Market Failures & Professional Dilemmas Essay

Based on the Edwards article which market failures or imperfections are present in the â€Å"Lobster Thermidor† case? And can you identify any in your professional life? Based on the Halbert & Ingulli reading (â€Å"Making An Ethical Decision†) apply the methods of ethical reasoning to these situations. Two market failures can be observed in the â€Å"Lobster Thermidor† case, a tragedy of public goods and informational deficiencies. First of all, the divers have to dive deeper, to the limit of diving safety, since overfishing has made the lobsters rare and to catch the lobster less than 30 meter down is getting harder and harder. This is the very typical case of public goods, where the public resources such as the lobsters under the sea are usually over-consumed by the individuals who try to maximize one’s interest. Deforestation, which has destroyed the entire farming industry and forced Miskitos out to entirely rely on diving, was another tragedy caused by the overconsumption of the public goods, forest. Secondly, both the divers and the end-consumers make wrong, irrational decisions cause of the lack of information. Divers, who do not recognize the true market price of lobsters as well as the true price of potential risks, bargain away their goods with little danger pay allowances. Also, the consumers, who have no idea about the severe fishing environment in Honduras, are reluctant to pay more than current prices, formed lower than it should be at the cost of human lives. The company where I worked prior to school has always tried its best to remove any little elements of competition in its area. If there were a small but promising start-up with innovative idea and technology, that company used every means –most were legal or grey while a few were nearly illegal- to get rid of the potential threats. For instance, it quickly imitates the new technology of the start-up, take out the similar patent, scout the core human resources, block off the critical suppliers and seed funds, cut the price of competitive goods to the minimum level, and do hostile M&A. This case also showed the issues related to public goods and informational deficiencies. The company attempted to minimize the production/dissemination of new technologies, which can be considered as public goods, and the newborn ventures could not protect themselves cause of the limited access to the information. From the utilitarianism perspective, these are reasonable and desirable attempts because the larger number of stakeholders can be satisfied. My company had more than 20,000 employees while the average start-ups have no more than 100 employees. Considering the families of employees, shareholders, subcontractors, and the related industries, maximizing profit of my company could bring higher utilities than the success of small ventures. Even in long-term, my company’s decision would not be wrong since the possibility of success of start-ups are extremely low compared to the global conglomerates. My company, which has the global network, huge infrastructure, and accumulated knowhow can exploit the new technology better and thereby encourage the social progress. In contrast, from the deontological view, it was absolutely wrong. My company not only hindered the fair competition but also committed illegal acts. Whether the result proved positive or negative is not important for the deontologists. Finally, it was not proper when applying the concept of virtue ethics since the motives of the actions of the company was not correct and contributes nearly nothing to the harmonious relationship with the community it belonged.

Development of police -Time line history Essay

The Roman Vigiles are recognized world over as the first police force. Gaius Octavius who was Julius Caesars’ grandnephew created this â€Å"non-military and non-mercenary police† in 27 B.C. (Berg, B.1998) The creation of the force followed the assassination of Julius Caesar and Gaius sought to reform the Roman society as a form of revenge. This was done once Gaius ascended to power to become Augustus Caesar the â€Å"first emperor of Rome.† (Berg, B.1998) However it was not until the 17th century that elements of policing started being practiced in the US after being adopted from the English watch system. This system was to later evolve to the American watch system, which had a form of silent, and unseen policing based on â€Å"hue and cry.† (Berg, B.1998) Among the first parts to adopt this system was the Boston night watch formed in 1631; this system enlisted 6 watchmen, a constable and many volunteers. American policing is normally classified into 3 distinct eras that are discussed below. The political Era (1840-1930) The major characteristic of this era was the close relationship between the police on one hand and politicians on the other. This relationship in most cases was geared towards â€Å"making the politician happy† The police system was very decentralized and its main purpose was to provide basic social services. Inherent in the police system during this era was the endemic corruption. http://www.realpolice.net/police-history.shtml   Sometimes this era is called the â€Å"Spoils Era† which called for large-scale adaptation to the social changes that were taking place in America. This era is named so because as the term puts it â€Å"to the Victor go the spoils† whereby the political class in big cities often controlled their municipal police. http://www.realpolice.net/police-history.shtml During the period of 1835 America was hit by numerous Industrial and race riots, which involved mostly the Native Americans and the immigrant Irish. In response to these riots, the police force was assigned the function of controlling them. However, because the type of system used was variably inadequate and ineffective the answer was found in police officers that would be salaried. (Walker, S.1998) 1845 marked the beginning of a salaried police force in America. This was in New York City where the police were called â€Å"coppers† because of the copper star badges they wore. They worked throughout, day and night mainly to control riots. http://www.realpolice.net/police-history.shtml The â€Å"coppers† were armed with guns and were usually trained to think smarter than their working class counter parts. This system was to soon spread to other states like Boston where detectives and informants were being used and Philadelphia with the characteristic â€Å"mug shots.† http://www.realpolice.net/police-history.shtml The Texas Ranger which was founded in 1845 is mentioned as the first state police organization and it is always well remembered for the atrocities against Mexicans and â€Å"Comanche tribes.† However, the Pennsylvania Constabulary is generally accepted as the first professional state police agency. The constabulary initial functions was to aide mine-owners against strikes in the mines. (Walker, S. 1998) The California Gold Rush of 1848 prompted the formation of Federal police agencies that included the Border Patrol, the IRS, Postal Inspector and the Secret Service. In1855 Allan Pinkerton was a model for federal investigators after founding the Pinkerton’s private security agency. Other agencies that sprouted up during this time were Holmes Burglar Alarm Company and the Brinks and Wells Fargo armored delivery services. By early 20th century the Spoils era was coming to a close, ending in 1900 when the Pendleton Act came into being. This Act was mainly enforced by a civil service system to fight corruption and nepotism. Several innovations were made, and the form of policing shifted from â€Å"brawn to brain†. (Berg, B.1998) During this time professionalism took center stage and led to the formation in 1902 of the International Association of Chiefs of police (IACP). Richard Sylvester became the body’s first president; he was also the Washington D.C.P.D chief and is widely recognized as the â€Å"father of police professionalism.† Many aspects of paramilitary policing were developed during this time. (Walker, Samuel 1977) By 1918, August Vollmer as the chief of the Berkeley P.D became   â€Å"the patriarch of police professionalism†. During his time, for the first time in America advancement in crime labs and finger printing were realized, more and bigger police stations were built accompanied by change of job titles. The professionalism saw the establishment of police unions at the bottom ranks. (Walker, Samuel 1977) In 1915, the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) was established. The establishment of the Federation Of State County Municipal Employees (AFSCME), and the International Conference Of Police Association (ICPA), the umbrella group of teamsters, followed this. Another aspect of this era was the involvement of citizen groups in the police reforms a notable model was the Chicago Crime Commission. The commission was more of civilian oversights board that sort to bring intellectual ideas about causes of crime. During this era policewomen were given the chance to do real police work, for the first time. Another peculiar development during this era was the Volstead Act on the 18th Amendment or Prohibition in 1919.This was an era characterized by gangsterism of such renowned gangsters like Al Capone and John Dilinger. It was also a time during the Great Depression where there was widespread unemployment and law was unenforceable. Thus the main function of the police during this time was fighting crime because the number of gangsters had increased and they had become more organized. It was this period that is often described as the Prohibition Era when attempts were made to ban alcohol sales and consumption. (Walker, S. 1998) All together there was an escalation of such crimes as kidnapping, daylight bank robberies and drive by shooting. The police were under intense pressure to contain the runaway crime and most time resorted to the use of brute force including the use of dirty tricks. Notable police leaders who emerged during this time were J.Edgar Hoover and Elliot Ness. They often used covert means and latest technology to check on the raising crime. The advent of the two ways radio, the police car and the telephone transformed greatly the policing system to become a more reactive system. (Gaines, L.& Vaughn J. 1999) The Reform Era (1830-1980)   The reform era was ushered in by various transformations that started taking place in the police system in the 1920s led by August Vollmer who was Berkeley, California Police Chief (Carte, G. & E. 1975). During this era new technology started being adopted and greater professionalism enhanced (Walker, Samuel 1977). Such professionalism centralized the command and control of the police operations. Such officers like O.W Wilson who introduced professionalism in Wichita, Kansas and the Chicago police drastically reduced corruption. Here training of the police was greatly emphasized. (Bopp, W 1977) O.W. Wilson introduced various strategies like rotation of officers from one community to another to reduce corruption incidences, strict merit promotion system, and higher salaries to attract professionals and aggressive recruiting drives. (Bopp, W 1977) However, there remained a bad relationship between the police on one hand and the minority communities on the other because of the highly autocratic police leaders. The police during this period despite of the reformations concentrated more on felonies and other serious crimes. (Bopp, W 1977) The 1960s were marked by urban unrests that included movements such as the civil rights, the Vietnam, the student rights and counterculture. There was an escalation of serial and mass murders with an increased number of police killed in the line of duty that averaged 100 annually. The crime rates soared tripling during this period. (Carte, G. & E. 1975). In 1968 the National Advisory Commission on civil disorders blamed the riots on the police and following the abolishment of the death penalty 1967-1977,the police were faced with a heavy task of checking on the rise in crime whilst doing it professionally. In 1965 President Johnson formed the Presidents Commission On Law Enforcement And Administration Of Justice whose reports were influential in providing an overhaul criminal justice system model. It was during this period that the police information system became computerized and more emphasis was placed on empowering the criminal justice system. (Carte, G. & E. 1975). In the 1970s the interest shifted to the Police Community Relations when the reactive policing approach was found to be ineffective. Corruption in the police force was still endemic and various commissions were formed to investigate it. Such commissions were common and were formed by citizens and financed by the private sector or community groups. (Walker, S. 1998) Various programs were started towards enforcing the police community relations and included such programs as open houses and ride a longs, citizen self defense trainings, citizen police academies and â€Å"Coffee Klatches† or community meetings. These outreaches helped the police realize their public safety function, where â€Å"fighting the fear of crime was as important as fighting crime itself† (Gaines, L.& Vaughn J. 1999) The Community Era (1980- Preset) Many law enforcement agencies in the 1990s started adopting strategies of community policing and problem oriented policing. Problem oriented policing that was characterized by a centralized problem pinpointing approach came first. (Gaines, L.& Vaughn J. 1999)   Community policing defined as â€Å"a philosophy based on citizens and police working together in creative ways to help solve contemporary problems related to crime fear disorder and decay†. (Gaines, L.& Vaughn J. 1999) Community policing is characterized by the incorporation of the public in combating crime, where the police are more involved with the community they police, now than ever before. (Gaines, L.& Vaughn J. 1999) It was also during the 1990s that New York Police Department developed an information based crime pattern tracking and mapping system. The system’s purpose was to check the trends and patterns in crime and the accountability of dealing with crime problems is given to the police.

