Effect of Preschool Education Essay

Education is an indispensable tool in nations building is a process of systematic training and instruction designed to transmit knowledge and acquisition of skill, potentials and abilities which will enable an individual to contribute efficiently to the growth and development of his society and nation. Osakwe (2006) define the meaning of education as the round development that involves individual physically, socially, morally, intellectually, and mentally. Pre-primary education can be defined as the education for children meant between the ages of 3 to 6 years (Omozeghian 1995). The National Policy on Education (2004) sees preprimary education as the education given in an educational institution to children aged 3-5 years plus prior to their entering the primary school. That is to say that early education is a special kind of education provided in an institution for children, prior to their entering the primary school. Early childhood education, in the context of formal education can be said to be â€Å"a formalized educational process to which children between the ages of 2 and a half through five years above are subjected to be in designated pre-school institutions† (Mezieobi 2006). In Malaysia, Preschool educations are still in the early stage. Meaning that, in Malaysia preschool education are more focusing at the children age 5 and 6 years old. This happen due to the thinking of at the age of 2 until 4 years it is too early for the children being expose for education. Malaysia preschool education are more toward children at the age of 5 and 6 years. Also, the majority of parent in Malaysia are more preferring send their children to preschool at the age of 5 and 6 years old. 1. 2Problem Statement. Early childhood education (ECE) programs include any type of educational program that serves children in the preschool years and is designed to improve later school performance. These performances refer to the performance of the children whereby, it develops the children learning ability at the early stage. Although it seem like Preschool education is beneficial to the children, there are several negative effect of preschool education toward children. The negative effects can be seen mentioned by some scholar when the children involve in preschool education. Firstly, referring to the article current problems of Preschool education, the author Rubtsov V. V cited that Preschool reduce the children play time. This is because by reducing the play time of the children, it reduces the overall development of the child. There are two type of play time in preschool: Play for learning and free play. The important of play for the development of children at the early age has been proved long time ago. Free play helps in child character whereby it is conducive for the child at the preschool age to develop imagination, creativity and recognition to the rules that helps the child to control him or herself. The free play also develops communication skills, discussion resolution and prevention of conflicts. But the most important things that should be considered in the preschool education are children love to play. Current preschool education nowadays does not emphasize on the child play time. The education in preschool does not take play time as serious enough. With this approach, there is usually no time left for play Beside that the syllabus in preschool education system in the present time is still focusing towards the subject’s knowledge and skills but not toward the individual character of the children itself. This can further be explaining by the preschool education subjects does not suitable for children at the early age. This happen because of the preschool education is created to give children knowledge of the future requirement rather than what they want to be. Preschool education does not include a subject that give opportunities for the children to express their hidden talent for example art and design. The preschool education should be design to develop the children ability and real talent so that they can develop it at the early stage by focusing to their talent. Thus it could be tentatively designated as narrow-pragmatic, oriented towards the needs of the system rather than the needs of the child. Beside that less of interesting syllabus also will cause the children can develop their mental and knowledge in proper way (Rubtsov V. V, Yudina E. G, 2007). Lastly, the imposed skills and competencies in the preschool education system eliminate learning motivation and, as a result, lead to school disadaptation and school neuroses. A school neurosis is the type of mental illness in this  case afraid towards the environment of the school. This happen because of the program is too early imposed to the children. The children cannot accept the social and condition of the school environment and it usually be said as culture shock. In the psychiatrist form of view, this mental illness cannot be reverse once it has affected the young mind of the children. All of the mentioned problem has lead to the effort of the researcher to conduct a study of the effect of the preschool education toward character building of children (Rubtsov V. V, Yudina E.G, 2007) Beside that, there are positive effects of the preschool education whereby it can be seen when the government of Malaysia introduce the 1 Malaysia preschool education (Tabika 21 pilot project). According to the Chairman of the Development Council of Early Chilhood Education (MPPAK) under the program of 1 Malaysia Preschool Education is stressing on giving the early education to the children at the age of 2 years old. The objective of the program is to ensure all the children able to get good education. The important of early education in this project is to ensure the return of human capital investment for the country. Also stated by the chairman of the early childhood education council are the preschool educations can reduce the gap between poor the rich. 1. 4Research Questions The followings research question are being develop to achieve the research objective of this research which is the effects of preschool education toward character building of children. 1. What is the fitness level of preschool education children in Smartreader? 2. What is the syllabus for preschool education that improves the performance of the children? 3. Is preschool education system preparing the children for the primary school? (School readiness) 1. 5 Research Objectives The research objectives in the research purposely designed to identify what are the effects of preschool education toward character building of children. In this case the children of Smartreader kindergarten. 1. To identify what are the appropriate fitness level of the children of preschool education system. 2. To identify what are the best syllabus for improving the performance of children in term of curricular activities and knowledge behavior. 3. To identify whether the preschool education effecting the preparing the children for the primary school. 1. 6 Scope of study This research will be conducted in the Smartreader kindergarten in Shah Alam. The questionnaires will be distributed to 200 respondents. The respondents of the research will be the parents of the children in the Smartreader kindergarten. 1. 7Significant of Study 1. 7. 1Researcher There are several significant of this studies and the first are as the guidelines in order to establish the system of preschool education that can give impact to the children. This research can be as the references to other researcher to conduct other research toward preschool education. In Malaysia, early childhood education is still young and developing. A suitable and systematic preschool education must be according to a balance of needs of the children and the system. Scientific studies and research must be conducted in order to establish a proper system of preschool education that gives important not only to the children but also to the need of the education system in the country. 1. 7. 2Agencies. Secondly, this research can be the basic idea for the responsible agencies to develop a system that contains a syllabus that not only gives knowledge and skill but also syllabus that exposed the hidden talent and creativity of the children so that it will be useful in the future development of the children. This is because the children of today will be the next prospect of a great leader or innovator that can shape the country therefore, it is important for the policy maker to invest in the pre-school education for the future benefit of the country. 1. 7. 3Education system. The result of this research can also help to upgrade the preschool education system in term of preparing children toward facing the environment of primary school. Preschool education should be designed to help children in preparing them for the primary school. The result of this research may be use to help others in increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of the preschool education system in preparing children toward facing new environment and challenges in life. 1. 7. 4Parents Next, for the parents the research can be as the tool for them to identify what are the real benefits gains by their children using preschool education. Nowadays in Malaysia, preschool education is not popular among residents in the rural area such as in states of Kedah, Kelantan, Sabah and Sarawak. Parents are not sending their children to preschool education because the lacks of understanding the benefits of sending their children to preschool. Thus we hope that this research can open the eyes of parents in Malaysia especially in the rural area towards the important of preschool education for their children. Also this research can help them to be aware about the latest education that can shape the future of their children. 1. 7. 5Qualification of Teachers. Lastly, we hope can gives the benefits of identifying a better method of teaching in preschool education. This is because there are many impacts of early childhood education towards children and at the early stages, what children learn at the time will determine what types of people they will be in the future. Thus, the teacher must have the right qualification and cannot be easily pick to teach the fragile mind of the children. This research hopes to be as the references in choosing the best quality teachers suitable for the needs of the children nowadays. 1. 8Definition of Key term 1. 8. 1Definition of preschool. Preschool education can be defined as an early chilhood education is the education given to the children below the compulsory school age consists of physical care and edducation (Sheila, 2006). Mean that preschool education only involve children at the age of 2 untill 6 years old. 1. 8. 2Definition of Knowledge The definition of knowledge has transformed over such history, from a general phenomenon, to one that is specialized and actionable as the behaviorists pointed out, in evidence â€Å"outside the person, in society and economy, or in the advancement of knowledge itself† (Drucker, 1993, p. 45-6). 1. 8. 3Definition of Preparation to School. Preparation or rediness to school can be define by the National Center for Educational Statistics showed that teachers identified â€Å"ready† children as those who are physically healthy, well-rested and well-fed; able to communicate needs, wants and thoughts verbally; and curious and enthusiastic in approaching new activities. 1. 8. 4Definition of physical Physical education can be define by Merriam Webster as the instruction in the development and care of the body ranging from simple calisthenics exercises to a course of study providing training in hygiene, gymnastics, and the performance and management of athletic games. A good condition of physical is very important to make sure children will be able to build a good character for them self. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2. 0Introduction In this chapter, the researcher will discuss about the past research that have been done about the three variables which is Knowledge, Physical and School readiness towards the dependent variables which is the character building of children. In this section also, we will be discussing about the historical background of the Preschool education and lastly the conceptual framework of the studies. 2. 1History of Pre-school Education in Malaysia. The Preschool education also known as Early chilhood education is the education given to the children below the compulsory school age consists of physical care and edducation (Sheila, 2006). Early childhood care and education in Malaysia existed before the 1960’s. The education is provided back then by mostly from the religious bodies or non governmental organizations. Before this, the private kindergarten was not being established yet. In the year 1972, Ministry of Education Malaysia (MOE) drafted the Kaedah – Kaedah Guru/ Kaedah- Kaedah Kindergarten dan Sekolah Asuhan (Pendaftaran) 1972 Warta Kerajaan P. U. (A) 414 which provided the procedures to be followed regarding the registration of kindergarten, teachers and its board of governors. This was the first legal document concerning the registration of early childhood education (Curriculum Development Centre, Malaysia, 2007). In the year 1971, the first preschool known commonly in Malaysia as the Tabika KEMAS started by the Ministry of Rural and Regional Development in accordance to the education act formulated by them and expanded to be the biggest provider of preschool education in the country today. This is followed by the Department of National Integration and Unity that started its first preschool that being known as the PERPADUAN preschools (Curriculum Development Centre, Malaysia, 2007). Later in the 1980’s preschools in Malaysia were established and managed by various government agencies such as KEMAS, FELDA, RISDA, Department of National Unity, Religious bodies, Police and armies (Cawangan pendidikan/ Angkatan Bersenjata dan Polis), and private sectors. There was various program were offered, different materials used, teachers qualification differs too (PPK & BPPDP, 1986). The sense of incomplete felt by the various agencies and the urges the help from the MOE for assistance and guidance. The MOE foresaw the need to standardized and regulate preschool education in Malaysia. Also at the time, the MOE was pioneering two major preschool projects which is the Projek Pendidikan Imbuhan managed by Curriculum Development Centre with the help of Yayasan Bernard Van Leer, a Dutch body. The other project is the Projek Kajian Pendidikan Prasekolah managed by Education Planning and Research Division with assistance from UNICEF. The experiences gained by the both project lead to the existence of formulation of the 1986 Preschool Guidebook (Buku Panduan Prasekolah Malaysia 1986), this is the first formalized curriculum document of early childhood education in Malaysia that aim to provide guidance and assist coordination between kindergarten and enhance the standard of Malaysia Preschool education development at that time (PPK & BPPPP, 1986). Preschool was not regarded officially as part of the bigger system of national education system until 1996. Through the â€Å"National Education Act 1996† (Akta Pendidikan Kebangsaan 1996- Akta 550, 2005), Preschool education is finally officially declared as part of the school system. All preschools/kindergarten regardless of public or private are required to implement the National Preschool Curriculum formulated through the Curriculum Development Centre, Ministry of Education beginning January, 2003. In addition to the National Preschool Curriculum, any private that wanted to implement other curriculum must seek the permission of the MOE and the medium of instruction used in any registered preschool can be the National language or any other language but the National language must be taught as a subject. A minimum requirement of 10 children age 4-6 years old has been set by Ministry of education for starting the class in public school. The preschool classes in MOE are still expanding and it is targeted that in the near future, all the National Primary School will have their own preschool classes (Curriculum Development Centre, Malaysia, 2007). 