Thursday, October 31, 2019

Motivation of Travelers on Repeat Visits to Thailand Essay

Motivation of Travelers on Repeat Visits to Thailand - Essay Example There are various reasons for what exactly tempts the travelers to come back to Thailand over and over again and this paper will discuss exactly that. Thailand is an extremely popular country for its culture, nature, cuisine, hospitality and world class accommodation and that too at a very reasonable price. But this is the present scenario, the country boasts of a rich history too. The country boasts of the two most amazing heritage sites by the name Sukhothai and Ayutthaya, the same attracts millions of visitors every year. The temples in the country also form a major attraction, so moany people come from various places to catch a glimse of various temples in Thailand. The tourists also get the luxury of riding Elephants while they see various temples in the country, this simplifies their work and it is a very big luxury which is being provided by the people of the country. There are many Wildlife Sanctuaries in the country, these Sanctuaries also attract a lot of people and three Wildlife Sanctuaries have been identified by UNESCO and the same were also declared the world heritage sites, those three Wildlife Sanctuaries are Thun g Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary, Huai Kha Kaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, and Khao Yai National Park. These centuries attract many visitors from all across the globe. People who love travelling always visit Thailand over and over again for more reasons than one. ... ers are the beaches in the country and people enjoy various activities on these beaches such as canoeing, snorkelling, scuba diving, yachting, hiking, and golfing. The resorts in Thailand have some of the most amazing beaches in the world and the same is a very big temptation for all the travellers. Purpose of the study The main purpose of this study is to find out what makes the travelers visit the country again and again. The facilities and the comforts provided to the travelers is amazing, Thailand offers some of the most unbelievable comforts and luxuries to the travelers. The country has many five star hotels besides that the country also provides the travelers with various options for accommodation like bungalows located right in front of the beach at affordable prices, this is one of the biggest reasons, why Thailand attracts so many travelers. It is real fun to stay in the country and the best thing is that it all comes at reasonable prices, what else a person can ask for. Thailand is also very popular and widely visited because it is also the right place to do shopping, the stores in the country offered up to 80% discounts during the Amazing Thailand Grand Sales promotion. To make sure that the country sustains the inflow of travellers it is very important to understand the motive of the travellers, they should not only come once to the country but also over and over again and for this to happen the concerned people of the country have to understand the motive of the travellers. When the concerned people design promotional material to attract the travellers it is extremely important to keep in mind their motive of travelling, if that is ignored then no traveller will come again to that particular country. Motivation is very closely connected to the

Monday, October 28, 2019

Clarion Boys Case Essay Example for Free

Clarion Boys Case Essay One problem in the Clarion School for Boys case is that employees did not have enough training on the system. On the survey taken, most employees responded that they were dissatisfied with the training they had received and most had training of only 1-3 hours. Since there was little training given on the system, the users were uncomfortable using it. It seemed that if they could not figure something out, they would give up and go back to doing it the old way. The bookkeeper commented, â€Å"I have been trying to finish this month’s books for the last two days, but I am having the same problems as last month. The accounts receivable software program is still giving me difficulties. I think I’ll just do them by hand this month.† When the system was first installed, the staff was excited about it but as time passed and there was no learning progression of the system, people became bored with it and stopped using it as much. Another comment made by the education supervisor was, â€Å"There was a lot of initial excitement about e-mail, but I haven’t heard much about it since then. I know I’ve been too busy to lean it myself, and I missed the training sessions because of other meetings.† I personally worked with a company where a new system was implemented and because of the lack of training and tutorials, there were major problems. For months the system was incorrect, causing many hours of overtime as well as many mess ups that had to be corrected. Familiar to this case, there was not a plan of action nor any goals set or a timeline for certain projects to be mastered. There was a lack of training causing the staff to have little confidence in their abilities to work the system. This problem falls under strategic planning. One component of strategic planning is training. Under strategic planning, the employees should be encouraged to be active in the system. They should be encouraged through training programs and help sessions. The team should establish goals and time lines of what they want to have accomplished by a specific date. In this case, there was not a formal plan or measures set. They were not able to judge how they were doing because they did not make a strategic plan to begin. I think this is a minor problem. I think the major problem is that once the system was implemented, there was no enforcement created. It seemed that the users did not want to get out of their comfort zone and learn something new. There was not much communication at the beginning and everyone seemed to be doing their own thing.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Role of Genetics in Myopia