A study of citizenship and its relation to surveillance and privacy Essay Example for Free

A study of citizenship and its relation to surveillance and privacy Essay Surveillance (10) , Biometric passport (2) company About StudyMoose Contact Careers Help Center Donate a Paper Legal Terms & Conditions Privacy Policy Complaints ?   Ã¢â‚¬Å"When you single out any particular group of people for secondary citizenship status, that’s a violation of basic human rights†- Jimmy Carter. Often taken for granted, citizenship is something that we know superficially what it is, but never think too deeply about. But every single day, for millions of people, citizenship is something to be worried about, something that others use to rise above the rest. Based on personal experiences as well as extensive research, this essay will discuss not only what citizenship at its core is, but also its uses as surveillance and how it impacts everyday life. I will be drawing primarily from concepts detailed by three scholars in the area of surveillance- David Lyon, Steven Nock, and Michel Foucault, with some material from John Torpey. From Lyon, I will be referencing the ideas of social sorting and data flow; from Nock, I will be referencing the idea of credentials; from Foucault, I will be referencing the idea of disciplinary power. Furthermore, I will be looking at the impact of these concepts from each scholar onto the issues of social exclusion and discrimination. Through such an analysis, I will detail the net benefits and harms of citizenship as it pertains to surveillance and the everyday person. What is citizenship? Webster’s Dictionary simply defines it as â€Å"being an inhabitant of a city or town; especially one entitled to the rights and privileges of a freeman†. But of course, this is an incredibly superficial definition. At it’s core, according to John Torpey, citizenship is a way for states â€Å"to deprive people of the freedom to move across certain spaces and to render them dependent on states and the state system for the authorization to do so – an authority widely held in private hands theretofore†. While citizenship, at first glance, simply seems to be just another way to distinguish between nationals of one state opposed to nationals of another, its use for governments goes far greater than that. The creation of passports and other such devices has led citizenship to not only be simply documentation, but also a method of control and surveillance. As Torpey furthers, â€Å"A critical aspect of this process has been that peopl e have also become dependent on states for the possession of an â€Å"identity† from which they can escape only with difficulty and which may significantly shape their access to various spaces†. While originally just a way for states to determine borders and other logistics, citizenship over the years has evolved greatly. From passports and Social Security numbers to crime databases and border patrol checks, the methods by which governments restrict and control our movements are growing. However, the question remains: How do states use citizenship to surveil its citizens? The primary way governments surveil its citizens through citizenship is the creation of passports. Passports allow for entry into the issuing country and are accepted as valid identification for international border crossings. Because passports are used as identification, they contain information such as name, date of birth, and biometrics. However, past simple identification, passports also serve as a means of surveillance is by providing identification/classification as well as tracking/restricting movement. As Torpey states, â€Å"states have sought to monopolize the capacity to authorize the movements of persons – and unambiguously to establish their identities in order to enforce this authority†. As detailed before, the ultimate goal of citizenship is to restrict and control the movements of persons. The role passports play in this is by establishing the identity of such persons in order to better restrict them. Passports act as a credential, which, as Steven Nock writes, is â€Å"a way to create reputation among strangers, or â€Å"A minimum basis for trust in the absence of personal knowledge†. He further, saying that credentials are necessary to the extent that we must trust people we don’t know. In this case, passports act as a simple way for law enforcement to ensure criminals are not moving about freely. As such, checking passports at border crossing or flights not only establish identity, but also trust. The way passports do this is through data flow. As defined by David Lyon, data flow is the transferring of information collected by one surveillance technology to another. In the case of passports, most, if not all, have an embedded chip that allows police, border patrol agents, and the like to simply swipe a passport to pull up all of a citizen’s history. Most notably, this chip contains data from the TECS (Treasury Enforcement Communications Systems) which allows different law agencies to exchange criminal information with each other. That means that your entire criminal record, whether it be with the Border Patrol, the FBI, or even the local police, can be found with just a swipe of your passport. But even more so, this data is then used for social sorting. Social sorting, as defined by David Lyon, is â€Å"the social practice of surveillance and control to sort out, filter and serialize who needs to be controlled and who is free of that control†. At face value, this seems to be a good thing. After all, ensuring criminals are walking around free sounds like a good deal for a small invasion of privacy. However, the issue comes with the use of social sorting today. As Lyon states, â€Å"the new penology is concerned with techniques for identifying, managing and classifying groups sorted by levels of dangerousness. Rather than using evidence of criminal behaviour, newer approaches intervene on the basis of risk assessment†. Instead of allowing or denying movement based on tangible criminal behavior, the use of such data has moved towards prediction of criminal behavior. As such, social sorting in the case of citizenship has progressed past simply who is a criminal versus who is not a criminal and instead sorts people based on who is likely to become a criminal. The impact of this to everyday life is great. One specific way is through the idea of disciplinary power, which is, as Foucault defines it, the idea that â€Å"Discipline is a mechanism of power which regulates the behaviour of individuals in the social body.† This simply means that the use of surveillance allows institutions to use discipline to enforce specific behaviors within people. In the case of citizenship, this disciplinary power exists in two ways. Firstly, it exists from the government. A historical example of such is the case of the Soviet Union and Soviet passports. In this case, the Soviet Union issued passports based on who supported the Soviet ideology. Those who were completely indoctrinated were allowed to travel freely; however, those who did not support the Soviet ideology were effectively restricted to poor areas. As such, the Soviet Union used disciplinary power (restricting movement based on ideology) in order to promote a specific behavior (supporting t he Soviet ideology). In this case, it’s directly from the government itself. However, the second way disciplinary power exists in citizenship is through the deinstitutionalization of disciplinary power, as offered by William Staples. Instead of the government itself directly enforcing specific behavior, this type of disciplinary power relies on other citizens to promote citizenship. And indeed, this concept is prevalent even today, with prejudices against the â€Å"foreigners† and the â€Å"illegals†. This kind of social exclusion and discrimination promote the idea of citizenship if only to escape the attacks of others. Talking to my parents, who immigrated to the United States from China, I found it interesting and slightly disheartening to hear their experiences. They way people treat citizens and noncitizens if very different. Because my parents didn’t speak very much English, communication was an issue and it was difficult getting jobs. There was a certain amount of prejudice against immigrants and not being a citizen incurs a certai n amount of suspicion. After all, citizenship is seen as a â€Å"patriotic duty†, and not engaging in such a process can be perceived as not embracing the American culture. While the difference in attitude wasn’t immediate and polarizing, there was a lot more acceptance when my parents became citizens. The attitude of those around them became more akin to that of a community rather than sticking out like a sore thumb. As such, from this experience, I found it clear the impact that disciplinary power had upon citizenship and social exclusion and discrimination. There’s a certain â€Å"us versus them† mentality, and the stigma associated with not being a citizen is great. As such, it’s clear the impact citizenship has on everyday life. Although it may seem innocuous, the role citizenship plays in surveillance is great. With the use of credentials and data flow, citizenship ultimately results in issues such as social sorting and disciplinary power. What then results is a great amount of social exclusion and discrimination based solely on the characteristics of citizenship. From immigration to criminal activity, everyone is subject to judgement and the increasing pervasion of privacy only exacerbates these impacts. While there does need to be a certain amount of credibility associated with each person, the overreach of states through surveillance will only result in increased tension and stratification. A study of citizenship and its relation to surveillance and privacy. (2018, Apr 13).

Child observation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Child observation - Essay Example One of the first things I was able to observe Luke doing was playing with Lego building blocks. Luke is a Lego maniac. He builds elaborate structures with these toys, but is always very careful to keep the â€Å"sets† of Lagos sorted out from one another. This way he can build them the â€Å"right† way by following the instructions. When he combines sets to build one structure, he is very careful to observe which set it came from so he can return it to its proper place. The idea of equilibrium is an important idea introduced by Piaget (Slavin). According to this theory, when something new is introduced to the child, a disequilibrium is created in the child’s understanding of how the world works. This disequilibrium is what causes learning. I was able to observe this when Mary introduced a new type of Lego set to Luke. I notice that Luke would follow a pattern in building his structures. He always used dark, sturdy Lagos for the base of his structures and lighter colored, thin Lagos at the top. This new set of Lagos, however, did not have any dark, sturdy Lego’s. I could tell that Luke was keen to use his new set, but could not reconcile the fact that the new dark Lagos would not work for the base. He dealt with the new situation by excluding the new Lagos from the building. Eventually, Luke may realize that it is not the color that makes for a good base, but the thickness of the blocks. When he does this, he will have assimilate new i nformation and will have learned something new. While watching Mary serve Luke and his younger sister some lunch, I was able to observe another hallmark of Piaget’s research, namely, Luke’s early ability to display the idea of conservation. Juice was being poured into two different sized glasses. Luke’s was tall and thin while his sister’s glass was shorter and broader. Luke’s sister began to cry because Luke got â€Å"more†. His glass did appear to have more due to the

Health Resources and Policy Analysis Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Health Resources and Policy Analysis - Case Study Example While assisted living offers the above services, nursing homes offer full-time medical supervision and nursing care for the critical ill or patients with more acute conditions. Some of the residence services may include medical care, occupational, speech, and physical therapy, housekeeping, meals, help with medical care, and social activities (Sultz & Young 3 ). Assisted living is growing at a sharp rate in recent times because of their professional staff, who maintain companionship. While giving their services, one can actually note that the organization does what is assigned to do for the sake of the residents’ well-being and not for profit. According to Sultz & Young (5), there is also excellent patient care, remarkably nutritional meals, and attractive surroundings. Most important, its location is crucial to everything, making it easy and convenient for any person to visit. All these factors make the program the favorite of many, therefore grow rapidly. For a CSU student to prepare himself for a carrier as a CEO or administrator of an assisted living faculty, he should provide official transcripts from a recognized University or College of completion for averagely two years of training, two years of supervisory experience in a credible adult care home, or other residential or health care setting in five years before certification. Currently, there are 339 assisted living opportunities available. Some of the job opportunities include Hospice RN Patient Care Manager, Hospice Registered Nurse, and Licensed Practical

Will be doing a video essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Will be doing a video - Essay Example Being such, I would know which area of study I should work harder to become better in my practice. This pursuit of becoming better as a nurse by pursuing a Master’s Degree does not only improves the prospect of my career in the long run but also makes me a more effective, compassionate nurse and in a way, an instrument that improve and make people’s lives better. This is consistent with Georgetown University’s mission of â€Å"promoting health and well-being for all people, with its emphasis on preparing students to be morally reflective health care leaders and scholars† which to my understanding is to genuinely care for people’s health and well-being as well improving myself as a nurse. I anticipate that the academic environment at Georgetown University will be rigorous considering that it is one of the best universities in the world in the field of nursing. This however for my own good because those rigorous training will make me a better

A Simulated Research Study Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

A Simulated Study - Research Paper Example This data is clustered monthly, giving 60 data sets. The analysis will determine the descriptive statistics for the two sets of share data, determine the correlation and regression between the data and use a t-test to test for significance. Finally, the paper will explain the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) for the two sets of data. The first part of the paper will present an introduction to the two companies and provide an overview of the statistical techniques to be used. The paper will then provide an explanation for the methods used in collecting the data, after which the methodology for the paper is explained. The paper will then present the results of the analysis, followed by an analysis of each statistic in the summary outputs presented in the paper. Table of Contents Name i Abstract ii Table of Contents 1 Introduction 2 Methodology 3 Data Collection 3 Data Analysis 4 Results 5 Descriptive Statistics 5 Correlation 6 Regression 6 T-test 7 ANOVA 7 Discussion 8 Introduction The sof t drinks industry is an industry that has the biggest competitive presence in the global industry. Currently, the industry is dominated by two main players; The Coca Cola Company and Pepsi Company Limited. These two companies operate in the global market, and are known to be the biggest companies in the soft drinks market. ... The comparison of the two companies’ share prices will also help in determining the relationship between the share prices of the two companies, whether the change in share prices for the two companies are in any way related. In this case, a set of descriptive statistics will be used to determine whether either company is better than the other. This analysis will also determine the correlation between the operations of the two companies, the regression between their share prices, a t-test to test for independence and an analysis of variance (ANOVA). These tests will help in determining the relationship between the share prices of the two companies and the performance of each company in relation to the other. Since the two companies are competitors, it is expected that one company performs better than the other company, but that their prices be positively correlated since they operate in the same industry, so are mostly affected by the same factors. Methodology Data Collection A s already stated, the company will be done using share prices for Coca Cola and PepsiCo for the last five years of operations. The data for this simulated research study will be collected from Yahoo! Finance, where the date collected will be monthly data from 2007 to 2012. The data will be collected from May 1, 2007 to May 1, 2012, which gives 61 data sets for each company. The use of 61 data points is done to avoid short-term effects of market interplay factors like unexpected events in the financial periods of each company. The data collected for each company is displayed in the following table: Date Coke Pepsi Date Coke Pepsi 5/1/2007 50.32 59.25 11/2/2009 45.32 57.67 6/1/2007 45.72 56.54 12/1/2009 51.71 56.75 7/2/2007 47.36

