Applications of virtual simulation and their impact in education and training Essay Example for Free

Applications of virtual simulation and their impact in education and training Essay By replicating experiences, simulations hold great potential for educating people or training professionals for almost any task. Research shows more learning is acquired through virtual reality than through reading or lectures. Different from other visual technologies such as film, television and photography, virtual simulation is very effective in education and training because it can provide interactive experience with theories and concepts. Students learn while they are situated in the context where what they learn is to be applied. They get immediate feedback as they explore their understanding of the material (Hitlab). Virtual reality transports learners and lets them explore places they are not able to visit or experience in the real world and could also allow them to visit different places in different time periods that they could not experience in one lifetime. Indeed, virtual reality evokes many possibilities for education and training across a whole range of disciplines. Despite prohibitive costs, more and more educational institutions are exploring simulation technologies as teaching aids and research tools (Byrne, 1993). However, the benefits far outweigh the high costs of simulation technologies. For example, virtual simulation could be used to avoid the physical, safety, and cost constraints that limit schools in the types of environments they can provide for learning-by-doing. To expose them to situated learning, Nuclear Engineering students could learn more about the nuclear reactor by studying simulated models with HMD and 3D gloves instead of a real nuclear reactor. Virtual reality technology facilitates constructivist learning activities and also supports different types of learners such as those who are visually oriented. Virtual simulation could also solve the limitations of distance learning in science and engineering education by providing virtual laboratories in place of hands-on experiments. Physical phenomena that are not easily perceived or measured in usual experiments can be presented in a virtual world and can be viewed in many different perspectives in a VR laboratory. Furthermore, virtual simulation could also address the problems of high costs and hazards of complicated experiments (Kim, et al. , 2001). Figure 2. Simulation offers interactive demonstration of the AC and DC generators (from Kim, et al. , 2001) Simulations in education focus on specific lessons or tasks and allow the replication of abstract concepts and ideas. Simulation techniques are used to create a microworld that simulates an abstract concept and allows the learner to experiment or construct objects to facilitate understanding. A good example of a microworld is the Global Challenge Award online STEM learning web site that teaches science concepts related to global warming and the future of energy. Virtual simulation could also be used, for example, by an ecology to study hydrology and population growth and decay for wildlife species in a given geographic region. An astronomer could also simulate the collision of galaxies and the formation of dark matter. Virtual simulation allows professionals to explore their fields without having to run extensive and costly physical, on site, experiments (Fishwick, 1995). The use of simulation environments has been found to be very effective educational tools because they support self-driven learning (Trindade et al. , 2002). Figure 3. Interactive demonstration of different types of waves (from Kim, et al. , 2001) Multisensory immersion would be the best way for science students to learn complex scientific concepts. In a study of virtual reality physics simulation (VRPS) conducted by Kim, et al. (2001), it was found out that students who were exposed to VRPS programs that provide rich interactive learning environments showed higher academic achievement and felt more satisfaction and interest in the learning process. In another study done by Jensen, et al. (2004), it was shown that 3D visualizations can improve learner satisfaction due to the vivid presentation, and at least maintain learning efficacy.