Role of Genetics in Myopia Myopia, also known as short-sightedness, is a refractive error defined as an optical condition where parallel light rays entering the eye are focussed before the retina, resulting in a blurred image. Optical correction of this refractive error can be done with spectacles, contact lenses and surgical procedures such as photorefractive keratectomy. People with myopia are usually classified into two groups, low to moderate myopia (0.00D to -6.00D) or high/pathological myopia (greater than -6.00D). High myopia is also known as pathological myopia because it is often associated with sight threatening ocular conditions such as retinal detachment, macular degeneration, and glaucoma (Fredrick, 2002). Also systemic findings of many genetic syndromes such as Marfan and Stickler syndromes have myopia as consistent feature (Terri et al., 2004). Throughout the world myopia is a common cause for visual disability particularly in underdeveloped countries where the health care is poor or even non-existent. Myopia currently affects over 1.5 billion worldwide and this  is expected to increase to approximately 2.5 billion by the year 2020 (Dirani et al., 2006a). Prevalence varies between countries and ethnicities, reaching as high as 9 out of 10 people affected in some Asian populations such as Singapore and China (Chow et al., 1990; Wong et al., 2000). Epidemiological studies show that the prevalence of myopia is increasing and this is becoming a significant public health problem (Fredrick, 2002; Paluru et al., 2003; Saw et al., 1996). As well as needing resources for optical correction of myopia, the associated increased risk of vision loss has further economic and social implications for the population. Therefore extensive research is being carried out to understand the mechanisms and factors underlying myopia development in aim to reduce the incidence of myopia. An emmetropic eye is one that has zero or negligible refractive error. Most babies are born hypermetropic (long-sighted) and emmetropisation is the process by which the eye goes through changes to reach emmetropia, this occurs within the first 5-8 years of life (Fredrick, 2002). The simple reason for the increasing prevalence of myopia may be due to changes in environment, especially modernisation of the underdeveloped world which is partly due to improved education infrastructure and the technological/internet revolution. This means people are now using their eyes for near tasks such as computing much more than before. Therefore this near visual experience may have some influence in the emmetropisation process, resulting in the eyes becoming myopic instead of emmetropic. However there are many studies, such as twin and family history studies that have also found a strong positive correlation between genetics and myopia (Hammond et al., 2001). Other studies have mapped particular gen es that influence the onset of myopia or predispose an individual to becoming myopic. It seems there is some interaction between environment and genetics and how they influence the onset and progression of myopia but the relative contribution of each is not fully understood (Saw et al., 1996). Identifying potential myopia disease genes will help us understand the pathophysiological mechanisms behind myopia development. The potential for this in the future would be the ability to identify individuals at risk from myopia and help develop preventative therapies (Tang et al., 2008). This dissertation will aim to explore the role of genetics in myopia and review the current genes that have been identified to be associated with myopia. There are multiple ways to help identify genes associated with myopia, and researchers often employ a combination of techniques to further validate their findings. Genes are identified using genetic markers and genetic mapping techniques, these are explained further below. Genetic markers A genetic marker is a gene or DNA sequence with a known location on a chromosome. It is usually described as a variation, which may be due to mutation or alteration in the genomic loci. This variation is what helps researchers identify genes associated with a particular trait like myopia. Genetic markers can be short DNA sequences, such as single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), or long sequences such as microsatellites. SNPs are polymorphic markers that are variations in the DNA sequence occurring when a single nucleotide in the genome differs between two members of the same species (Warthmann et al., 2007). For example people with myopia will have a common SNP compared to those without. Microsatellites are short sections of DNA made up of repeating units containing 10-60 base pairs. Although microsatellites may have different or unknown repeating units, the repeating unit within the microsatellite is relatively constant (Dorland, 2007). The number of repeating units varies between individuals in a species i.e. they vary in length and these differences in DNA can be detected via capillary gel electrophoresis (Tang et al., 2008). Microsatellites have a high level of polymorphism that makes them another useful tool to help identify genetic markers. Genetic maps are made up of many microsatellites with known positions; this allows genes to be located relative to the microsatellites. Genetic mapping The aim of genetic mapping is to assign DNA fragments to chromosomes, which eventually accumulates to a complete genetic map for a condition. There are two methods for genetic mapping; linkage analysis and association study (Tang et al., 2008). Each method has its own advantages that help overcome different situations. Linkage analysis Linkage analysis is based on the link between loci (locations of genes). If two loci are inherited together on the same chromosome then they are said to be linked. Meiosis results in genes being recombined from parent chromosomes into a new combination in the offspring and this crossing over of DNA can cause alleles previously on the same chromosome to be separated. Therefore if two loci are closer together, the possibility of them being inherited together is greater i.e. there is a reduced chance of alleles being separated and therefore the offspring is more likely to inherit parental traits. Linkage studies aim to uncover genetic markers that are linked to disease genes with the potential to identify other genes as possible disease gene candidates (Terri et al., 2004). Association studies (FIND BOOK REF) An association study is another route to help identify susceptibility genes when studying a multifactorial disease like myopia. Association studies are different from linkage studies in that a common allele is associated with the disease where as linkage study allows different alleles to be associated with the disease in different families (Cordell et al., 2005). There are two separate approaches that an association study can take, it can either be population-based or family based. The main aim is to