Monday, December 30, 2019

Alcoholism Is A Serious Matter - 864 Words

Many times, people young and old, will abuse the use of alcohol. It is known that when a person begins drinking alcohol at an early age, they will later develop health issues, and possibly face the risk of becoming an alcoholic. Alcoholism is a chronic disease, where a person has problems controlling the amount they are drinking. An alcoholic does not have to be someone who drinks too much, they may feel a strong urge to drink, they may become tolerant of the amount they are drinking, sometimes drinking it just like water. They also can become physical with someone and then not remember the conversation or what they did to the person the next day. Alcoholism is a serious matter, many do not fully understand what it can do to lives, and may believe that it is not an issue. This essay will explore the risk factors of alcoholism, effects of the prolonged use of alcohol, and how an alcoholic can get help. Risk factors of alcoholism are mainly because of the steady drinking over a certain period of time. Alcoholics become alcoholics when they are drinking too much on a daily basis, or binge drinking on a regular basis, and this leads to a dependence on alcohol. As mentioned before, for people who begin drinking at a younger age, they will have a higher risk of becoming dependent on alcohol. Also, it is important to notice if alcoholism runs in family history, because many times the risk is greater for people whose close relatives have an alcohol problem. Not only does alcoholShow MoreRelatedAlcoholism and Alcohol Abuse1082 Words   |  5 Pages(Chakraburtty). Alcoholism and alcohol abuse is not only damaging emotionally, physically, and mentally to the person who is doing it, but to the people around them as well. Both alcoholism and alcohol abuse are each categorized as different cases. Alcohol abuse is different from alcoholism because people who are just alcohol abusers still have the ability to stop when they need, or to have the common sense to know when they have had too much. Alcohol abuse is still a very serious case though; peopleRead MoreEssay on Dangers of Alcoholism810 Words   |  4 PagesAlcoholism Alcoholism is a very serious disease, which can cause illness, death, injuries, schooling problems, family breakups, and crime. It is a proven fact the alcohol kills more people than any other illegal drugs combined. However, alcohol courses freely through American society, from college bars to corporate lunches. In a recent journal article by The Scientist, it is stated, Technology shows alcohol abuse changes brains molecular programming and circuitry? (Scientist). ThusRead MoreAlcoholism : A Complex Disorder961 Words   |  4 PagesAlcoholism is a very complex disorder. It is believed that genetics and several other biological factors are likely involved in the materialization of alcohol dependence, along with cognitive behavior, temperament, psychological and sociocultural factors. Alcohol use patterns including alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence are â€Å"familial† in nature (cf. Heath et al., Kendlerm Heath, heath Neale, Kessler Eaves, 1992; Hesselbrock, 19 95) Alcohol abuse is a drinking pattern that results In significantRead More alcohol Essay examples805 Words   |  4 Pages Alcoholism, chronic and usually progressive illness involving the excessive inappropriate ingestion of ethyl alcohol, whether in the form of familiar alcoholic beverages or as a constituent of other substances. Alcoholism is thought to arise from a combination of a wide range of physiological, psychological, social, and genetic factors. It is characterized by an emotional and often physical dependence on alcohol, and it frequently leads to brain damage or early death. Some 10 percent of the adultRead MoreAlcoholism : Is Alcoholism A Disease?929 Words   |  4 PagesAlcoholism has raised many debates over the truth of its nature. Many scholars argue that alcoholism can be treated as a disease. Such approach to defining alcoholism means denying that alcohol abusers own a choice. In consequence, the treatment related differs and may or may not actually help alc oholics recover. A wrong diagnostic of this addiction can lead to serious health issues; therefore, it is vital to answer the following question: Is alcoholism a disease? Most experts in this field criticisesRead MoreEffects Of Alcohol On The Alcoholic Beverage1335 Words   |  6 Pageseffects of alcoholism. â€Å"Alcoholism is currently listed as the third leading cause of death in our society† (dlcas). However, because many deaths related to alcohol go unreported, some believe that alcoholism could be the number one killer in today’s world (dlcas). For example, when a person dies from the failure of an organ, the role that alcohol could have played in that failure is not taken into consideration. It is no doubt that alcohol certainly has the potential to cause serious physical harmRead MoreCauses Of Alcoholism And Alcohol Dependence885 Words   |  4 Pages Causes of Alcoholism Introduction Alcoholism or alcohol dependence is one of the most prevalent problems found among teens and adults alike. But, what exactly is alcoholism? Alcoholism is a chronic disorder marked by excessive and usually compulsive drinking of alcohol leading to [mental] and physical dependence or addiction (Merriam-Webster). However, it is still unclear to scientists as to what particularly forms this addiction. Yet, all research has led to three very distinct componentsRead MoreThe Health Care Issue And Health Problem1632 Words   |  7 Pageslegislator why it is a problem needing legislative attention. The health care issue or health issues that raise a concern is that many people are suffering from alcoholism and are in need of immediate care but cannot afford the proper care. I firmly believe that free outpatient counseling can help those individuals diagnosed with alcoholism be able to steer in a sober direction. Alcohol use across the globe is prevalent and is very harmful to the human population. According to World Health OrganizationRead MoreThe Problem Of Addiction And Addiction1387 Words   |  6 Pagesphysical addiction causes the body to adapt to the certain type of addiction, known as the tolerance of a person capability. The emotion side of an addiction is known as the addictive behavior. Experts say, â€Å"The focus of the addiction isn’t what matters; it’s the need to take action under kinds of stress† and to treat this kind of addiction it requires psychological understanding (Addiction). De Graaf, Wann, and Naylor believe,† It’s a bubbling cauldron of such traits as an anxiety, lonelinessRead MoreSubstance Abuse and Addiciton: A Very Brief History Essay example1651 Words   |  7 Pagesdrunkenness is not. Alcohol use was widely accepted since the time of first settlements. Due to Protestant reformers they discovered that drunkenness was viewed as a serious problem, often punished by putting a man in stocks for such an offense. Clearly the blame was on the sinner, not the alcohol itself. The view of alcohol as a cause of serious problems began in America soon after the American Revolution. Some people even to this day view alcohol as the devil of the demon. The first psychoactive substance

Sunday, December 22, 2019

The Rhetorical Analysis Of Aung San Suu Kyi - 885 Words

Aung San Suu Kyi is a visionary that fights for Burma, her country, believing that people should fight for democracy and freedom through non-violent movements. She had a clear knowledge of her government and the government that she wanted for her people. As Aung Dan Suu said, it is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it (page 682). In order to bring this matter to the reader’s attention, Aung San Suu employs several rhetorical strategies. She uses the three main rhetorical devices: ethos, pathos, and logos to provide expert opinions on the subject. Through the text â€Å"Freedom from fear†, she made her ideas clear and define for†¦show more content†¦Aung San Suu demonstrates ethos in her speech by contrasting her father with the pacifism of Gandhi by stating: â€Å"The words used by Jawaharlal Nehru to describe Mahatma Gandhi could be applied to A ung San.† (page684). She uses that allusion to show her admiration for Gandhi, whom she identifies as â€Å"Abhaya†, the absence of fear from the mind. Aung San Suu strongly supports his immense contribution to human rights, peace, and non-violent resistance to fight oppression. She uses Gandhi as an example to persuade the reader that, just like him, she is worthy of trust and respect. She wants to show them that she has the same beliefs, same ideology as Gandhi, whom with his moral and methods brought down imperialism, colonialism and dictatorships. Kyi even continues to say that â€Å"there is an inevitable sameness† when she compares Gandhi to her father. A lot of attention focused on her because she is the daughter of once an influential man, so she knows that if she talks about him they would have no problem as to follow her. When it comes to her thoughts about Burma’s governments, Kyi shows a good amount of planning and knowledge when talking about economic growth. She states that: â€Å"Public dissatisfaction with economic hardships has been seen as the chief cause of the movement in Burma, sparked off by the student demonstrations of 1988.† (page682).Show MoreRelatedOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 Pageslamentable. Taken together, the key themes and processes that have been selected as the focus for each of the eight essays provide a way to conceptualize the twentieth century as a coherent unit for teaching, as well as for written narrative and analysis. Though they do not exhaust the crucial strands of historical development that tie the century together—one could add, for example, nationalism and decolonization—they cover in depth the defining phenomena of that epoch, which, as the essays demonstrate