Overview of Steven Pinkers Theories

Overview of Steven Pinkers Theories Introduction and brief biography Steven Pinker is a well-known psychologist who writes, researches and lectures on language and cognition. As well as being an experienced and widely published researcher in the academic field he is also well known to non-scientists for his easily accessible popular science books covering evolutionary psychology and language development. He is arguably responsible for bringing the complex field of cognitive psychology to the layperson and a short analysis of his work and ideas should provide insight into why he is so popular and successful both to academic and lay readers. Steven Pinker is Canadian American, born in 1954 and educated at McGill University and the Ivy League colleges of Cambridge, Massachusetts. His official biography describes him as an experimental psychologist, currently Harvard College Professor and Johnstone Family professor in the Department of Psychology (Pinker 2003). He is a teaching as well as research scientist and writes for the academic press and popular press as well as his own books. He credits his interest in science to a teenage present of science books on the mind (Pinker 2004b). In interviews Pinker is often self deprecating, indicating that scientists don’t always choose a specific field due to overwhelming interest, rather due to circumstance and being in the right place at the right time (Pinker 2004b). Despite being an immensely successful author with his most recent book being ranked at number 624 in the bestseller list of Amazon.com[1], he does not seek to either overawe or be condescending to the regular lay reader, instead treating them, in his own words, as an â€Å"old college room mate† and respecting their intelligence (Pinker 2004b). Pinker’s ideas and impact Pinker is often known for his debates with fellow scientists such as Steven Rose in which the nature versus nurture concept is discussed. Pinker is described as the leading spokesman for the view that we are made by nature as well as nurture (Appleyard 2007). Pinker is a firm believer that our genes dictate how we act our lives through the mind being the critical determiner of who survives and passes their genes on to their offspring; whereas Rose believes that all living systems are radically indeterminate and continually construct their own futures (Brockman 1998). One of the reasons for the controversy of Pinker’s ideas is the echoes of Nazism as, by saying that we are a product of our genes, it suggests that some are genetically programmed to be inferior to others. Pinker addresses the idea that humans develop purely based on their experiences in the book The Blank Slate, thus called because of the common belief that the mind is a blank slate and the way a person develops is purely a product of culture and socialisation (Rakoff 2002). He points out that anyone having children can see that they are born with identities and the fact that children are affected by upbringing is not proof of causation, rather being merely correlation. However he is also able to argue the other side, as it were, when he explains that, whilst genes can have something to do with behaviour, the study of behavioural genetics is, in his words, ‘a paradox’ (Pinker 2003). In particular the influence of culture will affect many lifestyle choices, with serious effects on development. He exhorts everyone to ‘try to reach the best point in the range [of temperament and talent]’ (Pinker 2003). He protests that the biology of consciousness offers a bette r explanation for how people ‘work’ than the existence of an, un provable in his view, immortal soul (Pinker 2007a). He suggests that we all develop as a product of our brains, and other people have similar brains so all have a similar capacity. He further develops his view by stating that the soul is in fact the information-processing activity of the brain and that all emotion can be tied to specific neural activity (Pinker 2004a). This is a controversial view as many philosophers and sociologists would not like to believe that our freedom of thought is not in fact freedom at all, rather an automatic response from our genes. One of Pinker’s key ideas is his words / rules account of language in which he suggests that there is a contrast between the regular and irregular inflection of words and this is due to there being 2 distinct computational mechanisms for the processing of these words (Berent, Pinker Shimron 2002). He set this out in his oft cited[2] piece entitled Rules of Language published in 1991 in the journal Science (Pinker 1991). The language processing of the brain was described as modular and independent of real-world meaning suggesting a genetic basis to the development of language, presumably because logically language would only be processed in connection with the meaning of that language. Pinker has more recently written about human nature in a wider context than language. One such example is where he explains that romantic love has a paradoxical logic, where in fact there is not a neat matching of mates according to the rules of shopping – eg matching purely on the grounds of features and quality (Pinker 2008). He also commends other people on their influence, with one such account being his 2007 commendation of Paul Allen’s contribution to the scientific world (Pinker 2007b). An individual must be well respected and influential in his own right to be asked to comment upon the influence of others. However he has been subject to controversy, with people suggesting that his book The Blank Slate denies the existence of sex discrimination. However he defends his position, indicating that he has merely shown empirical evidence about the differences in talents, temperaments and life priorities between men and women (Pinker 2006). He describes how he lost sleep over the gender chapter yet also points out that in the first 2 years post publication no one had