compare DNA samples from affected individuals against non-affected individuals similar to case-control studies. If the findings show a common allele in the affected individuals that is not found in the controls then it can be assumed that this allele is positively associated with a specific disease (Zhang et al., 2010). Population-based association studies take a sample of people from the population and compares genetic markers between affected individuals (cases) and unaffected individuals (controls). The two groups must be unrelated (no blood relation) although the human population does share common ancestry and so it can be argued that the wider population is just an extended family (Tang et al., 2008; Cordell et al., 2005). Small genetic differences can be detected for complex traits using population-based studies and this can produce powerful results but there may be a confounding effect due to population stratification. Therefore a careful selection of cases and controls is required for a good quality association study. Family-based association studies involve nuclear families consisting of affected offspring and their parents. It is presumed that the non-transmitted alleles from the parents act as internal controls and the transmitted alleles act as the cases. This means family-based studies eliminate any mismatching between cases and controls, therefore avoiding any chance association due to population stratification (Tang et al., 2008). GENETIC INFLUENCE ON MYOPIA Many studies have been conducted to help identify the exact role of genetics in myopia onset and progression. As myopia seems to be multifactorial, twin and family studies are performed to help differentiate between the genetic influence and other factors such as an environmental influence. Twin studies There are two types of twin pairs; monozygotic and dizygotic. Identical twins are known as monozygotic i.e. they originated from the same fertilised ovum, where as dyzgotic twins originate from two separately fertilised eggs therefore their DNA is not identical. In 2001 a classic twin study was performed by Hammond et al. using 226 monozygotic and 280 dizygotic twin pairs from the UK, all female and aged between 49 and 19 years old. The study looked at heritability values of refractive error and found a much higher correlation in monozygotic twins compared to dizygotic twins; this can be seen in fig 1. This suggests there is a strong genetic influence when inheriting refractive error since monozygotic twins have identical DNA and dyzogitc twins only share up to half their DNA. However heritability is population specific, and if this study was repeated for another population sample with a different gene pool or environment then similar results may not be seen (Hammond et al., 2001). A more recent study carried out by Dirani et al. in 2006 was composed of 345 monozygotic and 267 dizygotic twin pairs aged between 18 and 88 years old. Twins were recruited from Australia both male and female. Again the study found similar results to above; a significantly higher correlation was found in the monozygotic than the dzygotic twin pairs. The study found that the high heritability can explained by additive and dominant genetic effects which suggests there are multiple genes involved in the aetiology of myopia (Dirani et al., 2006b). Many other twin studies have also reported on the importance of genetic factors in myopia (Teikari et al., 1980; Hu, D., 1981; Miller, E. M., 1995; Dirani et al., 2008). This leads one to conclude that genetics plays an important role in myopia development. However twin studies do rely on a common assumption that all twins share a similar environment (Dirani et al., 2006a). This way the studies performed can assume all results are are relative with no significant environmental discrepency i.e. there is no confounding effect as long as the assumption holds true. Although twin studies show good evidence of genetics influencing myopia, some argue they do not apply to the singleton population as twin studies rely on contestable assumptions (Hammond et al., 2001; Morgan et al., 2005). An alternative approach to studying the genetic influence is to conduct a familial study. Familial studies Familial studies concentrate on the heritability value of a condition being passed on from parents to their offspring. If there is a family history of particular condition then there is a greater probability that the children will inherit the same condition. For myopia, there is a higher risk of the children developing the condition if one or both parents have myopia compared to children without myopic parents (Zadnik et al., 1994). A study surveying 2888 children in China and Hong Kong found the prevalence of myopia to be 7.3% if neither parent was myopic, 26.2% if one parent was myopic and 45% if both parents were myopic, reinforcing the view of a strong genetic influence in myopia (Yap et al., 1993). Although this seems like a genetic predisposition to myopia, there is a possible confounding effect since family members not only share common genes but also share a similar environment (Morgan et al., 2005; Sperduto et al., 1996). Therefore when comparing families careful selection should be made to ensure a large difference in environmental circumstances does not exist between the families. If there is a difference in the environment then this should be factored into the results. Familial studies suggest that a gene-environment interaction exists but this conclusion must be used with an open-mind since parental myopia history can denote a genetic marker, a common lifestyle, or both (Saw at al., 2001; Young et al., 2007). Mendelian inheritance The classic Mendelian inheritance model has laws that state the inheritance of traits is linked to single genes on chromosomes in the nucleus. There are four modes of Mendelian inheritance; autosomal dominant, autosomal recessive, X-linked dominant and X-linked recessive (Book ReF). There are genetic differences between forms of high myopia and low myopia (Olmedo et al., 1992; Pintado et al., 1992). Some studies have found a Mendelian inheritance pattern for myopia, particularly for dominantly inherited simple high myopia (Guggenheim et al., 2000). Young et al. found an autosomal dominant pattern of inheritance identifying two loci for high myopia (Young et al., 1998a; Young et al., 1998b). A recent family-based study consisting of 162 Chinese nuclear families found an association and linkage between the myocilin gene (MYOC) polymorphisms and high myopia (Tang