Saturday, November 30, 2019

Tyra Banks Essay Example

Tyra Banks Paper There are a lot of great models in the world, models that have made a difference in young aspiring models’ lives. Naomi Campbell, Heidi Klum, and Beverly Johnson are some examples. Many say that Tyra Banks is the best supermodel of all time. She produces a show that helps young ladies become successful models. Tyra Banks is a very important person to young â€Å"wannabe† models. Tyra Lynn Banks was born December 4, 1973 in Los Angeles, California but grew up in Inglewood, California. Her father, Don Banks, was a computer consultant, and her mother, Carolyn London, was a medical photographer. When Tyra was six years old, her parents got divorced. Tyra says she was too young for it to have much impact on her life. She lived with her mother on weekdays and her father on weekends. She always had two birthday parties and two Christmases, which meant double the presents, double the love. She was constantly teased by her older brother, Devin, and classmates because she was tall, very thin, and awkward looking. Her classmates gave her the nickname Giraffe. Some days she used to run home crying to ask her mother for help. Her liking for food such as BBQ ribs, fried chicken wings, ice cream and fast food was tremendous. We will write a custom essay sample on Tyra Banks specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Tyra Banks specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Tyra Banks specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Tyra also had a love for Ketchup packets. Therefore to stay fit in high school she enjoyed a lot of sports, mainly basketball, tennis, and also a lot of exercise. In 1989, at the age of 17, she outgrew her awkward phase and begun to resemble a tall, curvy, caramel-skin, green-eyed beauty. ( Tyra Banks Biography) Tyra decided to became a model, and she started working hard in order to change her skinny physique. Her goals were achieved. However her first attempt to find a modeling agency was met with rejection and discrimination. The agency said she looked too ethnic, or they already had a black model and didn’t want another. In 1990, while still in high school, she landed a contract with Elite Model Management, the largest model agency in the world. After graduating from Immaculate Heart High School in 1991, Tyra enrolled at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, but she decided to forego college when Elite offered to send her to Paris for high-fashion runway modeling. (Tyra Banks Biography) While in Paris, Tyra felt alone so he called her mother, who moved to Paris to be Tyra’s manager and best friend. Tyra moved swiftly through the ranks of fashion modeling to become one of the world’s top supermodels. By the end of the mid 1990s, Tyra decided to return to the United States and switch to swimwear and lingerie modeling, where curvier models are more than welcome. She made her living twenty or thirty pounds heavier than the average model and that’s when she really became famous. ( Bio of Tyra Banks ) While working as a Victoria’s Secret model Tyra sold more bras and panties than any of the other models all while walking down the runway weighing 30 pounds more than the other girls. She was on the cover of several magazines such as â€Å"GQ,† â€Å"Sports Illustrated Swimwear Edition,† and a Victoria’s Secret catalog. She signed a contract with both Cover Girl and Victoria’s Secret, becoming a staple of both companies’ advertising campaigns and runway shows. ( Bio of Tyra Banks) In 1997, she received the prestigious Michael Award for Supermodel of the year and also won two Teen Choice Awards for favorite supermodel. She funded a scholarship to help young black women attend her alma mater, Immaculate Heart High School in Los Angeles, California. In 1999, Tyra founded TZONE, a foundation aimed at developing teenage girl’s independence and self-esteem. Tyra Banks ventured into the world of reality television when she created, produced, and hosted â€Å"America’s Next Top Model. † The show, pits aspiring model against each other in a competition for the label of America’s Next top Model. In 2005, Tyra expanded her into television exposure with her own talk show, The Tyra Banks Show. Tyra Banks is still the best high fashion model in the world. She is dedicated to helping young girls build their character and be the best they can be. Tyra Banks is the most helpful person when it comes to modeling.