Saturday, December 14, 2019

The enchantress Returns Free Essays

Brave Chris Colfer’s novel The Land of Stories: The Enchantress Returns tells the story of two 12-year-old twins, Alex and Connor Bailey, who went on an adventure to save their mother, and perhaps the world, against the will of their grandmother. The Enchantress, the witch who tried to kill Sleeping Beauty, attempted to take over The Land of Stories and the Otherworld (the land where the common people live). I admired Alex for her bravery and intelligence which she showed when she was trying o save her mother and the Fairy-Tale World. We will write a custom essay sample on The enchantress Returns or any similar topic only for you Order Now Initially, I saw Alex as very foolish and immature to run away from home, but my understanding grew when I realized that from Alex’s perspective, family is the most important of all. When Alex first appeared in the story, I thought, â€Å"Really, what can a child do in a crisis? † It turns out that children can really make a difference upon further reading. We first saw that Alex was rather frustrated when her grandmother kept them hostage from going after their mom, who had been kidnapped. So, she pried information from their ‘hostage holder’ and showed incredible bravery when she ran away from home and â€Å"hijacked Mother Goose’s giant goose† ( ), which she used to fly to her grandmother’s cottage. She also showed her bravery when she was captured by Trollbella (half troll, half goblin) in the Land of Stories. She showed bravery in this situation when she â€Å"kicked the troblin in the rump† (Line ). In the ending, Alex had the audacity to go up against the Enchantress and defeated her by using her bravery. In summary, I came to see that by using her bravery and intelligence, Alex was really strong and she immensely cared about family in order to do what she did. Having to face the Enchantress, who killed many, being alone, was quite frightening. However, she pushed through and won in the end. Sometimes, we care about our families more than ourselves, and we all need that extra push to do the right thing. Alex was brave enough to sacrifice much, which in this case, was her safety, in order to save her mother. How to cite The enchantress Returns, Papers