any problem with that chapter (Quixote 2006). It was only later that Pinker’s work was used out of context by Larry Summers, then president of Harvard University, who said that innate [genetic] differences were the reason why fewer women succeeded in maths and science (Bombardieri 2005). Thus the message of the book reached a greater audience, but the audience misconstrued what had been said originally. He often has to defend his work, or clarify it to others who misinterpret e.g. (Pinker, Ullman 2003, Pinker, Ullman 2002) and the much longer opinion article (Pinker, Ullman 2002). No doubt, though, if a researcher or author has to defend their work it means that others are noting what they say enough to criticise, and then publishers care enough to seek the rejoinders. It is possible to obtain impact factor trend graphs for published articles. This provides an indication of the journal’s relative impact, thus the consequent impact that the article within that journal may have. Analysis of the 3 most cited articles from Pinker provides the data for table 1 below. Obviously the most cited articles are older but the journals in which the articles are published have high impact. Table 1 An analysis of the journal impact and number of times cited for the 3 most popular Pinker articles[3] In a profile published last year the Sunday Times refer to Pinker’s ideas as ‘incendiary’ and describe him as a global science celebrity (Appleyard 2007). Despite the possible Nazism connotations that could be attributed to his ideas, there is also a clear logic to the brain containing the blueprint to our development. If there are genes that decide our hair colour and skin colour then why not other features? No one would deny that genetic malfunctions such as occur in Downs Syndrome clearly show the effect that defective genes can have from birth. Why should only defective genes be influential? Pinker says that it hard to judge his own influence, but that more people of more cultures and races are [now] open to the idea that biology can have some answers to human life and its workings (Quixote 2006). He also suggested the topic for the annual question for The Edge Foundation for 2006 as ‘My Dangerous Idea’. His account of his 2005 includes instances such as the Summers’ speech mentioned above, as well as other research which endeavoured to show that race and intelligence do not exist. The lasting influence of these ideas (and his own work and reputation) is that people perceive Pinker as propounding dangerous ideas that fuel bigotry (Brockman 2006). However bigotry isn’t created by the influence of one scientist. Pinker’s work may be used as evidence to support existing bigotry but support is not the same as initiation. References Appleyard, B. 2007, Steven Pinker knows what’s going on inside your head, October 14th 2007, The Times, London. Berent, I., Pinker, S. Shimron, J. 2002, The nature of regularity and irregularity: evidence from Hebrew nominal inflection, Journal of psycholinguistic research, vol. 31, no. 5, pp. 459-502. Bombardieri, M. 2005, Summers remarks on women draw fire, January 17th 2005 edn, Boston Globe, Boston. Brockman, J. 2006, 01/01/2006-last update, Edge: The World Question Centre 2006 [Homepage of The Edge], [Online]. Available: http://www.edge.org/q2006/q06_3.html#pinker [accessed 30/10/2008] . Brockman, J. 1998, 25/03/1998-last update, Edge: PINKER VS. ROSE-A DEBATE (PART I) [Homepage of The Edge], [Online]. Available: http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/pinker_rose/pinker_rose_p1.html [accessed 30/10/2008] . Pinker, S. 2003, , Steven Pinker About- long biography [Homepage of Harvard University], [Online]. Available: http://pinker.wjh.harvard.edu/about/longbio.html [accessed 30/10/2008] . Pinker, S. 2008, Crazy love, Time, vol. 171, no. 4, pp. 82-83. Pinker, S. 2007a, The mystery of consciousness, Time, vol. 169, no. 5, pp. 58-62, 65-6, 69-70. Pinker, S. 2007b, Time 100 scientists thinkers. Paul Allen, Time, vol. 169, no. 20, pp. 112. Pinker, S. 2006, The gender debate: science promises an honest investigation of the world, Nature, vol. 442, no. 7102, pp. 510. Pinker, S. 2004a, How to think about the mind, Newsweek, vol. 144, no. 13, pp. 78. Pinker, S. 2004b, Steven Pinker, Current biology : CB, vol. 14, no. 21, pp. R909. Pinker, S. 2003, Are your genes to blame?, Time, vol. 161, no. 3, pp. 98-100. Pinker, S. Bloom, P. 1990, Natural-Language and Natural-Selection, Behavioral and Brain Sciences, vol. 13, no. 4, pp. 707-726. Pinker, S. Prince, A. 1988, On Language and Connectionism Analysis of a Parallel Distributed-Processing Model of Language-Acquisition, Cognition, vol. 28, no. 1-2, pp. 73-193. Pinker, S. Ullman, M. 2002, Combination and structure, not gradedness, is the issue, Trends in cognitive sciences, vol. 6, no. 11, pp. 472-474. Pinker, S. Ullman, M.T. 2003, Beyond one model per phenomenon, Trends in cognitive sciences, vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 108-109. Pinker, S. Ullman, M.T. 2002, The past and future of the past tense, Trends in cognitive sciences, vol. 6, no. 11, pp. 456-463. Pinker, S. 1991, Rules of Language, Science, vol. 253, no. 5019, pp. 530-535. Quixote, D. 2006, July 4th 2006-last update, 10 questions for Steven Pinker [Homepage of Gene Expression], [Online]. Available: http://www.gnxp.com/blog/2006/07/10-questions-for-steven-pinker.php [accessed 30/10/2008] . Rakoff, D. 2002, Questions For Steven Pinker, 15th September 2002, The New York Times, Ney York. Tarr, M.J. Pinker, S. 1989, Mental Rotation and Orientation-Dependence in Shape-Recognition, Cognitive psychology, vol. 21, no. 2, pp. 233-282. 1 [1] Data obtained from www.amazon.com at 09:20 on 30/10/2008 [2] 318 citations as at 30/10/2008. Data from ISI Web of Knowledge [3] Citation information obtain from ISI Web of Knowledge Journal Citation reports for social science journals on 30th October 2008 available at http://admin-apps.isiknowledge.com/JCR/JCR?RQ=HOME.

