Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Day 3 Hw

MKTG 6323 Emerging Markets Spring 2013 Sarath Nonis CASE 3-2 Hong Kong Disneyland 1. What led to the eventual woes experienced by Hong Kong Disneyland in its first year of operation? How should Hong Kong Disneyland rectify its market situation? Cultural Adaptation: The Chinese did not easily connect with the characters in the park because they were unfamiliar with the product; they enjoy focusing on what they can buy, eat, and bring home, and taking pictures and bringing them back home rather than the experience of being in the place itself.Chinese Tourist Behavior: Going to Hong Kong means a shopping experience, so they choose the cheaper one, which is Ocean Park; also, the Chinese people put a premium on education, where Ocean Park provides the educational slant. Relationship with Travel Agents: The Hong Kong Disneyland did not heed too much attention to building a relation- ship with the travel agents while Chinese tourists depend a lot on travel agents.Thus, the best way for Hong Kong Disneyland is to determining differences in the Chinese culture and adopting it; to understand Chinese tourist behavior in depth, then to handle the pressures of local demand in terms of the need of Chinese shoppers and tourists; try to pay more attention to building a relationship with the travel agents. 2. To what extent could Hong Kong Disneyland adapt its product to Chinese consumers without diluting its image? Put more educational materials about its image. Taking photos with Donald Duck at the Hong Kong Disneyland.Providing goods which are connected its image for tourist to buy as gifts to bring home. 3. How should Hong Kong Disneyland address competition? Expand the theme of the Hong Kong Disneyland; it should consider the culture and behaviors of Chinese. For example, connect the park theme with children’s education. Cut the price to make people think it is worth to pay. It should understand that travel agents are the most important sales channel in the mainland China. It is very popular in mainland China to provide a group discount.

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Effects of Globalisation on Economic Growth Essay

Discuss the effects of globalisation on economic growth and the quality of life in the Chinese economy. Globalisation is the progression towards a growing assimilation between different countries in order to gain a single world market. It strongly encourages overseas trade, the removal or the reduction of trade barriers to increase economic growth and development. Globalisation ultimately presents to everyone a world which is increasingly liberalized and market-orientated. Associated with globalisation there is increased and intensified competition and greater interdependence among countries. In numerous ways China has taken this opportunity and used it to its full advantage which has enhanced economic growth and significantly improved the quality of life. China’s influence in the world economy was minimal until the late 1980’s but we are now seeing China being one of the most independent countries and leading the manufacturing producing market. China started with a fragile economy with minimal infrastructure from frequent revolutions and invasions in 1949. In the early 1980’s, China’s economy was still extremely weak as a result of its inward looking government system of a socialist planned economy under the Mao government. This resulted in living standards below world averages and economic growth at nearly zero. China has risen from the edge of economic obscurity to lead the world in terms of economic growth, and this is done is just over a quarter of a decade. The People’s Republic of China has transformed from a planned economy into a socialist market economy and is now the world’s second largest economy to the USA being number one, by nominal GDP at $7.3 trillion and by purchasing power parity (PPP). â€Å"Pay attention to what’s going on in China. â€Å" – Jeff Mbanga – The Observer. China is the world’s most rapidly growing economy with their growth rates averaging 10% in the past 30 years. In the past decades there has been a significant increase in international trading and investments flows due to globalisation. This has led to high levels of economic growth. It was unusual in the 2007-08 Global Financial crisis how an industry was maintaining an average economic growth rate of 8.5% per year. In addition to  this China’s trade with other nations has expanded 16 times more. This is occurring due to their extremely low prices which are highly competitive and pleasing to the developed western world. Although with the recent European Sovereign debt crisis â€Å"Growth in China has slowed, but to a rate that remains the envy of the world, while Chinese industry continues its march onto the world stage.†- Time magazine. China’s financial system which is often regulated has promptly expanded due to monetary policy becoming increasingly fundamental to its complete economic policy as a result of globalisation. The outcome of this has resulted in banks distributing an increase in finance to its enterprises for investment, deposits for liquidity and also loaning money to the government which maybe then reallocated in providing infrastructure. The most significant result of globalisation has been the development of China’s import sector and has allowed the nation to become the second largest exporting economy in the world. The large export sector of extremely low cost goods and services has manipulated the trade currents of the world. Through China’s growth it has developed a stable-body of trading partnerships with raw material producers. An example of this is with Australia where 40% value of all products exported is worth around $40 billion. China is buying these raw materials to accommodate its largely growing urban-mega-cities and industries to produce new goods and create more low-cost goods and a more intensifying complex form of trade. Through constant trading globally, this has increased the aggregate demand. As of 2011 foreign direct investment (FDI) has exceeded from $US.100 billion in 2010 to $US.116.10 billion. This has occurred through the private and public growth in mining, construction trade and finance. This globalisation impact has also seen a shift in the population from rural areas to urbanised cities. This has led to a decrease in agricultural produce and an astonishing increase in industrial goods and services and alleviated a substantial amount of China’s absolute poverty. The Chinese government has embraced a series of strategic policies to address the challenge of economic globalization. These strategies started in 1978 after Chairman Mao’s self-sufficient economy plan. China began employing several reform strategies to enhance growth. This included stimulating the agricultural sector to allow them to sell a percentage on the free trade market yet hold a competitive position. In addition to this  citizens were given money incentives and tax breaks in order to start new businesses and allocated regions were created to encourage high levels of investment, increase exports and increase technology levels. Other reform strategies included Deng Xiaoping’s the rearrangement of the economic structure by increasing the development of the high technology sector and moving away from the agricultural sector; transformation of the pattern of economic growth by increasing power in IT education and sustainable development as well as additional progress of the outward-oriented economy by implementing â€Å"come in† and â€Å"go out† strategies. This is where the government encourages its enterprises to invest overseas. This has been demonstrated in Australia where Chinese investors have bought farming land and are now operating that land and are taking that product back to China. Also, the government consolidated reform in State Owned enterprises ( SOEs) and government administration with a view to establish a governing mechanism in compliance with international rules and practices. These policies noticeably ease China’s integration into the global economy and have proven effective as of 2010 where almost 50% of the total population was urbanised. It took only 22 years to increase from 17.9% to 39.1%; this was the same increase which took Britain 120 years. Similar to the â€Å"come in, go out† strategy. Chinas government has applied the promotion of overseas direct investment (ODI) allowing them to invest in the large pool of foreign currency. This strategy is fulfilling their economic growth mentality and development strategies. It was 2000 when China forwarded the ‘Go Global’ strategy which encouraged firms to invest overseas. Its objective is to utilise foreign exchange reserves to purchase or buy shares in foreign firms that seem profitable. Rather than building the foundations of investment in domestic firms, China has wanted to promote the development of internationally recognized brands such a Lenovo Group Limited which has its operational headquarters in Morrisville, North Carolina, USA and its registered office in Hong Kong. These reform strategies saw an upturn in economic growth rates to 9.8% annual average over the following years with this growth almost doubled from the pre-reform 5.3% shown in Figure 1. This created an influx of employment and income thus increasing the overall living standards of the economy. Foreign Direct Investment utilisation (come in and go out strategy) saw an increase of $2 billion to $92 Billion from  1985-2008 shown in figure 2. By utilising the globalisation transformation it allowed China to become exposed to global markets and increase trade and the profits made from globalisation. Figure 1. Economic development recognises both a quantitative growth measurement and important qualitative measures. A developing country is a nation with a low living standard, undeveloped industrial base and low Human Development Index. For a country to be classified as developed they have to fill a certain criteria. This includes a number of areas such as the GDP per capita, Safe water, Malnutrition, the number of poverty related deaths (malaria), Infant mortality and life expectancy. The Chinese government has grown concerns in these specific areas. In China the Human Development Index (HDI) has risen from 0.404 in 1980 to 0.682 in 2011. They are ranked 101st out of 187 countries with comparable data. The HDI has been on a steady increase since then, in 1990; 0.490 and 2000; 0.588. This shows that their overall standards of living have improved; other statistics show that their life expectancy: 73.5 years and at 0.843 out of 1; Education is at 0.623 with a compulsory 7.5 years of schooling whilst Australia is 0.981 with 12 years of schooling. This is due to policies similar to the reform of the health care system in 2005 where only 20% of the health care services would be in rural areas. This has seen China invest US $2.4 billion to rebuild rural medical centres composing of village clinics and hospitals. With relations to educational spending China has increased its spending by 20% in consecutive years since 1999 and now exceeds $100 billion. The reason China is outlaying an excessive amount of money it will build a more stable and productive population by producing skilled workers. This investment has seen a relief of absolute poverty declining 25% in rural areas. Shown in figure 3, the GDP per capita has increased drastically in 18 years which has allowed the standard of living to increase. China is still a developing country. Its service sector is relatively small and weak in comparison to its other sectors in the country and its counterparts in other countries. In addition to this in 2006 the eastern region covering 10% of  the land accounted for 55.7% of China’s GDP. Due to this uneven distribution of income this will decrease standards of living in other areas and major class seperation. â€Å"China has long been criticised for its incredibly uneven distribution of wealth.† Figure 4 highlights the success of the stimulating strategies as leading economies such as Germany and the US both experienced negative growth over the course of the Global financial crisis. The major cause for this is due to the Chinese government artifically stabilising the exchange rate to constantly produce cheap products. It was at this time that these cheap products continued to be sold to larger countries to fulfill their aggregate demand and thus China continued developing.Though with the US and Europe are in a substantial amount of debt, this has slowed the production with the Chinese production. It is said, if â€Å"China is to sneeze the whole world will catch a cold† Figure 3↑ Figure 4↓ With the extensive economic growth and the development the environment has been completely neglected as China concerntrates on its escalation in the economic world. Economic development officials often overlook envoronmental pollution, worker’s health and safety and simple public health in priority to enhance the living conditions of those in the area. The impact which china has had on its environment is illustrated through the excessive quantity of air pollution with 1% of the 500million; and growing, people who inhabit the cities. Although the breathing air is deemed safe by the European Union (EU), 1/3 of children are suffering from elevated blood levels as a result of the air quality. (Refer to picture 1.)Picture 1shows smog which is serious harm to health. It is a combination between smoke and fog and can inflame breathing passages, decrease the lung’s working capabilities, cause shortness of breth and pains whilst breathing. Regardless of these statistics China has spent $34.6 billion on clean energy and are now the leading investor of renewable technology. China is also the number one producer of carbon dioxide emitter and with conjunction to inda being the 3rd largest they account for 30% of the world’s emmisions. In conclusion globalisation is based upon nations becoming more integrated and reducing the trade barriers between nations. Although by increasing trade  this makes some countries dependent upon imports to create revenue by consumer consumption rather than utilising their comparative advantage. While by being so interdependent upon each other this will allow economic changes to ripple through and impact on other countries. Globalisation has obviously encouraged the majority of China’s accomplishments in assimilating into the global economy. The policies implemented have flowed through the economy and is showing signs of economic growth and quality of life in a number of areas. These policies will continue to promote economic growth not only for the temporary fixations but will be drawn-out for years to come. Through constructive motivation China is now moving towards clean energy usage, environmental sustainability and increasing the health of the nation and will soon be labelled a developed economy. Chinese economy essay Bibliography http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2012-10/29/content_15855250.htm 30/10/12- 12:44, Updated: 2012-10-29 21:18 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_the_People’s_Republic_of_China 30/10/12 12:54, last modified on 28 October 2012 at 17:41. http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2012/10/rebalancing-china?zid=306&ah=1b164dbd43b0cb27ba0d4c3b12a5e227 7/11/12 – 10:11 am, Oct 20th 2012, 12:11 by S.C. | The Economist http://business.time.com/2012/11/07/can-chinas-new-leader-prevent-an-economic-crisis/ 8/11/12- 1:50 pm, Nov. 07, 2012 – Time Magazine http://www.google.com.au/imgres?um=1&hl=en&sa=N&biw=1366&bih=677&tbm=isch&tbnid=4kyBsA9wIHlN9M:&imgrefurl=http://blendedpurple.blogspot.com/2010/08/consumption-rate-china-gdp-1980.html&docid=PQa1gLnb9LbE6M&imgurl=https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivNkqNEVdMzL5pg8xHIjL8CMfMg-B81a9UQso5KsxCnPqzIpg-TLR-huf3AfZPSjLkss4nWGSIN-03-P0HWuO2-35SuJ1DDA8jh72Oam4kO_LeTH4BF2BCbVYqyyG_b_hx2-hJPsTcMCjC/s1600/A006%252Bcopy.jpg&w=933&h=545&ei=mBmkUPrWFqqgigeq74G4Ag&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=381&vpy=159&dur=5207&hovh=171&hovw=294&tx=125&ty=76&sig=108432953463892850089&page=1&tbnh=131&tbnw=248&start=0&ndsp=20&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0,i:72 9:27am 15/11/12, August 2 2010-NA http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2012-01/18/c_131366513.htm 16/11/12-9:26am, English.news.cn 2012-01-18 10:35:11 http:/ /en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_Out_policy 2:07pm 18/11/12 last modified on 13 February 2012 at 22:36. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenovo#History