2. 2Knowledge Knowledge is to cope with someone or something unknown, which can be information, facts, descriptions, or skills acquired through experience or education. The definition of knowledge has transformed over such history, from a general phenomenon, to one that is specialized and actionable as the behaviorists pointed out, in evidence â€Å"outside the person, in society and economy, or in the advancement of knowledge itself† (Drucker, 1993, p. 45-6). According to a recent study conducted by (Loeb, Bridges, Bossok, Fuller, & Rumberger, 2005) comparing the children who received only parental care, low-income children who participated in a non-Head Start, and center-based Early Childhood Education program experienced the greatest gains in their early reading and math skills. Thus, it can be explain that children which attended preschool performed significantly better in both reading and math skill during their kindergarden year compared to children cared by only their parents before kindergarden. It can be assume that preschool education thus proven to significantly increase the knowledge of the children in term of math and reading skill of the children. In term of the character building of the children, the preschool education improved the knowledge of the children by significantly improved the children reading skill and children ability to understand the subject taught in the preschool esspecially math. Studies shown that young children has the capacity of being the change agent in now and the future. This is because early learning is important to shape the attitudes, knowledge and actions. It stated that the early learning is the foundation for the child thinking, being, knowing and and acting are becoming hard wired and relates to the children. The early learning also shown the effect of creating relationship with the environment and others issues that can promotes the introduction of environmental issues to the children in the early age for better practises in the future (Chawla, 1998; Davis and Gibson, 2006; Wells and Lekies, 2006). Another scholar suggested that the preschool education is the medium to discover the ability of the children at the early age, this is because the preschool education was purposely designed to improve the knowledge of the children at the early age (Roth and McGinn, 1998). The researcher stated that the preschool education improve the character building of the children by improving the knowledge and the design of the preschool education is at the first time is purpose for the improvement of the child development and character building. Marcon (2002) argues that there is a relationship between preschool education and success later in school system. The results of the research studies shows preschool education system have positive long term effects that is based on a statistical unit of analysis and include knowledge such as arimathic, reading, spelling, health citizenship and science. Thus it can be said that the preschool education have realtionship with the development of the children itself. This shown in the study conducted by Marcon that significantly shows the increase in child ability for subject taught in the school. One of the most important roles of early childhood education for a sustainable society appears to be the necessity to take the child’s perspective. This seems to be fundamental in order to develop citizens who have essential knowledge and are capable of making decisions and choices that will have an effect on the environment (Roth and McGinn, 1998). Acoording to (Barnett, 1998) Preschool education system can effects in knowledge be more easily taught and mastered in a brief time. This shows that preschool education system lead to a more knowledgeable in a short time period. Myers (2000) offer a simple typology for examining early childhood programs which is early education promotes the learning process of acquiring knowledge, skills, habits and values and is often narrowly interpreted as uniquely preparing children for primary school. 2. 2Preparation for School. What is Readiness: Teachers’ and Parents’ Definitions, Studies have examined the definition of readiness among different stakeholders in the kindergarten transition process. A national survey of kindergarten teachers conducted by the National Center for Educational Statistics showed that teachers identified â€Å"ready† children as those who are physically healthy, well-rested and well-fed; able to communicate needs, wants and thoughts verbally; and curious and enthusiastic in approaching new activities. Parents, in contrast, typically define readiness in terms of academic abilities, such as the ability to count or know the alphabet. A study conducted by the National Center for Early Development and Learning appraises readiness by examining teachers’ judgments on children’s school transition, showing that almost half of children entering school experienced some difficulty with the transition to kindergarten. Problems following directions were the most commonly cited problem among kindergarten teachers. Participation in Early Childhood Education programs does increase children’s participation in primary school. One report suggests that participation in ECCE ( Early Child Care Education ) programs can reduce dropping out of primary schools by 15 to 20 per cent (South Asia Education Sector, The World Bank, 2003). It shows that the preschool education can increase the school readiness to the children by increasing the children participation in the school program. The school readiness can be proven to have a significant relationship with preschool education based on the report by South Asia Education Sector, The World Bank, 2003, that reduces the school drop out to a very positive rate. Another studies conducted by Lee, Brooks-Gunn and Schnur (1988) had found a significant different between the children which receive the preschool education and children which not receive the preschool education in term of school readiness. The studies compared 969 children who had experienced three different preschool environment. Those children which not received preschool education are showing the disabbilities in learning at the first grades in school. Comparing to those children which received preschool education, they gains large measures of social and cognitive functioning compared to those whose not. This show that preschool education clearly increase the school readiness in the child character building. Beside that readiness to school will look into the acceptence of the children toward the enviroment of the primary school. Means that the children who enter the preschool will more easily accept the environment of school when enter primary school. Iit is because during preschool they wil learn how to live in the school enviroment, how to be friendly, how to live as a student at school. So it show that preschool can help develop the ability of blending in the environment of the school. 2. 3Physical Physical education can be define by Merriam Webster as the instruction in the development and care of the body ranging from simple calisthenics exercises to a course of study providing training in hygiene, gymnastics, and the performance and management of athletic games. In the aspect of physical, preschool will help the children in learn how to build the good physical. Means that when the child has entered preschool they will learn the way how they can get a good physical condition. Example like preschool will teach them how to eat and choose healthy food, how live  in good health, how to care their self, exercise and other. So from that it will make child who entered preschool will different from the children are not enter to preschool. It is because when the children are not enter preschool and only live at home they will not learn any aspect of physical. Mean that at home they only do the activities or eat base on their thinking only. Beside that, the good condition of child physical is so important because if they have a good physical it will lead to the good character building. So it shows that preschool will give a positive impact to the children in order to they get a good physical condition. Preschool education aim at strengthening the basic skills such as socialization process and personality development. One of the general objectives of pre-school education is to enable the children to develop physically and practice good health and safety measures (Education Aspiration and Preschool Education Goal). Increase improvements in student’s academic performance and cognitive ability have significant relationship with the amount of time spent in physical education. Children who spent time in physical education additionally in place of a classroom activity performed no worse academically than students not enrolled in physical education (Opinion Research Corporation International of Princeton, 2003). It mean that, when the children are enter in preschool they will have a specific play time every day that has purpose for the development of physical. In time of play time, it will help children to get a good condition a better physical in term of health, body, thinking and other. So it shows that preschool is one of the mechanisms for child to build the good of character building in aspect of physical. Play time that provide and prepare by preschool will avoid from child have problem in build the physical for a future. What should be the right amount of physical activities need in preschool education? According to the National organizations including the American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society, the American Diabetes Association, NASPE, the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Institute of 3 Medicine recommend 150 minutes of physical education each week for  children in elementary school and 225 minutes per week for middle school and high school. Vigorous physical activity should be spent at least 50 percent of physical education class, this is supported by the American cancer Society, the American Diabetes Association, and the American Heart Association that will continue to recommend as they revised and update with the evolving sciences. So in the daily of the child they need spend a certain hour or minute in doing a physical activities. 2. 4 Character Building of Children. The early period of childhood has been proven the most crucial stage for the child developments. It will be long lasting and permanent throughout the entire life of the children. From birth to age 8 year old, a child gradually mastered the complex level of thinking, feeling, and interacting with people and the world around him (Evans et al. 2000). A child’s interaction with the environment will develop the critical brain connections that will be the pathways for intellectual, emotional, physical, immunological, and social functions. The preschool can be the basics to the children to develop their ability toward improving knowledge, physical and the school readiness as all of the said characteristics being affect by the interactions of the child towards his or her environment. The first two years of the child will develop the ability to walk, manual dexterity and other motor ability. From the age of two to five, a child develops language skills, fundamental social skills, and the base for â€Å"learning to learn† that translates into school readiness. Character and personality are largely formed, and major social and moral values are transmitted. Lastly from ages six through eight, a child consolidates earlier learning also begins to learn conceptually and manipulate ideas, and enters the â€Å"age of reason† (Eming Young 1996; Evans et al. 2000). 2. 5Conceptual Framework The conceptual framework in this reasearch will identifies the two type of variables which is the independent variables and the dependent variables. These variables is the important factor that will be examined and identified by the reasearcher in term of its relations in this reasearch. The independent variables consist of three which is the first is knowlegde. Knowledge is the skills aquired through experience or education in life. The knowledge variables has an important relations with the character building of the children. Through preschool education, the knowledge of the children increase and it has been proven important in the first year of the child development. Past reasearch has proven that a child knowledge improve during early chilhood education or preschool education. Thus there is a significant relations between the knowledge and the character building of the children. The second variables in this reasearch is the preparation for standard one or school readiness. The school readiness in this reasearch identifies as the enthusiasm and curious in approching new activities. As referring to the lierature review, the school readiness variables have the realtions with the character building of the children. This is because the preschool education promotes the child to be social active in the society. This also develop the ability to cope and learn with new environmment for the children. Thus, it will be permanently implant in the mind of the children the ability to adapt with new environment esspecially the primary school. The last independent variables is the physical of the children. Physical can be define as the development and care of the body. In this reasearch, the reasearcher has found that there is a realtionship of physical towards the character building of the children. This can be further explain due to the preschool education that have the session of playing. This increase the mental and fitness of the children as the children in the early ages have the orientation to play. Thus, indirectly increase the experience of the children also the physical ability of the children itself. The three variables can further be demonstrate by the diagram below. Diagram 1 Independent Variables Dependent Variables 2. 6Hyphoteses H1 = There is a significant realtionship between knowledge and the character building of the children in Preschool education. H2 = There is a significant relationship between school readiness and the character building of the children in Preschool education. H3 = There is a significant relationship between physical and the character building of the children in Preschool education. CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3. 1Introduction. Research methodology is section of a report explains the procedures followed in gathering the data necessary for the analysis to meet the research objectives. Research method is the blue print of the study (Abdulllah, 2009). To be noticeable, the theme of this study is about social research. This research is to study on the relationship between the effectiveness of preschool and character building of children. Its will look how preschool will effect character building of children in term of knowledge, physical and readiness to school. 3. 2Research design. Research design will discuss the research methodology used in the study. It will briefly explain the framework of the research followed by the research design, unit of analysis, sampling size, sampling technique, measurement, data collection and data analysis. The nature research that we use is quantitative research. It set out to seek accurate and adequate description or characteristic of the research. Different types of research design are likely to generate very different kinds of data. The nature of data can be classified into two types that are primary data and secondary data. Primary data means the data that are originated by researcher for the specific purpose of addressing the problems at hand. In other word primary data is a raw data and information that researcher will get. It involves specific method such as survey, interview, observation and questionnaire. In our research we use questionnaire as our primary data collection. The result of the questionnaire is a raw information and first hand information to the researcher. Secondary data is data that already have been collected for others purposes than the problem at hand. This data can be located quickly at various sources such.

