Monday, September 30, 2019

Ethical and Socially Responsive Business Essay

Describe key areas of the selected company’s code of conduct that are of significant importance to the business, and explain why. The first question we should ask ourselves â€Å"what is ethics?† I think ethics are a collection of principles and practices that a business believes in, statements and more specific policies about conduct to give employees, partners, vendors, and outsiders an idea of what the corporation stands for and how it’s staff should conduct themselves . The Cheesecake Factory was established in the 1940s by Oscar and Evelyn Overton. In 1972 they open their first business store to Los Angeles, CA known as the Cheesecake Factory. Now The Cheesecake Factory has over 170 locations around the world. Having such a large corporation like Cheesecake Factory brings a lot of ethical and business problems when it comes to having such a large stores and staff. We should always remember that everyone has their own set of moral ethics that they live by at tend to take those same ethics to the work place. When writing a code of ethics it is important that these will cover every staff member from the top of the corporation to the lowest lever employee. Key areas that are of significant importance to The Cheesecake Factory start with the general standards of conduct in how all its employees will be treated by fellow employees and by management. The standards deals the basic values that we all have, with the expectation of building trust, loyalty, honesty, respect, and a high level of professionalism within the company. The cheesecake Factory has an established code of ethical conduct that is an essential factor in maintaining a proper balance in the human aspect of ethics and the link to the business success. Corporate leaders and managements need to be careful about their behaviors and how they make important decisions. Although all areas of the Cheesecake Factory’s code of ethical conduct is important for the success of the company, there are a few key areas of the company’s code of ethical conduct that are of significant importance for The Cheesecake Factory. 1-The first occurs in Article IV, in the â€Å"Conflicts of Interest,† section that pertains to transactions and investments. This specifically states that an officer or a director† should avoid participating in any transaction or investment that conflicts with, or gives the appearance of a conflict with, the interest of the company.†(Reference 1) This is key in maintaining ethics because a person who is in a leadership / management positions must be loyal to only their organization; otherwise, all decisions that are made and act are suspect as to the integrity of the choice, especially concerning money matters. 2- A second key area of The Cheesecake Factory’s code of ethical conduct that is of significant importance is in Article V, in the â€Å"Compliance with Company Policies and Procedures,† section that pertains to confidential information. It is very important and essential for the success of any company and business especially, the confidentiality of information, especially for third parties, be maintained. This leads to another key area that is also in Article V of the company’s code of ethical conduct. In the section that pertains to insider trading. In the section that deals with prohibiting insider trading it states that, â€Å"An officer or director shall observe the Company’s policy prohibiting trading on the basis of material, non-public information.†(Reference 1) 2.Explain the key steps that the company should take to ensure that employees follow the code of conduct. There are some key steps that a company can take in order to ensure the employees follow the code of conduct. 1-The Cheesecake Factory should have a â€Å"compliance department† that handles all disputes and investigations regarding violations of the code of conduct. This specific department at Cheesecake Factory should have designated employees that govern the entire company’s employees and handle any issues that arise. 2-The Cheesecake Factory can  take to ensure the employees follow the code of conduct is to have each employee sign and date, the code of conduct when they hired and give it to the employee a copy and keep another copy in the employee files. This makes it possible for the employee and the company to be on the same page from the beginning of the working relationship. This process can repeat every year for the existing employees to follow the code of conduct. 3-The Cheesecake Factory can take to ensure the employees follow the code of conduct is complete mandatory â€Å" Business ethics† training videos for new and existing employees every year. These videos make sure reminder of all employees’ business ethics and code of conduct. 3. Suggest three (3) ways in which the restaurant can engage in socially responsive activities in the community within which it operates The Cheesecake Factory can engage many socially responsive activities in the local community. 1-The Cheesecake Factory can donate foods to local food banks, soup kitchens and homeless shelters. Restaurants always have extra food that does not used for any reasons or left over foods. As a respectful company being able to donate fresh food to shelters and feeding someone who is unable to have a meal, would be wonderful social responsive project and activity. 2-The Cheesecake Factory could engage in socially responsive activities in the community would be to help raise money for a local non-profit organizations, charities, children hospitals or cancer associates. This could be done by donating money, ask costumers to participate or fund rising which will show that the company is giving back to the local community in which it is a part. 3- The Cheesecake Factory could engage in socially responsive activities in the community would be to offer free meals to shelters for specified holidays, such as Thanksgiving and Christmas. 4- Also Cheesecake Factory could run campaign for â€Å"Local Food Drive† to contribute as a company and ask their costumers donate dry and canned foods to reach local families who needs help .This is one of excellent way of giving back to the local community. References: 1. (March 16, 2004) The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated. Amended and Restated Code of Ethics for Executive Officers, Senior Financial Officers, and Directors. Retrieved from: http://investors.thecheesecakefactory.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=109258&p=irol-govconduct. 2. (January 2001) C.B. And R.L. â€Å"The Legal Environment of Business: Text and Cases: Ethical Regulatory, Global, and Corporate Issues.† Cengage Learning, 8th edition. 3. (January 2012) Ferrell, O.C. And John Fraedrich. â€Å"Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making & Cases.† Cengage Learning, 9th edition.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Case Study Jyske Bank Essay

Jyske Bank was established in 1967 after merging four Danish banks operating in Jutland. Jyske Bank had been considered as a typical Danish bank, which is prudent, conservative, well managed and undifferentiated till the late 1990s. However, with the new strategy, the bank developed to guide differentiation from the mid of 1990s among great amount of Danish banking customer satisfaction. Q1. What is Jyske Bank’s new positioning or competitive differentiation strategy? Base on the case, Jyske Bank’s new positioning strategy is strongly believed to be developed from its core values and Jyske Differences by the managers. In order to achieve Jyske Differences, which comes from Jyske Bank’s core values, the bank’s managers just became overt about values they had long held. The core values allow managers to reevaluate how the bank operate and service its consumers. Therefore, managers decided to have some specific practices that deliver service differently from both how it had in the past, and how other banks delivered service. In other words, they would have to change their conservative position of the past and become a service driven and customer innovative bank within the competitive banking sector. With the assistant of Dutch consultant that the research findings showed the target market consisting mainly of Dutch families (60% retail) and small Danish businesses (40% commercial), were favorable towards the idea of bank that had a persona and believed in what it stood for. Additional research was also conducted in more difficult areas concerning the banks 4P’s- Product, Place, Price and Promotion from a customer orientated standpoint. In contrast, soft factors such as customer relationships with the bank, served as the bank’s differentiation. From Exhibit 1, which indicates that Danish Banks were in intensive competition, Jyske Bank’s managers should reestablish its competitive position, it went through a major transformation and positioned itself as a highly customer-focused bank, eager to foster relationships with customers, understand their needs and sell solutions accordingly. Jyske Bank’s new positioning is only targeted less risky customers who could afford its premium pricing and were comfortable with the banks candid personality and portrayed image. Although after that the bank  is only about 6% of the market, but that is what call personality, some people should dislike them. Jyske Bank’s competitive differentiation strategy was born out of its ‘values and differences’ discussed in the case Exhibit 4, which emphasized equality, transparency, honesty, respect and efficiency. The aim was to have these values embedded in each of the external customer-facing and internal aspects of its business and operations and distinguish itself from competition. Jyske Bank differentiated itself on the service delivery aspect and invested in tools that would improve its employee’s ability to deliver solutions and increase the time spent with its customers. Thus, the competitive differentiation strategies mainly contain a shift from traditional product focused selling to a customer- solution approach and the way the bank’s core financial product to deliver so as to give customers a different banking experience. Q2. What changes did the bank make to gat to its new position? What effect did these changes have? In order to successfully implement its new customer- focused strategy, Jyske bank had to make both tangible and intangible changes in their business operations, as well as how they delivered service to its customers, where necessary not only to influence the outcome of the business but also to provide guaranteed customer satisfaction. These changes were made to reflect Jyske Differences in every possible way. The tangible changes they made were changes to the account teams, branch design, and details. To be more specifically, account teams were created to work together and provide personalized service to each customer to foster customer intimacy and increase understanding of customer needs. The branch interiors were remodeled to make the customers feel welcomed and cared for. The round table design, similarity in chairs and customers sitting near the employees’ workstations was deliberate as it helped in the effective use of IT programs designed to structure interactions between account team members and consumers, that facilities the employee’s ability to deliver solutions and save time. Settle a cafà © inside the branch that provides homely environment to consumers. Those visible screens also reinforced the portray openness of information with the customer. The intangible changes were training involved  teambuilding and consumer service, empowering the branches as well as throughout the bank, management style, and human resources. The effect of these strategic changes as lead to an increase in customer satisfaction based on data collected by independent third parties and has the highest customer satisfaction level among its major competitors. Q3. Analysis Jyske Bank’s success using the Service Quality gaps Model. (e.g. what are Jyske Bank’s strategies for closing each of the 5 gaps in the model?) Service Quality gaps ModelJyske Banks’s success The customer gapThe bank was able to close this gap because providing customer with their superior services. They had only targeted the premium customer’s to whom the price did not matter. As a result of which they were able to provide the customers high quality services and were able to achieve minimum customer gap and highly satisfied customers. The listening gap (Not knowing what customer expect)Refer to competitive positioning of the bank; the â€Å"soft factors† relating to individual customer relationship are relatively important. Jyske Bank changed the way they deliver services and had come out with IT tool to first figure out the customer’s problem and expectations. They had dedicated a team of 4 employees per customer to get a better understanding of customer’s problems. A good marketing research orientation also benefits to decline the listening gap. They conducted surveys to detect customers’ expectations. Thus they highlighted that customers’ expectations had changed: factors like price, product or location had become â€Å"basics† for customers, who focused more on differentiating factors like bankers’ behavior and interest toward customers. Finally, the firm developed an effective relationship focus on what consumers need. They first decided to specialize only on t wo customer segments, Danish Families and Small-to-medium-sized companies, and to focus only on people sharing the Jyske Bank values. This strategy made it easier to understand customers’ expectations and to build long- term relationship with them. The service design and standards gap (Not selecting the right service quality designs and standards)To close the poor service design, absence of customer- driven standards and inappropriate physical evidence, the bank assigned a small team of branch bankers to serve each customer, which provided its customer with the best in class service in terms of the customer solutions and also provided customers with the best infrastructure facilities to make them feel at home, e.g. cafà ©, fruit juice, openness of banker’s screen. The service performance gap (Not delivering to service designs and standards)In human resource policies, the bank has an effective recruitment that looking for social abilities instead of banking skills. Jyske Bank was successfully able to retain its employees and provide them with adequate trainings. Jyske was not only the leader in customer satisfaction but was also a leader in employee satisfaction as well. The employees were provided with good incentives and were kept happy so that they could work. The communication gap (Not matching performance to promise)The bank provided interactive marketing communication plan to the customers that all the possible information that the customer required all the solutions are delivered to consumers. Jyske Bank also implemented a good upward communication to employees. According to their re-organization of the structure (dissolution of headquarters), which leaded to less layers between top management and front-line employees, and thanks to a good intern communication between managers and contact employees, customers’ expectations were transmitted easily and quickly trough the firm. Most employees like working for Jyske and appreciate to Jyske Difference. Q4. In your opinion can Jyske Bank’s sustain its growth and success? Would you invest in Jyske Bank? I think Jyske Bank can continue its growth and success and I am willing to invest in Jyske Bank. Because the bank already has its own competitive positioning that they made a lot of changes on service delivery in both tangible and intangible sides. Secondly, the leadership that Jyske Bank  established is also an important reason, Jyske was the largest and most richly- priced bank in Demark in 2003, and they achieved the leadership in customer and employee satisfaction, which enable Jyske to step further. According to the net income increased considerably, shareholders could receive growing annual return in coming years. Besides, Jyske Bank’s core value is to gain the balance among their three stakeholders: employees, customers and shareholders. â€Å"They were more interested in determining how the bank could remain in a position of leadership while still keeping the interests of its key stakeholders in balance.† Reference: http://thefinancialbrand.com/2893/jyske-bank-branch/