It is a film review using book how to read literature like a Essay

It is a film review using book how to read literature like a professor-Foster Thomas - Essay Example According to Foster, acts of vampire can be symbolic and can include exploitations, evil, selfishness, using other people to get what one wants, refusing to respect other peoples autonomy and placing ones needs above others. According to Foster, flight symbolically means escape, freedom, returning home or the flight of the imagination. Flight includes the use of flying images such as birds. In the movie, violence is evident when Lord Voldemort killed Harry’s parents though he failed in killing Harry when he was just a year old. The attack by Voldemort also left a lightning bolt shaped scar on Harry’s forehead which produced stabbing pains whenever Voldemort felt any strong emotions. Violence in this movie was caused by a Lord Voldemort, a character who caused stabbing effects on Harry. Foster believes that this kind of violence is symbolic in action, which shows the connection between Harry and the Sorcerer-Harry had become a wizard. Geography is another theme evident in the film. Family is a very important theme in the movie. This is evident when Harry misses his family that he never knew and hates the Dursleys; the one he is stuck with. Blood relationship matters a lot. The Dursleys feed Harry, but they do not love him and do not treat him well. Harry later meets Hogwarts who nurtures and cares for him, hence becoming a family. Foster believes that this type of geography matters in the film represents love, security, family and home. Harry went to Hogwarts with the main aim of making friends and hence forming a family. By making friends, both Harry and Hogwarts learned on how to work together, they learned from each other and even accomplished more that what each of them would have done on their own. Love is evident when Harry finds a room that contained the Mirror of Erised from the restricted section of information in the Library, which showed him of his parents as well as several of his parent’s ance stors.

Dementia Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Dementia - Research Paper Example Dementia is a condition that affects the nervous system of the individual. It is mainly labeled to be a disease of the old people but it may occur in the younger age groups as well. Dementia mainly presents with loss of memory and the condition deteriorates with time. The functioning of the cerebral hemisphere is affected in this condition and thus the day to day performance of the individual greatly suffers as a result of dementia. Dementia can result owing to many underlying pathologies which include Alzheimer's disease, Huntington’s disease and Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease. There is no definitive cure for this disease but early diagnosis can make a difference. Dementia Dementia is a degenerative neurological disorder. Previously dementia was considered to be a normal part of aging but researches and studies have proved that it is a pathological condition that results from varying illnesses or disorders present in the body.As a number of disorders or factors can be responsible for causing dementia,it is better known as a syndrome rather than a disease.It can also present as a clinical sign or symptom of an underlying disorder.Dementia is sudden or spontaneous in onset and progresses with time and age.The risk of onset of dementia is most likely at the age of 60 and it is seldom seen before this age.The risk of onset increases with the advancement in age. Dementia seriously affects the emotional behavior and social attitude of the victims of this disorder and sometimes it can also be associated with life threatening consequences. It is a pathological condition of the brain which causes impairment of normal mental activity and deterioration of cerebral functions with difficulties in carrying out the routine chores due to regression of certain areas of brain that maintain and regulate the normal functions of life. The individual suffering from dementia faces memory loss and the magnitude of loss is directly related to the severity of the disease. The disease affects the patient's personality and alters the emotional and social behavior. (Cox, 2007; Jacques & Jackson, 2000) Dementia involves gradual deteriorating changes in the brain of an individual which results in the decline of cerebral functions with time. The patient undergoes these changes for quite a long time before presenting with some solid differences in his or her personality. The patient can present with complaints which include deterioration of memory, decreased rate of performance at any type of work, compromised skills, mismanagement of personal or business affairs, uncertain and unreliable attitude, the decline in social activities, varying moods and delirium. The dementia is divided into two types depending on the time of its onset. These two types are pre-senile and senile dementia. The two groups differ as the pre-senile dementia is seen in mostly young patients while senile is in much older individuals. Both the disease processes however, follow the same course of development with very little differences in the signs and symptoms shown by the patients suffering from pre-senile or senile dementia (Boon & Davidson, 2006; Jacques & Jackson, 2000). The causes of dementia vary according to the type. Dementia may either be resulting from vascular pathologies which include disease of the small blood vessels, numerous emboli in the vessels or inflammation of the vessels in the brain. Degenerative or the inherited type of dementia results due to pathologies which include Alzheimer’s disease, Huntington’s disease, Wilson's disease, cortical Lewy body disease and mitochondrial encephalopathies. Dementia may also be associated with cancerous conditions. The tumors may spread from distant sites and lead to dementia or there may be tumors originating with the brain itself for example the primary cerebral tumor. Sarcoidosis and Multiple Sclerosis lead to inflammation and thus they are classified as inflammatory causes of dementia. Trauma can a lso be an underlying cause of dementia and it may be due to

Theories of Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Theories of Management - Essay Example All the way through, they must work out responsible leadership. Management’s work is to â€Å"fit† out of the many situations faced by organizations and prepare activity plans to resolve organizational troubles. But less understood is the reality that management must carry out more than supervision what already exists. They must also make new products and services and even re-create the organization from time to time. A significant fraction of management is creative work driven by innovative knowledge and information. Information technology can offer a powerful responsibility in redirecting and redesigning the organization. It is important to note that managerial roles and decisions diverge at diverse stages of the organization (Kenneth 1999, p.11). Through out the pervious few decades, in the whole world, the business area has sought to ascertain its environmental classification by putting together ecological and public impartiality matters addicted to its business str ategy plans and application. Food sector is mainly obvious right through farming and foodstuff structures, where foodstuff processors and vendors come into the view using communication of the lessons to be drained from the enlargement of the organic food division. The enlargement of organic food sector manufacturing has guided the business area to tackle the variety of conduct and to dissimilar scale green subjects in determining the course of this growth. For a number of business actors, the pressure of ‘green’ fears have been obvious in small and additional than terms of concern and declarations of intention, which are planned to cover present indefensible application. For others, in difference, it is imitate in the foodstuff manufacturing systems in conduct that hold up the manufacture of natural food, the expansion of ecological codes of application and other plans which stand for a innovative strategy trend (Lyons

Give an account of how the monoamines Essay Example for Free

Give an account of how the monoamines Essay Before any detailed explanations of how monoamines act as transmitters and their prime functions in the brain, I feel it is appropriate to describe what transmitters are and outline their functions in the nervous system as well as the criteria needed for a transmitter. The definition of a neurotransmitter is chemicals that are used to relay, amplify and modulate electrical signals between neurons. (wikipedia, 2006) Moreover, for these substances to be classified as a neurotransmitter, certain criteria must be met as follows. Firstly, it is synthesized when required endogenously at the pre-synaptic side of the cell and stored in vesicles. Secondly, an adequate amount can be released to cause a response on the post-synaptic neuron. Finally, an inactivation mechanism is required to terminate its effect upon cell. Neurotransmitters are agonists and may produce fast or slow sequence of events which could be either excitatory or inhibitory. The effect is largely determined by the receptors that the neurotransmitters bind onto. Neurotransmitters are usually small molecules and are packaged into small vesicles. When a neuron receives an action potential that travels along the axon reaching the synapse, the pre-synaptic membrane of the neuron becomes depolarized. This leads to the opening of calcium channels and an influx of calcium ions, which causes the vesicles to be released by exocytosis to the synaptic cleft and the neurotransmitter molecules are then free to bind to receptors that sits on the post-synaptic membrane of the neuron. Neurotransmitter receptors are commonly divided into two types: the ionotropic receptors and the metabotropic receptors. The first group of receptors is ligand-gated ion channels and its opening or closure of channel depends on the binding of neurotransmitters. The rate of transmission for ionotropic receptors is fast. The latter group passes on signals through second messengers such as G-proteins and they have slower neuromodulation. There are three major categories of neurotransmitters: the amino acids, peptides, monoamines and the last group we will be concentrated on. Monoamines include chemicals such as dopamine (DA), norepinephrine (NA) and serotonin (5-HT). Dopamine is responsible for emotional arousal; NA causes wakefulness and arousal whereas 5-HT has a role in memory, patterns in sleeping and emotions. Each of the neurotransmitters will now be introduced in more details. Dopamine is naturally synthesized inside the body by rewarding experiences; it is a neurotransmitter that acts on the brain as well as a neurohormone that is released by the hypothalamus. Generally, functions of DA in the brain include movement, cognition, prolactin secretion regulation plus motivation and pleasure. DA have other functions in the brain, however, it centrally plays a role in the pleasure reward system. The presence of an unanticipated reward induces activations to DA neurons and we tend to repeat certain behaviors to gain rewards again due to the feelings of reinforcement and motivations. Thus DA is believed to set up new motor sequences for repeated behaviors and reward system. Often this system has an association with the use of drugs such as cocaine and amphetamines which can increase the concentration of DA in the brain leading to addiction of drugs. On the other hand DA is also released with the occurrence of unpleasant experiences and we learn to keep away or remove the unlikable stimuli. The most common and recognizable symptom of Parkinsons disease is the shaky hands, where patients are less able to control their motor movement. The cause of the disease is principally understood as shortage of DA and death of DA neurons in nigrostriatal pathway. Evidentially DA has an affect on the basal ganglia motor loop which impinges on the brain to control our motor movements. The frontal lobes of the brain are the region responsible for most of the neurocognitive functions, where DA controls the information flow from other sections of the brain. Any disorder in this area can bring about reduced functions in memory and attention. As mentioned before, DA plays a role in regulation of prolactin secretion in which DA act as a neuroendocrine regulator to inhibit prolactin release from anterior lobe of pituitary gland. Receptors for DA include D1, D2, D3, D4 and D5 and D2 receptors are associated with sociability. Anxiety patients are found to have low D2 receptor binding. Other behavior disorders such as depression, schizophrenia and psychosis are related to DA system disruption. Treatment for these disorders often uses the blockade mechanism of the D2 receptors or blocking the reuptake of DA transmitters. Norepinephrine (NA) belongs to the catecholamine family, which are chemicals that are made from the amino acids tyrosine. In the nervous system, NA acts as neurotransmitters and the noradrenergic neurons are responsible for the release of NA. The function of NA in the brain is as a stress hormone, where one is subjected to stressful environment, NA is released. It acts on the adrenoreceptors which are divided into the alpha and beta type and each of these have their own subdivisions. Norepinephrine also implies a role in depression and the chemical serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) are used to treat depression. SNRIs are antidepressant and they function by increasing the concentration of NA at the postsynaptic cells as well as the amount of dopamine due to the availability of NA transporters to some dopamine. SNRIs has an inhibitory effect on the NA transporter reuptake mechanism by preventing transporters to recycle NA transmitters, which stop the NA transporter to recycle dopamine as well and prolongs the effect of dopamine transmission. The correlation between the two transmitters is effective on the antidepressant aspect. Serotonin (5-HT) is derived from the essential amino acid tryptophan and it is a neurotransmitter in the central nervous system. 5-HT is made in serotonergic neurons of the Raphe nuclei in the brain. The neurotransmission for 5-HT is relatively different compared to DA and NA. Instead of releasing the neurotransmitter from a synaptic bulb, 5-HT is released from serotonergic swellings along the axon. Classically transmitters after the release stage will usually bind to receptors that sit on the post-synaptic membrane. However, in the case of 5-HT, the receptors specifically for it not only present post-synaptically but also at areas such as cell bodies and dendrites. The termination pathway of 5-HT is via the actions of the 5-HT reuptake transporter present at pre-synaptic membrane of the neuron. There is a broad classification of 5-HT receptors, from 5-HT1 to 5-HT7, and there are subdivision of the 5-HT1, 5-HT2 and 5-HT5receptors. Most of the 5-HT receptors uses the G-protein coupled mechanism traduce signals, except the 5-HT3 receptor which is a ligand-gated ion channel. For 5-HT1 receptors, the subdivision includes 5-HT1A, 5-HT1B and 5-HT1D. Generally with selected agonists binding to the receptors their functions in the central nervous system are inhibition of neuronal effects and behavioral effects for example, sleeping, and anxiety. But for 5-HT1D it has a role in cerebral vasoconstriction. At the 5-HT2A receptors it involves neuronal excitation which is the opposite of the 1A, B subtypes as well as learning. 5-HT2C receptors are responsible for secreting cerebral spinal fluid to the spinal cord for lubrication and other functions. The 5-HT3 receptors with a selection of specific drugs binding, it brings about anxiety plus neuronal excitation. For some of the other receptors of 5-HT, their roles in the nervous system are unclear and some are responsible for the gastrointestinal tract contraction and motility; vascular constriction or dilation. Clinically, 5-HT is used in the treatment of epilepsy and depression. Although histamine is the chemical that has many involvements physiologically in the human body, it also acts as a neurotransmitter. Four histamine receptors have been discovered ranging from H1-H4. However, only the H3 receptors are mainly engaged with the central nervous system. The cell bodies in the posterior hypothalamus release histamine and it plays a part in sleeping pattern modulation. Histamine releasing disorders are associated with inability of attention maintenance. Schizophrenia also has an association with low concentration of histamine in blood level. References: Book resources:Essential psychopharmacology 2nd edition, Stephen M. Stahl Online resources: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Monoamine_neurotransmitter http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Dopamine http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Norepinephrine http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Serotonin http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Histamine.