Environmental Impacts of Aviation Essay

Noise is said to have a variety of definitions. For people who are inclined towards acoustics, noise is identified as a complex form of sound waves that have irregular vibrations and has no known pitch. In the field of engineering, noise is considered as a signal that interferes with the detection and quality identification of another signal. However, for psychoacoustic studies which are focused on the study of human response to sound, noise is deemed as an unwanted form of sound (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association [ASHA], 2008). According to K. D. Kryter (1996), noise is an enhanced form of sound signals that post a negative effect in the physiological and psychological aspect of an individual (Kryter, 1996 cited in ASHA, 2008). For the most part, noise is something that could be identified as an unwanted sound which is a pollutant and a hazard to the health of human beings (ASHA, 2008). Noise can be derived from a variety of contributors, and such noises have their own levels that are detrimental to the hearing of an individual. Noise levels are measured in decibels. Sounds that are louder than 80 decibels are considered to be hazardous. One of the leading sources of potentially hazardous noise is the airport. Noises from airports could come from constructions and operating machines. However, the major contributor for airport noise is caused by the aircrafts. There are two ways on how aircraft noises are generated. First, airframe noise appears whenever air passes through the fuselage or body and wings of the plane. The activity causes friction and turbulence which often result in the production of unwanted sound. Gliders which are planes without engines produce noise during its flights. Second, engine noise is derived from the action of the moving parts of the aircraft’s engine. Such noise is also produced whenever the sound of air passes through the engines during high speed. Engine noise mainly comes from the plane’s exhaust or the jet situated behind the engine whenever the air sound from the engine combines with the air surrounding it (Wellington Airport, 2008). Based from the study carried out by Daniel Nunez (1998), airplane noise poses disturbance in the human sleep more than any other forms of noises. It was also indicated that more than 50% of the people residing near airports are awakened by airplane noise (Holland-Wegman, 1967 cited in Nunez, 1998). The onset of aircraft noise as a major problem began during the time when there is an upsurge in the need of air transportation after World War Two. By the end of 1950’s, the introduction of jet planes became widely known which later on catapulted the â€Å"aviation revolution† where commercial air passengers were also introduced (Nunez, 1998). The augmentation in the aircraft use also resulted in the increase in the noise level produced by air transportations. Because of the outstanding length of service and success of aircraft operations, airports gradually become larger and noisier. The attractive activities of airports also began to grab the attention of people, wherein surrounding communities started to spread all throughout the nearby areas. The more airports become bigger and nosier, the more residential structures, churches, and schools come closer to the area. Eventually, conflicting issues arise. Aside from the land expansion of airports which often cause nearby residents to act defensively, noise is also regarded as an issue that is very much integrated with airport operations (Bachman, 2003). As such, the painful sound from aircraft take offs and landings were viewed as the primary reasons of annoyance by the residents living near the area. From then on, airport noise has become a complex psychophysiological and economic issue (Nunez, 1998). The issues regarding aircraft noise are said to be complicated because of the aviation industry’s significance in the economy of developing countries. Without the presence of the aviation industry various economic industries would be gravely affected, some of which include the tourism business and mail transportation (Nunez, 1998). Many airports have spent large amounts of money in order to provide sound insulation for residential buildings and community owned structures to reduce aircraft noise (Bachman, 2003). One of the airports that have reached an agreement regarding their noise issue with the people in the surrounding community is the Wellington International Airport Limited (WIAL) situated in New Zealand. WIAL was constituted as a legal corporation on October 16, 1990. The aviation company is partly owned by the Wellington City Council which shares 34% of the total stocks, while the other 66% are owned by Infratil Limited. Wellington International Airport is known as the third largest airport in New Zealand and is classified as a regional hub that extends its international flight service not only in New Zealand but also to the Eastern part of Australia and the neighboring island countries in the south-west Pacific. Almost 90% of the passengers of WIAL travel domestically and majority of whom are business people (Ministry of Economic Development [MED], 2005). As it was said, no other cities in the world have an airport location that could be compared to Wellington International Airport. WIAL is situated on a narrow strip of land in the center of the residential areas. The airport is just minutes away towards the capital’s centre. It is also accessible through a short coastal scenic drive or passing through the tunnel at Mount Victoria. Although the location of the airport is said to be unique, the airport is faced with substantial challenges in terms of its environmental impact, specifically the aircraft noise. The location of Wellington International Airport which is close to the residential area became a ground for the residents to organize the Residents Airport Noise Action Group, the noise abatement requirement, as well as different actions from the internal operations of the airport in order to decrease the noise pollution (Wellington Airport, 2008). Residents Airport Noise Action Group In 1963, Maxine Harris first moved into her home at Strathmore which is near Wellington International Airport. Five years after, Harris reported that the jet noise began. According to documents, Harris and her neighbors were not at all bothered by the jet noise. However by 1980’s, Harris and her neighbors started hearing the night-time acceleration of the airplane engines of National Airways. Harris even noted that they heard the revving of the airplane engines that sounded like a high-pitched whining that would wake her up in the middle of the night and would not allow her to get back to sleep. Harris complained about the noise issue, but an airport official told her that no other individual complained about the noise. Harris talked to her other neighbor about the issue and her neighbor told her that he had also complained, yet the airport official also told him that no other person called the airport to complain. Both Harris and her neighbor responded to the issue by putting leaflets in the mailboxes of their neighbors. The leaflet called for the other residents to phone the airport whenever they were disturbed by the aircraft noise (Samson, 1997a). Because of this, the neighbors responded well, and in 1986, the Residents Airport Noise Action Group was established. The group was focused on performing two tasks: to halt the engine testing at night and to lessen the noise produced by the 737’s. It was in 1986 when the group had their first meeting with the city council. During that time, they have voiced their complaints regarding the noise issue. Their first attempt became successful after the city passed the first by-law which is focused on the engine-testing. The by-law limits the testing times of the National Airways Friendship fleet. However, subsequent efforts of the group were not as successful as their first attempt. The noise problem of the Boeing 737’s still remains (Samson, 1997a). In 1987, the Ansett Airlines became a part of the internal air service market. In return, Air New Zealand has to expand their operations. It was stated that the residents regarded 1987 as the year of â€Å"big explosion† because of the noise produced by the aircrafts. In response to the growing issue of the airport noise, the residents put forward a proposal, stating that all the 737’s should be phased out in 1997. Three months after the proposal was passed, Ansett acknowledged the residents’ plea by replacing the fleets with whisper jets that are much quieter compared to the 737’s. On the other hand, the city council framed a proposed by-law that would have ordered the Air New Zealand to reduce its fleet on a stage by stage process. However, the propose by-law did not take in effect (Samson, 1997a). By 1992, Air New Zealand promised that by the following year seven of their Boeing 737-200’s would have devices that would reduce noise known as hush kits and other fleets would be phased out and will be replaced by 737-300’s. However, the residents did not agree with this. Arguments were once again raised that have even reached the select committees of the parliament, yet the resolutions were unidentifiable (Samson, 1997, p. 19a). As a response to the noise issue that has been gaining public interest, the city council put forth a proposed district plan, but the residents opposed to it. However, in order to resolve the issue, environment court judge Shonagh Kenderdine ruled out in August of 1997 that the airport and the airlines should adhere to the strict rules as proposed by the district plan regarding the air noise boundary wherein a specific maximum noise level will be set. Furthermore, the noise boundary would later on be dissolved if there is an improvement with the airport and airlines noise management. Other regulations that were included in the ruling involve the night curfew, engine-testing, ground noise control, and land-use. The first three issues being disputed were already progressive after the issues were ruled out. The last dispute which was focused on the land use was not settled until November of 1997 (Samson, 1997a). As a follow up to the court ruling done on August of 1997, in order to end the ten-year fight regarding the acceptable noise level in Wellington area, and to finally conclude the last remaining area of dispute which was focused on the land use, Judge Shonagh Kenderdine ended the noise issue on November 20, 1997. The major players during the court case involved the Residents airport noise action group, the board of airline representatives, the Wellington city council, and the Wellington international airport. It was stipulated in the ruling that: â€Å"All new housing developments within the airport’s air-noise boundary would be deemed unrestricted discretionary activity† (Samson, 1997b, p. 3). Under the said ruling, any individuals who are interested to build residential structures within the surrounding airport area and all the application permits have to be approved by the Wellington City Council. Therefore, the council has the right to refuse or consent the details of the application depending on the criteria that are still to be set by the district plan (Samson, 1997b). Despite the criteria being on the process of completion, the interested party should be governed by the assessments set in the ruling wherein new homes that will be built within the airports air-noise boundary should use construction materials that could pass the standards of noise reductions. Such materials include: thicker gib boarding, double or thicker window glazing, and the installation of noise insulations. The ruling also required the city council to implement stricter rules regarding the development of new housings compared to the original proposition of the district plan (Samson, 1997b).

