity between grieving for a loved one and the symptoms of depression. Freud described depression as an excessive and irrational grief which occurs as a reaction to a loss, this loss evokes feelings associated with real or imagined affection from the person on whom the person was most dependants as a child. Both actual and symbolic losses lead us to re experience parts of our childhood, thus people with depression become clingy, dependant and can even regress to a child like state. Evaluate psychodynamic therapy in the treatment of depression In support of the psychodynamic theory people with depression do show dependant like behaviours as they often feel that they cannot manage everyday activities and rely heavily on others. In support of Freud theory on depression and understanding depression from the psychodynamic approach is Harlows research on privation conducted on rhesus monkeys separated from their mothers at birth, using surrogate mothers, a wire mother and a cloth mother he demonstrated that a mothers love was essential for a persons mental health. The experiment showed that infant monkeys separated from their mothers displayed signs of depression. In support of the psychodynamic approach to depression and frauds theories this approach is idiographic and so focuses on the individual. This means that the individuals problems are taken into account and they are not just diagnosed on the bias of others. A negative point on the psychodynamic theory is there is little experimental evidence for Frauds theories as most of his work was based upon case studies, this makes the approach highly subjective and un-testable as his finding were often biased to fit his theories, second to this frauds theory is often characterised as unscientific as it is difficult to observe and measure concepts such as actual and symbolic losses and regression. Also the case studies used to test Freuds psychodynamic theory were mainly middle aged, upper class, Austrian women. This means that his findings cannot be generalised to the wider population. This is also a problem as he developed his ideas on childhood from adults talking retrospectively of their pasts which is a problem because people recall information differently and memory and feelings fade. The ethical implications of psychodynamic therapy Directive therapy- due to the unconscious cause of the psychological problems and the resistance patients put up to the unconscious truths, the patient must trust the therapists interpretation and instructions. However psychoanalysis does occur under voluntary conditions. Psychoanalysis can be quite anxiety provoking as it can reveal disturbing repressed experiences. It is a humane form of treatment as it does not blame or judge the patient, who is not responsible for their problems. Outline the clinical characteristics of schizophrenia There are positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia Positive symptoms are things additional to expected behaviour and include delusions, hallucinations, agitation and talkativeness. Negative symptoms which are things missing from expected behaviour, negative symptoms include a lack of motivation , social withdrawal , flattened affect, cognitive disturbances, poor personal hygiene and poor speech. Other characteristics of schizophrenia include- Auditory or visual hallucinations Flat emotions Delusions Disorganised speech Catatonic or disorganised behaviour Give two or more psychological explanations of schizophrenia Cognitive explanation for schizophrenia Cognitive explanations for schizophrenia acknowledge the role of biological factors such as genetic causes and a change of brain activity for the cause of initial sensory experiences of schizophrenia. However further features of the disorder appear as the individual attempts to understand them. The cognitive approach also suggests that schizophrenia is characterised by profound thought disturbance, this could be down to cognitive defects which can impair areas such as perception and memory. This could form cognitive biases and explain misconceptions and the way schizophrenia sufferers interpret there world. Schizophrenics normally first discover symptoms of voices and abnormal sensory experiences , this normally leads them to a friend or family member to confirm the experience when the experience is not confirmed this can lead to rejection of support. This leads to a belief that people around them are hiding the truth and the person with schizophrenia believes they are being manipula ted and persecuted. This shows the basis of schizophrenia is biology based however other symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions are formed after the failure to not except there reality these of which are cognitive. In support of the cognitive approach to schizophrenia Firth (1979) proposes that disruption to an attention filter mechanism could result in the thought disturbances of schizophrenia, as the sufferer is overloaded with sensory information. Studies on continuous performance and eye tracking tasks indicate schizophrenics do show more attentional problems than non schizophrenics. This means that perhaps reduced short term memory capacity could account for some schizophrenics cognitive distractibility. Hemsley (1993) suggested schizophrenics cannot distinguish between information that is already stored and new incoming information. As a result, schizophrenics are subject to sensory overload and do not know which aspect of a situation to attended to and which to ignore. One strength of the cognitive explanation when describing schizophrenia is that there is further support for this theory provided by Myer-Lindenberg ( 2002) they found a link between poor working memory ( which is typical of schizophrenics ) and reduced activity in the prefrontal cortex. Furthermore Schielke (2002) studied a patient who developed continuous auditory hallucinations as a consequence of an abscess in the dorsal pons. This suggests that there is wider academic credibility for the link between biological and cognitive factors causing schizophrenia. A second strength of the cognitive explanation of schizophrenia is that it takes on board the nurture approach to the development of schizophrenia. For example it suggests that schizophrenic behaviour is the cause of environmental factors such as cognitive factors. A weakness of the cognitive explanation is that there are problems with cause and effect. Cognitive approaches do not explain the causes of cognitive defects -where they come from in the first place. Is it the cognitive defects which cause schizophrenia behaviour or is it the schizophrenia that causes cognitive defects. A second weakness of the cognitive model is that it is reductionist the approach does not consider other factors such as genes. This suggests that the cognitive approach over simplifies the explanation of schizophrenia. The behavioural explanation of schizophrenia. The behavioural explanation suggests that schizophrenia is a consequence of faulty learning children who do not receive small amounts of reinforcement early in their lives will put larger attention into irrelevant environmental cues, for example: Taking attention to the sound of a word rather than its actual meaning. This behaviour will eventually appear weird or strange to others so will generally be avoided. Strange behaviours may be rewarded by attention and sympathy and so they are reinforced. This can continue until the behaviour becomes so strange that the person is then labelled as schizophrenic. Eventually the behaviour and psychological state deteriorates into a psychotic state. Evaluate cognitive behavioural therapies in the treatment of schizophrenia in terms of its strengths and weaknesses. The misinterpretation of events in the world is common in schizophrenia. Using cognitive therapy with schizophrenia requires the psychologist to accept that the cognitive distortions and disorganized thinking of schizophrenia are produced, at least in part, by a biological problem that will not cease simply because the correct interpretation of reality is explained to the client. Cognitive therapy can only be successful if the psychologist accepts the clients perception of reality, and determines how to use this misperception to assist the client in correctly managing life problems.   