Platos Theory of Forms Essay Example for Free

Platos Theory of Forms Essay Explain and define Plato’s theory of Forms with your personal Criticism. Plato was born in Athens on 428 BC. He was a Greek philosopher who laid foundations of western philosophy. He raised basic questions and problems of western thought, goodness and virtue, truth and knowledge, body and soul, ideal political state, and use of Literature and Arts were some of the pre dominant topics of interest to Plato. Plato devoted himself completely to philosophy. He was a student of Socrates. He was a great admirer of Socrates and he initially joined Socrates school of thought to learn philosophy. Later after the death of Socrates, he found an academy where geometry was most prominent in the curriculum along with mathematics and philosophy. He was also influenced from pre-Socratic thinkers like Heraclitus and Parmenides; who rejected physical world and said that inner is more important than believed apparent world. He was also influenced by mathematical concepts derived from Pythagoras. He learned dialectical method of following truth in order to derive a philosophy, ideas and opinions. According to Encyclopedia Britannica literally word Form means, â€Å"The external shape, appearance or configuration of an object in contradistinction to the matter of which it is composed. In Aristotelian Metaphysics, the active, determining principle of a thing as distinguished from matter, the potential principle. † (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2012) In Stanford Encyclopedia it is stated that, Plato’s term ‘eidos’ by which he identified the permanent reality that makes a thing what it is in contrast to the particulars that are finite and subject to change. The Platonic concept of form was itself derived from the Pythagorean theory that intelligible structures and not material elements, gave objects their distinctive characters. Theory of Forms states about what is real and what is not. The real is thought to be perfect whereas things which are not real are changing. Plato advocates that the world of forms is different from world of appearances. World of Forms can only be understood by philosophers and those who seek the truth. The dialogues in this theory portray knowledge as the process of leaving dark caves for going into sunlight. People who live in dark caves find their reality in shadows. These shadows are actually the symbol of the apparent world and it is just a shadow of what is real. Plato says that this world is not real; it is only the ‘world of forms’ which is real and never changes. It can be explained by many examples; for example we all try to seek knowledge but in reality what we learn is an opinion only. Likewise one thing is beautiful for someone but it can be ugly for someone else. People who have an urge to know and understand the true knowledge in the world can only touch the ‘intelligible world’. This world of objects is not independent because it depends on another real world of ‘pure forms or ideas’. Objects in this world have got their qualities from the ideal world. An object is beautiful because it takes that beauty from the ‘higher realm’. This concept of ideal Forms and forms of the world can be explained by geometry. Any square or triangle that we draw or construct is imperfect because it is ‘merely approximate the ideal triangle’. This ideal triangle has no connection with senses or reason because it is not concrete but a concept or an idea in the real world. Plato says that, the world of forms can be characterized as ‘changeless’ , ‘eternal’ and ‘real’ whereas physical world undergoes many changes and decay. The criticism on Plato’s theory of forms is that, he could not be able to draw a logical connection between ‘the realm of forms’ and ‘physical world’. According to Aristotle, this theory does not explain that how permanence and order can be attained in this world and how we can have objective knowledge of this physical world. Plato separated two worlds so distinctly that it failed to explain a former two points. The objectivity and permanence of real world does not explain this physical world hence establishes no strong connection between the two worlds. In my opinion Plato puts an argument that intellectual truth is truer than physical truth. This universe is created by God who is pure and the ultimate reality. He has no physical being but he has created a physical universe. This physical world is a copy of the real universe which only exists in the mind of creator. Similarly all horses are copies of one horse which exists at some higher land of truth. Likewise all beds are only copies of an ideal bed which lies in heaven probably. These examples are given by Plato to prove that world of forms is different from world of reality. It concludes that forms are relative and they are mere imitation of the real. The basic function of theory of forms is unification. It serves to unify ‘groups of objects or concepts’ by connecting them to a pure essence of the real world.