Ethics in Business: Annotated Bibliography Essay

This article discusses how corporations should aim to be responsible for more than just profit maximization. The author goes into the discussion of how downsizing a company violates the psychological and social contracts in the employer-employee relationship. The author seems to support the idea that employees should have a since of security in their job as long as he or she is productively advancing the goals of the organization. Downsizing productive employees harms the moral of the company and violates the trust that hard work makes an employee valuable. The author states that he believes downsizing is immoral and does more damage than good. The author then shows he does not have a complete bias opinion on downsizing because he makes the point that if layoffs are the only way to save a company, downsizing is an ethically valid and morally responsible corporate behavior because the layoffs generate the greatest good for the greatest number. Chafuen, Joseph T. â€Å"Sorrow and Guilt: An Ethical Analysis of Layoffs.† SAM Advanced Management Journal 65.2 (2000): 4–13. Print. Joseph Gilbert who is also a Professor discusses how downsizing can be considered unethical by the use of three prominent ethical approaches: that is rights and duties, utilitarianism, and justice and fairness. Following his analysis, Professor Gilbert makes a deduction that, in cases where downsizing is being used by a corporation or an organization to help it remain in business, otherwise, it goes under, and then it can be considered morally right and consequently ethical corporate behavior. Subsequently, in his use of utilitarian approach which argues that the determination of whether an action is morally right or wrong is entirely dependent on its consequences, downsizing can be considered moral and thus ethical because they result in greatest utility for a large number of people. Further, the  rights and duties approach contents that it is moral to downsize since employees lack absolute rights to their jobs. Nevertheless, the counter argument to ethicality to this is that these same employees still command a right of fair and just treatment. In conclusion, the justice and fairness approach finds downsizing to be immoral. This is because of lack of proportionality an employee`s behavior and the action of termination their duty. In an article â€Å"Strategic downsizing† by David Band and Charles Tustin published in 1995 discusses the fact that downsizing is morally wrong unless the company will not survive without the necessary layoffs. This agrees with the article that was published in 2000 by the Joseph Chafuen because both agree that downsizing a company for the reason of increasing profit is morally wrong. Chafuen also agrees with Band that downsizing in a company is morally correct if it is the best decision for the greatest amount of people. In contrast to the article from the Joseph Chafuen, David Band and Charles Tustin make the point that the unwritten contract between an employee and employer will be broken if downsizing in a company cannot be justified without profit goals in mind. Later in Joseph Chafuen’s article he agrees that it is ethically incorrect to terminate an employee that has been beneficial to the company. Gross, Larry. â€Å"Downsizing: Are Employers Reneging on Their Social Promise.† Society of Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriters. CPCU Journal 54.2 (2001): 112–121. Print. According to Larry Gross, the strategy of downsizing that is at times applied by corporations to their employees is unethical. He argues that this strategy violates the social and psychological contract that exists between the employers and employee. He posits that whenever one is employed, their exists some sense of security that is afforded to the employee by the employer so long as the employee remains committed, efficient, effective, and continues to adhere to the rules, regulations and continues to advance the goals of the organizations towards achieving its vision. Therefore, downsizing of employees who have proved to be productive and have shown  commitment to the organization is immoral because it is a lucid violation of their employment contract. (119) Herbert, Bob. â€Å"Laid Off and Left Out.† The New York Times 25 May 2006. NYTimes.com. Web. 15 Apr. 2014. Whilst reviewing Louis Uchitelle’s book, â€Å"The Disposable American: Layoffs and Their Consequences,† columnist Bob Herbert claims that in as much as the better educated and those that are well or better trained do get better jobs, the reality is that there is inadequacy of available good jobs that is enough to meet the demand for these individuals. Many jobs cannot support the employees anymore. Many people that are laid off from a job is because the company cannot afford to have them; not because of their work quality. This article was useful because while some companies get back-lash for huge layoffs, a lot of the times it was the companies last resort. In an article â€Å"Downsizing: Are Employers Reneging on Their Social Promise† by Larry Gross published in 2001 by CPCU Journal claims that terminating an employee that has been hardworking and valuable to a company breaks the contract between the employee and employer. This agrees with the article â€Å"Laid Off and Left Out† by Bob Herbert published by The New York Times in 2006 because both articles agree that breaking the employee-employer contract does damage to the company’s reputation and repels high-value employees. In contrast to the article from Larry Gross, Bob Herbert says in his article that there are many qualified people that would be hired by company if the company could afford to hire them. Bob Herbert’s article was less bias because he made the point in the company’s defense in some cases both employee and employer suffer from downsizing. McKee, Andrea. â€Å"Costs of Low Wages Paid by the Fast-food Industry.† Journalists Resource RSS. Harvard Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center, 05 Feb. 2013. Web. 13 Apr. 2014. This article talks about the issue of fast-food leaders being accused of encouraging their workers to sign up for programs that are paid by the taxpayer’s dollar; in order to keep their wages low and profits up. This  article focuses on how the cost of living continues to rise, and millions of low-wage workers having to get by on federal and state programs for basic necessities. The article explains that while many believe most employees of major fast-food are young adults living with their parents, that 68% of employees are single/married adults, with/without children. It discusses how if fast-food companies took a small portion out of the budget that almost all qualified employees could receive the benefits they need. The article stated that McDonalds have started to give employees Affordable Health Care and both employees and employer have benefited. This article was very useful because it taught me that providing employees with the benefits they deserve will improve busi ness ethics. Sam, Gillbert. â€Å"Business Ethics.† Business Ethics RSS. World Press- Business Ethics, 14 Nov. 13. Web. 13 Apr. 2014. â€Å"Business Ethics† discusses how a company’s moral beliefs about reducing waste for the environment can be a benefit for the environment and reduce their cost. It also gives easy suggestions to reduce waste costs. This article focuses on the retail businesses. The article explains that waste is an issue for all retail operations because of the need to take in and unpack large numbers of individual items and then display and package them up on a regular basis. It discusses how small steps can make big changes in a company’s waste. The author shares the California’s Department of Resources and Recycling advice for retail companies: reduce reuse, and recycle. This article was very useful because it gives many small suggestions that any business can use; such as giving customers the choice of having their items bagged- or giving a discount to those who bring their own. They also suggest donated any clearance items that the business plans on throwing out. In an article â€Å"Costs of Low Wages Paid by the Fast-food Industry.† by Andrea McKee published by Harvard Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center in 2013 discusses the issue employees that work in the low-wage fast-food industry are deprived of basic benefits with long hours and are encouraged to use programs paid by the taxpayer. This agrees with the article â€Å"Business Ethics† published by Business Ethics RSS in 2014 because both articles touch on how small changes in a company that have beneficial improvements for  employees and the environment can actually bring in long-term profits with a small cost. The article â€Å"Business Ethics† is about companies that make small changes to cut waste and help the environment. These changes boosted the moral of the company and raised profits. â€Å"Cost of Low Wages Paid by the Fast-food Industry† stated that restaurants that started offering benefits to employees were experiences a lower turnover rate and employees were working efficiently. In contrast to the article from Andrea Mckee, â€Å"Business Ethics RSS† gives suggestions that any company could use to cut costs and waste while â€Å"Cost of Low Wages Paid by the Fast-food Industry† focused on the negative factors that come with disregarding employees needs in order to save money. Schwepps, Cadbury. â€Å"Ethical Business Practices†- Business-Case Study LLP.†Conclusion. The Times 100, n.d. Web. 13 Apr. 2014. This case-study discusses the different outcomes of an organizations moral judgments of right and wrong business practices. It also discusses the rationale for rejecting the route that would lead to the biggest short-term profit in order to remain a good ethical reputation. The article goes into the many benefits of being an ethical business. The author states that having an ethical business attracts customers to the firm’s products and therefore boosting profits. The article says that employees will want to stay with the business that practices honest moral which reduces labor turnover and increases productivity. The author taught me that ethically correct business will attract job-seekers to your business which will reduce recruitment costs and increase talented employees. Unethical behavior will damage a firm’s reputation and make it less appealing to stakeholders. A creative and well managed business and social responsibility program is in the best interests of everyone involved. Street, Marc D., and Vera L. Street. Taking Sides: Clashing Views in Management. McGraw-Hill Contemporary Learning Series, 2007. Web. 15 Apr. 2014. In the article introduction to â€Å"social responsibility,† Hay and Gray argue that organizations and corporations should extend their responsibility to  more than just making or maximizing on profits. They base their argument on stakeholder theory, which they present in a historical manner of how management thinking has evolved on the limits of corporation responsibility. The stakeholder is a theory of organizational management and business ethics that addresses morals and values in managing an organization. There was a chart in the article that shows the groups that are stakeholders of a corporation, and both describes and recommends methods by which management can help increase the interests of those groups. This article addressed the â€Å"Principle of Who or What Really Counts.† The article â€Å"Ethical Business Practices† by Cadbury Scheppes published by The Times 100 discusses the theory that business that practice morally correct business attracts the best employees. The article says that business that treat their employees ethically get the best work from those employees because the employees â€Å"like† the company they work for. This agrees with the article â€Å"Taking Sides: Clashing Views in Management† published by McGraw-Hill Contemporary Learning Series in 2007 because both articles discus the many ebenfit companies receive when the employees trust in the company The both agree that the happier the employee the better quality work they will produce which leads to higher profits. In contrast to Cadbury Scheppes, â€Å"Taking Sides: Clashing Views in Management† brings the stakeholder theory into his argument to make his point stronger. Thompson, Robert B. â€Å"Insider Trading, Investor Harm, and Executive Compensation.† Case W. Res. L. Rev. 50 (1999): 291. Print. Robert B. Thompson who is a legal scholar brings to the fore the argument posited by Henry Manne on the inside regulation. Thompson breaks down the status and the significance of the position taken by Henry Manne three decades ago after he had published his seminal paper. Henry had used three central assumptions to defend his arguments on the insider trading in the year 1996. However, today, three decades later, Henry`s arguments still remain as relevant and as alive in the regulation debates. It is still clear that despite having been through several and conflicting approaches, there still lacks a coherent and crystallized approach to the question of  legalizing insider trading. Tushoski, Michael. â€Å"Walmart Accepted Clothing from Banned Bangladesh Factories.† Top Stories RSS. ProPublica, 12 June 13. Web. 12 Apr. 2014. This article discusses the issue of large retailors making morally corrupt decisions in order to save a buck. The world’s largest retail store, Walmart, said they cut all business with factories that have serious or repeated safety problems, labor violations or unauthorized subcontracting. This article focuses on a certain factory called Bangladeshi that collapsed and killed more than 1,100 and how Walmart tried to get away with accepting business from them without getting public backlash. This article focuses on how trying to practice unmoral ways hurts businesses in many ways; even giant corporations like Walmart. The article explains that once it was out that Walmart was still doing business with factories that they themselves put on a banned list, it lost many customers and employees. It discusses that with the ongoing reputation of cutting corners and pinching pennies, suppliers also question Walmart’s ability to monitor its supply chain as well as its efforts to ensure decent working conditions in factories located in low-wage countries. This article was helpful because it showed that doing the wrong thing to make money eventually costs more money than it would if a company did the right thing from the start. In an article â€Å"Insider Trading, Investor Harm, and Executive Compensation.† by Robert Thompson published in 1999 discusses the harm insider trading does to investors of a company. Thompson states that insider trading is morally corrupt because it is unfair and greedy to use information that is not available to the public in order to benefit and protect themselves. This agrees with the article â€Å"Walmart Accepted Clothing from Banned Bangladesh Factories† by Michael Tushowski published in 2013 because this article reviews how corporations such as Walmart makes unethical decisions that the public is unaware of and how companies try and hide information from the public that could hurt their business. In contrast, Tushowski’s article explains how Walmart sent out a public document that listed factories they would no longer work with because of unsafe working conditions, yet was caught doing business with them. Using a real-life example made his point  very clear.

Compare between Plato and Karl marx on the topic of human nature Essay

Compare between Plato and Karl marx on the topic of human nature - Essay Example Similarly, it will be somewhat more difficult with respect to Karl Marx, not due to the fact that Marx had no opinion on the issue (quite the opposite in fact), but rather due to the fact that Marx himself never specifically sought to engage on the topic. Rather, Marx would periodically discuss tangential manifestations of human nature with respect to â€Å"essence† and â€Å"biological definitions of man† within his works. To this end, I will seek to synthesize these tangential manifestations as a way of understanding what this author believes to be Karl Marx’s approach to the issue of human nature within his writings. Firstly, when one considers Plato, they necessarily consider his inspiration and teacher – Socrates. Socrates himself was highly interested in the notion of human nature as he so often came at odds with prevailing notions of his time while attempting to break through such staunchly, albeit blindly, held beliefs that the men of his time clun g to with such fervor. Accordingly, due to the fact that Socrates had such a profound impact on Plato, it is not beyond logic to assume that many of Plato’s own views of human nature were themselves borrowed or at the very least inspired from Socrates. One such view of humanity is of course distinctly related through Plato’s allegory of the cave (Plato 44). Although a host of Plato’s writings deal with the topic of human nature, for purposes of this brief analysis, the author will only consider the allegory of the cave due to the length limitations that a more full and complete analysis might entail. It seems to me that such an approach is useful due to the fact that Plato can provide a well reasoned and differentiated view of reality and its relation to the constructs of human nature. Within this work, Plato introduces the reader to a situation in which allegorical prisoners are chained to a cave wall for their entire lives – never seeing anyone or the l ight of day. Rather, all the prisoners are able to discern is the flicker and the shadows of figures that the moving individuals and torches behind them portend. The allegory goes on to explain that if one of these creatures was taken out into the light of day to see the sun, to view the skies, and to feel the warmth of the air, they would likely run frantically back into the bowels of the cave to escape from such perceptions that they might deem as unsavory and wildly foreign. In this way, Plato exhibits an example to the reader in which the reality/nature of the individual is uniquely born out of the perceptions/environment in which they have grown accustomed (Fromm 24). As such, Plato illustrates that encouraging such an individual to action outside of their comfort zone or to think outside of the means by which they have grown accustomed very rarely yields a positive result. In this way, Plato exhibits a very traditional view of human nature as something that is ingrained from t he early experiences and years of an individual’s life and seeks to define and corral the ambitions, thoughts, dreams, and goals, of the individual for the remainder of the life. As this can be understood as a traditional approach to human nature, it must also be understood as