Friday, December 6, 2019

Planning in Dementia and Palliative Care †Free Samples to Students

Question: Discuss about the Planning in Dementia and Palliative Care. Answer: Introduction: This assignment is focused on the case study representing the condition of 46 years old man named Anthony Vella who had been suffering with stage 4 of pancreatic cancer which had been diagnosed six months back after he was presented to emergency department with acute abdominal pain. Anthony had been wedded to Luisa for 20 years; and the couple are blessed with two children, both aged 16 and 19 respectively. The rest of this assignment emphasizes on the procedure of defining and curating an advanced care plan (ACP) that is generally implemented in such cases, like that of James Smith. As per the design of this assignment, the first course of action is centered on discussing how a conversation session with the patient and the respective family members about crafting an ACP can be introduced and implemented. For any strategy to be successfully implemented it is extremely important to design the strategy carefully, however the very next step that is extremely necessary is the preparation that goes behind the implementation procedure. Hence, in this case as well, the strategizing step was followed by explaining the preparation required for that discussion process. The following section after the preparation procedure discusses the members that should participate in the said ACP discussion, followed swiftly by an elucidation of the necessary informational data needed in devising such a plan. Now, ACP can be defined as the document that has the potential to change over the lifespan of a particular individual, the next requirement is periodic reviewing and amending the ACP; the next section discusses the time limit after which the ACP must be reviewed and amended. The final section of this assignment discusses the activation period of the ACP program as well. Finally, the conclusion of the essay briefly concludes the primary points presented in the entire assignment. The importance form of the impetus for the development of the ACP derives from the fact that one out of four people dies in the United States that effectively occurs in the nursing homes and also 70% cases are been encountered in the hospitals. However, little has been observed in the early 1990s, that the statistics have reported that as many as the residents of the nursing home care have been receiving the end of the care of the life that was not in the compliance to the previous patients that have expressed the wishes in the advanced form of directives. In the part that are due to these form of issues, the Institute for Healthcare Improvements that are been producing the set of the principles that have been defining the responsibility of the health care professionals providing care that are holding the ACP form of discussions with the patients. There are five principles, that are represented in Figure 1, offer a framework for designing effective inter- conversation with patients (Adams, Kabcenel, Little, Sokol-Hessner, 2015). As opined by Adams et al. (2015) in his article, the key strategy instructs the health care professionals to be engaged with the patients and their families so that they can easily determine what care components in the most necessary to them. The model associated with this process instructs the health care providers to be connected with the families of the patients more compassionately and finally connects it with the patients in a specific way that are culturally and also individually been respectful. Various studies have observed that the home residents with respect to the discussions of the ACP have been found out that too often the discussions also takes place at the time of the admissions that if it occurs at all. In a particular form of situation, there needs to be systematic form of the reviews that are needed to be formed for the four specific studies of the ACP that have focused on the residents of the nursing home and they were found admitting, the healthcare staff often realized that the patients that were incapable for having for having the discussion at the time of their admission. However, it has to be understood that when dementia occurs the cognitive functioning power of the brain is more likely to be compromised, having the ACP conversation prior rather than later had always been a vital issue to ascertain enhanced quality of life. In the case represented in the assignment of James Smith, these principles or ideologies would initially mean discovering circumstances to connect with Mr. Smith along with his family regarding his EOL care needs. As the cancer care team designated to him had indicated two weeks prior that no additional treatment, except end of life care, would be efficient, the complete newest time for this conversation should actually be at that time. However, the survival rate of stage IV pancreatic cancer is only a window of five years time (ACS) (American Cancer Society, 2016). As per the condition that the patient under consideration is in the life expectancy for the patient is not more than five years, hence the ACP talk preferably been held immediately after diagnosis, in case that Mr. Smith had not arranged an ACP or AD in advance. The early ACP discussion just after the cancer diagnosis will increase the likelihood of the patient engaging in design and implementation of a patient centered ACP (Der Schmitten, Lex, Mellert, Rothrmel, Wegscheider Marckmann, 2014; Houben, Spruit, Groenen, Wouters Janssen, 2014). Additionally, it also needs to be considered that the AD documents that are completed after a successful ACP discussion are extremely beneficial for the traetmentv plan to follow, studies suggest that thes4e documents not provides relevant data regarding the severity of the patient as compared to the data collected without a valid ACP discussion with the patient (Der Schmitten et al., 2014; Garrido, Idler, Leventhal Carr, 2012). Another fact can be considerd completing both the documentation, AD along with ACP, considerably enhances the possibility of patient preferences being valued and complied along with being tended so that that care that complies with the preferred care requirements is provided (Brin kman-Stoppelenburg, Rietjens van der Heide, 2014; Houben, Spruit, Groenen, Wouters, Janssen, 2014). Preparation for the Advanced Care Discussion Adams et al. (2015) opined an imperative assortment of different steps that can be implemented by a healthcare providing organization to arrange and carry out ACP discussions with patients along with their family members. Although, the steps are not completely characterized still, utilizing the five different principles represented in the Figure 1 the IHI that characterizes main steps in planning to carry out these discussions. As per the findings of Adams et al. (2015), the initial phase of organization is to employ the connect population to care planning procedure so that they can interpret the number of patients that have already been selected a healthcare proxy, the number that have successfully documented their what matters issues, and of those without either or both of those documents, how many of them were asked to contemplate those issues. The stewardship part of the entire preparation cycle comprises of documenting the data from healthcare proxy and what matters concerns wit hin the records of the patients (Adams et al., 2015). The concept of exemplify principles indicate at exploring the exact figure of the health care workforce that have on their own discussed about ACP with their own families, and recorded their ACP and the what matters wishes along with having a advanced healthcare proxy that is recorded (Adams et al., 2015). The majorly difficult aspect of the entire preparation procedure is crafting a strategy that can employ the spiritual, philosophical, and cultural beliefs of patients even if those beliefs are potentially quite dissimilar from healthcare staff (Adams et al., 2015). In case of Mr. Smith, there had been no data provided that discusses his spiritual or cultural setting, neither were any recorded documentation about his what matters wishes; the patient even lacked a legal healthcare proxy to take clinical decisions in behalf of him in times he was incapable of response. The ACP conversation can engage a varied amount of several healthcare givers. However, it must necessarily include the patient his family members. With respect to Mr. Smith, the ACP discussion procedure should also have included one or more individuals belonging to the cancer care team he was assigned, it is not mandatory for the oncologist to be included, but someone skilled to carry out ACP discussions (Adams et al., 2015). In case the ACP discussion have not been carried out as an element of the cancer treatment plan he was designated, as suggested by the ACS, the primary instance he had been taken to the health care facility, a specialist must have had ACP conversation with Mr. Smith and the members of his family (American Cancer Society, 2016). Given that he had been pursued by the emergency department it can be interpreted that the patient had been in a critical condition, hence, it can be concluded that having the ACP discussion with the patient much earlier would have been fa r better. Now in case none of the above healthcare professionals discussed ACP with the patient, it would be extremely necessary for initiating the discussion by the primary physician. The main difference between the ACP document and a DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) is that the information provided by ACP documents is much more inclusive than the latter. The recommendations of the IHI indicate that an ACP must initiate with recording the answer given by the patient to What matters to you? (Adams et al., 2015). The questions belonging to this genre reveal the aspects of life that are most central to the patient and put in largely to the quality of their life. Furthermore, the ACP is also known to typically include a living will that describes the types of treatment procedures the patient wishes to undergo, along with providing a strong power of attorney which nominates some other individual to take the medical decisions on behalf of the patient in times when he or she is not capable of making those decisions on his own, and documents choices for organ and tissue donation, durable healthcare power of attorney, and religion documentation, cultural, or interpersonal for proc edures like dialysis or cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) (National Institute on Aging, 2016). McMahan, Knight, Fried, and Sudore (2013) researched the factors that the patient families and the patients themselves felt were most important in preparing an ACP. The suggestions from the particular study incorporated typical AD forms, but at the same time identifying and documenting the factors that were deemed as most crucial, ensuring the care proxy designated for the patient (the person particular in the durable power of attorney) understood their role in clarity, determining whether flexibility should be allowed to the surrogates in decisiveness or adhere strictly to preferences that the patient has previously expressed which helped in the family member or friends knowing the patients wishes (McMahan et al., 2013). A chief aspect in this context is to ensure ACP being safely documented in a manner that can be effortlessly understood, for the patients that are not very fluent with English or those who do not understand legal terminologies; the ACP documents ensures that everyone associated with the patient and the treatment procedure selected for him is equally involved, from family and friends of the patient to healthcare providers, everyone is clear about wants and needs of the patient. Robinson et al. (2013) distinguished that healthcare providers frequently discover ACP plans are very critical to incorporate into a clinical setting due to the concerns of complicatedness in making the legal documentation comprehensible, concerns with ambiguity in the legal background of the different documents, and concerns with differences between patient preferences eventually (Robinson et al., 2013). For Mr. Vella, his ACP comprises of a strong power for the attorney for allowing his wife and the other members of the family for making the decisions of this healthcare when he was very much incapable for doing so. Moreover, it should the core responsibility of his wife to give his proxy, should have been aware of all her responsibilities, and should know about Mr.Vellas have expressed their form of needs in the care plan. Since he had not been responding when he was admitted to the health care facility in the last event, he was also incapable to make healthcare decisions on his own regarding his conditions. Furthermore, a DNR would have potentially avoided extreme measures required otherwise to revive him, and organ and tissue donation forms serve as the means to permit his needs related to those issues are respected. According to the recent studies, the perception of the cancer patients regarding the ACP is a very dynamic one, the cancer patients often find is to be a potent device rather than being a permanent decision that is made only at one time. Michael et al. (2013) discussed the nature of response that the cancer patients have shown to ACPs over the course of their diseases. The patients who are suffering from cancer has been often found out that the ACP is a very dynamic form of the instruments rather than the fixed form of decisions that are been fixed form of decisions over the course of the disease. American patients with the incurable form of the pancreatic cancer like Mr. Velle, it has been observed in their medical reports shows only about fifteen percent of the times. Moreover, the DNR orders have also shown that the cancer patients are overpoweringly signed after the day that the patients died, either by the patients or by the proxies belonging to the healthcare systems. In one of the study by the Australian cancer patients, discovered that the extent of awareness in the public and utilization of different components of ACP (like living will, DNR orders, and more) varied extensively amongst different participants, along with the fact ACPs were tremendously changeable to cancer patients, that were unusually sought to judge various aspects of ACPs during various phases in their disease procedure. The most evocative declaration that the participants made had been that the ACP was an iterative process (Michael et al., 2013, p. 2198). With respect to the case represented by Mr. Vella, the ACP discussions it ought to be at a minimal form of level that are needed to be addressed at the time of the initial form of the diagnosis of the cancer, if it is not done before. As every stage of the protocol of his treatment was concluding, the plan has never been revisited for ensuring that Mr. Vellas desires were also with accordance to the alignment with the plan. This form of literative form of process ensures that Mr. Vella wishes were documented and updated with accordance to his physiological health and his process of the disease have also altered. The commencement procedure of ACP program is actually established on the specific situation of the patient. It has been observed that in cases when the ACP is designed and characterized by Michael et al. (2013), the commencement of the ACP plan that may take place for the over the longer period or the from time to time. For instances, to have a proxy refers to the fact that when the patient becomes incompetent and looses the capacity of making the healthcare decisions, they designated form of the proxy becomes ultimate for the patients. A circumstance where a patient is incapacitated for a short period of time which can lead to an ACP being initiated in advance until the patient can make clinical decisions on their own. Adams et al. (2015) in his article has suggested that if the entire healthcare industry propagates towards achieving the five conversation-ready principles, which are considered to be fitting stewards of the patient wishes, ACPs in most cases can be efficient and depe ndable for all kinds of patients. For Mr. Vella, the ACP was supposed to be performed at the time he was initially taken to the emergency department and had been unable to communicate his desires or preferences regarding his healthcare. Conclusion The above paper addresses the issue for the advancing care planning for the patients in the context of Mr. Anthony Vella, the cancer patient suffering with the Stage 4 of pancreatic cancer. The situation that Mr. Vella had been in highlighted the significance of preparing for the carrying out the conversation about the ACP much earlier than the disease left the patient had not been responding. The instrumental structure of elements of ACP that incorporated a living will, ADs concerning patient desires for activities to be carried out on him, choices for organ and tissue donation, durable healthcare power of attorney, and religion documentation, cultural, or interpersonal for procedures like dialysis. The ACP plans here are nothing but appropriate iterative procedures instead of being a one-time permanent set of main decisions, along with that are accurately performed earlier in the course of diagnosis and treatment, the moment a potentially severe or grave condition is diagnosed and during disease progression. Commencement of the ACP happens each time the patients situation requires major measures being contemplated. References Adams, K. M, Kabcenel, A., Little, K. Sokol-Hessner, L. (2015). Conversation ready: A framework for improving end-of-life care. IHI White Paper, Cambridge, MA: Institute for Healthcare Improvement. Available from: https://ihi.org American Cancer Society (ACS).(2016). Pancreatic survival rates, by stage.American Cancer Society.Available from https://www.cancer.org Brinkman-Stoppelenburg, A., Rietjens, J. A. C. van der Heide, A. (2014). The effects of advance care planning on end-of-life care: A systematic review. Palliative Medicine, 2014, 26 pp. DOI: 10.1177/0269216314526272 Der Schmitten, J. I., Lex, K., Mellert, C., Rothrmel, S., Wegscheider, K., Marckmann, G. (2014).Implementing an advance care planning program in German nursing home: Results of an inter-regionally controlled intervention trial.Deutschesrzteblatt International, 111(4), 50-57. DOI: 10.3238/arztebl.2014.0050 Garrido, M. M., Idler, E. L., Leventhal, H. Carr, D. (2013). Pathways from religion to advance care planning: Beliefs about control over length of life and end-of-life values. The Gerontologist, 53(5), 801-816. DOI: 10.1093/geront/gns128 Hartle, G. A., Thimons, D. G., Angelelli, J. (2014). Physician orders for life sustaining treatment in U.S. nursing homes: A case study of CRNP engagement in the care planning process. Nursing Research Practice, 2014, 7 pp. DOI: 10.1155/2014/761784 Houben, C. H. M., Spruit, M. A., Groenen, M. T. J., Wouters, E. F. M., Janssen, D. J.A. (2014). Efficacy of advance care planning: A systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMDA: The Journal of Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine, 15(7), 477-489. DOI: 10.1016/j.jamda.2014.01.008 McMahan, R., Knight, S., Fried, T. R. Sudore, R. L. (2013). Advance care planning beyond advance directives: Perspectives from patients and surrogates. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 46(3), 355-365. DOI: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2012.09.006 Michael, N., OCallaghan, C., Clayton, J., Pollard, A., Stepanov, N., Spruyt, O., Michael, M., Ball, D. (2013). Understanding how cancer patients actualise, relinquih, and reject advance care planning: Implications for practice. Support Care Cancer, 21, 2195-2205. DOI: 10.1007/s00520-013-1779-6 Murray, S. A. McLoughlin.(2012). Illness trajectories and palliative care. In L. Sallnow, S. Kumar A. Kellehear, International Perspectives on Public Health and Palliative Care, pp. 30-51. London: Routledge National Institute on Aging (2016). Advance care planning. National Institute on Aging.Available from: https://www.nia.nih.gov Nicholas, L. H., Bynum, J. P. W., Weir, D. R., Iwashyna, T. J., Langa, K. M. (2014). Advance directives and nursing home stays associated with less aggressive end-of-life care for severe dementia patients. Health Affairs (Project Hope), 33(4), 667674. DOI: 10.1377/hlthaff.2013.1258 Robinson, L., Dickinson, C., Bamford, C., Clark, A., Hughes, J. Exley, C. (2013). A qualitative study: Professionals experiences of advance care planning in dementia and palliative care, a good idea in theory but Palliative Medicine, 27(5), 401-408. DOI: 10.1177/0269216312465651 Robinson, L., Dickinson, C., Rousseau, N., Beyer, F., Clark, A., Hughes, J., Howel, D. Exley, C. (2012).A systematic review of the effectiveness of advanced care planning interventions for people with cognitive impairment and dementia.Age and Ageing, 41(2), 263-269. DOI: 10.1093/ageing/afr148 Sawatzky, R., Porterfield, P., Lee, J., Dixon, D., Lounsbury, K., Pesut, B., Roberts, D., Tayler, C., Voth, J. Stajduhar, K. (2016). Conceptual foundations of a palliative approach: A knowledge synthesis. BMC Palliative Care, 15(5), 14 pp. DOI: 10.1186/s12904-016-0076-9 Van der Steen, J. T., van Soest-Poortvliet, M. C., Hallie-Heierman, M., Onwuteaka-Philipsen, B. D., Deliens, L., de Boer, M. E., Van den Block, L., van Uden, N., Hertogh, C. M. P. M. de Vet, H. C. W. (2014). Factors associated with initiation of advanced care planning in dementia: A systematic review. Journal of Alzheimers Disease, 40(2014), 743-757. DOI: 10.3233/JAD-131967 Vandervoort, A., Houttekier, D., Stichele, R. V., van der Steen, J. T. van den Block, L. (2014). Quality of dying in nursing home residents dying with dementia: Does advanced care planning matter? A nationwide postmortem study.PLOS/one, 9(3), e91130.DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0091130