Birds Eye And The UK Frozen Food Industry Marketing Essay

Birds Eye And The UK Frozen Food Industry Marketing Essay INTRODUCTION: Birds Eye Foods Ltd was incorporated in the United Kingdom in 1938 in response to the interest that Robert Lucas, the chairman of Winget Ltd developed in the product while in the USA. On incorporation, it was owned by General foods corporation (their parent company in the USA), Robert Lucas and Chivas and sons Ltd (a British canner and jam maker). Birds Eye was subsequently acquired in March 1943 by Unilever, who identified its potential to serve their current business interests in the three main categories: fish (Mac fisheries), fruits and vegetables (Batchelors peas), and poultry (Poulton Noel Ltd). Their strategy was to grow the business along those 3 areas and to push for global expansion. The dearth of infrastructure and the meticulous needs of quick-freezing implied that to guarantee the quality of their products, Birds Eye had to invest across their entire supply chain and build their own system. In essence, they were geared towards establishing an organisation that was fully integrated from controlling food production (raw materials sourcing, harvesting equipment, production equipment, location and construction of plants) to distribution up to the retailers frozen food cabinet (cold storage, insulated vehicles) via their sister company SPD (Grant, 2010). Birds Eye is considered to be one of the founders of the modern frozen food industry and, is credited with many innovations in food processing, freezing techniques, quality management, vegetable cultivation techniques and harvesting equipments as it sought to secure competitive advantage. Some of the other players in the frozen foods market included: Smedleys (National Canning), Smethurst Ltd, Mudd and Son, etc. From humble beginnings, Birds Eyes market share reached 70% in the 1950s and 1960s. Their RoCE in the same period was highest in the industry, with 16.2% in 1964. However, the 1970s and 1980s ushered in a change in the dynamics of the industry. Falling barriers to entry (blast freezers) led to a reduction in production processes and costs of production, and change in the retail industry (counter-service to self-service and the emergence of large supermarkets/retail chains). The influx of new entrants to different parts of the supply chain (from distribution to marketing) led to the decline of Birds Eyes market share and its profitability; 18.5% market share in 1983. Based on the information given this report seeks to answer the following questions: 1. Why did Birds Eye develop as a vertically integrated producer? 2. In sourcing raw materials, explain why Birds Eye adopted different arrangements for peas, fish, and meat? 3. Why did specialized intermediaries emerge? 4. Did a vertically integrated producer have a competitive advantage over more vertically specialized suppliers of frozen foods during the early 1980s? 5. What should Birds Eye have done in 1979? LITERATURE REVIEW: Corporate level strategy is the conduct of drafting, implementing and evaluating cross-functional decisions that will enable an organization to achieve its long-term objectives. It is the process of specifying the organizations mission, vision and objectives, developing policies and plans, often in terms of projects and programs, which are designed to achieve these objectives and then allocating resources to implement the policies, and plans, projects and programs. Firms can develop strategies that ensures that they have a competitive advantage in the market and this can be done in the following ways Internal development: This is a process where the firm looks within itself and builds up its own resources and capabilities internally. The problem with this approach is that it might take a lot of time to build up the required capacity. Some of the reasons why a firm would want to internally build up its capacity are: they might want to develop product internally to form core competence. they may seek to avoid culture clash with the merging partner. they might be unable to find a suitable acquisition target. Mergers and Acquisition: This is a process where a firm either merges with other firms or out-rightly acquires the firm in question to increase their capacity. Some of the benefits of MA are stated below: Economies of scale: This refers to the situation where a firms cost can be reduced due to expansion. The expansion results in a decrease in per unit cost associated with production. Economies of scope: This is similar to economies of scale but its related to the efficiencies derivable from the production of two different goods together, rather than separately and it can be attributed to the products using common technology or common marketing channel. Create value/Increased revenue or market share: When a firm merges or acquires another firm it is probably a competitor or a firm along its supply chain. Integrations like these help firms to secure their supplies, reduce transaction times and create revenue and savings opportunities across the chain. So the buyer is basically increasing its revenue market share when it takes over another. STRATEGIC