Cast Away Movie Essay Example

Cast Away Movie Paper In the film Cast Away, I was interested in Chucks transition between his communication process from before he was stranded on the island and his communication skills when he got back. Being stranded on an island for four years, having no one but a volleyball to talk to would of course have some effects on how anyone would present themselves when they returned. I noticed that in the beginning of the film, Chuck had sufficient communication competence and was able to connect well with people from his own culture and with those of other cultures because his Job had him traveling often. However, when he returned, he was unsure and withdrawn while he was around his family and friends, not really sure what to do around so many people at once. Before someone has communication competence, they have to be able to practice communicating by sending messages and using the five step listening process; though he sent out many messages, he couldnt receive anything back. From the reflect and relate textbook, (page 164) it explains that these are needed to form and maintain competent listening skills so your able to adapt youre listening purpose for different situations and encounters. He was already a competent communicator before, however, he was limited to the knowledge that he had once he was on the island and he wasnt able to progress in his communication skills. Without being able to know how to respond, it made it more difficult when his friends were interacting with him; he wasnt so sure how to respond. Another part of listening is receiving feedback and learning whats appropriate in your culture. We will write a custom essay sample on Cast Away Movie specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Cast Away Movie specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Cast Away Movie specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer When you communicate with others, you get negative or positive feedback that you need so you can learn how to use the feedback constructively to dapt your own listening skills to your culture; For Chuck in Cast Away, he was limited to whatever he imagined Wilsons response to be and he couldnt receive any feedback to help him build his listening skills. The reason that its so important to have constant feedback is not only for practice, but also for you to understand how all communication is changing. For example, using the word sick means being affected by physical illness, but it can now also be used to express something thats crazy or cool. While he wasnt able to fully communicate for the four years that he was on the sland, he had some other trouble with learning how to deal with grief. He was feeling lonely and isolated on the island and couldnt fgure out how to properly deal with emotional management. In the text, (page 129) it tells us that emotional management is one of the most important factors for effective interpersonal communication. It affects our emotional expression and how we experience things. Because he felt that he needed to manage some of the loss he was feeling from his wife and other family, he created Wilson; someone that he could express his inner thoughts to and to not feel so lonely on the island. In the text it also expresses the importance of emotions and how they have been developed in text only environments. We share and communicate our emotional experiences by emotion-snaring. Because emotion-snaring is so important, when Chuck felt isolated on the island and wasnt able to share his emotions, he created a person that he could talk to. In the beginning of the movie, it shows him consoling his friend whose wife is very sick. He obviously has had those types of relationships where he could share his emotions before he was stranded. When he gets back at he end of the movie it shows him again sharing in his friends grief and apologizing for not being able to be there for him. He had those kind of problem himself while on the Island feeling lonely and isolated, he felt grief for the loss of his girlfriend and back home. Along with his inability to fully interact, he was unable to take part in social comparison (explained on page 40 in the text). Where were able to watch and recognize our own actions and compare them with others. This has an important effect on ourselves and how we interact with people, seeing people we want to be like and following their examples. Obviously Wilson didnt react back to him and he wasnt able to discern what is socially acceptable in a normal environment. Because of this when he was brought back and was at his welcome home party, he wasnt sure how to act around other people and instead Just stayed mostly silent. Because of his competent interpersonal skills from before, he had a lot of important relationships and symbols. Symbols are used many times in the movie, objects that have meaning to him while hes on the island and ones that he finds back home. The watch that Kelly gave him is used constantly throughout the movie. It was important to him to keep it on the same time zone back home, even though it broke on island, and the picture it held of his girlfriend, which he would look at while he fell asleep in the caves. It was an important symbol that represented the loss he felt for a loved one and I felt like it was one of the things that kept him going while he was on the island. The package was another symbol used in the film, he painted the drawing it had on his raft and he didnt open it throughout the four years he was there. He even saved the box and finally got it to where it was supposed to be shipped. There are other symbolic things throughout the movie like Chucks car and the keys that still held his pocketknife; which symbolized how much Kelly cared for him and how important their relationship was. Without being able to engage in social comparison, it could have negative effects on his self-concept and his self-esteem. Self-concept is built based off of social comparison, like when you feel good about how well you communicate with others or if youre compared favorably with others. Your self- concept can be based on different things like media, family, or friends. Because he wasnt around any of these things, he was stuck trying to remember how he used to be. He may see himself as the person that he used before, but on the island he had changed so much and in page 42 of the text, it describes how its hard for us to change the way we believe ourselves to be. All of his interactions for those four years were one-way, being able to send out messages but never getting anything back, he wasnt able to understand how he was changing in self-concept. As for his girlfriend Kelly, she was experiencing loss and she wasnt even sure if Chuck was alive or not, she had to move on from their relationship. Just maintaining a relationship with someone whos constantly around you can be difficult and there are many relationship strategies that have to take place in order to maintain a healthy relations ip n . Ot course Chuck woul d nave to be actually present in the relationship at all to really maintain it. Though they clearly had a good relationship when he left and Kelly still loved him when he was brought back, they had been separated for so long that she had developed other relationships when he was gone. She had gotten arried and had a daughter. Chuck on the other hand had only her in mind as a romantic partner, but thats because he knew she was alive and he hadnt been able to develop any other relationships while he had been alone on the island. As for his other relationships that he had throughout the movie with his friends he wasnt really able to build or maintain relationships with his friends either. As I mentioned before he had a close relationship with his friend whos wife was sick. While Chuck was gone his friend lost his wife and he wasnt able to be there for him while he grieved. Theres a scene in the beginning of the film that shows Chuck at a Christmas dinner with family and friends where hes interacting with them and making Jokes. Its good comparison to the dinner he has with his friends when he gets back. Before, when he was around his family, he knew how to interact with them and he had close personal relationships. At the other dinner it shows him standing quietly while everyone interacts around him. It makes it very clear that theres now space between him and everyone else. Watching this film I noticed how his communication competence deteriorated rom the moment he was stranded on the island and how it affected his life once he got back. Without the constant practice and use of our communication skills we cant maintain our skills or progress with them. Progression in communication is important because things are always changing and we need to learn how to change and adapt to listening and building relationships. You have to have a two-way communication to fully understand not only others, but your own communication as well. The movie demonstrated proper communication and showed the importance of relationships and maintaining your communication competence.