Thursday, November 28, 2019

Romulus, Between Shades of Gray and the Kite Runner free essay sample

An individual’s interaction with others and the world around them can enrich or limit their experience of belonging The base for an individual’s experience of belonging begins with the tempestuous walk we undertake throughout our life. Through our cold days of solitude we long to reach the sunlight which will thaw the chill of isolation. Most achieve this goal easily, creating a network of relationships and solidifying their place in the world. However, for others, this journey endeavoured only ends in tragedy and regret. Through the novels of Romulus, My Father, Between Shades of Gray and The Kite Runner, we see the ramifications of the pursuit of acceptance, safety and the right to be content. Through Romulus My Father, the withdrawal of Christina highlights the negative effects of her inability to belong. She becomes deeply depressed, and her isolation and inability to function in her new home diminishes her self-acceptance. We will write a custom essay sample on Romulus, Between Shades of Gray and the Kite Runner or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Although she attempts to connect with Raimond and Romulus, her efforts fail. She cannot belong even to her own family. He reached into the bag and threw a piece of wood at our shins, walking away before we could say anything. The character of Elena Vilkiene, the protagonist’s mother plays the role of the hero throughout the novel. Even though she has been detained in a work camp, being abused and degraded, she still finds compassion for those around her. Her kindness toward a soldier in the camp contributes to her enriched sense of belonging. The soldier, Nikolai Kretzky, has no choice but to treat them this way. She finds a sense of belonging through this, that although they are on different sides, they share the same circumstances. With the use of repetition, Ruta Sepetys conveys these feelings of hope and kind-heartedness breaking the coldness of isolation. â€Å"They lifted my dress. Nikolai came. He shooed the others off. He drove me the rest of the way Nikolai was punished for it. I think that’s why he is here Think of what your father would say. A wrongdoing doesn’t give us the right to do wrong. You know that. † The wood becomes a great Motif throughout the novel, connecting the need for survival and cooperation. He goes through a torment himself, trying to fit in with the people he despises. His own personal moral battles affect him, and this leads to his low perception of himself. He struggles with where he belongs. Kretzky took a step closer, reaching to help mother. Loathing purged from my mouth. â€Å"Get away from her! Stay away. I hate you. Do you hear me? I HATE YOU! † Kretzky stared at mother. â€Å"Me too,† he said. He walked away Through The Kite Runner, the protagonist Amir finds himself unable to find his identity. His own personal context is the blame, with the escape of himself and his father to America instilling the changes to his personal identity. He returns to Afghanistan to find his friend Hassan, and this event leads him to the knowledge that his once close friend (who was also his slave) is actually his half brother. He battles with the grief of his own actions towards Hassan, his rejection and desertion of him as being unforgivable and sets out to alter this by finding and saving Hassan’s son, his nephew. This is shown through personification of the sun and its role in showing Hassan’s purity and compassion. I looked at the round face in the Polaroid again, the way the sun fell on it. My brothers face. Our actions, the relationships we form and the individuals we meet all enrich and limit our sense of belonging, leading us towards darkness and towards the light. Without this road, however, we would not know change and ultimately, we would never know regret. Belonging becomes the product of our struggle for independence and protection, and I believe that just by attempting to live life fully, we belong. Without regret, there would be no change, without change, there would be no future and without belonging, there would be no happiness in the world.

