Thursday, October 31, 2019

Health Care Systems in America Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Health Care Systems in America - Essay Example The United States health care delivery has been described as a cottage industry for a long time which is characterized by fragmentation on the community, national, state, and practice level. No single state policy or entity is used to guide the health care system. Different states divide their responsibilities between different agencies. Also, health care providers who are caring for the same patients and practicing within the same community are working independently from each other. This poor deliver system is a leading cause for the overall poor performance in the system and directing it to the verge of collapsing. Families and patients are navigating unassisted across different healthcare settings and providers which results in frustrations and harmful patient experiences. Lack of clear accountability and poor communication among the multiple healthcare providers and patients is leading to numerous medical errors, duplication and waste (Kenney, 2010). Lack of quality improved infr astructure, clinical information system and peer accountability are some of the causes of the overall poor quality of healthcare. Also, intensive medical intervention and high cost are rewarded over higher-value primary care which includes management of chronic illness and preventive medicines. As far as healthcare is concerned, many nations are not getting what they deserve for their money. In the United States, an approximately 30 percent of the total health care expenditure is wasted through overuse, systematic underuse and misuse. All this happens even with increasing rate that is far exceeding the overall inflation. According to the world health organization, the United States health care system is ranked 37th in quality despite the medical cost being among the highest compared with other nations. A commonwealth fund study on the health care of the U.S. found that the country

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

The models of responsibility practice Essay Example for Free

The models of responsibility practice Essay 1. Explain the models of practice that underpin equality, diversity and inclusion in own area of responsibility. There are two models that link with equality, diversity and inclusion, the first one is the social model of disability which views discrimination and prejudice as being embedded in today’s society, their attitude’s and their surrounding environment. The social model focuses on who the adult is as person not what their disability or diagnosis is, the focus is on how to improve and empower the individual’s life and lead a more independent life as possible. The second model is the medical model of disability which views adults has having an impairment or lacking in some way, this model focuses on impairments that the adult has and finding and acknowledging ways to correct them. The client group at my current place of work are elderly adults. Both the social and medical model has an impact on their daily life. The company ethos is to encourage the people we care for to remain independent and enable them to lead a normal life as possible. This is done by providing and engaging them in their own individualised care plans and asking their opinions on what they like how they like it etc. allowing them to make informed choices for them self and whether they have the capacity to make these decisions. My role as a Manager is to ensure that any anti- discriminatory practice is promoted as a key value within our organisation and to raise the staff awareness about equality diversity, and inclusion. To encourage conversations and debate and devising ways that empower rather than to disable. 2. Analyse the potential effects of barriers to equality and inclusion. Barriers to inclusion and equality include; * Race * Age * Gender * Disability * Sexual Orientation * Religion or Belief. The barriers that can and will affect Equality and inclusion are Physical and environmental barriers such as poor access to buildings and community settings, making it difficult for us to help them achieve inclusion within the community. Communication barriers, different languages, slang talk, which is why each carer needs to be matched to each customer to help with the barriers. Inclusion barriers also include financial and the size of the care package not giving the carer and the customer enough time for them to be in the community with support. However this is not an excuse for not doing anything and not meeting the customer’s needs the expectations is that as many modifications are to be made as possible to lift the constraints around support. 3. The impact of legislation and policy initiatives on the promotion of equality, diversity and inclusion in own area of responsibility. The promotion of equality, diversity and inclusion has been supported by a number of legislative changes to ensure that provider’s comply with any anti-discrimination practices. The list below reflects the most relevant legislation; * Articles 1, 2 and 14 of the Human Rights Act (1995) * Sex discrimination Act (1975) * Equal Pay Act (1970) * Race Relations Act (1976) * Disability Discrimination Act (1995) * Disability Rights Commission Act (1999) * Race relations (2000) * Employment Equality (Religion or belief) Regulations (2003) *Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations (2003) * Disability Discrimination Act (2005) * Equality Act (2006) In addition to the major anti-discrimination Acts, there are clauses within other acts which focus on anti-discrimination requirements for example; * The Children’s Act 1989 which requires authorities to take special account of children’s disabilities and the support needed to enable them to live as near normal lives as possible. * Guidance in the form ‘No Secrets’ (DOH, 2000) which sets out adult protection policies and recognises adult discrimination as abuse. * The document ‘Working together to safeguard children’ (Department of education 2010) which requires all practitioners to guard against myths and stereotypes. 4. Systems and processes to promote equality and inclusion or reinforce discrimination and exclusion , and, the effectiveness in promoting equality, diversity and inclusion in the area of responsibility. Health and safety policies We have clear policies in place on health and safety, with regular risk Assessments and ergonomic checks to promote staff health and wellbeing All risk assessments routinely organised, for example for pregnant women Or staff working in particular areas of risk. Make sure that our policies do not have an impact on the religion or belief of staff: for example; Wearing religious dress or articles of faith, Performance management procedures We have clearly set out procedures on performance management that take Individual needs and cultural differences into account, and are objective and Transparent to all employees. Pay and reward policies All our policies on pay and reward clearly are organised, based on objective criteria and easily understood by employees. We have clear guidance on  starting salaries, Bonuses and performance-related pay. We will be undertaking an equal pay audit to make sure you we don’t have pay gaps by gender, disability or ethnic group. Recruitment and promotion procedures Our procedures for recruitment and promotion are transparent and equally Accessible to all applicants. Our job descriptions focus on objective criteria That are solely related to the job in question, so the procedures we use will not impact negatively on particular groups. Policies on training and development We have regular training in place on equality and human rights. We have procedures To ensure that all employees have access to development and work-related training, and these procedures take into account the particular needs of some groups of employees. Service provision and customer equality policies As a service provider, we have a strategy in place to make sure that all customers are treated equally and fairly, and that needs of customers from diverse backgrounds are recognised and met Our staff at all levels engaged in creating a human rights culture in the provision of services. Informal or unwritten working practices Examining informal working culture can be difficult to do, but the aim is to find out If there are gaps between what is written in our policies and everyday working practices within the organisation. Some areas to think about include: Staff attitudes and behaviour We make sure there an open and understanding working culture where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. All staffs are aware of the importance of equality, human rights and inclusion, and aware of the antidiscrimination policies in place and the procedures on acceptable behaviour. Another point to consider is employee willingness and confidence to disclose personal information: To look at self declaration rates like on sensitive issues such as sexual orientation or religion and belief. We have flexible working hours, time off for dependents or access to religious facilities and requirements, We have to be sure that the working culture in our organisation is supportive of the staff and that they are made aware of what is available. Working patterns and segregation We have staff with diverse backgrounds and from different groups working together in teams and divisions, Or it would be likely that there may be divisions within the workforce on the grounds of gender, ethnic background, age, religion or belief language, culture and class. We Have activities in place to bring staff together and to promote inclusion and Understanding, they will planned to take into account the access requirements of different groups, as well as caring responsibilities and cultural differences. Finally, there clear procedures through which staff can communicate with managers and directors. All staff will be consulted on changes to policies and practices that will affect their working lives. They will be actively involved in initiatives around working culture. If this is not the case, it is more likely that our efforts to create inclusive working will not succeed, because employees may feel that measures are being forced upon them without the chance to give their opinions. 4.2 Explain the principles of informed choice. An informed choice means that a person has the information and support to think the choice through and to understand what the reasonably expected consequences may be of making that choice. It is important to remember that too much information can be oppressive and individuals have differing needs in relation to how information is presented to them. As a Professional organisation we must be able to demonstrate that we have taken these individual needs into account. Enabling people to make informed choices does  not mean the local authority or provider organisation should abdicate its responsibility to ensure people have a good quality of life. For example if a person „chooses‟ to stay in bed all day, every day, the local authority or provider organisation has a responsibility to explore what is happening and respond to this appropriately, working to ensure that the individual fully understands the consequences of their decision. It is not acceptable to simply accept such a decision at face value if this would put the individual at significant risk, as acts of omission can be considered to be abusive. There are at least four elements necessary for decision making; * Understanding the value of respect for persons and their differences. * The ability to be self-governing and being able to determine one’s own personal goals, desires and preferences. * The capacity or confidence to make choices or decisions based on deliberation and reason. * The freedom to make choices for one’s self then to act on these. 4.3 Explain how issues of individual capacity may affect informed choice. In relation to risk, as with any other decision making, if the person has capacity and has been supported to consider the potential consequences, both positive and negative, arising from the proposed decision and has decided to take the risk, then that is their informed decision. Where an individual’s informed choice may put them at risk of abuse or neglect by another person or persons, this should be discussed with them, and these discussions must be clearly recorded. If there is a failure to reach an agreed course of action which both parties are happy with, then it may be necessary for actions to be taken under the Safeguarding Adults Procedures. If the person lacks capacity, and a decision has put her / him at risk of abuse or neglect from a particular person or persons then a referral should be made for action to be taken under the Safeguarding Adults Procedures. CAPACITY ISSUES Where capacity is in question, refer IN ALL CASES to the Mental Capacity Act 2005, Code of Practice, which states: 1. Every adult has the right to make their own decisions if they have the capacity to do so. You must assume that a person has capacity unless it can be established otherwise. 2. Individuals should receive support to help them make their own decisions and all possible steps should be taken to try to help him / her to reach a decision themselves. 3. Individuals have the right to make decisions that others might think are unwise. Making an â€Å"unwise† decision does not mean that a person lacks capacity. 4. A person’s capacity must not be judged simply on the basis of their age, appearance, condition or an aspect of their behaviour. 5. It is important to take all possible steps to try to help people make a Decision for themselves  6. Any act or decision should be the least restrictive in relation to its purpose. If there are concerns that an individual may lack the mental capacity to make A decision, a competent person may complete an assessment of capacity. For most day-to-day decisions, it will be the person caring for them at the time a decision must be made. For example, a care worker might need to assess if the person can agree to being bathed. Then a district nurse might assess if the person can consent to have a dressing changed. We are supporting individuals to have more choice and control in their lives through positive approaches to managing risk, things are likely to go wrong from time to time. If this happens and the risk taken results in a negative outcome for the individual, the strategy below would help prevent such incidents 1. Act reasonably. 2. Act in an informed way, reflecting my experience. 3. Act responsibly in relation to my duty of care and avoid being negligent. 4. To assess and take steps to manage and minimise the foreseeable risks 5. Involve the person in the process and support them to make informed decisions. 6. Involve and liaise with other people whom it would be reasonable to involve in the process. 7. Follow organisational policy,  procedures and guidance. This does not mean that there has to be a formal risk assessment document In place if this is deemed unnecessary, rather that the process of assessing The risk will be clearly documented and is reasonable. 8. To make it clear that professionals and organisations have acted reasonably and responsibly in partnership with the person, those who know and care about them and others involved in their support. References 1. https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/helping-people-make-informed-choices-about-health-and-social-care. 2. Baxter, K., Glendinning, C. and Clarke, S. (2008) Making informed choices in social care: the importance of accessible information, Health and Social Care in the Community, 16, 2, 197-207. 3. Department of Health (2005) Independence, Well-being and Choice: Our Vision for the Future of Social Care for Adults in England. Department of Health, London. 4. Ovretveit J. (1996) Informed choice? Health service quality and outcome information for patients. Health Policy 37, 75-90. 5. https://www.in-control.org.uk.