Collect data with a view to estimating population parameters using estimation techniques Essays

Collect data with a view to estimating population parameters using estimation techniques Essays Collect data with a view to estimating population parameters using estimation techniques Essay Collect data with a view to estimating population parameters using estimation techniques Essay Task: You are required to collect data with a view to estimating population parameters using estimation techniques. This should involve taking a random sample as well as calculating and comparing confidence intervals. I have decided to estimate the population parameters for sentence length in 2 different genres of books. I have chosen a horror book and a drama book to see how sentence length varies between them. In theory I would expect the horror book to have much shorter sentences to add suspense whilst I would expect the drama to have longer more descriptive sentences. Method: As it would be too time consuming to record the sentence length for the whole population (the whole book). I am going to use sampling. To try and avoid any bias I will use the random number function on a calculator to find a page in the book and then I will record the length of the first full sentence. I will take a 100 samples for each book as this is enough that I will be able to gain accurate estimates for the population parameters but not use too much time. If by chance 2 the random number function produces a number that has already been used I will simply take the length of the second sentence on that page. The Central Limit Theorem Because I dont know anything about how the population is distributed I have to use the Central Limit Theorem. Even if you dont know how the parent population is distributed the central limit theorem allows you to make predictions as to the distribution of the sample means. Also with a large enough sample the sample mean will be close to the population mean. The central limit theorem says that: * If you take enough samples then the means will be normally distributed. * The mean of the sample means is approximately equal to the population mean. * The variance of the sample mean is roughly the same as the population variance divided by the sample size * The large the sample size the closer the sample mean and variation are to the population mean and variation. X ~ (unknown) (à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½) then X ~ N(à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½/n) Once I have collected the data I will calculate the mean, standard deviation and variance of the sample. When I have figures for these I can estimate the variance and standard deviation of the population. Next I will calculate the standard error which will allow me to calculate confidence intervals for the population. When calculating confidence intervals I will use the tables for the normal function. Data Collection Data For Horror Book Page Sentence Length 217 12 161 11 178 1 200 24 14 13 138 27 38 11 80 3 155 10 43 8 65 20 171 7 96 31 135 8 96 6 128 17 163 12 199 20 41 17 59 18 93 9 173 6 90 12 56 9 100 17 123 40 218 2 110 11 59 21 193 13 20 8 229 41 203 8 126 1 197 10 53 8 83 9 190 10 182 25 203 28 226 5 110 13 196 14 87 7 63 24 42 31 43 1 131 13 185 2 200 25 29 23 194 21 44 4 125 1 51 3 32 25 47 6 194 10 21 16 124 25 221 7 127 5 77 16 56 35 222 4 34 28 141 8 231 8 15 12 30 20 157 12 97 20 131 34 108 21 173 6 75 8 192 4 139 6 100 8 223 31 99 12 118 8 201 24 138 7 230 10 95 21 193 15 147 10 196 12 190 11 170 3 120 27 162 39 123 16 129 9 73 7 208 18 98 5 51 145 11 Data For Drama Book Page Sentence Length 51 19 148 20 234 29 114 18 195 6 313 4 239 19 115 11 10 2 203 9 191 8 118 21 109 10 317 4 217 9 298 9 241 9 10 6 232 10 57 11 114 32 80 11 196 14 49 11 67 9 282 15 280 31 226 18 71 24 315 16 308 5 203 9 226 14 147 38 224 10 236 19 185 18 257 5 317 11 1 29 169 15 66 9 267 17 106 20 232 28 160 37 300 25 322 8 49 21 26 29 276 41 214 15 233 7 131 9 76 8 71 8 317 9 177 5 155 13 266 6 95 5 308 3 93 6 55 8 96 4 311 6 65 9 128 21 288 18 203 4 210 19 166 20 175 14 280 13 249 8 245 19 182 4 312 19 52 23 73 13 221 6 204 12 73 13 189 9 129 25 50 25 230 6 273 22 218 12 31 39 149 28 96 7 48 14 80 18 13 11 167 4 34 23 43 10 94 7 49 16 The first thing for me to do is to find the Mean, Standard Deviation and Variance of the sample I have taken. As it would be extremely time consuming trying to find the exact mean and variance for 100 results I have set up frequency tables which will allow me to work out the mean and variance more quickly. I have chosen quite small class intervals so that the calculations will be as accurate as possible. Drama Book Number of Words Frequency 1- 5 6- 10 11- 15 16- 20 21- 25 26- 30 31- 35 36- 40 41- 45 Number of Words Frequency Mid interval Value F x Miv F x Miv 1- 5 12 3 36 108 6- 10 31 8 248 1984 11- 15 19 13 247 3211 16- 20 17 18 306 5508 21- 25 10 23 230 5290 26- 30 5 28 140 3920 31- 35 2 33 66 2178 36- 40 3 38 114 4332 41- 45 1 43 43 1849 = 100 = 1430 = 28380 Horror Book Number of Words Frequency 1- 5 6- 10 11- 15 16- 20 21- 25 26- 30 31- 35 36- 40 41- 45 Number of Words Frequency Mid interval Value F x Miv F x Miv 1- 5 15 3 45 135 6- 10 31 8 248 1984 11- 15 18 13 234 3042 16- 20 12 18 216 3888 21- 25 12 23 276 6348 26- 30 4 28 112 3136 31- 35 5 33 165 5445 36- 40 2 38 76 2888 41- 45 1 43 43 1849 = 100 = 1415 = 28715 From my frequency tables I have been able to use a number of graphical methods to show the data. I have work out the median of the horror book to be 11 and the drama book to be 12. I have also found the lower quartiles to be at 7 for the horror book and 8 for the drama book whilst the upper quartiles are 19 for the drama book and 20 for the horror book. This tells me that the data for the horror book appears to be more spread out so I would therefore expect it to have a larger variance. Having found the mean of the samples I can say using the central limit theorem that the population means are the same. So the mean sentence length for horror books is 14.15 words and the mean sentence length for drama books is 14.3 words. However the variance obtained for the sample is not the same as that for the population it is a biased estimator. This means the mean of its distribution is not equal to the population value it is estimating. To obtain an unbiased estimator for the variance of the population we can use the formula We can see that this didnt really have that bigger affect on the variance because the value for n was quite large and so n / n-1 was almost 1. In order to calculate the accuracy of your value for the sample mean you can calculate the Standard Error (s.e.). This is the standard deviation of the sample means. This is found using the below formula. We can see that the s.e. for the horror book was 0.937 and for the drama book it was 0.891. This standard error is quite small so I can be quite confident that the actual mean of the populations is equal to that of the sample. A better way of showing how confident I can be in my approximations is to use confidence intervals. Confidence intervals allow you to give a percentage value to how confident you can be that the mean of the population is within certain values. The central limit theorem says that the sample mean is distributed normally when a large enough sample is taken and that the sample mean is equal to the population mean. This means that we can use the tables for the normal function to find out how confident we can be that the population mean is within a certain range. For example when 68% of the graph is shaded (below) we can use the normal tables to work out that the population mean is within + or 1 s.e. of the sample mean. So if you took a sample you could be 68% confident the sample mean was within + or 1 s.e. of the population mean. This can be written as the inequality: However because we dont know the value of we must rearrange this to form the inequality: I am going to use this to calculate 90%, 95% and 99% confidence intervals. The z value for a 90% confidence interval is 1.645 so I can be 90% sure that the sample mean is within 1.645 s.e of the population mean. This means the calculations are: For 95% confidence I found that the z value was 1.96 so you can be 95% sure the sample mean is within 1.96s.e. of the population mean. The z value for 99% was 2.58 s.e Data Interpretation From my calculations I have been able to work out the population parameters for the 2 books. Firstly I found that the mean for Alfred Hitchcock horror book was 14.15 whilst the mean for the drama was 14.3. I found that the population variance was 87.8 for the horror book and 79.3 for the drama book. The confidence intervals I calculated for the horror book were And for the drama book they were Although this supports my prediction that horror books would have less word per sentence I am not actually that confident in this conclusion. This is due to the fact that the confidence intervals for 99% have a large range of 4.84 words for horror books and 3.49 words for the drama book. This means that the actual population mean could be quite different to the sample mean I calculated and so it could be that the population mean for the drama book was actually more than that of the horror book. I also found that that the variance for the horror book was greater than that of the drama book. This is probably because a drama book is likely to keep the same style of writing throughout the book with roughly the same sentence length whereas a horror book is likely to contain parts where there is suspense and the sentences are short and parts where there is description and the sentences are much longer. One of the problems with my findings was that the calculated as means were not whole num ber. It is impossible to have fractions of a word so if you actually round the means to the nearest whole word they are exactly the same at 14. There were a number of limitations with this investigation firstly if I couldnt be that confident that the mean I obtained was that accurate if I wanted to be more accurate I would have to take a lot more samples. For example if I wanted to be 99% sure that the sample mean was within 0.1 of a word of the population mean I would have to take over 58,000 samples (see below) for the horror book and over 52,000 samples for the drama book. Obviously this is highly impractical but it shows how inaccurate my estimate is due to the fact that I took so few samples. Also I only sampled 1 book from each genre so it is difficult for me to accurately say that all books from these genres will be the same. It is possible that different authors with different writing styles will produce different sentence lengths. For example another horror writer may use longer sentences whilst another drama writer might use shorter sentences. So if I was to extend this investigation I would firstly take more samples to ensure greater accuracy which would therefore allow greater certainty in any conclusions drawn. Secondly I would compare a number of different horror books against each other to see if their population parameters were similar or if they varied. Another progression could be to sample a number of horror books by the same author to see if they are at all similar in their population parameters.