Monday, July 29, 2019

The Baron of the Separation of Powers

A French political thinker, Baron Montesquieu had various notable notions on society and politics but most remarkable would be his ideas on the separation of powers. Comparing the institutions of Great Britain with the more despotic institutions of the Bourbon monarchy of his age in France, as a case in point, Montesquieu in his Spirit of the Laws (De L’esprit des Lois 1748) explored what he posited to be a functional peculiarity of the British Constitution: the Separation of Powers.This analytical separation of the executive, legislative and judicial powers, and the necessary balancing of such is arguably the most notable contribution of the thinker Montesquieu to political thought and practice. Montesquieu is Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brede et le Montesquieu (January 18, 1689 in Bordeaux – February 10, 1755). This review of his life and key ideas is an important effort toward a better understanding of the development of democractic ideals and ideas.In the following essay, we shall endeavor to highlight the main points in the life of the thinker and the key notions that he explored and which earned him such distinction in political thought. Highlights of the Life of The Baron and Thinker. Montesquieu, as a product of the period of Enlightenment, articulated many seminal concepts in political philosophy and thought but he is most noted for the aforementioned notion of the separation of powers (Pangle, 75). His life was a narrative of political concern and privileged study.Before marrying one Jeanne de Latrigue, a Protestant, he was a student at the Catholic College of Juilly. This marriage is notable as it brought him a substantial dowry at the relatively young age of 26. On top of this, he reportedly inherited quite a fortune from an uncle, including the title Baron de Montesquieu. These, it appears, had afforded him the luxuries of a passion for social commentary and political thought (Shackleton, 16) By that time he was married and titled, England had been through its so-called Glorious Revolution (1688–89) and had declared itself a constitutional monarchy.Furthermore, England had by then joined with Scotland in the Union of 1707 to form the Kingdom of Great Britain. Then, in 1715, the Sun King, Louis XIV, was succeeded by a weaker monarch, Louis XV. Such developments meant a lot for the Baron as they are well noted in his writings such as in his magnum opus The Spirit of the Laws. The Spirit of the Laws was originally released in 1748 and, though published anonymously, quickly became popular among the commentators of the time.Notably, it got strong criticism from both supporters and opponents of the regime in France while the Roman Catholic Church banned it with the other writings of Montesquieu in 1751. However, in the rest of Europe, it received acclaim especially in Britain (Shackleton, 83). In the then formative Northern America, in the British colonies, Montesquieu was seen as an advocate of libe rty and is argued to have been the most often cited authority on politics (Lutz, 191). Montesquieu was able to travel throughout Europe including Austria, Hungary, Italy and England before resettling in France and eventually dying in 1755 and being buried in Paris.The Thoughts of Montesquieu. Echoed by the American calls for change at that time, Montesquieu's work was a great influence on many of the American Founders, such as James Madison. Montesquieu's proposition that â€Å"government should be set up so that no man need be afraid of another† reminded Madison and others that a free and stable foundation for their new national government required a clearly defined and balanced separation of powers — a theory merely implicit in Aristotle (Thackrah 188).It must be recalled here that the Greek Aristotle advocated a form of mixed government, or polity, in which all citizens’ rule and are ruled by turn’. Based on the belief in political obligation founded i n distributive justice — the principle uniting citizen to citizen and all to the state in which equals are treated equally — this idea of the separation of powers was given greater expression by James Harrington who, in the seventeenth-century, who, argued for a written constitution.John Locke, it must also be pointed out, suggested that liberties could be more easily protected and the social compact upheld more effectively by a separation of powers and introduced a notion that was to have radical influence through the systematic theory elaborated by Montesquieu (Thackrah 188). In his magnum opus, Baron Montesquieu expressed his belief that the English constitution epitomized the separation of powers. The English model could create an effective balance of powers within the state, avoiding the despotic tendencies inherent both in absolute monarchy and in government by the common people.Following Montesquieu, the three powers normally considered to be separable in the ex ercise of government are (Thackrah 188): 1. The legislative which formulates policy and enacts it as law; 2. The executive which carries policy into action; 3. The judiciary which applies the law according to rules of procedural justice and resolves disputes. Montesquieu argued that the sign of the despot was to subsume these powers under one and to hold that one power to himself. Despots and independent judiciaries do not go hand in hand. Montesquieu thus believed in the totality of separation of powers.The executive power should not be exercised by members of the legislature but by a monarch, subject to impeachment for actions performed ultra vires (Thackrah 188). The differentiation of powers is not clear in the Western world; for example, in Britain executive power lies with the cabinet which is formed from members of the ruling majority party in Parliament, i. e. , of the legislature, and which effectively controls the operation of Parliament. Guarantees of liberty contained in the British constitution cannot be attributed simply to a separation of powers.The American constitution does not separate the powers completely, nor indeed could it do so without destroying the necessary unity of government (Thackrah 188; Lutz 193). Government in the Western world at least would be impossible if the three powers ceased to function in unison. As Thackrah cited from Roger Scruton, a political lexicographer, â€Å"laws enacted by the legislature must applied by the executive, and upheld by the judiciary and if a judge acts ultra vires, it must be possible for he legislature to hold him to account and for the executive to remove him from office† (189).If all three braches were united under a single head, the opportunity for an act of government to go through rapidly would be very much greater than if three individuals or sets of individuals had to concur before that act went through: and so the separation of powers imparts a brake to the activity of government. When all three powers act in concert the matters go forward: let one of them refrain and nothing can go forward at all. This means delay. To be more specific, Montesquieu devoted four chapters of The Spirit of the Laws to a discussion of England where freedom or liberty was supposedly sustained by a balance of powers.His anxiety lay over his observation that in his France, the intermediate powers (that is, the nobility) which moderated the power of the prince were being eroded. It must be pointed out that Montesquieu's most influential work divided French society into three classes or trias politica (a term he coined): the monarchy, the aristocracy, and the commons. Montesquieu saw two types of governmental power existing: the sovereign and the administrative. The administrative powers included the legislative, the executive, and the judiciary.These should be separate from and dependent upon each other. This was very novel or radical in the sense that this did away with the feudali stic structure of the French model at the time. Finally, like many Enlightenment thinkers, Montesquieu posited many other intriguing ideas. He endorsed the idea that a woman could head government (but then she supposedly could not be effective as the head of a family). He accepted hereditary aristocracy but was an ardent opponent of slavery. Another one of his more notable propositions is that climate may influence the nature of man and his society.He in fact asserted that certain climates are superior to others as, for example, the temperate climate of France is supposedly ideal and such could affect political dynamics. His view in this regard has been referred to as being seminal in that it included material factors in the explanation of social dynamics and political forms (Althusser 102). The Thinker Lives On. Today, many governments, including ours, have been designed with concern for a separation of powers. It is without question one of the pillars of contemporary political pra ctice, given the primary importance that society gives to the notion of democracy.Democracy is seen as the practice of upholding the rights and interests of free peoples. Hence, so long as democracy lives, the thinker and his thoughts, Montesquieu and his thesis on the separation of governmental powers, live on. Works Cited Lutz, David. â€Å"The Relative Influence of European Writers on Late Eighteenth-Century American Political Thought,† American Political Science Review 78, 1 (March, 1984):189-197. Althusser, Louis. Politics and History: Montesquieu, Rousseau, Marx, NLB, 1972. Pangle, Thomas, Montesquieu’s Philosophy of Liberalism.Chicago: 1989. Person, James Jr. , ed. â€Å"Montesquieu† (excerpts from chap. 8) in Literature Criticism from 1400 to 1800, (Gale Publishing: 1988), vol. 7, pp. 350-52. Shackleton, Robert. Montesquieu; a Critical Biography. Oxford: 1961. Schaub, Diana J. Erotic Liberalism: Women and Revolution in Montesquieu's ‘Persian Letter s'. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 1995. Spurlin, Paul M. Montesquieu in America, 1760-1801. New York: Octagon Books, 1961. Thackrah, J. R. Politics. Oxford, London: Heinemann Publishing, 1990.