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Hybrid Pharmacophores as Anti-inflammatory Agents

Hybrid Pharmacophores as Anti-inflammatory Agents CHAPTER VII SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION The Synthesis of molecules that are important in the control of ageing diseases is very important in the present decades. The compounds like Diarylsulfonylurea-chalcone may act as anti-inflammatory agents that may be linked as network to several diseases. The synthetic compounds have the abilities to act as preventive compounds having therapeutic action. In the present decade, one can consider synthetic products in preventing aging diseases via anti-inflammation. Hence there is a need to discover novel synthetic compounds that are deemed in prevention and treatment of diseases showing tremendous impact on health care systems. As a part of our research program aimed at search for new hybrid pharmacophores as anti-inflammatory agents, we are interested to have ÃŽ ±,ÃŽ ²-unsaturatedketone linker to the diarylsulfonylurea basic nucleus to give a series of diarylsulfonylurea-chalcone hybrids. Therefore, in the present study an attempt has been made to design, synthesize and characterize some new diarylsulfonylurea-chalcone hybrids. Drug Discovery and drug development is a knowledge base, expensive and time intense method. Scientific advancements throughout the past 20 years have modified the manner pharmaceutical analysis generate novel bioactive molecules. Advances in machine/computer aided techniques and in parallel support of hardware have enabled in silico strategies, and particularly structure-based drug style technique, to speed up new target choice through identification of hits for the optimization of lead compounds within the drug discovery method. Genomics, proteomics, bioinformatics and, chemo informatics have gained vast quality Associate in development became an integral a part of the commercial and educational analysis, directive drug style and discovery. Virtual screening emerged as a crucial tool in our quest to access novel drug like compounds (Wermuth et al., 1998, Allen, 2002). Rational in silico drug style are often tired 2 ways in which ligand-based or structure-based are analyzed for compound activity. With the supply of the 3D structure of a biological target, its possible to use a structure-based approach to judge and predict the binding mode of a matter inside the situation of the receptor with tying up strategies. Currently it’s a well-liked technique used for increasing the speed of drug coming up with method. This was created attainable by the supply of the many super molecule structures that helped in developing tools to know the structure operate relationships, machine-controlled tying up and virtual screening. Moreover, once no 3D structural data regarding target proteins with their receptor website is obtainable ligand-based style is applied. The ligand-based approach starts with a bunch of ligands binding to a similar receptor with a similar mechanism. These four completely different methods supported the previous information of the tar gets 3D structure and therefore the ligands binding to that square measure predominant (Van, 2007; Kier, 1967). Chalcones are considered as precursors of flavonoidsand isoflavonoids in edible plants thatshowa variousarray ofmedical specialtyactivities. Chalcones are new class of glycosidase (ÃŽ ±-amylase, ÃŽ ±-glucosidase, and ÃŽ ²-amylase) inhibitors that shows non-competitive inhibition acts against ÃŽ ±-glucosidase. The effect of chalcones in hyperglycemic-normal rats on serum glucose-lowering properties highlighting the novel compounds showing strong anti-hyperglycemic properties (Damazio et al., 2009). Sulfonylureas were only drugs used to stimulate the insulin secretion in patients with type 2 diabetes or D2M. Diarylsulfonylurea (DSU) is a novel anticancer molecule because has unique chemical structure with broad-spectrum antisolid-tumor activity in preclinical models. The sulfonylurea inhibits the eosinophil survival in a method similar to lidocaine. Anti-inflammation is the biological process of the diseases that links to the pathways related to aging diseases. A substance that reduces inflammation are linked to cancer, diabetes, etc., are anti-inflammatory compounds used to reduce the risk of age related diseases. In the present investigation, the LPID approach is now applied to the database of 25 compounds virtually designed for finding ‘best fit’ (hit identification) against selected anti-inflammatory protein drug target (5-Lipoxygenase (5-LO)). The compounds appear out of these molecular docking studies with least binding energy against target protein were prepared by using standard conventional methods of synthesis and subjected for corresponding in vitro and in vivo studies. By this means, it is possible to understand how the compounds interact with the selected anti-inflammatory target protein. The results promising out of this study can be used to identify a new class of potential anti-inflammatory agents with selective 5-LO inhibitory activity. A set of 25 diarylsulfonylurea-chalcone hybrids 4a-4y were subjected to ligand-protein inverse docking simulation using software Molegro Virtual Docker v 5.0. These compounds were docked against selected anti-inflammatory drug target (i.e. Human 5-Lipoxygenase PDB Code: 3V99). The results of these studies could help in preliminary confirmation of inhibitory activity against 5-lipoxygenase. The result of the docking interactions between the selected compounds and protein target, data in shows that compound 4g was accomplished best binding efficiency against 5-lipoxygenase with Moldock Score (-193.641) with 3 hydrogen bond interactions and the corresponding interacting residues are Asn 554, Ser 608 and Ala 606 these hydrogen bonds not only relevant for the binding 4g to 3V99 to exhibit highly selective and potent binding affinity. Moreover, from the data given in it appears that the co-crystallized ligand arachidonic acid and positive standard abietic acid showed no hydrogen bond inter actions with the active binding site residues indicating the importance of steric interactions and electrostatic interactions for their observed 5-lipoxygenase inhibitory activity. The key intermediary in the current study 1-(3-acetylphenyl)-3-tosylurea was synthesized by reaction of 3-aminoacetophenone with methylchloroformate under basic conditions at 0 Â °C temperature to give methyl-3-acetylphenylcarbamate followed by the reaction with toluene sulphonamide and on the other hand subsequent Claisen-Schmidt condensation of the intermediate with appropriate aromatic/heteroaromatic aldehydes in ethanolic KOH solution to give the corresponding diarylsulfonylurea-chalcone hybrids (4a4y) in good yield The investigation of the compounds(4a-4y) in vitro 5-LO inhibitory activity screening data revealed that the compounds 4r and 4o demonstrated comparatively the most potent inhibitory activity, with IC50 values of 7.88Â ±0.14 Â µg/mL and 11.77Â ±0.21 Â µg/mL, respectively. An in silico toxicity tests can be conducted for diarylsulfonylurea-chalcone hybrids 4o, 4q, 4r, 4t, 4y and standard (Aceclofenac) to predict the toxicity nature using Lazar server. All the compounds are predicted as non-toxic. From the in vitro 5-LO inhibitory activity data, five potent diarylsulfonylurea-chalcone hybrids compounds (mentioned above) which displayed significant activity has been selected for further anti-inflammatory activity studies by using in vivo bioassay model i.e. Carrageenan-induced rat paw oedema method. The results of the assessment have been viewed by taking Aceclofenac as the standard drug. Finally the work concludes that all the compounds displayed were shown remarkable anti-inflammatory activity.

Friday, October 25, 2019

The Second Vatican Council Essay -- essays research papers

The Second Vatican Council The Second Vatican Council, or Vatican II as it is often called, was an Ecumenical Council, (which means it affected the worldwide Christian community) of the Roman Catholic Church. It began on October 11, 1962 under, Pope John XXIII with over two thousand attendants (Hollis 23). The council ended on December 8, 1965, with Pope Paul VI presiding over the council due to the death of Pope John XXIII in 1963. The council consisted of four different sessions convening in the fall of the four years during which the council took place. Topics discussed and debated throughout the council were issues concerning the church, the liturgy, revelation and scripture, and the clergy.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The general sessions of the council would begin in late September or early October, and end in late November or early December. Special committees met during the remainder of the year to examine and assemble the previous work, and make preparations for the following session. The first session began on October 11, 1962 and ended on December 8, 1962 (Hollis 35). Issues that were deliberated on during this session were liturgy, revelation, the Eastern churches, and communication. After the first session successfully came to a close, planning for the next session came to a standstill when Pope John XXIII died on June 3, 1963 (Hollis 36). After the new pope, Pope Paul XI, was elected, he quickly declared that the council would continue. The second session began on Septemb...

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Philosophers Helping America Essay