et al., 2007). Many other genetic linkage studies dealing with familial high myopia have also identified myopia loci with an autosomal dominant mode of inheritance (Naiglin et al., 2002; Paluru et al., 2003; Paluru et al., 2005; Zhang et al., 2005; Nallasamy et al., 2007). However, similar studies have also found that myopia is likely to be influenced by multiple genes (Hammond et al., 2004; Wojciechowski et al., 2006) and other factors like environment (Morgan et al., 2005). This concept of a multifactorial disorder suggests that myopia does not conform to a single-gene Mendelian inheritance model (Ashton, 1985; Klein et al., 2005; Young et al., 2007). Therefore Mendelian inheritance patterns may only apply to simple high myopia i.e. low myopia and some forms of high myopia are comlex traits that do not conform to a Mendelian inheritance model. Complex trait myopia Myopia can be expressed as part of a syndrome, rarely as a monogenic form (typically high myopia) or most commonly as a complex disorder (Tang et al., 2008). A complex trait results from the interaction of multiple factors, each of which has a relatively small effect. Family studies show that myopia is more prevalent with a positive family history but it is not a single-gene defect and there may be an environmental influence. This multi-factorial inheritance suggests that the disorder is only expressed if a critical number of genes are inherited independently, and accompanied with an environmental influence i.e. near-work (Saw et al., 1996; Young et al., 2007). Many low myopia loci have also been mapped using linkage analysis (Hammond et al., 2004; Wojciechowski et al., 2006; Klein et al., 2007). However, the genes influencing myopia onset and progression are still not fully understood and research has continued to help identify potential candidate genes that may have a critical role in myopia development. Susceptibility genes Many genes are involved in eye development processes such as emmetropisation, and some of these have been suggested as candidate genes that make an individual more susceptible to develop myopia. PAX6 The PAX6 gene is part of the Pax family that are transcriptional regulators and have an important role in the developing eye. Mutations in the PAX6 gene have been implicated for the development of serious ocular conditions such as aniridia and congenital cataracts (Glaser et al., 1994; Hever et al., 2006). Varying the dosage of PAX6 gene in transgenic mice has been proved to influence eye size (Schedl et al., 1996). Therefore it is thought that polymorphisms in the PAX6 gene may be associated with developing a refractive error in humans. Hammond et al. (2004) carried out a genomewide scan of 221 dyzygotic twins and found 5 SNPs with strong linkage to the PAX6 gene but no associtaion, suggesting that PAX6 may influence myopia development. Another study perfomed by Simpson et al. (2007) used 25 tag SNPs, which covered the PAX6 gene, and found no association between PAX6 and refractive error. However, more recent studies have suggested there is an association between the PAX6 gene and high myopia (Tsai et al., 2008; Han et al., 2009). It seems an association may exist but due to the lack of evidence further investigation is required to fully understand the potential influence of the PAX6 gene in myopia development. TGIF The transforming growth ÃŽ ²-induced factor (TGIF) gene functions as a transcriptional repressor. Mutations in TGIF have been identfied in patients with holoprosencephaly; a common congenital forebrain development defect (Satoh et al., 2008). Young et al. (1998) identified MYP2 locus on chromosome 18p11.31 to be associated with autosomal dominant high myopia. The TGIF gene has been mapped to be located within the MYP2 interval and therefore is considered as a candidate gene for MYP2-associated high myopia. However, studies investigating the relationship between TGIF and high myopia have not found any association (Scavello et al., 2004; Hasumi et al., 2006; Wang et al., 2009) Although experimental science has found a strong expression of TGIF in mice during early stages of retinal development (Satoh et al., 2008), the exact role of TGIF in neural development is not fully understood. Further research is required to determine the underlying mechanisms and influence of TGIF in developmental processes. HGF The hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) has been found to be strongly linked to determining the eye size in mice i.e. causing myopia (Zhou et al., 1999). HGF has also been closely associated with biological mechanisms influencing axial myopia such as critical scleral remolding proteinases (Hamasuna et al., 1999; Gong et al., 2003). This makes HGF a potential candidate gene for myopia. A recent family-based study found a positive association between a HGF gene polymorphism and high myopia in the Han Chinese population (Han et al.,2006). However, another study by Wang et al. (2009) found little association between HGF and myopia. It seems many candidate genes have been suggested to be associated with myopia, particularly with high myopia loci, but none of them have been proven to be clearly involved (Scavello et al., 2004; Young, T. L., 2004; Wang et al., 2009). Environmental Influence Normally in humans the eyes develop from neonatal hypermetropia to emmetropia in the early years of life (Fredrick, 2002). However, this same process in animal models can be disrupted by environmental factors. Experimental animal studies have shown that if an image is not allowed to be focussed on the retina, either by suturing eyelids or placing diffusers over the eye, then myopia will develop (Wallman et al., 1978; Raviola et al., 1985; Siegwart et al., 1998). In human infants naturally occuring diseases, such as congenital cataracts and periocular haemangiomas, cause similar vision deprivation. In eyes that are left untreated, axial elongation and myopia develops (Hoyt et al., 1981; Fredrick, 2002), however not all these patients develop myopia (Young et al., 2007). Therefore the emmetropisation process may be sensitive to envronmental factors but it is not solely influenced by them. Myopia prevalence is increasing and becoming a more significant public health problem (Saw et al., 1996; Fredrick, 2002; Paluru et al., 2003). The use-abuse theory suggests that near work causes myopia, therefore people that are highly educated are more like to be myopic than others (Saw et al., 1996). However educational attainment is related to intellect which is strongly influenced by