Michigan Liquor Control Commission Research Paper

Michigan Liquor Control Commission - Research Paper Example This paper will discuss the issues associated with the Michigan liquor distribution system. It will also explore the best possible solutions to the problems from managers’ perspectives. If the government had properly redesigned Michigan liquor distribution system, current issues in the distribution process would have been resolved to some extent. The state of Michigan maintains a three-tier liquor distribution system that builds strong legal walls between state-approved wholesalers, suppliers, and retailers (legal issues†¦, 2010). This traditional liquor distribution system imposes more costs on consumers as it limits the chances of market competition which may end up on price cuts. It is advisable for the state of Michigan to ensure the private sector involvement in liquor distribution process as this practice would be beneficial for ultimate consumers. At the same time, authorities must ensure that the private sector operations fully comply with the state liquor distribution policies. From the case study, it seems that the number of state stores has remained fairly constant over the last years and this situation raises difficulties for both the state of Michi gan and the consumers. In order to resolve such issues, opening more stores in different cities of the state would be reasonable. Similarly, the existing three state-owned and operated warehouses may not be adequate to effectively and timely meet the needs of 12,000 retail licensees that serve the consuming public throughout the state. Hence, the Michigan Liquor Control Commission might conduct a detailed market study to identify the proper distribution channels that would improve the operational efficiency of the state liquor distribution system. It is also recommendable to close the existing 75 smaller second-tier state warehouses and allow the retailers to directly get liquor products from the state-owned warehouses. The elimination of second-tier state warehouses from the liquor distribution system would be helpful for the MLCC to trim down the current distributional cost of $20 million per year.

Sunday, July 28, 2019

The Theory of Comparative Advantage Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Theory of Comparative Advantage - Essay Example 47). The terms like comparative or relative advantages have often failed to create same impression as that of absolute advantage and hence this concept of comparative advantage has often been misunderstood. The concept of absolute advantage as described by Adam Smith suggests that a commodity produced cheaper by a foreign nation should rather be bought from that nation and the resources available should be employed in a way which we have some advantage (Bromley et al., 2004, p. 46). This simplicity of absolute advantage has made the concept very popular and easy to comprehend. Moving on to the concept of comparative advantage given by David Ricardo; the concept is not at all intuitive at first go and will require explicit numerical examples for better explanation. To begin, we consider two nations "Nation A" and "Nation B" and both producing two goods, cloth which is a manufactured good and fruit wine which can be considered as an agricultural product. Both the products are produced in these countries. As Ricardo had assumed, we start with Nation A which can produce fruit wine efficiently while Nation B is considered more productive and can produce both cloth and fruit wine efficiently. ... A country is said to have a comparative advantage in the production of cloth if it can produce it at a lower opportunity cost. The opportunity cost in the given business scenario of cloth production is the amount of wine that must be given up to produce for producing a unit of cloth. If Nation A is in comparative advantage in the production of cloths then the fruit wine production it is giving up to produce another unit of cloth is less than that of Nation B. The theory of comparative advantage when applied to modern business scenario, we consider two countries producing two goods using labor as the only factor of production. Here the goods have been considered as a homogeneous output and at the same time labor is also a homogeneous entity within the same nation. But the same labor is heterogeneous across different countries. Other factors like goods transportation between countries and labor relocation within country are all been considered costless. Relocation of labor across countries is not possible. Labor is fully employed and it's the labor productivity parameters according to which production technology are being reflected (Bromley et al., 2004, p. 56). The business model based on this theory actually gives an overview of what exactly will happen when a country moves from a state of economic island to a free trade to the other country. The main things which require care are trade's effects on the prices of the goods in each country , the production levels of the goods, employment levels in each of the nation involved, the trade pattern, consumption level and national as well as individual welfare. The liberated trade and

Saturday, July 27, 2019

The influence of culture conditions on the mechanical properties of Literature review

The influence of culture conditions on the mechanical properties of agarose hydrogels for cartilage tissue engineering - Literature review Example Numerous researches have been conducted with no resolution to some of these fundamental issues, in an effort to characterize the synovial body joints, it has led to the development of an experimental approach to in the investigation of the dynamic and constitutive properties of the cartilage. In a nutshell, the interpretation of this information leads to the illumination of a cartilage microstructure. This cartilage is basically composed of the collagen meshwork under the tension within the osmotic potential composed of a finer proteoglycan network gel. These dynamic properties and constitution of the cartilage are usually determined by this structures motion in the surrounding fluids. In relevant physiologically conditions, this gel networks assumes the state of immobilization to relative collagen networking an equivalent single network referred to as the cartilage network which characterizes the major cartilage behavior. Body energy is basically stored in this cartilage networks in three forms and any external load is usually balanced in the state of equilibrium by the elastic changes of the collagen network and by both osmotic and no osmotic ionic proteoglycan networks potentials of the cartilage network. This state of equilibrium can be distorted or shifted by changing the reference level of the osmotic pressure or by mechanical loading. The majority of biomechanical approaches in the properties of cartilage these are referenced and in mechanical tests, it suffers from the challenges of practical limits in the replica of the situ conditions, especially in the equilibrium. The use of compression specimens is paramount and is plugged from the exercised joints which must be preloaded in achievement of the uniaxial conditions of strain and the poisson effect of the thin and tensile specimens. In this experiment, the specimen cartilage is first put in a state of equilibrium in a saline solution under controlled temperatures

Friday, July 26, 2019

A Policy Evaluation Study of the Indian Economic Reforms and their Essay

A Policy Evaluation Study of the Indian Economic Reforms and their affects on the Indian Economy over the last two decades and the outlook for the future and wh - Essay Example The examination of key events and reforms juxtaposed alongside performance data provides a framework for evaluating how successful the reform policies have been in aiding India to emerge and become a global economic superpower, attracting huge amounts of FDI to capitalise on the large pool of low cost talented labour which has and will help organisations remain competitive in the global marketplace. The findings indicate that although the reforms have greatly benefited the economy there is a need for further reform in the agricultural and other sectors, which are explored in this study to ensure the current rate of economic growth is sustainable and the GDP per capita increase. The Indian Economic reforms refer generically to the changes introduced in July 1991 in all major sets of policies in the face of a looming Balance of Payments (BOP) crisis and substantial macroeconomic instability. These changes mark a significant paradigm shift in the Indian development strategy. The Indian economy had adopted the path of centrally planned development since its independence in 1947. The socialist framework of the erstwhile USSR was a major motivation and the basic growth model that was adopted was in essence a variant of the Feldman model that was followed in the USSR (Nayyar, 1997). The Indian economy at that time was predominantly agrarian with an almost non-existent industrial base. The objective of the planned development strategy was to attain rapid industrialisation and in pursuit priority was accorded to developing the capital goods sector. Large public sector investments went in to the development of the heavy industries like iron and steel and capital goo ds machinery and the private sector was restricted from entering this sector. Heavy regulatory controls were administered to restrict the private sector and the market

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Report for security mangment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Report for security mangment - Essay Example This 40-year old company was founded by Sam Walton in 1962 which dominated the local market of the United States, and began to trade stocks on the New York Stock Exchange. Along with the company’s growth in revenue is the growth of its expenses in information technology (IT). According to Wal-Mart IT executives, the company is adopting expensive technologies; that is why its investment in IT is considered to be their single largest capital expenses with approximately $500 million dollars over one five year period (Beard, 1996, p.78). The company demonstrated its preparedness to invest heavily on these technologies because it strongly believes that IT is a powerful tool in achieving efficiency goals and in creating economic value for stakeholders. In order for Wal-Mart to know how these technologies will support the business in obtaining implicit and explicit objectives, it must develop IT governance strategies (Schwalbe, 2009, p.136). To provide competitive advantage, these st rategies must be integrated and aligned with the company’s strategic and operational plans, this is to make the process more comprehensive (Papp, 2004, p.27). The main focus of this paper is to identify the IT services of Wal-Mart and whether these services are aligned to the needs of the business and the customers. In the process of assessing strategic alignment, this paper will be using the conceptual levels of strategic alignment maturity model developed by Dr. Luftman and some measures in order to improve the strategic business-IT alignment of Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart IT Services: Aligned to the Needs of the Business and Needs of the Customers Linda Dillman, the Chief Information Officer (CIO) of Wal-Mart noted that, â€Å"We do not want to be known by our technology, but we do want to be known by what our technology has done for the business† (cited in Luftman, 2004, p.275). She also added that the business is performing favourably in terms of improved revenue and marke t share, cost and time reduction, customer satisfaction, and many more because of business-IT alignment maturity through metrics performance. â€Å"Wal-Mart was one of the first companies to introduce computers to track store sales and inventory and was the first to develop a computerized network to share this information with suppliers† (Fottler & Malvey, 2007, p.267). However, because IT changes daily and becomes outmoded, the company needs to continuously seek for upgraded technologies (Eisenberg et al., 2004, p.265). The information technology/system of Wal-Mart is classified as strategic and focused on how to meet customers’ needs wherein it relies on most current information to sustain the minimum cutting of cost in retail. In order for Wal-Mart to lower their costs, maximize return on capital, and streamline their operations, the company is using the operational excellence strategy. For several decades, IT is considered to be an essential part not just of Wal-Ma rt but to some large suppliers in the world particularly in dealing with customers. Recently, Wal-Mart is using the standard transaction formats and protocols called the Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) capabilities in order to standardized operations in the sharing

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Biomedical Informatics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Biomedical Informatics - Essay Example Historians have found evidence of the disease as far back as 5000 B.C. It was first described as "the shaking palsy" in 1817 by British doctor James Parkinson. Because of Parkinson's early work in identifying symptoms, the disease came to bear his name. In the normal brain, some nerve cells produce the chemical dopamine, which transmits signals within the brain to produce smooth movement of muscles. In Parkinson's patients, 80 percent or more of these dopamine-producing cells are damaged, dead, or otherwise degenerated. This causes the nerve cells to fire wildly, leaving patients unable to control their movements. Symptoms usually show up in one or more of four ways: This diagram of the brain shows several structures related to Parkinson's disease. Basal ganglia affect normal movement and walking; substantia nigra are types of basal ganglia that produce the neurotransmitter dopamine, which sends messages that control muscles. The globus pallidus is part of a larger structure connected to the substantia nigra affecting movement, balance and walking. The thalamus serves as a relay station for brain impulses, and the cerebellum affects muscle coordination. Though full-blown Parkinson's can be crippling or disabling, experts say early symptoms of the disease may be so subtle and gradual that patients sometimes ignore them or attribute them to the effects of aging. At first, patients may feel overly tired, "down in the dumps," or a little shaky. Their speech may become soft and they may become irritable for no reason. Movements may be stiff, unsteady, or unusually slow. Ref : www.fda.gov/fdac/features/1998/498_pd.html - Basic PD research over the last several decades, including genetics, molecular and cellular biology, characterization of neural circuitry, brain anatomy, and neurochemistry, has formed the basis of therapeutic research being currently pursued for PD. While the causes of PD are still not fully understood, the most prevalent theories suggest that toxic accumulation of protein in cells, dysfunctional protein clearance, and oxidative stress that leads to cell death are primary causal pathways. There is now genetic evidence for each of these pathways, and a prevailing research strategy is to identify points in these pathways that could be exploited for therapeutic benefit. Today's basic science research continues to span a diverse array of fields, from genes and molecules, through cells and physiological systems, to the role of the environment and its interaction with genetic susceptibility. It is expected that these studies will continue to inform preventive strategies and better treatments for PD in the future. The Genetics and Cell Biology of Parkinson's disease One of the most remarkable transformations in PD research over the last decade was the identification of the first gene to be associated with PD, -synuclein. The discovery that genetic mutations could cause PD brought a sea change to a field that had previously focused only on environmental causes of the disease. Since the discovery of alpha synuclein in

