Esterification

To synthesis ecstatically acid by stratification. Introduction: A pleasant, often fruity, odor is characteristic of some of the simpler esters. Ethyl butyrate smells similar to pineapples, the odor of n-propel acetate is reminiscent of pears and isopleths acetate has a strong banana fragrance. Esters are derivatives of the carboxylic acids and contain the following functional group: The synthesis of an ester can be accomplished in one of several ways. An stratification occurs when an alcohol and a carboxylic acid are reacted in the reserve of a mineral acid catalyst, such as sulfuric acid.Because these reactions result in an equilibrium mixture of both products and reactants, the reaction conditions must be manipulated in order to produce a reasonable yield. A large excess of one of the reactants can be used in the starting mixture or alternatively, one of the products can be removed as the reaction proceeds (as by a distillation), to shift the equilibrium to the right. Other synthet ic pathways to esters also exist. Acid chlorides react with alcohols to yield an ester and hydrochloric acid.A small amount of pyridine is usually deed to the reaction mixture to neutralize the resulting acid. Acid anhydride can also react with alcohols to produce esters. Unlike the reactions between carboxylic acids and alcohols, neither of these two methods for preparing esters results in an equilibrium mixture. Ecstatically acid, or aspirin, is one of the most widely used and versatile drugs known today. It was first synthesized by Charles von Gerhardt in 1 853 and was later patented by a German dye chemist named Frederica Brayer in 1893 who recognized its potential as an analgesic (pain reliever).Salicylic acid, a impotent of willow and poplar bark, had been used as a pain killer for centuries, but its highly acidic property caused irritation of the mucous membranes of the mouth and throat and also resulted in uncomfortable gastric pain. By transforming the acidic phenol functio nality into an ester group, the compound retained its analgesic properties but lost some of its irritating side- effects. In addition to relieving pain, aspirin is also an antipathetic (fever reducer) and an anti-inflammatory agent (used for arthritis). Like all drugs, aspirin also has some undesirable side effects which should be tote.When taken in large quantities (several grams per day), gastric problems can result. Its use has been implicated in Rexes syndrome, a brain disorder that can affect people under the age of 18. Some people are highly allergic to aspirin. Finally, aspirin interferes with platelets and affects normal blood clotting which can lead to hemorrhaging in extreme cases. However, its anticoagulant properties can also be used to advantage in preventing blood clots from forming in the arteries. Recent studies have shown that the consumption of one half of an aspirin tablet per day can help to prevent heart attacks and strokes.Aspirin can be synthesized by the stra tification of salicylic acid via reaction with acetic anhydride. A few drops of phosphoric acid are added to serve as a catalyst for the reaction. The use of acetic anhydride as a reactant, instead of acetic acid, results in a rapid and irreversible conversion of salicylic acid to ecstatically acid. Experimental Procedure: Synthesis of ecstatically acid 1 . A 400 ml beaker containing about 150 ml of water was heated to the boiling point on a hot plate. 2. 2 g of salicylic acid was weighed out and it was placed in a 100 ml conical flask. . 5 ml of acetic anhydride was added into the conical flask. . 5 drops of 85% phosphoric acid, HAPPY was added. The flask was swirled to mix the reactants and then it was clamped in the boiling water bath. It was heated for about 8 minutes. 5. The flask was removed carefully from the hot water bath and the hot plate was turned off. 2 ml of distilled water was added cautiously to the flask. The water will react with any unrelated acetic anhydride whic h remains. 6. Once the reaction between acetic anhydride and water had subsided, 40 ml Of water Was added to the flask. 7. The contents was allowed to cool at room temperature for minutes then the flask was placed in ice. . The contents was stirred with a glass rod periodically during this cooling period. The solid product was collected by vacuum filtration and it was washed with cooled water. 9. A small portion (spatula-tip full, 20-30 MGM) of this crude ecstatically acid was set aside. 10. To recitalist the ecstatically acid, it was transferred to a 100 ml conical flask and 10 ml of 95% ethanol was added. 1 1. The flask was heated slowly on a hot plate just until the aspirin completely dissolved. As soon as all of the solid has dissolved, the flask was removed from the hot plate. 12.Water was added to the solution in 5 ml portions, it was swirled after each addition, until a total of 40 ml of water has been added. 13. The flask was placed in an ice bath for 10 minutes to complete the crystallization. 14. The purified aspirin was collected by vacuum filtration. The crystals was washed in the funnel with ice-cold water. The vacuum was left on for a few minutes to air dry the purified aspirin, the crystals was then pressed between two pieces of filter paper to thoroughly dry them. 5. The mass, yield and melting point of dried aspirin were obtained. Results: Weight of salicylic acid used: 2. 0021 g Weight of watch glass: 20. 536 g Weight of watch glass t product: 21. 6651 g Weight of product: 1. 3115 g no. Of mole of salicylic acid: = 0. 01450 mol Volume Of acetic anhydride used 5 ml Density of acetic anhydride = 1. 082 g/ml Mass of acetic anhydride used = 1. 082 g/ml x 5 ml = 5. 41 g no. Of mole of acetic anhydride: – 0. 0530 mol = 3. 66>1 Since the mol of salicylic acid is smaller than the mol of acetic anhydride, salicylic acid is a limiting agent. Mol of salicylic acid produced 1 mol of ecstatically acid. 0. 01450 mol of salicylic acid produced 0. 014 50 mol of ecstatically acid. Theoretical weight of ecstatically acid: 0. 1450 mol x 180. 16 gnu-mol = 2. 6123 g Percentage yield: x 100% = 50. 20 % 50 % Melting point of aspirin: 138 – 140 co Discussion: Aspirin is an effective analgesic (pain reliever), antipathetic (fever reducer) and anti-inflammatory' agent and is one of the most widely used non-prescription drugs. The active ingredient in aspirin was found to be salicylic acid. The structure of salicylic acid is shown below. In this experiment, aspirin is formed from the reaction between salicylic acid and acetic anhydride through stratification. Aspirin can be made by reacting salicylic acid with acetic acid in the presence of an acid catalyst.The phenol group on the salicylic acid forms an ester with the carboxylic group on the acetic acid. However, this reaction is slow and has a relatively low yield. If acetic anhydride was used instead of acetic acid, the reaction will be much faster and has a higher yield (since ac etic anhydride is much more reactive than acetic acid). Therefore, we used acetic anhydride for shorten the period f stratification. In order for reaction to occur faster, phosphoric acid was added as a catalyst. Then the solution was being placed in the hot water bath to heat up and thus triggering the reaction between salicylic acid and acetic anhydride.The reaction was shown as below: In this experiment, the salicylic acid is the limiting reactant and the acetic anhydride is in excess. The addition of distilled water into the mixture after it is being removed from the water bath is to let the water react with the remaining acetic anhydride in the mixture which are still not being reacted. A vigorous reaction will occur as the decomposition of the excess acetic anhydride is exothermic. Once the decomposition of the excess acetic anhydride has completed, more water was added, forming completing the reaction.Now the solution contains two kinds of products, which are ecstatically aci d and acetic acid, according to the reaction shown below. The reason why acetic acid is dissolved in this process but not ecstatically acid was due to the hydrogen bonding of acetic acid can form with water while ecstatically acid cannot. This is due to the large carbon group maintained by ecstatically acid which caused it to have difficulties from forming hydrogen bond with water. The aspirin collected will then be purified by rationalizations. In this purification method, the crude aspirin will be dissolved in a small amount of warm ethanol.Water was then be added and the solution was cooled slowly in the ice bath and then chilled. The ecstatically acid will recitalist, and the solid impurities (unrelated salicylic acid) should remain dissolved in the solution. The solid aspirin will again be collected using vacuum filtration. Rationalizations was needed to obtain a pure product from the crude product. Therefore, this aspirin should be more pure than the original aspirin. The fina l product was left in air dry and weighed. The theoretical and percentage yield was calculated. The weight of ecstatically acid obtained was 1. 115 g while the percentage yield of product was 50%. Besides, the melting point of ecstatically acid we obtained was in the range of 1 38 – 140 By comparing these observed melting points with the literature value of 138 – CHIC for ecstatically acid, it was found that the values were exactly the same, indicating that both rodents were ecstatically acid( previously stated as ecstatically acid and acetic acid). The above reaction was an example of an organic synthesis called stratification. Stratification is the acid catcalled reaction of a carboxylic (-COHO) group and an -OH group of an alcohol or phenol to form a carboxylic ester.In the synthesis of aspirin, the -OH group is the phenol OH group attached to ring of the salicylic acid. The acetic group, ;COACH comes from acetic anhydride, and the reaction is catcalled by phosphori c acid, HAPPY. Salicylic acid has a higher priority as it has a benzene ring which s more stable than the open chain of acetic anhydride because it has more resonance. Salicylic acid reacts better with acetic anhydride than acetic acid, so acetic acid will provide the acetic group which will react with the alcoholic – OH group on the salicylic acid.The hydrogen ion from the hydroxyl group in the salicylic acid breaks away first, then combines with the oxygen which has a negative charge after acetic anhydride is broken into two parts, which are an alkyl carbonyl group and -?CHOC- group. This is how acetic acid is formed. Later on, the alkyl carbonyl group of acetic anhydride which now has positive charge due to the lack Of oxygen atom, connects to the oxygen atom which has a negative charge, lastly produced ecstatically acid as a neutral compound product.The mechanism of how an ecstatically acid formed from stratification reaction will be shown: Precaution steps: 1 . When hand ling phosphoric acid, students should be aware of spill it out because it is corrosive. 2. When adding water to the heated solution, students should be careful and added in small amount of water because it may splatter to the surroundings due to the vigorous reaction. 3. The elution was allowed to cool at room temperature before putting it into the ice bath for the process of crystallization in order to get crystals in a nicer form and in correct manner.