The paper is about a particular philosopher whose ideas coincide with what is needed of the United States of America. Apparently, lack of common interest among the citizens is one of the problems experienced by the people. The ideas presented by Jean Jacques Rousseau particularly on the origin of inequality answers all the issues that surround lack of common interest among citizens of a country. The first part of the paper will be a discussion about the problem on lack of common interest among citizens of America. It will be followed by a discussion about Jean-Jacques Rousseau and his discourses which is composed of topics about his second essay and its application to the problem of lack of common interest among Americans. Thus, it is submitted that Lack of Common Interest among Citizens of America There are three major important matters that Americans must consider for economic and political progress and these are national security, economic development, and political power. National security is the capability of a country to ensure self-preservation and protection in its internal and external territory. Economic development is a process by which a country is able to remain economically-stable and independent. Political power revolves around the idea that a country must be able to remain politically-powerful in the world. The problem emerges when political leaders and citizens of the country do not have common interests regarding economic and political development. The American people do not hold the same sentiments with respect to national security. Recently, some people are happy when the Bush revolution in foreign policy no longer exists (Daalder & Lindsay 1). But there is a glaring truth that enemies were just lurking within the country. Research studies reported that concern of Americans on sensitive international laws and institutions in relation to war and terror can change the world (Daalder & Lindsay 1). Yet, it is not denied that America allowed alienated allies to be unbound and empowered enemies. As a result, Americans were divided shaking the political values of the country. In addition, Bush administration allowed the existence of overstretched military capabilities and multiplied threats to enemy states. The installation of powerful military operatives in Iraq is one example of overstretching military power. This political strategy however was questioned by so many people. Hence, we are reminded that the United States of America is not omnipotent despite its unmatched political power around the world. The common interest should be the move of American political leaders to work closely with other states and end the devastating war. With respect to economic development in America, the people experienced differences in interest especially on the issue of business outsourcing. Some American businessmen decided to conduct outsourcing with other countries with respect to customer services and other manpower- dominated labor. For these businessmen, outsourcing can give positive results for their business endeavors. Most of the providers of manpower coming from other countries are producing skilled, competitive, and reliable employees (â€Å"Outsourcing Effects on America’s Economy†). Despite the fact that these workers are skilled and competitive, they are amenable to any agreement involving low salary. American companies were able to lessen their company costs due to outsourcing strategy that provides cheap labor. On the other hand, others are questioning the outsourcing strategy of American businessmen because it caused the increase of unemployment rate in the country (â€Å"Outsourcing Effects on America’s Economy†). Some American workers lost their jobs due to the advent of outsourcing manpower resources. The common interest should be the prioritization of American workers in terms of employment in its own country. Jean-Jacques Rousseau and His Discourses The Famous Philosophical Writings of Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau is one of the most intelligent philosophers of his time. He was an influential thinker that his works gained attention from the people. He also gained influence on other people during the Enlightenment period in 18th century Europe (â€Å"Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778†). In the year 1970, Rousseau won in an essay contests conducted by the Academy of Dijon by the work â€Å"A Discourse on the Sciences and Arts† (â€Å"Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778†). The primary argument of Jean-Jacques Rousseau in the said philosophical work is that virtue and morality are corrupted due to the progression of science and the arts (â€Å"Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778†). The second work of Rousseau is entitled â€Å"The Discourse on the Origin of Inequality† which is famous for its extensive explanation of the first discourse. The second philosophical work of Rousseau did not earn him an award from the Academy of Dijon. Immanuel Kant’s writings on ethics were influenced by the work of Jean-Jacques Rousseau (â€Å"Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778†). Lastly, the political ideals of Rousseau were used by political leaders during the French Revolution. Discourse on the Origin of Inequality The Philosophical Idea of Jean-Jacques Rousseau The essay of Rousseau entitled â€Å"Discourse on the Origin of Inequality† answers the question on the origin of inequality of men. The four main parts of the essay are dedication to the Republic of Geneva, a brief preface, a primary part, and a secondary part. Rousseau believes that the presence of society is just an invention. He attempted to give an explanation on the nature of men by means of stripping all their unintended attributes brought about by socialization (â€Å"Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778†). The said work of Rousseau is related to the work of Hobbes and Locke. Application to the Problem The reason why there is lack of common interest among citizens of the United States is the existence of the rich and the poor. Rich and influential individuals continue to decide on matters that satisfies only their personal interest. The least fortunate exert efforts to advance their needs in the society. Since, society is just an invention according to Rousseau, the absence of human needs out of socialization results to the equalization of common interests. Thus, there is a need to eradicate selfish motives in the society and political leaders must work on the common welfare of the people. Rousseau knows that a person is inherently good (Pousi 1). The will of a person to go along with what is needed in the society makes him bad. Money is the cause of all evil. Rousseau used historical explanation in this concept in order to understand the factors irrelevant to human nature (Puosi 1). During those times when money is not yet the most important need in every person, the behavior of mankind is good and there is a lower rate of criminality (Puosi 1). The concept of discrimination was invented when human nature was raised to the level of affluence and power. Basically, a person usually discriminates others if he belongs to a rich and powerful race. Therefore, the irrelevant needs of the people like extraneous power and influence must be eradicated. The need of extra money must not be the reason of service and work in the society. The problem of economic development can only be solved if American merchants will serve first the needs of other American workers before their own needs. In that way, higher rate of unemployment due to outsourcing labor can be solved. The political and economic development changes over time due to the existence of international competition over world power. The concept of terrorism was discovered when other countries wants to rule over the world like America does in terms of political and economic influence and power. The human nature which is kind-hearted and good was replaced by greed and violence when the will to rule the world consumes them. Rousseau is mindful of the abstraction of reason which was tainted by greediness of power over time (Puosi 1). Hence, what is needed is to make reasonable decisions consciously for general welfare and not for seeking selfish motives. Rousseau is also aware the good manners and right conduct, morality, justice, and love are the core values that are normal for a human being. Respect and loyalty towards other people existed many years ago. In fact, agreements between individuals without written contracts were used due to mutual promise to perform obligations. The situation changed when dishonesty and unethical business attitudes came into existence. Rousseau is trying to explain that there could never be a problem if the true essence of sound morals can be used as the guiding principles of men. The concept of morality still existed nowadays but was corrupted by the will to become wealthy and influential. For example, some businessmen no longer care for the moral uprightness of men when pornography was made available to them for reasons of business profits. Prostitution was developed in such a way that all people tend to destroy family relationships just to earn profits. Rousseau was thinking then that sound morals were replaced by the word money alone and none other. Justice is a very important concept that most people value. Justice propagates peace and harmony in the society. Justice is the remarkable instrument that makes people reacts positively to the laws enacted by political leaders. It is also the foundation of the peaceful interrelations of the component elements of society which makes us become civilly and economically progressive. And yet, when the ability to circumvent the law existed, justice is no longer the rule but the basis of every legal demand. Rousseau believes that justice breeds peace and harmony among human beings, but he also knew that it can be destroyed by personal motives and interests in the society. Let us consider the stretching of military power in Iraq via foreign policy of Bush administration. Several military personnel were sent to Iraq just to satisfy the need to advance foreign policy of the country. The untold casualties of war are shocking and unbelievable. The country may be powerful over Iraq but both suffered tremendously because of the war. But raising the concern of fighting against terrorist acts justifies the war in Iraq. The American people spend money out of governmental budget to support national defense and foreign policy thereby neglecting other important matters like education and healthcare. Rousseau must be correct when he said that historical events had unraveled and contaminated the good in human heart and soul by suppressing passions and instincts to the generalization of motive (Puosi 1). Thus, lack of common interest among the people can be treated by means of observing justice in all aspect of policy-making. The little siblings of selfish interest include the concepts of corruption, greed, thirst of power and violence (Puosi 1). Rousseau labeled all these devilish attitudes as products of a social make-up or structure shaped by historical events. These negative attitudes clued-up the alienation of those core values relevant and normal to human nature. Corruption is common in the society today. Thirst of power and violence remained the reasons why some Americans are imprisoned for such a long time. The overcrowding of prison cells is due to the inability of the government to prevent men from doing criminal acts over time. And the worst thing is, people tend to commit criminal acts due to poverty and worsening social condition. The cycle of social matters kept on moving toward the destruction of the people and we tend to ignore the reasons of our difficulties. This point of time, we take heed to the words of Rousseau, private property ownership is the source of all inequality. In the context of modern society, ownership of private property is acceptable as long as it is done justifiable and reasonably. The problem lies on the acquisition of private property through deceit and fraudulent machinations. The acquisition of private property is also the mother of discrimination as other people think that all things belong to them. Rousseau pointed out that the insatiable needs of men to own private property is the foundation of all evils (Puosi 1). The optimal reason for divisive acts and irregular decisions of government leaders is the desire to possess several private properties. Hence, the social and economic conditions of the people can be improved if unfair acquisition of private property is eradicated in the society. Conclusion The subject of the discussion is the work of Jean-Jacques Rousseau about the Discourse on the Origin of Inequality. The said writing of Rousseau was used to analyze the three problem of society that breeds lack of common interest among the citizens of the United States of America. The three problems mentioned include the failure of the government to enrich and magnify national security, economic development, and political power in the perspective of human nature. According to Rousseau, men by nature are good and that justice, sound morality, and love are the core values of men. But the historical events of having a goal of private property acquisition tainted these values. Therefore, men should refrain from doing unfair deeds and unjustifiable acquisition of private property. Finally, the war in Iraq and other destructive military operations staged by America must be stopped. The social needs of education and health care must be prioritized. There is no problem if the people are protected from terrorist attacks, but it should be done in the right perspective by the government. Works Cited Daalder, Ivo & Lindsay, James. â€Å"Democracies of the World Unite†. 2009. The American Interest Website. February 24, 2009 < http://www. the-american-interest.com/ai2/article. cfm? Id=219&MId=6> â€Å"Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)†. 2009. Niagara University. February 24, 2009 â€Å"Outsourcing Effects on America’s Economy†. 2009. Article Snatch. February 24, 2009 < http://www. articlesnatch. com/Article/Outsourcing-Effects-on-America—s-Economy/478092> Puosi, Emanuela. â€Å"Discourse on the Origin of Inequality†. 5 November 2008. Political Philosophy Website. February 24, 2009 .

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Corporations Concluded

1. (TCO E) For federal tax purposes, royalty income that is not derived in the ordinary course of a business is classified as: (Points : 5) portfolio income. answer active income. passive income. None of the above 2. (TCO F) When comparing corporate and individual taxation, the following statement is true: (Points : 5) Unlike individual taxpayer, corporate may not have a long-term capital loss carryforward. Both types of taxpayers have percentage limitations on the charitable contribution deduction, coupled with a carryover of the excess contribution. All taxpayers may carry net operating losses back two years, forward 20 years.All of the above. answer 3. (TCO H) Al and Amy file a joint return for the 2012 tax year. Their adjusted gross income is $80,000. They had net investment income of $7,000. In 2012, they had the following interest expenses: Personal credit card interest: $4,000 Home mortgage interest: $8,000 Investment interest (on loans used to buy stocks): $10,000 What is the interest deduction for Al and Amy for the 2012 tax year? (Points : 5) $8,000 $15,000. answer $12,000 $18,000 4. (TCO B) A contribution made to the following donee is not deductible. (Points : 5) Boy Scouts of America Oxford University, England. answerSociety for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Michigan State University California State Fair (an activity of the State of California) 5. (TCO A) The following taxes were paid by Tim: Real estate taxes on his home: $2,000 State income taxes: $900 State gasoline tax (personal use of automobile): $150 In itemizing his deductions, what is the amount that Tim may claim as a deduction for taxes? (Points : 5) $2,000 $2,900. answer $3,050 $0 6. (TCO F) Hoover, Inc. had gross receipts from operations of $230,000, operating and other expenses of $310,000, and dividends received from a 45 percent-owned domestic corporation of $120,000.Hoover's tax position for the year is: (Points : 5) $8,000 taxable income. $56,000 net operating loss. answer $40,000 taxable income. $80,000 net operating loss. 7. (TCO G) All of the outstanding stock of a closely held C corporation is owned equally by David Smith and Steve Bufusno. In 2012, the corporation generates taxable income of $30,000 from its active business activities. In addition, it earns $20,000 of interest from investments and incurs a $40,000 loss from a passive activity. How much income does the C corporation report for 2012?(Points : 5) $10,000 of portfolio income $0 $20,000 of portfolio income. answer None of the above 8. (TCO G) Bob, who is single, has $90,000 of salary, $25,000 of income from a limited partnership, and a $30,000 passive loss from a real estate rental activity in which he actively participates. His modified adjusted gross income is $90,000. Of the $30,000 loss, how much is deductible? (Points : 5) $30,000. answer $10,000 $25,000 $0 9. (TCO F) Jen owns a sole proprietorship, and Steve is the sole shareholder of a C (regular) corporation.Each business sus tained a $14,000 operating loss and a $3,000 capital loss for the year. Evaluate how these losses will affect the taxable income of the two owners? (Points : 17) A sole proprietorship is taxed through the business owner's personal tax return. Therefore Jen would enter the $14,000 operating loss from the proprietorship on Schedule C of Form 1040 or one of its variants. This reported loss would offset any income Jen reported from any other source on her personal income tax filed. As a noncorporate taxpayer Jen can also deduct the $3000 capital loss for the year.As the sole shareholder of a C corp Steve will see no effect on his taxable income as the shareholder. Income from a C corporation is reported when the shareholder receive dividends. C corporation losses are not reported by the shareholders. 10. (TCO G) Briefly (1) define and (2) discuss the purpose and impact of each of the following: a. at-risk rules b. suspended passive activity losses c. material participation (Points : 18) a. at-risk rules Definition: Losses from a business operation are limited to the amount of money you can actually lose in the business.You are subject to at-risk rules if you are filing Schedules C, E, or F. Tax laws limiting the amount of losses an investor (usually a limited partner) can claim. Only the amount actually at risk can be deducted. b. suspended passive activity losses Definition: A capital loss that cannot be realized in a given tax year due to passive activity limitations. These losses are therefore â€Å"suspended† until they can be netted against passive income in a future tax year. Suspended losses are incurred as a result of passive activities, and can only be carried forward.Suspended losses that are incurred as a result of the disposition of a passive interest are subject to an annual capital loss limit. Suspended losses can, however, be used to offset income realized in a later year that is generated from material participation in the activity that init ially produced the loss. For example, if a taxpayer incurs a $5,000 suspended loss in one year from a passive activity and then materially participates in the activity the following year and earns $10,000, then the suspended loss may be applied against $5,000 of the earned income, leaving the taxpayer with $5,000 of declarable income for the year.c. material participation. Definition: A set of criteria that determines whether a taxpayer is a material participant in a business venture. The material participation test will determine whether business income received by the taxpayer is active or passive. Material participation is determined each year. The IRS has seven tests to determine material participation: The taxpayer works 500 hours or more during the year in the activity. The taxpayer does substantially all the work in the activity.The taxpayer works more than 100 hours in the activity during the year and no one else works more than the taxpayer. The activity is a significant pa rticipation activity (SPA), and the sum of SPAs in which the taxpayer works 100-500 hours exceeds 500 hours for the year. The taxpayer materially participated in the activity in any 5 of the prior 10 years. The activity is a personal service activity and the taxpayer materially participated in that activity in any 3 prior years.Based on all of the facts and circumstances, the taxpayer participates in the activity on a regular, continuous, and substantial basis during such year. However, this test only applies if the taxpayer works at least 100 hours in the activity, no one else works more hours than the taxpayer in the activity, and no one else receives compensation for managing the activity. Determination of â€Å"material participation† is complicated, and lack of material participation can result in passive loss rules. If you think lack of material participation may be an issue in your business, check with your tax adviser.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