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Managing People, and Marketing sections Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Managing People, and Marketing sections - Essay Example Cummins Westport Inc. manufactures in China with Dong Feng Engine Co. They are headquartered in Indiana, Columbus USA and have 500 Distributor locations, they have a presence in 131 countries and have 24200 employees worldwide. Cummins has been providing CNG, Diesel and other engines to Bus manufacturers. Their basic product line is manufacturing of electric generators powered either by diesel or even by LPG. Due to the lucrative margins in the CNG bus manufacturing market, Cummins is evaluating the possibility of launching their own CNG bus. Their long term vision is to diversify into the production of alternate fuel heavy vehicles. They believe they have the necessary market intelligence, technical experience and knowledge, manufacturing edge and the brand â€Å"Cummins† has a repute of quality and reliability in the engine & generator market. However, there are pitfalls in this seemingly lucrative opportunity including the marketing of the new product and its launch and most importantly the human resource aspects including how to motivate employees? Finding the right leadership? And team friction. As identified by the management of Cummins in their brief to Creative Chaos, they would like to explore the CNG bus market manufacturing potential in which they already operate and are well-known for their high quality and reliable CNG engines that they manufacture. The only difference is that this time they want to manufacture & assemble the complete bus. However, the current market for CNG buses in USA is waning and has reached saturation. This is a statement supported by the following facts: A high number of Alternative Fuel Vehicles made available every year include the E 85 type vehicles (hybrid technology). CNG vehicles comprise of a very small number(AFDC Alternate Fuel Development council) It has been observed that from the year 2002, when the CNG buses manufactured were as many as 1200,the number of CNG buses

The Case for Mental State in Relation to the Normal Organic Brain and Essay

The Case for Mental State in Relation to the Normal Organic Brain and Non-organic Brain - Essay Example In effect, different experts in the fields of philosophy and medicine will arrive at different deductions on the mental states of patients using different approaches. In the case presented, it is evident that the doctors took these different approaches based on their philosophical principles. However, as a doctor, I consider the friend to have a mental state. In my view, there can be no appropriate approach in reconciling the doctors’ view as basing on the dualist approach, and reinforcing it with the behaviorism approach. The dualist approach acknowledges that, to some extent, the mental state may be described based on the non-physical aspects. In one way, the intelligence of a human being, which is a relative to the mental state, may not be described based on physical identity of the body. This point may not be disputed because even the studies that have sought to qualify the relationship between brain volumes and intelligence have failed, while it is also beyond doubt that one could become consciousness when the brain matter is removed. Yet the common view on why dualism is appealing is the fact that it questions and reconciles the physical and mental attributes of consciousness. For instance, it may be reasonable to ask how a blind snake looks like, how a child’s voice sounds or how it feels to swim in cold water. However, it would become odd to ask about the processes taking place in the hippocampus regions of the brain. These questions point to what is often referred to as the qualia, and it all difficult to give the mind a physical attribute (Kim, 1996). The crucial question is then that if the mental state exists independently, from the physical reality, it should be in the position to account the actual processes of memory construction to inform consciousness. Only duality is in better placed to describe these. Here, an account follows that

Monday, July 22, 2019

Impacting factors on human social service Essay Example for Free

Impacting factors on human social service Essay Socio cultural factors are norms, values, beliefs, material and non material objects that are passed on from one generation to another in any given society .Socio cultural factors are crucial in any developmental aspect of a community.(Noyo Ndangwe p230) There is considerable interest in analyzing these factors that are impacting on human social service delivery and these are economic, religion, political and socio-cultural factors which are of special significance because of their tendency to shape the context or foundation for the operation of any other set of factors that operate upon human social service delivery. In this regard, we will try to look at one factor, that is, Socio cultural factor how it is impacting on human social service delivery. First and foremost would like to define the key concepts this assignment. 1. Socio means interaction. 2. Culture means the beliefs, customs, practices, and social behaviour of a particular nation or people. 3. Factors mean something that contributes to or has an influence on the outcome of something. 4 Impacting means to have an immediate and strong effect on something or somebody. 5 Social Service These are welfare programs aimed at enriching human life 6 Delivery means taking something to somebody.  The first to way to discuss this will be to try to analyse how socio-cultural factors affect the performance of Primary Health Care. There is now a large body of literature on the social and cultural determinants of health which ‘refer to both the specific features and pathways by which societal conditions affect health. The WHO has, for example, identified a number of socio cultural factors and conditions. The list of factors includes (i) cultural beliefs and taboos, (ii) gender inequality, and (iii) the urban – rural divide. The socio-cultural factors impacting on health will differ  between societies and even within sub-cultures within the same society. Thus the factors in a developed society will tend to differ from those that are operative in a backward, underdeveloped society. Factors such as urban-rural migration, unemployment, education, gender inequality, lack of money, transportation, distance to health facility, cultural inhibition, fear of going alone to health facilities, inability to make informed choices and the need to obtain permission from some authority figure such as the husband in the case of some married women have been cited (Social Determinants of Health: Nigerian Perspective: 2005). Social cultural taboos and social meanings attached to certain diseases and their causes are other socio cultural factors that are impacting on service delivery. Cultural beliefs and taboos Cultural beliefs and taboos impact upon the performance of the Primary Health Care in several ways. First, they shape forms of behaviour that lead to certain health outcomes. As an example, consider beliefs about fertility and family planning. People living in rural areas tend to want to have more children and not to want to use the more modern methods of family control (PHC, WHO: 2004). This has implication for population growth, the incidence of child and maternal mortality and the number in the population seeking access to health care. As another example, we can also consider the case of beliefs about HIV/AIDS. Quoting a UNESCO Report, Kickbusch et al (2002:4-5) have observed that in some parts of Africa, ‘people believe that clean and well-dressed individuals cannot become infected or that having sexual intercourse with a virgin will cure AIDS’. Ladipo et al (2003) have also reported a study on the perceptions of Gate keepers, the custodians of cultural beliefs and moral norms, about sexuality and HIV/AIDS in Nigeria. Using in-depth interviews with teachers, media representatives, religious, political and traditional leaders and focus group discussions among parents the study reported that the culture downplayed the sexual mode of transmitting the disease; ‘condom promotion was not accepted on religious grounds by most participants. Cultural beliefs not only also shape how individuals respond to forms of disease and illness but also choices about which forms of care should be accessed. For example, cultural beliefs about certain forms of disease may lead to silence and denial thus creating  veritable grounds for the continuation of behaviours and actions that promote the disease (Human Rights Watch, 2002). Studies of the social meaning of infertility in Nigeria have shown that beliefs about infertility play a determinant role in interpretation and treatment of infertility. Following these beliefs, most people used three treatment outlets: ‘churches (spiritualists), traditional healers and hospitals (orthodox medical treatment)’ (Okonofua et al 1997:211). Gender inequality Gender inequality impacts the Primary Health Care system through its contribution to lower status, lack of empowerment, higher rates of illiteracy, and higher levels of poverty for women. As in the case of illiteracy, these factors translate into higher incidence of ill-health for women and paradoxically, their lower capacity to access health care. For example, women with less education have less control over their sexual activities and therefore also more affected by sexually transmitted diseases. For example, HIV/AIDS which is transmitted largely through sexual activities is more prevalent among women than among men. The relative lack of control over their sexual choices also means that many more women get pregnant than should be the case. This has implications for fertility and maternal mortality rates. Women therefore have a higher need to access health care especially at the PHC level. Only women generally tend to need the permission of men to access health facilities. Poverty is also higher among women in the population than men. These factors suggest that women will also have a lower capacity to meet their health needs even when facilities exist to provide for those needs. The urban – rural divide The urban – rural divide is implicated in the differences in living conditions between urban and rural areas, in the distribution of the population between the two areas and in several other factors. Differences in these factors impact upon the performance of PHC in a number of ways. First, it imposes different challenges on PHC in urban and rural areas. It has been observed for example, that living conditions, especially with respect to the availability of electricity, good roads, water, transportation, communication, poverty and quality of life tend to be much higher in urban than rural areas (Imoudu, 1995). The implication of this is  the tendency for PHC units to be better staffed and equipped in urban areas than rural areas. It is thus not surprising to find that storage facilities for drugs are better in urban areas than rural areas (Gupta et al, 2004). Professional health personnels are also more reluctant to accept postings to rural areas. Another implication is the pattern and distribution of the disease burden between urban and rural areas. Given the fact that urban areas have more PHC facilities and that other secondary and tertiary health care facilities tend to be located in them, the health needs of urban populations tend to be better served than those of rural areas. There will therefore tend to be more pressure on PHC facilities in rural areas. If we take into consideration the additional factor of higher poverty in the rural areas, the lower capacity of rural communities to access health care when they need it will translate into worse health indices in the rural areas than urban areas. However it should be noted that socio cultural factors also impact positively in human service delivery in the following ways. Traditional medicines have become part or alternatives were modern medicine has failed. That not all in certain areas use of socio cultural factors has enhanced social service delivery in the areas of ceremonies which bring in foreign exchange and general leading to an improved standard of life of the people.eg prior to the kuomboka ceremony of the lozi people of western province, roads are graded, buildings painted, the towns and villages cleaned hospitality industry also takes a new shape which is a plus in service delivery. CONCLUSION Socio cultural factors are norms, values, beliefs, material and non material objects that are passed on from one generation to another in any given society. As we looked at how socio-cultural factors affect the performance of Primary Health Care we have noted that socio cultural factors are crucial in any developmental aspect of a community The socio-cultural factors impacting on health will differ between societies and even within sub-cultures within the same society. The WHO has, for example, identified a number of socio cultural factors and conditions. The list of factors includes (i) cultural beliefs and taboos, (ii) gender inequality, and (iii)  the urban – rural divide. The socio-cultural factors impacting on health will differ between societies and even within sub-cultures within the same society. Cultural beliefs and taboos impact upon the performance of the Primary Health Care in several ways. First, they shape forms of behaviour that lead to certain health outcomes. Gender inequality impacts the Primary Health Care system through its contribution to lower status, lack of empowerment, higher rates of illiteracy, and higher levels of poverty for women. BIBLIOGRAPHY: 1. Dr. Festus Iyayi, (2009), Socio cultural factors impacting upon Primary Health Care in Nigeria, Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Benin, Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria 2. Global Health Watch (2004) Global Health Action, edited by Whyte, A., McCoy, D and Rowson, M, Russell Press 3. Noyoo. N, (2000), Social Policies and Social Services in Zambia. UNZA Publishers, Lusaka, Zambia. 4. Oxford advanced learners dictionary (2002).