Monday, November 25, 2019

Flame Tests Lab Report Essays

Flame Tests Lab Report Essays Flame Tests Lab Report Paper Flame Tests Lab Report Paper If one can tell if a planet has oxygen on it based on its bright line spectra, research could be done to tell if people can live on the planet or not. This would be a huge advance in science if it was possible to tell if people can live on other planets by knowing the elements on the other planets. This would solve the problem of the world becoming over-populated and would help prevent the spread of disease. Introduction- The purpose of this lab was to see what colors are characteristic of particular metallic ions in a flame test and use their characteristic color to identify other elements. Another purpose is to understand how fireworks work. A flame test is used to identify certain metals in a compound or single element. 1 When an electron jumps up to a higher energy state the element is in its excited state. Elements are only in their excited for a brief moment. When the electron moves back down to a lower energy state, it emits light and produce a flame color. L Sometimes there is more than one flame color because an electron might go from the as orbital then go to the up orbital which means two colors will be produced. Every element emits a different flame color or colors. : These colors can be put on a bright line spectra which shows every color that the element produces in a flame test. 1 Each element has a unique bright line spectra and thus can be identified by using its bright line spectra. When the element is in a compound, it can be burned to produce the flame. The color of the flame corresponds with each element. When there is an unknown compound, the metal can be found by using previous data from previous tests. By looking at the color you can see if it matches any previous tests and possibly find the name of he metal. Flame tests can also be used to find the color of fireworks one wants to use. By using the metal that emits the color one wants in fireworks, one can get the desired color. This experiment will be conducted using the same spatula, the same Bunsen burner, the same kind of acid and nitrate bonded to every one of the metals. It will also be conducted with everyone in the lab using safety goggles and everyone wearing closed toed shoes. There are no relevant waste concerns in this lab This experiment will show that every element has a different right line spectra and this can be used to identify elements in space or anywhere. It will also show that flame tests can be used to make certain colored fireworks. I predict that all of the metals tested will emit different colors of light. I also predict that all of the metals will emit a color in the visible spectrum. Materials- Chemical Splash Goggles Well Plate Marker Pen Barium Nitrate (Baa(NON)2) Copper Nitrate (Cue(NON)2) Strontium Nitrate Lithium Nitrate (Lie(NON)) Potassium Nitrate (K(NON)) Sodium Chloride (NCAA) Calcium Nitrate (Ca(NON)2) Monochrome wire loop Beaker, 50-ml Hydrochloric Acid Lab Burner Wash Bottle with distilled water 1 Unknown Solution Experimental- The safety equipment was put on. The spatula was cleaned off to make sure there is no residue on it. The Bunsen burner was set up and the flame was adjusted to the desired height. One of the samples was put on the spatula and the formula of the salt solution was recorded into Table 1. The spatula with the salt solution was put over the flame. The color of the flame was recorded in table 1. The spatula was put in hydrochloric acid, then put into water, and then put over the flame to burn off any residue from the salt solution. This procedure was repeated for the other seven salt solutions and the one unknown solution. The equipment was cleaned off and put away at the end of the experiment Data- Table 1: Table 21 Table 2: Test of Unknown Solution Unknown Color K(NON) Light Orange Results and Discussion- The data in table 1 shows that every metal tested emits a different color during a flame test. This happens because every metal has a different bright line spectra. Table 2 shows that you can identify a metal in a compound by using a flame test. The metal in the compound was identified by the light orange color seen during the flame test. Table 1 proves my hypothesis to be correct. Conclusion- The purpose of this lab was to see what colors are characteristic of particular metallic ions in a flame test and use their characteristic color to identify other elements. Another purpose was to understand how fireworks work. This experiment can help to identify elements in space to help scientists know whether a planet has oxygen or not. It can also alp one determine what metal to use in fireworks to portray a certain color. The experiment was conducted by burning a salt and recording the color of the flame. This experiment showed that every metal emits a different color and this proves the hypothesis to be correct, that every metal emits a different color when put into a flame. This experiment also shows that a metal can be identified by looking at the color of the flame and matching it to previous data results. This also proves my hypothesis to be correct. Table 1 and Table 2 prove both of my hypotheses to be correct. More experiments can be done with machines to find the exact wavelengths of light for every element. If the exact wavelengths can be found, it would be easier to identify elements with a flame test. Possible sources of error in this experiment were that the monochrome wire may not have been fully cleaned off every time, the color might have looked different because of other light sources, and there could have been particles in the bottom of the Bunsen burner. Acknowledgments: The author of this paper thanks Union Springs High School for use of their facilities to conduct this experiment with.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Communication, Writing and Professional Practice Essay - 1

Communication, Writing and Professional Practice - Essay Example Most employees are students or other less skilled workers. These workers come from a diverse background, and mostly belong to different age groups, gender and races. The jobs that the employees of a supermarket generally perform, ranges from manual work, such as stocking shelves to management duties. A part of the on-floor employees work description is that they have to help the customer locate what they desire and provide them product information if required. Another form of on-floor activity is performed by the cashiers who man the POS. Apart from the shop floor, most supermarkets have at least one manager present at the store at all times. These are usually college graduates with experience and their job description involves keeping inventory controls to other management related issues. Rest of the work team at a supermarket consist of the office workers, the clerks, secretaries and the accountants. From the order filler to the stocker to the on-floor supervisor, how does the communication occur? And what are the rules and norm patterning that communication? As in all other organizations and businesses, effective workplace communication is among the most important factors that determine the success of a supermarket. Deal and Kennedy (1982, Cited in Gilsdorf, 1998) talk in their book about how a strong corporate culture, effective communication and cost saving are linked together. They say that by knowing exactly what their organization expects of them, employees will waste very little time trying to decide how to act in a particular situation. We can conclude from the above statement that people who know the ropes of their organization; those who know the rules are generally more effective in the work that they perform. The term rule here is used to denote the assumptions organizational members make about the right way to communicate in given situations in their particular organization (Gilsdorf, 1998). In her paper,

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

The Big Parallel Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Big Parallel - Essay Example The paper herein seeks to compare keenly and contrast the teachings that are contained in the Quran and those in the Hebrews Bible as well as in the New Testament. In addition, the paper will carefully bring into focus most of the theological issues such as the ritual aspects of Islam, the ethical nature of Allah, the doctrines of creation among other issues. The Bible and Qur’an normally have several similarities, as both are considered holy by Christians and the Muslims respectively. Both are comprised of teachings, narratives, poetry whereby in both, there is rebuking in case one goes off the line of expectations by the teachings. In both, there are clear teachings of the how the creation came into existence all by a Supreme Being. In the Qur’an, Muslims believe that God dictated every word in the Holy book, therefore; it is perfect just like God to them is (Warraq 34). Equally, the Christians believe that the Bible is simply true as it was written by people that were inspired by God Himself. Christians firmly believe that the bible is indeed an actual record of Almighty God’s revelation to the Jews and even through Christ Jesus. The two holy books are accorded sufficient respect. The Bible and Quran have used a lot of common figures. For instance, for the same narratives both identify the prophets such as Imram, Enoch, Ishmael and Job. In the teachings of both Quran and the Bible, there is a common belief that Jesus for Christians and Mohammad for Muslims was a messenger of one God. Therefore believing major people such as Moses, Jesus, Adam and Muhammad is a definite requirement for all people that associate themselves with Islam or Christianity. As Christians, the Muslims as well have a strong belief that Mary was chaste and was a virgin who miraculously brought forth Jesus. In addition, the Christians and Muslims have faith in the teachings that Jesus was able to perform miracles (Taussig 20). To Muslims, they believe that

Monday, November 18, 2019

PRATICAL WORKSHEETS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

PRATICAL WORKSHEETS - Essay Example The DNA samples collected from suspects have the similar size of bands of about 1000 to 1100bp. However, band size of about 800 to 900bp and 1300-1400bp were also seen in the samples 1 and 2. On the other hand, the DNA fingerprinting shows that suspect 3 DNA has base pair band size of about 600-700bp that is similar to the band size of the DNA attained from the crime sight. Thus, is it quite clear that the DNA samples from the crime sight and suspect 3 DNA samples are same and suspect 3 has interaction with the crime sight. 3. Tris-borate-EDTA and Tris acetate-EDTA are the basic buffing compounds that are used to characterize the DNA molecules. Tris acetate-EDTA is to characterize smaller molecules of DNA whereas Tris-borate-EDTA is taken to analyze the portions of DNA. In order to maintain the pH of the DNA fragments, DC voltages of about 4-10V per centimetre is applied. On the other hand, it also enhances the DNA fingerprinting by lowering the movement of portions of DNA. In this way, bands with enhanced visibility and broad view can be created. On the other hand, as the concentration of gel increases the movement of fragments also decreases. Molecular biologists use DNA electrophoresis and find it a better method to differentiate different DNA fragments, as different segments of the DNA molecule show different characteristic when charge is applied. The DNA matrix is first into a solution that has higher concentration of buffer and DC voltages are then passed. As the presence of phosphate groups makes the DNA molecules to have negative polarity, it attracts the positive terminal. The ratio of the mobility depends on the strand size of the DNA molecule. If the strand size of the DNA is smaller it will move easily and faster after applying electric current as compared to the longer stands DNA. In order to make the DNA samples more visible a florescent compound like ethidium bromide is added to make the