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Marketing of Adventure tour in Cairns, Australia Coursework

Marketing of Adventure tour in Cairns, Australia - Coursework Example A competitor analysis is a managerial strategy that assesses the strengths and weaknesses of competitors thus enabling the business to identify market gaps and capitalize on them so as to guarantee its own success. However, most business people do not conduct this kind of market assessment using the correct procedures thus resulting in many enterprises operating on outdated market information that may not hold the exact market situation at the current date (Oster, 1999). Moreover, competitor analysis is an essential tool in business management since it provides the business with the appropriate information about its competitors. The business would therefore capitalize on its competitors’ weaknesses to be the leader in its line of business. Staying a head of competition is an essential business goal that each individual company should employ for successful operation. Diversification of operation is an important strategy to manage stiff competition. Passion of paradise among other competitors that quicksilver cruiser faces offer a relatively limited range of products and thus the fact that quicksilver cruises offers a wide range products keeps it ahead of competition. Quicksilver Cruise is the largest scuba diving offering company in Australia and this can be attributed to its reduced price and efficient tour offers that are appealing to most tourists. However, it is worth noting that the sector is very competitive and proper advertising techniques should be employed so as to popularize the company.

Friday, September 27, 2019

To what extent does the 'cosmological' argument establish the Essay

To what extent does the 'cosmological' argument establish the existence of God - Essay Example 1. Thomas Aquinas adapted Aristotle and Avicenna’s thinking to form his cosmological argument in which he states that the universe is the result of a ‘first cause’ that is itself uncaused, and this ultimate cause according to him, is God. The premise of his argument basically states that every thing that was once non existent has a cause. Since, according to the second premise –something that is finite and dependent (contingent) cannot create itself. In his third premise Aquinas stated that a causal chain cannot stretch back into eternity. This is why Aquinas argues --there must be a first cause-(God)-or there must be something that is not an effect. Other cosmological veterans speculating about God’s existence - (like Aquinas) take the ‘first cause’ to be ‘God’. Aquinas’s argument is based on the fact that God has to exist due to the fact that the universe needs a cause to explain its existence. This cause is furnish ed by the concept of the creation of the universe by a supernatural being outside it, and this being is assumed to be God. Aquinas’s cosmological argument is based on Aristotle’s belief in a ‘first cause It was Aquinas who interpreted Aristotle’s uncaused cause as ‘God’ by modifying his deistic view into a theistic one. According to his cosmological argument, every event has a cause; but every cause has been caused by another. To avoid endless regression, we have to postulate an uncaused and eternal first cause –(or necessary being that created itself)-and that is God. Aquinas wrote, In his book, ‘The Governance of the World’ Aquinas propounds five ways- of proving the existence of God. In the process Aquinas argues for the presence of a benevolent order in the universe that makes even unintelligent entities work towards some goal. On the basis of these phenomenon, Aquinas argues in favour of the existence that is an essential part of

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Construction Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Construction - Case Study Example It has emerged that economic instruments such as collection and disposal charges are very efficient in internalizing the externalities of the disposal of waste. This will reduce the amount of waste going to landfill through the recycling process and minimization of waste. According to Coopers and Lybrand (1993), tax could be justified since it reflects the wider scope of the environmental cost of the landfill and promotes recycling and minimization of waste. An increase of the rate of taxation by 50% would have some major impacts in this sector. An increase in taxation is likely to arise from tighter planning controls, reduction of the quantity of waste that requires being disposed and the reduction in competition in this sector after the smaller operators have been forced out (Environmental Resources Ltd, 2002). The increase in cost is likely to stabilize the current rate of  £20- £25/t making it more competitive in comparison to the landfill. The quantity of waste that goes to landfill is likely to be affected significantly but in the end, it will shift towards incineration. The increase in the taxation rate will help to achieve the polluters’ pays principle and also ensure proper pricing of the landfill waste. This will help to increase the proportion of waste management. Another important impact of the increase in the taxation rates is the consequential reduction in the administrative costs hence raising the standards of waste management. There is also likely to be a reduction on the demand for the local materials hence reducing the mining activities carried out which usually have a very negative impact on the environment (HM Customs and Excise, 2005). The construction firms would be forced to move the inert materials and rubble between projects and this is likely to force the smaller practitioners to either comply or quit. However an increase in the taxation rate will

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Principles of PR and its role in Society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Principles of PR and its role in Society - Essay Example The PR works to establish a link between the public or the prospective customers and the business. Media relations is by far the most common and most convenient PR tool used to provide an effective reach out to the customers of businesses and the general public. This form of PR makes it easy for the public to receive relevant information from across the society and beyond thereby bringing about exposure and awareness. My choice of the PR closely attributes to the controversies that surround the media system in the contemporary world. The aggressive entry of social media into the PR system has complicated issues and has brought more sophistication than success owing to abuse and misuse. The article, â€Å"Challenges of The Information Society and Public Relations,† by Palevska has provided an imperative insight. It explores into the dire constraints that come along with continued innovations in the information society and how it influences the public relations. By reading the article, I have established an understanding of the intrinsic link between information society and public relations. The scenario is applicable in all parts of the world, and other journalists and public relation officers can replicate in other parts of the world. Concerning my specific focus of the concept of media relations and its scope, the article has added into my knowledge, another dimension of the link between information systematics and likely influence on public relations (Palevska, 2012). In my opinion, the article has attempted to offer an insight into some of the conflicting scenarios likely to exist between public relations and the information society. The information society rapidly evolves with the changing dimensions in technological advancement. As such, information delivery and reach up tend to depend on the level of innovativeness a company has relative to its competitors. PR is fast evolving from a primitive and less focus on technology use to a more

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE - Essay Example The negative aspects of the nuclear power serve to be an environmental issue of concern. This is owing to the fact that the nuclear energy leads to harm the normal ecology of the world and it had the capacity to lay negative effects on the health of the people living in this world (Klapp et al 2007; Miller et al 2009). The utilization of nuclear power as a form of energy production was considered to be a major technological achievement. The energy from this source can lead to the production of very high amounts of electricity and thus it can be very beneficial. But it has been analyzed that the construction of nuclear power plants requires the clearing of a large amount of land and it needs to be built away from the places of human occupancy owing to the release of toxic and radioactive substances from these plants which results in the contamination of the natural environment. Furthermore, the dumping of the nuclear waste also serves to be a very difficult problem as it serves to har m the environment owing to the negative effects of the radioactive material (Miller et al 2009; Swain 2007). The best solution to reduce the amount of environmental loss that occurs due to the nuclear power plants is to construct these plants away from the places where people reside.