Culturally Competent Nursing Care Essay

Culturally Competent Nursing Care The United States is a diverse accumulation of cultural backgrounds which can often set the stage for feelings of confusion, anger, mistrust, and a host of other emotions when dissimilar cultures disagree. Cultural competence in nursing can help eliminate these barriers and provide a platform for nursing to follow in the quest to understand a patient’s culture and background. When a nurse takes the time to learn about a given culture prior to providing care, it conveys she respects the patient’s right to their beliefs, customs, and culture. It does not necessarily mean the nurse agrees with their practices but it does show that she is willing to be open minded and deferential. It is the responsibility of the health care provider to take the time to educate themselves on the various cultures they may be exposed to in their work (Purnell & Paulanka, 2003). Evidence of Culturally Incompetent Care One act from the case study that exhibited cultural incompetence was the racial slur made by Connie when she referred to her clients as â€Å"This Mexican family†. If she would have taken the time to review the baby’s chart, she would have known that the family identified with the term Hispanic, not Mexican. Connie made a statement about the number of family members in the room and she gave the impression that the family was invading her work space unnecessarily. Connie identified that the family was speaking Spanish then stated she could not get them to understand her. Her tone indicated that the family was at fault for the lack of communication even though Connie did not bother to engage an interpreter. Connie even went so far as to label the family’s inability to understand her as noncompliance. She also proceeded to go about her task of putting in and intravenous (IV) line without establishing autonomy and getting informed consent from the mother. Connie’s action of cutting the â€Å"ragged, old red string† off the baby’s wrist without asking for permission first is proof of her cultural insensitivity. Many cultures tie strings around various parts of the body to ward off evil, aid  in healing, or as a symbol of faith. Connie knew she did something wrong because she admitted that the mother screamed at her when she cut the string. However, she did not take the time to understand why the mother was upset. She appeared to be more concerned with getting her nursing tasks done right away and with leaving for the day. Importance of Values, Beliefs, and Practices The iceberg model splits the nursing skill set into two parts; technical and behavioral. The tip of the iceberg represents what can be easily seen or the technical skills and knowledge a person has that allows them to perform their job. Examples of technical skills demonstrated by Connie were obtaining IV access and identifying the signs and symptoms of dehydration. These particular skills are considered visible to others so they correlate with the upper portion of the iceberg in the model. The lower part of the iceberg is under water or invisible and is indicative of the behavioral aspects of self that demonstrate who we are as a person. Understanding one’s own values, beliefs and practices helps when trying to understand those same characteristics in a different culture. Nurses need to understand how they view themselves and others before they can achieve cultural competence (Buffalo, 2001). The behavioral or lower portion of the iceberg is represented by social role, self-image, traits, and motives. The social role identifies with one’s image. It refers to how people want others to see them and how others actually do see them. The social role is important because it can establish how health care professionals determine what skill sets are important in their job. Self image is how people see themselves and once they understand themselves they can decide whether or not change is needed for personal growth. Another area on the hidden portion of the iceberg is traits or those characteristics and habits that determine how a person responds in a given situation. The last area of the iceberg is motives. Motives are formed early in life and are the driving forces behind personal actions. The status of the areas depicted in the lower part of the iceberg model also determine what characteristics are present on the visible portion of the model (Buffalo, 2001). Barriers to H ealthcare Communication is going to continue to be a huge barrier to healthcare for  this family. They live in Texas which is very rich in Spanish culture and the Spanish language is common. Health care workers are often bilingual so this family should not have any trouble being understood when they go in for care in their home state. The general population of Texas has been exposed to the Hispanic culture and can relate to the beliefs and practices that are followed. However, this family migrates to Northern Minnesota, an area that is mostly comprised of white, non-Hispanic, English speaking people of European descent. From a transcultural nursing standpoint, nurses from the Northern areas of Minnesota may not even know they are lacking because the degree of interaction with the Hispanic population in the healthcare setting is minimal. There will be language barriers, especially in the smaller, rural farming areas where the migrants tend to work. Many small rural hospitals do not have access to interpreters and it is common to have little to no cultural education provided to the employees. Unless there is a cultural change in this area of the country, communication will continue to be a problem. The disparity is one of population and geographic location relative to the Hispanic culture in Northern Minnesota (U.S., 2010). Cultural Sensitivity Information Additional information that could have been added to the kardex was the preferred method of communication so the nurse would know right away if an interpreter would be needed. Family demographics could have been put on there so the nurse had information regarding the cultural background. Notes could have been put on the kardex that identified the family dynamics so other nurses would understand why so many family members were present. The religious preferences would also be significant because that would give the nurse insight to the possible importance of certain charms, icons, or beliefs. Another item that could have been on the kardex was the history of the patient from the perspective of the clinic nurse. She may have passed on more information to Connie but as flustered as Connie was, that information was more than likely minimized or forgotten because it was not written down. Connie only gave the bare facts during report, then hurried out of the workplace, leaving Gina with mor e questions than answers. Provisions of Culturally Competent Care Gina recognized that she was lacking in cultural knowledge about this family and took the time to look up some information prior to interacting with them. She was respectful of the role of the elders and addressed each person accordingly, gaining some measure of respect in doing so. This helped her establish a mutually satisfying relationship with the family which in turn helped build trust. She also intervened and got an interpreter rather than allowing one of the younger teenagers to interpret. Gina also took the time to find out what interventions the family had provided and did not belittle them for their actions. Gina went from conscious incompetence to conscious competence and will more than likely advance into unconscious competence with time (Purnell & Paulanka, 2003). Transcultural Competency Model The Camphina-Bacote competence model identifies cultural competence as a process that a healthcare worker goes through to enable themselves to work in a manner that falls within the cultural context of a client. The model has five constructs: Awareness, skill, knowledge, encounters, and desire. The first construct of the model, awareness, asks healthcare workers to question their own cultural consciousness by identifying biases and prejudices they may have toward other cultures. It is an attempt to help one understand just how sensitive they may or may not be toward other cultures. The second construct focuses on whether or not the healthcare worker has the necessary skills to conduct a cultural assessment in a manner that will insure insightfulness. This is important for insuring that the assessment is properly done and that it contains information necessary to others who may rely on it. Having the skills alone is not enough; the person conducting the assessment also needs to have k nowledge of the culture. The assessor needs to research the culture to understand the worldview. There are many blanket questionnaires available to use for the assessment if one does not care about personalization. However, understanding the culture is important before the interview begins if the person conducting the interview wants to develop questions that are more in-depth and of a personal nature. The Camphina-Bacote model also recommends that the person conducting the cultural assessment determine what type of encounter they wish to use for the interaction. Some examples of encounters include face-to-face meetings, attending group cultural activities, phone interviewing, or any other type  of communication method. Some people may be more comfortable filling out a questionnaire, others may want to meet in a relaxed, public environment and still others might want the professional atmosphere of an office setting. Whatever type of encounter is chosen, it is important that the comfort of the person being interviewed is taken into consideration and a mutual setting is agreed upon. The last construct of the model is desire. If there is no desire on behalf of the professional to learn about cultural differences then the process of attempting to become culturally competent will fail. At the very best, the information gained will be inadequate and could cause more misunderstand and mistrust (Ingram, 2012). Ladder of Cultural Competency Based on the case study Gina was not being racists and was not blind to the patient and family’s needs or their culture. Purnell and Paulanka (2003) describe racism as a display of power in combination with prejudice: Gina did not exhibit either of these characteristics. She had a modest awareness and knowledge of the Hispanic culture and was sensitive to the family’s needs. Gina does not have the language proficiency yet so she would not be at the fifth step. Gina is on step four: Competence. She demonstrated her ability to provide culturally competent care for this family. Even though she did not already have all of the necessary information to care for this child, she knew where to go look for it and how to interpret it. She demonstrated that she valued the family’s cultural differences by taking the time to treat them with respect according to their beliefs. Utilization of an Interpreter Gina knew that the patient and the family had a right to have an interpreter provided. She also knew that it would be disrespectful to allow a younger person to translate for an older person. In addition, the younger teenager who offered to translate stated she spoke very good English but indicated that she only attended summer school while in Minnesota. What the teenager considered good English more than likely would not have been adequate to translate medical terminology. Gina made a very good decision when she brought in an interpreter. She also obtained a resource for herself because the interpreter could have had additional knowledge about the culture. The  Standards of Practice for Culturally Competent Nursing Care states that it â€Å"is critical that the healthcare system provides resources for interpretation when appropriate† (Douglas et al, 2009, p. 265). History of Present Illness Gina could have asked the mother or family what they felt the cause of the illness was. This would have given her insight as to whether the family believed the cause was physical or spiritual. If it was believed to be spiritual in nature, the family may have wanted to call in a Hispanic healer to perform a ceremony for the child. She asked how many days the child had diarrhea and could have asked whether the child’s diet had changed before her diarrhea started. She also could have asked if any other family members had experienced the same symptoms. Coming to Minnesota may have precipitated a change in diet for the entire family with the possibility of contaminated food. Gina could have addressed the pathophysiology of the illness by asking whether or not the child had experienced any functional changes. The family did indicate the they brought the child to the clinic after she became listless. Getting a background on other functional changes may provide clues to other factors that might be making the illness worse. For example, was the child falling down, crying a lot before she became listless, et cetera. Another area to look at would be the course of the illness. Gina could have the mother describe how the illness started and give a timeline of signs, symptoms, and interventions up to the present time. This could include the treatments the family provided along with what the expected outcomes were. Gina could ask the family whether or not they felt any of the interventions were successful, even if it was only mild success. It would also give Gina information about the remedies used so she could research and pass the information on to the health care provider. Two of the treatments supplied by the family were actually not conducive to good health. The manzanilla tea can cause diarrhea and the family was giving it to the child as a treatment for diarrhea. According to the CDC, greta is an orange powder used as a Hispanic remedy for stomach ailments. The powder contains concentrations of lead as high as 90% and contributes to lead poisoning (CDC, 2009). Getting the family’s perception on the illness is very important to increasing one’s awareness of how the family views the illness. Cultural Diversity Care Plans Cultural Preservation Practice| Nursing Diagnosis| Goal| Interventions| Gina provided care congruent with the culture via an interpreter. The family was unable to understand the plan of care for the child.| Knowledge deficit related to language barriers.| Patient will verbalize an understanding of the child’s condition and the need for the current treatment plan via an interpreter.| 1) Using an interpreter, explain the illness, causes, and treatment plan to the patient’s family.2) Have the primary care-giver demonstrate understanding by repeating back the plan of care and the potential benefits. 3) Allow for questions and answers.| Cultural Accommodation Practice| Nursing Diagnosis| Goal| Interventions| Gina attempted to put the family at ease by using an interpreter to find out what the family understands about the child’s illness and the interventions that were tried in the home environment. She discovered that the red string was on the child for good luck and to keep her safe from spirits.| Anxiety related to cultural lack of understanding of the illness and the treatment plan practices.| Collaborate with the family to identify treatments that are culturally acceptable and that can be used in conjunction with western medicine to address the child’s medical needs.| 1) Allow a spiritual advisor to place new red strings on the child and support a ceremony if need be.2) Explain the need for an IV and make sure it does not violate the family’s beliefs.3) Praise family for their efforts thus far.| Cultural Restructuring Practice| Nursing Diagnosis| Goal| Interventions| Gina found out the baby had been given manzanilla tea and greta. Neither of these remedies is a good choice. The manzanilla tea is used for constipation and the baby had diarrhea. According to the CDC, greta is high in lead content and causes lead poisoning.| Ineffective health maintenance related to lack of understanding.| Educate patient’s family on the illness and potential harm of some folk remedies and identify harmful remedies that the family needs to change.| 1) Provide family with culturally appropriate educational material in whatever configuration they require.2) Work with the family to develop a plan of action and identify alternatives to the harmful remedies.| Reflection Providing culturally competent care can be challenging at times and it requires nurses to be aware of their own limitations, strengths and beliefs. It was evident in the case study that Connie was not prepared to take on the task of developing her own cultural competence. Gina, however, showed good leadership ability and a willingness to learn about a culture different than her own in order to provide the best nursing care she could. Gina is the type of nurse that will continue to grow in her position and garner respect from her patients and co-workers. Her actions showed she was capable of doing what was in the best interest of the patient and family. Cultural competence does not just happen; nurses have to make it happen. References Buffalo State, (2001). Technical and behavioral success factors. Retrieved June 23, 2013, from The State University of New York: http://www.buffalostate.edu/offices/hr/pepds/sf/tb.asp. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, (2009). Folk medicine. Retrieved July 17, 2013, from the National Center for Environmental Health: http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/tips/folkmedicine.htm. Douglas, M., Pierce, J., Rosenkoetter, M., Callister, L., Hattar-Pollara, M., Lauderdale, J., & †¦ Pacquiao, D. (2009). Standards of practice for culturally competent nursing care: a request for comments. Journal Of Transcultural Nursing, 20(3), 257-269. Ingram, R. (2012). Using Campinha-Bacote’s process of cultural competence model to examine the relationship between health literacy and cultural competence. Journal Of Advanced Nursing, 68(3), 695-704. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2648.2011.05822.x Purnell, L., & Paulanka, B. (2003). Transcultural health care: A culturally competent approach. Philadelphia, PA : F. A. Davis Company. Sitzman, K., & Eichelberger, L. (2004). Understanding the work of nurse theorists: A creative beginning. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, (2010). Disparities. In Healthy People 2020. Retrieved June 26, 2013, from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: http://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/about/DisparitiesAbout.aspx. Walsh, S. (2004). Formulation of a plan of care for culturally diverse patients. International Journal Of Nursing Terminologies & Classifications, 15(1), 17-26.