Friday, November 15, 2019

Organizational Decoupling Processes and Causes

Organizational Decoupling Processes and Causes The field of organizational decoupling is a field that has not been researched very much. Meyer and Rowan (1977) were some of the first authors who wrote about this subject and define organizational decoupling as separating formal structure from actual organizational practice. In short, this means that organizations say that they do one thing, but actually do something else. For instance, an organization can announce that it will start a stock repurchase program. The organization can announce that it will repurchase a certain amount of stocks but actually repurchase much less stocks or dont repurchase them at all (Westphal Zajac, 2001). In this particular example the organization decouples what it says it is going to do, with what it actually does. Thus, the organization separates formal procedures (formal structure) from practice. So organizations seem to decouple their structure from actual practice, but why? Why do organizations try to fool other organizations, clients, customers and possibly even themselves? I argue that the main problem is legitimacy, and by exploring organizations quest for legitimacy and the problems they might encounter along the way, this research tries to map the main causes for organizational decoupling and thus give an answer to the following research question: What are the main causes of organizational decoupling? This research consists of a step-by-step overview of the entire process underlying decoupling. Four steps will be taken to explore and explain why organizations decouple their formal procedures (formal structure) from practice. Namely, 1) looking at the context of organizations and their search for legitimacy, 2) looking at problems organizations might encounter while searching for legitimacy 3) identifying the problem that is supported to be the prime cause of decoupling and 4) looking at organizational reactions to these problems (using decoupling) to connect the causes the action (problems to decoupling). These three steps will be discussed in three paragraphs and each paragraph consists of a review of existing literature from different authors about the decoupling process. Figure 1.1 shows the conceptual model sketching the process underlying decoupling. This model is divided into theory and propositions. The theory section shows which concepts form the theory behind the proposit ions and the propositions section shows which propositions are extracted from the theory. These propositions will form the core of this research. Research Structure The first step in the research is to take a look at the context of organizations and their quest for legitimacy. Organizations are embedded into institutional environments, meaning that the environment expects something of these organizations (Boxembaum Jonsson, 2008). There are certain norms, values and rules that organizations are being expected to act upon. Organizations have to conform to these expectations to gain legitimacy and this is the one goal all organizations have. They have to be legitimate to operate, survive, gain control over resources and create stability (Meyer Rowan, 1977; Boxenbaum Jonsson, 2008). For organizations, expectations are being experienced as pressures to conform. Therefore, this research will use the term environmental pressures to refer to these expectations. However, using the term environmental pressure sketches an image that is too vague and incomplete. Therefore this research divides environmental pressures into normative pressures and coercive pressures (Dimaggio Powel, 1983/2000). The term normative pressures refers to the expectations of the public or the cultural audience. These are the people and other organizations that form society and expect organizations to behave in a certain way and to conform to moral norms and values. It is important to keep in mind that it is not illegal to disregard these expectations; they are social guidelines, not laws. Nonetheless organizations have to conform to these expectations to stay legitimate (Boxenbaum Jonsson, 2008; and others). Coercive pressures however do consist of laws. In some situations organizations have to conform to certain laws that are being imposed by the government and this creates a pressure to conform. Organizations must conform because disobedience is illegal and illegitimate (Edelman, 1992). The second step in finding the answer to why organizations decouple their formal procedures (formal structure) from practice lies in the problems organizations might encounter while pursuing legitimacy. This paper categorizes three different problems that might rise when organizations try to gain legitimacy by conforming to environmental pressures, namely: 1) organizations might encounter a misfit between the expectations of their environments and their practices (Meyer Rowan, 1977); 2) some organizations might encounter an inability to conform to the coercive and normative pressures (Oliver, 1991); and 3) in some cases what an organization is being expected to do is in conflict with the interests of the organization as a whole or of individual managers (Edelman, 1992; Westphal Zajac, 2001; Fiss Zajac, 2006). The third step is to identify one of the three possible problems as the one that is the most important or most found cause of organizational decoupling. This step will eventually form an answer to the research question. The fourth step is the step where organizations actually decouple their formal structure from practice as a response to the problems that have arisen as a result of environmental pressures. This chapter will discuss different ways in which organizations use decoupling to solve problems and it illustrates some particular situations and approaches to the different problems that might arise while trying to be legitimate. This chapter functions as a bridge between the problems and the actual decoupling. Relevance of the Research Because organizations experience the struggle for legitimacy on a daily basis, and therefore have to cope with problems that arise as a result, this research might give organizations an insight in how to deal with these pressures and problem situations. Managers of organizations can use the knowledge in this research to come up with strategies that both suffice the need for legitimacy as well as the need for efficiency and pursuing organizational interests. The process underlying decoupling as illustrated in this research might also be used as a mean to gain legitimacy on its own. Because this research provides an insight into the reasons that organizations have to decouple their structure from practice, the public or cultural audience might come to a better understanding of the situation. They might understand that organizations sometimes have no other choice than to decouple and that the actions of organizations are actually quite legitimate, even if they are not considered to be at the moment. The knowledge provided in this research can also lead to further research on decoupling an form a basis for other researchers to start from because it tries to explain the core concept behind decoupling and to give an answer to the why question. Theoretical Framework Theory The aim of this research is to explore and explain the process underlying organizational decoupling and summarize the main causes. But what is organizational decoupling exactly? Meyer and Rowan (1977) define organizational decoupling as separating formal structure from actual organizational practice, meaning that organizations create an illusion of their activities (formal structure) but actually perform different activities (organizational practice). Many authors have used the term organizational decoupling but most of them refer to Meyer and Rowan as the founding fathers of this field of study and therefore this research will use the definition of organizational decoupling as given by them. The second important concept in this research is legitimacy. This research hypothesizes that organizations are on a quest for legitimacy and might encounter problems along the way. Legitimacy is therefore one of the core concepts and will be defined as a generalized perception or assumption that the actions of an entity are desirable, proper, or appropriate within some socially constructed system of norms, values, beliefs, and definitions (Suchman, 1995, p. 574). This definition will be used in this research because Suchman (1995) includes the importance of the social audience in his definition. As mentioned earlier, the audience defines the social pressure that organizations experience and is therefore an important player in the process underlying decoupling, which in a way determines what is legitimate and what is not, and should therefore be included in the definition of legitimacy. The third concept as mentioned in the conceptual model (figure 1.1) is environmental pressure. Meyer and Rowan (1977) call this environmental pressure myths. According to them, institutional rules function as myths to which organizations have to conform to be legitimate. This research however does not use the term myths but the term environmental pressure, the definition however remains the same. As mentioned earlier this research separates environmental pressure into two different sub pressures: coercive pressure and normative pressure. Coercive pressure will be defined as the demand of the state or other large actors to adopt specific structures or practices, or else face sanctions (Dimaggio Powel, 1983/2000 in Boxenbaum Jonsson, 2008, p. 80). Normative pressure will be defined as what is widely considered a proper course of action, or even a moral duty (Suchman, 1995, in Boxenbaum Jonsson, 2008, p. 80). These two definitions are chosen because they both point out the important difference between the moral and legal background of the concepts. The definition of coercive pressures specifically points out the role of the state and the risk of facing sanctions. This expresses the legal background of the concept. On the other hand, the definition of normative pressure points out the role of the audience. This on its turn expresses the social background of the concept. Dimaggio and Powel (1983/2000) also mention a third pressure, namely mimetic pressure. These mimetic pressures are mainly caused by uncertainty. This uncertainty for organizations causes organizations to imitate other, successful organizations to reduce their own uncertainty. Even though the concept of mimetic pressures is a part of the pressure package of Dimaggio and Powel (1983/2000) it will not be used in this research. The reason for leaving mimetic pressures out of the research and include only coercive and normative pressures is that this research hypothesizes that conforming to certain en vironmental pressure causes problems. Mimetic pressures however do not cause but rather solve problems (uncertainty)(Dimaggio Powel, 1983/2000). Propositions This research also mentions three different problems that organizations might encounter while trying to be legitimate. The first are efficiency problems. These problems are defined as problems that might arise when organizations try to conform to environmental pressures, which actually are in conflict with efficiency criteria (Meyer Rowan, 1977). The second problem is the inability to conform to environmental pressures. This problem will be defined as a problem that might rise when an organization has inadequate resources or capacity to meet the requirements of conformity (Oliver, 1991). The third are conflicting organizational or managerial interest problems. These are problems that might rise when environmental pressures are in conflict with the organizational or managerial interests (Edelman, 1992; Westphal Zajac, 2001; Fiss Zajac, 2006). Based on these three possible problems three propositions are made: Proposition 1 Organizational decoupling is caused by efficiency problems. Proposition 2 Organizational decoupling is caused by the organizations inability to conform to environmental pressures. Proposition 3 Organizational decoupling is caused by conflicting organizational or managerial interests. Table 2.1 Concept Definitions Organizational decoupling Separating formal structures from actual organizational practice Legitimacy A generalized perception or assumption that the actions of an entity are desirable, proper, or appropriate within some socially constructed system of norms, values, beliefs, and definitions Environmental pressure Institutional rules function as environmental pressures to which organizations have to conform to be legitimate Coercive pressure The demand of the state or other large actors to adopt specific structures or practices, or else face sanctions Normative pressure What is widely considered a proper course of action, or even a moral duty Efficiency problems Problems that might arise when organizations try to conform to environmental pressures, which actually conflicts sharply with efficiency criteria Inability to conform to environmental pressures Problems that might arise when an organization has inadequate resources or capacity to meet the requirements of conformity Conflicting organizational or managerial interests Problems that might arise when environmental pressures are in conflict with the organizational or managerial interests Research design This research can be characterized as both a descriptive and an explanatory research. It is both descriptive and explanatory because the aim on one hand is to describe current mainstream findings of other researchers on organizational decoupling and on the other hand to explain the whole process underlying organizational decoupling. This chapter will describe the process of data collection and data analysis using a part of the guidelines for conducting a systematic literature review as suggested by Tranfield, Denyer and Smart (2003). According to them conducting a review can be divided into several phases (table 3.1). These phases will form the steps used in this research for both data collection and analysis. Phases in conducting a review (Tranfield, Denyer Smart, 2003) Phase 1 Identification of research Phase 2 Selection of Studies Phase 3 Study quality assessment Identification of Research This phase of the research is the actual start of the data collection. According to Tranfield, Denyer and Smart (2003) a systematic search begins with identifying keywords and search terms. As mentioned in chapter 2 (Theoretical Framework), this research contains several concepts, which again can be found in the conceptual model (figure 1.1). These concepts are the core of this research and therefore some of them will be used as keywords to find relevant articles and papers. The first string of keywords is as follows: 1) Decoupling; 2) Legitimacy; 3) Institutional pressures. Table 3.2 shows the number of articles found for each keyword. Number of articles found Decoupling 12.262 Legitimacy 8.199 Institutional pressures 1080 To make the keywords more specific and to make sure that the results of the search are narrowed down the following, more specific keywords were identified and some keywords were added to the string (see table 3.2 for argumentation): 1) Organi?ational decoupling; 2) Acquiring legitimacy; 3) Maintaining legitimacy; 4) Conformity + institutional pressures; 5) Symbolic management Keyword argumentation Organi?ational decoupling Adding organi?ational to the