genes, therefore the use-abuse theory should not be solely considered as an environmental factor (Dirani et al., 2008b). Differences in myopia prevalence between the old and new generations also suggest that myopia is more likely to be influenced by environmental changes, such as increased near work like surfing the internet, rather than genetic changes. However, even in these modern times with a high incidence of myopia, there are individuals that do not develop myopia. This supports the theory of influential interaction between genetics and environment factors i.e. some individuals are genetically predisposed that makes them more susceptible to develop myopia due to environmental risk factors, such as near work (Lyhne et al., 2001). Gene-environment interaction In this theory it is assumed that myopia results from both genetic and environmental factors. This means that in the parental generation, those that have myopia genes may not develop myopia due to lack of exposure to environmental risk factors and those that have no myopia genes but are exposed to the environmental risk may become myopic. Therefore this makes it very difficult to study the potential impact of this theory, particularly where there are large changes in the environment and prevalence of myopia between old and new generations (Morgan et al., 2005). Saw et al. (2001) found that although a gene-environment interaction may exist for myopia, the association between near work and myopia is different for children with no, one or two myopic parents. The study found that children can be classified as high or low-risk depending on if parental myopia exists e.g. those with two myopic parents and high environmental exposure have a significatntly higher chance of developing myopia compared to those on the opposite scale. However, it is not known whether family history is a factor due mainly to inheritance or to common lifestyle, nor is it known how inheritance might interact with nearwork (Goss, 2000). In 2001 Lyhne et al. performed a study to investigate the genetic and environmental impact on myopia. The study found a strong heritability value for myopia but no significant environmental impact. Other studies have also explored the complex gene-environment theory but have not found any conclusive results (Zadnik et al., 1994; Saw et al., 2001). Many studies looking at the potential interaction between genes and environment use a classic quantitative method to analyse their results. This method does not take into account the potential influence of gene-environment interactions. Therefore to get a true quantitative estimation of interaction the model needs to include a very large population sample with reliable information on early life environmental encounters, such as study habits (Lyhne et al., 2001). However, the environment may have a significant influence, especially when you compare the increasing prevalence of myopia with the modern world where there is better educational, increasing computer usage and mobile phones etc. The gene-environment interaction theory needs to be investigated further to help understand the relative influence of individual factors and how they work together. DISCUSSION It is generally accepted that myopia is a complex disease and its increasing prevalence is becoming a more significant public health problem; there is the social impact of visual disability and economic impact of treatment costs. This has instigated many research projects to help identify underlying mechanisms influencing myopia onset and progression. Current mapping techniques include linkage-analysis and association studies Credibility of  Mapping Techniques Each has its own advantages and researchers tend to use a combination of mapping techniques to help identify myopia loci and study potential disease genes. Many myopia loci have been identified and candidate genes have been suggested, but no specific genes have been identified to cause myopia. Results from family studies and twin studies have suggested there is a strong genetic influence in myopia development. However, the genes involved in complex or multi-factorial diseases are difficult to identify and their influence may be affected by unrelated genes and environment (Young, 2004). Therefore when selecting samples for studies care needs to be taken to ensure any discrepancies are kept to a minimum and taken into account when interpreting results. Other factors such as environment have also been implicated in the development of myopia, especially when looking at results from animal studies. The main environmental risk factor is considered to be increasing near work but there are possibly other environmental aspects to also consider such as personality, social and cultural factors. Understanding each factor in association to myopia will help further understand the environmental influence and the extent of interaction between genes and environment. This gives rise to the gene-environment theory which is very difficult to study. This is because myopia is a complex disease where several different influential factors may need to be taken into consideration when performing a study. Again much more investigative research is required to understand and add substance to this theory. In 2003 the 13-year Human Genome Project was completed and identified approximately all the genes in the human DNA. Currently analysis of the data is continuing through many research projects. Further advancements in genetic research and technology will definitely benefit the human population and hopefully ongoing research will eventually give us a much better insight into the underlying mechanisms of myopia development. This will in turn help determine the relative influence between genetics and environment, and eventually help develop better therapies to manage myopia.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Effect Of Alexander Graham Bell On Todays Society Essay -- Biography