Sunday, July 21, 2019

catalina figueroa iglesias

catalina figueroa iglesias  ¿Es mà ¡s barato comer comida rà ¡pida en tiempos de crisis econà ³mica? Estudios demuestran que, durante este perà ­odo de crisis econà ³mica, las tiendas de comida rà ¡pida han visto aumentar sus ganancias de manera considerable.  ¿Quà © factores inciden en el aumento del consumo? El servicio es mà ¡s rà ¡pido que el de un restaurant tradicional, y los precios son mucho mà ¡s baratos. Tambià ©n es mà ¡s barato que comer en la casa, ya que el gasto que se produce, en conjunto, abarca los productos comprados, el tiempo invertido en comprarlos y cocinarlos y hasta el gas utilizado en la cocina o la electricidad del microondas. Parece la solucià ³n mà ¡s adecuada para quienes buscan gastar menos y quedar mà ¡s satisfechos, ya que debido al alto contenido calà ³rico de la comida es mayor la sensacià ³n de saciedad. En tiempos de crisis hay mayor conciencia del gasto, en cada aspecto de la vida, tanto en lo monetario como en lo no monetario, como el tiempo. Ademà ¡s, en tiempos de crisis el gobierno no cuenta con fondos suficientes para gastar en fines â€Å"menos importantes† como campaà ±as para promover una vida saludable y evitar el sobrepeso, lo que tambià ©n condiciona la conducta de los consumidores. La posibilidad de que aumente la tasa de obesidad es bastante alta. Sin embargo, a nivel individual como estatal, este eventual sobrepeso se traduce en mayores gastos estatales en salud y campaà ±as que apunten a evitar la obesidad, y en un costo muy elevado para los consumidores, ya que arriesgan su bienestar fà ­sico, psicolà ³gico y otros como su apariencia fà ­sica. Comparativamente hablando, es mucho mà ¡s valioso para la mayorà ­a de los seres humanos racionales llevar una vida saludable y conservarse bien fà ­sica y mentalmente que ahorrarse unos cuantos pesos en el almuerzo. En el corto plazo parece muy conveniente la alternativa de la comida rà ¡pida, sin embargo, al largo plazo perjudica tanto al individuo como al Estado.

Saturday, July 20, 2019

Personal Narrative about College Dorms Essay -- College University Dor

When I came to college for registration with my family, I was very enthusiastic to study in college and what I feel when I first saw the school was that I just adore the school’s appearance. I was supposed to be a boarder student and made me worried about it, I was afraid of that I can’t get used to live with 90 people in one building. The school got started and all of my fear about dormitory dispersed. I am so pleased to be in RC Boys’ Dormitory and I guess everybody shares my opinion. To be a boarder student in RC was the best decision I have ever made. As you all know, approximately one fourth of the students in RC are boarders and for them, besides a school, RC is also home. On 30th September, traditional open dorm took place in RC Boys’ Residence and residence was opened to day stud...

Essay --

Death and the King’s Horseman, Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, and The Storyteller all have multiple messages that can be obtained through reading these novels. Due to the great number messages that can be obtained throughout the readings, the authors have a lot of different, but also a lot of similar messages within the books as well. When reading these novels, the authors display a great deal of personal growth and change, a great empathy and compassion for others, and also a great image of what life is like in other cultures. Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress written by Dai Sijie, is a story about re-educating in which is centered on the Cultural Revolution era. This story takes off early and gives you a great sense of what’s life was like during those days in China. The story is told by a seventeen year old boy, whose father and mother are very well known doctors throughout China. The young man and his friend are being sent away to a village on Phoenix Mountain to be re-educated. Once the Narrator and his friend Luo, are relocated at this village at they start the reeducated process right away which is an excess amount of manual labor. While there, both of the boys come across and strike an attraction towards the local tailor’s daughter, the Little Seamstress. The Little Seamstress can be describes as beautiful and delightful but has no sort of education or any ability to read. During those days, China was so heavily repressed and anybody that is being â€Å"re-educated† is p ermitted to read books of any sort, with only the exception of the little book of sayings written by Chairman Mao. A character by the name of Four Eyes, a son of a poet, has a hidden compartment which is filled with western novels. The boys c... ... is giving us an understanding of another culture in which most of the readers are not used too. Throughout reading these novel, with all the similar messages that are obtained within them, one main message from each other is similar, a better understanding of cultural difference. Authors Dai Sijie, Mario Vargas Llosa, and Wole Soyinka all exemplify what life is like in other cultures and regions of the world. The Machiguenga, The Yoruban tribe, and people involved in the Cultural Revolution era, are all timeframes and people that we will never understand or have to experience first handed due to where we come from. The life that we are used to is so different then what the life is like from the readings of these book, that these authors express that even if it’s different, we should be excepting of all lifestyles, even if we don’t fully understand their beliefs.

Friday, July 19, 2019

The Fragile Being Essay -- Developing Countries, Inadequate Access to

Women and men deserve equitable opportunities to achieve a reasonable standard of a healthy living. However, in developing countries, the interplay of various economic, social, cultural and biological factors render women underprivileged to attain their rights to decent nutrition, health care services and health information. Nevertheless, some issues affecting women’s health are shared, in part, by the opposite gender. Inadequate access to nutritious food, and the resulting malnutrition, is perhaps the greatest dilemma for the health of women in developing countries. Indeed, undernutrition is the leading risk factor of under-five mortality in girls, accounting for around seven deaths per thousand children in low- and middle-income countries [1]. Rising food prices, climate change, wars and conflict have caused unprecedented food insecurity in various parts of the developing world [2]. It has been estimated that nearly 20% of the population of developing countries is affected by chronic food deficit [3]. The Global Hunger Index reports that 969 million people live on less than US $ 1 per day, and that 923 million people go hungry everyday [2]. Though malnutrition is a concern for both sexes, women are more vulnerable due to gender-based inequitable access to food [1]. Women are also more likely to suffer the repercussions of food insecurity because of their biological roles during pregnancy and lac tation and the resultant increase in nutritional demands. In pregnant women, malnutrition stunts the immune system and homeostatic mechanisms of the body, leaving them vulnerable to developing infections and maternal complications such as miscarriage and obstructed labor, besides increasing the risk of maternal mortality [4]. Cont... ...throughout the ages, neglect of their health needs and concerns has caused them to endure immense suffering. Further, the health of women is closely intertwined to the well-being of the next generation of children. Malnourished women are likely to have poor birth outcomes, in particular, intra-uterine growth retardation, preterm birth and infants with low birth weight [4,12]. Such infants also have a higher neonatal and infant mortality compared to those born to healthy mothers [4]. The issue of women’s health thus has an enormous impact on the society as a whole and needs to be addressed as a priority. To what extent this issue has actually been prioritized, remains a question unanswered. Women deserve to be afforded treatment at par with their male counterparts to safeguard their fragile existence, and to give them a just opportunity to excel in their abilities.