Educational Psychology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Educational Psychology - Essay Example Educational psychology is worried with the procedure of educational achievement in the middle of the universal population and sub-populations such as talented children and those subject to precise disabilities (Woolfolk, A. & Margetts, K. 2007). Scenario 1: He’ll Speak to his Brain Andrew was a very slow writer. He constantly stared into space and was easily distracted and yet didn’t admit he had a problem. Miss O’Brien has spoken to his previous teacher, who said he was lazy. Miss O’Brien believed that a lot of Andrew’s behaviour was linked to being afraid of getting it â€Å"wrong† and she had her suspicions that pressure came from home. She developed a strong relationship with Andrew and he eventually admitted to her that he had a problem with his writing. One day when Miss O’Brien was working with Andrew, she asked him why he couldn’t write what was in his head. He said, â€Å"When I get up to five things in my head they burst like a bubble - it’s like trying to pick up a bubble, when you touch it, it bursts.† It was a real insight into Andrew. He had just shown her how able he was at using and controlling language to capture his thoughts and feelings. He had identified his short-term memory problems. After that Andrew really unburdened himself saying that he was anxious that Mum and Dad might realise he has a problem and he believed himself that he couldn’t write. Together Miss O’Brien and Andrew devised three ways to help. First, they had a book of ideas which Andrew could carry around and when he saw or did something interesting he could make a note of it.

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Dual Language Learning - Essay Example It is claimed by Goldenberg (2008) that a very intimidating situation is encountered by millions of American students who do not speak English as fluently as is expected by their teachers. Majority of English language learners (ELLs) are Spanish speakers which is an important factor to be considered by teachers. Academic achievement of ELLs is quite low in comparison to other students because teachers still do not fully appreciate the intricate nature and depth of this issue. Goldenberg (2008) implies that language development can be assisted by giving ELLs quality language development instruction. It is implied by Passe (2012) that careful planning is essential to support language development in this age of diversity. A step-by-step guidance is provided by Passe (2012) to help a large number of early school American teachers. It is suggested that instead of feeling defeated or overwhelmed, strict adherence to the plan by classroom educators is crucially valuable. As identified by NAEYC, Passe (2012) also believes that taking greater interest in the cultural backgrounds and families of ELLs is very important. Passes’s plan can help to engage the families and devise a thorough curriculum. National Association for the Education of Young Children. (2009). Where we STAND on responding to linguistic and cultural diversity. Retrieved from

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Appraising Legal Concerns - Research Paper Example Contract Law Contract law is the most fundamental governing law of any procurement project. It is because procurement projects commence after signing the legal contract. Managers must be completely aware of all legal obligations of a contract so they may not step out of line. A comprehensive definition of contract law is; â€Å"An agreement between two or more persons which creates an  obligation to do or not to do a particular thing. Its essentials are competent  parties, subject matter, a legal consideration, mutuality of agreement, and mutuality of obligation.† (Fleming, 2003) But more suitable definition of contract law (regarding procurement management) is; â€Å"A contract is a mutually binding agreement that obligates the seller  to provide the specified product and obligates the buyer to pay for  it† (Institute, 2000) However, most of procurement projects involve more than just mere buying and selling of goods and services. Procurement includes partnersh ips and joint ventures and they legally bind the participants to perform an action. That is why it is better to use the definition for contract law which has a broader perspective. Taking a deeper look into the broader definition, following ten points can be concluded; a. A contract is a promise between two or more people or two or more parties b. ... The other party that needs to accept the offer has to accept it unconditionally f. If the accepting party wants to make adjustments (modification) to the original offer, the original offer will become void and a new offer will be formed. This process can continue until there is an offer from one party and an unconditional acceptance of it by the other. g. Concurrency is obligatory; all parties to the contract must agree to the same exact terms. h. A contract becomes only legal when there is ‘consideration’ involved. Consideration is anything that has value and is offered in exchange of something (goods or service). Consideration doesn’t necessarily have to be of the same value. i. The purpose of a contract should be legal as illegal contracts have negligible value in the eyes of law. j. All contracts need to be in the proper legally acceptable format. This usually requires the contract to be in black and white form (on paper) and signed. Mostly real estate contrac ts and contracts of simple buying/selling are classic examples (Fleming, 2003). Agency law By the standards of this law, any agent that will be appointed by the company (principal) will hold the same position in the deciding about procuring goods as the CEO. In other words, the agent will be acting on behalf of the company. Whatever contract he will enter the company into, the company will be liable to abide by the rules and promises of that contract. In the Latin phrase, the relationship between agent and principal is described by the  phrase,  qui facit per alium, facit per se, i.e.  the one who acts through another, acts in his or her own interests (Wikipedia contributors, 2011). Regarding the matter at hand which

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Colonial history US History - Research Paper Example This information has been gathered over the past seven days through intelligence by the forces. Relevant sources inform that there is news spreading through the countryside that some leaders had strayed in Lexington, and had weapons stored in Concord for purposes of destabilizing the crown. General Gage who sent his aides to town in the past four days organized this intelligence gathering; hence, the militias were aware of Gage’s mission and intelligence plans. Therefore, they had established a communication system so that they could know in advance when the government’s forces were coming (â€Å"The Battle of Lexington† 310). This was made to ensure that their military supplies were safe. The militia is said to be under the command and organization of sympathetic colonialists Samuel Adams and John Hancock. One of the militia’s comrades Paul Revere had organized a communication system of alerting the militia of the military’s coming and actions. On 19 April, upon spotting the British army, he used two lanterns as a signal of the British forces approach to seize the military equipments in Concord. However, aware of the generals interest in the town, the militia were said to have moved their equipment to other towns away from Concord (â€Å"The Battle of Lexington† 310). Word has it that he rode while signaling the lanterns from the north church across the Charles River. Revere and Dowse hurriedly rode their horses to the west of the town to sound the warning of the British arrival. The other messengers awakened the town by using the church bells, sounding of drums and firing shots to call everyone out. The town was suddenly running up and down from the alarms; moreover, John Parker who lined them up as the warning continued organized the militia. The militia’s actions are likely to mark the beginning of a revolution against the crown; this is expressed by the events that happened before the shot that was heard around Lexington and people say was

Health disparities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Health disparities - Essay Example bservations that I made an as FNP student is that health center patients are more ethnically and racially diverse compared to national patients (Kronenfeld, 2013). In addition, health center patients are highly likely to be publicly insured or uninsured. Disparities in primary care setting are based on appropriateness, access and use of care. These disparities are caused by factors such as sex, income, health condition, race or ethnicity and geography. Patients with care sensitive conditions in low-income groups from rural areas are highly likely to indicate that their visit to the emergency department was because of a medical condition that was treatable by a primary care provider. Women with care sensitive conditions have a low probability of receiving information regarding medication side effects. In addition, they did not receive the four recommended tests required for chronic condition monitoring. They were also denied the right tools required for the self-management of their condition. People in low-income groups also did not receive support from their primary care provider. These people reported that their provider did not involve them during clinical decision-making (Kronenfeld, 2009). They were also not involved in the crea tion of a treatment plan that would help in the management of their medical conditions. I am preparing myself to address these disparities by conducting studies on disparities in primary care setting. In addition to the studies, I have interviewed healthcare professionals with an aim of gaining insights into the causes of the disparities and likelihood of avoiding them (Buttaro, 2013). I have performed a literature review of relevant literature on disparities in primary care setting. Most importantly, I have identified the most vulnerable demography and scheduled a survey with them in order to collect their views on the disparities experienced. If awarded the scholarship, I will use the funds to finance my studies on how the

Operations Management Assignment 2 Research Paper

Operations Management Assignment 2 - Research Paper Example The challenges to the operations manger are not isolated to E-commerce only, but cut across all the businesses that require the services of the Operations Manger (Stevenson, 2008). The operations manager has a difficult time in the choice of the practice to adopt in the running of the business. This competition is internal and is brought about by the many interests that are in a business. An example of this competition that emanates from within the business is when a systems manger in the business prefers the use of e-mails in communicating to employees while the finance section prefers memos that are written. These differences in the most appropriate practice to adopt especially on communication can have negative effects on the flow of information within the business. This therefore, calls upon the operations manager to draw standardized operational procedures that everybody within the company should go by (Stevenson, 2008). Jackey Lohery in a research on the difficulties that managers encounter pointed customers as the most grievous in causing problems. This is more serious with e-commerce that reaches customers of all manner and kind. The customers raise issues that are in some instances beyond the ability of employees to answer or respond to (Stevenson, 2008). Delivery of a product that is below the expectations of the customer may make them angry and it will need an operations manager with superb conflict resolution skills to calm such customers down. Customer disappointment is frequent in e-commerce because customers have unrealistic expectations about the goods that should be delivered to them. It therefore frustrates them when they are given a good that does not much these expectations. Operation should therefore provide a forum for customers to lodge there complains and to participate in the development of the business. Customer satisfaction is a big challenge in online businesses that operations managers are under charge to surmount if the business