Singapore Exchange and the Australian Securities Exchange Assignment

Singapore Exchange and the Australian Securities Exchange - Assignment Example The above proposal of SGX– based on an offer of $8.2 billion – has been considered as an important initiative for strengthening the financial performance of both markets involved (Jakarta Globe 2010); moreover, the local economies will be benefited – both in the short and the long term. The key advantage of the new group – the one resulting from the merge of the above two exchange markets – will be related to the following fact: Australia has significant and adequate resources while Singapore is well known as a powerful marketplace and it is also directly linked with the Chinese market (Jakarta Globe 2010). It should be noted that the decision of leaders in Singapore’s SGX to propose a merger between their organization and the ASX has caused severe turbulence in the Asian market. The new group,  as resulted from the above merger, will be quite powerful. For Australia, the specific merger is related to a series of benefits. At a first level, the resulted group will have a capitalization of about $12.3 billion, i.e. it will be fifth in the list of the most powerful exchange groups worldwide (Jakarta Globe 2010). Of course, it would be quite important that Australia would keep its control on its market (D. Horsfield in Wen et al. 2010). It seems that such risk is not involved in the particular project; in fact, in the relevant proposal it is made clear that the two markets will remain independent – as separate legal entities – and will be regulated in accordance with the local laws (Laible 2010); in March 2011 the above proposal was changed incorporating the rule that each of the exchange markets will be equally represented in the board of the new organization (Lee 2011).  In terms of its benefits, the particular merger would lead to the establishment of ‘a single multi-asset platform lowering trading costs and increasing technical efficiencies’ (Laible 2011); the above fact would result to t he increase of the number of investors.

Araby Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Araby - Essay Example The first words spoken by the girl of his dream was also about â€Å"Araby†, giving the reader the assumption that it will be a mythological place that he can escape from reality and his harsh environment. The story of â€Å"Araby† highlights the contradiction between reality and illusion through illustration of the transformation of innocence to the path of realization and disillusionment as a phenomenon that occurs in a child’s boyhood. The protagonist of the story is the matured boy who had once been the innocent boy depicted in the story. The story opens with the lines â€Å"North Richmond Street, being blind, was a quiet street except at the hour when the Christian Brothers' School set the boys free† (Joyce, 538). Paradoxically, even though they were free from school, even their play did not give them the desired pleasure, for it was an equally dull world, where not even play brought any stimulant for the children. All these descriptions of dullness a ctually create the backdrop against which the boy takes resort to an imagination larger than life and hence encounters a surprising disillusionment.