Water Conservation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Water Conservation - Essay Example While most natural disasters, like tsunami, happen comparatively fast that there is little time to prepare, droughts occur relatively slowly over a period of time. No single universal word can define when a drought begins or ends. However, the influences of drought can be initially felt by the amount of annual rainfall. Spontaneously, the impacts of drought increase with the time of a drought as supplies in lakes and groundwater are depleted. California has experienced a severe drought for four years now. The drought is characterized by very high temperatures and very low precipitation. With a high population and a deepening drought problem, competition for water between nature, farms and cities in California is acute. A future El Nino prospect presents opportunities for California to shore up its water security. Harvesting of El Nino rain water is necessary so as to ensure that California is water secure. Currently, water conservation is a priority for California residents because the state cannot afford any water wastage owing to its acute severe drought situation. The severe California drought has impacted water use and the government is also striving to overcome the drought situation. The state government has been at the forefront of encouraging residents to cut back on their water use. In April 2015, Governor Jerry Brown ordered urban residents to cut their water use by 25 percent. Communities that record high per capita use are most affected as government authorities are forcing them to reduce their daily water use by as much as 36 percent.

Classic Airlines Marketing Solution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Classic Airlines Marketing Solution - Essay Example The firm’s marketing plans are currently based on the Classic Rewards Program; however, the performance of this scheme has been significantly declined in 2005, compared to 2004; the relevant decrease has reached a percentage of 20% within just one year. The firm has set the return of its loyal customers, meaning especially the frequent fliers, as one of its priorities related to its marketing plans. Emphasis is also given to the enhancement of membership in the Classics Reward scheme; since last year, the membership in the above scheme has been reduced at least by 20%. Another priority of the firm’s marketing plans is the following one: the above plans should address customer needs and they cannot be aligned only with organizational culture, as until now. At this point, reference should be made to the following fact: the firm’s marketing plans have to be within a specific budget; in fact, for this year, the cost of these plans needs to be reduced by 15% so that t he firm’s targets in terms of its profitability are achieved. The development of effective marketing plans in Classic Airlines has been delayed due to a series of factors, related both to the firm’s internal and external environment. More specifically, internally the firm’s marketing department has to face the following pressures: a) the costs of the organization are still at a high level; the efforts made in the past for limiting these costs have not been particularly successful. As a result, the marketing department has been asked to keep its budget at low levels.... The firm has set the return of its loyal customers, meaning especially the frequent fliers, as one of its priorities related to its marketing plans. Emphasis is also given to the enhancement of membership in the Classics Reward scheme; since last year, the membership in the above scheme has been reduced at least by 20%. Another priority of the firm’s marketing plans is the following one: the above plans should address customer needs and they cannot be aligned only with organizational culture, as until now. At this point, reference should be made to the following fact: the firm’s marketing plans have to be within a specific budget; in fact, for this year, the cost of these plans needs to be reduced by 15% so that the firm’s targets in terms of its profitability are achieved. 2.2 Obstacles of the marketing department – internal and external pressures The development of effective marketing plans in Classic Airlines has been delayed due to a series of factors, related both to the firm’s internal and external environment. More specifically, internally the firm’s marketing department has to face the following pressures: a) the costs of the organization are still at high level; the efforts made in the past for limiting these costs have not been particularly successful. As a result, the marketing department has been asked to keep its budget at low levels, as possible, so that no turbulences are caused in the firm’s daily operations; in fact, the firm’s chief of marketing has been notified that a reduction of at least 15% should be made in regard all the firm’s marketing plans from now on; b) the views of the firm’s Chief Marketing officer in regard to the strategic priorities of the firm in terms of marketing seem to be opposed with the relevant

Ethical and legal debate and implications of stem cell research Essay

Ethical and legal debate and implications of stem cell research - Essay Example certain that various solutions in terms of knowledge, skills, and awareness of long standing diseases will be found, as research done by Sandel (2004) reveals. Goals of stem cell research are highly acceptable in the biomedical field since it is very prolific and realistic using scientific based knowledge to enhance the medical field. The International Society for Stem cell Research (ISSCR) accepts and cultures ideas and proposals from stem cell scientists in an attempt to promote scientific research, knowledge development, and further education in this broad field. Besides encouraging use of accurate and precise use of stem cell research terminologies, the ISSCR actively takes part in educating researchers and the general population in appropriate usage of terms and meanings to avoid conflicting use of certain terms (Sugarman 2008). It also evaluates the importance of conducting stem cell research for a specific reason in the medical field. In an effort to streamline, the optimistic practice there must be several ethical and legal considerations otherwise the whole practice can be detrimental and demeaning to human life and rights (Doerflinger 2010). Ethics remains in connection to scientific and therapeutic importance as well as integrity while laws are concerned with patient’s accessibility to the services and safety; it is more of governmental responsibility to enact laws. Stem cell research has limited practice in most countries in the world with a few exceptions that meet the requirements and standards of undertaking the research. In United Kingdom for instance, stem cell research is crucial and the practice governing is via various legislations and ethical considerations. It has an elaborate and well-build regulatory scheme for stem cell research (Daley et al. 2007). Several reasons justify stem cell research in the UK, the Human Fertilization, and Embryology Act formed in 1990 and the recently formed Human Fertilization and Embryology

Rhetoric in Communication Theory Research Paper

Rhetoric in Communication Theory - Research Paper Example Writers and speakers have varying intentions for the message in their communication and, this determines the appropriate rhetoric for use. On the other hand, communication theories are theories that attempt to give an explanation on why people communicate the way they do. Rhetoric and communication theories are two closely related subjects. This paper will therefore analyze the rhetoric in communications theories. There are various communication theories that define the relationship between the different parties involved in communication. The theories also explain why communication takes place in certain ways. Communication theories also explain how effective communication can be achieved by improving the relationship between the speaker and the audience. Cognitive dissonance theory is an important theory in communication. Cognitive Dissonance theory states that dissension experiences are avoidable. According to the theory, people tend to avoid information that conflicts with their b eliefs (Lisa, 1975). Therefore, people will avoid a speaker whose information contradicts their beliefs and knowledge. In most situations, information that opposes the views of the audience is informative information. In addition, information aimed at persuading the audience can also conflict the views of the audience. ... Communication accommodation theory is also an important theory in communication. This theory argues that a change of communication style has direct consequences on motivation. The theory implies that people tend to vary their communication style in order to fit the audience. Although the speaker is an important factor in communication, the audience is of equal importance. Effective communication will therefore, depend on the relationship between the two parties. The rhetoric in accommodation theory aims at creating a supportive environment between the speaker and the audience. The theory argues that speakers tend to adjust their speaking styles in order to accommodate the audience (Miller, 2005). This implies that an effective speaker should have an idea on the communication style that the audience expects. Speakers are able to persuade an audience if they apply a communication style that is acceptable between the two parties. Similarly, a speaker is capable of persuading the audienc e if the communication style used match the expectations of the audience. In most communications, the audience is incapable of determining the communication or their relationships with the speaker. However, the speaker has the ability to alter the communication or their relationship with the audience. Adjusting the communication style to match the audience expectations is a proof of the flexibility that speakers have. According to the accommodation, theory speakers or parties involved in communication often tend to adjust their communication style in order to meet the expectations of the audience (Miller, 2005).. Adjusting the communication style in order to accommodate the expectations of the audience is a communication technique. Speakers apply the

Analysis capital structure of saudi companies Essay

Analysis capital structure of saudi companies - Essay Example The same considerations affect Islamic financial instruments, but with the difference that Islamic finance does not charge interest, thus changing the considerations for which debt is incurred. This paper examined ten Saudi Arabian firms as far as capital structure is concerned, and inquired into the factors that bear upon the decision to avail of certain modes of financing. The methodology made use of financial ratio analysis and qualitative data analysis in arriving at its findings. It concludes that Saudi firms are conservatively capitalized, and that the effects of conventional capital structure theories are not rigidly evident in the choice of capital mix of debt and equity. Acknowledgment Table of Contents Title page 1 Abstract 2 Acknowledgement 3 Table of contents 4 Chapter 1: Introduction 6 1.1 Chapter overview 6 1.2 Background of the research topic 6 1.3 Research objectives and questions 7 1.4 Significance of the research 7 1.5 Chapter summary 9 Chapter 2: Literature review 10 2.1 Chapter overview 10 2.2 Theories 10 2.3 Optimal capital structure literature 14 2.4 Factors influencing capital structure 15 2.5 Arab countries 17 2.6 Chapter summary 29 Chapter 3: Methodology 30 3.1 Chapter overview 30 3.2 Research study and methodology 30 3.3 Subjects of research 31 3.4 Type and source of data 32 3.5 Method of analysis 33 3.6 Variables used in the study 33 3.7 Chapter summary 34 Chapter 4: Results 35 4.1 Chapter overview 35 4.2 Summary of capital structure for Saudi Arabian companies 36 4.3 Summary of EPS, annual dividend, and payout rates of Saudi Arabian firms 37 4.4 Chapter summary 38 Chapter 5: Discussion and analysis 39 5.1 Chapter overview 39 5.2 Description of the capital structure choice of Saudi companies 39 5.3 External influences on capital structure decisions of Saudi companies 49 5.4 Chapter summary 61 Chapter 6: Conclusion 62 6.1 Summary of the dissertation 62 6.2 Conclusion 62 6.3 Directions for future research 65 References Appendices Chapte r 1 Introduction 1.1 Chapter Overview This chapter sets the context of the dissertation. It introduces the problem in the context in which it is significant, in order to provide direction and guidance for the further progress of the dissertation. The statement of the problem and the supporting research questions are provided, to serve as focus for the subsequent discussion. 1.2 Background of the Research Topic The capital structure choice is a long-standing issue of great importance for companies. The mix of funds, which affects the cost and availability of capital, has long been the focus of interest among companies due of its impact on investment decisions. Capital structure is defined as the relative value of debt and equity used to finance projects. The importance of capital structure results from the financing sources and the mix of securities used by firms to finance real investment. Capital structure is also important in Saudi Arabia, especially after the 2006 crisis. Firms n owadays try to finance their capital in better ways. Capital structure theory began with the celebrated paper by Modigliani and Miller (1958). These authors pointed out the trend that must be shown by such theories by showing under what conditions capital structure is irrelevant. Since then, many economists have followed the study with regard to all matters relating to capital structure, and have