buy custom The Social Security Act essay

buy custom The Social Security Act essay The social security act was drafted by the presidents committee on economic security during the Roosevelts first term under Frances Perkins and was passed by the congress as a section of the new deal. The main objective of the act was to attempt to limit the dangers in the modern America that involved the aspects such as unemployment, old age, poverty and the issue of widows and orphans. Therefore, when President Roosevelt signed the social security act, he became the first United States president to advocate for and show support for the assistances to the elderly and the poor. During the past congresses that have been held in the United States in relation the issue of the social security act in the United States. Several have been passed and at the same time several have been rejected, among the current legislations include the H.R. 4529 social security act, the representatives Paul Ryan introduced the H.R. 4529 act by the name the Social Security Personal Savings Guarantee and Pros perity Act of 2010 on January 27 (Jed, 2010). The Social Security Personal Savings Guarantee and Prosperity Act of 2010 was a roadmap for the future of the United States of America future act of 2010. This act entailed the personal social security savings program, the advanced indexing for the benefits old individuals and spouses, the improvement of minimum benefits, an amendment to the increase in the normal retirement age and the self settling social security transition fund. The Social Security Personal Savings Guarantee and Prosperity Act of 2010 is a proposal at a state level due to the fact that its intentions are that of regulating and standardizing the interests of the of the interests of a given population of individuals at a given state of the United States of America (Winston, 2006). The Social Security Personal Savings Guarantee and Prosperity Act of 2010 is a legislation that has the goals of provision of health care reforms, job training, the social security system and the tax code in individuals and in business. This would be implemented by ensuring that workers who have the age of 55 years or younger in the years 2012 will redirect a piece of their workforce tax to the contributions to individual accounts in a voluntarily manner. From the year 2012 top the year 2021, the workers would be permitted to retransmit 2% of their taxable salaries to a base amounting to $10,000 in 2012, indexed to ordinary wage progress afterwards which would be followed by a 1% of the taxable earnings that are remaining in each account of an individual. Overtime, the sum of Social Security funds that could be redirected to the accounts owned individually would rise. The legislation had a proposal that from the year 2022 to the year 2031, the workers redirection would be at a rate o f 4% in all the taxable earnings and a base quantity and 2% of remaining taxable salaries. From the year 2032 to 2041, workers would be permitted to redirect 6% of taxable salaries up to the base sum and 3% of remaining taxable salaries. For all the calendar years after the year 2041, workers would be permitted to redirect 8% of taxable salaries up to the base sum and 4% of remaining taxable salaries accounts owned individually (Winston, 2006). The values of this legislation act Individuals who took part in the process of the personal savings account would get the guarantee and the assurance that that the persona; savings account balance at annuitization would not be less than their aids that have accumulated as a result of inflation. This legislation act would also have the values of the provision for special general revenue transfers as required in order to assure trust fund solvency and too in provision of special transfers to the general fnd of the treasury that would ensure an offset of any prior general revenue transfers as far as the trust fund solvency is maintained (Maynard, 2010). The social conditions surrounding the roadmap for the future of the United States of America future act of 2010 The Ryan proposal has a lot of social challenges that are surrounding this legislation, these includes the different standards of lives that are present among the both the old and the young.. This proposed act is aimed at eliminating most of the Medicaid in the health insurance in the children. This program will ensure that families from the low income families get assistance and the privilege of their children get aces to quality Medicaid and health insurance just like the children from the high income families. Most are the societies that have people who live a life that has no tomorrow, these people have either disabilities and thus can not do much or either they live below the poverty lines. When it comes to the provision of Medicaid and health services, the low income families in the United States are much hit since the new tax credit plus the low levels of income is much smaller to buy the comprehensive health insurance (Maynard, 2010). Under the Social Security Personal Savings Guarantee and Prosperity Act of 2010 by Ryan, his plan is majoring on poor children who loose a vey vital Medicaid benefit by the name the early and periodic screening, diagnostic and treatment services, these services ensure that these individual from a poor social status get regular and comprehensive health screenings plus have the access to full cover to for all the necessary Medicaid (Stanley, 2007). Historical links the act of The Social Security Personal Savings Guarantee and Prosperity Act of 2010 A previous public policy that has much links to the Social Security Personal Savings Guarantee and Prosperity Act of 2010 is the legislation by the number S. 857/H.R. 1776 and by the name (Social Security Personal Savings Guarantee and Prosperity Act of 2005, the link between the two acts of the public is based on the fact that the two legislations have similarities. The Social Security Personal Savings Guarantee and Prosperity Act of 2005 was also a legislation that was presented by Paul Ryan, he called it a companion measure (H.R. 1776) on April 21, the year 2005. The measures of this act were to permit workers under the age of 55 to redirect a percentage of payroll taxes to charitable accounts of individuals. From the year 2006 to 2015, workers would have been permitted to redirect 5% of covered salaries up to a base sum ($10,000 in 2006, indexed to salary progress afterwards) and2.5% of remaining protected salaries to individual accounts. Beginning n the year 2016, workers would have been permitted to readdress 10% of covered salaries up to the total sum and 5% of remaining covered salaries to the individual accounts. Workers who were taking part in the individual accounts would receive an issue of the benefit credit certificate or the recognition bond to reflect the value of benefits accumulated under the customary system. The recognition bond was to be a certificate that would have been redeemed at retirement, despite the value of accumulated benefits would have been reduced to replicate the workforce taxes redirected to the employees account the measures would have provided account members a double monthly payment as a result of traditional benefit plus annuity benefits. At least thus would have been equal to benefits scheduled under current law which necessitates that workers choosing not to partake in individual accounts owned individually would have received traditional Social Securiity profits. The measures would have been a provision of six indexed investment accounts, inclusive of a nonpayment lifecycle investment account with a probable normal investment combination of 65% parities and 3 5% fixed income mechanisms. Once the workers account balance stretched to $25,000 (indexed to inflation), a supplementary investment choices would have become available to him or her (Stanley, 2007) By critically looking at this act, it is looks like the mother of the Social Security Personal Savings Guarantee and Prosperity Act of 2010. This is due to the fact that it has been founded and by the same individual by the name Paul. This is a clear indication of the need of this act to be passed as a bill since after five years; a revised version of this act is brought into debate by the same individual (Jagadeesh, 2010). Supporters of the Social Security Personal Savings Guarantee and Prosperity Act of 2010 The possible supporters of the Social Security Personal Savings Guarantee and Prosperity Act of 2010 are likely to be human rights activists and some of the major politicians. These are the individuals that represent the common individual that is not in a position to present his or her grievances the higher table of the social security acts. Politicians who both the include the republicans and the democrats are likely to support this act in favor of their people back at their home aces who live in social surroundings that do not favor them to receive quality Medicaid and fundamental factors that are necessary such as the comprehensive health insurance. Human tights activists are on the other hand much likely to support this bill as it has the implementations that are in favor of the individuals who live below the poverty lines. Therefore, as a result these two supporters are likely to support the Social Security Personal Savings Guarantee and Prosperity Act of 2010 (Jagadeesh, 2010). Players who oppose The Social Security Personal Savings Guarantee and Prosperity Act of 2010 The individuals that have a part of the salaries redirected to other individual accounts are one of the greatest individual opposing this act. This is due to the claims they make based on the fact that some of them too live below the poverty lines and therefore that percentage o their taxes poses as a big blow to them. The other individual that are likely to oppose this act include the medical insurance companies. This is due to the fact that according to their research conducted by them; this will increase the number of individuals that con not are in apposition to afford quality Medicaid and comprehensive health insurance (Maynard, 2010). The Social Security Personal Savings Guarantee and Prosperity Act of 2010 is a social justice in the fact that it engages in activities that entails the advocating for diversity in; matters such as the support for the less advantaged issue in the society, one of these include the child from the poor social status backgrounds. This act is evident to be an element of social justice via caring for the Medicaid and health insurances for the less advantaged children and generally the poor (Jagadeesh, 2010). On my own standpoint, The Social Security Personal Savings Guarantee and Prosperity Act of 2010 should have bee put into much considerations in order to improve its chances of it being passed into a law. This is due to the fact that most are the individuals have less or no access to vitals factors such as the availability of Medicaid and health insurance. Among the many aspects that have been brought forward in favor of the social justice, this act could be probably one of the most effective. Buy custom The Social Security Act essay