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Illustrator Paper essays

Illustrator Paper essays Tomie dePaola is a very popular childrens book author that writes and illustrates his own books. Although dePaola has dozens of books written and illustrated by him, many of his books illustrations are similar. In a sample of three of his books, Pancakes for Breakfast, Tom, and Strega Nonas Magic Lessons, his characters look very much alike and his styles are similar. However, there are some elements from each book that differs from each other. In all three books, dePaola uses all kinds of lines, jagged, straight, thick, thin, and soft to do a couple of different things. First of all, characters in all 3 of his books are very simple. Their faces and their emotions are expressed through simple lines and shapes. Although they are not complex, you are able to see what the characters are thinking and feeling simply by looking at how dePaola composes his lines. Second, in Pancakes for Breakfast, he used bumpy lines to show slopes and hills and jagged lines to draw shapes of tree branches. In Strega Nonas Magic Lessons, dePaola used a lot of curvy lines on his characters. He did a good job of showing the characters more full body shapes through use of curvy lines rather than straighter lines. Third, dePaola also uses his lines to create texture in Pancakes for Breakfast, but not so much in Strega Nonas Magic Lessons and Tom. For example, in Pancakes for Breakfast, he does a very good job of using criss cross lines to sh ow how barn walls are textured, and he did a really good job of using lines to show the rough texture of hay in the barn. Lastly, in Strega Nona, dePaola uses softer lines and shadows to show depth in his illustrations. In all three of the books examined, dePaola uses a lot of colors to engage the young reader. However, all three books had different color schemes. For example, in Strega Nona, he used a lot of mixed colors. He used different shades of ...

Friday, November 22, 2019

Flier vs. Flyer

Flier vs. Flyer Flier vs. Flyer Flier vs. Flyer By Mark Nichol Whether you post a flier or a flyer depends on whether you’re assigning a pilot to an air base or tacking a piece of paper to a bulletin board. Flyer, first attested hundreds of years ago, was the original agent-noun form of fly, with the obvious meaning of â€Å"something that flies.† Later, however, it came to be associated with swift objects, whether airborne or not. This description was widely employed to refer to various vehicles, including trains, planes, and automobiles, as well as boats and ships (and even a submarine, although the name was spelled Flier). Flyer is also another name for the architectural feature usually called the flying buttress, and it’s the appellation of hockey teams in the United States and throughout northern Europe. In addition, it is used in the sense of financial speculation (because such action is compared to a leap of faith), such as in the phrase â€Å"take a flyer.† However, although that spelling was commonly used as a synonym for pilot (though not until a quarter century after the advent of mechanized flight), the alternate spelling, for some reason, came to predominate in referring to airplane passengers hence, â€Å"frequent-flier miles.† Long before aviation as we know it first occurred, however, flyer, initially a slang term, became a widespread term for a single sheet of paper posted to advertise or inform. (One source mentions that it was first used to refer to notices in police stations, and that the term was associated with widespread dissemination analogous to a flock of birds taking flight.) Although both spellings are used for this sense, flyer is more common, as flier is the usual spelling in reference to air travel. Interestingly, two American authorities, Bryan A. Garner, author of Garner’s Modern American Usage, and the Associated Press Stylebook, recommend flier for all senses; however, Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary allows that flyer is more common when referring to a leaflet, and popular usage bears this out. Analogous agent nouns are split in their spelling: Cry becomes crier (though cryer appears in some sources to refer to a court officer who makes proclamations and to a female hawk), but dry becomes dryer and fry becomes fryer. Prier, slier, and sprier are the preferred comparatives of pry, sly, and spry, but pryer, slyer, and spryer are acceptable. My recommendation for flyer/flier? I’m siding with Merriam-Webster’s, as usual: Pilots and passengers are fliers, and pamphlets are flyers. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Misused Words category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:7 Classes and Types of PhrasesLatin Words and Expressions: All You Need to KnowPunctuation Is Powerful

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Understanding Economic Diversification in the UAE Research Paper

Understanding Economic Diversification in the UAE - Research Paper Example Understanding Economic Diversification in the UAE This paper will explore the economy of UAE by discussing strength and weakness in a way that facilitates the understanding of the topic in the context of Abu Dhabi. Various issues related to labor, free zone and stock market are discussed in way that depicts their contribution to growth of non-oil sectors in Abu Dhabi. In this section, the paper seeks to identify ways through which labor, free zone and stock markets are supporting the diversification from the oil sector. Therefore, this gives an illustration of the ways in which Abu Dhabi is reducing the dependence on oil. The paper concludes with a summary and recommendations of the issues that will be explored. Understanding The UAE economy The economy of United Arab Emirates has been ranked the thirty-fifth freest economy in the 2012 index with a freedom score of 6.9, and it has experienced a growth of 1.5 using last year as the base year. This growth has been attributed to improvements in the property rights, monetary freedom and labor freedom. Moreover, the economy is ranked fourth in a list of seventeen countries in Africa and Middle East due to its overall score that is higher than the averages on various regions in the world. Registration of the best twenty enhancements in 2012 index has made a substantial contribution to improving economic independence. The business environments and conditions boosting investments have contributed to restructuring of the economic systems; thereby facilitating the establishment of pulsating private sector. Furthermore, sustenance of momentum growth has been facilitated by the open trade regime with cost controls. Therefore, the UAE has been focusing on being a regi onal financial hub with a banking sector dealing with the financial problems moderately well. However, there are deficiencies in legal systems and investment framework, which are restraining the entire economic freedom of UAE. There are judicial systems that intimidate foreign investors by increasing their vulnerability to political influence. However, corruption is deteriorating compared to other economies in the region. Abu Dhabi makes significant contribution to the oil yields resulting in a principal role in political and economic decision-making (The government of Abu Dhabi, 2008). Of late, the focus of the government has shifted towards alternate and non-oil resources, a process termed as diversification. This paper purports to discuss the concept of economic diversification, growth of the oil and non-oil sectors over the last ten years, contribution of labor, free zone and stock market to the growth of the non-oil sector in the UAE. Concept of Economic Diversification The con cept of economic diversification is associated with the process of risk reduction through division of the assets among various securities or forms of investment (Fridson & Alvarez, 2002). Therefore, diversification of income sources based on different and unrelated exposures to risk increases the chances of being compensated to the incidence of potential loss. Moreover, this is used in selection of a portfolio, fields of financial economics. Understanding this concept clarifies the reason behind government expenditure in UAE along with