Monday, September 23, 2019

Motivating Employees Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Motivating Employees - Coursework Example Poor leadership creates low morale on the part of the employees. (Lipman, 2013). You find that many of the doctors and nurses may want to succeed but once they make mistakes, they are criticized and dubbed a failures and this lowers their morale hence their commitment. Kaluyu memorial hospital will embark on giving personalized thank you notes to exceptional staff members, giving timely feedback on exceptional work, giving gifts as well as organizing random luncheons and night outs for the celebration of good work.Lack of career growth and development can also be one of the factors that demotivate the employees of Kaluyu Memorial Hospital. From observations and assessments conducted, it has been noticed that the hospital has been offering very few regular career training and development programs aimed at motivating the employees. Lack of these opportunities brings a sense of stagnancy in terms of skills and knowledge. The hospital management will get regular feedback on the best trai ning programs to be undertaken depending on the majority vote. From research and observations, it is very clear that the employees of Kaluyu can be motivated using the basis of the Maslow’s theory of motivation whereby people are pushed into action by certain motivation factors at different levels and times. Maslow’s model of motivation asserts that humans have 5 basic needs that are categorized into physiological needs, security needs, love needs, self-esteem needs and self actualization needs. (Maslow, 2013).

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Topic Selection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Topic Selection - Essay Example It came to the attention of the Vice President for Nursing that their Nurse Managers are torn between prioritizing functions which are administrative in nature vis-Ã  -vis functions that cater to the delivery of patient care. Due to the Nurse Managers’ theoretical orientation for health care, the administrative tasks such as completion of reportorial requirements, monitoring and upkeep of equipment and supplies, staff requirements and budgeting are frequently neglected or seconded with priorities being focused to patient care. In this regard, the VP for Nursing sought the assistance of the VP for Human Resources and the CEO to resolve this issue. Every nursing unit in the hospital is headed by a nurse manager who is assigned as the chief head nurse on duty. Her job responsibilities entail patient care as the primary task and managerial functions such as planning, directing, staffing and control. These multi-task functions coupled with low pay contributed to low morale and low productivity. These nurses opted to gain the minimum experience required to enable them to leave the country and work abroad. The leadership function assigned to nurse managers conflict with their functions as providers of patient care. They are expected to deliver timely reports on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. They monitor staffing requirements. They prepare the time sheets for payroll purposes. And most importantly, they are expected to know all the nursing intervention requirements for all the patients are their nursing units. There is this question on prioritization of function. As nurses, of course, they should prioritize patient care. But as managers, the function of attending to the human resource needs of the unit suffers. Reports are not completed on their specified time schedules. Upkeep of facilities in patients’ rooms and hospital areas are not regularly attended to. Equipments that need

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Learning Disabilities in Society Today Essay Example for Free

Learning Disabilities in Society Today Essay The modern society has advanced very much compared to the earlier society, for example of the mid twentieth century. This advancement can be attributed to various technological innovations and inventions that have taken place in the society. The various spheres of change have impacted both positively and negatively on the welfare of the people. This is together with the welfare of those with disabilities. Disability has been and remains to be a major aspect of social inquiries and studies that has been conducted in the society. This is given that the disabled persons are part and parcel of the society. In this regard, the issue of disability as an area of study encompasses various aspects. This is for instance the kind of relationships between disability and work, disability and oppression, disability and education and disability and discrimination among others. In addition, studies on disability have centered on the measures that have been taken or ought to be taken to address the issue. The measures taken range from medical interventions and efforts to change the attitude of the members of the society towards the disabled people. Disability and the Society Today: Overview There are several definitions that have been proposed for the term disability. The definitions depend on the orientation and experiences of the scholar. For example, in law, the term disability can be used to connote a physical or mental impairment of an individual (Shah Priestly, 2009). For the impairment to qualify as a disability, the law requires that it must have a substantial and long term negative effect on the individual’s ability to carry out normal day to day activities (Valentino Skeletonk, 2009). However, not all such conditions qualify as disabilities. For example, individuals with ailments such as cancer, HIV/AIDS and those who are blind or partially sighted are not considered as been disabled. According to the legal definition given above, impairments considered to make an individual disabled include sensory impairments, such as sight and hearing, or mental impairments such as learning disabilities, dyslexia and mental illness (Bradley, Danielson Hallahan, 2002). Some severe disfigurements, for example those affecting limbs and other physical organs, are regarded as a disability. Some conditions that can worsen over time such as multiple scleroses are also regarded as a disability as soon as they are diagnosed, even before they start to affect the individuals day to day activities (Lerner, 2000). There are criteria that have been put in place to determine whether a disability is long term or not. For example, for a disability to de regarded as long term, it must have lasted for at least one year (Bradley et al, 2002). Disabilities that have lasted for less than one year can also be classified as long term. This is when there are sufficient grounds to expect the disability to last for at least one year after its onset (Barnes, Fletcher Fuchs, 2007). For example, a loss of both limbs can be considered as a long term disability even if the loss is barely one month old. Also, for a disability to be regarded as long term, it must be expected to last for the rest of the individuals life (Barnes et al, 2007). As earlier alluded to in this paper, there are several types of disabilities affecting people in the society. These range from physical disability, mental disability among others. Another type of disability that affects people in the society, albeit not so visible, is learning disability. This paper is going to look at learning disabilities within the context of the modern society. A general overview of disability has already been provided to create a context within which learning disability will be located.