The importance of Alexander Graham Bell on today's society is visible, or rather audible, everywhere. First and most importantly, Alexander Graham Bell was a prolific teacher of the deaf. He considered this to be his true life's work, but only one of the many important things he did. With his great research of speech and sound, he would become one of the greatest inventors of all time. His own definition of an inventor is "a man who looks upon the world and is not contented with things as they are. He wants to improve whatever he sees, he wants to benefit the world." suits him well. Every thing that he did had an impact on someone, and it was true that he wanted to improve the world. Alexander Graham Bell was born Aleck Bell in Edinburgh, Scotland, Melville and Eliza Symonds Bell. His father, Melville Bell, invented Visible Speech, a code of symbols for all spoken sounds that was used in teaching deaf people to speak. His mother, Eliza Bell, was deaf, this lead Melville and Alexander to exploration in the subject of teaching deaf people. Alexander Bell studied at Edinburgh University in 1864 and worked with his father at University College, London, from 1868-70. During this time, he became deeply interested in the study of sound and the mechanics of speech, inspired in part by the audio experiments of German physicist Hermann Von Helmholtz, which gave Bell the idea of telegraphing speech. When young Bell's two brothers died of tuberculosis, Melville Bell took his family to the healthier climate of Canada in 1870. From there, Aleck Bell went to Boston, Massachusetts and in 1871 and joined the staff of the Boston School for the Deaf. In 1872, Bell opened his own school in Boston for training teachers of the deaf. In 1873 he bec... ...ham Bell. New York: Harry S. Abrams, 1997 "Alexander Graham Bell" Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. 5 May 2005. Wikipedia. 7 May 2005. "Telephone" Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. 1 May 2005. Wikipedia. 7 May 2005. "Alessandro Volta" Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. 5 May 2005. Wikipedia. 7 May 2005. "United States Patent and Trademark Office" Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. 4 May 2005. Wikipedia. 7 May 2005. Hounshell, David A. "Bell, Alexander Graham." World Book Online Reference Center. 2005. World Book, Inc. 7 May 2005. . Brodsky, Arthur R. "Telephone." World Book Online Reference Center. 2005. World Book, Inc. 7 May 2005. . Christiansen, John B. "Deafness." World Book Online Reference Center. 2005. World Book, Inc. 7 May 2005. . Brodsky, Arthur R. "Telegraph." World Book Online Reference Center. 2005. World Book, Inc. 7 May 2005. .

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Leadership and nurse retention: The pivotal role of nurse leaders Essay

The Massachusetts Department of Higher Education in collaboration with the CITATION Thu12 l 1033 (Thurston, 2012)organized a working sectional conference titled Effective Mentoring; Nursing Leadership Practices after Training Completion and development skills for charge nurses. Over 40 experienced professionals from major statewide stakeholders in the Healthcare industry were brought together during this session. Those in attendance included nurses from various practice sessions and representatives from the Department of Higher Education, the Board of Registration in Nursing, the Massachusetts Center for Nursing (MCN), the Massachusetts Association of Colleges of Nursing (MACN), the Massachusetts/Rhode Island League for Nursing (MARILN), other national accrediting agencies were also present like the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission (NLNAC) and the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). The keynote speaker for the conference was MD Welborn E. Crawford of Massachusetts Semin Hospital who has extensive experience in offering guidance on organizational leadership in the practice of medicine and is also chairman on the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) board. Crawford also has several publications under his belt specifically discussing about how to boost development skills of leadership at the workplace. His past roles in professional development are inclusive of nursing peer review and advancement, teaching and the use of simulation. The current role he holds at the hospital as MD provides oversight on how various departments of the hospital are run including quality service provision and process improvement. The conference sought to ensure that, graduating nurses from nursing school to have a platform to ensure a seamless progression in their career by furnishing with necessary knowledge and skills that will ensure their development while practicing nursing after their graduation. Participation in the conference was on the consideration of the fact of holding a charge nurse position at my workplace and the constant need to make decisions and supervise ACRNs at the workplace needed a more astute approach of leadership. Analysis of Leadership Characteristics and Style Most of the conflicts in the nursing industry are as an increased inefficiency in leadership styles and practices. In many instances, personality traits often in one way or the other demonstrate a link with leadership behaviors and characteristics and in this instances are either inborn or easily learned. The main focus of Crawford’s speech was on the process of enhancing transformation of other nurses’ while at the workplace through meeting the needs of the pre-identified environment. The keynote speaker kept the participants going throughout the session through the asking of questions. Through the question and feedback process, a debating platform was created similar to the one encourage for organizational leaders where employees are allowed the opportunity to be engaged in the decision-making process of an organization. He reflected on Brooks and Andersons publications which suggested that a good number of nurses felt invaluable to an organization when they were not allowed the opportunity to participate in decision-making processes and their efforts at the workplaces going unrecognized. These ideology posters to core the need of as a leader to acknowledge a subordinate in the event they contribute something worthy at the work setting. The exchange of information and negotiation between people and their leaders has evolved over the years and this and this has similarly had an impact on leadership theories evolvement. In the conference setting, our keynote speaker had adopted the democratic style of leadership where all and sundry were allowed to measure in on the debate and from the information provided by the audience, the Crawford expounded further on their ramifications in ensuring success during task performance. Further from his speech, it became clear that apart from the democratic leadership style, there existed other two distinct styles that have always been adopted by leaders namely; authoritarian and laissez faire. Under authoritarian leadership, an employee were not allowed to make any decisions and in most cases handles all managerial duties and