Online Integrated Marketing Communication Essay Example for Free

Online Integrated Marketing Communication Essay Integrated marketing communication – the evolution of a concept The IMC approach has received almost instant recognition at the end of the 1990s, as a result of the existing trends to reduce the budget allocated to mass advertising campaigns and to concentrate on segmented or personalised communication with final consumers. The increased fragmentation of media and customers, as well as the revolution introduced in mass communication by the new communication channels – internet and mobile communication technologies – has created the need for a new approach to marketing communication, that can insure centralised management and a consistency of corporate messages sent towards various audiences. The concept of IMC was defined in many different, often contradictory, ways: Pickton and Broderick (2001) claim that synergy is the principal benefit of bringing together the various facets of marketing communications in a mutually supportive way. Definition proposed by Keegan et al. (1992, p. 631): Integrated marketing communications is the strategic co-ordination of all messages and media used by an organisation to collectively influence its perceived brand value. At the heart of this definition is the assumption that the credibility and value of both the company and its brand(s) will increase, when messages transmitted to various audiences become consistent across time and targets. Another definition proposed by Duncan (2002, p. 8) demonstrates the current conceptual perception of IMC: A cross-functional process for creating and nourishing profitable relationships with customers and other stakeholders by strategically controlling or influencing all messages sent to these groups and encouraging data-driven, purposeful dialogue with them. The notion of stakeholders implies the shift in the IMC concept from customer target audiences to the inclusion of key stakeholder groups such as employees, investors, suppliers, distributors, media and the social community. The most significant organisation barriers for the implementation of the IMC concept: * lack of horizontal communication; * functional specialisation; * decentralisation; * lack of IMC planning and expertise; * lack of budget; * lack of database technology; * corporate culture; and * fear of change. The impact of the internet technology on marketing communication: The rapid development of the internet in the last ten years has changed the classical communication procedures (Blattberg and Deighton, 1991; Holtz, 1999), because of three specific and co-existent characteristics that differentiate it from any other communication channel: * Interactivity. The internet offers multiple possibilities of interactive communication, acting not only as an interface, but also as a communication agent (allowing a direct interaction between individuals and software applications). The traditional communication channel was uni-directional, Even when communication was considered a two-way process, the institutions had the resources to send information to audiences through a very wide pipeline, while the audiences had only a minuscule pipeline for communicating back. Now, the communication channel is a network, not a pipeline. Communicators have grasped and even embraced this new proximity, fact demonstrated by the vast number of web sites which display â€Å"Contact Us† buttons and links. However, in most of the cases, these new facilities are not fully used. * Transparency. The information published online can be accessed and viewed by any internet user, unless this information is specifically protected. * Memory. The web is a channel not only for transmitting information, but also for storing information – in other words, information published on the web remains in the memory of the network until it is erased. The new realities of how audiences get and use information: * The audience is connected to the organisations * The audience is connected to one another * The audience has access to other information * Audiences pull information (info has to be available where audiences can find it, and it must be customizable) { Today, we get messages from multiple media channels: email, voice mail, faxes, pagers, cell phones, interoffice memos, overnight courier packages, television (with hundreds of channels), radio, internet radio, etc. As a result, the media that used to provide an efficient channel of communication for practitioners have become now only noise that most of the audiences have learned to filter out} Different definitions of IMC: Some retail organisations track the interaction between the online user and their web site: â€Å"the time spent by a client on a specific web page can represent an indication of his/her present interest†. â€Å"We use the results provided by our online behaviour tracking system to create personalised promotions targeted to individual customers†. The meaning is not simply transmitted, but has to be negotiated separately with each online audience. The message needs to be adapted to the specific level of understanding and interpretation of each public, but, on the other hand, has to express the same core organisational values, in order to display a coherent organisational image If the company attempts to reach foreign audiences, the message needs to be adapted to the cultural specificity of the overseas public. This raises important questions regarding the possibility of integrated online marketing communication in the global context: â€Å"we often communicate with customers from various cultural and economic backgrounds. In these conditions we must apply a clear segmentation and positioning strategy, in order to match the needs of every cultural group with our marketing messages.† The specific characteristics of the internet therefore create two conflicting tendencies: (1) the fragmentation of audiences and communication contexts requires the customisation of online marketing messages; but (2) the interactivity, transparency and memory of the web necessitates the consistency of communication and the coherence of the transmitted meaning Below figure presents the place of integrated online marketing communication in the online CRM process of the firm. The customer data/feed-back collected online is used directly to better design and implement the online integrated marketing communication, which are then targeting selected online audiences. Correctly implemented, the IMC program is a continuous cycle of gathering data and implementing response-generating marketing communication which is based on previously gathered consumer data. the specific characteristics of the internet are making the implementation of integrated online marketing communication both inevitable and efficient for an online organisation. The transparency, interactivity and memory of the internet force the organisation to adopt a proactive-reactive attitude in online communication, and to combine consistency and continuity with flexibility and customisation. These characteristics can be integrated by designing and implementing a specific model of integrated online marketing communication. The use of advanced online applications to collect customer data and feed-back information is paramount for the success of the online communication campaign (O’Malley and Mitussis, 2002). Because of the high interactivity of the internet, the communication process has become a real-time dialogue. Important issues relevant for the implementation of integrated online marketing communication have not been addressed because of space and methodology limitations. These areas can represent the subject of future research projects investigating: the management process of integrated online marketing communication; the criteria used for selecting and combing various channels in the online communication mix; the relation between the organisation and web advertising agencies; or the challenges raised by the general integration and co-ordination of online and offline (traditional) communication.

Monetary policy Essay Example for Free

Monetary policy Essay The Federal Reserve which is commonly referred to as FED is the central authority to the US money and banking system.   It utilizes the monetary policies at its disposal with the aim of ensuring that prices, foreign exchange rates as well as long term interest rates remain stable.   Stability in these three areas is beneficial in as far as investment is concerned and they trigger economic growth.   (McConnell and Brue, 2004). Other objectives of FED include ensuring that the inflation rate is kept relatively low and the employment levels boosted.    The monetary policies adopted include the open market operations, manipulating of the reserve requirement and discount rates. The open market operations refer to the buying of US treasury as well as the federal agency securities with the aim of influencing the money supply and demand. OMO is the most applied tool due to its flexibility in influencing money demand. Fed also ensures that the financial sector remains stable while protecting the interests of the customers due to the realization of the importance of money supply in the economy. (www.federalreserve.gov). One challenge that faces FED as it tries to ensure economic growth through the various monetary policies is the fact that realizing one aim results to another problem or rather poses a different challenge.   Selling government securities with the aim of increasing the money supply in an economy may trigger increased inflation by some margin. Increasing the employment levels also triggers inflation which Fed tries to counter in the first place.   To ensure that the impact of such inflation is contained, it is imperative that Fed sets its target appropriately so that a compromise is attained.   Attaining one objective at the expense of the other should be well addressed. Timing issues which emanates from the fact that there is a time lag between when Fed realizes or rather recognizes a problem and decides to react by selecting an appropriate monetary policy and when the effect of the implemented policy is felt.   To ensure increased efficiency in the monetary policies, Fed must adopt effective tools or strategies of gathering information to ensure that immediate responses are made as demanded by the economy. (McEachern, 2005). Fed structure is quite complex thus making the implementation of its policies difficult and cumbersome. This also contributes to the delayed implementation of monetary policies which has a negative effect in as far as attaining the core objectives is concerned. The board of governors of Fed are also too powerful and can be manipulated easily especially by the political leaders who have some vested interest. The establishment of an effective independent central bank would minimize the chances of political influences which compromise on the effectiveness of Fed. (Baumol and Blinder, 2008). Identify and explain at least three ways that the Federal Reserve affects the banking system through open market operations (OMO). As earlier noted, Fed uses the OMO monetary tool where US treasury and federal agency securities are traded to regulate the money supply in the economy. Buying of federal treasury and agency security is done when the aim of Fed is to reduce the money supply in the economy while selling increases money supply thus used in recessionary times. There can be permanent as well as temporary changes to Fed reserves when outright sales or purchases are made. A system repurchase method can be adopted to impose temporary changes.   Fed purchases government bonds from the public which increases the reserves of the commercial banks after it pays for them. Purchasing such reserves sees the banks increase their reserves in an amount equal to what has been paid for the reserves.   The same case happens when reserves has been purchased from the public. Fed can also sells government securities that are not being used to the commercial banks as well as the general public hence surrendering the securities to the banks or general public who can then draw checks against the deposits made. Through this approach Fed reduces the amount of money supply that is available for the commercial banks which also translates to reduced money supply in the entire economy. (www.federalreserve.gov). Purchasing of government bonds by Fed leads to the reduction of interest rates which encourages banks and households to dispose their reserves to Fed. The selling of such bonds lowers the prices of bonds while increasing the interest rates to make the bonds attractive to the general public as well as the commercial banks. Fed also purchases or sells the treasury bonds or bills which affect their deposits by increasing or decreasing in size. This also affects the volume as well as growth of banks by allowing them to have increased reserves at their disposal thus more to lend to both commercial banks as well as households.   This leads to their increased growth as they make earnings through the interest charged.   The OMO also affects the lending processes as it affects the interest rates which are attached to the bank borrowings and loans. OMO regulates the money supply in an economy by either increasing it or decreasing it. (McConnell and Brue, 2004). Explain how changes in reserve requirements and the discount rate affect the operations of banks and other depository institutions. The discount rates are monetary policy tools that can be used by Fed to influence the money supply and demand in the economy with the aim of influencing economic growth. Discount rates or discount widow can be defined as the rates charged by Fed to commercial banks which in turn affects the amount of money such banks or financial institutions have thus their lending capacity.   The major types of the depository windows by Fed are the primary, secondary and seasonal credits which have varying interest rates. (www.federalreserve.gov). The discount rates attached to primary credit are generally higher than those attached to other short term discounts in the market.   Interest rates charged on secondary credit are also higher than the primary credit interest rate while the seasonal credit discount rates are the average of selected market rates.   When Fed increases the discounts rates it discourages commercial banks from borrowing money from it but a reverse effect is felt when the discount rates are lowered. The amount of money in an economy is increased when banks are encouraged to borrow funds from the Federal Reserve.   The reserve requirement refers to the amount of money or funds that financial institutions are expected to deposit with Fed against their securities.   The amount set as reserve requirement is determined by the board of governors of Fed as guided by the American law and it is held in terms of vault cash. Increasing the reserves requirement rates leads to increased required reserves of what the financial institutions are expected to keep with the Fed and this translates to reduced ability to lend money to both banks as well as household thus reducing the money supply in an economy.   The reserve is also true. (www.federalreserve.gov).