Friday, September 20, 2019

The Electrostatic Energy Harvesting Engineering Essay

The Electrostatic Energy Harvesting Engineering Essay this paper presents a general idea of the electrostatic energy harvesting devices. Their working principle, harvesting method and basic designs will be expounded. And another two new approaches, 2D energy harvester and non-resonant energy harvester with rolling mass will be shown. The 2D energy harvester can harvest energy in arbitrary directions in a plane. And non-resonant energy harvester with rolling mass shows its low frequency capability. It can harvest 0.5 Â µW at 10Hz. Further improvement of this design may applied to energy harvesting from human body motion. Introduction Generally, batteries are the most reliable power source for electronic devices. It is powerful, easy to use. However, it can only provide constant power for a limited period. After that, the batteries have to be changed. Therefore, for those devices that have large amount of number or in inaccessible position. Batteries are not suitable for them. Energy harvesting devices are one of the attractive options of these applications. Energy harvesters can harvest energy from different ambient sources such as solar, thermal and vibration. In these cases, solar is not a reliable source, temperature gradients are modest, vibration seems the more abundant, stable and predictable choices. Currently, three major methods apply to vibration energy harvesting, electromagnetic, electrostatic and piezoelectric mechanisms. Each technique has its own advantages. Lot of articles did research and provided good conclusion on them. [1-3] Electrostatic energy harvesting device has the lowest energy harvesting capabilities in these three mechanisms, but it has the most specific advantages. It facilitates CMOS integration [4]. That means it can realize self-power integrated circuits as an on-chip power source. It also environment protects. Unlike piezoelectric and electromagnetic counterparts that require exotic materials. Electrostatic devices are mainly made of silicon.[5] This paper will focus on the current electrostatic harvesting research. Its working principle and harvesting processes will be discussed in the first part. Some new approaches will also be presented. electrostatic harvesting Operating Principle The electrostatic harvesters harness the work done against the electrostatic force of a variable capacitor. In other words, the vibrations cause the gap distance or overlap area of a parallel plate capacitor to vary under constant charge or voltage condition. This causes the capacitance change of parallel plate capacitor and produces electrical energy. The fundamental definition is given by the formula below. C=Q/V (1) Where C is capacitance of variable capacitor in farads, Q is the charge on the plate in coulombs and V is the voltage on the plates in volts C=ÃŽ µ (A/d) (2) Where A is the overlap area of the plates in and d is the distance between the plates in m. This equation shows the capacitance is proportional to A and inverse proportional to d. (3) E is the work done in joules. If the charge Q is held constant, then V will vary as C changes because of their inverse proportional relationship. Then from, the relation between voltage and capacitor energy is squared rather than linear. As a result, the work done will increase as the C decrease. That provides the harvested energy. Similar thing happens when the voltage V is held constant and Q varies. [1] They are known as the voltage-constrained method and charge-constrained method. [6] In the recent applications, the charge-constrained method is more popular over the voltage-constrained method as the voltage-constrained method requires an extra charge reservoir to keep the voltage in a constant value, while the charge-constrained method only requires one. [4] For charge constrained system, as shown in Figure 1 the energy conversion cycle starts as the variable capacitance reaches it maximum Cmax. The charging process is represented by the path from point A to Point B in figure 1. At point B, the energy stored can be shown as, (4) From point B to point C, an external charge reservoir is connected in order to keep the charge constant. The capacitance is starting decreasing as the overlap area A decreases or the distance between the plates d increases. The voltage is inverse proportional to the capacitance which is why the voltage increases in this period. This period is the actual mechanical to electrical conversion period. The energy stored at point C is now, (5) The path from point C to point A is the discharging of the charge on the variable capacitor back into the charge reservoir The whole process forms a proper energy conversion cycle. And the amount of energy gain is, (6) Usually there is a parallel capacitor is connected parallel with the variable capacitor in order to limit the maximum voltage that might damage the system during the harvesting. Then the energy equation is becoming, (7) Figure 1. Charge-constrained energy conversion cycle. B. Steps of energy harvesting The vibration cycle in an electrostatic energy harvester has three steps, pre-charge, harvest and reset. Figure 2. Figure 2. vibration cycle of electrostatic harvester. In the system, the variable capacitor is pre-charged to the battery voltage, and then the capacitor is connected to the battery. The circuit has no current flow at first since the capacitor and battery have same voltage level. But with the separation of the capacitor plates or the decreases of overlap area, the voltage increases with the decrease of capacitance. Charge therefore flows into the batteries and energy is harvested. When the capacitance reaches minimum value, the energy left in the capacitor will be driven back to the batteries and ready for the next cycle. C. Basic Designs These three mechanisms in the figure 3 are the three basic design structures of the electrostatic harvesters, in-plane overlap converter, in-plane gap-closing converter and out-of-plane gap-closing converter. The in-plane overlap converter varies its capacitance by changing the overlap area between comb fingers; the in-plane gap-closing converter varies its capacitance by change the displacement between comb fingers and the out-of-plane gap closing converter varies its capacitance by change the gap between the centre proof mass and two electrode plates. The most of the current designs of electrostatic harvesters are based on these three basic designs. Figure 3. (a) in-plane overlap converter. (b) in-plane gap-closing converter. (c) out-of-plane gap closing converter. D. Comparison in these three designs Ye Mei Lim[8] did a study on the output energy for these three designs. Firstly the in-plane overlap and in-plane gap closing converters were compared. The Cmax for the one set of comb fingers were 0.122pF and the Cmin can be treat as zero since the application of silicon nitride dielectric coating which is a very thin layer of chemical (up to 0.1Â µm) that can electrically isolate the electrodes even the plates contacts with each other[4]. While using the same set of comb fingers, the Cmax were 0.149nF and Cmin were 0.122pF. By applying equation (7), the in-plane overlap converter harvests 1000 times less than in-plane gap closing converter. Then with the simulation of both in-plane gap closing converter and out-of-plane gap closing converter. The results were found out that the in-plane gap closing mechanism is approximately 1.8 times that of the out-of-plane gap closing mechanism for load volumes between 5 and 50. NEW APPRAOCHES A. 2D Electrostatic Harvester Most of the past electrostatic harvesters are only one degree of freedom. They can only harvest energy via one direction of motion. Y. Zhu fabricates a 2 degree of freedom electrostatic transducer for energy harvesting with resonance frequencies of 38520 Hz and 38725 Hz. It can scavenge energy in arbitrary directions in a plane with two resonance frequency peaks. Also an ultrasound-based method for powering the device is presented. Y. Zhus design includes a 2 degree of freedom motion mechanism. The seismic mass is coupled with both frames as shown in figure 3 with elastic flexures. This design makes the device be able to detect both movements in X and Y frames and also decouples the X and Y movements of the mass. Figure 4. Two degree of freedom motion mechanism to harvest any direction in-plane vibration energy Figure 5 shows the SEM image of the 2-DOF electrostatic transducer. And table I are the key parameters of this design. The width difference of X frame and Y frame gives the transducer two different resonance frequencies. The primary resonance frequency at 39238 Hz and second at 39266 Hz. That gives a 302 Hz of -10dB bandwidth. It is twice of the 1D resonator. This device can obtain 10mV through a 1M ohm resistive load and harvest 0.1 nW power. Since this transducer can be power by an ultrasonic generator of frequency close to its resonance frequency. Since the ultrasonic is relatively safer than other power sources. This design may be useful for functions in medical environment. Figure 5. SEM image of the 2-DOF electrostatic transducer. Table 1. key parameter of the 2-DOF energy harvester B. Non-Resonant electrostatic harvester with rolling mass M.E.Kiziroglous design [10-11] focuses on maximizing the proof mass. In this design, an external free rolling proof mass is introduced. The mechanical energy is proportional to the proof mass, bigger mass generates more energy. This design is a non-resonant device. This property gives it wider applications. Figure 6. (a) Device structure. (b) Equivalent circuit of the device The Device structure is shown in figure 6(a). Figure (b) is the equivalent circuit of the device. The stainless steel rod acts as the contact switches and comb finger. When the steel rod is aligned with one of the strip electrodes, it connects with a Cu input Contacts to pre-charge the rod. That generates an electrostatic force between the rod and the strip electrode. That pulls the rod away from the strip electrode and reduces the capacitance at constant charge. The rod then disconnects with the input contact and makes the contact with a discharge electrode. The energy will be transferred as a high voltage pulse. The test of the current prototype of this device reveals a capacitance ratio of 4 and demonstrates a voltage gain of 2.4. Later Kiziroglou provides an advanced design of that [12]. This time the glass substrate is form in a cylindrical shape. Figure 7 is fabrication and optical images of the device. The first prototype is characterised with plate size 1 x 10 mm and SiO2 dielectric thickness of 50 nm. A 10 mm-long, 2.5 mm-diameter steel rod was used. A minimum capacitance of 2 pF and a maximum of 9 pF are observed. The voltage gain is 3 corresponds to a priming voltage 30V. The power generation is 0.5Â µW when the rod oscillation frequency at 10 Hz. The biggest advantage of this device is the capability of low frequency. That makes the human body motion as a suitable motion sources for it. Figure 7. Fabrication and optical images conclusion The focus of this paper is to present the general idea current achievement of electrostatic energy harvesting. And it gives a related reference for the group project. For most of the electrostatic harvester designs, a relatively high resonant frequency comparing with human body motion is need. However, the low frequency capability of the non-resonant energy harvester with rolling mass shows the possibility of the application of this technology in the projects. Additionally, most of the current devices only have one degree of freedom. The 2D energy harvester design can harvest arbitrary directions motion in a plane, which sufficiently increases the power output of device. However, it needs a high frequency. That makes it not suitable for the requirement of the project.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Essay --

Gandhi once said, â€Å"a man is but the product of his thoughts what he thinks, he becomes.† Gandhi was a free-willed thinker and was the famous leader of the movement for Indian independence; he based his teachings on non-violence and truth. Being born and raised in India, he saw all the aspects of how British rule was controlling, but not knowing of any of the troubles of the British control, Gandhi set off to study law in England. He soon leaves for South Africa and opens a law office. But it was here in South Africa that where Gandhi organizes his first protest against anti-Indian laws in South Africa and was imprisoned. When he was released he returned to India and seven years later was put on trial and was sentenced to six years in jail. In jail, Gandhi began his â€Å"great fast† in protest of British control. But Gandhi was persistent to win the battle with no violence so he repeatedly was thrown in jail and fasted continuously. Even being imprisoned for years , nothing stopped the great independence leader of India. Gandhi once said, â€Å"you can chain me, you can torture me, you can even destroy this body, but you will never imprison my mind.† Gandhi’s beliefs can easily be translated into transcendentalism. Transcendentalism is a philosophy that promotes spiritual thinking and be one with nature. Ralph Waldo Emerson who wrote Nature and Self-Reliance and Henry David Thoreau who wrote Civil Disobedience and Walden are two famous examples of transcendentalists. They believe that people should not conform to society’s ways and beliefs and instead listen to their own conscious even if we are to be judged by others. They are true to themselves and find themselves through nature and being in solitude. Most nonconformists in the world were... ...e succeeded. Gandhi is known as the father of India but he can also be known as a transcendentalist because of his acts of civil disobedience, his careless thoughts of what others thought of him, and his persistence for racial and gender equality. When comparing transcendentalism and Gandhi, we can clearly see how closely related their philosophies were because like transcendentalism, Gandhi was self-reliant, a nonconformist, and believed in equality. Gandhi set examples for many others leaders to help gain independence because like all other actions it begins with ideas, and with ideas anything is possible. Everything can be accomplished if we all step outside of the pressures of society and find ourselves and be the person we intend to be and not society’s puppet. Like Gandhi once said before, â€Å"a man is but the product of his thoughts what he thinks, he becomes.†

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

The West African Regional War Essay -- Politics Government Africa War

The West Africa Regional War For observers of the West Africa regional war, the recent calm in the war-torn Mano River Union (MRU) states Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea has given rise to optimism. Guarded, as this optimism might be, the decrease in violence in West Africa during the second half of 2001 is an important development given the scope and intensity of fighting that gripped these states earlier in the year. While observers agree that the current absence of widespread violent conflict in the MRU is a much-welcomed development, it must not mask the profound cleavages within these societies, the tenuous nature of the UN-imposed peace in Sierra Leone, and the continued serious threat of renewed warfare in the region. A brief overview of the horrendous and persistent conflicts that have engulfed the MRU over the past decade underscores the need for vigilance by the international community in its pursuit of lasting peace in West Africa. The past dozen years of violent conflict in West Africa have led to the death, injury, and mutilation of hundreds of thousands of people and the displacement of millions more. Conservative estimates place the total number of war-related deaths during the seven-year civil war in Liberia (1989 1996) at 150,000, more than 5 percent of Liberia's estimated population (SIPRI Yearbook, 1996). But this number only begins to tell the story of the horror that civil war brought to this small nation of 2.8 million [United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Human Development Report, 1995]. Hundreds of thousands more Liberians were injured, displaced, and terrorized by the conflict, and today the tiny state remains the hostage of its corrupt and brutal dictator, Charles Taylor. After the war spread into Sierra Leone in 1991, it had a similarly devastating effect. As in Liberia, armed insurgents preyed on the rural populations, raping, pillaging, and forcefully inducting children into their ranks. During the eight years of warfare that followed, it is estimated (conservatively) that over 60,000 of Sierra Leone's estimated 4.2 million inhabitants were killed and hundreds of thousands more injured, mutilated, and displaced (SIPRI Yearbook, 2001; UNDP, Human Development Report, 1995). The 2001 UNDP Human Development Report ranks Sierra Leone last out of the 162 nations rated on the human development index (HDI), a composite ... ...ll play in the future of the region. 6.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Develop a mid- and long-term regional plan for West Africa that accounts for big-picture economic and human development trends. 7.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Implement the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act as soon as possible and draft and then implement AGOA II, thus extending the number of products covered by the legislation. 8.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Buttress socio-economic development in Nigeria, the most populous and perhaps most important U.S. ally in sub-Saharan Africa. 9.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Cut off financial resources to warlords who gain sustenance from non-state profiteers like diamond and timber buyers as well as from state actors intent on creating instability to further their own political and economic goals. 10.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Continue military assistance to the key regional armies to professionalize them and build linkages with the United States. 11.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Speed up debt forgiveness, especially for those countries that play by the rules and are in the process of socio-economic liberalization. 12.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Increase aid to the region as an investment in stability, socio-economic development, and the creation of new markets for the United States and to help prevent state collapse.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