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Summary and response Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Summary and response - Assignment Example But your own argument has to identify the â€Å"they say† you are referring to make it clear to the audience (Graff & Birkenstein 43). Although we agree that you shouldn’t keep the readers in suspense for too long about your central argument, you also need to present that claim as part of some larger conversation. When responding to argumentative writing, it is often best to agree and disagree simultaneously. This allows you to avoid simple yes or no response and therefore present a more complicated argument. One can use templates to assist him in writing as they help one become more creative and original and I think it also provides a sense of direction too (Graff & Birkenstein 70). In â€Å"Her Point Is† Summarizing refers to any information from others that you present in your own words, including that which you paraphrase. It points out that a good summary requires balancing what the original author is saying with the writer’s own focus. One has to incorporate both the original author’s views and also give his or her own side of the coin. In summary writing you put yourself in someone else’s shoes send join in the conversation whether you are agreeing or disagreeing with the conversation. Just like how actors must convincingly become characters who in real life they detest. But the writer has to be cautious not to be carried away by his own influence and end changing the whole meaning and intent of the original text. In other words during summary, reflect both the source you are summarizing and add your own views (Graff & Birkenstein 115). However, the writer may decide to deliberately give his or her own spin to someone else’s argument in order to reveal a shortcoming in and this is referred to as Satirical Summary. The other may disagree or agree with the author or at times do

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Companies and the Customers Who Hate Them Essay Example for Free