Thursday, July 18, 2019

Drug Abuse and Treatment Centers in Afghanistan Essay

The issue of narcotic drugs production and consumption is worsening in Afghanistan which threatens the security and hinders the development. Afghanistan as the largest opium-producing country in the world produces 94% of the world’s opiates and thus has 920,000 illicit drug users. Ministry of Counter Narcotics (MCN) and many other major organizations such as International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), UNODC and Colombo Plan aim to eliminate opium and illicit drugs’ cultivation, production, trafficking and addiction in Afghanistan through different programs. As an example, INL has taken actions to decrease drug demand by establishing treatment centers in many provinces of Afghanistan. Specifically, this paper aims to analyze interventions in drug addicts’ lives by Nejat as a male and Sanga Amaj as a female drug treatment center from an ethical point of view. Throughout the intervention, these two centers have overlooked issues related to women, social stigmatization and problems of forced treatment. Despite its deficiencies, intervention by Nejat and Sanga Amaj significantly contributes to drug abusers’ human rights and also the security and development of Afghanistan and thus benefits both individuals and the society. First of all, Sanga Amaj and Nejat promote the Human Right to Health by providing access to drug treatment and also aiming to decrease and prevent negative health consequences of drug abuse. Right to health is the economic, social and cultural right of everyone to the highest attainable standard of mental and physical health. Sanga Amaj and Nejat help drug users to lead healthy lives by decreasing the â€Å"mental and physical health problems,† that drug usage poses to their lives. HIV Aids, Hepatitis B, social exclusion and suicides among drug users are some of the main examples of physical and psychological harms of drug usage mainly among injecting addicts. According to an HIV report in Afghanistan, â€Å"almost all the known cases of HIV infection in Afghanistan today are due to injecting drug use†, thus drug use treatment will save a great number of injecting drug users’ lives. Besides, treating drug users, a socially excluded and marginalized group affected by drug addiction, and bringing them back to live ‘normal’ and healthy lives in their societies like everyone else help them overcome the psychological problems posed by addiction. Usually, drug abusers live in hostile and unclean places like under bridges and garbage piles that are unhealthy habitats and cause varieties of other diseases especially caused by bacteria. By providing treatment facilities to drug abusers and thus eliminating and preventing all these health disadvantages, Sanga Amaj and Nejat support health well-being of the society overall. Secondly, Sanga Amaj and Nejat contribute to promote the security in individuals’ lives which promotes the security of everyone and of the country. The diseases that develop in relation to drug abuse (HIV, Hepatitis and other diseases including mental disorders) are all a threat not only in drugs users’ lives but also to individual, national and human health and financial security. Besides, according to studies, drug consumption causes â€Å"poverty, violence and criminal behavior† in a certain society which poses severe economical and social insecurity not only to drug users’ lives but also their families and the society. Many road and domestic accidents, drug crimes, and death because of overdose are due to drug usage. Such as, it is common that drug abusers commit crimes such as they steal money for buying drugs. Besides, insecurity and disorder due to drug trafficking and crimes becomes the bases for corruption, insecurity and illegal drug smuggling and poverty in society which affects everyone. Thus, these treatment centers’ intervention promotes the protection of drug users’ rights by facilitating treatment and preventing them from these crimes while leading them to health, social and economical security. Nejat and Sanga Amaj also add to human resources and productivity and play a positive role for the development of drug abusers and other citizens’ lives and thus for a sustainable development of Afghanistan. First of all, intervention in drug abusers’ lives causes them to lead much more productive lives than before because drug abusers are unproductive both in school and labor. Drug abuse â€Å"incurs social costs in the form of loss of productivity and family income, violence, security problems, traffic and workplace accidents, and links with corruption† and loss of productivity and corruption affects the development of a country and its all citizens negatively. â€Å"Much HIV-related mortality occurs in adults in their productive age†, which causes loss in an individual’s life, and also the prosperity of their families, and the country. When drug users get treatment, they go in societies and lead much more productive lives which not only benefit them but also the society and its other citizens. Thus, by decreasing drug usage, a harmful factor of drugs users’ lives and also of the society and thus decreasing the level of health issues, violence, crimes and poverty, Sanga Amaj and Nejat are actually promoting the well being of the citizens as human beings and leads them and their societies to development. In addition to all these, treatment centers, specifically, Sanga Amaj highly contributes in promoting children’s rights. 0,000 of this drug-abusing populace are children who are usually born from or breastfed by addicted mothers, get addicted due to second hand smoke in families with addicted members, or are given opium or drugs directly for ailments or more working hours. As a doctor states, â€Å"If a child cries, they give him opium, if he can’t sleep, they use opium, if an infant coughs, opium,† a child is fed opium frequently which makes them addicted. These children while growing up then have to find a way to get opium or drugs. It usually leads them to crimes, such as, stealing at an early age, or leads them to being abused, especially sexual abuse. A great number of drug addicts sell their bodies or work as prostitutes to get money. For example, many male children become â€Å"dancing boys† who usually dance in front of men and are used by them for sexual purposes and thus get little money or drugs in return. It increases sexual slavery of children, social crimes against them and also exploits their lives and thus deepens the issue even more. Sanga Amaj as a children’s treatment center provides treatment facilities which help in promoting children’s rights to healthy and ‘normal’ lives. It plays a good role in preventing the devastating consequences of child drug abuse and thus has a big hand in supporting children’s rights. On the other hand, not only the treatment facilities available for drug users are insufficient compared to the level of drug consumption but also it is unevenly distributed between men and women and also different provinces. According to DW report of 2013, around 1. 3 million of population in Afghanistan is addicted to drugs. The existent services are adequate for only 10,000 addicts every year so the remainder of the addicts do not have access to treatment facilities. The drug abusers without services are mainly women who have only 2 treatment centers around the country and the drug users in provinces without centers as most of the centers are located in Kabul while some provinces do not have even one. For example, Sanga Amaj as one of the only two women’s residential treatment centers among the 40 treatment centers overall has 20 beds while Nejat as one of the many treatment centers for male drug users provides structured treatment with 50 beds available . Thus, as though Sanga Amaj has successfully treated 400 women with having only 15 relapses, it is much less compared to the number of women drug users. Additionally, these treatment centers are located only in some main provinces such as Kabul while leaving other provinces without centers. This proportion of facilities has created an uneven distribution of facilities among people in different provinces and also among male and female drug abusers. Traditional drug treatment programs have been designed to treat male addicts and fail to address the needs of women leading to inequity. Basically, 120,000 of the drug users in Afghanistan are women which might be less than the real number as most of them are reluctant to reveal their addiction. As UNODC reports, â€Å"Drug use among women and children is extremely difficult to estimate in Afghan society as it is easier to conceal and most often occurs in the home†, women make a big part of this populace but have remained invisible. Besides, most addicted women are from rural areas where they â€Å"consume opium on a regular basis to cure their illnesses† while the only two residential treatment centers available for them are located in big cities, leaving out women in the rest of 34 provinces demanding treatment. Men have more treatment centers than women though it is easier for them to travel from one province to another and despite the fact that many women are not addicted by their choice. They are forced by members of family, especially by husbands, and thus do not have the autonomy to decide about their addiction or undergoing treatment. As Shinkai Zahin claims, â€Å"Woman addicts were ignored by both the Afghan government and international donors,† women’s needs have been overlooked. As every woman, man, youth and child has the equal human right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, at this point women drug users’ right to health is undermined by discrimination. The social stigma of drug abuse creates an environment where society overlooks the external reasons of drug addiction and instead blames and ill-treats the drug abusers and leads to forced treatments. Initially, drug usage is considered disgraceful and drug users as the ones who perform this shameful act are degraded though it is usually unemployment, poverty, sickness, depression, violence, migration, imprisonment, etc. hat leads to addiction. Putting all the blame on the drug abusers leads to their ill treatment, being marginalized and negative psychological effects. Therefore, drug usage turns into â€Å"shameful secret† for drug users and they are socially condemned such as many of drug users especially male are beaten and sometimes they are forcefully impriso ned or brought to treatment centers. As â€Å"The right to health is an inclusive right† and â€Å"contains freedom†, forced treatment which is against a drug users’ will is a form of degradation and violates his/her right of decision-making. Moreover, the treatment process is a difficult, painful and cruel process and sometimes drug abusers are dehumanized during the process. Treatment includes withdrawal effects and drug detoxification which is extremely painful and if the clients resist, they are tied to beds for hours to days. Sometimes, drug users who cannot endure these pains die during the treatment, try to commit suicide or run away. These cases are against the key aspects of Right to Health defined by the UN high commissioner that right to health should be free from non-consensual medical treatment, torture and other cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment. Some drug users claim that forced treatment violates their liberty and forces them to quit, deal with the withdrawal, and give up what they call â€Å"the intense feeling of pleasure†. A former heroin addict states, â€Å"The War on Drugs isn’t a â€Å"War on Drugs†, it’s a war on personal liberty and a war on one’s ownership of their body†, so forcing treatment is degrading them and their human rights. Therefore, considering drug usage a crime or shameful act and thus enforcing treatment on unwilling drug abusers cannot be justified based on their individual human rights. To conclude, Sanga Amaj and Nejat as two major treatment centers benefits drug users and Afghanistan in many ways through their intervention in drug users’ lives. It ensures their human right to health, security and development and also children’s rights in many ways. Thus, it advantages not only the drug users but also their societies. Besides, though the treatment facilities provided is not sufficient and also is unevenly distributed among places and genders, based on cost-benefit analysis their intervention still is justified as it does more good than harm. Having less or insufficient treatment facilities is better than not having at all and in the same way treating some women is better than none. Instead, ending the social stereotypes about drug users and also men and women, and also preventing forced treatments while providing more counseling can make the intervention more sufficient. Besides, building more centers for females and rural areas is a better way to maintain equality.

Wednesday, July 17, 2019

Recognise the impact of prejudice Essay

Three of the examples of disfavour or stereotyping in Task 9 and describe what strategies/methods as a partnership interpreter would use to influence/ acquire agencies in overcoming these barriers. Write about what systems agencies already have in place to sweep over these particular barriers. sample 1 The Persian Interpreter, how would you deal with this situation in a professional manner?Strategy arse around to know a soulfulness on an individual basis originally you find if you dont like them. Youre not going to like anyone, save you do indigence to respect them as an individual and spend time with them before you make a judgment. You convey to realise that your way isnt the only way.Example 2 People who came from an Arab background and who attend mosques were looked at diversely. This means that multitude you passed every day on the street were accustomed a discrimination.This is not fair handlingStrategyLearn about different cultures and people to understand diff erences between yourself and early(a)s. As you learn more, you can relate to other people better even when differences exist. You need to go where you are in the nonage and experience what it is like to be in that situation.Example 3Many people have the view of a person with mental illness as someone who is violence-prone.StrategyBe respectful of differences. You need to be able to agree to disagree. however if you dont have oculus contact with each other, you will regain and know that their attitudes and behavior.