Sunday, October 20, 2019

magic Essays

The Tempest is based around a key a idea of reuniting family through what may appear to the characters as bizarre coincidence, but in fact is the outcome of witchcraft/magic Essays The Tempest is based around a key a idea of reuniting family through what may appear to the characters as bizarre coincidence, but in fact is the outcome of witchcraft/magic Essay The Tempest is based around a key a idea of reuniting family through what may appear to the characters as bizarre coincidence, but in fact is the outcome of witchcraft/magic Essay Essay Topic: The Tempest Twelve Years a Slave Shakespeares, The Tempest is based around a key a idea of reuniting family through what may appear to the characters as bizarre coincidence, but in fact is the outcome of witchcraft/magic. It is widely thought the main character (Prospero) is a transformation of the famous writer himself, William Shakespeare, as Prospero pursues his studies over his people and also is very fond of his daughter. We are first introduced to Prospero in Act I Scene II where we see his daughter Miranda questioning him about the shipwreck, here Shakespeare uses conversation as a tool to build up our first impressions of Prospero and to explain his past. My first impression is that he is quite self-centred as he tries to portray himself as a great character and role model to Miranda as is all his actions are for her benefit, No harm. I have done nothing but in care of thee, This could also be interpreted as the role of a loving father but then Prospero goes on to tell her about her past which he has kept from her for twelve years, is this so loving? Prospero may well have been attempting to protect his daughter, or it may appear to the audience that he was purposely withholding information from her just to ensure that his plan went ahead accordingly. He also talks of how he was unfairly overthrown from his prestigious position as Duke of Milan, but yet Antonio is not here to defend himself so as an audience we may stop to question whether this view is entirely true as he tries to dismiss the fact that he was more concerned with his studies. He desperately tries to maintain a high level of respect from Miranda, Thou attendst not? O, good sir, I do. This gives me the impression that he is esteemed by power, thrilled by the fact that he has such authority, unintentionally portraying himself as domineering. Throughout the play we are able to see the duality in Prosperos character. Shakespeare shows us two distinct sides to Prospero, one being the tyrant and the other being the protector. If we look at him as the tyrant we can firstly look at the main reason of the play; the shipwreck. Even though Prospero didnt harm anyone onboard the ship, he still caused the shipwreck, at first it appears that this is an abuse of his power, but the thing that strikes me most is that it was actually Ariel who caused the storm but Prospero doesnt reveal this to Miranda and even puts her to sleep before summoning Ariel. (This again could be seen as the role of a protecting father.) A key implement in Prosperos strive for power is his cloak, when wearing it he is in complete control and then once removed he returns to being the loving father. Shakespeare takes care to ensure that the elements of his loving father side are still apparent, e.g. when he tells Miranda of how her smile helped to sustain him th rough the journey from Milan to the island, Thou wast that did preserve me. Thou didst smile, Infused with a fortitude from heaven, The biggest debate, in my opinion, is whether Prospero caused Miranda and Ferdinand to fall in love or whether it was natural. We can look at it from both the tyrant and the protector side. It appears that Prospero has set everything up down to the very last detail to guarantee that his plan will work and hence Miranda and Ferdinand will marrybut does that mean that he made them fall in love? Yes and no, you could argue yes because if it werent for his plotting they would never have met in the first place, but no in the sense that he pretended to be against the idea so as to test that Ferdinands love was real. Throughout the play there is a continuing sense that Prospero is like a god. He is in control of his domain, has caused everything that has happened to take place, and has power over every situation. He is omnipresent in the sense that he sends Ariel to keep watch over everything thats going on and to goad and generally cause havoc, Ariel then reports back to Prospero so that he is kept up to date and can begin to plot his next plan of action. Again, here Shakespeare seems to provoke a domineering image of Prospero and this also highlights his treatment of Ariel. Any time Ariel asks Prospero about when he will finally be released, Prospero reminds him of the treacherous life he rescued him from. As readers we can see that this is quite hypocritical as Prospero rescued Ariel from one life of slavery and plunged him straight into another, Dost thou forget From what torment I did free thee? Prosperos treatment of Ariel varies as one minute hes referring to him as malignant thing and then the next, My quaint Ariel, so again Prospero could be perceived as being contradictory. In Act II Scene I the idea of Prospero as a god is further progressed, when he tests Sebastian and Antonio through Ariel by providing them with the chance to kill Alonso and Gonzalo, here we see Shakespeare using similar temptation as in Macbeth. When Prospero commands Ariel to awaken the victims Shakespeare lightens the mood by putting in a witty song, written in rhyme. Although it may appear that Sebastian and Antonio are in control, we as the audience know that Prospero is the real force behind it all, testing them to a certain extent and then stopping. If we look now to Prosperos treatment of Caliban, we see that even though he is in the same position as Ariel, Caliban reacts very differently to his situation. Caliban believes that every bad thing that happens to him is down to Prospero. As an audience we can justify that Prospero is in fact innocent with regards to the pinching, scaring, annoying, misleading, chattering, biting and hissing, and we may begin to see how Shakespeare uses Caliban to show us that Prospero isnt to blame all the time. We also begin to understand why Prospero refers to him in such a rude manner, e.g. freckled whelp, lying slave, and filth. In Act III Scene II we are again shown how differently the two creatures react to their treatment when Caliban tells Trinculo and Stephano that Prospero stole the island from his possession, As I told thee before, I am subject to a tyrant, a sorcerer, that by his cunning hath cheated me of the island. Ariel, although again invisible, responds in opposition with Thou liest. This, from the view of the audience, again reinforces our perception that Prospero may be loving after all as Ariel has a tendency to exaggerate as well as Caliban but yet he supports Prospero on this account. Another godlike trait of Prospero is his tendency to test people, we continually see him do this throughout the play and one of the most important times we see this, when Shakespeare has him positioned above the scene in full view of the audience is in Act III Scene III when he commands the spirits to enter with a banquet and then when they approach to feast Ariel stops them with a speech, rather like a sermon, educating rather than punishing, summing up the play with, You fools! I and my fellows Are ministers of Fate Here Shakespeare imposes the idea of heaven and hell by having Ariel dressed as a Harpy (creature of hell) and the good and bad divide with the god watching over. But in some cases it may be perceived that Prospero is actually and evil god as he is teasing them with food. Even though Alonso thinks he has been punished for abandoning Prospero in his hour of need, we as the audience know that he hasnt truly been punished but in fact that his son is alive and so here we may realise that Prospero isnt really out for revenge. This scene shows us Prospero in control, as a magician, and also as a godlike figure. The language Shakespeare chooses to use in Ariels speech is very strong, the use of you may even make members of the audience feel as though he is talking to them. This play has a continuing theme of denouement, i.e. the untying of knots, and this is the structure of all of Shakespeares plays. In Act IV Scene I we see both the tyrant and the loving father side as Prospero addresses Ferdinand on the matter of sex before marriage, even though he is still being very formal and in some ways quite aggressive it is due to his love for Miranda, by handing her over to marriage with Ferdinand Prospero describes the process as giving away, A third of mine own life And therefore Shakespeare encourages members of the audience to empathise with Prospero. At the same time people may see this as his possessive nature, treating Miranda like his property, and quite chauvinistic but we must remember that this is what fathers did in that period. Throughout Act IV the image of Prospero as a playwright/director is built up increasingly, he makes it clear that the fun and games are over now, it was just like a game of chess to him with the King being cornered. In line 184, Prospero again is quite contradictory when he calls Ariel, my bird as the my could either be taken as possessive again or affectionate but then birds are closely associated with freedom but also captivity. When Prospero enters in magic robes in Act V Scene I, he is carrying a staff which of course is commonly used in the bible, both to symbolise power but also to smite things. In line 52 he requests heavenly music, Gonzalo is also described as religious similar to Banquo and King Duncan, i.e. Shakespeares good characters are all religious. At the end when we see Prospero set Ariel free, we see Prospero being presented as loving again, as he kept his promise and we can see that he was being truthful all along about trying to resolve everything. The common theme of Prospero as a god is more definite as he decides what is to be done and has the final words as they leave his domain, his epilogue is quite powerful in the sense that he has had victory over the situation, everything is as he had planned and now he can resume normal life. How does Shakespeare present Prospero in The Tempest?

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Basel Iii, Solvency Ii

It was first published in 2009 and will be start implement on 1 January 2013. To make sure the banks have sufficient capital, Basel III has some new regulatory on bank leverage and also its liquidity. Solvency II Solvency II is a basic review of adequacy of capital for the European insurance industry. It aims to revise a set of EU-wide capital requirements and risk management standards that will replace the current solvency requirements. For instance, most European insurers are obliged to implement the full Solvency II requirements by January 2013. As such, it will be a major driver for the development and embedding of Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) for the insurance industry. Difference between Basel III and Basel I II Basel III varies from Basel I and Basel II. Basel I is create and used to strengthen the stability of global banking system while standardize capital requirement by using regulatory control. The weakness of Basel I is banks are expose to excessive risk because of the freedom in giving loan. Basel II develops from Basel I, it makes improvement on standardize the capital regulation and increase the risk management between the banks. Unlike Basel I, Basel II required banks to make analyze on the ability of corporate in pay back the loan before they decided to lending money out. Basel III replace for Basel II which the capital requirement is stricter, so that they can handle the capital fluctuate during financial crisis. Difference between Solvency I and Solvency II The difference between Solvency I and Solvency II is their fundamental based. Solvency II is principle based, whereas Solvency I is rule based. This means Solvency II knows less rules, instead of introduces principles which have to be adopted by the insurers, they all involved actions and decisions. They can no longer hide behind rules, nor is it easy to find holes in the law. Therefore, in order to process these principles into company will be tough therefore time is ticking since it is questionable when all is implemented sufficiently. While for the Solvency II is to protect customers from taking unacceptable risks. This is done by demanding insurers to manage their risks better and be transparent on their financial position and risk. Hence it shows more holistic approach in comparison to Solvency I. Who should comply to Basel III The Basel accords are a range of mutual agreements that are voluntarily given by various global banking authorities. The countries which have signed these agreements would have set it as a common standard. However, some countries which are not the member state may also implement these policies. Besides, in United States of America, the government set the Basel II as a mandatory standard for banks. The banks which have a higher-risk profiles are instead imposed higher and stricter standard under the same accords. Next, Basel III required banks must keep a minimum common equity of 7% of their assets and this percentage covers a capital conservation buffer of 2. %. The countries which have approved Basel III must impose and put the standard. Who should comply Solvency II Solvency II is needed for all the insurance companies and financial institution. Solvency II’s regulation will be control by the respective financial supervisor. Besides, the best practice for insurers is to embed qualitative and quantitative risk management throughout their organization. A process-based risk approach is the be st foundation for risk management of market, credit, liquidity, insurance and all operational risks. Solvency II regulates companies according to the risk inherent in the business. Every company must define that the risk profile is in line with the appropriate governance and risk management processes to meet this risk. Why Basel III is needed? Basel III is needed because it strengthens bank capital requirements by introduces new regulatory requirements on bank liquidity and bank leverage. It help the Bank directors to know the market liquidity conditions for major asset holdings and strengthen accountability for any major losses. Why Solvency II is needed? Solvency II is needed because it can supervise the insurance company and strengthen the power of group supervisor, in order to ensure the wide risks of the group are not overlooked. By having Solvency II, a greater cooperation between supervisors can be made. Besides, Solvency II plays an active role in the development in insurance, risk management, and financial reporting. Objective for Basel III There are three objective of Basel III. Firstly, Basel III enhance the ability of banking sectors in handle stress that arise during financial crisis and economic strain. Secondly, Basel III used to improve risk management and also its governance. Lastly, Basel III reinforces the transparency and exposure of the banks. Objective for Solvency II These are some objectives for Solvency II. Firstly, it improved consumer protection by standardized level of policyholder protection in EU. Secondly, Solvency II transfers compliance in supervise into making evaluation on insurers’ risk profiles and the quality of their risk management and also their controlling systems. Lastly, Solvency II used to raise the international competitiveness of EU insurers. What are the challenges that encounter by the Basel III and Solvency II? The challenges that encounter by the Basel III and Solvency II is there is a mutual relationship between the new capital and the liquidity rules for bank and insurance companies that set by Basel III and Solvency II. Besides that, Solvency II had changed the way of allocate the capital for insurance companies. In example, fair value will be calculated by the risk that insurer take on their investing activities. Solvency II also offered a privileged treatment to bond with short tenure. It impress stricter capital requirement for bond that determined by the investment’s maturity, and credit rating due to the volatility of investment. Lastly, there is an inverse relationship between Basel III and Solvency II. Basel III requires all the financial institution to establish more stable, long term source of funding. In example, Basel III require bank to place their funding in a more stable and long term investment, means they will issue more long term bond. While for the Solvency II, the regulation gives shorter preferential treatment to the bank bond. ? Basel Iii, Solvency Ii It was first published in 2009 and will be start implement on 1 January 2013. To make sure the banks have sufficient capital, Basel III has some new regulatory on bank leverage and also its liquidity. Solvency II Solvency II is a basic review of adequacy of capital for the European insurance industry. It aims to revise a set of EU-wide capital requirements and risk management standards that will replace the current solvency requirements. For instance, most European insurers are obliged to implement the full Solvency II requirements by January 2013. As such, it will be a major driver for the development and embedding of Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) for the insurance industry. Difference between Basel III and Basel I II Basel III varies from Basel I and Basel II. Basel I is create and used to strengthen the stability of global banking system while standardize capital requirement by using regulatory control. The weakness of Basel I is banks are expose to excessive risk because of the freedom in giving loan. Basel II develops from Basel I, it makes improvement on standardize the capital regulation and increase the risk management between the banks. Unlike Basel I, Basel II required banks to make analyze on the ability of corporate in pay back the loan before they decided to lending money out. Basel III replace for Basel II which the capital requirement is stricter, so that they can handle the capital fluctuate during financial crisis. Difference between Solvency I and Solvency II The difference between Solvency I and Solvency II is their fundamental based. Solvency II is principle based, whereas Solvency I is rule based. This means Solvency II knows less rules, instead of introduces principles which have to be adopted by the insurers, they all involved actions and decisions. They can no longer hide behind rules, nor is it easy to find holes in the law. Therefore, in order to process these principles into company will be tough therefore time is ticking since it is questionable when all is implemented sufficiently. While for the Solvency II is to protect customers from taking unacceptable risks. This is done by demanding insurers to manage their risks better and be transparent on their financial position and risk. Hence it shows more holistic approach in comparison to Solvency I. Who should comply to Basel III The Basel accords are a range of mutual agreements that are voluntarily given by various global banking authorities. The countries which have signed these agreements would have set it as a common standard. However, some countries which are not the member state may also implement these policies. Besides, in United States of America, the government set the Basel II as a mandatory standard for banks. The banks which have a higher-risk profiles are instead imposed higher and stricter standard under the same accords. Next, Basel III required banks must keep a minimum common equity of 7% of their assets and this percentage covers a capital conservation buffer of 2. %. The countries which have approved Basel III must impose and put the standard. Who should comply Solvency II Solvency II is needed for all the insurance companies and financial institution. Solvency II’s regulation will be control by the respective financial supervisor. Besides, the best practice for insurers is to embed qualitative and quantitative risk management throughout their organization. A process-based risk approach is the be st foundation for risk management of market, credit, liquidity, insurance and all operational risks. Solvency II regulates companies according to the risk inherent in the business. Every company must define that the risk profile is in line with the appropriate governance and risk management processes to meet this risk. Why Basel III is needed? Basel III is needed because it strengthens bank capital requirements by introduces new regulatory requirements on bank liquidity and bank leverage. It help the Bank directors to know the market liquidity conditions for major asset holdings and strengthen accountability for any major losses. Why Solvency II is needed? Solvency II is needed because it can supervise the insurance company and strengthen the power of group supervisor, in order to ensure the wide risks of the group are not overlooked. By having Solvency II, a greater cooperation between supervisors can be made. Besides, Solvency II plays an active role in the development in insurance, risk management, and financial reporting. Objective for Basel III There are three objective of Basel III. Firstly, Basel III enhance the ability of banking sectors in handle stress that arise during financial crisis and economic strain. Secondly, Basel III used to improve risk management and also its governance. Lastly, Basel III reinforces the transparency and exposure of the banks. Objective for Solvency II These are some objectives for Solvency II. Firstly, it improved consumer protection by standardized level of policyholder protection in EU. Secondly, Solvency II transfers compliance in supervise into making evaluation on insurers’ risk profiles and the quality of their risk management and also their controlling systems. Lastly, Solvency II used to raise the international competitiveness of EU insurers. What are the challenges that encounter by the Basel III and Solvency II? The challenges that encounter by the Basel III and Solvency II is there is a mutual relationship between the new capital and the liquidity rules for bank and insurance companies that set by Basel III and Solvency II. Besides that, Solvency II had changed the way of allocate the capital for insurance companies. In example, fair value will be calculated by the risk that insurer take on their investing activities. Solvency II also offered a privileged treatment to bond with short tenure. It impress stricter capital requirement for bond that determined by the investment’s maturity, and credit rating due to the volatility of investment. Lastly, there is an inverse relationship between Basel III and Solvency II. Basel III requires all the financial institution to establish more stable, long term source of funding. In example, Basel III require bank to place their funding in a more stable and long term investment, means they will issue more long term bond. While for the Solvency II, the regulation gives shorter preferential treatment to the bank bond. ?