A Streetcar Named Desire Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

A Streetcar Named Desire - Essay Example In fact, she has a feeling that their god background characterized by education, lavish life and foreign language acquisition contrast that of Stanley. He is uneducated, dirty, and she considers his companionship with her only sister inappropriate and unfortunate. Additionally, the desire for companionship by Blanche stems from solitude and excruciating thoughts of being alone range in a hostile world (Page 417). In her quest to enhance her personal attraction and safety, she desperately finds herself seeking protection from the arms of strangers. Her struggle to seek companionship and love that she fondly misses after the tragic death of her husband, Blanche exposes herself to the world of men who would take advantage of her circumstances for self-gratification. Notably, in New Orleans, she finds her brother-in-law Stanley, who is cruel. According to her, there is no cure of harshness and the predatory nature of Stanley (Page 418). With this reality, she is determined to take Stella with her a means of getting a companionship and securing her from the husband that is ruthless and inhumane. Surprisingly, Stella appears happy and satisfied in her marriage, despite the conflicting background between her and the husband, she finds the companionship the best cure to life challenges irrespective of the circumstances. In addition, the director of the play demystifies the theme of loneliness using a susceptible woman, Blanche, who gets attracted to anyone she perceives to share similar or closer background. In addition, the director of the play portrays Blanches companionship desires as the driving force that would see her leave the town to seek what she desires most-companionship. Desire is closely related to solitude, as life reality dawns, Blanche desires towards inner personal conflict and an outward desire for companionship. Loneliness causes her great pains and tribulation that

Aspect of family in the film Pushing Hands Essay Example for Free

Aspect of family in the film Pushing Hands Essay Family has been depicted as one of the most important aspects in a number of films. Notably, many people believe in family as the most useful unifying aspect among various groups. In China, for instance, family is considered to be among the factors that individuals need to hold so dear to them. Various movies have been produced with the aspect of family being given weight in the movies. In addition, the cultural aspect of family has also been seen to be a factor that most individuals consider to be highly imperative in bringing to life the movies in question. This paper seeks to carry out an analytical interpretation of the aspect of family in the film Pushing Hands. In every family, father-to-son relationship is often seen as factor that is quite essential in bringing together the various family members. In addition, when the father and the son are at logger-heads, family unity is at a point of jeopardy and might escalate to highly detrimental scales. Apart from securing a unified family, father to son relationship is always considered a great aspect, especially in Chinese culture. In addition, most parents struggle to ensure that their children do not go against the immortal cultural values that each group is inclined to. Particularly, Chinese parents often want to see their sons embrace the Confucian cultural values even if they are in other countries (Huang, 2000). In line with family relationships between a father and a son, the film Pushing Hands seek to bring to the audience the idea of how westernization has affected family cultural values for the Chinese. Furthermore, the father (Mr. Chu) disagrees with his son Alex on the various family issues and cultural differences between the life in the United States and life in his home town Beijing, China. The film portrays the father son relationship as a cultural factor that should not be taken for granted and as an element that is highly significant in Chinese cultural aspects. As such, the script writer of the film has ensured that the film uses the best characters to bring out the issues of father-son relationship and the elements associated with the cultural differences between those living in the western countries and those living in China. Mr. Chu (Sihung Lung) who is an elderly man has fully devoted the wider portion of his life to the aspect of studying and teaching other learners tai chi in China. As a result of old age and the desire to be closer to his family, he makes up his mind to move in and stay with his son who is in the United States. However, having lived his entire life in Beijing, China, the elderly man finds it hard to cope with the different cultural factors in the United States. On the other hand, his son Alex (Bo Z. Wang) has been living in New York City for quite some time and has partly been affected by western cultural aspects which are totally different from the Chinese way of life and Tai Chi teachings (Hua-feng, 2013).One of the major family challenges that greatly affect the father and the son is the fact that the father arrives in New York without knowing any English word. In addition, the son is highly Americanized that it would be hard for the father to understand him. Besides, Alex has a w ife named Martha (Deb Snyder) who is a writer dealing with the pressure of trying to make sure she publishes her first novel, apart from taking care of her six-year-old kid. Mr. Chu faces the challenge of being totally at odds with a number of American customs and various technological factors. Furthermore, Mr. Chu cannot walk in New York alone as he easily loses his way. Since Mr. Chu is completely dumb on various factors in the American way of life, Martha begins to feel irritated with the fact that she might be taking care of two children. This is because the elderly Mr. Chu has to be taught everything as a child. While staying with his son, Mr. Chu develops a feeling that he has lost his dignity and independence thereby making the relationship between him and the son more challenging. Eventually, the elderly father tries to work things out on his own and look for a job. However, the harder he attempts to fit in the American culture and make New York look like his home, the more unfamiliar he seems to be. The elderly Mr. Chu feels lost in a different culture at a time when his son is feeling at home and has no issues being seen as an Americanized Chinese. The differences in cultural affiliations make the relationship between Mr. Chu and his son extremely difficult (Chan, 2004). The significance of the issues of father to son relationship in a family is highly relevant in the wider cultural context. The complexity in the relationship that is brought by different adaptation techniques to distinct cultures give the audience the most appropriate ways through which culture can be viewed in a wider perspective. The title is highly appropriate as it tries to bring out the facts about pushing an individual to conform to a cultural affiliation that is totally different from their original culture. In the non-aggressive turn of events between the father and the son, it is apparent that cultural fidelity is hard to break, and even if one does break it, it has to take quite a long time. The aspect of cultural conflict is an element that keeps on making various family ties broken hence making it difficult for the individuals involved to foster unity between themselves (Zhang, 2002). In the book From ‘Minority Film’ to â€Å"minority Discourse,’† Screening China, Zhang (2002) asserts that cultural aspects such as ethnicity and race play a major role in ensuring that family ties are kept alive. In addition, he argues that failure to stick to the family ties would lead to cultural conflicts. This cultural conflict is the main element that Master Chu find himself in and creates an internal misunderstanding in his cognitive thoughts. Even though his daughter-in-law totally misunderstood him, making him feel discontent and disgraced, the elderly Chu made sure that his efforts to cope up with American culture were kept alive. When he finally disagrees with his son over alleged mistreatment from the wife, he decides to gracefully have his way and walk out of the house. Consequently, after going his own way, Mr. Chu finds his own niche where he can have no one minding about his inclination to Chinese way of life. In conclusion, family and cultu re have been depicted as some of the most important aspects that need to be considered in learning cultural factors. Besides, culture has been seen as a major defining factor when it comes to association and togetherness. References Chan, K. (2004). The global return of the wu xia pian (Chinese sword-fighting movie): Ang Lees Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.  Cinema Journal,  43(4), 3-17. Hua-feng, L. I. (2013). Contradiction and Harmony of Family Ideas between China and America Reflected in the Movie, Pushing Hands.  Journal of Yunyang Teachers College,  2, 018.Huang, S. (2000). Ten thousand businesses would thrive in a harmonious family: Chinese conflict resolution styles in cross-cultural families.  Intercultural Communication Studies,  9(2), 129-144. Zhang Yingjin, (2002). â€Å"From ‘Minority Film’ to â€Å"minority Discourse,’† Screening China (73-90) Source document

Registered Nurse Career Research Essay Example for Free

Registered Nurse Career Research Essay Ever since I was a little girl I always wanted to be a nurse and help people who were ill. As I got older, I got more information and decided that I wanted to become a Registered Nurse (RN). Registered nurses care for patients and educate them on health issues to prevent future illnesses. Along with technical skills necessary for the medical profession, registered nurses must have people skills to work closely with patients and their families. Becoming a RN entails formal education from a state-approved nursing school and state licensure. There are generally three educational approaches to becoming a registered nurse. Registered nurses usually train by completing a bachelors or associates degree program in nursing. Less commonly, registered nurses prepare for the occupation by earning a diploma in nursing. Graduates of any of these programs are generally eligible for licensure and entry-level employment as registered nurses. Nursing students may choose from a variety of education options to become a registered nurse. Some teaching hospitals offer 3-year diploma programs in nursing; however, these programs are rare. Most RN’s earn associate degrees or bachelors degrees in nursing. The skills needed for this job are people skills, emotional stability, CPR, First Aid and a second language would also help. I plan on taking French throughout the university so I’ll be considered trilingual and I plan on updating my CPR and First Aid yearly. San Diego City Colleges nursing  education program offers associates degrees for students who want to become RNs, as well as a program for LVNs seeking RN certification but not the degree. Students learn through classroom study and clinical experience in health care facilities. It will take two years with open admission and the tuition for in-state is $898. San Diego State Universitys School of Nursing offers programs that train entry-level RNs as well as provide working professionals  with advanced studies to continue their education and careers. All bachelors degree students must take part in an international learning experience. It’s a four years with a 30% acceptance rate and the tuition for in-state is $6 ,578. There are four general duties a RN does on a daily basis. The first duty is evaluating a patient’s physical, mental and emotional health. Also an RN’s job is to take vital sings. The second duty is designing and carrying out a treatment plan for the patient. Also bandaging wounds, giving medicine and injections that need to be given. The third duty is to monitor the results of the patient’s treatment to make sure it’s working and the patient is happy with it. Also a RN tells patients about they’re medical options and health issues such as nutrition and personal hygiene. The last duty is to complete and organize records about the patients. RN’s job opportunities are in hospitals, nursing homes, clinics and basically any public health building. Also there are many organizations that recruit nurses to go to other countries. England and the U.S are two of the many countries that do this. The salary for a full-time nurse is $35,000 to $60,000 a year. Benefits include paid holidays, paid sick days and dental care. Casual (on call) nurses earn $17 to $35 an hour. Nurses work in hospitals, nursing homes, walk in clinics, prisons, schools, ect. Hazards of the job include contracting an infectious disease from a patient and injury from instruments, chemicals or gases. Nurses also get injured from violent patients and their families. They work irregular hours, nights, evenings and holidays with 12-hour shifts. Job demand is high because of the storage of nurses in Canada and people are always getting sick. People will always get sick therefore nurses will be part of the future. According to national data  published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), employment for nurses is expected to increase 26% by 2020, which is much faster than the average occupation. The BLS further states that registered nurses with at least a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) are expected to have the best job opportunities. Prospective students are encouraged to conduct  independent research to determine actual job growth rates, which vary according to location, education and experience. Many employers have instituted hiring policies which require all RNs to have BSN degrees. Others will employ RNs without a BSN, but require new RNs to complete their BSN degree within a certain amount of time. My goal is to become a registered nurse and to dedicate my life to helping people. Im determined to ​  become a nurse to touch lives not only as a provider of health care but also as a teacher. I am committed to excelling personally and professionally in all that I do and to serve as a role model by leading a healthy lifestyle. I came to this goal as a result of my family background and my life experiences. I have a strong work ethic. I am very loyal and trustworthy and always the person my friends, family and co-workers would go to for advice or to empathize. I love helping people and have a big heart. I am the kind of person who will give you my lunch to someone who has no money to eat. I’ll take that extra five minutes and listen to a patient when I am pressed for time because health care is not only to provide treatment, but it’s also expressing patience and being a great listener. When I was looking into career options, nursing attracted my attention for a variety of reasons, you could go anywhere, work with adults, children, in public health, prisons, physicians’ offices, schools, factories, and were only limited by your level of education; I found that nursing could be whatever I wanted to make of it. People need nurses in all aspects of life. If I were to ever feel â€Å"expended out† in one area, I could educate myself and expand into another field of nursing. If I needed to move to another country, I could transfer and easily find my niche there. The sensation that you feel when you know you accomplished your goal to aid an individual is priceless. The potential is endless in this field, from specialty areas to general population, and from  newborns through geriatrics. Nursing is probably the most personally rewarding job there is. Bibliography Occupational Outlook Handbook. â€Å"Registered Nurse.† [Online] Available http://explorehealthcareers.org/en/Career/21/Registered_Nurse_RN January 12, 2015 Registered Nurses [Online] Available http://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/registered-nurses.htm​ January 12, 2015