Companies and the Customers Who Hate Them Essay How can customer dissatisfaction lead to higher profits for the company? Companies have found out that ill-informed customers can be beneficial for them in terms of profits. Some companies have abused their customers intentionally, however others unwittingly exploited and took advantage of them. The Slippery slope: There are two major ways in which companies make profits by misleading their customers: * Offering the customers a broad variety of services or products, which can be very confusing, especially when there is lack of transparency. Moreover, if even the information is complete for the customers, the companies can take advantages of consumers’ difficulties in predicting their needs. * Using fees and penalties for offsetting costs and discouraging undesirable customer behavior. These hostile strategies are common from banking and hotel industries to video stores and car rentals. Here particularly 3 industries will be discussed in details: cell phone industry, retail- banking industry and health club industry. Cell phone industry: When a customer signs up for a service plan, he chooses a certain pricing option with different ranges of minutes. These plans can have various restrictions and allowances. However, these varied plans are not a result of customer-centric strategy. They are rather ways to take advantage of customer’s unawareness of which plan to choose, in the result of which customers can be penalized either for using too much time or for not using enough. However, such strategies cannot always guarantee profits for the company. They can increase the dissatisfaction among customers, the proof of which can be thousands of complaints that the U. S. Federal Communications Commission gets annually. These complaints should be worrisome to companies because customers can switch toward a transparent and friendly alternative. Retail-banking industry: Another sphere in which the company-centric strategy is used is retail-banking industry. For signing up in the checking accounts people are offered dozens of alternatives. If the customers cannot precisely predict their needs, they can have losses. Here are some examples of situations when the banks take advantage over the customers’ ignorance * The customers receive less interest when the consumers’ balances are above the minimum of the balance bucket and if the alances fall below the minimum level, they have to pay some penalties. * Banks usually debit the consumers’ checks in the order of size, rather than in a chronological order, for the rest of the checks to bounce and to cause multiple overdrafts, consequently penalties. The company-centric strategy of banks led to the customers’ dissatisfaction and it became so pervasive that New York congresswoman Carolyn Maloney reintroduced the Consumer Overdraft Protection Fair Practices Act to forbid banks charging overdraft protection fees, unless the customers explicitly are informed about the service. Health club industry: Health clubs tempt customers to sign long-term contracts, knowing that they will rarely visit the club. They realize that all their customers will not completely use the facility and therefore sell more memberships than they have the floor space to accommodate. Moreover, an investigation conducted by the New York City Council concluded that 41% of clubs didn’t explain their fees in writing, 81% didn’t give potential members a contract to read at home and 96% didn’t inform customers of all the ways they could legally cancel a contract. In New Jersey a lot of complaints have brought litigation against almost two dozen health clubs that provided fraudulent contracts. Health clubs require to spend more time to attract new customers because their existing ones try to find a way out. Moreover they even encourage ways to retain customers with reward points for members who work out regularly. The warning signs: According to the research most of the executives are acknowledging the negative effects of the functions described above but they mention that those actions do not represent an intentional strategy. The executives know that because of these negative practices the companies slid down the slippery slope and have difficulties for purchasing on the way back up thus becoming vulnerable for the competitors. For avoiding this practice the executives should ask themselves the questions mentioned bellow. * Are our most profitable customers those who have reasons to be dissatisfied with us? * Do we have rules we want customers to break because doing so generates profits? Do we make it difficult for customers to understand or abide by our rules, and do we actually help customers break them? * Do we depend on contracts to prevent customers from defecting? Climbing back into favor: Effective CEOs are able to recognize the opportunities and eliminate the negative effects which make the company vulnerable. The company centric strategies can cause loss of the target market and profitability in a long-term period, thus many companies prefer being economically sustainable.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Why Do Children Talk To Themselves? :: Psychology Psychological Papers

Why Do Children Talk To Themselves? Whether you are a parent, teacher, child care giver, or a child observer you may have noticed that many children talk to themselves. Laura Berk reports that, â€Å"private speech can account for 20-60 percent of the remarks a child younger than 10 years makes† (78). Why do children do this? Does it benefit the child as Vygotsky would say, or is it just that the child is making egocentric remarks that play no positive role in normal cognitive development as Piaget would claim? I am going to be looking at the differences between Vygotsky’s and Piaget’s points of view. Then, I will look at Laura Berk’s findings in her article, â€Å"Why Children Talk to Themselves.† I will also talk about other findings concerning this topic. Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky were developmental psychologists interested in the origins and processes of cognitive development. These two psychologists disagreed sharply on the role that private speech played in one’s cognitive development. Vygotsky called this private speech while Piaget called it egocentric speech. Piaget observed the activities of three to eight year old kindergarten children, and discovered such uses of speech as verbal repetitions of another individual, monologues during an activity, and non-reciprocal remarks in collective settings. In these instances their speech was not directed towards other individuals. In Piaget’s mind these patterns of speech showed evidence of egocentrism, a sign of cognitive immaturity, and an inability to share the perspective of another individual. However, he argued, as the children grow older they socialize increasingly more with others, and their speech becomes communicative. Their speech moves away from being self- to other-oriented, a sign that they are able to adopt the perspectives of others. A child overcomes egocentrism by beginning to think critically and logically, causing egocentric speech to fade away. Vygotsky believes that a child’s cognitive development originates in socialization activities, and then goes through a process of increasing individuation. He argued that self-directed speech did not show any cognitive immaturity, but did show some form of development. He claims that private speech represents a functional differentiation in the speech of a child, or that a child begins to differentiate between speech that is directed towards the others and speech that is self-directed.