Friday, October 18, 2019

How each film uses aesthetics to offer a truth about the world Essay

How each film uses aesthetics to offer a truth about the world - Essay Example There are some documentaries that unsettle you to the deepest core of your being, putting you right off your brunch. I'm looking at you, capturing the Friedman’s. There are others that remind you that though the world can be a place fraught with suffering, it is also replete with miracles. Searching for Sugar Man is definitely in the latter category. The 2012 film (and that year's Best Documentary Feature winner) chronicles the rise and fall and unexpected re-rise of a Mexican-American singer-songwriter with all of Bob Dylan's poetic lyricism and righteous anti-establishment rage and none of his success: Rodriguez. After a couple of years in the late 60s and early 70s playing gigs in places named thing like, unironically, The Sewer, Rodriguez returned to a job in construction and a brief flirtation with local politics, surrendering his hopes of a musical career. Haven't heard of him? You must be American. What neither he, nor his producers, nor (probably) his record label knew was that while he was demolishing buildings and doing whatever one does with drywall, his music was fueling the anti-Apartheid movement in South Africa, and the artist himself had become a quasi-mythical figure around whom rumors of a spectacularly gruesome onstage suicide were as widely and ferociously traded as the bootleg copies of his two albums. Because of the nature of a dictatorship, South Africans had very little unsanctioned information about the world outside their borders. But even though his fans (which, it seems important to note, seem to be largely white) didn't know who or where Rodriguez was, they did know that his lyrics criticizing unjust economic and social practices (inspired by his native Detroit) gave them a vocabulary with which to resist and begin to dismantle the cruelties and perversions of human dignity they were witnessing. And when a couple of musicians and writers try to hunt down the true biography of their poet and prophet, a pretty magical reunion t akes place. One of the journalists interviewed by the filmmaker describes this unlikely series of events as sounding like "a bad PR campaign" because it was so unlike how he understands the world to work, and Searching for Sugar Man feels like a myth while watching. Rodriguez remains an elusive figure throughout, even after he is rediscovered. He slides through different names and identities as purposefully and smoothly as he walks through the largely abandoned streets of the working-class neighborhood where he still lives in Detroit, and is clearly uncomfortable talking about his remarkable story. But it's a story that makes poets of his fellow construction workers and family as they marvel at how their unassuming friend and father live a dual life as a South African rock star. Though not quite reaching the heights of exuberant aesthetic grace achieved by man wire, Searching for Sugar Man will make you believe in fairy tales. Bernie is a 2011 black comedy film directed by Richard L inklater, and written by Linklater andSkipHollandsworth. The making of the film, based on an article in Texas monthly magazine by Skip Holland worth, whom also co-wrote the comedic film with Linklater, divided citizens ofCartharage, Texas, the small town in East Texas where the Nugent murder occurred. In the film, Linklater includes interviews with several Carthage residents about

Personal Letter To University Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Letter To University - Personal Statement Example My preferred area of study is Social Work and I am applying for Bachelor of Social Work at the York University. Significantly, my work experiences and outside activities, along with my personal interests, offered me courage to pursue a post-secondary education in BSW Bachelor of Social work which will be highly constructive a career according to my beliefs and purposes. Anyone who is familiar with my career goals, personal interests, personal study, accomplishments, volunteer activities etc would not be surprised to know my decision to pursue a post-secondary education in Social Work and, instead, he/she will be convinced that I will be successful at the University. One of the basic factors that have contributed to my decision to pursue a post-secondary education in Bachelor of Social Work is my conviction about my personal goals and interests which were made clear to me by my work experiences and outside activities. As an individual born in Afghanistan during the latter half of the 20th Century, which is (in)famous for politically motivated strife, war torn cities, and poor conditions of the citizens, I have realized that Afghanistan has been unfortunate enough for being at the receiving end of the ambitions of a number of people and forces which have translated into the suffering of the Afghani people. Now that I have moved to Canada, there still remains the urge in me to make a material difference in the lives of others. Thus, the most important motivation for my decision to do social work is my personal interest in easing the suffering of others and my family has been a significant influence in this regard. I was brought up as a child with great attitude for social services which gave me immense pleasure and determination to help the poor. As I came face to face with the reality of inequality in our society, I pledged to make use of every opportunity in life to lessen

How Did Piaget View Cognitive Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

How Did Piaget View Cognitive Development - Essay Example How Did Piaget View Cognitive Development? Jean Piaget (1896-1980) was one of the leading developmental psychologists that mainly focused on the impact of environmental and social factors on human development, particularly cognitive development in children. His theories on how a child’s way of thinking grows and adapts through acquiring experiences through the process of interacting with nonliving things as well as by engaging in social interaction with other children or adults, was very much looked upon especially during the pre-war era. Most of the theories were to be tested as models for improving people’s learning in school or at work, but were not tested fully after World War II broke out. In theory, development can either be continuous or discontinuous. Continuous development is related to the human development through gradual progress from infancy to adulthood. Discontinuous development, on the other hand, occurs through a fixed sequence that has discrete and predictable stages. In Piaget’s view on cognitive development in humans, the trend is rather discontinuous, and that growth is seen as having specific, qualitatively different stages. Each stage then has particular information-processing approaches that would be based on memory and language skills acquired at a certain stage. Also, cognitive growth is stimulated by what a child perceives, and that the process of learning can be enhanced by letting the child experience and discover new things suitable for his or her age.

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Eliminating Preventable Morbidity and Escapable Mortality Essay

Eliminating Preventable Morbidity and Escapable Mortality - Essay Example This paper declares that morbidity and mortality have increased as world societies increasingly get sophisticated. Governments and non-state actors have attempted various strategies that are meant to address the question. Some of the strategies have produced remarkable outcomes while others appear less sustainable. Generally, the development of sound strategies for addressing this challenge has involved structural changes, training, empowering of the vulnerable groups, insurance, technological advancement, and a range of other strategies that are meant to shield populations from the causative factors of mortality and morbidity. This essay makes a conclusion that the challenge that faces the chosen approaches often involve the lack of sustainable mechanisms that can be relied upon to manage the processes of treatment and dispensing other services and strategies that are meant to protect the populations of the world. The different strategies and players should coordinate their services in ways that would ensure some form of balance and effectiveness in the services. Vulnerable groups should be identified in accordance with the demographics of place, gender, socio-economic status and other factors. Equally, some of the most common diseases and conditions should be identified in order to make it possible for the right intervention measures to be used. Essentially, the long terms strategy should be the reversing of trends and influences.

The motivation theories and staff retention at web design companies Essay

The motivation theories and staff retention at web design companies (digital communication agencies) in UK, Spain and Italy - Essay Example Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs suggests that the basic physiological needs have to be met first before a person can look ahead. Only when the basic needs are satisfied he clamors for safety needs, need for love, self-esteem or self-actualization. As one need is somewhat fulfilled, the other needs become important and this motivates or influences his behavior (Accel-Team, 2006). This corroborates with Herzberg who proposed that an employee’s motivation is understood when his attitude is understood (Tietjen & Myers, 1998). Herzberg determined that happy feelings or a positive attitude was always task-related while the bad attitude or unpleasant feelings depend upon the surroundings. These are the motivators and include recognition, achievement, career advancement and the work itself. These motivators cause positive job attitudes because they satisfy the need for self-actualization, which is the last in the hierarchy of needs of Maslow. Motivation differs significantly from satisfaction. Motivation to work can come from external factors or from within. Organizational commitment itself is a motivating factor and no satisfaction with job is a demotivating factor. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs basically speculates that people’s needs are satisfied progressively, only when basic needs are met do their aspirations rise and other goals are set. Thus when the employees are motivated, their dedication and initiative increases as Brown et al., (2005) suggest that the need for self-training arises only later. Employees should be able to identify with the firm’s style which gives rise to the necessity of self-training. Knowledge about the work is essential and continued training in the digital communications firms is considered essential. According to Herzberg two factors act upon the motivation of employees – the hygiene factors and the motivators. Hygienes are the intrinsic entities while motivators are intrinsic (Tietjen & Myers, 1998). According to Herzberg

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

How Did Piaget View Cognitive Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

How Did Piaget View Cognitive Development - Essay Example How Did Piaget View Cognitive Development? Jean Piaget (1896-1980) was one of the leading developmental psychologists that mainly focused on the impact of environmental and social factors on human development, particularly cognitive development in children. His theories on how a child’s way of thinking grows and adapts through acquiring experiences through the process of interacting with nonliving things as well as by engaging in social interaction with other children or adults, was very much looked upon especially during the pre-war era. Most of the theories were to be tested as models for improving people’s learning in school or at work, but were not tested fully after World War II broke out. In theory, development can either be continuous or discontinuous. Continuous development is related to the human development through gradual progress from infancy to adulthood. Discontinuous development, on the other hand, occurs through a fixed sequence that has discrete and predictable stages. In Piaget’s view on cognitive development in humans, the trend is rather discontinuous, and that growth is seen as having specific, qualitatively different stages. Each stage then has particular information-processing approaches that would be based on memory and language skills acquired at a certain stage. Also, cognitive growth is stimulated by what a child perceives, and that the process of learning can be enhanced by letting the child experience and discover new things suitable for his or her age.