Relationship Between International Trade and World Output

Relationship Between International Trade and World Output World economy is basically is the economy of the countries of the world. The economic development of these countries is measured through various standards of measurement. The economic development is some times measure in the form of world output and international trade in the world. These two frames are used as standard in measuring the economic development in the global world. World output is the quantity of output produced globally with in a given time frame. It can be used as a standard for global economic development in the world as more and more quantity of output produced in the world more it signifies the favorable environment of business and has the positive impact on international trade as well. Trade is also one of important aspects of the world economy as it provided the wide range of choices to different countries to enjoy the luxurious goods. Wide varieties of goods those are not available in the one own country may get traded from the other in order to enjoy the benefit s from those products that are not available in these regions. So world output and international trade are interlinked and has very deep effects on a country economy as well. Relationship between international trade and world output International trade and world output is closely linked together. More and more global output produced, more the production of products increase, more healthy will be the business environment and as businesses of the world flourish more the production in different businesses increase which will implied positive impact on the output produced in a country that will ultimately increase the trend of international trade in the world. (Ethier, W. J.1982). 1-The close relationship between the trade and world out put can be seen in the case of recession when the spending power of the people will drop and the people will be more concerned about their financial future and less motivated to spend on domestic as well as international products related to import from other countries. The result will be lower the trade. Decrease in world out put reduces the international trade pattern in this way. 2-The other example of closely linked relationship of trade and world out put is when the country is facing recession its monetary value will be decline due to which it can purchase less imported products due to less monetary value of its currency as compare to the other country currency and it will be easy to afford the domestic products as compare to the imports from other countries. This will discourage the trade of the country. 3- It is also analyzed that the rate of increase in the trade is much faster then the world output. One of the main reasons behind this phenomenon is that the traded items are much cheaper then the goods that are not traded. Another reason behind this can be seen that the growth productivity of traded goods are less as compare to the price of these items so that cause increase in the trade faster as compare to the output produced. Broad pattern of international tradeÂÂ   Different trade pattern can be seen in different countries depend on their level of development. The trade between the high income countries contributes 60% of world trade. Trade between low and middle income group is only 6 % of total trade and the trade between high, middle and low income countries are contributed 34% of total. This pattern of trade is important to consider in order to verify the trend of trading between different countries and to identify the major countries pattern in international trading. It is very important to confirm that the poor countries or middle income countries are also includes in trade activities and to ensures that weather balance are maintained in rich and poor countries through exchanging of commodities. (Helpman, E.1984) If trade cut off with other countries Trade is now becomes a basic economic need without which survival of a country is not possible because this ensures the provision of products that are not available I one own country. In past era the needs are more confined to the products that are produced locally but with modern advancement needs brought up and full filled with the help of trade with other countries having abundant of resources that need to trade. (Balassa, B. 1964), Example USA is the country that is importing various products from other countries of the world e.g. Tea, coffee, fruits and vegetables in fresh or in processed form e.g. in the form of pulp or fruit juice, different spices, herbs, nuts and other different dried fruits from Brazil. It also depend on China and Japan for different types of electronics like, TV, DVD players etc. if US suddenly cut off trading with these countries it has to cut off with all the luxurious that are confined with the trade relationship with these countries. US is it self a great manufacturer of electronics machinery and earn a lot of revenues from the export of this machinery to other countries if there will be no trade between US and other countries then US will suffer in losses and its earning will decline. Conclusion A nation can not survive without trading with other nations of the world having abundance of resources and absolute advantage over other. International trade not only helps nations to utilize its resources properly and increase the revenue by exporting of products after full fill one own need but it is the source of enjoying a large revenue from foreign exchange and getting variety of products through exporting. In absence of trade fewer choices will be available, less chances for earning revenue and have to face the recession in the country, which will have adverse effect on a country development.

Free Essays - The Need for Capital Punishment :: Argumentative Persuasive Essays

Essays - The Need for Capital Punishment      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Imagine yourself in a room, 12 feet long by 6 feet wide.   You're sitting on a metal bed bolted to the floor with a thin foam cushion.   The only other things in the room are a table and a chair, a sink and a toilet.   There is no window, only a small faint light on the ceiling.   You spend all of your time in this room, you have no choice.   This is your dining room, your den, your bedroom and your bathroom.   You are allowed to read and write letters in this room.   You cannot entertain guests in this room, you must go somewhere else for that, in a room with a mesh screen for you to sit behind, where you are constantly watched over.   Even though this is your bathroom, it has no shower stall or bathtub, but once a week you are allowed to leave this room to take a shower.   Your days are spent inside this room reading, thinking and worrying.   You aren't in any ordinary room, you're in a cell on death row.   A cell reserved for people who were sentenced to death for committing a crime.   Death could be by firing squad, lethel injection, the gas chamber or electric chair.   Chances are you've been in this room for many years and will be for many more.   Your lawyers have began the lenghthly appeal process.   Once all the appeals have failed, it soon is time, and you will be moved to a holding cell.   There you will be offered your final mean, of your choice.   Your last visitors arrive, first your lawyer, your family members and at last a preist who prays with you.   You take your final glance around the room, as you are lead to another room close by, the execution room. A few prison officials are present to witness your execution.   In a matter of moments it's over.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   You could have been Gary Gilmore, Ted Bundy or Charles Brooks, all famous serial killers.   Maybe you were the first women to die by lethel injection, Marcie Barfield, or the first women to die by the electric chair, Martha Place.   Whoever it was well deserved this punishment, in fact, some readily accepted it in comparison to spending the rest of their lives in a jail cell, but many people who did deserve the death penalty did not recieve it.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In August 1969, seven people died at the hands of a serial killer including eight month pregnant acress Sharon Tate.   This was the result of a

Emily Dickinson :: essays research papers

Emily Dickinson was born on December 10, 1830 in Amherst Massachusetts. She had a younger sister named Lavina and an older brother named Austin. Her mother Emily Norcross Dickinson, was largely dependent on her family and was seen by Emily as a poor mother. Her father was lawyer, Congressman, and the Treasurer for Amherst College. Unlike her mother, Emily loved and admired her father. Since the family was not emotional, they lived a quiet secure life. They rarely shared their problems with one another so Emily had plenty of privacy for writing. During her childhood, Emily and her family attended The First Congregational Church on a regular basis. Emily did not like going to church because she didn't think of herself as being very religious. She refused to believe that Heaven was a better place than Earth and eventually rebelled from the church. Emily saw herself as a woman who had her own way of thinking, a way of thinking shaped neither by the church or society. By the time she was twelve, her family moved to a house on Pleasant Street where they lived from 1840 to 1855. Emily was already writing letters, but composed most of her poetry in this home. Emily only left home to attend Mount Holyoke Female Seminary for two semesters. Though her stay there was brief, she impressed her teachers with her courage and directness. They felt her writing was sensational. At the age of twenty-one, Emily and her family moved to the Dickinson Homestead on Main Street. This move proved to be very difficult for Emily. This was difficult for Emily because she became very attached to her old house, which shaped her writing and personality for fifteen years. They now lived next door to her brother Austin and his wife Susan and their daughter Martha. Emily and Susan became so close that many people believe they may have been lovers. A rumor perpetuated by the fact that Emily was known to have written many love letters and poems to Susan. Martha attempted to protect both of their images and suppress the rumors. It became common knowledge that Emily had some type of very strong feelings for Susan. At the age of thirty-one Emily sent some of her poems to a publisher, Thomas Higginson, from whom she got a very good response and a strong friendship developed. He acted as her mentor but she never seemed to have taken any of his advice. It became evident that she didn't like the idea of having her works published, she made 40 packets of about twenty poems apiece from 814 poems. She placed these in a box along with 333 other poems. Emily died on May 5, 1886 at the age of 56.