What aspects of your life would you most like to keep and why

There are many aspects of my life which have become important to me and the way I live day to day. Many of the things which I include myself I can easily live without and are merely acts of procrastination which I would be better of abandoning, yet there are some things which improve me as a person and are vital to my well being. The first and most important of aspect of my life which every person needs to have, for a secure and happy way of life is family; and our ability to rely upon our family to always love and care for us. It is my parents who raised me and cared for me when no one else would they are the reason I am living the way of life I am today. Family is important because they give us the significance that we need to feel. They act as our own group of loyal supporters which we all crave to have. In a world that never stops moving for anyone, those closest to will, they will share in my sorrows and be joyous in my success. Our parents, siblings and relations are all that we have and they are who mould us into great people and the provide us the motivation to do great things and make the positive influence on society that keep the human race moving forward. Another aspect of our aspect of my life which I would want to keep is my religion. Islam was too first given to by my family, yet now it has become a complete way of life for me. It gives us humans the sense of purpose which we strive for and it instructs us on how we should act and behave to not only others around us but ourselves. Religion also has the ability to unite billions of people around the world to one common belief, and this common ground which we share with each other is invaluable because too much now days people focus on our differences yet fail to acknowledge the similarities; the belief in God. Religion is a central part of my life and makes up part of my identity, without which I am nothing. The internet is an aspect of my life which over the years has become a pivotal part of my life. It is a treasure trove of information that can provide you up to date news as well is an encyclopaedia of knowledge about history and connects people worldwide. The internet has revolutionised my way of life, and the fact that it has been phased into my life does mean that with time one could become used to living without it again. I use the internet in all aspects of my life and it comes to use from being used for school work and keeping connected with friends and family living too far away to contact any other way. The final part of my life which I would like to hold onto until I am old and grey is my participation in sports; sport is beneficial to my mind and body in so many ways; from the obvious facts of reducing body fat and increasing stamina to its ability to help me fight away depression and anxiety. Sports gives us a sense of belonging and helps us fit in with other people who we may not normally meet or talk to. If I am able to continue my involvement in sports then in the future it would lower the chances of me suffering from illnesses and diseases and also continue to give me that competitive edge over others who I may meet in the world of work. Participation in sport gives me that sense of achievement and confidence which is not always found in other aspects of life and therefore I will continue my affiliation with it for as long as possible. We as a human race must strive to maintain the ability to celebrate and learn from the past, for if men and women are freed from tradition and the experiences of history and the family environment, we will be but clueless beings; making the same mistakes of those who have already come before us and be moulded by eccentrics and maniacs, which would only be detrimental to the development of the humanity.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Creative writing: National Service

I, David Vivian-Currie, had been used to the upper-class life until I was forced to join the war through National Service. I had received the dreaded letter on 29th May 1944, a week before it detailed me to leave. I was to help recapture France from the German's. Until I had received the letter, I felt that I had lived quite a pleasant life: I had attended Dunce Hall in North London and, at the age of thirteen, had moved onto Eton, where I became a school prefect in my final year. My father, John Vivian-Currie, was a well-established banker who had always tried to give me the best opportunities in life. After realising his success in banking, I decided to give it a try after I left Eton, and by the age of twenty-five, I had risen to the position of my father's assistant. He had avoided National Service due to age reasons. I however, had not. Due to my schooling I entered the army as captain, so I was in a better position that most of the soldiers. However, I still knew that I had virtually no chance of surviving. Today, 5th June 1944, I was sitting in the tiny transport boat with the remainder of my platoon, preparing ourselves for the journey to France, that would decide the rest of our lives. There was not a cloud in the sky, however, it was still quite brisk, I was glad that I had decided to put an extra pair of breeches on, but it didn't really matter, for I would probably be dead in less that twelve hours. At eleven o'clock the boat started to move, over the choppy English Channel, for some of us, this was the last time that we would ever see our homes. Overhead, it was possible to hear the jittering from the engines of the Spitfires and Lancaster's, above us. The aim of these planes was to bombard the landing spots around the coast, destroying any gun emplacements, the success of this raid, would decide the success of this invasion. I decided to sleep for a while as tomorrow would be one of the most important days of my live. Was I to live or die! I woke at half past four by the sounds of the bombardment occurring a mere six miles away. I felt horribly ill. I wasn't able to hold it back any more, I had to lean over the side of the transport vessel and vomit. I was so scared! There were a few other men in the boat that were suffering from the same problem as me: fear! Soon enough the boat started to smell of the putrefying stench of sick. Normally I would feel even worse at this sordid stink, but it wasn't the time to worry about that. We were less than two miles from the French coast, about an hour before landing. I decided to make a final check of my equipment, machine gun, yes, grenades, yes, water bottle, yes, pistol, yes, helmet, yes, bandages, yes. I thought that was everything, but then I realised that I had forgotten my radio. I had a problem. How was I going to keep in contact with the commanding officer? I looked up only to see the French coast and I started thinking, â€Å"Oh shit, here we go. † I managed to compose myself, I called my platoon around me. Instead of going out of the front and being slaughtered by German machine guns, I suggested that as soon as we reached the beach we should jump out of the side of the transport vessel, into the shallow water. This way we had a better chance of survival. Approximately five minutes after I finished debriefing my platoon, the boat driver shouted â€Å"two minutes,† we were close. All of a sudden we became under heavy machine gun fire, the night bombardment obviously hadn't been very productive. I shouted the order to get out of the boat, oh no! Due to the lack of communication I had forgotten to tell the driver that I had chosen not to go out of the front, he opened the door and, almost instantaneously, nine men were dead. I had managed to climb over the side, as had ten others. We had been in France for less than two minutes and we had already suffered heavy casualties. With the rest of my men, I moved up the beach and found some cover behind a huge rock about 40 metres from the cliffs. We were safe for the moment, but soon we would have to move on. There was an abandoned trench about seven metres away, with a concrete wall in front of it that should provide some much needed cover. I shouted the order, and we sprinted up the beach to the trench. We had made it without suffering any more casualties. Now was the time to attack. I positioned Phil Wainsley, the sniper, in position; he had a clear view of a small machine gun emplacement, which was operated by two tall, bearded men. I watched the emplacement through a periscope that one of the privates had stolen from an Italian Colonel a week previously. After seeing that both men had dropped dead, I shouted that it was safe. We rushed up the beach to find the best position to lay down some covering fire for the rest of the army running up the beach. I looked along the coastline, to see bodies everywhere. It was horrible. The sea was red from the blood of those that had lost their lives, there were people searching for friends, relatives, and in some cases, lost limbs. I turned round to find that I was on my own platoon had moved up the side of the hill. I pursued them quickly, trying to dodge the oncoming bullets. I caught up with them at the bottom of a set of stairs leading up the side of the cliff to the main gun emplacement. We waited there for a moment and then ran up the stairs to the emplacement; there we threw two grenades into the building. We waited for the smoke to settle from the explosion, and then charged in killing any survivors. The battle had been won, we had taken control both of the gun emplacements, it was now safe for the Navy to come to the beach, they had been waiting a few miles of the coast. It was essential that they came. So that we could set up a camp, reducing the chances of loosing our position. It was half past twelve before all of the equipment had been unloaded from the large warships; however, it would take two hours to set up. I was now reunited with my senior officer, my regiment, The South Alberta Regiment, and armoured car regiment. I was just sitting quietly beside my armoured jeep, not believing that I had just survived that onslaught. I was in a new world, from being a banker to a Captain in the English army, I felt like a massive juxtaposition. I suddenly heard somebody shouting my name, it was the captain in the Royal Logistics Corps, informing me that I was to report to Colonel Radley, the highest ranked officer in the camp. When I reached his tent, I was flabbergasted, it was beautiful inside: along the left hand side of the room was situated a large bed, with the woodwork made from pine. Just past the bed, there was the most beautiful mahogany table. Along the opposite side of the room, was positioned a Cedar wardrobe and chest of drawers. I must say that I was very jealous of the Colonel, even though I was a captain, I still had to share a tent with my platoon: not the most comfortable of places. After gazing around the room, I was asked into the head office of the camp, this is where all of the senior ranking officers worked. I walked through the room, which was littered with communication appliances and typewriters. A Corporal led me through the room to the Colonel's office. Once in the office I saluted my senior, and listened to what he had to say. He was saying that due to my bravery and superb leadership of my platoon, for leading the allies over the cliffs, and securing a position. I was being awarded the Victoria Cross, and promoted to the role of Major. I started to think that the army wasn't so bad after all. A promotion, and being awarded the best medal possible, after spending less than forty-eight hours in the army. However, I was still feeling very weird, being away from home, not knowing if I would live long enough to see it again. The Colonel then informed me that I was to take three tanks and two jeeps to try and regain control of Dieppe, a small French town a short way along the coast. After hearing this I saluted and thanked the Colonel, and briskly marched towards my regimental base. There I selected fifteen other men to assist me with this assignment. We filled the vehicles with fuel and ammo, and set off. I started to feel a little queasy again. After reaching Dieppe, I could understand why regaining control of it was so important to the Allies. It had a well-established harbour, big enough and deep enough to contain an entire fleet. The coastline was very steep, making a coastal attack virtually impossible. Dieppe was also a link between Calais and Le Havre. When we reached the town square, which looked as if it had been deserted a long time ago, we became under heavy machine gun fire from the derelict church steeple. This however, didn't really cause a problem for the tanks. There was rubbish everywhere, from buildings that had been destroyed. There were walls missing from certain houses, and others were just non-existent, just gaps in the street where they had previously been. After sorting out the problem in the town square, we stopped to gather our bearings after checking that there was no one else around. We sat down inside a small deserted cafi, which smelt a little like rotten pot-pourri, not a smell that I want to remember.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