The goal is to help the client use information from the world (other people, perceptions of events, etc.) to make adaptive coping decisions. The treatment goal, for the cognitive therapist, is not to cure schizophrenia, but to improve the clients ability to manage life problems, to function independently, and to be free of extreme distress and other psychological symptoms. Advantages It directly challenges the problem and attempts a cure of the under lying symptoms. It gives the person some control over their own illness. Research has shown cognitive behavioural therapy can be as effective as medication Due to its highly structured nature cognitive behavioural therapy can be provided in a number of formats such as soft ware and self help books. Disadvantages In order to benefit from cognitive behavioural therapy you need to ensure you give a considerable amount of commitment which people with schizophrenia can lack. It could be argued that because cognitive behavioural therapy only addresses current problems it does not address underlying causes of the condition. Discuss the ethics of cognitive behavioural therapy Directive therapy due to the environmental determinism of behavioural problems, patients need to be re programmed with adaptive behaviour. Stressful can be painful and disturbing e.g. flooding and aversion therapy Humane specific maladaptive behaviours are targeted the whole person is not labelled. Outline the characteristics of anorexia Refusal to maintain body weight at or above a minimally normal weight for age and height. Intense fear of gaining weight Disturbance in the way in which ones body weight or shape is experienced, denial of the seriousness of the current low body weight. Absents of three consecutive periods. Socially withdrawn Refusal to eat despite hunger Give two or more psychological explanations of eating disorders Cognitive explanation of anorexia Cognitive psychologist has suggested that irrational attitudes and beliefs and distorted perception are involved in eating disorders. These beliefs normally concern unrealistic ideals or perception of body shape or irrational attitudes towards eating habits and dieting. For example: the disinhibition hypothesis once a diet has been broken one might as well break it completely by bingeing. Cognitive researchers have also proposed that suffers of anorexia are seeking to assert control over their life to an excessive idealistic extent. Bemis- Vitousek and Orimoto (1993) pointed out the kind of faulty cognitions that are typical in people with anorexia. For example: a common cognition is that dieting is a means of self control, but at the same time most people with anorexia are aware they are out of control because they cant stop dieting, even when it is threatening there life. These are faulty cognitions and maladaptive ways of thinking. The main problem with the cognitive explanation is that the theory is correlational and the argument is a circular one does negative thinking cause the eating disorder or does the eating disorder cause the negative thinking. Secondly the thoughts that are related to having an eating disorder are subjective experiences that are hard to test and measure, Also people seeking help for an eating disorder are already have negative emotions so it is not possible to test their cognitive processes prior to the onset of the disorder. Psychodynamic explanation of anorexia One view of the psychodynamic model of anorexia proposes that anorexia reflects an unconscious desire by a girl to stay pre-pubescent. Over dependence on parents may result in the adolescent fearing sexual maturity and independence. Bruch (1974) regarded anorectics as being in a struggle for control and their own identity, the pursuit of thinness was seen as a critical part of such a struggle. Bruch considered that there were two main characteristics of parents that made the development of anorexia more likely in their children. Firstly an over concern with food and secondly family relationships that did not assist the child in developing their own sense of identity particularly important was considered to be girls feeling that their needs were secondary to their mothers. The psychodynamic approach in relation to eating disorders is idiographic and so it focuses on the individual. This means the individuals problems are taken into account and they are not just diagnosed on the basis of others. There is little evidence for Freuds theories on eating disorders it is all based on feeling rather than hard evidence. All his case studies were a mainly middle aged, Austrian woman which means his findings cannot be generalised to the wider population. However Freuds idea that the anorexics refusal to eat was an unconscious denial of the adult role and they wished to remain a child. The timing of onset in anorexia and the loss of menstruation supports this idea. Evaluate behavioural therapy in the treatment of eating disorders. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a common type of treatment for eating disorders. This branch of psychotherapy aims to help break large problems or situations into smaller more manageable parts and treats eating disorders in this same way. Cognitive behavioral therapy is a branch of psychotherapy that is based on the idea that all thoughts (cognition) and actions (behaviors) are related. This may not always be clear, so CBT aims to help individuals break down problems or situations into more manageable parts and examine the ways in which thoughts, emotions and actions were related in each other. Cognitive behavioral therapy allows individuals to examine the relationships between their thoughts, feelings and actions and in doing so allows individuals to understand that if they change the way that they think and feel, they will change the way that they act. For individuals suffering from eating disorders, understanding the relationships between thoughts, emotions and actions is highly important. Once these relationships are understood, the individual suffering from an eating disorder can replace the negative thoughts and emotions which have led to abnormal food and eating behaviors and with more positive thoughts and emotions that will lead back towards a healthy lifestyle. However, in order for these relationships to be clear, it may take several weeks of tracking tho ughts, feelings and food and eating behaviors before the individual will accept this proof. Often therapists will ask individuals to keep a journal or food diary in order to more accurately record their thoughts, feelings and actions towards food and eating during a given period of time. Discuss the ethics of behavioural therapy Behavioural therapy can induce a high level of anxiety which could be considered unethical Directive therapy due to the environmental determinism of behavioural problems; patients need to be re programmed with adaptive behaviour. Stressful can be painful and disturbing e.g. flooding and aversion therapy Humane specific maladaptive behaviours are targeted the whole person is not labelled.