Investigation of Effectiveness of Clozapine

Investigation of Effectiveness of Clozapine Catarina Scott-Beaulieu Abstract: (250) Background: Clozapine is an atypical antipsychotic used for treatment-resistant schizophrenia. It is effective in treating the positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia with a reduced chance of extrapyramidal side effects compared with other typical antipsychotics. Clozapine is known to have cardiac side effects including, but not limited to, myocarditis and cardiomyopathy. Approximately 75% of cases, of clozapine-induced myocarditis, occur within the first month of titration, highlighting the need for monitoring. Objectives: To assess the extent to which the monitoring guidelines for myocarditis, at a London mental health trust, are being followed. Method: Patients who were registered with ZTAS from June 2014 to October 2016, at the trust,  Ã‚   were identified. Data was collected based on the audit tool created from the guidelines. Using the patient notes and laboratory data, found using the trusts operating systems, data was collected and stored in the audit tool. Key findings: The monitoring standards were met for full blood count in the week prior to initiation and in week 3. No other standards were met. Conclusion: Introduction: (500-1000) Clozapine is the first atypical antipsychotic created and is used in treatment-resistant schizophrenia, which is defined as a lack of or an inadequate response to at least two antipsychotics.[1] It is a dibenzodiazepine derivative antipsychotic and interferes with dopamine binding with a strong affinity for D4-dopaminergic receptors   and 5-HT2a serotonergic receptor affinity [2], in addition it has an anticholinergic effect and antagonizes histaminergic receptors. [3, 4] Clozapine is useful in treating both the positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia [4] and is less likely to cause extrapyramidal side effects when compared to first generation typical antipsychotics such as haloperidol[5, 6]. It has also been shown to significantly reduce the suicidal behaviors in schizophrenic patients [1, 7]. However, it is not used as a first line treatment due to its extensive side effect profile, most recognized being agranulocytosis which occurs in approximately 1% of patients in the first year of treatment [8, 9], explaining the need for regular, mandatory hematological tests for the duration of clozapine treatment. Other side effects include fever [4], metabolic effects and seizures.[4, 6, 10] Agranulocytosis, however, is not the only potentially fatal side effect of clozapine use. There is an increasing number of clozapine-related cardiac complaints reported in the literature, resulting in cardiac effects from clozapine treatment having become more recognized over the past few years. [5, 7] Whilst tachycardia is a common side effect it can be indicative of other, potentially more serious, cardiac effects such as cardiomyopathy and myocarditis. [9] Myocarditis is an inflammatory process of the myocardium, which is often of viral aetiology but may also include bacterial, fungal and drug-induced.[11, 12] The condition presents with a wide range of symptoms such as chest discomfort, flu-like symptoms and abnormal vital signs [9] and most are non-specific.[2] Reported cases of clozapine-induced myocarditis range from 0.15% to 1.2%,[5, 8, 13-15] with the highest incidence being reported in Australia, >1%. [16] Time to onset varies, but over 75% of cases occur within the first month of treatment. [12, 16-18] Endomyocardial biopsy was the gold standard for diagnosing myocarditis, but the procedure has only limited sensitivity and specificity. It was by proposed Ronaldson et al.[18] in 2011 that combining C-reactive protein (CRP) and troponin T/I would give a sensitivity for clozapine-induced myocarditis of 100%. This is a less invasive method of diagnosis, with a higher specificity and sensitivity for myocarditis and has led to the current guidelines that are in place for the monitoring of clozapine treatment. Whilst clozapine-induced myocarditis is still rare, the need for consistent monitoring within the first month of treatment is needed to ensure any possible cases are detected early, allowing for prompt treatment, increasing the chances of a better outcome for the patient.[1] This audit aims to assess the extent to which the monitoring guidelines for myocarditis, at a London mental health trust, are being followed. Assessments will explore the extent to which the recommended additional blood tests, CRP and troponin, are being completed and the extent to which the advised echocardiogram (ECG) are being followed. Additionally, it will aim to check to see if a clinician is checking the above objectives and assess the extent to which the nursing staff are asking the patients about signs and symptoms of myocarditis. Method: (500-1000) This audit was designed to investigate the extent to which the monitoring requirements, in regards to clozapine initiation and titration within the first four weeks of treatment, at a London mental health trust had been completed. The monitoring requirements audited were specific to the detection and diagnosis of myocarditis. Data collection occurred between October 2016 and February 2017. It is a baseline, retrospective audit of case notes and laboratory data. As per the Health Research Authority regulations, this audit did not require ethical approval. Audit standards and audit tool The standards used in this audit were taken from the trusts clozapine guideline, which can be found in table 3. The monitoring requirements for the detection of myocarditis involve an ECG, vital sign monitoring (pulse, blood pressure, temperature) and CRP and troponin T blood tests. These had to be completed prior to initiation and weekly for the first four weeks after initiation. It is also necessary for clinicians to verify the results of the CRP and troponin T tests, and for the nurses or clinicians to check if the patient has had any signs or symptoms of myocarditis. For the purpose of this audit, criterion 1 and 3 (table 3) will be met if the results of the investigations were documented. Criterion 2 (table 3) will be met if the clinician has made specific reference to CRP and troponin T tests in the patient notes, criterion 4 (table 3) will be met if there is specific reference to questions being asked about myocarditis symptoms. An audit tool was created using the specified mo nitoring requirements mentioned in the clozapine guideline, a template of the audit tool can be found in table x. Identifying patients to be involved in the audit Clozapine patients require regular and frequent prophylactic blood tests in order to initiate and continue treatment. As such, there is a mandatory need for patients to be registered to a clozapine monitoring service database, which collects and stores the results from the weekly blood tests. Zaponex Treatment Access System (ZTAS) is the monitoring company that was used by the trust. ZTAS provided a list of patients who were registered with them whilst under the care of the trust, from June 2014 to October 2016. This resulted in a total of n=57 patients. The patients were selected to be used in the audit after they adhered to the inclusion criteria, which are shown below. Data Collection Data was collected using various information sources at the hospital. Data on haematological tests were collected systematically from ZTAS, bloodresults.co.uk, and the trust clinical portal. ZTAS and bloodresults.co.uk offered information on the standard full blood count (FBC) monitoring that takes place weekly. The trusts clinical portal was used to collect information on other heamatological tests, CRP and troponin T; this source was also used to check any other available FBC test results. RiO, the trusts operating system, was used to collect information on the other standards being measured in this audit (criterion 2, 3 and 4)(table 3). The data collected was stored in the audit tool. ( table x) Inclusion and exclusion criteria The inclusion of the patients in the audit required them to have been registered with ZTAS at the trust between June 2014 and October 2016. It was also necessary for the patient to have started some (at least two) of the required monitoring standards prior to initiation. Prior monitoring requirements included an ECG within a maximum of 3 months prior to initiation and  Ã‚   FBC, CRP and troponin T within 10 days of the initiation date.   Vital sign monitoring such as pulse, blood pressure and temperature were included if they had been completed a maximum of 7 days before initiation. Patients were excluded from the audit if they had been transferred from another trust and were already on a controlled clozapine treatment regime. Method of data analysis Data analysis and statistical analysis was completed using Microsoft Excel 2013. Overview As stated previously, clozapine is associated with an increased risk of myocarditis, which has been fatal in some cases. Preventative monitoring measures for myocarditis are advised at this trust. Baseline troponin T, CRP and ECG should be done prior to beginning treatment and then weekly for the following first four weeks after initiation. These measures are specific in identifying myocarditis, but should also be done in concordance with standard monitoring during treatment. The standard monitoring procedures include pulse, blood pressure and temperature to be completed every other day and FBC weekly. These monitoring procedures are necessary in helping to diagnose myocarditis; symptoms of myocarditis are non-specific, but tend to indicate the presence of an infection (fever) or simulate myocardial infarction (chest pain). Nurses and practitioners are advised to question patients on the appearance of any side effects similar to myocardial infarction to help ascertain if they could h ave myocarditis. Patient demographics and study data In total, n=57 patients were reviewed. Of those, n=3 patients were excluded based upon the inclusion and exclusion criteria described in the method. Of the remaining n=54 patients, n= 6   (11.11%) patients did not initiate clozapine treatment, but n=5 were included in the audit as they had started the monitoring required prior to initiating treatment. Reasons for not initiating treatment are outlined in table 1. A total of n= 3 patients ceased clozapine treatment in week one (n=2) and during week three (n=1); one patient was persistently tachycardic, one patient refused to continue treatment and one patient was severely hypotensive. The patient group (n=53) was predominantly male 66% (n=35), 34% (n=18) were female. The mean age of patients who initiated treatment (n=48) was 34.42 years old, with the youngest patient age being 16.92 years old and the oldest being 65.21 years old. Length of treatment was calculated as the time between a patient commencing clozapine treatment and either ceasing clozapine or the end of the audit period. A total of n=10 patients were excluded from the calculation, as they either did not start treatment or the end of treatment time was not able to be calculated; reasons for exclusion are explained in table 2. The mean length of treatment was 387 days  ±268, with the shortest length of treatment being 1 day and the longest being 873 days. Of the 53 patients involved at the start of the audit, 65% (n=35) were initiated on an inpatient basis; this means the patients were initiated at the hospital, on a ward. ECG monitoring A baseline ECG had been completed in 96% (n=51)(Figure 1) of patients within 3 months prior to the commencement of clozapine. One patient refused to have an ECG prior to initiation. The percentage of patients who received ECGs decreased to 20% (n=9), 24% (n=11), 17%(n=8) and 9% (n=4) of patients for the following 4 weeks after commencement respectively. A total of 41 out of 45 (Table 4) patients did not receive an ECG in week four of clozapine titration. During week one, a patient complained of flu like symptoms and was given an ECG to rule out myocarditis; likewise, one patient during week three was given an ECG after complaining of centralized chest pain. Temperature monitoring The quantity of patients who had recorded temperatures fluctuated through-out the weeks, being highest in week two of monitoring (n=. Week four had the lowest recorded amount of temperature monitoring of all 5 weeks at patients 69% (n=31) (table 4). In week one, n=2 patients refused to have measurements taken. Pulse and blood pressure monitoring The amount of patients who did not receive BP monitoring was highest in the week prior to initiating clozapine (n=13) and in week four (n=13). The highest proportion of patients who had their blood pressures taken occurred during week one at 96% (n=44 ), with 63% (n=29) of them having their blood pressure taken once and 34% (n=15) having their blood pressure taken twice (one reading measured whilst lying or sitting and one reading measured whilst standing). Week four had the highest proportion of patients who did not have their pulse measured at 29% (n=13) (table 4). One patient was discontinued from clozapine after one day of treatment when the BP check revealed them to be extremely hypotensive, in conjunction with a rapid pulse. Full blood count monitoring FBC monitoring occurred in the highest proportion of patients throughout the monitoring period; 100%, 98%, 93%, 100% and 96% respectively. CRP and Troponin monitoring The majority (>50%) of patients did not receive CRP or troponin T blood tests throughout the duration of the monitoring period. Figure 2 shows a substantial decrease in the number of patients who had CRP tests prior to initiation (n=25) and the following weeks (n=10, n=11,n=11, n=7 respectively). A large propotion of patients (84%, n= 38) did not receive CRP blood tests during their fourth week of clozapine treatement. The number of patients who received troponin T tests were less than those who received CRP tests. Only 36%(n=19) of patients received troponin T tests prior to initiation, reducing to 26%(n=12), 20%(n=9), 15%(n=7) and 9%(n=4) in the following four weeks after initiation respectively. There were n=14 patients who had no CRP or troponin T tests throughout the entirety of the monitoring period. There were no patients who had weekly CRP and troponin T tests throughout the duration of the mointoring period. Other monitoring parameters In total, the number of patients who had their CRP and troponin checked by clinicians was less than 100% in all cases (69% (n=9), 75% (n=9), 56% (n=6) and 63% (n=5) for weeks one through four respectively).   Due to the lack of data regarding criterion 4 (table 3), there are no results available to be discussed. Summary of main findings FBC monitoring requirements were met in the week prior to monitoring and in week three. All other standards were not met in any of the five weeks. Over all, there was a better outcome seen in the week prior to initiation for most of the standards. CRP and troponin T tests were completed in less than 50% of patients throughout the five weeks measured. Likewise, excluding the week prior to initiation, less than 50% of patients received an ECG for weeks one to four. Limitations Study data was collected using patient notes and the trusts clinical portal, data was therefore reliant on the relevant health care professional entering the information onto the systems. Consequently, the lack of data could be attributed to the lack of documentation of the monitoring, as opposed to the lack of monitoring all together, especially in regards to criterion 4 (table 3). No useful results could be drawn for criterion 4 and criterion 2 may have also been significantly affected by a lack of documentation. The sample size of this audit was small (n=53), any conclusions drawn from this data may not be relevant to a larger sample size. However, in future studies, a larger sample size could be used, if this is not possible the audit could be expanded to include other trusts. Results could also be affected if the patient refused to have the relevant monitoring required, as advised in the trusts clozapine guidelines.    This audit is the first one to be completed at this trust, therefore it cannot be compared to any previous data. However, the results are being measured against set standards (table x) and can be used to compare to future audits. Results in context      Ã‚   Clozapine is highly effective in the management of treatment-resistant schizophrenia; it reduces the risk of suicidal behaviours[5, 6]and it is effective in the treatment of both the positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia.[1] It is not widely used due to its extensive side effect profile [8], most recognised being haematological disorders, such as agranulocytosis and neutropenia which have strict monitoring protocols in place.   However, cardiac side effects of clozapine treatment have become more widely recognised over the past few years.[5] Myocarditis is an inflammatory condition of the myocardium, which is normally attributed to viral aetiology. Clozapine-induced myocarditis is a rare, but potentially fatal result of treatment. Over 75% of cases occur within the first month of treatment, making it important to monitor for myocarditis during the first four weeks of treatment.[2, 14-16] A study by Ronaldson et al.[18] developed an evidence-based monitoring tool, based on 75 cases and 94 controls for routine monitoring up to 28 days. It suggested that an ECG, CRP and troponin I/T should be completed at baseline, with routine vitals every other day. CRP and troponin I/T tests should also be repeated on days 7, 14, 21 and 28. This study proposes that combining CRP and troponin tests provides a 100% sensitivity for myocarditis. The trusts clozapine guidelines also suggest the same monitoring protocol, with the addition of an ECG every week, for the first four weeks. Individuals with schizophrenia have a 20% shorter life expectancy than that of the general population and a greater vulnerability to several illnesses (diabetes, coronary heart disease).[19] Due to the nature of the illness and the heightened health risks associated with schizophrenia and the antipsychotic medications used in its treatment, it is important to adhere to the relevant monitoring protocols. It is evident, from the results, that the proposed guidelines for the monitoring of clozapine-induced myocarditis are not being met. Likewise, a number of studies have shown a poor adherence to standards in the monitoring of antipsychotic medications.[20] Physicians may have doubts about the relevance of monitoring, or feel that it is not necessary as the incidence of myocarditis is very low; rate of incidence occur in approximately 0.15-1.2%[1, 13, 21] of patients. If we consider other medications with stringent monitoring protocols, such as insulin, due to health care professionals awareness of this medication and the implications if the standards are not met, there is often a higher standard of monitoring. There may also be an implication of cost; extensive monitoring is often expensive, making it appear to be an unnecessary expense, particularly when the chances of myocarditis occurring are very low. Health care professionals may have a lack of awareness of the need for the monitoring of myocarditis, and the implications if these are not met. The incidence of fatality due to clozapine-induced myocarditis can be as high as 50%[1], making it important to abide by the set guidelines. The monitoring guidelines are made to reduce the harm caused to patients and reduce the possibility of fatalities. However, a delayed diagnosis could result in poorer outcomes for the patients.[1] The standards allow for earlier detection and diagnosis of myocarditis, reducing the chance of poorer outcomes. The results of this audit indicate a need for an increased awareness of clozapine-induced myocarditis among health care professionals. This would improve the clinicians awareness of the need for the monitoring of myocarditis and highlight the implications if the standards are not met. A standardised questionnaire could be created to monitor the signs and symptoms of myocarditis and be used by nurses to document the results, this could be incorporated into the clinical notes. This baseline audit emphasises the need for future re-audits, to evaluate whether the standards have improved. Table 1: Reasons for not initiating treatment Number of patients (n) Consistent amber results 1 Patient changed mind/ refused 2 Previous health conditions made the patient unsuitable to start clozapine 2 Unknown 1 Total 6 Table 2: Reasons for not being included it length of treatment calculation Number of patients (n) Never initaited clozapine 6 Patient transferred to another trust 2 Patient returned to country of origin (unknown if they continued treatment) 2 Total 10 Table 3: Policy Title Clozapine Guide Trust-Wide Medication Policy Date July 2016 Local/National Local Standard Setting Criterion 1 Criterion 2 Criterion 3 Criterion 4 Criterion Full blood count, including troponin T, CRP, neutrophil and white blood cell count should be done prior to initiating clozapine and then weekly for the first four weeks. A clinician verifies the blood test results every week before treatment can be approved. An ECG is to be performed prior to clozapine commencement and every week for the first four weeks after initiation of clozapine. A nurse or physician enquires about the signs and symptoms of myocarditis weekly for the first 4 weeks of titration. Target 100% 100% 100% 100% Exceptions None None None None Table 4: Monitoring Prior to initiating (Total number of patients n=53) Week 1 (Total number of patients n=46) Week 2 (Total number of patients n=46) Week 3 (Total number of patients n=46) Week 4   (Total number of patients n=45) ECG Yes 51 (96%) 9 (20%) 11 (24%) 8 (17%) 4 (9%) No 2 (4%) 37 (80%) 35 (76%) 38 (83%) 41 (91%) Blood pressure Taken once 36 (68%) 29 (63%) 26 (56%) 25 (54%) 21 (47%) Taken twice 4 (7.5%) 15 (33%) 15 (33%) 12 (26%) 11 (24%) Not taken 13 (24.5%) 2 (4%) 5 (11%) 9 (20%) 13 (29%) Temperature Yes 39 (74%) 38 (83%) 40 (87%) 37 (80%) 31 (69%) No 14 (26%) 8 (17%) 6 (13%) 9 (20%) 13 (31%) Pulse Yes 42 (79%) 43 (93%) 41 (89%) 37 (80%) 32 (71%) No 11 (21%) 3 (7%) 5 (11%) 9 (20%) 13 (29%) FBC Yes 53 (100%) 45 (98%) 43 (93%) 46 (100%) 43 (96%) No 0 (0%) 1 (2%) 3 (7%) 0 (0%) 2 (4%) CRP Yes 25 (47%) 10 (22%) 11 (24%) 11 (24%) 7 (16%) No 28 (53%) 36 (78%) 35 (76%) 35 (76%) 38 (84%) Troponin Yes 19 (36%) 12 (26%) 9 (20%) 7 (15%) 4 (9%) No 34 (64%) 34 (74%) 37 (80%) 39 (85%) 41 (81%) References 1.Munshi, T.A., et al., Clozapine-induced myocarditis: is mandatory monitoring warranted for its early recognition? Case Rep Psychiatry, 2014. 2014: p. 513108. 2.Aboueid, L. and N. Toteja, Clozapine-Induced Myocarditis: A Case Report of an Adolescent Boy with Intellectual Disability. Case Rep Psychiatry, 2015. 2015: p. 482375. 3.Fineschi, V., et al., Sudden cardiac death due to hypersensitivity myocarditis during clozapine treatment. Int J Legal Med, 2004. 118(5): p. 307-9. 4.Bruno, V., A. Valiente-Gà ³mez, and O. Alcoverro, Clozapine and Fever: A Case of Continued Therapy With Clozapine. Clin Neuropharmacol, 2015. 38(4): p. 151-3. 5.Swart, L.E., et al., Clozapine-induced myocarditis. Schizophr Res, 2016. 174(1-3): p. 161-4. 6.Castle, D., et al., A clinical monitoring system for clozapine. Australas Psychiatry, 2006. 14(2): p. 156-68. 7.Annamraju, S., et al., Early recognition of clozapine-induced myocarditis. J Clin Psychopharmacol, 2007. 27(5): p. 479-83. 8.Murch, S., et al., Echocardiographic monitoring for clozapine cardiac toxicity: lessons from real-world experience. Australas Psychiatry, 2013. 21(3): p. 258-61. 9.Wooltorton, E., Antipsychotic clozapine (Clozaril): myocarditis and cardiovascular toxicity. CMAJ, 2002. 166(9): p. 1185-6. 10.Kar, N., S. Barreto, and R. Chandavarkar, Clozapine Monitoring in Clinical Practice: Beyond the Mandatory Requirement. Clin Psychopharmacol Neurosci, 2016. 14(4): p. 323-329. 11.Cohen, R., et al., A Case of Clozapine-Induced Myocarditis in a Young Patient with Bipolar Disorder. Case Rep Cardiol, 2015. 2015: p. 283156. 12.Merrill, D.B., G.W. Dec, and D.C. Goff, Adverse cardiac effects associated with clozapine. J Clin Psychopharmacol, 2005. 25(1): p. 32-41. 13.Ronaldson, K.J., et al., Clinical course and analysis of ten fatal cases of clozapine-induced myocarditis and comparison with 66 surviving cases. Schizophrenia Research, 2011. 128(1-3): p. 161-165. 14.Haas, S.J., et al., Clozapine-Associated Myocarditis. Drug Safety, 2007. 30(1): p. 47-57. 15.Barry, A.R., J.D. Windram, and M.M. Graham, Clozapine-Associated Myocarditis: Case Report and Literature Review. Can J Hosp Pharm, 2015. 68(5): p. 427-9. 16.Ronaldson, K.J., P.B. Fitzgerald, and J.J. McNeil, Clozapine-induced myocarditis, a widely overlooked adverse reaction. Acta Psychiatr Scand, 2015. 132(4): p. 231-40.