The History of Schizophrenia

The History of Schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a severe psychiatric disorder with symptoms of emotional instability, detachment from reality, and withdrawal into the self. The word â€Å"Schizophrenia† is less than 100 years old. However the disease was first identified as a discrete mental illness by Dr. Emile Kraepelin in the 1887 and the illness itself is generally believed to have accompanied mankind throughout its history. There are documents that identify Schizophrenia can be traced to the old Pharaonic Egypt, as far back as the second millennium before Christ. Depression, dementia, as well as thought disturbances that are typical in schizophrenia are described in detail in the Book of Hearts. The Heart and the mind seem to have been synonymous in ancient Egypt. The physical illnesses were regarded as symptoms of the heart and the uterus and originating from the blood vessels or from purulence, fecal matter, a poison or demons. Some recent study into the ancient Greek and Roman literature showed that although the general population probably had an awareness of psychotic disorders, there was no condition that would meet the modern diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia in these societies. At one point in history, all people who were considered â€Å"abnormal,† whether due to mental illness, mental retardation, or physical deformities, were largely treated the same. Early theories supposed that mental disorders were caused by evil possession of the body, and the appropriate treatment was then exorcising these demons, through various means, ranging from innocuous treatments, such as exposing the patient to certain types of music, to dangerous and sometimes deadly means, such as releasing the evil spirits by drilling holes in the patient's skull. One of the first to classify the mental disorders into different categories was the German physician, Dr. Emile Kraepelin. He used the term â€Å"dementia praecox† for individuals who had symptoms that we now associate with schizophrenia. The nonspecific concept of madness has been around for many thousands of years and schizophrenia was only classified as a distinct mental disorder by Kraepelin in 1887. He was the first to make a distinction in the psychotic disorders between what he called dementia praecox and manic depression. Kraepelin believed that dementia praecox was primarily a disease of the brain, and particularly a form of dementia. Kraepelin named the disorder ‘dementia praecox' (early dementia) to distinguish it from other forms of dementia (such as Alzheimer's disease) which typically occur late in life. He used this term because his studies focused on young adults with dementia. The Swiss psychiatrist, Eugen Bleuler, coined the term, â€Å"schizophrenia† in 1911. He was also the first to describe the symptoms as â€Å"positive† or â€Å"negative. † Bleuler changed the name to schizophrenia as it was obvious that Krapelin's name was misleading as the illness was not a dementia (it did not always lead to mental deterioration) and could sometimes occur late as well as early in life. The word â€Å"schizophrenia† comes from the Greek roots schizo (split) and phrene (mind) to describe the fragmented thinking of people with the disorder. His term was not meant to convey the idea of split or multiple personality, a common misunderstanding by the public at large. Since Bleuler's time, the definition of schizophrenia has continued to change, as scientists attempt to more accurately delineate the different types of mental diseases. Without knowing the exact causes of these diseases, scientists can only base their classifications on the observation that some symptoms tend to occur together. Both Bleuler and Kraepelin subdivided schizophrenia into categories, based on prominent symptoms and prognoses. Over the years, those working in this field have continued to attempt to classify types of schizophrenia. Five types were delineated in the DSM-III: disorganized, catatonic, paranoid, residual, and undifferentiated. The first three categories were originally proposed by Kraepelin. These classifications, while still employed in DSM-IV, have not shown to be helpful in predicting outcome of the disorder, and the types are not reliably diagnosed. Many researchers are using other systems to classify types of the disorder, based on the preponderance of â€Å"positive† verses â€Å"negative† symptoms, the progression of the disorder in terms of type and severity of symptoms over time, and the co-occurrence of other mental disorders and syndromes. It is hoped that differentiating types of schizophrenia based on clinical symptoms will help to determine different etiologies or causes of the disorder. The evidence that schizophrenia is a biologically-based disease of the brain has accumulated rapidly during the past two decades. Recently this evidence has been also been supported with dynamic brain imaging systems that show very precisely the wave of tissue destruction that takes place in the brain that is suffering from schizophrenia. The 1800's saw a slow progression towards an eventual schizophrenia definition. From the 1800's on, schizophrenia history begins to gain ground as researchers began to understand the nature of the disease: Although the nineteenth century saw great strides towards a schizophrenic definition, â€Å"lunatic asylums† of the time were often little more than human zoos. For a fee, well to do ladies and gentlemen could tour the asylums, viewing the patients. No doubt the psychotic behavior of schizophrenics made them popular â€Å"attractions† during these degrading tours. Schizophrenia in Recent Times The start of the twentieth century saw, for the first time in schizophrenia history, a practical schizophrenia definition and the birth of effective treatments. In 1911 Eugene Beuler first used the term schizophrenia, and his schizophrenia definition includes symptoms such as blunted emotions, disordered thoughts, and loss of awareness. Then in 1957, Kurt Schneider created the schizophrenic definition still in use today, and is the first person in the long history of schizophrenia to list the currently accepted features of schizophrenia. Schizophrenia definitely has a very significant genetic component. Those who have a third degree relative with schizophrenia are twice as likely to develop schizophrenia as those in the general population. Those with a second degree relative have a several-fold higher incidence of schizophrenia than the general population, and first degree relatives have an incidence of schizophrenia an order of magnitude higher than the general populace. The History of Schizophrenia Treatment in the Twentieth Century Schizophrenia history abounds in unusual treatments and bizarre â€Å"cures. † Indeed, the twentieth century stands apart from the rest of schizophrenia history because it saw the first effective schizophrenia treatment: the first antipsychotic drug was created in 1952. The twentieth century also saw some controversial schizophrenia â€Å"cures. † Portuguese doctor, Egus Moniz, developed the lobotomy in the 1930s. Moniz won a Nobel Peace prize for his work in 1949. The lobotomy procedure cut the nerve fibers from the frontal lobe to the interior of the brain, where emotions are generated. Patients were less agitated and aggressive after a lobotomy. Of course, patients were also left indifferent and with blunted emotions, but this didn't squelch the lobotomy's popularity as a schizophrenia treatment. Patients could be released from hospitals after lobotomies, saving both hospitals and family members money. Lobotomy procedures varied. American neurologist John Freeman created perhaps the most bizarre procedure. Freeman traveled America performing lobotomies for the benefit of audiences comprised of journalists and medical professionals: to call him a medical showman isn't stretching the truth much. Freeman's lobotomies were simple, quick, and medically preposterous. With the patient under anesthesia, Freeman placed an ice pick (yes, you read that correctly) into an area just above the eyeball. Using a hammer, he drove the ice pick into the patient's brain to a depth of approximately one inch. Lobotomies fell into disfavor as people noticed patients often died from lobotomy-induced epilepsy or surgical infections. Severe brain damage was also shown in many cases (not that it should have required a study to prove an ice pick to the brain caused extensive damage). Still, between the 1940s and the 1950s over 40,000 Americans were lobotomized. Shock therapy was developed at the same time lobotomies were darkening schizophrenia history. Approaches to shock therapy varied. Some doctors used insulin injections; others preferred Metrazol or electricity. Insulin often left patients in comas. Both Metrazol and electricity caused seizures, and electric shock therapy often caused memory loss. Surprisingly, electroconvulsive therapy is still used to treat some cases of schizophrenia and severe depression. Current techniques are supposed to be much safer, but many medical professionals consider electroconvulsive therapy very dangerous, and something that should only be used as a last resort. Since schizophrenia may not be a single condition and its causes are not yet known, current treatment methods are based on both clinical research and experience. These approaches are chosen on the basis of their ability to reduce the symptoms of schizophrenia and to lessen the chances that symptoms will return. Medications For Schizophrenia: Antipsychotic medications have been available since the mid-1950s. They have greatly improved the outlook for individual patients. These medications reduce the psychotic symptoms of schizophrenia and usually allow the patient to function more effectively and appropriately. Antipsychotic drugs are the best treatment now available, but they do not â€Å"cure† schizophrenia or ensure that there will be no further psychotic episodes. The choice and dosage of medication can be made only by a qualified physician who is well trained in the medical treatment of mental disorders. The dosage of medication is individualized for each patient, since people may vary a great deal in the amount of drug needed to reduce symptoms without producing troublesome side effects. The large majority of people with schizophrenia show substantial improvement when treated with antipsychotic drugs. Some patients, however, are not helped very much by the medications and a few do not seem to need them. No frames is difficult to predict which patients will fall into these two groups and to distinguish them from the large majority of patients who do benefit from treatment with antipsychotic drugs. A number of new ntipsychotic drugs (the so-called â€Å"atypical antipsychotics†) have been introduced since 1990. The first of these, clozapine (Clozaril), has been shown to be more effective than other antipsychotics, although the possibility of severe side effects – in particular, a condition called agranulocytosis (loss of the white blood cells that fight infection) â€⠀ requires that patients be monitored with blood tests every one or two weeks. Even newer antipsychotic drugs, such as risperidone (Risperdal) and olanzapine (Zyprexa), are safer than the older drugs or clozapine, and they also may be better tolerated. They may or may not treat the illness as well as clozapine, however. Several additional antipsychotics are currently under development. Antipsychotic drugs are often very effective in treating certain symptoms of schizophrenia, particularly hallucinations and delusions; unfortunately, the drugs may not be as helpful with other symptoms, such as reduced motivation and emotional expressiveness. Indeed, the older antipsychotics (which also went by the name of â€Å"neuroleptics†), medicines like haloperidol (Haldol) or chlorpromazine (Thorazine), may even produce side effects that resemble the more difficult to treat symptoms. Often, lowering the dose or switching to a different medicine may reduce these side effects; the newer medicines, including olanzapine (Zyprexa), quetiapine (Seroquel), and risperidone (Risperdal), appear less likely to have this problem. Patients and families sometimes become worried about the antipsychotic medications used to treat schizophrenia. In addition to concern about side effects, they may worry that such drugs could lead to addiction. However, antipsychotic medications do not produce a â€Å"high† (euphoria) or addictive behavior in people who take them. Another misconception about antipsychotic drugs is that they act as a kind of mind control, or a â€Å"chemical straitjacket. † Antipsychotic drugs used at the proper dosage does not â€Å"knock out† people or take away their free will. While these medications can be sedating, and while this effect can be useful when treatment is initiated particularly if an individual is quite agitated, the utility of the drugs is not due to sedation but to their ability to diminish the hallucinations, agitation, confusion, and delusions of a psychotic episode. Thus, antipsychotic medications should eventually help an individual with schizophrenia to deal with the world more rationally. Treatment of schizophrenia depends upon a life-long regimen of both drug and psychosocial, support therapies. While the medication helps control the psychosis associated with schizophrenia (e. g. , the delusions and hallucinations), it cannot help the person find a job, learn to be effective in social relationships, increase the individual's coping skills, and help them learn to communicate and work well with others. Poverty, homelessness, and unemployment are often associated with this disorder, but they don't have to be. If the individual finds appropriate treatment and sticks with it, a person with schizophrenia can lead a happy and successful life. But the initial recovery from the first symptoms of schizophrenia can be an extremely lonely experience. Individuals coping with the onset of schizophrenia for the first time in their lives require all the support that their families, friends, and communities can provide. ———————– 1