Design a simple apnea detection system

Design a simple apnea detection system CHAPTER 1 1.1 INTRODUCTION AIM The aim of the project is to design a simple apnea detecting system with an alarm and to classify the type of apnea identified using LabVIEW. 1.1.1 Normal Respiratory Event: Respiration is the phenomenon of supplying oxygen to the tissues and removing the carbon dioxide from the tissues. External respiration is the process of exchange of gases between the lungs and atmosphere. Internal respiration is the process of gas exchange in the tissues. The balance between the absorption and excretion of these gases in blood are maintained as breathing activity. During inspiration the level of blood in oxygen increases and it decreases during exhalation. Chemoreceptors are the sensory receptors in the blood stream that senses the level of oxygen and carbon dioxide in blood ,and sends signals to the brain. Then the brain allows the opening of larynx and vocal cords, followed by the expansion of ribcage and diaphragm muscles. The chest cavity enlarges to allow the inflow of oxygen into the lungs thus resulting in inhalation process. Similarly the chest cavity occludes during the process of exhalation and expels the carbon dioxide from lungs. More of oxygen inflow re sults in maximum tidal volume and a normal respiratory flow. Fig 1.1 shows the normal respiratory signal with respiration rate of 12 breaths per minute. 1.1.2 Applications Sleep analysis Polygraphy Pulmonary function Stress test Sports Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) 1.1.3 Respiration Signal Specifications Amplitude 2-200mV Frequency waveform-0 150Hz Repetition frequency- 20 cycles per minute (adults) 100 cycles per minute (neonates) 1.1.4 Respiratory Measurements Respiration rate Tidal volume Apneas Obstructive apnea Central apnea Hypopnea Tachypnea Bradypnea Apnea index Also several correlations between EEG, REM sleep, apneas, quiet sleep, non-quiet sleep and de-saturations. 1.2 APNEA AND ITS TYPES Apnea is the cessation of breathing during sleep which may precede the arrest of the heart and circulation in several clinical situations such as head injury, drug overdose, anesthetic complications and obstructive respiratory diseases. Apnea may also occur in premature babies during the first weeks of life because of their immature nervous system. If apnea persists for a prolonged period, brain function can be severely damaged. Therefore, patients suffering from apnea require close and constant observation of their respiratory activity. Apnea monitors are particularly useful for monitoring the respiratory activity of premature infants. There are three types of sleep apnea. They are Obstructive apnea Central sleep apnea Mixed or complex sleep apnea 1.2.1 Obstructive Sleep Apnea Individuals with obesity due to low muscle tone and soft tissue around the airway give rise to a narrowed airway ,so they are at high risk of obstructive sleep apnea. The elderly people are more likely to suffer from OSA than young people because of their food habits, smoking and alcoholic life style. Men are more typical sleep apnea sufferers when compared to women and children.The risk of OSA rises with increasing body weight, age, high cholesterol, sinus problems, and in addition, patients with diabetes have up to three times the risk of having OSA compared to others. Loudsnoring, restless sleep, and sleepiness during the daytime are some of the common symptoms of OSA. Diagnostic tests include homeoximetryorpolysomnographyin a sleep clinic. Treatment includes CPAP apparatus that gives continuous positive airway pressure in order to expand their narrowed nasal pathway 1.2.2 Central Sleep Apnea When the brains respiratory control centers are imbalanced during sleep, it results in pure central sleep apnea ,also called as Cheyne-Stokes respiration. In this type of apnea the brain pauses to trigger the respiratory activity for about 30 seconds and triggers when it realizes that the patient suffocates for oxygen. The sleeper do not breathe for a certain period, during which there are no chest movements and no effort by the patient. Brain does not react immediately with a neurological feedback to make the respiratory rate even. There is a swing between apnea and hyperpnea in order to compensate the need for oxygen. After an apnea episode the hypoxia condition is reduced by breathing faster and absorbing more oxygen. Central sleep apnea may be due to hypertension, excess stress,and neuronal damage.In most of the cases CSA is treated with medications while some need surgery. Fig.1.3 shows Central Sleep Apnea. 1.2.3 Mixed Sleep Apnea Mixed sleep apnea is a combination of obstructive and central sleep apnea . It is also called as complex sleep apnea.When obstructive sleep apnea syndrome is severe and longstanding, some episodes of central apnea develop during the course of sleep. Though the exact mechanism of the loss of central respiratory drive during sleep in OSA is unknown it is most commonly related to acid-base and CO2feedback malfunctions originating fromheart failure. Complex sleep apnea has been described by researchers as a different dimension of sleep apnea. Patients with complex sleep apnea when treated with positive airway pressure for OSA was observed to exhibit persistent central sleep apnea. In sleep-disordered breathing there is a collection of diseases and symptoms relating to body mass, cardiovascular, respiratory, and occasionally, neurological dysfunction that have a synergistic effect. 1.2.4 Hypopnea Hypopnea refers to a transient reduction of airflow (often while asleep) that lasts for at least 10 seconds, shallow breathing, or an abnormally low respiratory rate. Breathing that is shallower or slower than normal. Hypopnea is distinct from apnea in which there is no breathing. Hypopnea comes from the Greek roots hypo- (meaning low, under, beneath, down, below normal) and pnoe (meaning breathing). Hypopnea is less severe than apnea (which is a more complete loss of airflow). It may likewise result in a decreased amount of air movement into the lungs and can cause oxygen levels in the blood to drop. It more commonly is due to partial obstruction of the upper airway 1.2.5 Tachypnea Tachypnea means elevated respiratory rate. In some situations, this might be usual, for example when climbing a flight of stairs. In disease it is indicative of problems with oxygenation. It occurs when the patient is breathing really hard to compensate for the higher than usual PCO2. When the patient is tachypneic it is important to sit him up in bed. In tachypnea the tidal volume is decreased, the minute volume may be the same because the respiratory rate is increased. Decreased tidal volume will have bad consequences for the patient because a lot of energy is being spent on moving dead air space which does not help oxygenate the interior of lungs where gas exchange takes place. 1.2.6 Bradypnea This is a slow respiratory rate which is seen in the post anesthetic or sedated patient. Bradypnea is also seen in patients who have taken overdoses of barbiturates and/or hypnotics. Bradypnea with a respiratory rate of more than ten breaths may correct itself as the patient recovers from the anaesthetic gases. Sometimes, in bradypnea, the patient compensates by increasing the tidal volume thereby the blood gases and oxygen saturation remain stable.Fig 1.6 shows bradypnea with respiratory rate 8b/min. 1.3 IMPEDANCE PNEUMOGRAPHY Impedance pneumography is another practical method to monitor the breathing of the patient. The technique also enables the simultaneous monitoring of the heart rate and respiration. This has certain inherent disadvantages. One is that the placement of the electrodes is very critical and other is cardiovascular artifact. This results from the detection of movement between the electrodes because of the cardiovascular system, rather than due to respiration. Apnea monitors need to be designed to reject this artifact. The principle of impedance pneumography is to pass a current through the chest between two electrodes, and from the resultant voltage to determine the changes in chest impedance which occur during respiration. It has been proposed that the impedance change occurring in respiration is directly proportional to the change in volume of air contained in the thorax, and therefore reflects tidal volume. The technique works by applying a current of approximately 10 microamperes to 1milliamperes with a frequency of 30-100 kHz to the thorax. This frequency is high enough to avoid stimulation of tissues, electrode polarization and excessively high skin impedance. The electrodes are always maintained with negligible potential difference which makes it possible to measure the impedance of a central core of thoracic tissue.Thus these impedance changes are obtained as thoracic changes that gives details about respiration.Fig 1.7 shows the block diagram Of impedance pneumography technique. 1.4 LABVIEW AND ITS APPLICATIONS LabVIEW Laboratory Virtual Instrumentation Engineering Workbench.LabVIEW is a graphical programming environment used by millions of engineers and scientists to develop sophisticated measurement, test, and control systems using intuitive graphical icons and wires that resemble a flowchart. Biomedical Application: Multisim Simulation with anECGAmplifier Noninvasive Blood Pressure (NIBP) Analyzer Analog ECGGenerator Heart Rate Variability (HRV) Analyzer ECG Feature Extractor Online Biosignal Noise Reduction Data Logger Biosignal Logger OBJECTIVES To collect the respiratory database To study the apnea characteristics To detect and classify apnea To achieve maximum accuracy To design a respiratory signal simulation system CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE SURVEY 2.1 RESPIRATION DATA ACQUISITION, CONVERSION AND DISPLAY SYSTEM 2.1.1 Methodology Respiration data is acquired and converted into a series of pulses, the frequency of which is related to the respiration rate of the data measured . The output pulses switch a timing device on and â€Å"off †, and the average time of a respiration cycle is then converted and displayed as respiration rate. The timing device includes a means for delaying a first output pulses before beginning the sampling period and registering a count of clock pulses for a specified number which represents the time period of a second specified number of the output pulses occurring subsequently to the first specified number of output pulses. 2.1.2 Conclusion This invention relates to an acquisition unit for acquiring data relating to one or more physiological variables from a patient. Displaying the data digitally and, upon operator approval, recording the data in an internal memory. Further, the invention relates to a data storage system responsive to data stored in an acquisition unit for a display presentation. 2.2 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING A RESPIRATIONPARAMETER IN A MEDICAL DEVICE Shrivastav, Maneesh, Cho, Yong K., Bennett, Tommy D., Erickson, Mark K., Greenhut, Saul E., Kleckner, Karen J., Sperling, Charles P., Corey, Robert A. 2.2.1 Methodology A pressure sensor senses pressure signals, and a signal processor, coupled to the pressure sensor, receives the sensed pressure signaland generates corresponding sample points. A microprocessor continuously adjusts a breath detection threshold in response to the generated sample points to generate a current adjusted breath detection threshold. Then it compares a current generated sample point to the current adjusted breath detection threshold, suspends the continuous adjusting of the breath detection threshold. Then the microcontroller sets the breath detection threshold equal to the most current adjusted breath detection threshold generated prior to the suspending, and determines the respirationparameter in response to a comparing of a next generated sample point to the set breath detection threshold. 2.2.2 Conclusion This invention relates to a method of acquisition of respiratory signal using pressure sensor and displays that respiration parameter using a microcontroller. 2.3 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MONITORING RESPIRATION Rymut, Russell, Slotty, Eric, Kini, Narendra 2.3.1 Methodology The apparatus includes a piezoelectric film which converts acoustical waves generated by the patients respiration activity into electrical signal output. The piezoelectric film sensor placed in the subject can be used to monitor the respiration of a patient by correlating the sound generated in the patients airway with respiratory activity. Further, the data generated by the sensor may be further analyzed by a patient monitor to diagnose respiratory conditions and display it. 2.3.2 Conclusion This invention relates to a method and apparatus for monitoring and quantitatively measuring the respiration of a patient , particularly, using a flexible piezoelectric film sensor. 2.4 APNEA MONITOR Guixian Lu 2.4.1 Methodology 1. A conductive rubber string is used to measure the chest volume changes. It is not suitable for OSA. In that case a differential gas flow sensor is used. The output of the sensors is amplified and then fed to a re-shaper. 3.The re-shaper re-shapes the signal and generates pulses to trigger the counter. 4.The counter triggers the alarm circuit if the count exceeds a predetermined threshold. 2.4.2 Conclusion For adults one rubber string is enough. But for infants, the frequency of the body movement is measured. So an additional rubber string with motion detector is needed. The gas flow sensor is reliable and sensitive. A buzzer is used to give alarm. 2.5 DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A PROGRAMMABLE APNEA MONITORING SYSTEM Mustafa ÇavuÅŸoÄŸlu, Osman EroÄŸul , Ziya Telatar 2.5.1 Methodology Respiratory signal is perceived by a thermal sensor. The signal is amplified and then fed to the microcontroller. The output of microcontroller is transferred to the computer and the relation between ECG and the signal is evaluated. An alarm system is also provided to indicate apnea 2.5.2 Conclusion The system is capable of detecting apnea, warns during the apnea and transfers the respiration signals to the computer. Finally,categorization of the apnea intervals is done to generate a real-time histogram of their frequency and duration which makes possible to investigate the relations between the EEG, ECG or other physiological signals and the respiratory patterns. 