ALLIANCES: This is a cooperative relationship between firms involving the sharing of resources in pursuit of common goals. Firms can go into a contract/relationship with another firm in the actualization of its goals. These alliances could be in any of the three forms: Analytical Framework: Birds eye joined the UK frozen food industry when it was novel and stayed on till it became mature and saturated. For strategic reasons Birds Eye opted for a vertically integrated business model as shown in figure 1.0. Given the changes that continued to hit the UK frozen food industry in the time under consideration it was paramount that Birds Eye continued to assess its position in the market relative to other players and emerging factors. For much of the 1950s and 1960s, the barriers to entry were prohibitive enough to restrict the number of players. Factors ranging from the cost of setting up machinery, distribution costs, marketing costs were significant enough to deter other investors. The Porters 5 Forces Analysis shown in figure 2.0 shows how Birds Eye was squeezed from all sides as all the forces worked against them simultaneously: The farmers grew developed the capabilities needed to raise high quality vegetables. Technological innovations reduced the costs of raising and processing food, this led to new entrants. Most entrants couldnt afford massive investments in marketing so they aimed to deliver mainstream or even unbranded foods that will compete on functionality. Changes in the retail industry introduced customers to more options and more savings. The caterers who bought in bulk preferred the basic brands that werent expensive. Verdict = The industry had become saturated and unattractive. The BCG Matrix The BCG matrix helps us to dissect a business into its different component parts and evaluate them objectively on the basis of the state of the market (whether there is growth, low or high) and the firms share of the market (whether low or high). Table 1.0 in the appendix summarises the position of the different aspects of Birds Eyes businesses across its supply chain. On the strength of the analysis and the case we make recommendations in the next section. Recommendation: Birds eye develop as vertically integrated producer for the following reasons: Firstly, adequate infrastructure for deep freezing was absent at the time so Birds Eye had to develop theirs. This warranted them investing across their supply chain. Secondly, Birds Eye needed to control their entire supply chain to guarantee consistent supply of high quality raw materials, and also regular supply of products to customers. Thirdly, they wanted to ensure that all process within the production and supply chain is efficiently optimised. Fourthly, the structure of their supply chain delivered economies of scale that helped to optimize costs. In sourcing raw materials, explain why Birds Eye adopted different arrangements for peas, fish, and meat?: The sourcing arrangements that Birds Eye adopted for the different raw materials was dependent: Vegetables: Birds Eye adopted their chosen strategy for vegetables because the seeds, cultivation, fertilization, treatment and harvestation practices available to farmers of the time could not guarantee a high quality final product. The farmers didnt have the equipment to harvest vegetables fast enough for them to be freezed in good time. Fish: Due to the nature of whitefish and where they are found, Birds Eye couldnt control their production. Inability to control their breeding left them with the option of sourcing for the best of the available supplies; buying fish fresh from dock side auctions or buying fishes that were frozen at sea. Between 1965 and 1969 they had a majority stake in a fishing company in a bid to ensure their cod supplies. Meat: Meat was primarily poultry and because this process could be controlled from start to finish Birds Eye acquired poultry farms and subjected them to their strict standards. Why did specialized intermediaries emerge?: The specialized intermediaries in this case refer to the specialist storage, freezing and transportation companies. Some of the reason for their emergence include: The availability of infrastructure: invention of blast freezers: The invention of blast freezers among other technologies made production cheaper and more efficient. This meant most of the costly barriers to entry had disappeared. Diversification to create value and spread risk: Companies who had competitive advantage in a certain segment of food production merely started offering their products in frozen form to enter the growing market. Processing to increase value added: Firms that originated from agricultural cooperative realized that if they added value to their produce they could command more returns on them. Most of the intermediaries were flexible: The intermediaries offered their services on very flexible contractual terms. The costs of building a vertically integrated was high so firms concentrated on one or two parts of the supply chain. Vertically integrated producers: Vertically integrated suppliers were better placed than vertically integrated producers of frozen food in the 1980s. In