Essay --

The United States (US) Navy has been in many battles over the years, made many improvements to their ships, and has allowed women to join the force; this is why the Navy is one of the largest branches of the military today. The Navy is a brand of the nation’s armed forces that includes warships and support ships, their crews, land bases, and many personnel. Also, many navies include an air force; some navies even have combat forces known as marines. The marines are trained to fight in the air and on land; they are some of the toughest people in the military. â€Å"On October 13, 1775, the United States Navy was formed.† (â€Å"Worldbook† 2). There was a meeting and the Continental Congress voted for the Navy to be approved. This was to help out at sea where at the time British were the major force. The Navy was initially made to cut off trades and munitions between Britain and other countries. This was an attempt to help the Americans in the war. The smaller navies of the world usually consist of warships, smaller boats like patrol boats, missile boats, and minesweepers. The main objective fo...

Intramural Sports Essay -- Essays Papers

Intramural Sports Intramurals are an organization of sports teams created for students who seek the opportunity to play sports. Those who participate in intramurals range in age, ability, and gender. These sports teams allow students to play a sport they enjoy without committing to a varsity team. Intramurals are designed for everyone to have fun but still have a competitive edge. It is easy to get involved and learn about intramurals at the University of Dayton. There are many possible ways as a student at Dayton to get involved in intramurals. Involvement in intramurals gives the chance to not only play sports that are enjoyable, but also the opportunity to meet new people and develop a relationship with them. One way that many people get involved is through people they have met or already know. For example, someone you met the other day, or a friend from high school could ask you to sign up for their team. Another popular way to get involved is through the residence hall, and play on a team with the other people in your hall. After talking to people ...

Origins of Slaves :: American America History

Origins of Slaves Treating humans as property led to unspeakable cruelties. Discuss in detail the origins and use of slaves in the Americas. "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness" (Thomas Jefferson). In my opinion the only problem with this passage from the Declaration of Independence is that it does not say, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men including their race, creed, religion, or color are created equal, that they...." Thomas Jefferson's words were hypocritical. Not all men were created equal and these men were slaves. Slavery has existed throughout the United States at the time and by 1760 there were about 325,800 African slaves in North America. This was the most inhumane treatment any man could endure. The following essay shall discuss the state of slavery in North America and its economic and social consequences. Slavery in America started when the New World was first discovered. It started off when the first colonists came to the Americas and in order to survive they needed to farm the land and grow crops. Since they were not accustomed for the hot sun and were too lazy for hard labor. In order to survive they needed a large labor force to farm the lands. They tried to capture the native Indians and failed, for many reasons one of them was from smallpox, and from various diseases, which killed them. Another reason that the Europeans could not capture them was because they had been in America all their lives and they were a majority. Therefore the Europeans set out to seize African slaves. Africans were the perfect choice of slaves to farm in colonial America, because slavery had already existed in Africa. Plus Africans could endure the heat of the raging sun, since Africa and America's weather were similar. Also both African and European colonist's bodies could resist many diseases, unlike native Indians. Africans were shipped from Africa by the Europeans in what was called the Triangular Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. This was an organized route where Europeans would travel to Africa bringing manufactured goods, capture Africans and take them to America. Eventually they would take the crops and goods and bring them back to Europe. However the Europeans had no humanity what so ever.