term Decoupling makes the term more specific and narrows down results The ? makes sure that both the English and the American spelling of the word are being checked for Acquiring legitimacy Adding Aquiring to the term Legitimacy makes sure that the search focuses on the organizations search for legitimacy and not just on legitimacy itself Maintaining legitimacy Adding Maintaining to the term Legitimacy makes sure that the search focuses on the organizations struggle to maintain legitimacy and not just on legitimacy itself Conformity + Institutional pressures The term Institutional pressures refers to the pressures that weigh upon organizations The term Conformity refers to the theory that organizations have to conform to certain pressures to be legitimate Symbolic management Decoupling is using symbols to show that your organization conforms to certain institutional pressures (myths) (Meyer Rowan, 1977)The use of these symbols as a management strategy is called symbolic management (Westphal Zajac, 1998; 2001) The main source of information will be the ISI Web of Knowledge. This database contains thousands of articles and papers, which can be found using the license of the University of Tilburg. Unfortunately this license only allows the search for articles that have been published in 1988 or later. However, for the first step in searching relevant literature this is not a reason for concern. Again, to narrow down the results of the research and to exclude irrelevant results, the search will be refined to the general category Social Sciences. This makes sure that the search results do not include findings in irrelevant categories such as Science and Technology and Arts and Humanities. Second, the subject areas of the search are also refined. The subject areas that are included in the search are Business and Economics, Sociology and Behavioral Sciences. An example of the exact syntax of the search command can be found in the appendix. Besides using search-strings, this research also used the technique of snowballing. This technique uses the literature references of articles and papers that might have been found using the search-strings. For instance, the paper of Meyer and Rowan (1977) is being referred to by almost every author in the field of organizational decoupling. However, this article does not pop up in the search results in the Web of Knowledge database because it was published before 1988. By using snowballing other relevant articles about the subject can be found. The result of using this technique is that the latter part of the literature used in this research was found in the literature references of the articles that were found by using the organi?ational decoupling search term. Selection of Studies After searching for articles a selection of relevant studies had to be made. This process consists of three steps: 1) scanning the titles 2) reading the abstracts of the studies found and 3) matching the content of the studies to this researchs concept. The first and second step give an indication of what the studies are about. The title says a lot about the content of a paper and the abstract of an article gives a short summary of what the author has found in his or her study and thus gives an indication of the usability for this research. The third step is actually a sort of analysis of the studies that have been marked as relevant and usable in the previous two steps. This step consists of actually reading the selected studies and mapping their contents. Mapping the contents of a article or paper that are relevant for this research is being done by using a summary table (see appendix 6.2). This table is an oversight of the different articles and papers, their authors and the main concepts of these studies. After reading all the relevant literature this table is used to divide the different studies into different categories. The different categories consist of the core concepts of this study as shown in figure 1.1 (conceptual model), namely: 1) legitimacy; 2) conforming to coercive pressures; 3) conforming to normative pressures; 4) efficiency problems; 5) inability to conform to environmental pressures; 6) conflicting organizational or managerial interests; and 7) implementing decoupling. Dividing the literature into these different categories makes it easier to link them together in this research and to formulate an answer to the research question. Study Quality Assessment The quality of this research will be guaranteed by checking the literature that is being used as data. By checking the literature for times cited the reliability and validity of the literature is being secured. The more a particular article or paper is cited by other authors, the higher the reliability and validity of this particular article or paper. However, this also means that the older articles seem to be more reliable. To overcome this bias articles of more recent years have also been taken in to account and have been checked for usability separately. Another method for improving the reliability of the research is to use theoretical triangulation. By looking at different theories, the concept of organizational decoupling will be explained in a reliable and multidimensional way. To guarantee that this research can be replicated and checked for inconsistencies or to extend it, every step of the research process is being recorded. Also, the systematic way of analyzing the data ensures both replicabillity and reliability. Results As mentioned earlier, this research consists of three steps in explaining the causes of organizational decoupling. These three steps are according to the conceptual model (figure 1.1) and try to explain the process underlying decoupling step-by-step and will be covered in the following paragraphs. Quest for Legitimacy Before we can point out which problems could cause decoupling we must first take a look at how these problems rise in the first place. The theory shows that organizations try to be legitimate and are thus on a quest for legitimacy. Acquiring and maintaining legitimacy is the most difficult task for most organizations (Elsbach Sutton, 1992; Pfeffer Salancik, 1978: 194). Nonetheless, organizations have to be legitimate to operate, survive, gain resources and create stability (Meyer and Rowan, 1977; Boxembaum Jonsson, 2008). So one of the main goals of organizations is to be legitimate, but how do organizations achieve this? Boxembaum and Jonsson (2008) argue that organizations are embedded into institutional environments. Being embedded into institutional environments means that this environment has certain expectations of the organizations. These expectations are being experienced as pressures, and organizations have to comply with these pressures to maintain legitimacy (Dimaggio Powel, 1983/2000; Monahan, 2006). These pressures can be either coercive or normative (Seidman, 1983; Dimaggio Powel, 1983/2000). Coercive pressures refer to environmental expectations such as, for instance, laws. The argument that organizations have to conform to coercive pressures is supported by the work of Tsoukas (1994) who argues that in some environments organizations have to conform to rules and institutions as imposed by the legal state. Normative pressures refer to norms and values about what is considered proper or normal (Suchman, 1995). In their work on educational organizations and ranking Sauder and Espeland (2009) write about the normative pressures that educational organizations have to conform to. According to them, educational organizations are being ranked according to their performance. Schools have to be the best of the best to survive and thus have to conform to todays ideas of what is considered good quality and bad quality. Problems Along the Way So in short, organizations try to be legitimate by conforming to both coercive and normative environmental pressures. Conforming to these environmental pressures seems to be the right and only thing for organizations to do. However, this research hypothesizes that it might also cause certain problems. This research distinct three particular problems, namely: 1) efficiency problems; 2) inability to conform; and 3) conflicting interests. Efficiency Problems Meyer and Rowan (1977) argue that organizations that try to be legitimate by conforming to environmental pressures might encounter a misfit between the organizational structure and its practice. In other words, the environmental pressures are not in line with the organizational practice. For instance, Meyer and Rowan (1977) mention the example of a bus company. A bus company is expected to service certain routes, even when there are no passengers. This is highly inefficient, but the bus company has to conform to the environmental pressures. Edelman (1992) also point out the efficiency problems that might rise in their example of the equal employment opportunity and affirmative action (EEO/AA) law. This law is designed to ban discrimination in the hiring processes of firms and thus restricts organizations and managers to hire or refuse whomever they want. According to Edelman (1992) organizations experience this as highly inefficient and obstructing to managerial power. Inability to Conform A second problem that organizations can encounter is that they simply cannot conform to the environmental pressures. Oliver (1991) argues that some organizations are just not able to conform to certain environmental pressures because they do not have the needed resources or the capacity. For instance, it is more or less a social expectation (thus, a normative pressure) that the area surrounding a fast-food-restaurant is kept clean and clear of garbage by the restaurant itself. However, the restaurant might not have enough personnel or the material (resources and capacity) to conform to this expectation. It might also be possible that organizations simply do not know what is being expected of them or that multiple environmental pressures are conflicting with each other (Oliver, 1992). If any of these options is the case, then the organization might not be able to conform or choose to conform to one pressure, but ignore the other (conflicting) one. Conflicting Organizational or Managerial Interests The third problem that can rise as a result of trying to conform to environmental pressures is that certain organizational or managerial interests might be conflicting with the expectations (environmental pressures). Westphal and Zajac (2001) point out that some organizations that announce a stock repurchase program do not always fully implement these programs. According to them this might be a result of conflicting managerial interests. They argue that top managers might use this strategy, which is actually decoupling, to preserve free cash flow for themselves and thus to maintain managerial discretion over the allocation of resources. In other words, the organization is being expected to fully implement the stock repurchase programs, but top managers seem to want to keep control over the allocation of resources and thus do not (completely) conform to this environmental pressure. What is being expected, and the interests of the managers are conflicting with each other. The previous mentioned findings of Edelman (1992) about the EEO/AA law and its consequences for organizations are also supporting the conflicting interests argument. Edelman (1992) not only argues that conforming to the EEO/AA law, a coercive pressure, is inefficient but also argues that it is in conflict with organizational and managerial interests. Managers want to be free in hiring whomever they want but the EEO/AA law prohibits them from doing this. Thus, the coercive pressure to which the organizations have to conform is in conflict with the interests of the organizations themselves and their managers. Decoupling as  a Problem Solving Tool So far we have traced the process underlying decoupling from trying to be legitimate, to conforming to environmental pressures and to the problems this might cause. This research argues that these problems are the main causes of organizational decoupling but so far nothing has been said about the implementation of decoupling as a response to these problems. This paragraph will give some examples of how organizations use decoupling to solve their problems and will form a bridge between the problems and decoupling. According to Meyer and Rowan (1977), efficiency problems can be solved by formally adopting a structure but then internally decouple this structure from the actual practice. They give an example of how a hospital applies this strategy. In this example Meyer and Rowan (1977) point out that hospitals treat, not cure their patients. The environmental pressures prescribe that hospitals are being expected to cure patients. However, this is highly unpractical because they cannot cure every single patient. The solution to this problem is decoupling. Hospitals give an impression that they cure their patients, and thus conform to the environmental pressures, but actually these hospitals treat their patients and do not cure all of them. In fact, hospitals only publish numbers on treated patients and not or seldom on cured patients (Meyer Rowan, 1977). Edelman (1992), regarding to the EEO/AA law example, also gives a solution to the efficiency problems. Organizations create formal structures in the form of offices, positions, rules and procedures within the organization. These formal structures are actually symbols of compliance. They give the impression that the organization conforms to the environmental pressures, but in fact the organization can hire or reject someone on illegitimate grounds (Edelman, 1992). When an organization does not have the resources or capability to conform to environmental pressures, it will attempt to preclude the necessity of conformity or to conceal nonconformity behind a faà §ade of acquiescence (Oliver, 1991). Oliver (1991) gives an example: when a construction firm is building a house and they are expecting a government inspection of the building site, they might display several activities that normally are not there. For instance, rules require two men to operate heavy machinery on building sites. However, a building firm might not have enough personnel to put two men on the job and thus normally only one man operates the machinery. When the building firm expects an inspection it will, for instance, relocate someone from another building site to the one that is being inspected. So when the inspectors come, the heavy machinery is operated by two men, while normally it is not. This way the organization (construction firm) conceals its nonconformity. A possible solution to the third problem, conflicting organizational or managerial interests, is already mentioned shortly in the previous paragraph. The example of the stock repurchase program (Westphal Zajac, 2001) shows that individual managers simply do not implement the whole program when their interests are in conflict with the plans. So in short, decoupling actually comes down to the following: give the environment the impression that the organization conforms to all expectations (environmental pressures), but when these pressures cause some sort of problem for the organization, actually follow the organizations own rules and routines. Conclusions Recommendations This chapter will formulate conclusions that are derived from the results and give some recommendations for further research on organizational decoupling. Conclusions