decisions all by themselves without any external interference from the employees. It is largely the opposite of democratic leadership. Lastly, there is the lais sez-faire leadership style where the leader is in total control of all aspects of an organization. Environments are also fundamental in determining what particular style of leadership will be a success but transformational leadership is mostly championed for in many leadership settings for it is particularly considered to create a conducive environment for not only nurses but also their respective patients. However, there still exists doubts on the credibility of these words for there exists little or no studies at all that pinpoint an exact correlation between leadership behaviors, patient outcomes and nursing practice environments. Charge nurses were therefore encouraged to adopt the transformational leadership style for the nurses that one is in-charge of are allowed to participate in any decision-making process. It has been established that nurses have positive response to transformational leadership because it ensures that build and develop themselves individually as a unit thus they are personally empowered to achieve their goals. In retrospect, in utilization of this kind of leadership, a leader is equally motivated a leader that allows the creation of synergetic environments where creativity can be easily managed. Considering the fact that a good number of nursing discords are in one way or the other related with the leaderships styles, it is important for charge nurses to adopt a stance of being facilitators for solutions as opposed to being problem creators. One important aspect fro transformational leadership is the participatory decision-making approach with employees to similar to what Dr. Crawford w as utilizing at the platform. The participatory decision-making approach allows an increased accountability of actions at the workplace by employees thus they are empowered and the same can be transformed to patients. Frontline charge nurses who not have effective leadership practices in most instances do not perform their duties for solving problems at the nursing unit, it therefore important for such leaders to adapt effective leadership skills so that they can be assured of achieving better outcomes. Communication skills In delivering speeches, it is important for a speaker to develop an interpersonal relationship with his audience for it is the foundation for all human interaction. Not only are effective communication deponents beneficial in delivering speeches but also it ensures the normal function of various systems of an organization. In the nursing workplace, as a charge nurse it is important to ensure that communication is two-way in the sense that not only are people listening to directives of their leader but also the leader allows them the opportunity to air their concerns. Whether an individual is traversing information in a formal or informal context, it is important for them to acknowledge their audiences, purpose for speaking, follow through in what one is putting across, have a broad array of presenting your information and utilization of several techniques in delivering information CITATION Ant13 l 1033 (Anthony, et al., 2013). It is also important to note one’s external enviro nment while putting across a specific message for it determines how information seriated and perceived by an audience. In the case of Crawford, he focused mainly on the ensuring the comfort of his audience by constantly asking whether or not they were comfortable in the conference room and delved mainly on the progressive leadership in nursing for all those in attendance were knowledgeable of the topic being discussed. The speaker was also keen on ensuring that all the stakeholders and those in attendance were convinced of his thoughts on progressive leadership for nurses and how to develop this in graduation nurses form nursing school by ensuring that he gave a clear background information of the topic he was discussing then finally gave an in-depth analysis of the developmental ways for building leadership skills for junior nurses at the workplace. While communication his information across, his stands on leadership styles were backed up by facts and claims from other professional s in the healthcare industry with utmost clarity and simplicity which ensured a good number of those in attendance to comprehend the information that was being put across and the purpose of the conference was thus being achieved in an astute and prospective manner. MD Crawford made it his mandate to ensure that all relevant aspects of leadership in nursing and how to nurture young habits in graduating nurses could be attained which brought to core leadership issues that if neglected by one who is in-charge at the workplace could impact negatively on the functioning of a particular unit of a hospital CITATION Ame09 l 1033 (Association, 2009). Considering the fact that nurturing the graduating nurses was a new noble idea for healthcare practitioners, the idea therefore needs a lot of selling. The delivery of this message was efficient in the sense that it was being aimed at the correct audience who effectively act on it, this was ensured through constant repetition of the idea in the delivery of his speech and for sure he did deliver the message to its desired levels for a good number of participants after the conference signed up for a two month seminar that Crawford suggested for the 27th the same month where further leadership models would be discussed and how they could be applied at the workplace. With respect to the experience of Crawford and considering that he was getting delivering his speech to his peers, he adopted the good old boy presentation style. Basically, his presentation was divided into an introduction which gave a clear understanding of the problem that needed nursing practitioners’ attention. Secondly, he talked of the organizations which sponsored the event and their role in collaboration with the American Nursing Association in ensuring nurses developed well envisaged skills to be great leaders in their nursing careers upon graduation from school by ensuring there existed some sort of mentoring platform where they could interact and exchange ideas with experienced professionals in the industry CITATION Gir12 l 1033 (Girvin, 2012). Thirdly, using visual aid supports like chart drawings and diagrams, the speaker used supporting facts to put across information regarding leadership styles and how effectively