Plato’s Republic Essay

Plato’s Republic is a book in which Socrates, as a character, explores the nature of poetry. Although Socrates completely supports everyone’s obligation to explore various notions, (leading to his being charged with â€Å"corrupting the youth,†) the idea that poetry can be detrimental, as it may influence the minds of the youth is also proposed. This means that certain fictional readings, which would install themselves into the minds of their believers as delusions were likely to result from the reading of certain fantastic poems. In Cervantes’ Don Quixote, access to unlimited writings, however, corrupted the mind of the novel’s protagonist, who became quite crazy, as his mind became filled with ideas of the business of knights, which occurred as he read books that, according to other characters of the book, should have been banned. Plato’s Socrates was often engaged in the business of encouraging people to challenge accepted notions, and explore other ones. But poetry, when it relates fictional stories, would have had the potential to negatively influence the malleable minds of a younger audience. â€Å"Plato was concerned with the ability of a text to convince in the face of its fictionality,† Frederick de Armas wrote in Cascardi’s novel, The Cambridge Companion to Cervantes. And Plato’s concern was not without merit, when applied to the story of the man from La Mancha, who is driven insane by the fictional stories that he enjoyed. Unfortunately for Don Quixada of La Mancha, fantastic books and stories of chivalry and â€Å"knight-errantry† were permitted in Spain, and he got his hands on a great many of these stories. Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quixote is the story of a man, who, accompanied by his loyal squire, participate in activities based on the delusions inspired by the books that he read. Don Quixote was at first a normal, honorable man, but after reading a great many books and stories about the chivalrous and challenging adventures of knights, he became of the opinion that he was indeed a knight himself, and that the stories he had read were actually incorporated into the whole world. He would produce such beliefs, based on the readings that he had scoured, that simple objects and people of the world were actually characters present in the adventures of the greatest knight who ever was, as he often thought of himself. Every belief that he had throughout the body of the book was tied to the stories of the chivalrous activities of knights that he had read. And these stories prompted him to dress in Medieval military attire (such as chain mail, accompanied by a helmet with a visor, a lance, and a shield), and partake in the activities of the extinct knights that he had read about. The books, which captivated his mind, led Don Quixote de La Mancha to believe notions as preposterous as windmills being giants, and every woman around being damsels in distress. His faithful squire, Sancho Panza was captivated by the stories that his master told him of knight-errantry, and it helped to corrupt, or make him delusional as well. The books, stories, and poetry on the subject of knight errantry were completely to blame for the downfall of Don Quixote’s mind, which in turn, dragged down that of Sancho Panza’s. But there were character from Quixotes hometown, such as his niece, housekeeper, and a man of the church who recognized that it was the fictional adventure books that caused a once respected man to go insane. His niece and housekeeper had noticed that the books were corrupting him from the start. â€Å"‘Senor Licentiate Pero Perez,’ that was the curate’s name, â€Å"some misfortune must certainly have happened to my master; for six days, both he and his horse, together with the target, lance, and armour, have been missing; as I am a sinner, it is just come into my head, and it is certainly as true as that everyone is born to die, those hellish books of knight-errantry, which he used to read with so much pleasure, have turned his brain: for, now I remember to have heard him say to himself more than once, that he longed to be a knight-errant, and stroll about in quest of adventures. May Satan and Barrabas lay hold of such legends, which have perverted one of the finest minds in all La Mancha,† the housekeeper of the illustrious knight, Don Quixote remarked after her master returned from his very first enterprise in the field of knight-errantry (Cervantes, Part 1, Chapter V). It is very straightforward, from the words of his housekeeper, that Don Quixote’s intense readings about the stories of knights and chivalry were very detrimental to his mind. Indulging in these stories over, and over, he went mad, and believed himself a universal character of the topics on which he read. Plato may have held that expression of fictional ideas had the ability to be completely detrimental to the youthful minds that absorbed various notions, and that is why (in Don Quixote) the man of the church, the barber, and Don Quixote’s niece and housekeeper set to burn (except for a few books, which they themselves prized) all of Don Quixotes library, which was filled with books on the subject of knight-errantry. In the writings of Plato, poetry had the unfortunate ability to do to young, easily-influenced people what the books of knight-errantry did to Don Quixote. This was the ability to propose delusions that would survive alongside actual beliefs which were based on true phenomena. Poets had the ability to harm the minds of the youth who indulged in their poems, just as did the writers of the chivalrous stories in Don Quixote. If it had not been for the fictional stories that Don Quixote read over and over, he would likely have not held that he himself was a character of the genre, which, at the time, was represented only in fiction. The various authors’ narrations on the fictional activities of knights were indeed what captivated the mind of Don Quixote, and caused him to go insane. Early in his adventures, his squire, Sancho Panza was bewildered by some of the delusional and fictional properties that Don Quixote extended to various environmental phenomena. His readings had him believe that a row of windmills were giants that served to hinder his own progress. â€Å" ‘Fly not, ye base and cowardly miscreants, for, he is but a single knight who attacks you,’† Don Quixote yelled at the windmills, which were, due to his mental captivation by the activities of knight-errantry, on which he had read, not windmills, but giants. This was his final warning to the giants before he charged, and rammed his lance into the propeller of a mill, shattering it, and falling to the ground, along with his trusty steed, Rocinante (Cervantes, Part I Chapter VIII). Plato’s theory, expressed in The Republic, about the detrimental and negatively influential properties of poetry are undermined in Spain at the time of the story of the knight from La Mancha. The people who collected in Don Quixote’s house, following his very first adventure (which left him immobilized, and without a weapon after he attacked a group of merchants who he perceived to be evil) were of the opinion that Plato proposes in The Republic, which is that fictional stories can be dangerous when imposed upon malleable minds, like those of the youth (or those of unstable characters, such as the prime one seen in Cervantes’ work). Although it is quite likely that the novel was composed because of its entertaining qualities, Cervantes certainly wanted to parallel the story of Don Quixote to the warnings of Plato in his views on poetry. â€Å"In this work, Plato argues that poetry inspires undesirable emotions in society and should be censored from adults and especially children for fear of lasting detrimental consequences,† Schatzie Speaks writes in her article, entitled Aristotle vs. Plato on the Dangers of Poetry. â€Å"Plato believes that since children have not yet acquired proper formation of character and knowledge of the world around them, every new experience makes a profound impact upon them. Children have no ability to know what emotions should be tempered and which should be expressed, and certain expressed emotions can have lasting consequences later in life. Plato finds it necessary to limit the types of poetry, works which he deems induce profound emotions in individuals, to protect children and future society. † Poetry, unfortunately for the knight in Cervantes’ novel, and many of those whom he encountered, was not limited, but embraced by the knight himself, and it had the very effect that Plato warned that it might. â€Å"He states that scary stories,† Speaks continues, â€Å"such as gods coming to the world in disguise and harming people, must be avoided to eliminate timidity, as such tales will induce profound fear. Furthermore, children must not be told tales detailing the horrors of death for they will then grow up to fear death and lack courage. † Plato’s critique of poetry is justified in Cervantes’ story of Don Quixote, who found himself fully subjected to the negative aspects of poetry (such as its ability to conjure up thoughts and delusions that may not actually exist). It was because fictional tails of such fantastic adventures of knights were allowed in Spain that Don Quixote was able to get his hands on these books, and fall under their spell. They inspired vast delusions in him, just as Plato said such writings could if they were not censored. Works Cited De Cervantes, Miguel. Translation by Rutherford, John. Don Quixote de la Mancha. Penguin Books, New York, 2003 De Armas, Frederick A. Cervantes and the Italian Renaissance. In Cascardi, Anthony J. The Cambridge Companion to Cervantes. Cambridge University Press, 2002. Plato. Edition by Cooper, John M. The Republic. In Plato, Complete Works. Hackett Publishing, Indiana, 1997. Speaks, Schatzie. Aristotle vs. Plato on the Dangers of Poetry. Viewed 23, July, 2009. http://hubpages. com/hub/The-Emotions-Surrouding-Poetry–Aristotle-vs-Plato