Bumrungrad International Hospital

TEAM Pangaea van infirmary IT radix Problems, and Implementations ready For A. Therapy Piccalilli Dry. Scripps Plankings An Daddy Honor open English Instructors Prep bed By Terrace Tiramisu Eukaryote Lackawanna Chauncey Returnables Picaroon Running indigenous Superpose Contents Introduction There is no doubt that technology has become a coarse part in our lives, and the importance of it is admittedly incr placidity as term passes by. The longer the time passed, the much(prenominal)(prenominal) es displaceial technology bequeath be toward our f tout ensemble behind routines.When It comes to knowledge Technology or IT, It Is hard to deal that on that point Is some cardinal out here who did non truly know intimately IT. The definition of IT, match to Walked, Is simply the application of calculators and telecommunications equipment to store, retrieve, transmit and manipu belated in seduceation, practic everyy in the context of a blood or opposite computer or the ne dickensrk of computers, exclusively it includes all the technologies that help distributing the cultivation, for instance, televisions and teleph bingles.Therefore, thither be actually a bunch of industries related to in lay overcomeation technology, no military issue if they be computer hardw ar and softw ar, lucre, e-commerce and other(a) computer- bastardlyd help. As akin as technology, IT has been create incessantly during the past years and the range of the applications is drawting wider and wider solar twenty-four hour period by day. Nowadays, many an(prenominal) companies adapted the IT arrangement into their caller-up as the communication is the key in developing a successful organization. With the help of IT placement, tribe wrong the organization could communicate with all(prenominal)(prenominal) other straightaway, easier, and more(prenominal)(prenominal) than than reliable.The loss of communication, or level off a nonaged glitch in the communication procedure, cap aptitude averse down the decision making process which, in some shields, could pixilated the termination of the companionship its rascal. In comparison, if any gild has a devout IT schema in their possession, the company could accomplish so much beyond imagination the company might be capable of throwing more organizationatically and put on the upper quite a little in the competition. Thus, the IT governing body is considered one of many signifi butt endt factors in bringing more revenue to a company and guaranteeing the welf be of a company as well.From the vision of the decision profitr coach of cutting edge infirmary, the economy of Tailand could be substantially au consequentlytic which the results could be involven in the near future. As a consequence, they gathered all the proficient deal involved in the placement of the infirmary and came up with the plan for the transmission line in order to touch on sure that the in firmary has the capability to handle the continuous growth in the come in of patients in distributively year in effective manner. For the current situation, it regainms like it is the shell hazard for the IT to save the day kind club Description avant-garde infirmary Public Company Limited (the Company) runs a famous private hospital headache in capital of Thailand, Vanguard infirmary. The hospital was established in seventeenth September 1980 in the form of private hospital on Summit Road, which is considered as one of many stemma districts in Bangkok. In an average of 1. 1 jillion patients ( two inpatients and outpatients) were accommodated by this hospital annually close to half of the figure is foreigners from over 190 countries globally. In the past 2013, the company earned more or less 14,651 million baht from the given serve.The hospital started in 1980 with 200-bed mental quickness with 90 million Thai baht locatement. Currently, the hospital has approximate ly 580 authorized bed and support the derive capacity of over 5,500 outpatients unremarkable. On the 1st January 1997, the ewe chief(prenominal) facility build named Bandager International was first utilized. The 12-storey building is known to be the largest private hospital blend in Southeast Asia which is equipped with underground place lot and the supranational standard rooftop helipad for helicopter landing. subsequently on, in 2008, the outpatient clinic facility was opened.This outpatient clinic facility is a 21 -storey building with a parking lot that supports somewhat 700 cars, spacious sky lobby on the tenth floor for business negotiation, international checkup cooperation, and even visa extension profits, and extensive range of sophisticate medical checkup equipment. The fracture and the pharmacy customers. more(prenominal)over, other than Wi-If, liquid crystal display directories, and TVs, there is as well an automated lab so addd faster and more liable results allowing the specifys to access the customers files from interior their test rooms.With the utmost solicitude about the tone of voice of the health foreboding go given by the hospital, this company pays discontinue attention in the process of recruiting the physicians and staffs. Pre movely, there be more than 4,800 employees, 1,200 internationally apprised relates and dentists, and 900 nurtures working in spite of appearance(a) the hospital. Since the company has been kicked off, the company has been endlessly providing complete healthcargon services for both inpatients and outpatients with extra precautions.Taken all of dedication into account, there is no drumhead that this company is one of the leading health care providers in Thailand and in Southeast Asia. According to Oversimplifications. Com, Vanguard hospital is considered one of the worlds popular medical touristry destinations. In the past 2012, the hospital serviced about 520,000 international patients who seek for high shade, International standard services, and the let down cost healthcare. Vanguard infirmary is the first Thai displacedidate that receive the US standard affidavit from Joint Commission International OIC Accreditation).The hospital has likewise been given the Chics Clinical Care Program attestation (CAP) for specialties programs including the Primary Stroke Program, subacute Myocardial Infarction, Diabetes Mellitus eccentric I and II and Chronic Kidney Disease correspond I to V. Other than that, the hospital too acquire many accreditations from many other famous institutions in both international and internal levels, including the Thai hospital Accreditation (HA). The company later Joined the public marketplace and being enlisted on the Stock Exchange of Thailand in 1989.The majority shareholders in the hospital rat be classified into companies in Thailand and other countries such as Bangkok Dusts medical Services Public Company Limited, B angkok Insurance Public Company Limited, Bangkok Bank Public Company Limited and the toadyish family, which is one of Thailand leading business families, Limited, and HASH (Singapore) Nominees Pete Ltd. Mission, Principle, and policy The hospital was established with the important objective to assimilate sure the world class tankard healthcare service would be provided to the customers with care and compassion.It has been operating(a) with the following principles 1 . assay to exceed our customers expectations 2. Committed to our Medical and Hospital staffs welfare, discipline, training and nurture. 3. Continuously improve the safety and woodland of the services. 4. Strive for professional excellence and innovation in the services. 5. Embrace cultural diversity with Thai hospitality. 6. Strive to make the services World Class. 7. world trustworthy, honest, and act ethically in all the traffic 8. Work as a team ND share what is known. 9. Highly value the corporate social r esponsibilities (CARS) 10.Operate in an environmentally responsible manner. After exercise the points above, it might seem like all the company thinking is about themselves, but actually, the company has withal been operating with the global environment and conserve capability and instinctive resources. To make sure that the environment ordain be rightly preserved, the hospital maintains a unspoilt aim to follow the regulation enacted by the presidential term and the world standards. Moreover, the hospital is excessively very measured about the water management carcass to block the eater streams nearby the hospital from getting bemire and affect the neighboring community.embodied Social Responsibility (CARS) Corporate Social Responsibility (CARS), in a nutshell, is the responsibleness towards the society and the environment of an organization. In other words, CARS is a arrangementatic management under good morals, which leads to a sustainable development of an organi zation. For Vanguard Hospital, the Vanguard Hospital Foundation (ultrahigh frequency) was set up in may 1990 as the CARS of the company. The UHF is a registered non-profit arse founded by the founders of Vanguard International Hospital.The foundation is involved in many chari bow activities for those unprivileged Thai citizen all around the country who did non receive a proper healthcare services with the intention to promote their well-being and to give them proper knowledge of being healthy. all donation make to this foundation domiciliate be mapd to reduce the tax (tax-deductible). Recent fund-raising programs and activities of this foundation are as follows 1 . 50 pediatric inwardness Surgeries This is a follow up stir up after the 72 Pediatric Heart Surgeries. In this campaign, 50 unprivileged people allow be selected to get the aggregate surgery without being charged a single baht. 72 Pediatric Heart Surgeries 3. Mend-A-Broken Heart Charity Heart Surgeries This camp aign was established in 2001. In cooperation in the midst of UHF and other business entities, 20 unprivileged people were selected to get free heart surgery. 4. Thompson monetary fund Mobile Free Clinic The UHF and Thompson Fund cooperatively sent out mobile free clinic to give medical care to ampere-second,000 people in underprivileged area. 5. Charity Medical Relief The UHF and the Bangkok Insurance Company work unneurotic to send out the officers to help many people in Saxon angora and Musician province for all(prenominal) single year.They excessively introduce them to more Job opportunity and offer them chances to improve their quality of life. 6. Patients in Need The foundation offers the financial aids to those who are in need of medical economical aid but butt end non afford the medical treatments. Other than religious offering decent healthcare to those who are unprivileged, the foundation excessively aids those people in the field of education by giving them pro per education, training, and also scholarships for children with insufficient budget. This foundation gets the money from the donations received from the patients of the hospital, other business entities, and even each individual person.Anyhow, the foundation does not simply rely on the donations but also fund-raisin events and charitable art exhibitions. Additionally, the UHF also concern about those who are underprivileged in other countries as they call for started charity such as, eye operation for Laos kid who got a piece of the turkey embedded in the eyeball. Current Status, Direction, and Goals Judging from the meditateing above, it green goddess be in breakigibly seen that the status of this company is on the rising trend with increasing tot up of patients in each year.It seems like the longer humankind live in this cruel world, the more natural selection is Charles Darwin which simply implies that altogether the intemperateest give survive. More people are getti ng infected by some new diseases that no one has ever seen before. In fact, it is undeniable that no matter how strong a person is, everyone needs to be tough by doctors even once in a blue moon. Thus, the healthcare provider as Vanguard Hospital is becoming more and more profitable compared to other good or service providers.This is the main reason why Vanguard Hospital is charge on developing the hospital to provide break up healthcare services to those who needed to be treat. smudge in the Strategic Impact Grid The discipline of Vanguard Hospitals IT transcription In the year 1997 The hospital was facing trouble as Thailand faced the economic crisis as it affects the middle class people which are considered the main customer base of the hospital. Thus, all the people chose the hospital that is operated by the government with lower payment.Under the circumstances, the hospital saw the opportunity to expand the customer base to international level. At the end of this achie vement, the hospital received ISO 9000 Certification. In the year 1999 The hospital started to use the internet as the mean for data distribution. At the time, the hospitals website had been visited for about 800 views per day. In the succeeding(prenominal) revolution, the hospital brought in the US IT Consultant Service and started up the company called international Care ascendant (GAS) in Thailand for assembling the governance for the hospital. subsequent on, during December of the same year, the Hospital 2000 was implemented as a substitute for the older platform. The package program was regarded as the first hospital remains that connects everything together from the bowel movement office, administration for doctors, pharmacist, nurses, and radiologist, patients registration, time schedule of the operating room, exam room, and wards to the patients visiblenesss. The hospital invested on 450 clients to be set up around antithetical sections of the hospital. In the ye ar 2002-2004 The Hospital 2000 agreement was developed to support PASS (Picture inventory Communication System).The hospital got reward from the Intelligent green light Asia magazine for being 1 in 20 top organizations that uses IT to maximize the ability to provide the services to the customers. The hospital also got an appraised from CIO Asia for being top 100 organizations that implemented the hospital training formation. In the late 2003, the hospital invested on another 450 clients which causes less governance breakdown as increase the uptime for 99. 