The motivation theories and staff retention at web design companies Essay

The motivation theories and staff retention at web design companies (digital communication agencies) in UK, Spain and Italy - Essay Example Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs suggests that the basic physiological needs have to be met first before a person can look ahead. Only when the basic needs are satisfied he clamors for safety needs, need for love, self-esteem or self-actualization. As one need is somewhat fulfilled, the other needs become important and this motivates or influences his behavior (Accel-Team, 2006). This corroborates with Herzberg who proposed that an employee’s motivation is understood when his attitude is understood (Tietjen & Myers, 1998). Herzberg determined that happy feelings or a positive attitude was always task-related while the bad attitude or unpleasant feelings depend upon the surroundings. These are the motivators and include recognition, achievement, career advancement and the work itself. These motivators cause positive job attitudes because they satisfy the need for self-actualization, which is the last in the hierarchy of needs of Maslow. Motivation differs significantly from satisfaction. Motivation to work can come from external factors or from within. Organizational commitment itself is a motivating factor and no satisfaction with job is a demotivating factor. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs basically speculates that people’s needs are satisfied progressively, only when basic needs are met do their aspirations rise and other goals are set. Thus when the employees are motivated, their dedication and initiative increases as Brown et al., (2005) suggest that the need for self-training arises only later. Employees should be able to identify with the firm’s style which gives rise to the necessity of self-training. Knowledge about the work is essential and continued training in the digital communications firms is considered essential. According to Herzberg two factors act upon the motivation of employees – the hygiene factors and the motivators. Hygienes are the intrinsic entities while motivators are intrinsic (Tietjen & Myers, 1998). According to Herzberg

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Indian television in the era of globalization Essay Example for Free

Indian television in the era of globalization Essay Since its birth in 1959, it seems that Indian television has developed in a way that is similar to most of the world’s broadcasting sectors. Conquered by technological progress, particularly by the major advance that the introduction of satellite transmissions represents, the Indian television sector broke with its old practices to enter the era of globalization to which the opening to foreign players, the competition regime and the respect of commercial requirements are essential components. The successive evolutions that Indian television underwent seem to confirm Marshall McLuhan’s theory of a â€Å"global village†, which describes how the world has been contracted into a homogenized space by the media revolution. However, this simplistic vision denies the specificities of India as a culture and as a country, which became the specificities of Indian television. With 22 official languages, an enormous and heterogeneous population, one of the world’s largest territories and a tendency to continuously swing between tradition and modernity, India admittedly adapted its television sector to the globalized context but also imposed its restrictions and particularities. How did Indian television become integrated to the globalized media system while protecting its identity and imposing its requirements? With the successive evolutions – the technological progresses, the shift from an educational project to a competitive, consumer-oriented and profit-making market and the exportation of foreign programs and production methods – it underwent in the early 20th century, Indian television indeed got integrated into the globalized and transnational media system. As such it became a privileged target of know-how transfers coming from the West and a market of economic interest for foreign players. Heterogeneity constitutes India’s major specificity and its television sector could not have got established regardless to it. Even if it decided to enter the process of globalization, Indian television endeavored to defend and promote the country’s linguistic, territorial, social and cultural diversity. The Indian broadcasting space definitely does not get homogenized. On the contrary, it constantly reports the main oppositions that ceaselessly stimulate and drive the Indian population – tradition and modernity, local and global, urban and rural, well-off and impoverished. The example of the Indian television sector demonstrates that India is not passively affected by globalization but constitutes one of its major actors: it manages to make the country’s voice heard and to impose its requirements and its power of cultural appropriation at international level. BIBLIOGRAPHY DEPREZ C., La tà ©là ©vision indienne : un modà ¨le d’appropriation culturelle, De Boeck, 2006. DESAI M. K.,  « Indian television in the era of globalisation : unity, diversity or disparity ?  », in Quaderns del CAC, 202, no. 14 3-12. DURAND-DASTES F.,  « L’Inde dans la mondialisation  » in LEFORT I. and MORINIAUX V. (dir.), La mondialisation, Editions du temps, 2006, 235-256. JULURI V.,  « Music television and the invention of youth culture in India  », in Sage Journals, 2002, vol. 3 no. 4 367-386. KUMAR S., Gandhi meets primetime : globalization and nationalism in Indian television, University of Illinois Press, 2005. RANGANATHAN M., RODRIGUES U. M., Indian media in a globalised world, Sage publications, 2010. SINCLAIR J., HARRISON M.,  « Globalization, nation and television in Asia : the cases of India and China  », in Sage Journals, 2004, vol. 5 no. 1 41-54.