Business report on the ‘Kentucky Fried Chicken Corporation (KFC) Essay

In evaluating how well a company’s present strategy is working, a proper understanding of the company’s resource capabilities and deficiencies, its market opportunities, and the external threats to its future is essential. The really valuable part of SWOT analysis is understanding and evaluating the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats and drawing conclusions whether a firm’s business position is fundamentally healthy or unhealthy. In a nutshell, SWOT analysis is a basis for action. KFC, being one of the world’s most recognizable brands, has its own internal strengths and weaknesses and external opportunities and threats, which are identified and analyzed below. ‘Kentucky Fried Chicken Corporation (KFC) was the world’s largest chicken restaurant chain and the third largest fast-food chain in 2000’ (Krug 2001, cited in Thompson and Strickland 2003, p. C-203). The statement suggests that the brand-name image or the company reputation of KFC is very strong. Such buyer goodwill can be classified into valuable intangible assets, which is an internal strength itself giving KFC enhanced competitiveness. Also, KFC was one of the first fast-food chains to go international in the late 1950’s and was one of the world’s most recognizable brands. This means that KFC had a high degree of organizational agility in gaining wide geographic coverage and had a strong global distribution capability. Such competitive capability can be identified as KFC’s internal strength. KFC’s international strategy was to grow its company and franchise restaurant base through several high-growth markets. This suggests that the company was able to evaluate the right market opportunities available of serving additional customer groups or expanding into new geographic markets and market openings to extend the company’s brand name or reputation to new geographic areas. ‘According to the National Restaurant Association, food-service sales increased by 5.4 percent, to $358 billion, in 1999’ (Krug 2001, cited in Thompson and Strickland 2003, p. C-207). This was a result of a number of  demographic and social trends, which influenced the demand for food eaten outside of the home. The full-service and fast-food segments were expected to make up about 65 percent of total food-service industry sales in 2000. This could be identified as KFC’s external market opportunity since it could use its ability, internal strengths and resource capabilities to grow rapidly because of sharply rising demand in the fast-food industry. However, such a boom in the fast-food industry could also be identified as a potential external threat to KFC’s well-being since increasing intensity of competition among industry rivals may cause squeeze on profit margins. According to the National Restaurant Association, other food items that were growing in popularity since 1990s through 2000 included chicken, which offered and external market opportunity for KFC to expand. ‘During 1999, KFC continued to dominate the chicken segment, with sales of $4.4 billion’ (Krug 2001, cited in Thompson and Strickland 2003, p. C-210). This is because KFC’s customer base remained loyal to the KFC brand because of its unique taste. This could be identified as KFC’s distinctive competence, since KFC did the fried-chicken well in comparison to its competitors. Such uniqueness provided KFC with a competitively valuable capability, which proved to be a corner stone of every strategy. Despite its dominance, KFC was losing market share as other chicken chains such as Chick-fil-A and Boston Market increased sales at a faster rate. Such mounting competition from potent new competitors could be identified as a potential external threat to KFC’s market position. However, KFC’s leadership in the U.S. market was so extensive that it had fewer opportunities to expand its U.S. restaurant base, which again was an external threat to KFC’s future profitability and competitive well-being. The greatest concern for fast-food operators was the shortage of employees in the 16-to-24 age category since many high school and college graduates enjoyed a healthy job market. This was a result of low unemployment, since U.S. economy began to expand during early 1980s through 2000. Such environment is again an external threat for KFC’s profitability. Also, the labor costs made up about 30 percent of a fast-food chain’s total costs. Mounting competition made it difficult to increase prices, since consumers  made decisions about where to eat primarily based on price. Such labor costs and increasing intensity of competition among industry rivals which squeezed profit margins posed external threat to KFC’s profitability. However, the demographic trends offered KFC with a potential opportunity by which costs could be lowered and operations made more efficient by increasing the use of technology. ‘According to the National Restaurant Association, most restaurant operators viewed computers as their number one tool for improving efficiency’ (Krug 2001, cited in Thompson and Strickland 2003, p. C-213). Hence, computers which could improve labor scheduling, accounting and payroll can be identified as KFC’s external market opportunity which is a big factor in shaping the company’s strategy. However, higher costs and poor availability of prime real estate was one of the adverse demographic change that negatively affected profitability of such fast-food chains and hence posed an external threat. International operations carried by fast-food chains like KFC carried risks not present in domestic-only operations. Long distances posed several problems such as quality, transportation, servicing and support problems. Moreover time, culture and language differences increased operational problems. Such problems could be identified as potential threats to KFC’s international strategy, which was focused on several high growth international markets. However, rising per capita incomes worldwide and the development of the Internet, which was quickly breaking down communication and language barriers were wildly attractive market opportunities for food-chains such as KFC seeking to quickly develop global brands and a worldwide consumer base. KFC had trouble breaking into the German market during the 1970s and 1980s, however McDonald’s had a greater success penetrating the German market, because it made a number of changes to its menu and operating procedures to appeal to German tastes. This could be identified as KFC’s internal weakness since there was a lack of competitively important skills or expertise to attract new customers as rapidly as McDonald’s did. Moreover, many of KFC’s problems during the 1980s and 1990s surrounded its limited menu and inability to quickly bring new products to market, which could be identified  as KFC’s potential weakness, since it was behind its rivals such as McDonald’s in putting capabilities and strategies in place. An example of this is when KFC suffered one of its more serious setbacks on experimenting with the chicken sandwich concept when McDonald’s test-marketed its McChicken sandwich in the Louisville market. As per the circumstances, Latin America could be identified as KFC’s wildly attractive market opportunity because of the size of its markets, its common language and culture, and its geographical proximity to the United States. KFC could well evaluate the market opportunities available from Latin America and identified its own resource capabilities required to capture it, the result of which was KFC’s Latin America Strategy, which represented a classic internationalization strategy. KFC’s early entry into Latin America gave it a leadership position over McDonald’s in Mexico and the Caribbean with 438 restaurants in 2000. Mexico, in Latin America could be identified as highly attractive market opportunity for KFC because of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which went into effect in 1994 and created a free-trade zone between Canada, the United States, and Mexico. Other fast-food chains such as McDonald’s, Burger King, and Wendy’s were rapidly expanding into other countries in Latin America such as Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina, and Chile. Such mounting competition from potent new competitors was an external threat for KFC’s competitive well-being. Another threat came from Habib’s, Brazil’s second largest fast-food chain, which opened its first restaurant in Mexico in 2000. Another potential external threat to KFC’s well-being was the long-term value of the peso, which has depreciated at an average annual rate of 23 percent against the U.S. dollar since NAFTA went into effect. This translation risk lowered Tricon Global’s reported profits and damaged its stock price, subsequently affecting KFC’s profitability and market position. Industry and Competition Analysis An industry’s competitive conditions and overall attractiveness are big strategy determining factors. In other words, good industry and competitive  analysis is a prerequisite to good strategy making. Hence, it is very essential for a firm to evaluate whether the industry environment it is in is either attractive or unattractive to protect its future profitability. Porter’s Five Forces – A MODEL FOR INDUSTRY ANALYSIS The industry and competitive analysis used to evaluate an industry’s environment involves a process to discover what the main sources of competitive pressure are and how strong each competitive force is. Porter’s five-forces model is a powerful tool for identifying the principal competitive pressures in a market and assessing how strong and important each one is. Michael Porter provided a framework that models an industry as being influenced by five forces, which are discussed below in context to the FAST-FOOD INDUSTRY and KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN CORPORATION. ?a Rivalry: – If rivalry among firms in an industry is low, the industry is considered to be â€Å"attractive†, however the competitive structure of an industry is clearly â€Å"unattractive† from a profit-making standpoint if rivalry among the firms is very strong. Looking at the fast-food industry there was increasing intensity of competition among rivals. In the chicken segment, KFC was losing market share as other chicken chains such as Chick-fil-A and Boston Market increased sales at a faster rate. Many industry analysts predicted that Boston Market would challenge KFC for market leadership. Popeyes and Church’s were potent new competitors, trying to compete head-on with fried-chicken chains. McDonald’s, Burger King, and Wendy’s were rapidly expanding into other countries, which subsequently posed a threat. However, even when the rivalry among firms in the fast-food industry is very strong, the industry can be competitively attractive for KFC whose market position provides a good enough defense against competitive pressures. Moreover, to formulate a better strategy and pursue an advantage over its rivals, KFC could lower prices to gain a temporary advantage, improve product differentiation, creatively use channels of distribution, and exploit relationships with suppliers. ?a Barriers to Entry / Threat of Entry: – The competitive structure of any  industry would be identified as â€Å"unattractive† from a profit-making standpoint if low entry barriers are allowing new rivals to gain a market foothold. ‘According to the National Restaurant Association, food-service sales increased by 5.4 percent, to $358 billion, in 1999. More than 800,000 restaurants and food outlets made up the U.S. restaurant industry, which employed 11 million people’ (Krug 2001, cited in Thompson and Strickland 2003, p. C-207). Also as the U.S. market matured, many restaurants expanded into international markets as a strategy for growing sales. After McDonald’s, KFC, Burger King, and Pizza Hut, at least 35 chains had expanded into foreign countries by 2000. This suggests that the fast-food industry had relatively low entry barriers, allowing new rivals to gain a market foothold. Such low entry barriers could possibly result from common technology, easy access to distribution channels, little brand franchise, and low scale threshold. Hence, as per the above discussion, fast-food industry is clearly â€Å"unattractive†. However, it depends on the incumbent firms such as KFC to offer only passive resistance against a new entrant or aggressively defend their market positions using price cuts, increased advertising, and product improvements to give them a hard time. ?a Threat of Substitutes: – The competitive structure of an industry remains â€Å"unattractive† if competition from substitutes is strong. As a rule, ‘the lower the price of substitutes, the higher their quality and performance, and the lower the user’s switching costs, more intense is the competitive pressures posed by substitute products’ (Thompson and Strickland 2003, p. 88). There are no such substitutes in any other industry to stand in competition with the firms in fast-food industry, which is very unique. However, there are various segments in the fast-food sector of the restaurant industry, which may be identified as substitutes for each other. These segments are sandwich chains, pizza chains, family restaurants, grill buffet chains, dinner houses, chicken chains, nondinner concepts, and other chains. Usually, such chains have price cuts and improved quality and performance as a part of their strategy and since the buyers can switch to any segment of the fast-food industry easily, there are comparatively high competitive pressures among such segments. Hence, for KFC (chicken chain), the fast-food industry is not an attractive one to be in, since sandwich  chains made up the largest segment of the fast-food market and dinner houses made up the second largest and fastest-growing fast-food segment in 1999. ?a Buyer Power: – The power of buyers is the impact that customers have on a producing industry. Looking at the fast-food industry, it is more likely that the buyers (customers) can exercise considerable bargaining leverage, which again makes the competitive structure of the industry â€Å"unattractive†. This is because buyers’ costs of switching to competing brands or substitutes are relatively low in the fast-food industry. Moreover, the mushrooming availability of information on the Internet is giving added bargaining power to individuals. It is relatively easy for buyers to use the Internet to compare the different prices offered by various fast-food outlets in the industry. In a nutshell, the more information buyers have, the better bargaining position they are in. Also, the prospect of losing a brand loyal customer not easily replaced often makes a seller more willing to grant concessions of one kind or another. ?a Supplier Power: – A producing industry requires raw materials – labor, components, and other supplies, which are received from suppliers. Suppliers, if powerful, can exert an influence on the producing industry, such as selling raw materials at a high price to capture some of the industry’s profits. However, in the fast-food industry, the suppliers possibly have little or no bargaining power or leverage over rivals since the items they provide are commodities available on the open market from numerous suppliers. In fast-food industry it is relatively simple for rivals to obtain whatever is needed from any of several capable suppliers. Hence, the suppliers being able to exercise little or no bargaining power or leverage over rivals’ makes the competitive structure of the fast-food industry clearly â€Å"attractive†. As a conclusion, the collective impact of competitive forces in the fast-food industry is relatively stronger, which subsequently lowers the combined profitability of participant firms. However, even when the five competitive forces are strong, an industry can be competitively â€Å"attractive† or â€Å"favorable† to firms such as KFC whose market position and strategy provides  a good enough defense against the competitive pressures to earn above-average profits. Key Industry Success Factors Key industry success factors (KISFs) by their very nature are so important that all firms in the industry must pay close attention to them. In other words, KISFs are the prerequisites for industry success and are the rules that shape whether a company will be financially and competitively successful. Looking at the fast-food industry, there are various KISFs necessary to gain sustainable competitive advantage. Manufacturing-related KISFs for the fast-food industry would be low-cost production efficiency (to permit attractive retail pricing and ample profit margins), quality of manufacture (to provide customers with better taste in comparison to the rivals), high-labor productivity (to reduce cost since labor costs are about 30 percent of a fast-food chain’s total costs). Distribution-related KISFs would be short delivery times and having company-owned retail outlets. From the marketing point of view, clever advertising (to induce customers to buy a particular brand repeatedly), courteous customer service and attractive styling of packaging would be identified as important KISFs for fast-food industry. Skills-related KISFs would be quality control know-how and an ability to develop innovative recipes. In apparel organizing, the KISFs would be an ability to respond quickly to shifting market conditions, superior ability to use Internet and other latest technology to conduct business and managerial experience. Some other important KISFs are favorable image or reputation with buyers, convenient locations of the stores (important for food-outlets), and access to financial capital (important in newly emerging industries). Hence, the above stated key industrial success factors for the fast-food industry are cornerstones for a firm’s strategy formulation and trying to gain sustainable competitive advantage over its rivals. Company Analysis Kentucky Fried Chicken Corporation (KFC) is one of the successful fast-food chains, which was the world’s largest chicken restaurant chain and the third largest fast-food chain in 2000. KFC dominated the chicken segment, with sales of $4.4 billion in 1999 through 2000. KFC was in the lead position in the U.S. market, however had fewer opportunities to expand its U.S. restaurant base due to the entry of new rivals such as Chick-fil-A and Boston Market. Despite gains by Boston Market and Chick-fil-A, KFC’s customer base remained loyal to the KFC brand because of its unique taste, which could be identified as one of the most important resource strengths of KFC. However, KFC faced several internal problems under its various owners, which adversely affected its financial performance and competitive strength. Heublein, Inc., which was in business of producing alcoholic beverages and had a little experience in the restaurant business, acquired KFC in late 1970s. Conflicts quickly erupted between Colonel Sanders and Heublein management since the quality-control and restaurant cleanliness badly deteriorated under Heublein, Inc. By 1977, the restaurant openings had slowed down, since service quality declined under Heublein management. However, KFC did fairly well under the management of R.J. Reynolds Industries, Inc., which had little more experience in the restaurant business than Heublein. PepsiCo introduced several changes after the acquisition of KFC. Staff at KFC was reduced in order to cut costs and many KFC managers were replaced with PepsiCo managers. ‘KFC’s culture was built largely on Colonel Sander’s laid-back approach to management’ (Krug 2001, cited in Thompson and Strickland 2003, p. C-206). Employees enjoyed good job security and stability. However, PepsiCo’s culture was characterized by a much stronger emphasis on performance, which reinforced the feelings of KFC managers that they had few opportunities for promotion. As a result, a strong loyalty created among KFC employees over the years was lost. The Original Recipe Chicken allowed KFC to expand through the 1980s without significant competition from other chicken chains and thus new product  introductions was not a part of KFC’s marketing and overall business strategy. Such limited menu and inability to quickly bring new products to market made KFC face several problems during the 1980s and 1990s. However, KFC’s current strategy has been refocused. The cornerstone of its new strategy was to increase sales in individual KFC restaurants by introducing a variety of new products and menu items that appealed to a greater number of customers. Also, from the marketing point of view, KFC introduced a three-pronged distribution strategy that increased sales to a considerable level. The strategy firstly focused on building smaller restaurants in non-traditional outlets such as airports, chopping malls, universities, and hospitals. Secondly, it continued to experiment with home delivery. Third, KFC established â€Å"2-in-1† units that sold both KFC and Taco Bell (KFC/Taco Bell Express) or KFC and Pizza hut (KFC/Pizza Hut Express) products. KFC’s early entry into Latin America gave it a leadership position over several other food-chains in Mexico and the Caribbean. KFC’s Latin America Strategy was an example of a classic internationalization strategy. KFC firstly expanded into Mexico and Puerto Rico because of several external opportunities such as geographical proximity and other political and economic relations with United States. As KFC’s experience in Latin America grew, it expanded its franchise system throughout the Caribbean. Only after sustaining a leadership position in Mexico and the Caribbean did it venture into South America. However, KFC faced difficult decisions in regards to the formulation of an effective Latin American Strategy over the next 20 years, since limited resources and cash flow limited KFC’s ability to aggressively expand in all countries at the same time. Statement of alternative options Looking at the fast-food industry and the highly intensive competition prevailing, a better possible option for KFC would be to merge with other growing chicken chains such as Popeyes, Chick-fil-A, Boston Market, Church’s, and El Pollo Loco. Such merger would possibly create one of the largest chicken chains in the fast-food industry. Merging with another company would dramatically strengthen KFC’s market position and open new  opportunities for competitive advantage. In the fast-food industry, such mergers enable the companies to have much stronger technological skills, more or better competitive capabilities, a more attractive lineup of services, wider geographic coverage and greater financial resources to expand into new areas. However, it would still be essential for KFC to tailor a strategy that fits its particular strengths and weaknesses so as to hold a lead position in Latin America by operating several company-owned restaurants in the targeted countries. Recommendations Kentucky Fried Chicken Corporation, the world’s largest chicken restaurant chain and the third largest fast-food chain, has several internal weaknesses and resource deficiencies which needs to be identified and improve to gain a competitive advantage over its rivals. Moreover, today’s fast-food industry offers several external opportunities and poses potential threats to the rivals’ well-being and market position. It would be essential for the managers of KFC to identify firm’s resource strengths and weaknesses and its external opportunities and threats, which would provide a good overview of whether a firm’s business position is fundamentally healthy or unhealthy. This would further complement in formulating strategies so as to expand firm’s business activities over a wider geographic coverage. Latin America is an attractive location for investment because of the size of its markets, its common language and culture, and its geographical proximity to the United States. However, it would be difficult for KFC to penetrate the market successfully as a result of mounting competition from several competitors. It would be a wise recommendation for KFC to merge with other growing chicken chains, which would possibly fill the resource gaps and allow the new companies to do things, which KFC could not do alone. Such a merger would allow KFC to operate several franchised and company owned restaurants in the targeted countries of Latin America, which is more effective in building a significant market share in individual countries. This is because market leadership often requires a country subsidiary that actively manages both franchised and company owned restaurants. Such  strategy would also enable KFC to better control quality, service and restaurant cleanliness. REFERENCES Aaker, DA 1992, Developing business strategies, 3rd edn, Wiley, New York. Faculty of Business and Law 2003, Guide for students, 4th edn.   Perry, C 1992, Strategic management processes, Longman Cheshire, Melbourne.   Thompson, AA & Strickland, AJ 2003, Strategic management, 13th edn, McGraw-Hill, New York, NY.