Monday, November 11, 2019

Pocahontas – Cultural Anthropology

Writing Assignment #1: The Cultural Construction of the Idea of Progress Film chosen: Pocahontas One of Walt Disney’s most famous films, Pocahontas, takes place in the 1600s, as the British discover parts of the â€Å"New World† that are inhabited by native Americans. In this film, we are able to contrast the primitive lifestyle and culture of the Native Americans to that of the British, and are able to see how the ideas of â€Å"progress† or social evolution play a role in the ethnocentric bias held by the Westerners during this time, causing the primitive stereotypes to be built.Disney uses the structure of the characters themselves- what they wear, how they speak, what they eat, what they believe in, etc. ; and the plot line of the film, to depict the cultural construction of the idea of â€Å"progress†, and evoke the opposing ideas of the â€Å"primitive other† and â€Å"civilized self†. This film opens showing us the life of the British as they board the ship and while they’re sailing at sea. Disney starts off with the British because we as westerners relate to the British, and see their way of life as normal and civilized.We immediately relate to the color of their skin, their westernized clothing, the way they speak, and the technology they have access too. While on the boat, John Smith (the male protagonist) refers to the Native American Indians as â€Å"savages† who should be killed if they get in the way. This gives us a sneak peak into the mindset of the British and how negatively they view the Native Americans. Leaving us with the belief that the Indians are savages, Disney then introduces Pocahontas (the female protagonist) and the Indian tribe that has been living in the New World.Immediately we are exposed to the primitive lifestyle of the Indians. We see that their way of traveling is by wooden canoes, their clothing consist of a brown cloth that covers very little while they also do not ha ve on shoes, they live in tents, and have nothing but nature at it’s purest form surrounding them. We see the women out in the fields gathering corn by hand, while the men are coming home from battle, with only bows and arrows and spears for weapons.The initial reaction to seeing the culture and way of life amongst the Indians is to see them as â€Å"uncivilized† and â€Å"savage†, just as John Smith was saying on the boat. However throughout the film Disney begins to challenge this belief and shows us that the westerner’s way of life may not be the best way of life for everyone. Up until this point, John Smith and the rest of the English men had been discovering new places and finding Native American’s that had been living for many years on these foreign lands.The Europeans always saw these natives as uncivilized, barbaric savages, who needed to be taken over and â€Å"westernized†. John Smith makes a comment to Pocahontas about how they co uld make the Indians life better, and build them roads and tall buildings, and teach them how to â€Å"make the most of their land†. This is a perfect example of the ethnocentric bias mentality of the Europeans. They never once considered that someone else’s way of living and culture could actually be a successful.They thought that their way was the best way, and anything else was just an underdeveloped, barbaric lifestyle that needed to progress into the westernized lifestyle. After John Smith makes this comment about â€Å"bettering the Indian’s life styles† Pocahontas is deeply offended and proceeds to sing the popular song, The Colors of the Wind. In this song Pocahontas calls John Smith out on his ethnocentric stance and shows him her point of view, in singing: â€Å"You think you own whatever land you land on, The earth is just a dead thing you can claim, But I know every rock and tree and creature, Has a life, has a spirit, has a name.You think th e only people who are people, Are the people who look and think like you, But if you walk the footsteps of a stranger, You'll learn things you never knew you never knew. † For the first time John Smith begins to listen to Pocahontas and realizes how ignorant him and his crew have been to think they can claim any land they come across, treating the natives like wild beasts.All this time the Europeans have looked down upon the primitive culture of the natives, thinking that they were sub-human, and needed to be nurtured and tamed just like animals; however in this moment John Smith see’s the free spirit in Pocahontas, and he admires her connection to the nature all around her. He begins to see that the Natives are just normal human beings in their natural element, a thriving off of the world around them, with no need of technology, or any of the advancements the westerners were bringing to the New World.Overall, Disney’s film, Pocahontas, does a wonderful job contr asting the cultures of the â€Å"primitive other† and â€Å"civilized self† with Pocahontas and the Indians as the primitive other and John Smith and the Europeans as the civilized self. We are able to see through the Europeans, their ethnocentrism, and their naive attitudes that leads them to believe they own whatever land they land on and can treat the natives however they want. Disney however plays out this film in a way to show us his view on this ethnocentric bias and how he believes it to be wrong and unlawful.He makes the viewer side with the Indians and portrays the Indians as the good guys and the Europeans as the bad guys. Disney was trying to send a message that this whiteness way of thinking is not always correct and can sometimes bring harm to others even when its not intentional. Works Cited: Pocahontas. Walt Disney Feature Animation, 1995. Film. Seriff, Suzanne. â€Å"Cultural Anthropology: ANT 302. † University of Texas. Spring 2013.