Nursing Management of Care Delivery and Therapeutic Interventions Essay

Nursing Management of Care Delivery and Therapeutic Interventions Summary Management of a Proposed Service Improvement Word Count: 1,051 The following assignment will discuss a proposed service improvement. It will detail what the proposed improvement will be, why this is a significant improvement to current services. How the plan would be managed and implemented. The student has chosen to plan an improvement to physical health needs assessments for mental health service user’s in the care of community teams. Physical health is historically largely overlooked in mental health services, although many people with severe and enduring mental illnesses are at an increased risk of contracting serious illness, for example, diabetes, coronary heart disease and obesity (DH, 2006 a). The ‘Refocusing the Care Programme Approach’ 2008 document, discusses the links between mental ill health and physical ill health and the consequential increase in the rate of mortality and morbidity for those with mental health illness. The possible reasons for these inequalities include; side effects from medication leading to physical ill health i.e. weight gain, raised blood pressure. Low expectations of health care services, issues around stigma and possible communication problems with health care professionals. (DH 2006 b). The Sainsbury centre for mental health (SCMH) states that someone with a schizophrenic illness could expect to die up to ten years younger than someone who does not have a mental health illness (SCMH, 2010). This shocking statistic is a prime example of the inequalities faced by those with mental health problems within the health care services. For these reasons the student feels that more rigorous and frequent physical health assessments are required for those people with mental health illnesses, to monitor any changes to the state of their physical health. Within the student’s community placement areas there has been a lack of detailed physical health checks or assessments. Although the community teams deliver effective care for the clients mental health needs there appears to be a lack of awareness around physical health needs and the importance of regular checks. The current physical health assessments that are undertaken in the students ward consists of a very basic overview of any current diagnosed health issues, any medications prescribed for said illnesses and generalised questions around smoking, smoking cessation services etc. Rethink, a national mental health charity, recognises the short comings of mental health professionals concerning current physical health assessments. It has therefore published a detailed physical health check for practitioner’s use. The student has created a physical health assessment using the Rethink model. The rethink PHC complies with all aspects of annual review process put forward by the department of health (DH 2006 c). This includes basic health checks such as; blood pressure, BMI, current meds and any side effects, blood tests and lifestyle review i.e. smoking, alcohol intake. The student has taken the lead from the Rethink PHC document as it appears very thorough and detailed. The student PHC contains the headings below (See Appendix 1): General Health and lifestyle Symptoms checklist Screening checks Action Plan The student feels the most effective use of the PHC would be to conduct the full assessment at least once every four months, increasing frequency when and if necessary. This enables the service user and the mental health practitioner enough time to take effective action on any identified needs and assess the outcome. The student plans to implement this service improvement in a staged approach using the NHS institute for innovation and improvement model for improvement (NHS 2005). (See Appendix 2). The first stage of the plan will involve liaising with the multi disciplinary team, consisting of mental health nurses, occupational therapists and social workers. Discuss the current system of PHC and the various aspects of how the new PHC will be implemented and managed. Discuss with staff the proposal of offering this PHC to clients on a four monthly basis and the rationale  behind it, this being the likelihood of a person with a mental health problem suffering from a serious physical illness. The Chief Nursing Officer’s review of mental health nursing, ‘From values to action 2006’ recommends that mental health nurses attain the skills required to improve the physical well-being of people with mental health problems. In a community setting, many RMN’s as well as other mental health practitioner’s act as care co-ordinators and, as such, are in a particularly strong position to ensure that the whole range of health needs are assessed and responded to. (DH 2006 d). In doing so, community teams would be offering completely holistic care. All mental health practitioners within the team would be given training around the various parts of the assessment and how to utilise the tool most effectively. The Rethink document is accompanied by a Physical Health Check Information resource Pack; this document can be downloaded for free from ‘the mental health shop, (The mental health shop, 2007). There would be a hard copy of this document available to all practitioners to assist with implementation of the PHC. Once the training is complete and staff have gained consent from clients the PHC will be put into action. The student feels that the most effective management of the implementation would be to offer time within clinical supervision and multi disciplinary team meetings to discuss any queries around implementation or the effective use of PHC. The student feels that the system should be revised after a period of eight months to gain insight from p ractitioners and service user’s about the effectiveness of the PHC and if there are any suggestions for improvements to the plan. The student has included a copy of the questionnaire’s that would be distributed to staff and clients after a period of eight months (See Appendix 4 and 5).This process would be extremely beneficial to gain the points of view of those conducting the assessment and those who are subject to the assessment. The student has included a flow chart showing the staged implementation (see Appendix 3). In discussing the proposed improvement and detailing why this would be an effective change the student has demonstrated the current need for better physical health monitoring within mental health services as a hole, but specifically focusing on community care. Completing the implementation of these more detailed checks should allow service users a better quality of life and make a change to the overall life expectancy to someone that is diagnosed with a mental health illness. Department of health. (2006 a). Choosing Health: Supporting the physical health needs of people with severe mental illness. Pg 7. Retrieved from the department o health website: http://www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/groups/dh_digitalassets/@dh/@en/documents/digitalasset/dh_4138290.pdf Department of health. (2006 b). Choosing Health: Supporting the physical health needs of people with severe mental illness. Pg 8. Retrieved from the department o health website: http://www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/groups/dh_digitalassets/@dh/@en/documents/digitalasset/dh_4138290.pdf Department of health. (2006 c). Choosing Health: Supporting the physical health needs of people with severe mental illness. Pg 14. Retrieved from the department o health website: http://www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/groups/dh_digitalassets/@dh/@en/documents/digitalasset/dh_4138290.pdf Department of Health. (2006 d). From Values to action: The Chief Nursing Officer’s review of Mental Health Nursing. Retrieved from the department of health website: http://www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/groups/dh_digitalassets/@dh/@en/documents/digitalasset/dh_4133840.pdf Department of Health. (2008). Refocusing the Care Programme Approach: Policy and Positive practice Guidance. DH Publications: London NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement. (2005). Improvement Leaders’ Guide. Process mapping, analysis and redesign. General improvement skills. Retrieved from the Chester University Intranet: http://ganymede2.chester.ac.uk/view.php?title_id=483592 Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health. (2010). Mental Health Inequalities: Measuring what counts. Retrieved from the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health website: http://www.scmh.org.uk/pdfs/mental_health_inequalities_paper.pdf Rethink. (2007). The PHC: a physical health check for mental health service users. Retrieved from the Rethink website: http://www.gmw.nhs.uk/sites/earlyinterventiontraining/Rethink%20PHC%20final.pdf Rethink. (2007). Physical Health Check Information Resource. Retrieved from the mental health shop website: http://www.mentalhealthshop.org/applications/shop/mhs_complete.rm?delivery=fa