communication can be achieved at the workplace. Most importantly, each visual aid used in the delivery of the speech fully gave an in-depth understanding of what was being discussed whose main purpose was to ensure that those in the audience were familiar with the topic being discussed by the end of his presentation. The conclusion of the presentation effectively showed that the proposal that was presented by the speaker could be made effective in hospital interstate and according to the interpersonal discussions among the participants; it was evident that the stakeholders present were eager to take up the initiative of pushing the recommendations into a reality. Upon conclusion of his speech, the keynote speaker allowed the participants to air their questions which were promptly answered Critical Reflections The speakers’ speech was outlined and delivered to the requirements of the Massachusetts Organization of Nurse Executives who had organized the conference. In clearly defined detail, the conference topic, â€Å"Effective Mentoring; Nursing Leadership Practices after Training Completion and development skills for charge nurses,† was extensively addressed and all the stakeholders present were given a challenge of developing some sort of mentoring program that will help in nurturing the leadership skills of graduating nurses. Guided by the conference topic, Crawford presented the leadership debate convincingly through diving his content into leadership issues and the most effective ways and the role played b communication in ensuring one was efficient in their position as a leader. The adoption of a Good Old Boy presentation style of communication was effective considering that the participants at the conference were his peers and this coupled with his use of visual aids t o deliver his speech ensured a good delivery CITATION Was10 l 1033 (Waskett, 2010). Implications for Professional Nursing Practice The conference proceedings were influential in answering good number of concerns that those in the nursing environment experience in their workplace which generally affect the outcomes of the job. A good number of problems are associated with the nursing charge position such as poor description of the jobs being delegated to others, irresponsibility experienced with the an increase in the duties appended to a particular individual at the workplace and most importantly the lack of necessary knowledge on how to undertake leadership positions. Personally, the conference furnished with important knowledge of I was previously ignorant on: the role of communication for leadership. It was evident that as a charge nurse, I need to be not only authoritarian when it came to decision-making situations but also involvement and listening to other nurses will help with ensuring that a diverse pool of ideas are available to ensure an easy decision-making process. At the same time, involving other i n decision-making ensured that they felt part of the organization that they were more motivated to perform their tasks effectively CITATION Gar09 l 1033 (Garvey, Stokes, & Megginson, 2009). As a leader, I have the mandate of ensuring and facilitating the learning process of other junior nurses at the workplace through the more refined method of mentoring. With respect to developing a mentoring platform for graduating nurses, it is important to ensure that all nurses at the workplace are under a senior guardian at the workplace who will ensure that the nurses are given lessons and guidance on how to communicate effectively at the workplace thus preparing them for future leadership positions. References   Anthony, M., Standing, T., Glick, J., Duffy, M., Paschall, F., Sauer, M., et al. (2013). Leadership and nurse retention: The pivotal role of nurse leaders. Journal for Nursing Adminstartion, 146-155. Association, A. N. (2009). Nurse leaders pass measures on disastser planning . Washington DC: American Nurses Association . Garvey, B., Stokes, P., & Megginson, D. (2009). Coaching and Mentoring: Theory and Practice. London: SAGE Publications . Girvin, J. (2012). Leadership and nursing: Part two: styles of leadership. Nursing and Managment , 20-22. Thurston, B. (2012, August 24). Annual Conference on Nursing leadership 2012. Retrieved November 14, 2014, from Massachusetts Organization of Nurse Executives : http://www.mooneleadership.org/ Waskett, C. (2010). Clinical supervision using the 4S model 1: Considering the structure and setting it up . Nursing Times , 12-14. Source document

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

DWDM Meeting Bandwidths Demands essays

DWDM Meeting Bandwidths Demands essays Since the Telecommunications Reform Act of 1996, the flood gate has been opened for the competitive local exchange carriers to provide services throughout the world. To meet the ever changing needs of consumers, including high speed data, it has become necessary to be able to provide services on a large scale than ever before. This would mean that in order to provide quality of service you would have to have the resources to supply the demand. Data services are a crucial part of business operations. For this reason it has become essential to have fault tolerance services which could result in having to have doubled the bandwidth. This could be a big stress on an already strained infrastructure. No one could have predicted the growth that the telecommunication industry experienced. Most U.S. networks were built using estimates that calculated bandwidth use by employing concentration ratios derived from classical engineering formulas such as Poisson and Reeling. By this formula networks were designed on the assumption that a given individual would only use network bandwidth six minutes of each hour. These formulas did not factor in the amount of traffic generated by Internet access (300 percent growth per year), faxes, multiple phone lines, modems, teleconferencing, and data and video transmission. Had these factors been included, a far different estimate would have emerged. In fact, today many people use the bandwidth equivalent of 180 minutes or more each hour. One study estimated that from 1994 to 1998 the demand on the U.S. interexchange carriers'(IXCs) network would increase sevenfold, and for the U.S. local exchange carriers' (LECs) network, the demand would increase f ourfold. †  Noting these factors you can see the demand for bandwidth. Companies use fiber for their backbones, this is because of the bandwidth that fiber have to offer. Still, a companys bandwidth can run sh ...