Edward Jenner and Smallpox

Despite all of the controversy around vaccinations, vaccines have been around for nearly 200 years and are known to have saved millions of lives by preventing a person from infectious diseases through inoculation. The world’s first vaccine, the vaccination for smallpox was developed in 1796 by Edward Jenner, a doctor from England. Smallpox, which dates back to 1350 B. C. , is an infectious and contagious disease that plagued much of Europe and North American colonies during the 17th and 18th century. Smallpox claimed more than million deaths in Europe and Mexico before development of the vaccination. Dr. Jenner’s scientific research and observations led to the eradication of smallpox in 1979. The purpose of this paper is to examine one of the greatest achievements in public health, the smallpox vaccination and the man responsible for it, Dr. Edward Jenner. This paper will also focus on the effects that the smallpox vaccination has had on public and community health and how the process of immunization from infectious diseases has saved millions of lives today. What is Smallpox Smallpox is an infectious and contagious disease, which is caused by the variola virus. The virus, which has two forms, variola major and variola minor, was referred to as the speckled monster because of red, pustule, raised lesions that appeared on a person’s skin. Aside from the skin lesions, smallpox is characterized by typical flu symptoms such as fever, fatigue, muscle aches, malaise, and headache. Smallpox is an airborne transmitted infection, which multiplies itself in the lymph nodes while moving from cell to cell. A person is said to be contagious until the last lesion scab falls off. Whereas a cure for smallpox does not exist, the only form of prevention is vaccination (Barquet & Domingo, 1997). Edward Jenner and His Developments Edward Jenner, who was born on May 17, 1749 in England, developed an interest in science and nature during his early years. He worked as an apprentice under George Harwicke, in which he developed the interest in cowpox. Jenner went to London at the age of 21 to become a student of John Hunter, the most prestigious surgeon in England, Here, Jenner learned that if a person had cowpox he or she could not contract smallpox (Stern, 2005). Through Jenner’s apprenticeship with Hunter, he began learning surgical techniques and the use of scientific methods and observation. After publishing several scientific studies and learning through observations, Jenner's interest in smallpox grew and it was at this point in which he developed his hypothesis; â€Å"Cowpox protected a person from the human disease smallpox† (Barquet & Domingo, 1997, p. 639). Developing the Smallpox Vaccine Sparked by the interest in his hypothesis and the overwhelming plague of smallpox, Jenner decided to perform an experiment to test his hypothesis. Jenner came into contact with Sarah Nelms, a dairymaid who had contracted cowpox through an infected cow. To test his hypothesis, â€Å"Jenner extracted fluid from the pustules on Nelm’s hand and used that same fluid to inoculate an 8-year-old boy through two inch incisions on the boy’s arm† (Barquet & Domingo, 1997, p. 639). A few weeks later, Jenner injected fluid from a smallpox lesion into the arm of the same boy. This is known as variolation. The variolation did not produce a reaction and Jenner confirmed that the boy was protected against smallpox. As a result of Jenner’s studies, research, and observations, the smallpox vaccine was developed (Stefan, 2005). The Effect of the Smallpox Vaccine on Public and Community Health Upon the publication of Jenner’s inquiry, skepticism arose as Jenner began a nationwide survey to support his findings. Other physicians began vaccinating through Jenner’s method and the theory was confirmed. Those who were previously infected with cowpox and received variolation did not find themselves stricken by smallpox. The vaccination era had begun as news of the inquiry spread to the United States where the method was tried and confirmed once again by Benjamin Waterhouse, a Harvard Medical School professor (Barquet & Domingo, 1997). According to Barquet and Domingo (2005), â€Å"President Thomas Jefferson had 18 members of his family vaccinated and supported the theory that the vaccine preserves individuals from smallpox† (p. 640). President Jefferson later appointed Waterhouse as the â€Å"vaccine agent in the National Vaccine Institute, an organization to establish vaccination in the United States† (Barquet & Domingo, 1997, p. 640). Public and Community Health Today Several years after Jenner’s discovery, scientists had begun to develop new vaccines. Protesting began as antivaccinationists believed that vaccinating violated a person’s privacy. In 1905, the United States Supreme court ruled that â€Å"The need to protect the public health through compulsory smallpox vaccination outweighed the individual’s right to privacy† (Stern & Markel, 2005, p. 617). The World Health Organization (WHO) certified the eradication of smallpox in 1979. As other vaccinations emerged, such as vaccines for polio, diphtheria, measles, mumps, and rubella, people commonly worried about the safety and efficacy of these vaccinations. Today, many parents are under the impression that autism is linked to a preservative called thimerosal, which was used in many vaccinations such as DTP and Hepatitis B vaccines. Upon scientific studies, no connection was found. However, in 1999 the United States Food and Drug Administration stopped licensing vaccines that contained thimerosal (Stern & Markel, 2005). Conclusion The development of the smallpox vaccine and other immunizations are considered to be one of the greatest achievements in public health. Disease prevention is a major necessity of public and community health. Through extensive research, scientific studies, and observation, Edward Jenner paved the way for the evolution of public health. To date, vaccinations have saved millions of lives by protecting people against polio, diphtheria, measles, mumps, rubella, and smallpox. Although many people are skeptical about the safety and efficacy of immunizations, choosing not to be immunized puts not only the individual at risk but also other people at risk of contracting an infectious disease.

Admission Statement

Every action that we do serves as an opportunity for us to develop and achieve our particular goals and interests. This in turn, motivates us to perform on our optimum capabilities. Despite the occurrence of challenges and hurdles along the way, it serves as our guide and inspiration to do better in life.With the emerging opportunities happening in our current environment, one must have the appropriate foundation and education to become competitive in their respective fields. Realizing this, I wish to present to the admissions committee to apply for a degree in Gonzaga College.My passion for sustenance and development do has always been evident in the things I do. I treat every activity as a chance to learn and acquire new principles that I can use later in my life. In addition, consider the student life to be a holistic undertaking. One must not only dwell into the realm of academic study but at the same time establish interpersonal relationships and engage into sports to keep a bal anced way of living.In detail, I have been involved in lacrosse for the past year and I can say that I had shown growth and improvement in the way I play the game. I consider these skills to be at par or better to be accepted in a division 1 school.Being a player on the JV team for The McLean School, I know what to expect and what obstacles I must overcome to be an even better and more valuable lacrosse player. It instilled in me the values of sportsmanship, camaraderie, and teamwork – facets that are equal determinants of survival in a collegiate environment.Also, I had the adage that you must not sacrifice your educational objectives among other things. It is an integral reason why you are enrolled in an educational institution in the first place. That is why academically, I had made it a point to excel in the things that I do. I see every meeting and lessons as an opportunity to learn and acquire new ideas.I continuously enjoy learning Math, Science, and History because of the relative satisfaction and fulfillment it brings to my day. I know that my hard work to get good grades since the 8th grade will pay off in due time.On the other hand, my inclination to music has always been a part of my life. The enthusiasm to play an instrument during my spare time has grown through the years. With the help of my tutor, I was able to enhance my skill and proficiency in guitar and bass guitar for the past two years. Now, I am proud that my sacrifice has paid off. I am now capable of composing and producing my own songs.With these, I can contribute my talent to the community engaging in a particular band group that is available in Gonzaga. Not only shall I showcase my creative side for the group I may belong to, at the same time I can inspire others that achieving something need to be made by effort and continued persistence.With all of these, I feel that I am capable of achieving anything given that I strive and work hard for it. The abilities that I have right now is only the beginning chapter of my life, I will still continue to face difficulties and hurdles. However, these incidents can be used to shape who I am and at the same time inspire others to become better individuals.I believe that this mindset can help the Gonzaga College High School achieve its desired goals and objectives. It does not only seek to see its students graduate with the academic expertise. On the other hand, it aspires to promote a holistic opportunity for its students to grow and be effective in the professional environment. It is in this that I feel suitable to be included and mature at this educational institution.

Bela Bartok

Research Paper on Bela Bartok†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. By Jibin Parayil Thomas (2011B4A7628G) Introduction Bela Bartok (1881-1945) is regarded as a key innovator of the twentieth-century music. He is widely known for compositions strongly influenced by his folk music studies, and for his activities as a concert pianist, music editor and teacher. The works of Bela Bartok are generally approached from either of two theoretical premises.The first being an extension of traditional western art music that has preceded him (particularly the expanded harmonic resources which emerged during the ‘Romantic' musical period), the other being from Bartok's own research into the folk music of Europe. It has been said that through this research, Bartok was able to free himself from the tyrannical rule of the major and minor keys, leading eventually to a new conception of the chromatic scale, every tone of which came to be considered of equal value and could be used freely and independently .Bartok was not noted for his use of 12-tone concepts per se, but his search for harmonic freedom did parallel the concepts of the 12-tone composers of his time. His music rarely displays the consistent vocabulary that would prove a set-theory approach to be worthwhile. There are certain pitch collections that do appear consistently in his work. Bartok achieved something that no one had before his time, the symbolic handshake between East and West: synthesis, a seamless blending of two sources into a single style.Bartok was a knowledgeable ethnomusicologist who wrote and lectured on his areas of research into the cultural music of Europe in general, and of Hungary in particular. (Ethnomusicology  is defined as â€Å"the study of social and cultural aspects of music and dance in local and global contexts). The research paper comprises three sections: the first explores Bartok’s general philosophy on life, as it evolved within the turbulent political and cultural environment in which he grew up.Focusing on his major works the second section identifies the innovative characteristics of his musical style within the context of the diverse genres in which he composed. The third section examines the wide variety of critical and analytical responses to his compositions and his performances. 1-Bartok’s background and development Bartok’s family reflected some of the ethnic diversity of the country. His mother Paula Voit Bartok ,was ethnically German,though she spoke Hungarian fluently, his father,Bela Sr. considered himself thoroughly Hungarian,though his mother was from a Serbian family. Although Bartok’s musical upbringing was purely German ,parts of his background leaned towards Hungarian nationalism. Some of Bartok’s most important musical colleagues were the members of the Waldbauer-Kerpely String Quartet,who came together in 1909 specifically to perform Bartok’s and Kodaly’s first string quartets,and the compose rs and musicians of the New Hungarian Music Society.The turn of the twentieth century,which marks the beginning of Bela Bartok’s musical career,witnessed a Hungarian society divided from the point of view of its musical taste into three distinct layers:the upper classes which included the nobility,the urban financiers,industrialists and bourgeoisie turned to the west for their musical needs;the gentry and the urban middle class found satisfaction I the music of gypsy bands and in popular art songs;t was only the agrarian folk who lived with its folksongs and musical customs,solated from the rest of society.Bartok obtained his childhood impressions of Hungarian music from his provincial urban environment. At the age of four he could play with one finger on the piano the folk tunes familiar to him, about forty of them. When Bartok entered the Academy of Music in Budapest in 1899,he had no better knowledge of his country’s folksongsthan that of the general public.