Saturday, September 14, 2019

How the digestive, cardiovascular and respiratory system are interrelate Essay

The human body has to be controlled from advanced systems internally of which connect in order to function effectively. There are ten main systems within the body of which all perform various activities and all interrelate with at least one other system; the nervous system. The most complex of all body systems, the nervous system controls all functions within the body. The main function of the respiratory system is to inhale oxygen and exhale the waste product carbon dioxide. Oxygen is breathed through the mouth and nostrils into the lungs. The gas then diffuses through the alveolar walls and into the red blood cells. Carbon dioxide carried back within erythrocytes diffuses back through the alveolar walls and is exhaled out through the mouth. The cardiovascular system has a role of circulating blood around the body. The contents of blood being circulated include nutrients, gases and waste products. The main organs involved within this process are blood, arteries, veins, heart and the lungs. The function of the digestive system is to absorb and adapt key nutrients which are required to maintain and regulate other systems in the body. Enzymes secreted within the digestive system have a role of breaking down food from proteins into amino acids, starch into glucose and fats into a mixture of fatty acids and glycerol. It can be analysed that the two body systems work together. Which are the respiratory system and the cardiovascular system. Oxygen is inhaled and enters the respiratory system. It travels down into the lungs through the trachea. Once inside the lungs, the gas enters the alveoli and diffuses through the alveolar wall. After it diffuses through the capillary wall, it enters the cardiovascular system. Oxygen then binds with haemoglobin forming oxyhaemoglobin and is then transported around to cells within the body. Carbon dioxide is transported as a waste product within red blood cells through the cardiovascular system. This needs to be exhaled as too much carbon dioxide present within the blood causes acidosis. The gas must vacate  from the blood through the same route oxygen entered the blood. It must exit through the respiratory system. Carbon dioxide diffuses back into the alveoli and then is exhaled out of the mouth through the respiratory system. It is evident that both systems are required in order to sufficiently exchange gas. If the human body was unable to perform gas exchange, cells within the body would die so this interrelation is important. The respiratory system interrelates with the digestive system to perform a defence mechanism. When a micro-organism has successfully entered the human body, goblet cells along the respiratory tract have the ability to produce a larger yield of mucous. Mucous is a defensive â€Å"sticky† liquid of which has the ability to collect micro-organisms that bind with the substance. Cilia within the trachea slide the mucous towards the entry of the oesophagus. The substance is then delivered through the tube and into the strong hydrochloric acid present in the stomach. To aid with the respiratory system, the digestive system provides the diaphragm with key nutrients necessary to facilitate breathing. It is also noted that both the digestive system and respiratory system provide the key products to perform aerobic respiration. The cardiovascular system interrelates with the digestive system. Various nutrients produced from the digestive system are required to maintain the heart rate within the cardiovascular system at a normal rhythm. The nutrients are essential within the whole body so once they have been churned; they are absorbed within the blood and then transported via the cardiovascular system to their required destination. When the digestive system requires more blood, vessels expand to acquire the demands. The circulatory system carries chemical signals which control the speed of digestion. Toxins produced by the digestive system are transported via the cardiovascular system to the kidneys to excrete the material. It is identifiable from analysing the roles of the systems that both are required in order for the human body to remain in a healthy state. Also they’re all linked by being part of one and the same organism. Respiratory system – Oxygen is inhaled, cardiovascular system – oxygen is carried to every cell in the organism, nutritive substances are carried from the digestive system to every cell in the organism. Cardiovascular system – carbon dioxide is  carried to the respiratory system and it is exhaled. Cardiovascular system – whatever remains of the nutritive substances after they’ve been processed in the cells is returned to the digestive system and is â€Å"thrown away† at the end of the digestive system.

Friday, September 13, 2019

Increasing Physical Activity amongst Youth Australians Essay

Increasing Physical Activity amongst Youth Australians - Essay Example Increasing physical activity amongst youth Australians Since the 70’s and 80’s, research has shown that Australian kids between the ages of 7-16 tend to suffer from overweight and obese. According to the research results by Beaulieu (2008) the increase in  overweight  population  occurrence  rose by 70% while that of the obese went up 2-4-fold. The results from the analysis by Beaulieu raises alarm urging Australian parents to  identify  and  employ  effective  measures to counter overweight and obesity, a hazard to the community health. People with weight problems are  prone  to organ failures and  acute  body  malfunctions. People with overweight problems have their hearts overworking due to lots of fat accumulation in the chest cavity and the  heart  itself, putting their lives at risk because they are likely to suffer from heart failures and breathing problems. The dangers of failing to exercise regularly  are clearly explained  b y Mackinnon’s book Exercise Management (2003). Lots of Australian parents ignore the  data  that researchers  present  them from their recent  analysis. A research conducted by Royal Children’s’ Hospital in Melbourne shows that 30% of all the 12-17 years old are overweight. Different programs implemented to curb this situation failed because of the ignorance, including  The 3000 Steps  Campaign  initiated by Hong Kong Medical Association in 2003.recently, the 3000 steps campaign got  support  from MTR. The partnership from MTR aims to  encourage  children and parents to walk every day to the stations promotions to and fro. This project targets young Australians encouraging them to  walk  at least 3000 steps daily. Making 3000 steps a day is a healthy  living  habits  that helps keep the body in  excellent  condition. Making the steps can be frustrating and making the  walker  lose count. To avoid such situations, we try to  implement  the use of small gadgets like iPods and  iPads  to play music and most prominent count the steps. These pedometers help break the monotony encountered when walking alone and keep the  walker  focused on music rather than the number of steps needed. The SWOT analysis The strengths and weaknesses of the analysis The Internal environment of the factors affecting Australia’s health- the situation needs evaluation to facilitate the curbing negative impacts arising from its status. Situation among the parents and children leading to overweight- this calls for sensetization so as to ensure that a healthy leaving. The present factors affecting healthy living needs evaluation to ensure that that loops are easily identified and required measures taken by relevant authorities. Ignorance towards information, myths among the parents and discouragement from parents to join sporting activities- this calls for awareness among parents, so as to ensure that they appr eciate the needs among the young Australians. The opportunities & threats facing the initiative’s goals The external environment of the factors affecting Australia’s health   The situation that is controlled by the organizations and govt. bodies. The future factors that will affect the direction of Australians health Failure by the govt. bodies to communicate health information to the people. The marketing objective is to  enlighten  other parents on the dangers of neglecting the  lifestyle  of their children and the foods they eat. Basing on research by Cameron (2011), many young kids in the age of 7-15 years are overweight because

Thursday, September 12, 2019

What is the significance of the end of the Cold War for US Foreign Essay

What is the significance of the end of the Cold War for US Foreign Policy - Essay Example inevitably should address different situations all over the world on a regular basis. Thus, the given essay aims to represent both positive and negative aspects of the appeared transformation of international regime for the United States. In the context of advantages, the paper determines the stability of American internal processes in the new circumstances as a basis for its claims on hegemony and strengths in both realist and liberal terms. At the same time, it acknowledges the dangers of prevalence of numerous not dual powerful interests and American economic weakness, which limit its current prominence. In short, it turns evident that the end of the Cold War encourages the US foreign policy to simply accustom already existing principles to the new international conditions. On the one hand, the beginning of Cold War period evoked the completely new agenda setting for the USA; in this context, the rapid collapse of the USSR meant only the elimination of real threat not the end of the already launched processes. For instance, the Grand Strategy of NSC-68 seems not sustainable in the contemporary security matters due to its age. Notwithstanding this, the ground idea of the organized security policy is still valid and determining the U.S. foreign policy1. Moreover, the lying principle of containment policy to â€Å"lay chiefly in preventing the coming together of potentially hostile states†2 sounds reasonable and up-to-date even in the new circumstances. Because of this, it is possible to state that USA has a long-term experience of managing the world in order to maintain its complexity and separateness. Therefore, the post-Cold War appearance of the U.S. foreign policy does not require the new approach but simply encourages to modify already existi ng strategies in the new international system. In fact, the elimination of one of the members in a pair international dominance rivalry creates an opportunity for the winner in this race to turn into

Wednesday, September 11, 2019

Aloha Airlines Flight 243 Aircraft Accident Report Essay

Aloha Airlines Flight 243 Aircraft Accident Report - Essay Example The main cause being the failure of an epoxy adhesive which is used to bond aluminum sheets of the fuselage together. Two sheets, not bond properly creates a gap through which water seeps in and corrosion begins, as the corrosive parts have a greater volume than the underlying metal, the two sheets are forced apart resulting in the increase of stress on the rivets (which are also used) for holding them together. Taking into account that the aircraft was 19 years old at the time of the accident it had already surpassed its takeoff-landing cycles , it should have been subjected to a full uninterrupted inspection rather than the longer and extensive â€Å"D Check† which was performed in morning installments, furthermore â€Å"eddy-current testing’ inspection on the fuselage skin was lacking. A crack was noticed by a passenger who didn’t notify anyone, as the aircraft had already surpassed its takeoff-landing cycles (compression and decompression cycles), this crack s inevitably due to metal fatigue. Matt Austin came up with another reason for the accident after studying the disintegration of the fuselage of the aircraft. This states that at first, the fuselage failed to open a 10-inch vent through which the cabin air escaped at 700mph, flight attendant C.B.Lansing got sucked into the vent instead of being thrown off the aircraft. This blockage instantly caused an increase in pressure which inadvertently acted as a fluid hammer and tore the jet apart. The structural failure of the 19year old Boeing 737 stressed on creating awareness of aging aircraft throughout the aviation industry. The multiple site fatigue was the cause of the structural damage which primarily was due to the failure and negligence of the operator maintenance program which is supposed to track and detect corrosion damage.