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Nursing Research: Patients View

A national survey of GP and nurse attitudes and beliefs towards depression after myocardial infarction  Joanne Haws, Janet Ramjeet and Richard Gray 2011 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Journal of Clinical Nursing, 20, 3215–3223 Aim— to investigate attitudes to depression after myocardial iunfraction Background. Depression after myocardial infarction affects almost half of all patients and has a considerable negative effect on recovery.Despite the increased prevalence of depression in this population, it is often not recognised or treated. Results—Diagnosing depression was perceived as complex by both groups but significantly more so by nurses. We observed that training seems to have a significant effect on reported practice. Practitioners who reported that they had recent training in the management of depression were significantly more accurate in their estimate of how common depressionwas in this population.Depression may be underdiagnosed in this population be cause primary care practitioners, especially nurses, are not aware of how common the disorder is and lack competence in diagnosis. There is merit in developing and testing a brief training intervention to ensure competence in depression screening and treatment in post-myocardial infarction patients. Relevance to clinical practice. Diagnosing depression in post-myocardial infarction patients is perceived by nurses as complex but training in the management of depression is seen as helping practice.SupportLack of supportive recourses can have serious implications for patient care and treatment. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..stated that nurses did not feel supported by management and the ward environment was not appropriate for psychiatric patients.A similar study by Happell et al (2009) discovered that nurses need the support of management and colleagues. Nurses in this study felt unsafe on the unit because of lack of facilities and institutional resources to address client needs and staff safety fa ctors. A study by Bjongarrd et al (2007) highlights an additional problem in meeting all patients’ needs and  demands by asserting many patients with severe mental illness can also be recourse-draining.Promoting mental health care in a rural paediatric unit  through participatory action research  Brenda Happell,1,2 Lorna Moxham,1,2 Kerry Reid-Searl,1–3 Trudy Dwyer,1,2 Julie Kahl,4 Jodie Morris2 and Narelle Wheatland 3  Aust. J. Rural Health (2009) 17, 155–16A study designed by Happell et al 2009, provides a different view with the aim of promoting mental health care in a rural paediatric unit. The study desgin involved a participatory action research approach proving 24 nurses with the opportunity to become actively involved. This study involved paediatric nurses however results yielded similar to studies on general nurses attitudes in relation to mental illness. This study indirectly implies that mental health is considered a specialist discipline area by many other nursing disciplines and indeed the general public.A lack of understanding of general nurses’ role in the management of young people admitted to the paediatric unit with an acute mental illness, meant participants’confidence in caring for such patients’ was affected: I just never feel like I’m doing the right thing when Ilook after them. [FG1] Participants felt as though they were constantly seeking support and all expressed a strong desire for professional education, training and workshops.Patients viewWorld health organisation 2013People with mental disorders around the world are exposed to a wide range of human rights violations. The stigma they face means they are often ostracized from society and fail to receive the care they require—or in management.People with mental disorders may also face discrimination on a daily basis including in the fields of education, employment and housing.Patients view Johan Ha °kon Bjà ¸rngaard Ã⠀  Torleif Ruud Æ Svein Friis The impact of mental illness on patient satisfaction with the therapeutic relationship.  A multilevel analysis Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol (2007) 42:803–809 Background The relationship between patients and their clinicians is an essential factor in psychiatric treatment. The purpose of this study was to analyze the influence of psychopathology on patient satisfaction with the therapeutic relationship. Method involved collection of data from 969 patients.Patient’s satisfaction with therapeutic relationship was assessed with a six-item scale: sufficient time for contact/dialogue, clinicians’ ability to listen and understand, follow-up of planned interventions, respect for patients’ views/opinions, cooperation among clinicians, and patients’ influence on treatment. Mental illness was assessed using the Health of the Nation Outcome Scales (HoNOS) and Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) scale. Diagnoses were established using the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems—10th revision (ICD-10). Treatment outcomes were clinically assessed retrospectively by rating changes from start of treatment on seven items. Multilevel regression analysis was used for a simultaneous analysis of the contribution of patient and team variables. ConclusionsPatients’ perceptions of the therapeutic relationship may be influenced by psychopathology. Teams comprising many patients with severe mental illness may constrain the therapeutic relationship. Hence, resources and organizational measures should be carefully considered in such care units.Because response rates in surveys of patient satisfaction with psychiatric services are usually low, results cannot be unequivocally claimed to be representative of all patients [12, 28]. Although it seems that patients with more severe mental illnessare less likely to participate in patient satisfaction surveys [12] , the possible consequences of low response rates are not fully understood. The following study attempts to overcome the previous limitations of research reported in the literature by analyzing the influence of psychopathology on patient satisfaction with the therapeutic relationship.Data was collected from 8 community mental health centres  which operate operate as local psychiatric hospitals, offering outpatient, day treatment, ambulatory care and limited inpatient services, such as short-term crisis intervention units and longer-term rehabilitation units. All patients receiving treatment during the census period were asked to complete a questionnaire. Clinician-rated information was collected on all patients and could be linked to the patient questionnaire if patients had given their consent to the linkage. Of the 3,040 patients, 1,194 (39%) returned the questionnaire.We were able to link 969 of the 1,194 to the clinical data, as some patients had not given consent to such link age. This study showed that patient satisfaction with the therapeutic relationship was related to clinical assessment of mental illness, both due to each patient’s psychopathology as well as to the composition of mental illness severity in each team.A study by Johan et al (2007) takes a different perspective by analysing the influence of psychopathology on patient satisfaction with the therapeutic relationship. Data was collected from 3,040 patients and only 1,194 (39%) returned the questionnaire. Patient’s satisfaction was assessed using a six-item scale and the patient’s level of mental illness was then assessed using the Health of the Nation Outcome Scales (HoNOS) and Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) scale.For instance, it is likely that the patients’ mood would be affected by the severity of their illness; hence, to some extent, experiences could be coloured by the mental illness itself. The results of this study indicate that patient’s d egree of mental illness has an effect on their satisfaction of the therapeutic relationship. These results were to be expected as patient’s moods are likely to be affected by the severity of their illness. The results of this study however are limited because of low response rates (only 39% of mental health patients responded) (Johan et al 2007). Low response rates have long been indicated as a common problem in mental health user surveys (Ruggeri 1996).