Addendum to the Risk Assessment Matrix Essay

Description of Risks Impact Likelihood of Occurrence (L,M,H) Degree of Impact (L,M,H) Initial Action to Take if Event Occurs Team Member Responsible Strategies for Prevention and Mitigation Widespread security breach due to unauthorized access to sensitive customer information. Negative publicity of the company and loss of credibility in the eyes of existing and potential customers impacting overall business. Take immediate action to tighten security including all employee access to customer sensitive information. Identify and install the latest security software on all telecommuters’ PCs and enforce strict rules for information access including password policy management. Document Server integration challenges. The setup of the environment for the Telecommuters would be delayed. roubleshoot remotely to identify the root of the integration issue. The repetitive process of installation and setup of the document servers can be potentially scripted and semi-automated to minimize error and reduce time taken. Technical challenges such as power failure and internet connection outages. The setup of the environment for the Telecommuters would be delayed if either power or internet connection were impacted. Guidelines can cover instructions to move on to the next computer to setup and return to the remote PC with power or internet challenges later.PhoebeTo prevent and mitigate this risk, the telecommuter PCs can be staged and setup in the Xemba Translations office before shipping to the remote l ocation. In the long term budget can be allocated for individual battery backup for the remote PCs Delay in completion of the Telecommuting Expansion projectInadequate resources available to address the increased customer need causing negative publicity of the company. Increase the project team size to catch up and speed up progress reducing potential for any further schedule impact.Project TeamManage schedules even more tightly monitoring daily progress of tasks and mitigating schedule delays even before it occurs. Perception of impersonal and below par service due to telecommuters Though there is a subjective aspect to this risk it can lead to the loss of very real customers and negative publicity. Focus can be shifted to the lost customers to survey the reason for them to take business elsewhere and offer  incentives to return. Work with the marketing team to ensure the message is clear to large customers on the benefits of real-time web based communications and translation ser vices. Task B: Explanation of Metrics: The metrics that can be effectively used to clearly and effectively measure the progress and overall project health of this Telecommuter Expansion project is â€Å"Earned Value Management†. It is a commonly used technique that factors in the cost and schedule baselines and then uses simple indices to estimate and measure where the project is in reference to the respective projected baselines that were set at the beginning of the project. Earned Value Management relies on three key metrics: – Planned Value (PV): This is the official budget that has been allocated to the project. The budget is typically setup per phase of the project, but at any point in time the â€Å"Planned Value† is used to refer to the work that should have been completed. The total planned value for the project is also referred to as the â€Å"Budget at Completion† (BAC) – Earned Value (EV): The Earned Value refers to the amount of work that would need to be completed at any point in time in for the project to be considered to be on track. The Earned Value is often used to calculate the percent complete for any project. The formula for percent complete would be: % Complete = EV / BAC. – Actual Cost (AC): The Actual Cost would quite simply be the costs that have been incurred to accomplish all the work performed thus far in a project. Technically the AC will have no upper limit and translates always to what was budgeted in the PV and measured by the EV. Part of the Earned Value Management technique is the monitoring of variances from the approved baseline of costs and schedule. The variances are useful in determining the overall project health and status. – Schedule Variance (SV): The Schedule Variance indicates a value which is a measure of how much the project is either ahead or behind at a given point in time. For any given point in time, once the EV and PV are known the SV can easily be calculated. The formu la for SV is quite simply: SV = EV – PV. Here a positive value indicates that the project is ahead at the current point in time and a negative value would indicate the opposite that a project is behind at the current point in time. – Cost Variance (CV): The Cost Variance indicates a value which is a measure of how much the project is either overspent or  underspent at any given point in time. For any given point in time, once the EV and AC are known the CV can easily be calculated. The formula for CV is quite simply: CV = EV – AC. Here a positive value indicates that the project is under spent at the current point in time and a negative value would indicate the opposite that a project is over spent at the current point in time. The Cost Variance at the end of the project is calculated as follows: CV = BAC – AC. The same above rationale is applied to positive and negative numbers to indicate if the project is under spent or over spent respectively. To me asure schedule or cost efficiency there are two indices which are also computed as part of the Earned Value Management technique. They are Schedule Performance Index and Cost Performance Index. – Schedule Performance Index (SPI): This is a measure of how efficiently the project has been run till the current point in time. An SPI of less than 1.0 would indicate that less work was completed than originally planned and an SPI value greater than 1.0 would indicate that more work was completed than was originally planned. The SPI is calculated with the following formula: SPI = EV / PV – Cost Performance Index (CPI): This is a measure of how efficiently the project has been run in terms of budgeted resources till the current point in time. The CPI is considered the most critical metric of the Earned Value Management methodology. A CPI of less than 1.0 would indicate that the project is currently over budget than originally planned and a CPI value of greater than 1.0 would in dicate that the project is currently under budget and in good shape. The CPI is calculated with the following formula: CPI = EV / AC Task B1: Justification of Metrics: One of the primary reasons of choosing the Earned Value Management methodology for the tracking of the project metrics of the Telecommuting Expansion Project was due to the fact that this method comprehensively covers all the key aspects of Project Schedule Control and Cost Management. With the use of this approach a well-rounded analysis can be performed on the data provided. The data provided has the clear value for the budget at completion (BAC) for all the labor costs for the project as well. The Cash Flow Report provided in the case study provides a good reference of the Earned Value at the 76 day mark within week 11. The Status Reports that are provided at the end of the Case Study also provides the  detailed actual sunk costs for each work package covered in the project work breakdown structure. Using the details provided, the Cost and Schedule Variances can easily be calculated which would easily offer a detailed look at the overall projec t health in regards to schedule and cost. With a simple arithmetic calculation one can easily determine whether the project is on track to stay under budget or go over budget as well as determine whether the project is going to stay on track and complete on schedule, or early or late. Also, with the calculation of the Cost Performance Index and the Schedule Performance Index, the schedule efficiency and cost efficiency of the Project can be easily evaluated. Comparing the two indices in reference to them being greater than 1.0 or lesser than 1.0 one can predict if the project is on track to come in under or over budget and finish ahead or behind schedule. This approach also fits well with the critical path approach that has been used thus far in the case study where special emphasis can be paid to the work packages in the critical path in an effort to further mitigate risk and control schedule and costs of the project. Task B2: Current Project Status: The following table is a complete summary of the fifteen project team members and their associated labor costs that were planned at the beginning of the project as well as the revised plan per the project manager’s Status report: Resource NameRate per HourPlanned HoursBudgeted Labor CostWBS ItemHours WorkedHours LeftRevised Work PlanSpent CostsFuture Costs% Left Elizabeth $ 70.00 121.43 $ 8,500.10 11220122 $ 8,540.00 $ – 0% Hugh $ 70.00 120 $ 8,400.00 210317120 $ 7,210.00 $ 1,190.00 14% Kimberly $ 70.00 76 $ 5,320.00 3721688 $ 5,040.00 $ 1,120.00 21% Phoebe $ 68.00 98 $ 6,664.00 4762096 $ 5,168.00 $ 1,360.00 20% Ben $ 68.00 138 $ 9,384.00 59352145 $ 6,324.00 $ 3,536.00 38% Zeke $ 65.00 384.67 $ 25,003.55 6153245398 $ 9,945.00 $ 15,925.00 64% Malinda $ 75.00 224 $ 16,800.00 758160218 $ 4,350.00 $ 12,000.00 71% Willis $ 70.00 108 $ 7,560.00 816068228 $ 11,200.00 $ 4,760.00 63% Jackson $ 45.00 268 $ 12,060.00 2,4,5177112289 $ 7,965.00 $ 5,040.00 42% Kendrick $ 40.00 78 $ 3,120.00 586086 $ 3,440.00 $ – 0% Marcel $ 75.00 432.85 $ 32,463.75 1,4,5,7268200468 $ 20,100.00 $ 15,000.00 46% Lianne $ 37.50 204 $ 7,650.00 3,8170110280 $ 6,375.00 $ 4,125.00 54% Darius $ 55.00 72 $ 3,960.00 3,8304272 $ 1,650.00 $ 2,310.00 58% Valene $ 60.00 150 $ 9,000.00 4,5,611664180 $ 6,960.00 $ 3,840.00 43% Clemencia $ 80.00 218.05 $ 17,444.00 1,6104114218 $ 8,320.00 $ 9,120.00 52% 2693 $ 173,329.40 178812203008 $ 112,587.00 $ 79,326.00 41% Notes: Looking at the above summary, the following can be summarized: †¢Planned Labor Cost (PV/BAC): $ 173,329.40 †¢Labor Costs spent (AC):$ 112,587.00 †¢Remaining Labor Costs:$ 79,326.00 †¢Initial Labor Plan:2693 hours †¢Revised Labor Plan:3008 hours oHours Spent:1788 hours oHours Remaining:1220 hours †¢Based on the Initial Labor Plan the following are computed: o% Complete:Hours spent / Initial Labor Plan 1788 / 2693 = 66% †¢Based on the Revised Labor Plan the following are computed: o% Complete:Hours spent / Revised Labor Plan 1788 / 3008 = 59% o% Remaining:Hours remaining / Revised Labor Plan 1220/ 2008 = 41% Since the PV, AC and % Complete are known, the following metrics that are part of the Earned Value Management Plan are computed: †¢Earned Value (EV) = BAC x % Complete = $ 173, 329.40 x 59% = $ 102, 264.35 †¢Cost Variance (CV) = EV – AC = $102,264.35 – $112,587.00 = -$10,322.65 †¢Schedule Variance (SV) = EV – PV = $102,264.35 – $173,329.40 = -$71,065.05 Note: Since both the Cost and Schedule Variances are negative, this indicates that the project is currently trending â€Å"over budget† and currently  running behind schedule. †¢Cost Performance Index (CPI)= EV / AC = $102,264.35 / $112,587.00 = .91 †¢Schedule Performance Index (SPI)= EV / PV = $102,264.35 / $173,329.40 = .59 Note: Since both the Cost and Schedule Performance Indices are lesser than 1.0 then this would indicate that the Project will finish over budget and will finish late. Using the formulas in the Earned Value Management technique, the final project cost and the final project duration can be estimated. Per the Case Study, the initial planned duration for the project is 123 days. †¢Estimated Final Project Cost = BAC / CPI = $ 173,329.40 / .91 = $ 190,471.87 †¢Estimated Final Project Duration = Planned Duration / SPI = 123 days / .59 = 209 days Note: Unless mitigated further the labor costs for the project will be around $ 17K more than planned and will finish around 86 days late. The additional costs for the project are the procurement costs for the hardware and software to support the 173 telecommuters. These would include the costs for the new computers that the telecommuters would use as well as the Document Servers, Shared Drives, FTP Servers, Firewalls and the support for Web-Based meetings. Based on the details provided in the Status Report by the previous project manager for the Xemba Translations Telecommuter Expansion Project, the total budgeted amount for all of these costs was $73,670.57. Per that same report the following table contains the estimated actual costs for those items. ResponsibleTask NameWBS ItemHW Costs – Option 1HW Costs – Option 2Cost Details ElizabethComputer inventory and requirements1$11,400.00 $14,200.00 Cost for 12 additional computers for the telecommuters. Option 1 – D esktops Option 2 – Laptops HughTechnical support2$0.00 $0.00 KimberlyComputing support3$0.00 $0.00 PhoebeDocument servers4$34,600.00 $89,268.00 Cost for document servers for the 173 telecommuters. Option 1 – $200 for 50GB per person Option 2 – $516 for 100GB per person BenShared Drives5$17,300.00 $17,300.00 Cost for shared drives for the 173 telecommuters. The cost is estimated at $20 per 10GB. Each usr will use an average of 50GB. Total cost of $100 per user. ZekeFTP Sites6$6,000.00 $6,000.00 Estimated annual cost for 1000GB storage space with unlimited bandwidth for file transfers and unlimited simultaneous logins MalindaFirewalls7$20,000.00 $20,000.00 Cost of firewall software and hardware WillisWeb-Based Meetings8$2,000.00 $2,000.00 Cost between $1000 and $2000 per year based on used of web meetings  $91,300.00 $148,768.00 Per the details included in the above table, the total costs for all the hardware and software to support the needs for the 173 telecommuters are more than the budgeted amount by $17,629.43 at the lower end and potentially more depending on configuration chosen. Per Xemba Translations CEO, Phuong Wolfing, the costs of the firewall could easily be absorbed into the overall IT budget rather than being accounted for as a project cost. This would imply that the hardware and software costs for the Telecommuter Expansion Project would total to $71,300 and come in under budget. Xemba Translations Senior Management and Stakeholders will need to decide on how to proceed here. Task B3a: Problems Affecting Project Implementation: A summary of three problems that could impact the project are as follows: One: Cost Overrun – Based on the current project status and trend of activities including estimates from the project team of how much more time is needed on the different project tasks, if there are no major changes, the Project will definitely run well over budget and require additional funding in order to be completed. This would mean that there would really need to be an even bigger effort by the new Project Manager to control costs to minimize the cost overruns. Since the planned project duration is 123 days, with 76 days of this project completed, this project should be approximately 62% completed. Till date, the Actual Cost (AC) for labor on the project is only $112,587. Looking at the Cash Flow Report which is part of the Baseline Project Report, it shows that on day 76, the Earned Value (EV) of the project should be around $125,000 with a Percent of Work Complete at approximately 72%. Calculating the Cost Performance Index (CPI) using the EV of $125,000 and AC of $112,587 would give us a value greater than 1.0 (1.12) which would indicate that the project is currently under budget. However, factoring in the new estimates of the amount of work remaining, the Percent of Work Remaining comes in at ~41% which would mean that the project is only 59% completed in terms of tasks. Using the â€Å"% complete† at 59% and the Planned Value (PV or BAC) of $173,329.40 we arrive at an EV of $102,587 with a negative CPI lesser than 1.0 (0.91) indicating a definite cost overrun if something is not done and the project costs are not controlled more tightly moving forward. Two: Schedule Overrun – Based on the current project status and trend of activities, if there are no major changes, the