the early days of the industry owning all aspects of the supply chain was expedient as there was a dearth of infrastructure; firms needed to build competitive advantage on the basis of their products quality and also control their costs so, it was key to own the entire chain. However, the 1980s ushered in new and cheaper technologies that made production cheaper and more efficient. Also, competition grew from more specialized and efficient firms entered the market to compete thereby reducing margins. Therefore, we believe it would have paid Birds Eye more to concentrate on its core capabilities, seek to control its supply entire supply chain by means of long term contracts with firms specialized in areas where it was weak in, instead of owning them. What should Birds Eye have done in 1979?: Having identified that the vertically integrated approach to supply chain management that helped them grow in the 1950s and 1960s was no longer the best (as shown above), Birds Eye should have sold off their under-performing divisions and concentrated on the profitable sections as shown by the BCG matrix in table 1.0. In detail, Birds Eye should have sought to: Divest its physical investment in the fish/meat/seed sourcing, cultivation and harvesting , and instead activate a contractual strategic alliance with the co-operatives. Free up its resources tied up in the distribution business and instead contract the distribution out to other more efficient firms. Among their brands, they should concentrate on the frozen foods that they have a competitive advantage and leave the British grocery segment. Stop cutting prices. Appendix: Figure 1.0: Birds Eye Supply Chain Figure 2.0: Porters 5 forces analysis Portfolio Management Analysis: The BCG Matrix: Table 1.0 HIGH MARKET SHARE LOW LOW MARKET GROWTH HIGH Stars Question Marks Prepared meals Transport Distribution Freezing Processing Cash Cows Frozen fish Frozen meat Storage Dogs Vegetable Fruit

Greek Mythology Essay -- essays research papers

Greek Mythology Mythology was an integral part of the lives of all ancient peoples. The myths of Ancient Greece are the most familiar to us, for they are deeply entrenched in the consciousness of Western civilization. The myths were accounts of the lives of the deities whom the Greeks worshipped. The Greeks had many deities, including 12 principal ones, who lived on Mt. Olympus. The myths are all things to all people – a rollicking good yarn, expressions of deep psychological insights, words of spine-tingling poetic beauty and food for the imagination. They serve a timeless universal need, and have inspired great literature, art and music, providing archetypes through which we can learn much about the deeper motives of human behavior. No-one has the definitive answer as to why or how the myths came into being, nut many are allegorical accounts of historical facts. The Olympian family were a desperate lot despite being related. The next time you have a bowl of corn flakes give thanks to Demeter the goddess of vegetation. The English word "cereal" for products of corn or edible grain derives from the goddess' Roman name, Ceres. In Greek the word for such products is demetriaka. Demeter was worshipped as the goddess of earth and fertility. Zeus was the king and leader of the 12. His symbol was the thunder and in many of his statues he appears holding one. Poseidon, god of the sea and earthquakes, was most at home in the depths of the Aegean where he lived in a sumptuous golden palace. When he became angry (which was often) he would use his trident to create massive waves and floods. Ever intent upon expanding his domain, he challenged Dionysos for Naxos, Hera for Argos and Athena for Athens. Ares, god of war, was a nasty piece of work – fiery tempered, bloodthirsty, brutal and violent. In contrast Hestia, the goddess of the hearth, symbol of security, happiness and hospitality, was as pure as driven snow. She spurned disputes and wars and swore to be a virgin forever. Hera was not a principal deity; her job was a subservient one – she was Zeus' cupbearer. Athena, the powerful goddess of wisdom and patron of Athens, is said to have been born (complete with helmet, armor and spear) from Zeus' head, with Hephaestus acting as midwife. Unlike Ares, she derived no pleasure from fighting, but preferred settling disputes peacefully using her wisdom... ...ed to Greece where he organized drunken revelries and married Ariadne, daughter of King Minos. In addition to the gods the Ancient Greeks revered many beings who had probably once been mortal, such as King Minos, Theseus and Erichthonious. Intermediaries between gods and humans, such as the satyrs, also appear in the myths. The satyrs lived in woods and had goat horns and tails; they worshipped the god Dionysos, so, appropriately, they spent much of their time drinking and dancing. Nymphs lived in secluded valleys and grottoes and occupied themselves with spinning, weaving, bathing, singing and dancing. Pan found them irresistible. The Muses, of which there were nine, were nymphs of the mountain springs; they were believed to inspire poets, artists and musicians. Finally, mention should be made of the three crones Tisiphone, Aledo and Megara – sometimes called the Furies – whose job it was to deal with grievances from mortals, and punish wrongdoers. They had dogs' heads, snakes' hair, bloodshot eyes, coal black bodies and bats' wings and carried brass-studded scourges. It was considered unlucky to call them by name – they had to be called Eumenides – the kindly ones! Bill Gates