John Broadus Watson Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

John Broadus Watson - Research Paper Example Watson’s childhood John Broadus Watson was born on 9th of January 1878 in the village of Travelers Rest, South Carolina and his parents were Emma Kesiah Roe Watson and Pickens Butler Watson. His birth was in a poor farmer’s family and there are contradictions regarding his sibling particulars among experts. Watson’s mother was immensely religious and an active member of the Reedy River Baptist Church which made him to involve in religious activities during his childhood. His mother expected him to become a minister and so she kept his name after John Albert Broadus, a minister of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and she tried to keep her family always close to the church and she never let her family members to drink, smoke and dance. Watson’s father, on the other hand, was least religious. He used to drink and chase women and eventually separated from his family in 1891. Watson’s childhood was immersed in poverty and isolation. ... He engaged himself in a part time job at a chemical laboratory to pay his college fees and continued to live with his family during his college days. Watson was influenced by Gordon B. Moore who taught him philosophy and psychological works of Wundt and James at his college. Watson was not happy with his brother Edward and there had been constant clashes between these two brothers and Edward considered Watson as a shame to his family. Watson’s graduation took one additional year to complete and he made it in 1899 as he was flunked by his favorite teacher in 1898. But there is an interesting counterpart to the story and it restarts at the point when Watson received a letter form Gordon B. Moore requesting to accept him as a research student under the guidance of Watson. But unfortunately Moore died soon after loosing his eyesight before starting his research under the supervision of his former student. Even though it is true that Watson had to spend one additional year to compl ete his graduation at Furman; the extra year benefited him to achieve a post graduation at the age of 21. The Chicago era Watson worked in a tiny school at Greenville as a teacher for a monthly salary of $25 after completing his graduation form Furman and it was the death of his mother which made him think about going for higher studies in the University of Chicago or in Princeton. He applied in both the universities and decided to choose Chicago by recognizing the fact that it is necessary to have thorough knowledge of Greek and Latin to go on with his studies at Princeton. His favorite faculty at Furman who flunked him was also from the University of Chicago and this was yet another personnel reason behind his decision. He took

Literature Review Strategy for Evidence Based Practice (EBP)