Thursday, November 7, 2019

The Catcher in the Rye - Journal

The Catcher in the Rye - Journal The Catcher in the Rye shows many displays of themes in which J.D. Salinger stays true to, from start to finish. On page 5, Holden is on his way to Spencer's house and he says "terrifically cold...you felt like you were disappearing every time you crossed a road." Similar words appear later in the book on pages 197 and 198 when Holden says, "I had this feeling that I'd never get to the other side of the street...Allie don't let me disappear." Holden's words here open a door to a great portion of the motifs expressed throughout the novel. Holden mentioning that he is cold along with him disappearing once he crosses demonstrates loneliness. His cry for help or comfort from Allie proves his inability to trust or connect with the people surrounding him, let alone people that are alive. Holden's feelings of never reaching the other side or disappearing while crossing the road, the street being symbolic of not just a physical, tar road but of a passageway in life, illustrates his fears of progressing.Jerry Kirkhart's Montaà ±a de Oro Hazard Tidepool D...In the novel, numerous times Holden refers his knowledge of something/someone to a book. For example on page 76 Holden claims he knows Jane (Gallagher) like a book. Normally, one would compare having such knowledge to the back of her hand, or some bodily feature. Reading is a solo activity that occurs in the mind, not involving anyone else or revealing anything to others; includes alienation, thus Holden being fond of it.During the entire book, Holden constantly does things; he never lounges alone without movement. He always makes conversation with strangers, or smokes, etc. For instance, on page 88 Holden talks about elevators and then says, "All of a sudden you have to walk." Holden's need to walk is the same as Holden's...

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Method Overloading Default Parameters in Delphi