Essay --

MRSA among athletes Staphylococcus discovery started when it is first investigated and been observed also culture by Pasteur and Koch but were made by Ogston in 1881 and Rosenbach in 1884 (Ogston, 1882: Rosenbach, 1884). Staphylococcus aureus is well known as staph are bacteria that carried on the skin or nose of healthy people. About 25 to 50 per cent of people carried this staph according to research that being made. Most skin that infected by staph causes minor affect likes pimple but it can be cure without using an antibiotics. Sometimes, staph can cause serious problem for example pneumonia, blood or joint infections and deep skin infections. Usually athletes tend to get the infection anywhere equipment rubs and cause broken skin such as on the hands, knees or elbows for football, basketball or volleyball players or on the buttocks or sides of the legs for rowers. According to (Rosenbach), S. aureus were responsible for wound infections and furunculosis (Rosenbach, 1884). After that, surgeon being afraid of this microbe could infect the patient who doing surgeries. They believed that Staphylococcus can cause life threatening disease after trauma and fatal pneumonia during influenza season. Therefore, in pre-antibiotic era, S.aureus was known as major life-threatening pathogen. MRNA started to become world-wide problem in 1950 (Shanson, 1982; Cokkson and Philips, 1990). MRNA stands for methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus and this microbe are related to MRNA is staphylococcus aureus. S.aureus is a bacterium commonly found on skin, axillae and nares of healthy individuals. MRSA is the outbreak of skin infections caused by S.aureus which is resistance to antibiotics. During 1950, a new virulent strain of peni... ...self-inoculation’ from a carrier site or acquired by contact with an exogenous source, usually another person. People who are nasal carriers of virulent Staphylococcusaureus can also cause serious skin diseases due to toxin production. In addition, skin and soft tissue infections are also caused by MRSA. Therefore, the treatment involves drainage and this is usually sufficient for minor lesions, but antibiotics may be given in addition when the infection is severe and the patient has a fever. MRSA can be treated with enzyme-stable penicilins such as nafcilin. Isolates resistant to these compounds may be treated with vancomycin, linezolid, quinopristin-dalfoprisin, or daptomycin. (Goering et al. (2008).Treatment with this agent does not necessarily eradicate carriage of the staphylococci. Lastly, good skin care and personal hygiene should be encouraged.

Quantitative Research Critique

Quantitative Research Critique Cathleen Atkins Grand Canyon University NRS 433V Linda Permoda March 24, 2013 Quantitative Research Critique Title of Article The title of the article being critiqued is â€Å"The impact of workload on hygiene compliance in nursing†, which was published in the British Journal of Nursing (Knoll, Lautenschlaeger, & Borneff-Lipp, 2010). Authors There are three authors for this quantitative research study. Martin Knoll is the HTW of Saarland, Clinical Nursing Research and Evaluation, Saarbruecken, Germany.Christine Lautenschlaeger, Institute of Medical Epidemiology, Biometry and Medical Informatics, Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, Germany is the second author. And last, Marianne Borneff-Lipp is head of the Institute for Hygiene, Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany (Knoll, Lautenschlaeger, & Borneff-Lipp, 2010). Introduction to Study Quantitative research is used when trying to determine the meaning of li fe experiences and situations. This is done by using a systematic and subjective approach to study.The goal of quantitative research is to determine the relationship between one thing, an independent variable, and another, the dependent variable (Burns & Grove, 2011). The purpose of the study was to examine whether external factors such as ward capacity and level of nursing intensity had any effect on compliance of hand hygiene guidelines by the nursing staff (Knoll, Lautenschlaeger, & Borneff-Lipp, 2010). Protection of Human Participants During the six participant observation trials nurses were observed, without their knowledge, to see if they complied with hand hygiene disinfection.When a nurse was observed to have neglected hand hygiene an interview was immediately conducted to understand why previous training on hand hygiene guidelines were ignored. The observations and interviews were conducted with permission from hospital management and the medical director that were in accor dance with the Guidelines of Good Research Practice (Cambridge University, 2005). Informed consent was obtained by nursing staff when subsequent interviews were undertaken