Literature Review Strategy for Evidence Based Practice (EBP) Introduction Evidence based practice (EBP) is an approach to health care in which health professionals use the most appropriate information available to make clinical decision for providing high quality patient care (McKibbon, 1998). EBP has shifted the focus of health care professionals from a traditional approach on authoritative opinions to a stress on facts extracted from previous research and studies (Sackett et al, 1997). It has been suggested by that nursing practice based on evidence enhances patient care, as compared to traditional practices (Majid et al, 2011). In addition, as nurses are increasingly more involved in clinical decision making, it is becoming essential for them to make use of the best evidence in order to make effective and justifiable decisions (Majid et al, 2011). To discuss the evidence for a clinical skill, this essay will investigate the antiseptic preparations for surgical site antisepsis. The rationale for selection of this topic is its significance for the clinical nursing practice as nurses are frequently involved in the surgical site preparation (Dizer et al, 2009). Surgical site infection (SSI) is a type of healthcare-associated infection in which a wound infection occurs following an invasive (surgical) procedure. It has been suggested by National Institute of Health and Care (NICE, 2004) that surgical site infections account for almost 20% of all of healthcare-associated infections. It has been further highlighted that nearly 5% of patients undergoing a surgical procedure develop a surgical site infection antiseptic preparations. NICE (2008) has recommended that aqueous or alcohol based solution with chlorhexidine or iodine can be used for prevention of SSI. However, it does not favour or recommend one solution over the other. This essay will explore the literature for evidence about efficacy of these preparation in comparison to one another. It is important for the nurses to be aware of the best available evidence regarding antiseptic preparations to minimise the risk of surgical site infection. Research Question and Literature Search The research question for the current essay will be formulated on the PICO framework as suggested by Sackett et al (1997): P Population or problem Clean-contaminated surgical procedures I Intervention Chlorhexidine gluconate C Comparison or comparator Povidone-iodine O Outcome Surgical site infection The question formulated for the current essay using PICO framework would therefore be: In surgical procedures, is chlorhexidine gluconate more effective in comparison to povidone-iodine in reducing surgical infections? To answer the question, literature search for the available evidence for was done. The author identified a list of key search terms and synonyms that can result in a large number of hits and combined these with Boolean terms AND/OR. Terms made up of of two words were looked for by making use of speech marks so that they were are not searched for separately, and truncation was used for terms identified to have multiple endings. The key words used were surgical site infection anti-septic preparations iodine and chlorhexidine. In order to make sure that an in-depth search was done, which would elicit the largest number of studies more than one academic search engines were searched by the researcher. Cinahal: Contains an index of nursing and allied health literature and is helpful for use in a thorough search (Glazsiou, 2001). Medline: Suggested to be used in healthcare systematic reviews (Glazsiou, 2001). NHS Information Resources and NHS Evidence: Is a widely used database resource containing evidence-based reviews and specialist research from reliable sources. NHS evidence was searched separately. Cochrane Library: Provides a list of systematic reviews and RCTS that have been published or are in a process of publishing (Glazsiou, 2010). Pubmed: It is a commonly used internet resource for healthcare professionals with a large international coverage. The results of the search generated a large number of article however these had to be reduced in order to generate an appropriate research article which can answer the question formulated. Therefore, an inclusion and exclusion criteria was set to narrow down the large number of articles generated. The guidelines from NICE (2008) in which both preparation have been recommended in 2008 hence the research was done for studies published after that. Only randomised controlled trials (RCTs) have been included as they provide the best evidence. The articles which were not in English and published before 2009 were therefore excluded. Also, the studies in which preparations for a particular type of surgical procedure were studied were also excluded as the evidence for general surgical procedures was being looked for. Abstracts of the studies generated from the search of different data bases engines were thus read so that the articles which do not satisfy the inclusion criteria of this essay can be excluded. This resulted in selection of one article which satisfied the inclusion and exclusion criteria of the current work. The study by Darouiche et al (2010) is a RCT which compared the efficacy of two surgical preparations i.e. chlorhexidine–alcohol with that of povidone–iodine for preventing surgical site infections. In order to achieve this, preoperative skin preparation was done for adults undergoing clean-contaminated surgery in six hospitals with either chlorhexidine–alcohol scrub or povidone–iodine scrub and paint in a random way. The primary outcome was any surgical-site infection within 30 days after surgery. This study will be critically analysed to identify its strengths and weaknesses. It has been suggested by Burls (2009) that critical appraisal is the process of carefully and systematically examining research to judge its trustworthiness, and its value and relevance in a particular context. The critical skills appraisal programme (CASP) tool (Appendix 1) for randomised controlled trials (RCTs) will be used as the selected study is a randomised controlled trial. Screening questions 1. Did the trial address a clearly focused issue? Yes, the study addressed a clearly focused issue with clear problem to be explored, comparison groups and outcomes being investigated using a PICO framework to formulate the research question thereby increasing the rigour of the study (Huang et al, 2006). 2. Was the assignment of patients to treatments randomised? Yes, the assignment to treatment and placebo group was carried out randomly in a ratio of 2:1. This will increase the validity of the study. Literature suggests that random allocation of patients to study groups help to minimize both the selection bias as well as the impact of any confounder present (Cormack, 2000). It has also been observed in the study that in order to match the two groups and deal with possible inter-hospital differences, randomization was stratified by hospital by using computer-generated randomization numbers without blocking. This is a strength of the study as stratified randomisation can help to attain maximum balance of significant characteristics without compromising the benefits of randomisation (Altman and Bland, 1999). 3. Were all of the patients who entered the trial properly accounted for at its conclusion? Yes, the trial was not stopped early and the patients were analysed in the groups to which they were randomised. The study has done both intention-to-treat analysis for both groups as well as per protocol analysis. This accounts for the drop outs in the study an also been reported thus accounting for these drop-outs which may decrease the internal validity of the study. According to the Cochrane Collaboration (2014) intention-to-treat analysis minimised the presence of bias which may exist due to loss of participants, thus upsetting the baseline similarity attained by randomisation. Detailed Questions The study by Darouiche et al (2010) does not explicitly mention whether the personnel involved in the study were blind to the treatment groups. However, it has been mentioned in the study that the operating surgeon became aware of which intervention had been assigned only after the patient was brought to the operating room. In addition, both the patients and the site investigators who diagnosed surgical-site infection on the basis of standard criteria stayed unaware of the group assignments. This minimises the bias in the study and increases its validity as differential treatment or evaluation of participants can possibly introduce bias in the study at any phase of a trial (Karanicolas et al, 2010). Hence, it is a strength of the study. According to Berger (2006), in addition to randomisation, it is important to keep the baseline variables of the study groups similar at the commencement of the trial as it is essential for a RCT to compare groups that differ only with reference to the treatment they receive. The baseline characteristics of both groups have been reported in the study and did not show any significant difference between the two intervention groups reflected by their insignificant p values. It appears from the study that both chlorhexidine and iodine groups were treated the same way other then intervention. In order to determine the treatment effect, clear pre-defined primary end point has been given by Darouiche et al (2010). The primary outcome was defined on the basis of a standard criteria given by the CDC hence it increases the reliability of study. The results of the study found that the overall rate of surgical-site infection was significantly lower in the chlorhexidine–alcohol group than in the povidone–iodine group (9.5% vs. 16.1%; P = 0.004). In order to find the results, the study undertook multiple statistical considerations and tests. The study increased its statistical power by increasing the sample size in each group which gives the study 90% power to identify a significant difference in the frequency of surgical-site infection between the two groups, at a significance level of 0.05 or less. In addition, as mentioned above intention-to-treat and per protocol analyses were performed which further increases study validity. The study also carried out a pre-specified Breslow–Day test for homogeneity to find whether the results were consistent across the six participating hospitals. This was also a strength of the study as literature suggests that involvement of multi-centre patients can compromise the external validity of the RCTs (Rothwell, 2010). This is due to potential effect of differences between health-care systemswhich result in different treatment affects, values and confidence intervals have also been reported where required. Regarding the application of the results in the settings in UK, it has been highlighted by that the study by Darouiche et al (2010) was done in the US and used an aqueous solution of iodine. However, in the UK, the most widely used skin preparations are alcohol-based solutions of 0.5% chlorhexidine or 10% iodine (Tanner, 2012). This is because aqueous-based solutions are thought to be less effective than alcohol-based solutions. Hence, to make the study applicable to the UK settings, 2% chlorhexidine in alcohol should have been compared with 0.5% chlorhexidine in alcohol or 10% povidone iodine in alcohol. The benefits of the study are definitely superior to the harms as SSI not only causes significant unwanted outcomes and distress for the patient but also results in increased costs for the patient, the healthcare and the wider economy (Tanner, 2012). Thus, a number of factors increase the external validity and internal validity of the study including stratified randomisation, blinding of study personnel, intention-to-treat analysis, keep the baseline variables of the study group’s similar, sample size and a number of statistical tests. In addition, clear pre-defined primary end point increased the reliability of the study. The study thus has very low risk of bias and can be therefore rated as 1++ according to NICE hierarchy of evience (NICE, 2004). Hence, alcoholic chlorhexidine solution is significantly more effective in reducing SSIs than povidone iodine. However, the results should be applied to UK settings with caution. References: Altman, D.G. and Bland, J.M. (1999) How to randomise BMJ. 11;319(7211), pp. 703-4. Berger VW. (2006) A review of methods for ensuring the comparability of comparison groups in randomized clinical trials. Rev Recent Clin Trials. 1(1), pp. 81-6. Burls, A. (2009) What is critical appraisal? London, Hayward Group. Cochrane Collaboration (2014) Glossary, [Online] Available from: http://www.cochrane.org/glossary [Accessed 29 January 2014] Cormack, D. (2000) The research process in nursing, 4th ed., Wiley-Blackwell: Oxford. Crookes, P.A. Davies, S. (1998) Research into Practice. London: Balliere Tindall. Darouiche, R.O., Wall, M.J. Jr, Itani, K.M., Otterson, M.F., Webb, A.L., Carrick, M.M., Miller, H.J., Awad, S.S., Crosby, C.T., Mosier MC, Alsharif A, Berger DH. (2010) Chlorhexidine-Alcohol versus Povidone-Iodine for Surgical-Site Antisepsis. . N Engl J Med. 362(1), pp. 18-26. Dizer B, Hatipoglu S, Kaymakcioglu N, Tufan T, Yava A, Iyigun E, Senses Z. (2009) The effect of nurse-performed preoperative skin preparation on postoperative surgical site infections in abdominal surgery. J Clin Nurs. 18(23), pp. 3325-32. Glasziou, P. (2001) Systematic reviews in health care: a practical guide, Cambridge; Cambridge University Press. Huang, X., Lin, J. and Demmer-Fishman, D. (2006) Evaluation of PICO as a knowledge representation for clinical questions. AMIA Annu Symp Proc, pp. 359-63 Karanicolas, P.J., Farrokhyar, F., Bhandari, M. (2010) Practical tips for surgical research: blinding: who, what, when, why, how? Can J Surg. 53(5), pp. 345-8. Majid, S., Foo, S., Luyt, B., Zhang, X., Theng, Y.L., Chang, Y.K., Mokhtar, I.A. (2011) Adopting evidence-based practice in clinical decision making: nurses perceptions, knowledge, and barriers. J Med Libr Assoc. 99(3), pp. 229-36. McKibbon, K.A. (1998) Evidence-based practice, Bull Med Libr Assoc. 86(3), pp. 396–401. NICE (2004) Reviewing and grading the evidence [Online] Available from: http://www.nice.org.uk/niceMedia/pdf/GDM_Chapter7_0305.pdf [Accessed 9 February 2014] NICE (2008) Surgical site infection Prevention and treatment of surgical site infection, London: NICE. Rothwell, P.M. (2006) Factors That Can Affect the External Validity of Randomised Controlled Trials, PLoS Clin Trials. 1(1): e9. Sackett D.L, Richardson W.S, Rosenberg W.M.C, Haynes R.B.(1997) Evidence-based medicine: how to practice and teach EBM.Edinburgh, UK: Churchill Livingstone. Tanner J (2012) Methods of skin antisepsis for preventing SSIs. Nursing Times; 108: 37, 20-22.

The Collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge Essay -- Bridges Engineering

The Collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge The Tacoma Narrows Bridge is perhaps the most notorious failure in the world of engineering. It collapsed on November 7, 1940 just months after its opening on July 1, 1940. It was designed by Leon Moisseiff and at its time it was the third largest suspension bridge in the world with a center span of over half a mile long. The bridge was very narrow and sleek giving it a look of grace, but this design made it very flexible in the wind. Nicknamed the "Galloping Gertie," because of its undulating behavior, the Tacoma Narrows Bridge drew the attention of motorists seeking a cheap thrill. Drivers felt that they were driving on a roller coaster, as they would disappear from sight in the trough of the wave. On the last day of the bridge's existence it gave fair warning that its destruction was eminent. Not only did it oscillate up and down, but twisted side to side in a cork screw motion. After hours of this violent motion with wind speeds reaching forty and fifty miles per hour, the bridge collapsed. With such a catastrophic failure, many people ask why such an apparently well thought out plan could have failed so badly?(This rhetorical question clearly sets up a position of inquiry-which iniates all research.) The reason for the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge is still controversial, but three theories reveal the basis of an engineering explanation. (Jason then directly asserts what he found to be a possible answer to his question.) The bridge was designed at a time when America was moving toward streamline products, this included the design of bridges. The Tacoma Narrows Bridge was a sleek, graceful looking suspension bridge. Suspension bridges consist of many cables anchored... ... suspension bridges (pp. 13-102). Seattle: University of Washington Press French, C. & Lorentz, T. (1995). Corrosion of reinforcing steel in concrete: Effects of materials, mix composition, and cracking. ACI Materials Journal, 92, 181-190. Koughan,J. (1996, August 1). The collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, evaluation of its demise, and the effects of the disaster of succeeding bridge designs [Online] Available: http://www.me.utexas.edu/~uer/papers/paper_jk.html O'Connor, C. (1971). Designs of superstructures. New York: Wiley and Sons Petroski, H. (1992). To engineer is human. New York: Vintage Books Troitsky, M. S. (1994). Planning and design of bridges. New York: Wiley and Sons Washington State Department of Transportation. (1999). A short history of "galloping gertie" [Online]. Available: http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/solve16/history.html The Collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge Essay -- Bridges Engineering The Collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge The Tacoma Narrows Bridge is perhaps the most notorious failure in the world of engineering. It collapsed on November 7, 1940 just months after its opening on July 1, 1940. It was designed by Leon Moisseiff and at its time it was the third largest suspension bridge in the world with a center span of over half a mile long. The bridge was very narrow and sleek giving it a look of grace, but this design made it very flexible in the wind. Nicknamed the "Galloping Gertie," because of its undulating behavior, the Tacoma Narrows Bridge drew the attention of motorists seeking a cheap thrill. Drivers felt that they were driving on a roller coaster, as they would disappear from sight in the trough of the wave. On the last day of the bridge's existence it gave fair warning that its destruction was eminent. Not only did it oscillate up and down, but twisted side to side in a cork screw motion. After hours of this violent motion with wind speeds reaching forty and fifty miles per hour, the bridge collapsed. With such a catastrophic failure, many people ask why such an apparently well thought out plan could have failed so badly?(This rhetorical question clearly sets up a position of inquiry-which iniates all research.) The reason for the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge is still controversial, but three theories reveal the basis of an engineering explanation. (Jason then directly asserts what he found to be a possible answer to his question.) The bridge was designed at a time when America was moving toward streamline products, this included the design of bridges. The Tacoma Narrows Bridge was a sleek, graceful looking suspension bridge. Suspension bridges consist of many cables anchored... ... suspension bridges (pp. 13-102). Seattle: University of Washington Press French, C. & Lorentz, T. (1995). Corrosion of reinforcing steel in concrete: Effects of materials, mix composition, and cracking. ACI Materials Journal, 92, 181-190. Koughan,J. (1996, August 1). The collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, evaluation of its demise, and the effects of the disaster of succeeding bridge designs [Online] Available: http://www.me.utexas.edu/~uer/papers/paper_jk.html O'Connor, C. (1971). Designs of superstructures. New York: Wiley and Sons Petroski, H. (1992). To engineer is human. New York: Vintage Books Troitsky, M. S. (1994). Planning and design of bridges. New York: Wiley and Sons Washington State Department of Transportation. (1999). A short history of "galloping gertie" [Online]. Available: http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/solve16/history.html

Solutions to Case the Harvard Management Company

The Harvard Management Company (2001) Case You will design an excel spreadsheet that allows you to answer the following questions: i) Given figures in Exhibits 4 and 11 what is the expected return and volatility of the policy portfolio? ii) Find an efficient portfolio having the same expected return as the policy portfolio but lower volatility. iii) Find an efficient portfolio having the same volatility as the policy portfolio but higher expected return. iv) Repeat question ii using the constraints in Exhibit 13. ) Repeat question iii using the constraints in Exhibit 13. vi) Consider the following seven asset classes: Domestic Equity, Foreign Equity, Emerging Markets, Private Equity, Commodities, Inflation-Indexed Bonds, and Cash. Using HMC’s input assumptions (see Exhibit 11, and also using the constraints shown on Page 22, Exhibit 12), what would be the allocation across these seven security classes if HMC was looking for optimal portfolios that would have expected real retu rns of 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8%.For each of these cases, also show the resulting standard deviation of the portfolio, and the Sharpe (efficiency) ratio (see footnote a in Exhibit 12). vii) Redo part (vi) but now constrain the minimum and maximum weights on the seven different asset classes using the constraints shown in Exhibit 13. It may not be possible to achieve some of the expected real returns you were getting earlier. If that is the case, use five expected real return levels that you can attain. iii) Compare the investment opportunities implied by part (vi) to those in part (vii). ix) Explain the pros of the mean variance paradigm. x) Explain the cons. I will describe how to perform portfolio optimization in class. Excel is equipped with an optimizer (Solver) that requires you to specify what you are trying to maximize or minimize, the variables (weights) that may be adjusted in order to maximize portfolio efficiency, and the constraints imposed on those variables.The Harvard Manage ment Company (2010) Case & Harvard Management Company Endowment Report (Sep 2009) xi) Policy portfolio reflects Harvard Management Company's asset allocation strategy. Compare Exhibit 4 of the 2001 case with that of the 2010 case: describe how the policy portfolio has changed before and after the 2008 financial crisis. xii) What do you think are the reasons for the Harvard Management Company to make the above adjustments in asset allocation choices?