Project will definitely finish well beyond the targeted end date at the end of June in time for the start of the third quarter of the year as expected when the project was approved. This will imply that if Senior Management and Stakeholders of this project are serious on this project being completed in time for the third quarter of the year, then many critical steps will need to be taken to try and mitigate and minimize further project delay. There were many contributing factors leading to the delay. One of the biggest contributing factors for the delay in the project schedu le is the time lost in the pilot tests of the several web-based meetings that were planned and that needed to be re-scheduled due to the weather related power outage experienced in the Midwest. Another factor contributing to delay in the schedule is the procurement delay of the 47 new computers which were delayed by two weeks due to being â€Å"back-ordered. This contributed to a late start of the setup and validation of the 47 new computers for the telecommuters. As discussed in the â€Å"Project Status† section the Schedule Performance Index (SPI) is calculated to be 0.59. Since this value is below 1.0 this indicates  that the project is currently behind schedule and will most likely be completed much behind schedule if the factors contributing to the delay are not mitigated. There will need to be close attention to the items that are in the critical path to see if they can be accelerated to try and minimize delay moving forward. Three: Quality Challenges – The status report for the Telecommuter Expansion project that is included as part of the case study reveals that typically in any IT Project there are many factors which can easily drive down the quality of the solution that is being worked on. In this case for Xemba Translations the Telecommuter Expansion is a project which involves substantial capital investment in information technology infrastructure and the associated complexities of getting the infrastructure setup a nd functional. As with any complex technology solution, the most critical part involves the initial setup and verification of the complex solution especially in all the many edge cases where the solution’s resilience to security attacks and malicious users is tested. Something which is not specific just to this Telecommuter Expansion project is the strain on resources that is usually experienced in an extremely pronounced way when there are schedule related challenges in a project. This project is tremendously behind schedule and there are many important schedule related decisions which will need to be made as part of the overall progress on this project. Another item that absolutely cannot be ignored is the Quality Management of all the moving pieces of the project. For example, this project involves the setup of computers for 173 telecommuters which include setting up document server access for each of them, shared drives, FTP access and the necessary software and hardware to support a web-based meeting environment for each of the 173 telecommuters. While this seems a tall order for a group of 15 project team members, it adds additional strain when all this needs to be accomplished flawlessly when the project is already behind schedule. Typically when there are schedule related pressures, the tendency is to just complete an item without focusing much on quality. Given the technical complexity of the deliverables of this project compounded with the lack of enough resources, there needs to be steps taken to ensure overall quality of all the technical deliverables in the project are maintained at a high level for the successful completion of this project followed with the successful operation of daily activities in Xemba  Translations. Task B3b: Recommendations for Problem Mitigation: The following is a summary of the mitigation steps to address the above mentioned problems that could negatively impact the project. Although the problems that have been encountered thus far cannot be eliminated, moving forward in the project, till completion the same problems can be minimized or mitigated. Based on the current project status, if we the project is on day 76 out of a planned 123 days of project activity and have spent $112K out of a budgeted 173K, then there is a lot of room for tighter fiscal control and cost management. There needs to be processes in place to confirm and authorize the need for additional hours spent on an activity especially if that activity is behind schedule. For example, there has been substantial amount of time spent on the Web-Based Meetings pilot test. This is an activity where bad weather played a role in causing unexpected delays as well as unnecessary hours spent on an activity which yielded no results. Since we cannot turn back the clock here, moving forward on any planned end-to-end testing activity, there needs to be a quick go/no-go call to first discuss readiness for such activity. Also, there needs to be more diligence paid to estimation of task duration. Given that we have an actual track record of how long different task take, the activity can we more tightly estimated and the duration exactly planned for. This not only helps with cost estimation but also helps with scheduling control. As part of due diligence and planning, there can also be a â€Å"best practices review† organized by the Project Manager where the project team reviews best practices for a task that needs to be worked on and accomplished in the effort to further accelerate the rate of progress while also indirectly bringing in completion dates and shortening the schedule where possible. Given the revised estimates of the remaining 1220 hours of work left on the project, there is a great o pportunity to bring in those dates and reduce the hours spent as the same time. Also, authorization can be obtained from Senior Management on the potential of incentivizing the team with spot bonuses if budget can be allotted accordingly, in order to keep certain tight deadlines. This helps the team focus and work together to achieve the common goal. On another note on the topic of hours spent on the project by the project team, a process can be reviewed with the team and  proposals can be made to Senior Management weekly on whether overtime hours for employees who will be working their full 40 hours for the week can be authorized or not. This will not only keep a handle on costs due to overtime-pay, this will also prevent a certain element of â€Å"burnout† within the team where the team would feel overworked. Historically, overworked teams tend to make mistakes and produce low quality deliverables. Hence at all costs, team burnout will need to be avoided which would indir ectly also improve overall quality and team responsiveness. Quality can be very relative and subjective. In order to take out the subjectivity from quality measurement, the team can be asked to work together and come up with tangible metrics to measure the quality of all the technical deliverables that are worked on. This will serve in obtaining an unbiased and tangible view of the progress made on any of the technical deliverables and measure readiness of the solution that is being worked on. In general this same process can be applied to the processes used for setting up the new computers, document servers, shared drives, FTP sites as well as the web-based meeting software environment. Task C: Executive Summary: The Telecommuting Expansion project is well underway. Another Risk Analysis was performed and new risks have been identified and summarized in a Risk Assessment Matrix. A quick summary of the newly identified risks, its impact and strategies for prevention and mitigation are as follows: Description of Risks Impact Strategies for Prevention and Mitigation Widespread security breach due to unauthorized access to sensitive customer informationNegative publicity of the company and loss of credibility in the eyes of existing and potential customers impacting overall businessIdentify and install the latest security software on all telecommuters’ PCs and enforce strict rules for information access including password policy management. Document Server integration challengesThe setup of the environment for the Telecommuters would be delayedThe repetitive process of installation and setup of the document servers can be potentially scripted and semi-automated t o minimize error and reduce time taken. Technical challenges such as power failure and internet connection outagesThe setup of the environment for the Telecommuters would be delayed if either power or internet connection were impacted. To prevent  and mitigate this risk, the telecommuter PCs can be staged and setup in the Xemba Translations office before shipping to the remote location. In the long term budget can be allocated for individual battery backup for the remote PCs Delay in completion of the Telecommuting Expansion projectInadequate resources available to address the increased customer need causing negative publicity of the company.Manage schedules even more tightly monitoring daily progress of tasks and mitigating schedule delays even before it occurs. Perception of impersonal and below par service due to telecommuters Though there is a subjective aspect to this risk it can lead to the loss of very real customers and negative publicityWork with the marketing team to ens ure the message is clear to large customers on the benefits of real-time web based communications and translation services. The project is at day 76 since its inception. There have been some changes to the initial estimates of schedule and costs to the project. The Earned Value Management technique was used to compute some key schedule and budget metrics for comparison and strategic planning of the project. The following table has a summary of key initially planned and revised estimates of the Schedule and Budget items of the project: Schedule/Budget ItemInitially Planned Revised Estimates Duration in Days123 days209 days Duration in Hours2,693 hrs3,008 hrs Personnel Cost$173,329.40$190,471.87 Hardware/Software Cost$73,670.57$71,300.00 Note: There is additional firewall hardware and software cost of $20,000 which will be accounted for in the IT budget per guidance from CEO – Phuong Wolfing instead of being added to the Telecommuting Expansion Project costs. This cost is excluded in the estimates in the above table. In addition to the above revised estimates, an analysis was done on three problems that the project is facing and recommendations were summarized to address and mitigate the problems. The problems that were discussed and summarized in great detail together with recommendations to address the root of the respective problems are as follows: One: Cost Overrun – Based on the current  project status and trend of activities including estimates from the project team of how much more time is needed on the different project tasks, if there are no major changes, the Project will definitely run well over budget and require additional funding in order to be completed. This would mean that there would really need to be an even bigger effort by the new Project Manager to control costs to minimize the cost overruns. Two: Schedule Overrun – Based on the current project status and trend of activities, if there are no major changes, the Project will definitely finish well beyond the targeted end date at the end of June in time for the start of the third quarter of the year as expected when the project was approved. This will imply that if Senior Management and Stakeholders of this project are serious on this project being completed in time for the third quarter of the year, then many critical steps will need to be taken to try and mitigate and minimize further project delay. Three: Quality Challenges – The status report for the Telecommuter Expansion project that is included as part of the case study reveals that typically in any IT Project there are many factors which can easily drive down the quality of the solution that is being worked on. In this case for Xemba Tran slations the Telecommuter Expansion is a project which involves substantial capital investment in information technology infrastructure and the associated complexities of getting the infrastructure setup and functional. As with any complex technology solution, the most critical part involves the initial setup and verification of the complex solution especially in all the many edge cases where the solution’s resilience to security attacks and malicious users is tested. Given the technical complexity of the deliverables of this project compounded with the lack of enough resources, there needs to be steps taken to ensure overall quality of all the technical deliverables in the project are maintained at a high level for the successful completion of this project followed with the successful operation of daily activities in Xemba Translations. Although the problems that have been encountered thus far cannot be eliminated, moving forward in the project, till completion the same prob lems can be minimized or mitigated. The recommendations to address the problems facing the project are as follows: Authorization for additional work: There needs to be processes in place to confirm and authorize the need for additional hours spent on an activity especially if that activity is  behind schedule. Since we cannot turn back the clock here and undo any issues already experienced, moving forward on any planned end-to-end testing activity, there needs to be a quick go/no-go call to first discuss readiness for such activity. Accuracy of Task Estimation with Best Practices: Also, there needs to be more diligence paid to estimation of task duration. Given that we have an actual track record of how long different task take, the activity can we more tightly estimated and the duration exactly planned for. This not only helps with cost estimation but also helps with scheduling control. As part of due diligence and planning, there can also be a â€Å"best practices review† organized by the Project Manager whe re the project team reviews best practices for a task that needs to be worked on and accomplished in the effort to further accelerate the rate of progress while also indirectly bringing in completion dates and shortening the schedule where possible Motivate Project Team through incentives: Also, authorization can be obtained from Senior Management on the potential of incentivizing the team with spot bonuses if budget can be allotted accordingly, in order to keep certain tight deadlines. This helps the team focus and work together to achieve the common goal. Manage Overtime Pay and â€Å"Burnout†: On another note, on the topic of hours spent on the project by the project team, a process can be reviewed with the team and proposals can be made to Senior Management weekly on whether overtime hours for employees who will be working their full 40 hours for the week can be authorized or not. This will not only keep a handle on costs due to overtime-pay, this will also prevent a cert ain element of â€Å"burnout† within the team where the team would feel overworked. Quality Assurance Metrics: Quality can be very relative and subjective. In order to take out the subjectivity from quality measurement, the team can be asked to work together and come up with tangible metrics to measure the quality of all the technical deliverables that are worked on. This will serve in obtaining an unbiased and tangible view of the progress made on any of the technical deliverables and measure readiness of the solution that is being worked on. With all of the above listed recommendations in place this would not only pave the way for the successful completion of the Telecommuting Expansion Project but set a very bold precedent within Xemba Translations as to what to do and what not to do in a project. The successful completion of the Telecommuting Expansion Project  would set a strong foundation for Xemba Translations to handle the additional business that is forecasted starting in Q3.