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Hydroponics :: essays research papers

Hydroponics Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  NAME HERE and I became fascinated by hydroponics and the idea that one doesn't have to get their hands dirty to be a great gardener, and if your like us that's a good thing.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The idea of hydroponics has been around since the pyramids where build, but in all these years it never seemed to catch on. It took about forty-six hundred years before the first scientist took a look at hydroponics and adapted it to grow crops, this was a professor at the University of California, and the result was a 25 foot tomato plant that had to be harvest by a ladder. Thus hydroponics was reborn and has been advancing ever since. Yet up to 5 years ago the home grower and generally the public didn't know about hydroponics. It was only being used by commercial growers. But now it has caught on, and resulted in this experiment.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When thinking about hydroponics one must think about the applications of hydroponics. Not only dose hydroponics produce bigger, better, and more healthier plants than the traditional dirt, but it can also be greatly beneficial on things like submarines, space stations, off-shore oil rigs, or any where else where dirt is hard to come by.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  During this experiment we'll be looking for which plant life well do best with hydroponics, by measuring which plant has grown the highest or bushiest. We also well be looking for green and healthy looking leaves on the plants. We have no idea what the results might be, so this should be an exciting experiment. Problem   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Which form of plant life will thrive the most in a hydroponics enrichment. Will it be Tomatoes our fruit, Peas our vegetable, Tinkerbell flowers, or Beans a legume?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  First we selected a suitable PVC pipe and cut it into a 4 foot long piece. Next we cut four holes into the pipe with a jigsaw. After that we drilled two holes for the brass tee's to fit into. Next we glued on the two caps. After that we drilled two holes, one for the bucket to rest on, and the other for the plastic hose to go into. Then we glued the 20mm pipe into one of the holes. After that we cut our 4 inch PVC pipe and glued the cap to it. Then we drilled two holes into the pipe, and inserted two brass nosles into the holes we just drilled. Now take the plastic hose and cut it into 4 piece. One piece is for draining, one is for sub reservoir, and two are to separate the sub