How US Public Land Is Surveyed and Distributed

How US Public Land Is Surveyed and Distributed Public land in the United States is land that was originally transferred directly from the federal government to individuals, to be distinguished from land that was originally granted or sold to individuals by the British Crown. Public lands (public domain), consisting of all land outside the original 13 colonies and the five states later formed from them (and later West Virginia and Hawaii), first came under government control following the Revolutionary War with the enactment of the Northwest Ordinance of 1785 and 1787. As the United States grew, additional land was added to the public domain through the taking of Indian land, by treaty, and by purchase from other governments. Public Land States The thirty states formed from the public domain, known as public land states, are: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. The original thirteen colonies, plus Kentucky, Maine, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, and later West Virginia and Hawaii, form what is known as the state land states. Rectangular Survey System of Public Lands One of the most significant differences between land in the public land states and state land states is that public land was surveyed prior to being made available for purchase or homesteading, using the rectangular-survey system, otherwise known as the township-range system. When a survey was done on new public land, two lines were run at right angles to each other through the territory - a base line running east and west and a meridian line running north and south. The land was then divided into sections from the point of this intersection as follows: Township and Range - Townships, a major subdivision of public lands under the rectangular survey system, measure approximately six miles on a side (thirty-six square miles). Townships are then numbered from the base line north and south and then from the meridian line east and west. The east/west identification is known as the Range. A Township is identified by this relationship to a base line and a principal meridian.Example: Township 3 North, Range 9 West, 5th Principal Meridian identifies a specific township that is 3 tiers north from the baseline and 9 tiers west (Range) of the 5th Principal Meridian.Section Number - Townships were then further broken down into thirty-six sections of 640 acres each (one square mile) called sections, which were numbered with reference to the baseline and meridian line.Aliquot Parts - Sections were then further subdivided into smaller pieces, such as halves and quarters, while still (generally) keeping the land in a square. Aliquot Parts were used to representing the exact subdivision of each such section of land. Halves of a Section (or subdivision thereof) are represented as N, S, E, and W (such as the north half of section 5). Quarters of a Section (or subdivision thereof) are represented as NW, SW, NE, and SE (such as the northwest quarter of section 5). Sometimes, several Aliquot Parts are required to describe a parcel of land accurately.Example: ESW denotes the east half of the southwest quarter of a section, containing 80 acres. What a Township Is In general: A township contains 23,040 acresA section contains 640 acres,A half section contains 320 acres,A quarter section contains 160 acres,A half of a quarter contains 80 acres,A quarter of a quarter contains 40 acres, etc. A legal land description for the public land states might, for instance, be written as: the west half of the northwest quarter, section 8, township 38, range 24, containing 80 acres, usually abbreviated as W ½ of NW ¼ 8T38R24, containing 80 acres. Public lands were distributed to individuals, governments, and companies in some ways, including: Cash Entry An entry that covered public lands for which the individual paid cash or its equivalent. Credit Sales These land patents were issued to anyone who either paid by cash at the time of the sale and received a discount or paid by credit in installments over four years. If full payment was not received within the four-year period, title to the land would revert to the Federal Government. Because of the economic hardship, Congress quickly abandoned the credit system and through the Act of April 24, 1820, required full payment for land to be made at the time of purchase. Private Land and Preemption Claims A claim based on the assertion that the claimant (or his predecessors in interest) derived his right while the land was under the dominion of a foreign government. Pre-emption was a tactful way of saying squatter. In other words, the settler was physically on the property before the GLO officially sold or even surveyed the tract, and he was thus given a pre-emptive right to acquire the land from the United States. Donation Lands To attract settlers to the remote territories of Florida, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington, the federal government offered donation land grants to individuals who would agree to settle there and meet a residency requirement. Donation land claims were unique in that acreage granted to married couples was divided evenly. Half of the acreage was placed in the husbands name while the other half was placed in the wifes name. Records include plats, indexes, and survey notes. Donation lands were a precursor to homesteading. Homesteads Under the Homestead Act of 1862, settlers were given 160 acres of land in the public domain if they built a home on the land, resided there for five years, and cultivated the land. This land did not cost anything per acre, but the settler did pay a filing fee. A complete homestead entry file includes such documents as the homestead application, homestead proof, and final certificate authorizing the claimant to obtain a land patent. Military Warrants From 1788 to 1855 the United States granted military bounty land warrants as a reward for military service. These land warrants were issued in various denominations and based upon the rank and length of service. Railroad To aid in the construction of certain railroads, a congressional act of September 20, 1850, granted to the State alternate sections of public land on either side of the rail lines and branches. State Selection Each new State admitted to the Union was granted 500,000 acres of public land for internal improvements for the common good. Established under the Act of September 4, 1841. Mineral Certificates The General Mining Law of 1872 defined mineral lands as a parcel of land containing valuable minerals in its soil and rocks. There were three kinds of mining claims: Lode Claims for gold, silver, or other precious metals occurring in veinsPlacer Claims for minerals not found in veinsMill Site Claims for up to five acres of public land claimed for processing minerals. Created and maintained by the US Federal Government, records of first transfer of public domain lands are available in multiple locations, including the National Archives and Record Administration (NARA), Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and some State Land Offices. Land records related to subsequent transfers of such land between parties other than the Federal Government are found at the local level, usually a county. The types of land records created by the Federal Government include survey plats and field notes, tract books with records of each land transfer, land-entry case files with supporting documents for each land claim, and copies of the original land patents. Survey Notes and Field Plats Dating back to the 18th century, government surveys were begun in Ohio and progressed westward as more territory was opened for settlement. Once the public domain was surveyed, the government could begin to transfer title of land parcels to private citizens, companies, and local governments. Survey plats are drawings of boundaries, prepared by draftsmen, based on data in the sketches and field notes. Survey field notes are records that describe the survey performed and are completed by the surveyor. The field notes may contain descriptions of land formations, climate, soil, plant and animal life. Land Entry Case Files Before the homesteaders, soldiers, and other entrymen received their patents, and some government paperwork had to be done. Those purchasing land from the United States had to be given receipts for payments, while those obtaining land through military bounty land warrants, preemption entries, or the Homestead Act of 1862, had to file applications, give proof about military service, residence on and improvements to the land, or evidence of citizenship. The paperwork generated by those bureaucratic activities, compiled into land entry case files, is held by the National Archives and Records Administration.   Tract Books The best place to being your search when youre looking for a complete land description, tract books for the Eastern States are in the custody of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). For the Western States, they are held by NARA.  Tract books are ledgers used by the U.S. federal government from 1800 until the 1950s to record land entries and other actions related to the disposition of  public domain land. They can serve as a useful resource for family historians who want to locate the property of ancestors and their neighbors who lived in the 30 public land states. Especially valuable, tract books serve not only as an index to patented land but also to land transactions that were never completed but may still contain useful information for researchers.