99% In the year 2007 Microsoft took over the Global Care Solution (GAS).As a result, Vanguard Hospital is now not only a user but also another invisible hand in the development of the organisation. In the year 2008 Microsoft started launching Microsoft Amalgam which is the conclave of Xiii and Hospital 2000. The hospital also started utilize more sophisticated technologies inside the outpatient facility, for instance, Wife internet, liquid crystal display directories, automated lab for more precise and faster exults, online patient registry, diagnostic interpret that the doctors hindquarters access. Later on, management for inpatients. The idea of using robot came up from the concern the safety of the patient.From implementing the robot, the hospital can go across less time on the music of each patient. Other than that, the hospital also started up the laptop computer rental service for the inpatients. The laptop was designed to use inside the hospital as it is attached to the table on the side of the patients bed and it is equipped with silicone polymer keyboard, sterilized optical mouse, WebMD for video conference, and voice-over transcription. Hospital 2000 Hospital 2000 is the arranging specialized for hospital transcriptions with the scope of approximately every activity inside the hospital.For the usage inside the hospital, the system has the capability to handle the teaching of the patients or other employees, transaction processes, accounting, pharmacy, registrations, human resources, and even the patient transfer processes inside the clinic. All these sub functions are collected inside one oversize database in one system that supports almost every vocabulary available on this world. Microsoft Amalgam Hospital Information System (Amalgam HIS) Amalgam HIS is the developed version of Hospital 2000.This sophisticated system was designed to systematically induce care of the IT system inside the hospital by collecting all the necessary data inside the database. Amalgam HIS was created based on the Electronic Medical Record (EMMER) which is placid to patient management, bed management, operating room management, pharmaceutical management, and even management system for radiologists. In addition, the system is also capable of storing and transferring the image data (IRIS/PASS), doing some complex accounting calculation, and managing both inventories and human re sources.PASS (Picture Archive Communication System) is the system produced to digitally store the medical images and x-rays results without using any film. By using this system, the doctors could access the images by using the earnings from remote distance. In addition, the system also allows the semipermanent storage. In the normal situation, where the physical films are utilise to store the images, the images could be changed or damaged as time passed by and not to mention that it took so long to sire the record in the form physical films whenever it is needed.Thus, using PASS allow for elf ease out all the processes for easy recuperation and increase reliability. Current IT Infrastructures At the moment, Vanguard Hospital is using the Amalgam Hospital Information System (Amalgam HIS). This system has been implemented in the hospital since 1997. Thus, the information system for Vanguard Hospital is considered an essential lot in the management processes that occur inside the hospital. It is clearly seen that if it is not because of the marvelous IT system, the hospital might not be able to come this far as one of the best hospitals in Southeast Asian region.The actors who are involved in the system are as follows 1 . Doctors The Amalgam System dashs a great part in helping the doctors to image at the overview of the profile of each patient. The doctor can glance at the profile of the patient and abruptly have the idea of who they are treating which get out balk any mis scoops from happening. Another good point is that the doctor can write the medicinal prescriptions and schedule the next appointment via the online system.The appointment and the prescription leave then be sent to the cashier and the pharmacy so that the patient bequeath safety of the patient, the system also provides options for the doctors available for operating the patient as each doctor has different specialty and different schedule. The system provide filter out the doctors who are the best for operating each particular(prenominal) patient. However, it does not mean that every doctor knows how to use the system. The elder doctors might not be accustomed to using the IT system and the part-time doctors might think that it is unnecessary to learn how to use the system as the come from time to time.To handle this problem, the hospital decided not to cast aside the old IS system which is manually writing the prescriptions and transcription the patients records. The information recorded manually get out be transferred to the QUA department in which the information volition be recorded into the system to make sure that the information of the patient result be available by the next time the customer uses the hospital service again Just as same as other patient that the information were recorded by the doctors.By implementing this IT system, it ensures that the hospital is using its resources of 1,200 doctors efficiently and the customers can be assured that the appropriate healthcare entrust be given to them as the total amount of the patients will be distributed equally among doctors to ensure the maximum ability n providing the services. 2. Hospital Officers Every hospital employee is compel to know how the system works no matter if they are the receptionists, accountants, nurses, radiologists, pharmacist, or even human resources.All the officers will have to work in harmony to be able to maintain the fast-paced work and provide the information needed in a in brief period of time. Although all the systems are connected together, it does not mean that everyone will be seeing the same information. As an example, this is what happens in steps when Mr.. A visited Dry. B. Mr.. A visited Dry. B in he year 2012 with the symptoms of Acute Tuberculosis. Later on, in 2014, Mr.. A came pricker to the hospital again with the intestinal infection which he was designate to Dry. C. Dry. C will be able to see the solely medical depict of Mr..A including the musics that he is sensitised to, who was his former doctors, what were his symptoms, and all the medical implications. When Dry. C wrote the medical prescription, the lists of medicine will be sent to the cashier and the pharmacy. The pharmacy will only see the lists of the medicine that Mr.. A will get so that they could band everything he deed while the cashier will only see the list of the medicines and the price so that Mr.. A will be charged correctly. These two departments would not be able to see the medical give notice (of) related to Mr.. A. When the pharmacy packed all the medicine for Mr..A, the total amount of each medicine inside the inventories will be updated which will be easier to keep track of all the drugs inside the stocks to delay those drugs from running out. In case that the report is needed, the system also provide the function to generate the report of the patients who were treated by Dry. C in each day. With the help of the system, all the information from the doctors to other departments and employees will be synchronized which will increase the speed, reliability, precision, and accuracy of the service that will be provided in daily routines. . Patients Other than hospitals employees, another actor that cannot be unheeded is the patients. Patients are considered an important part in the development of the hospital system as the system was designed for convenience of the customers and to reduce the checking time. Moreover, in case that the patient is ready to be transferred perhaps in the form of hard copies or CDC. While those data re being transferred, the copy of the data will still be inside the hospital system in case that the patients wanted to be transferred back for further medical treatments. . Executives When it comes to the executive officers of the hospital, it is important that they can get the boilersuit status report of the hospital whenever it is needed. The report that is provided by Amalg am HIS is in the form of interactive report in which the executive can sit back and relax as the report generated will make the analysis process a whole lot easier. For simplicity, the interpretation will be made from the data collected from each patient.As in short as the report reaches the executives, for example the CEO, the CEO will be able to notice the trend of the symptoms at the moment so that the hospital can be attired for the situation that might happen in the future. 5. The competitors The competitors of Vanguard Hospital are not only private hospitals but also those hospitals that operate by the government. It is easy to say that Vanguard hospital is one of the first hospitals that implemented the hospital information system. moreover as time passes by, the IT system becomes more low-priced for every organization.The competition becomes more and more yearning s more hospitals also implemented the IT system which will introduce newer dimensions of giving the services to the customers luring in more customers. Though the system that the other use might not be as good as what Vanguard implemented but it sure enough to become more frightful business competitor. Workflow inside the Hospital 1 . obligate an appointment The patients can choose whether they want to make an appointment using telephones or using the online services. For the foreigners, they can make schedule an appointment on www. Vanguard. momma where they can select the doctors that they wanted to get treated from. . The patient reached the hospital When the patients arrived at the hospital, they need to hand in the patient card or tell them the patient id in which the id will be describe into the system to report that this patient has already arrived at the hospital and is ready to be called into the examination room. 3. breeding of the patients profile As shortly as the patients have confirmed an appointment with the hospital, the hospital needs to launch the profile of that patient before they even reached the hospital.With the information, the nurse in each counter will be able to make a schedule for the doctor and get the attain ready whenever they arrived at the hospital. 4. perceive the doctor The doctors inside the examination room will be able to see how many patients are waiting for the examination. Moreover, the doctors also can access the profile of each patient to see the former medical diagnosis, drug allergic history, all the taken lab results which can be changed into the form of graphs for analysis. 5.Lab & X-Ray results Whenever the doctors see that the extra labs need to be tested on the patient, the direct order from the doctor will be sent directly to the lab and x-rays room. Nowadays, there are many technologies and one many interesting breakthroughs is the digital x-rays which allows the doctors to get the x-rays results digitally without using any film. 6. allowance When the patients got the medical care that they need, the payme nt information and the information about the patients insurance will be sent to the accounting and financial department.In this step, the patients queuing sit still and wait for the system to manage their queues and call out their names. 7. chance the medicines Practically, when the doctors ordered the medicine, the prescriptions will be automatically sent to the pharmacy. Thus, the patients can get their medicine as soon as the patients made the payment. 8. Executive operations The executive officers can access the system to get the overall analysis of the current situation for management and make plans for the future.In the data analysis, the system will use the system called OLAP (Online Analytical Processing) which is already pre-equipped in the Microsoft SQL legion. OLAP helps the executives in assembly the information from the data warehouse for analysis, for instance, the proportions between domestic and international patients, the nation where the international patient ar e from so that the hospital will be able to get the translators ready for assisting the international patients who are incompetent of communicating directly with the doctors.Hardware Development For optimum efficiency, the hospital chose the computer system from Dell which is believed to be more stable compare to other brands. Since the computer system from Dell has been implemented, the hospital admitted that the expenses of the hospital were enormously reduced that the left hospital with enough budget to invest on another secondary storage station, which will manage the data in real-time manner, to counteract any system failure. In the hospital system, there consisted of 4 servers from Dell, 1 main memory, and 6 backcloth computers connected in the form of cluster.Moreover, the hospital also set up extra 450 computers around the hospital to support the increasing amount of patients. For maximum functionality and for ease of accesses, the hospital also spent some amount of money on 100 laser printers and one hundred twenty scanners to keep the data of the patients. In the term of system functionality, if in case of an emergency that the power total of the system was cut off, the system will be automatically shut down and rely will cause devastating damages to the system. Thus, the hospital made the decision to use the Infrastructure system offered by the APPC.The Infrastructure is the architectural design for data means IT room, which is scalable and adaptable, that dramatically reduces time and complexity from imagination and design through installation. This Infrastructure system is composed of 2 40 KAVA N+l Redundancy UPS systems. The two systems are working in harmony in load sharing manner. separately UPS system will be powered from different sources from different sides of the building to ensure the maximum protective covering measures from the electrical problems that might occur.If something happened to the first UPS, the other UPS will be ab le step up and take all the workload. From doing so, there is less probability of system failure and all the systems that are essential for providing the services to the customer will work continuously. Another good point of this APPC system is that there is built-in self-test packet called Powerhouse which will automatically do the self-test to find if there is any hardware in the system needs replacement.If the software found out that there is actually a hardware that needed to be replaced, the software will notify the arson who is in charge of victorious care of the data shopping center to replace the hardware without turning off the whole system. For the linkage of the system, Vanguard Hospital entrusted the Motorola, Inc. To together, the hospital utilize more than 300 wireless switches and access points. For the switch, the Motorola REFORMS radio receiver Next Generation, which is capable of layer-3 roaming, was utilized.The layer-3 mobility allows the users to roam withou t losing its IP reference and sessions which is great for large areas with many stories as the users can use the network while they are paseo with the maximum bandwidth ND noise-free. This is considered as something that can advance the hospital in the long run. This wireless system can be used not only by the users but also the doctors and other staffs as well to ensure the availability of the data in real-time in the range of 90,000 square meters of the hospitals area.For security issue which is the main key in the intention process of the hospital system, the security system invented by Motorola, the Wireless Intrusion Protection System (WIPES), is taking care of everything Software Development As has been mentioned above, the hospital has implemented the Amalgam HIS to ease up the work processes of the doctors and other employees by making everything faster, more convenient, more effective, more precise, and easier for maintenance. Not to mention that using the system will a lso make the communication with the users more understandable and more cost-effective.The system works dependently with the Microsoft Windows Server 2003 and Microsoft SQL Server 2000, which is the software for managing the database. All information will be kept inside one big database inside the IT department which causes the hospital system to be in the form of computerized system in which every department ND every computer can communicate with each other via computer system. No matter in what direction that the patients were leaded to, the computer system can help the hospital to prepare what is needed in a short period of time.Nowadays, many people are getting treated by the hospital in each day which means high amount of the transaction between each department in each day. Thus, the system needs to be scalable the hospital can add in more machines or take out some machines to be appropriate with the subroutine of patients at the specific period of time. In the software perspec tive, the system needs to be adaptable, reliable and e ready for any further system expansion in the future. The Amalgam HIS can be shared into 3 tiers. . Presentation Tier This tier includes all the 1,000 work station across the hospital which are used to get the data by accessing the substitution database of the Amalgam HIS that is set up of the machine that runs on Microsoft Windows 2000. 2. Middle Tier The middle tier is in between the presentation tier and the database. Here, the Windows Server will be regarded as the Transaction server which is the main medium in managing the flow of the transactions that are being sent to the database.When the transactions were generated, they will be sent to different servers to prevent one specific server from overloading. An extra server can be added whenever it is needed to handle the customers need without having to shut down the whole system. All in all, the hospital got a lot of assistance from the software from Microsoft as the sof tware allows the hospital system to work faster, more consistent, more precise, and also help the hospital to control the do of employees needed inside the hospital. 3. Database Tier All the information that will be processed by the