Method Overloading Default Parameters in Delphi Functions and procedures are an important part of the Delphi language. Starting with Delphi 4, Delphi allows us to work with functions and procedures that support default parameters (making the parameters optional), and permits two or more routines to have an identical name  but operate as completely different routines. Lets see how Overloading and default parameters can help you code better. Overloading Simply put, overloading is declaring more than one routine with the same name. Overloading allows us to have multiple routines that share the same name, but with a different number of parameters and types. As an example, lets consider the following two functions: {Overloaded routines must be declared with the overload directive} function SumAsStr(a, b :integer): string; overload; begin   Ã‚   Result : IntToStr(a b) ; end; function SumAsStr(a, b : extended; Digits:integer): string; overload; begin   Ã‚   Result : FloatToStrF(a b, ffFixed, 18, Digits) ; end; These declarations create two functions, both called SumAsStr, that take a different number of parameters and are of two different types. When we call an overloaded routine, the compiler must be able to tell which routine we want to call. For example, SumAsStr(6, 3) calls the first SumAsStr function, because its arguments are integer-valued. Note: Delphi will help you pick the right implementation with the help of code completion and code insight. On the other hand, consider if we try to call the SumAsStr function as follows: SomeString : SumAsStr(6.0,3.0) Well get an error that reads: there is no overloaded version of SumAsStr that can be called with these arguments. This means that we should also include the Digits parameter used to specify the number of digits after the decimal point. Note: There is only one rule when writing overloaded routines, and that is that an  overloaded routine must differ in at least one parameter type. The return type, instead, cannot be used to distinguish among two routines. Two Units - One Routine Lets say we have one routine in unit A, and unit B uses unit A, but declares a routine with the same name. The declaration in unit B does not need the overload directive - we should use unit As name to qualify calls to As version of the routine from unit B. Consider something like this: unit B; ... uses A; ... procedure RoutineName; begin    Result : A.RoutineName; end; An alternative to using overloaded routines is to use default parameters, which usually results in less code to write and maintain. Default/Optional Parameters In order to simplify some statements, we can give a default value for the parameter of a function or procedure, and we can call the routine with or without the parameter, making it optional. To provide a default value, end the parameter declaration with the equal () symbol followed by a constant expression. For example, given the declaration function SumAsStr (a,b : extended; Digits : integer 2) : string; the following function calls are equivalent. SumAsStr(6.0, 3.0) SumAsStr(6.0, 3.0, 2) Note:  Parameters with default values must occur at the end of the parameter list, and must be passed by value or as const. A reference (var) parameter cannot have a default value. When calling routines with more than one default parameter, we cannot skip parameters (like in VB): function SkipDefParams(var A:string; B:integer5, C:booleanFalse):boolean; ... //this call generates an error message CantBe : SkipDefParams(delphi, , True) ; Overloading With Default Parameters When using both function or procedure overloading and default parameters, dont introduce ambiguous routine declarations. Consider the following declarations: procedure DoIt(A:extended; B:integer 0) ; overload; procedure DoIt(A:extended) ; overload; The call to DoIt procedure like DoIt(5.0), does not compile. Because of the default parameter in the first procedure, this statement might call both procedures, because it is impossible to tell which procedure is meant to be called.

Saturday, November 2, 2019

Competitive use of Information at E-bay.com Essay

Competitive use of Information at E-bay.com - Essay Example Most relevant influencing factor that paved the way for a new thrust in doing business is the prolific use of technological advancement and application generated by the Internet. Global organizations reportedly operate within an Internet economy. According to Fichter (2003), â€Å"the term â€Å"Internet economy† emphasizes the networking of economic actors and processes by means of electronic communication media and the related change in structures of value creation, mechanisms of market function, professional life, and consumption patterns† (p. 26). Likewise, Bazdan (2011) asserted that â€Å"one of the newest evolving positive trends is electronic commerce, commonly known as e-commerce or ecommerce. The process consists of buying and selling various products or services over electronic systems, such as the Internet and other computer networks† (p. 45). From among the most identifiable successful participants in the Internet economy, two organizations from the United States are prominent: eBay.com and Amazon.com (Bazdan 2011). The current discourse focuses on presenting a critical analysis of eBay, including its brief historical overview, strategies and analysis of its performance using Porter’s five forces and SWOT. History of E-Commerce (The Digital Age) Different studies have identified the origin of e-commerce from varied time frames. The earliest originating date was noted that â€Å"in its purest form, electronic commerce has existed for over 40 years, originating from the electronic transmission of messages during the Berlin airlift in 1948. From this; Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) was the next stage of e-commerce development† (Obayi, 2011, p. 18). According to Hiser, Lanka, Li & Oliver (n.d.) the date that was identified to originate e-commerce was 1984 when â€Å"EDI, or electronic data interchange, was standardized through ASC X12. This guaranteed that companies would be able to complete transactions with one another reliably† (p. 1). Both sources have acknowledged EDI as commonly present and instrumental in the development and growth of e-commerce. The popularity of use and applications offered by the Internet in 1993 was noted to have made a wave of effects, specifically labeled as first and second waves of the internet economy (Fichter, 2003). This meant that the evolution of global organizations that increasingly relied on the Internet gradually shifted their focus from â€Å"stationary computers and terminal devices† (Fichter, 2003, p. 26), to the proliferated use of mobile and telecommunication devices that could be linked directly on the organizations’ Internet providers. The term e-commerce was likewise defined as â€Å"an electronic transaction is the sale or purchase of goods or services, whether between businesses, households, individuals, governments, and other public or private organizations, conducted over computer-mediated networks. The goods and servi ces are ordered over those networks, but the payment and the ultimate delivery of the good or service may be conducted on- or off-line† (OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development), 2001; cited in Fichter, 2003, p. 27). Likewise, Obayi (2011) clearly stipulated that e-commerce includes the following essential ingredients, to wit: â€Å"1. Electronic trading of physical goods and of intangibles such as information. 2. All the steps involved in trade, such as on-line marketing, ordering payment and support for delivery. 3. The electronic provision of services such as after sales support