2.6 APNEA ALARM SYSTEMS 2.6.1 Methodology A crib or bed with piezo electric or strain gauge transducer attached to each leg is used to acquire the movement of infants. Whenever the infant is breathing there is a variation in the force distibution in the foam mat, so the vertical force applied on the frame of the crib also varies,which is captured by the sensors attached to the leg of the crib. These sensors convert the force into an electrical output signal and gives it to a summing amplifier to provide a summed output signal from all four legs. The summed output is given to a microcontroller where it is compared with the patients physical parameters to give an alarm if there is apnea detected using a buzzer or flashing light. 2.6.2 Conclusion This apparatus helps to detect apnea in infants who can be monitored even at home instead of hospitals.This alarm system is more comfortable to babies as it does not attach any sensor to infant s body.Mainly used to detect death due to apnea (‘crib death or ‘cot death ) very common in premature infants. 2.7 APNEA MONITOR DATA SYSTEM 2.7.1 Methodology An apnea monitoring system along with a portable data storage cartridge is presented. Respiration is monitored through the electrodes located on the thoracic cavity of the patient. Detected events are compared with respiration rates and when it is exceeded the signal is transmitted to audio and visual alarms indicating apnea. In addition to that a poratable data storage cartridge is provided which has enough memory to store all monitored events and waveforms that can be transferred to computer. 2.7.2 Conclusion This invention not only helps to monitor also contains a portable cartridge,that can be easily carried or mailed,which makes it time efficient and cost efficient method to store data.Another advantage is that the cartridge is replaceable,which provides an unlimited amount of memory space that helps in transfer of data. 2.8 A MODEL ANALYSIS OF ARTERIAL OXYGEN DESATURATION DURING APNEA IN PRETERM INFANTS Scott A. Sands, Bradley A. Edwards, Vanessa J. Kelly, Malcolm R. Davidson, Malcolm H. Wilkinson, Philip J. Berge 2.8.1 Methodology Independent influence of clinically relevant cardiorespiratory fators on the desaturation of arterial oxygen during apnea is determined using a two-compartmental lung-body mathematical model which incorporated realistic oxygen stores and gas exchange dynamic Analytic solutions were derived for arterial oxygen desaturation to quantify the importance of cardiorespiratory factors on arterial oxygen desaturation such as cardiac output, lung volume, metabolic oxygen consumption, pre-apneic ventilation, blood oxygen affinity, hemoglobin content and blood volume The model analysis reveals that lung volume, hemoglobin content, cardiac output, pre-apneic ventilation exerts a unique effect on arterial oxygen desaturation throughout the time-course of desaturation and metabolic oxygen consumption is uniformly influential throughout the process. Infants with elvated metabolic needs and low lung volume and those with anemia, cardiac dysfunction or hypovolemia which are common in prematurity are at heightened risk of rapid and profound arterial desaturation during apnea. 2.8.2 Conclusion A mathematical framework for quantifying the relative importance of key cardiorespiratory factors on the rate of arterial oxygen desaturation during apnea with particular relevance to preterm infants is provided. Each of the factors examined has a signature influence on the trajectory of desaturation, providing quantitativeinsight into the causes of rapidlydeveloping hypoxemia during apnea have been demonstrated. 2.9 OBSTRUCTIVE SLEEP APNEA AS A RISK FACTOR FOR STROKE AND DEATH H. Klar Yaggi, M.D., M.P.H., John Concato, M.D., M.P.H., Walter N. Kernan, M.D., Judith H. Lichtman, Ph.D., M.P.H., Lawrence M. Brass, M.D., and Vahid Mohsenin, M.D. 2.9.1 Methodology 1.In this study patients underwent polysomnography and subsequent events like stroke and death are verified. 2.The diagnosis was based on apnea-hypopnea index of the patients.Patients with apnea-hypopnea index of less than 5 served as a comparison group. 3.Proportional hazards analysis was used to determine the independent effect of OSA syndrome on the outcome of stroke or death from any cause. 4.The mean apnea-hypopnea index for the patient with syndrome is 35 while the same for patients in the comparison group is 2. 5.After adjustment for age,sex, diabetes mellitus, smoking status, alcohol consumption status, body-mass index, hypertension, the OSA syndrome retained a statistically significant association with stroke or death. 2.9.2 Conclusion The obstructive sleep apnea syndrome significantly and severely increases the chance for stroke or death from any cause. The increase for the risk of stroke or death due to OSA syndrome is independent of the other risk factors,including hypertension. 2.10 AN ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF CONTINUOUS POSITIVE AIRWAY PRESSURE FOR THE TREATMENT OF OBSTRUCTIVE SLEEP APNEA-HYPOPNEA SYNDROME Helen L. A. Weatherly, Susan C. Griffin, Catriona Mc Daid, Kate H. Durà ©e, Robert J. O. Davies, John R. Stradling, Marie E. Westwood and Mark J. Sculpher. 2.10.1 Methodology This study reports on the cost-effectiveness of the continuous airway-pressure(CPAP) compared with the dental devices and lifestyle advice to the patient. The Markov model compared the interventions over the patients life expectancy. The primary measure for cost-effectiveness was the incremental cost per quality adjusted life-year(QALY) gained for every patient. On further analysis, CPAP was associated with higher costs and QALYs compared with dental devices and lifestyle advice. The result of analysis was that the probability that CPAP is more cost-effective than dental devices or lifestyle advice at a threshold value of  £20,000 per QALY was 0.78 for men and 0.80 for women. 2.10.2 Conclusion This model suggests that CPAP is cost-effective compared with dental devices and also the lifestyle advice for adults with moderate or severe symptomatic Obstructive Sleep Apnea -Hypopnea Syndrome are at the cost-effectiveness thresholds used by NICE. This finding is reflected in the NICE guidance. CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY 3.1 EXISTING METHODS Several contactless methods are available for monitoring the respiration of infants. The most successful apnea monitors to-date been mattress monitors. These instruments rely for their operation on the fact that the process of breathing redistributes an infants weight and this is detected by some form of a pressure sensitive pad or mattress on which infant is nursed. The mattress, in its simplest form, is a multi-compartment air bed, and in this case the weight redistribution forces air to flow from one compartment to another. The air flow is detected by the cooling effect it produces on a heated thermistor bead. Though the technique is simple, the main disadvantage with the air mattress is the short-term sensitivity variation and the double peaking effect when inspiration or expiration produces separate cooling of the thermistor. Alternatively, a capacitance type pressure sensor in the form of a thin square pad is usually placed under or slightly above the infants head. Respiratory movements produce regular pressure changes on the pad and these alter the capacitance between the electrode plates incorporated in the pad. The capacitance change is measured by applying a 200 kHz signal across the electrodes and by detecting the current flow with a phase-sensitive amplifier. The disadvantage of this method is that the system is much too sensitive to people moving nearby and thus an electrically screened incubator is essential for the infant. 3.1.1 METHOD ADOPTED This project is based on impedance pneumography method. Impedance pneumography is one of the practical methods to monitor the breathing of the patient. The technique also enables the simultaneous monitoring of the heart rate and respiration. This has certain inherent disadvantages. One is that the placement of the electrodes is very critical and other is cardiovascular artifact. This results from the detection of movement between the electrodes because of the cardiovascular system, rather than due to respiration. Apnea monitors need to be designed to reject this artifact. So in this project the respiratory signal is considered to be acquired by using respiratory sensor. As there is no availability of sensor, respiratory signal is simulated using our own designed impedance pneumography technique based circuit. Then this signal is given to microcontroller where apnea is detected and it then triggers an alarm. The classification of apnea is also done using LabVIEW. In future respiratory sensor will be designed and the respiratory signal will be acquired. Then this signal can be given to the microcontroller directly. 3.2 RESPIRATORY SIGNAL SIMULATION The respiratory signal simulation circuit consists of an excitation source and a constant current source circuit which gives a high frequency, low voltage and constant current signal. This constant current will be applied to the thorax of the subject. But due to the ethical issues the current is applied on the resistance circuit which acts as the thorax impedance. This circuit in turn gives a voltage signal. This voltage signal will be amplified by an instrumentation amplifier. The amplified signal will be fed to the LabVIEW for classification of normal and apnea signal and also types of apnea. Figure 3.2.1 shows the block diagram to simulate respiratory signal and the hardware design of the circuit 3.2.1 EXCITATION SOURCE The wien bridge oscillator which produces 50kHz and 8 V peak to peak signal is used as the excitation signal. The operational amplifier used in the circuit is LF351. The Voltage gain of the amplifier must be at least 3. The input resistance of the amplifier must be high compared toRso that theRCnetwork is not overloaded and alter the required conditions.The output resistance of the amplifier must be low so that the effect of external loading is minimized. Some method of stabilizing the amplitude of the oscillations must be provided because if the voltage gain of the amplifier is too small the desired oscillation will decay and if it is too large the waveform becomes distorted 3.2.2 CONSTANT CURRENT SOURCE The constant source circuit is used to generate a 4mA constant current to be applied on the resistance circuit. CL100 and CK100 transistors are used in this circuit and these are npn and pnp paired transistors. The base emitter on voltage of these transistors is 0.9V. The collector current can be found by using the formula, Ic= (Vcc-Vbe)/Rc Where Vcc-Supply voltage Rc-Collector Resistance Vbe-Base emitter on voltage 3.2.3 PHANTOM MODEL The model consists of four resistors of 500 ohms which mimics the thoracic resistance. 3.3 DATA COLLECTION To know about characteristics of normal respiration and apnea their corresponding signals were essential. So 40 respiration data sets with 100 sample values in each data set were collected from PHYSIONET -PHYSIOBANK ATM. Among these 20 were normal data sets obtained from SLEEP HEART HEALTH STUDY POLYSOMNOGRAPHY DATABASE (SHHPSGDB) while the other 20 were apnea data sets obtained from UCD SLEEP APNEA DATABASE (UCDDB). In Apnea data sets 10 belonged to Central Sleep Apnea and remaining 10 to Obstructive Sleep Apnea. Each Data set contained 100 samples whose units are volts(V).They were recorded for 100seconds.So on plotting each data we get time in X-axis and volts in Y axis. 3.4 CLASSIFICATION OF APNEA USING RESPIRATION RATE Input data which contains 60 samples each. Normalizing of the signal by squaring the signal. Extraction of maximum peak for every 5 samples.Display of respiratory cycles. If the peak value is greater than 6V it will be counted as normal respiratory cycle. If the count is between 10 and 20 the signal will be having normal respiratory rate. If the count is less than 10 the signal will be classified as bradypnea. If the count is greater than 20 the signal will be classified as tachypnea As the parameter of respiratory rate alone is not enough for classifying the types of apnea the statistical parameters are calculated and then signals are classified using LabVIEW. FLOWCHART 3.5 CLASSIFICATION OF APNEA USING STATISTICAL PARAMETERS The signal data was imported from a spread sheet into labview using READ FROM SPREADSHEET block in labview. Then signal was plotted as a graph using WAVEFORM CHART block. The data cannot be manipulated directly so the transpose of the data is taken to find the statistical parameters using TRANSPOSE ARRAY block. Now using the STATISTICS block the signals various parameters like arithmetic mean, median, mode, maximum peak, minimum peak, range, standard deviation variance, and rms value are found and recorded. Considering the range and mean of the signal it can be classified as its respective type. Give the upper and (or) lower limit for range and mean. Now using AND operator the signal is classified when its condition are satisfied. When the signal s range is greater than 7 and its mean is less than 0.1 it is normal. When the signal s range is lesser than 6 and its mean is greater than 0.21 it is abnormal. When the signal s range lies below 3.0 it is obstructive. When the signal s rang e lies between 3.1 and 6.99 it is central. FLOWCHART CHAPTER 4 4.1 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 4.1.1 Hardware Results Output from the excitation source (wein bridge oscillator) was checked in MULTISIM and then implemented using hardware. On applying the constant current to a resistance network that imitates human thoracic impedance , the current varied to a greater extent because of loading effect. The same problem will occur even when the patient is connected to the high frequency, low voltage, constant current module. Also, due to ethical issues the constant current generated cannot be given to the patient directly. So monitoring of real time data could not be done using the hardware design. Hence ,the idea of respiration signal simulation was dropped and offline data were collected from respiration databases for further classification. 4.1.2 Normal and Apnea Data To know about characteristics of normal respiration and apnea their corresponding signals were essential. So 40 respiration data sets with 100 sample values in each data set were collected from PHYSIONET -PHYSIOBANK ATM. Among these 20 were normal data sets obtained from SLEEP HEART HEALTH STUDY POLYSOMNOGRAPHY DATABASE (SHHPSGDB) while the other 20 were apnea data sets obtained from UCD SLEEP APNEA DATABASE(UCDDB).The Resulting plot for each type of respiration signal is plotted below. The following figure shows the normal respiration data plotted for 100 samples with time in x-axis and amplitude in y-axis with a maximum peak to peak voltage of 8V and 24 respiration cycles for 100seconds. The following figure 4.4 shows Ce