after notice of failure to comply with the guidelines and they did so voluntarily (Knoll, Lautenschlaeger, & Borneff-Lipp, 2010).Benefits of participation were not addressed by the researchers. Data Collection Major variables for this study were identified. The independent variable identified by the researchers is the nursing staff with the dependent variable being data collected from the interviews. Data was collected for this study during a 12 month time period, from June 2007 to May 2008. Data collection was divided into six observation trial periods that included June, September, and November of 2007 and January, March, and May of 2008. Nursing staff from ten departments were observed for research.Those departments included four surgery units, four internal medicine units, and two interdisciplinary intensive c are units. Data was collected by observations and interviews. A researcher observed nurses for hand disinfection, when a nurse failed to do so the researcher introduced themself to the nurse and immediately initiated a narrative interview (Knoll, Lautenschlaeger, & Borneff-Lipp, 2010). Rationale for using the previously described collection methods was so the study could employ the Hawthorne effect. (Stroebe, 2003).The Hawthorne effect exercises influence on the nurse through teaching that is intended to motivate behavioral change (Knoll, Lautenschlaeger, & Borneff-Lipp, 2010). Data Management and Analysis There was no information provided by the researchers about data management. A descriptive design and trend analysis was used to determine problems with current practice of the nurses interviewed. Data analysis was done through categorization of summarized core statement. Seven categories with subsequent causes were developed as well as a structured definition of those categories.T he rigor process was not addressed by the researchers. To minimize the effect of researcher bias the interviews were consistently conducted by the same interviewer in a controlled environment (Knoll, Lautenschlaeger, & Borneff-Lipp, 2010). Findings / Interpretation of Findings The findings from the research are valid and have an accurate reflection of reality. Confidence in the findings is positive because it addressed the purpose of the study. Nursing staff illness, absence, vacation, and difference in full or part time employment were not taken into account and make up the limitations of the study.The study used coherent logic as was evidenced by categorization of data, tables, and section titles. The study findings can be applied to all aspects of nursing practice in all areas. One question that emerged that requires further study is how such an imbalance could arise between the scope of every day nursing duties and the time available to perform them (Knoll, Lautenschlaeger, & Bo rneff-Lipp, 2010). References Burns, N. & Grove, S. K. (2011). Understanding nursing research. Maryland Heights: W.B. Saunders. Cambridge University. (2005). Good research practice. http://tinyurl. com/3yhf8py Knoll, M. , Lautenschlaeger, C. , & Borneff-Lipp, M. (2010). The impact of workload on hygiene compliance in nursing. British Journal of Nursing, 19(16), S18-S22. Retrieved on March 24, 2013 from http://ehis. ebscohost. com. library. gcu. edu:2048/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer? sid=0e6f5b68-9e35-492d-9fae-b57d46b48458%40sessionmgr112&vid=7&hid=6 Stroebe, W. (2003). Sozialpsychologie. 4th Ed. Heidelberg, Berlin.

People Attend College for Many Different Reasons Essay

Although people attend college or school for many different reasons, one of the most common reason for people to attend a college is for a career preparation. Although we have new experiences and also gain knowledge by attending a college or university, those are not the primary reasons for people attending a college because we can also get new experiences wherever new we go and whatever new we do. We will surely have new experiences if we attend a college but we do not attend a college for new experiences. Second, we do not just attend a college only for increased knowledge. If increasing the knowledge is the only motivation for the person, then we have many other sources like textbooks, journals, internet and many other sources which can help us to gain knowledge. We need not attend a college if gaining knowledge is the only reason. However, we gain knowledge if we attend a college but gaining knowledge is not the only impetus to attend a college or university. For example, if a university offers a very splendid environment and it can impart knowledge to the students better than any other university but if it does not offer any degree and does not show any job opportunities, I am pretty sure that few people will prefer to join it. Similarly, if a university is not so good at infrastructure and research work but if it still able to provide a better placement and career growth, it is no surprise that many people will be ready to join that university compared to the latter. So, from the reasons and examples stated above I think there are many factors that influences a person to join a college or university, career preparation is the most important of all.