Monday, October 14, 2019

A Life Cycle Analysis Of A Dam Environmental Sciences Essay

A Life Cycle Analysis Of A Dam Environmental Sciences Essay Dams are built for various purposes; the major function includes hydroelectric power generation, drinking water supply, irrigation, flood control, recreation etc. But the different incidents and studies done by several researchers proved that these large dams made for these purposes, also simultaneously pose substantial threats to the life, property and the environment throughout their lifecycle. The impacts may be different in different phases, namely construction, operation and decommissioning phase. There are about 845,000 dams around the world (Jacquot, 2009), the cumulative impact of all these dams could be enormous. So, it is essential to minimise the impacts due to dam construction on lives, property and environment. Identifying possible impacts, calculating risk and minimising the risk through the adoption of various techniques could help to lower the overall impacts. Major hazards associated with Dams throughout their lifecycle (Reservoir): Construction Phase: Construction of large infrastructure like dams demands massive amount of construction material, excavation process and vehicles, which directly impacts on the environment and society. Most of the equipments and vehicle engage on such activities use fossil fuel as the principal source of energy and contribute to the green house gas emission. The estimated emission from Glen Canyon dam during its construction phase was calculated as 800,000 metric tons of CO2 equivalent (Pacca, 2002). The risk of accidents due to the vehicles, construction activity and excavation process to the worker is probable. The construction site could be of special interest for some animal or plant, so this activity may lead to the disappearance such plant/animal from that area for ever. Operation Phase: The operation of dams also poses threat to the environment and people. The threat of dam failure during the operation phase due to various reasons may cause huge loss of life and property. There is always threat of drawing of people on the dam. The emission during this phase from the decay of biomass in the reservoir is obvious; the emission from the Glen Canyon dam during its operation phase was estimated to be 3,500,000 metric ton of CO2 equivalent (Pacca, 2002). The failure of dam is the most destructive event of the entire lifecycle of dam. The details on dam failure are discussed separately below. Decommissioning Phase: This is the last stage of the life cycle of dam, this stage pose threat of sweeping the downstream areas (settlements, infrastructure, etc) and the lives. The emission from this stage is found as largest in comparison with construction and operation. The emission from the decommissioning of the Glen Canyon dam was calculated as 33,000,000 metric tons of CO2 equivalent (Pacca,2002), which was more than nine times the emission from the entire operation phase. Though the decommissioning work is done in controlled manner, the loss of property would not be as the dam failure. Environmental and Social consequences throughout a dams life: Construction Phase: Resettlement of people: Construction of Dam requires huge area of land, which is often acquired by displacing people from that place. People are often forced to leave their inherited land giving them psychological stress and the resettlement to the new location often alters the existing environment there. In China Three Gorges Dam have already displaced a million people and still another 80000 are to be moved till its final stage, 1200 villages and 2 major towns have had to be abandoned and rebuilt (McGivering, 2006). Archaeological sites: In some cases even the archaeological sites also get destroyed due to dam construction. More than 100 archaeological sites, some dating back over 12000 years is to be submerged due to the three gorge dam (Gleick, 2009). Transportation, excavation and construction: The movement of vehicles during the construction of dam contributes to emission to some extent and equally disturb the ecology there. The excavation and construction process both impact the ecology locally. Air pollution due to the dust can be expected. Operation Phase: Siltation: Rivers carry sediment loads, the amount vary according to the characteristics of the catchment area and the velocity of the running water. The construction of dam reduces the velocity of the river thus helping sediment to settle down within the reservoir. If the sediment deficit exit due to this in river, the channel can be expected to evacuate sediment from its bed and banks in the downstream effecting the environment there (Grant,2003). Methane Generation: Hydro power was considered to be the renewable that produce no greenhouse gases. According to Boyle, G (2009), a report by the world commission on dams (WCD, 2000, Anon, 2001), the decaying of vegetable matter in an anaerobic condition produces methane (CH4), when the land is flooded with hydro project. Fish migration: Fish are affected directly by the obstruction like dam on its course. The most commonly affected species like Salmon, which needs to go upstream for spawning, can be obstructed from their spawning place. Inundation of the spawning grounds within the reservoir, periodic inundation and drying out of spawning ground and refuge area downstream of the dam further hampers the fishs activity. (Harvath, and Municio,1998). Fertility of the downstream plains: The downstream part of dam loose the nutrient containing soil, which used to receive during flooding. After the building of the Aswan dam, in 1960s, the land downstream no longer receives the soil and nutrients previously carried by the annual Nile flood. The agricultural system has been destroyed in the downstream and to be replaced and is replaced by irrigation and chemical fertilizer (Boyle, 2004). Local climate change: Increased precipitation has been observed after the construction of dam, the physical process by which large scale surface evaporation triggers in the precipitation recycling in such area (Hossain, et al, 2009). Changes in the air moisture percentage, air temperature, air movement in big scale can be caused by big scale dam (Tahmiscioglu, et al,.). Impact on biodiversity: In some cases building of dams disturb the habitat of critically endangered species too, the winter shelter of Siberien Crane and the Baiji Yangtze river dolphin, are found to be affected by the three gorges dam (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Gorges_Dam). Induced earthquakes: large reservoirs can cause seismic events as they fill, as the pressure on local faults increases (ICE 1981). The seismic activity of magnitude 5.7 was recorded in Lake Oroville in Butte county of California in June 1982(Allen, 1982). Agricultural/ loss of forests: In many cases, the construction of dam covers the productive agricultural land which used to be the means of sustenance for the local people and in many cases clear some part of forest destroying natural ecosystem. About 1400 hector of agricultural land is to be submerged because of the three gorge dam (Gleick, 2009). Spread of disease (increase in disease carrying vectors, e.g. mosquito): Study carried out by Yewhalaw, et al (2005), found that the impoundment can act as breeding ground for vectors like mosquito, and found that the children living near to dam are at greater risk of plasmodium infection than the children living away. Decommissioning Phase: Decommissioning: Even though, decommissioning of dams help to restore the reverine ecosystem to its natural condition, some short term negative effect such as sediment mobilisation, contaminated material and threat of super saturation can be seen (Bednarek, 2001). Dam Failure: One of the most obviously harmful effect of large dam is seen, when it falls. The underlying causes may be different in each case. Some of the major causes are (ICOLD, 1973): Overtopping Foundation defects Piping and seepage Conduits and valves Seismic event damage Failure of dam due to internal water pressure Failure of dam due to prolonged period of rainfall and flooding Causes of Dam Failure that occurred between 1075- 2001(NPDP, 2007) (Adopted from historic records of Dam Performance, 2007) On the basis of the above graph it can be said that, flood or overtopping of the dam wall stand far ahead from other causes of dam failure. Seepage and piping is on second position and rest of all are responsible for very less number of dam failures, this graph proves that the overtopping of dam is the major causes of dam failures. Cost of Dam Break: The cost of dam break consists of two components; reconstruction cost of dam and economic loss due to destruction and inundation downstream (Kuo, et al, 2008). Cost and Benefit from Dam: Dam construction is an expensive work and demands huge sum of money, but it provides extremely necessary things for running the society and development like energy and water for drinking and irrigation purpose. On the other hand it has some impacts on society and environment, some of which needs lots of money and time for restoration while others are irreparable. So construction of dam has its own pros and cons. Ways to minimise the occurrence of dam failure: Dam failure is the most destructive incident in the entire life cycle of dam, which may cause huge loss of life and property. So it is essential to ensure the safety of dam in order to protect the life and property. Some of the important steps essential for the reduction of dam failure and its impacts are as follows (MDE, 1996): Strict legislation should be promulgated by government for the construction of dam/ Reservoir. Routine deformation monitoring of seepage from drains in and around larger dams is necessary and if found faulty, corrective measure should be taken. In case of wall fracture, rock grouting (pressure pumping of cement slurry) can be done to reduce the risk of dam failure. Regular monitoring and maintenance could help a lot to prevent dam failure. Early warning system should be incorporated in the reservoir system to protect people and property downstream, in case of dam failure. Dam construction should not be allowed in the area of high seismic activity. Most of the nations make safety programme for the protection of dam. In USA most of the states are responsible for the safety of dams within their boundary and to ensure the safety they regularly follow the following procedure (Lane, 2008); Evaluate the safety of existing dam. Review plans and specification for safety and regulatory programme. Carry out periodic inspection on construction on new and existing dams. Review and approval of emergency action plan. Some measures to reduce other impacts on and due to dams: Management of catchment of river can help to reduce sedimentation on dam, which may include plantation on the catchment area, adoption of landside and erosion control measures for the upstream area of dam. The periodic cleaning of dams can help to reduce the load of sediments within a dam and help to reclaim the capacity to its original form. Fish ladder can help to restore fish migration to some extent. (source) The calculation of probable maximum precipitation (PMP) and estimation of probable maximum flood (PMF) and the probability of average return period for that river, could help to design the dam properly (CSCD,1985), which could prevent dam from failure. Monitoring should be carried out to control the breeding of mosquitoes in dam, if found, mosquito larvae must be controlled with the approved mosquito larvicide, so that the other aquatic organism will have minimal impacts from larvicide (DHF,2006). Rich picture of Dam and associated Impacts A Rich Picture illustrating impacts of dam on various aspects of environment and society Risk of Dam Failure with age: Percentage of different age groups of dam failures in Russia in comparison with the failures of world dams. (Adopted from Management of Impounded Rivers, Wang and Melching, 2007). Though age is one of the important factor for the dam failure as the walls and other infrastructures erodes or weakens with age, but it is not only the factor that causes dam failure; faulty structures, extreme weather events, sabotage, seismic activities etc also trigger to dam failure. The above graph showed that the highest number of dam failure was in the age group 0-10, which then gradually decreases as the age group increases. The defective structure can lead to dam failure even at its early age while the well constructed and well maintained dam can serve over hundred years. On the basis of above graph it can be said that aging in not the primary factor for dam failure and proper maintenance can lengthen the life span of dam despite of age, and does not show clear correlation with dam failure. One probable reason of less number of dam failures of the aged dam could be the proper maintenance and decommissioning before the dam failure occurs. Risk Assessment of dam failure: Risk assessment was calculated on the basis of data from Annex-3. High severity condition Total Occurrence= 11 Average time taken to repeat the events for the class IA (with more than 300 deaths) =11.1 year Average Death calculated=1111.1 Risk=Frequency (event/ unit time) -Magnitude (Deaths)=1/11.1-1111.1=0.09-1111.1=99.99 Therefore, Risk=99.99 per 11.1 year Risk calculation for overall dam failure Total occurrence of dam failure=46 Average gap between successive events=0.39 year Average death per event=357.91 Risk= Frequency (event/ unit time) -Magnitude (Deaths) Therefore, Risk= 1/0.39-357.91=2.6-357.91=930.5 person per 0.39 year Conclusion: References: Allen, C,R, 1982, Reservoir Induced Earthquakes and Engineering Policy, California Geology, 35, 11 Bednarek, A,T, 2001,Undamming Rivers: A Review of the Ecological Impacts of Dam Removal, Environmental Management, 27,803-814. Boyle, G, 2004, Renewable Energy: Power for a Sustainable Future, Oxford University, Oxford CSCD,1985, Safety of Dams: Flood and Earthquake Criteria, National Academy Press, Washington D.C. DHF, 2006,Guidelines for Preventing Mosquito Breeding Sites Associated with Aquaculture Development in NT,Department of Health and Families, Darwin Gleick, P.H., 2009, Three Gorges Dam Project, Yangtze River, China, Water Brief, 3, 139-150. Grant, E, G, et al, 2003, A Geological Framework For Interpreting Downstream Effects Of dams On Rivers, Water Science and Application 7, 209-225 Harvath, E, and Municio, M. A. T.,1998, 2nd International Symposium in Civil Engineering, Budapest Hossain, F, et al, 2009, Local Climate Change, EOS, 90,453-468 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Gorges_Dam, assessed on 4 March, 2010. http://www.internationalrivers.org/files/srdamsafety.pdf, assessed on 20 May, 2010 http://npdp.stanford.edu/npdphome/Historic%20Performance%20of%20Dams.pdf, assessed on 20 May ,2010. http://www.damsafety.org/, assessed on 20 March, 2010 International Committee on Large Dams (ICOLD, 1973),Lessons from Dam Incidents,Reduced Edition, Paris Jacqot,J,2009, Numbers Dams; From Hoover to Three Gorges to the crumbling ones, Environmental Policy, http://discovermagazine.com/2009/mar/08-dams-hoover-three-gorges-crumbling-ones, assessed on 17 May 2010. Kuo,J,T, et al, 2008,Dam Over Topping Risk Assessment Considering Inspection Programme, Stoch Environ Res Risk Assess, 22, 303-313 Lane,N, 2008,Aging Infracture: Dam Safety, Congressional Research Service McGivering, J, 2006, Three Gorges Dams Social Impact, BBC , http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/world/asia-pacific/5000198.stm, assessed on 3 March 2010. MDE, 1996, Maryland Dam Safety Manual, Association of State Dam Safety Officials Pacca,S, 2007, Impacts from Decommissioning of Hydroelectric Dams: A life Cycle Prospective, Climate Change, 84, 281-294 Tahmiscioglu, M, S, et al,.. Positive and Negative Impacts of Dam on the Environment, International Congress on River Basin Management, 760-769 Wang,Z,Y, and Melching, S, 2007, Management of Impounded Rivers Yewhalaw, D, et al, 2005, Malaria and Water Resource development: The Case of Gilgel-Gibe Hydroelectric Dam in Ethopia, Malar. J, 8, 21 Annex-1 (Part-A) PLAGARISM DECLARATION I declare that the work I am submitting for assessment contains no section copied in whole or in part from any other sources unless it is explicitly identified by means of quotation marks. I declare that I have also acknowledged such quotation by providing detailed references in an approved format. I understand that either or both unidentified and unreferenced copying constitutes plagiarism, which is one of a number of very serious offences under the universitys code of practice on the Use of Unfair Means. Student No- 200910979 LIFE CYCLE ANALYSIS OF A DAM CONTENTS PAGE NO. INTRODUCTION: 3 Major hazards associated with Dam: 3 Major environmental issues associated with dam 3-4 Catastrophes (Dam failure): Siltation Methane generation Fish migration Resettlement of people Fertility of the downstream plains Local climate change Impact on biodiversity Induced earthquakes Agricultural/ loss of forests Spread of disease Archaeological sites Decommissioning Key questions for part B 5 Draft Plan 5 References 6 Word Count- 1076 Word Limit- 1000 INTRODUCTION: Dams are built for various purposes; the major function includes hydroelectric power generation, drinking water supply, irrigation, flood control, recreation etc. But the different incidents and studies done by several researchers proved that these large dams made for these purposes, also simultaneously pose substantial threats to the life, property and the environment throughout their lifecycle. The impacts may be different in different phases, namely construction, operation and decommissioning phase. Yes, but what is th eproblem situation or concern? Major hazards associated with Dam: Dam failure: one of the most obviously harmful effect of large dam is seen, when it falls. The underlying causes may be different in each case. Some of the major causes are: Seismic event damage Failure of dam due to internal water pressure. Failure of dam due to prolonged period of rainfall and flooding. Threat to human life due to drowning in dam. Major environmental issues associated with dam: Catastrophes (Dam failure): Dam failure often results huge loss of life, property and environment. During 20th century some 200 dam failures caused more than ten thousand people outside China and in the year 1975 only about quarter of million people were perished in the series of hydroelectric dam failure in China (Boyle, G, 2004). Siltation: Rivers carry sediment loads, the amount vary according to the characteristics of the catchment area and the velocity of the running water. The construction of dam reduces the velocity of the river thus helping sediment to settle down within the reservoir. If the sediment deficit exit due to this in river, the channel can be expected to evacuate sediment from its bed and banks in the downstream effecting the environment there (Grant,2003). Methane generation: Hydro power was considered to be the renewable that produce no greenhouse gases. According to Boyle, G (2009), a report by the world commission on dams (WCD, 2000, Anon, 2001), the decaying of vegetable matter in an anaerobic condition produces methane (CH4), when the land is flooded with hydro project. Fish migration: Fish are affected directly by the obstruction like dam on its course. The most commonly affected species like Salmon, which needs to go upstream for spawning, can be obstructed from their spawning place. Inundation of the spawning grounds within the reservoir, periodic inundation and drying out of spawning ground and refuge area downstream of the dam further hampers the fishs activity. (Harvath, E, and Municio, M. A. T.,1998). Resettlement of people: Construction of Dam requires huge area of land, which is often acquired by displacing people from that place. People are often forced to leave their inherited land giving them psychological stress and the resettlement to the new location often alters the existing environment there. In China Three Gorges Dam have already displaced a million people and still another 80000 are to be moved till its final stage, 1200 villages and 2 major towns have had to be abandoned and rebuilt (McGivering, 2006). Fertility of the downstream plains: The downstream part of dam loose the nutrient containing soil, which used to receive during flooding. After the building of the Aswan dam, in 1960s, the land downstream no longer receives the soil and nutrients previously carried by the annual Nile flood. The agricultural system has been destroyed in the downstream and to be replaced and is replaced by irrigation and chemical fertilizer(Boyle, G, 2004). Local climate change: Increased precipitation has been observed after the construction of dam, the physical process by which large scale surface evaporation triggers in the precipitation recycling in such area (Hossain, F, et al, 2009). Changes in the air moisture percentage, air temperature, air movement in big scale can be caused by big scale dam (Tahmiscioglu, M, S, et al,.). Impact on biodiversity: In some cases building of dams disturb the habitat of critically endangered species too, the winter shelter of Siberien Crane and the Baiji Yangtze river dolphin, are found to be affected by the three gorges dam (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Gorges_Dam). Induced earthquakes: large reservoirs can cause seismic events as they fill, as the pressure on local faults increases (ICE 1981). The seismic activity of magnitude 5.7 was recorded in Lake Oroville in Butte county of California in June 1982(Allen, C,R, 1982) Agricultural/ loss of forests: In many cases, the construction of dam covers the productive agricultural land which used to be the means of sustenance for the local people and in many cases clear some part of forest destroying natural ecosystem. About 1400 hector of agricultural land will be submerged because of the three gorge dam (Gleick, P.H., 2009). Spread of disease (increase in disease carrying vectors, e.g. mosquito): Study carried out by Yewhalaw, D, et al (2005), found that the impoundment can act as breeding ground for vectors like mosquito, and found that the children living near to dam are at greater risk of plasmodium infection than the children living away. Archaeological sites: In some cases even the archaeological sites also get destroyed due to dam construction. More than 100 archaeological sites, some dating back over 12000 years will be submerged due to the three gorge dam (Gleick, P.H., 2009). Decommissioning: Even though, decommissioning of dams help to restore the reverine ecosystem to its natural condition, some short term negative effect such as sediment mobilisation, contaminated material and threat of super saturation can be seen (Bednarek, A,T, 2001). Key questions for part B: Answer to the following questions will be searched in the second part of this case study: What are the major hazards associated with dam and how the risk can be minimised? What are the approaches practised to minimise the impact on dam on environment and human? How the dam induced impact like sedimentation, obstruction on the fish migration route and increase in diseases carrier vector can be regulated? How the regulating body ensure the safety of dam? How the factors like politics and economy affect in the construction of dam? Draft Plan: Introduction Major hazards associated with Dam (Reservoir) Causes of Dam failure The possible impacts of such hazards Measures to minimise the impacts Environmental Issues associated with Dam Impact on agriculture and forest Impact on fish migration Impact on biodiversity Measures practised to minimise the impact Socio economic impact of Dam Abandonment and resettlement of displaced people Damages to ancient heritage (archaeological structure) Ways to minimise the damage to ancient heritage Cost Benefit Analysis of Dam Conclusion