Book Review - Gilda Radner essays

Book Review - Gilda Radner essays Gilda met Gene Wilder while they were making a movie - Hanky Panky. It wasnt too successful, nor did it do well for her career, but it did change her life. They were married in the south of France on September 19, 1984. (p.17) Gene loved France. Gilda had been there only once before when she was eighteen. All the terrible things that happen to tourists happened to her while she was there. She lost her travelers checks, she got diarrhea from getting so upset over the Anne Frank house. She said a lot of weird stuff happened while she was in Paris... that was...nicely put, not too romantic. Well all this being said, Gilda learned to love Paris after seeing it with Gene. Gene was also really into sports, and this got Gilda into it. She even took tennis lessons. She really wanted to be married to him though. Well not too long after their trip to Paris, they broke up. She was pretty upset. She decided to direct her love elsewhere and get a dog. Something Gilda said that was cool: Dogs are the most amazing creatures... they give unconditional love. For me they are the role model for being alive. So Gilda gets Sparkle and her and Gene get back together about five weeks later. (p.26) They do another movie together, The Woman In Red, which turned out to be mildly popular. They were going to go to France again but Sparkle ate rat poison so Gilda had to stay home and take care of her. She told Gene to go on and go though. And he did. When he came back he brought her an engagement ring. So then they went back to France and got married there. Chapter 2 The Baby and the Movie Star p.30 Gilda wanted to have a baby with Gene but her tubes were closed. But she refused to accept the infertility sentence that had been handed to her. But she also found it very difficult to literally make the decision to have a baby. She had been pregnant in the sixties, and at nineteen years old had an...

Spiritual Assessment Tool Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Spiritual Assessment Tool - Research Paper Example This can lead to many doctors not addressing patients’ spiritual needs effectively enough during general consultation and practice, as well as in specific circumstances. To combat this, a number of spiritual assessment tools have sprung up, hoping to bridge the gap between patients and health care providers in this respect. This essay will analyze and evaluate the ease of use and comprehensiveness of data collected of two different spiritual assessment tools, the FICA tool and the HOPE tool. Spiritual assessment tools are simply something that is supposed to aid a health care provider in gathering any information that may make the patient more comfortable, happy and able to recover. They tend to be a guide to the kind of questions a health care provider could be asking, and as such tend to have a somewhat un-methodological approach. Both the FICA and the HOPE tools are pneumonic devices that are supposed to give a health care provider touchstone ideas that they should inquire about when dealing with a patient. They have some basic similarities and differences in terms of ease of use. The similarities in ease of use have to do with the fact that both assessment tools are based on the same foundation: a pneumonic device intended to remind a health care provider what questions they may want to ask a patient. ... ts a relatively high ease of use, as any information gathered will be of some use to the health care provider and there is no need for an exhaustive questionnaire that could be both awkward and not apply to everyone, causing issues of oppression and exclusivity as well as not giving accurate information. The overall ease of use of both assessment tools is rather high. Though the main structure of both assessment tools is relatively similar, and their overall ease of use is relatively high, there are some major differences between the two tests. One of the most noticeable differences is utility of the pneumonic device. The whole purpose of a pneumonic device is to aid in remembering the steps to use, but the HOPE acronym tends to not necessarily connect to the idea in the best possible manner. The â€Å"H† for instance, can stand for hope, but the health care provider will also need to consider sources of meaning, comfort, strength, peace, love and connection (Anandarajah, 2001 ). Furthermore, P stands for the P in â€Å"personal spirituality† or â€Å"practices,† so is not necessarily connected to the most important word (spirituality) and the E stands for â€Å"effects of medical care† and â€Å"end of life issues,† again, not necessarily connecting the most accessible idea (Anandarajah, 2001). HOPE sacrifices a good deal of its memory-assistance to have a good pneumonic device. FICA takes the opposite approach. While HOPE is a pneumonic device that is obviously and integrally related to the idea of spirituality and healing, but whose individual letters do not necessarily fit with the ideas and concepts as well, FICA is a nonsense word with no connection to spirituality and healing, but has individual letters that fit very well with the ideas and concepts. In FICA, the F

Comparative Law ( Global Legal Realism as common sense) Essay

Comparative Law ( Global Legal Realism as common sense) - Essay Example eign case studies are generally cited in the local legal discourses within the United Kingdom and Nigeria, despite the existence of home-grown moral realism foundations reflecting the richness of the history of each country. The import of international bodies of law and provisions in both countries is normally regulated by realist and positivist influences. This paper will examine comparative legal culture, the role of realism and positivism in Nigerian and English legal systems. Watt (2006) argued that if comparative researches on law were basically aimed at upholding their consistency in teaching the effect of global developments on the already available local cultures; how they interweave and merge; and their persistence, then the focus of interacting systems should be modified in order to guarantee a higher level of consistency. The researcher seeks to assess the manner in which international comparative law as a faculty is impacted by the influences of globalization, especially the problems which such alterations portend for the procedural interests in comparative legal research and its philosophical commitments in realist and positivism. According to Watt (2006), the English legal culture is more dynamic and thus positivist as compared to the Nigerian realism. As such, the English culture’s predilection of acquiescing to trans-national or international frameworks of uniform law within the EU and intercontinental Treaties is based on empirical pr oofs that being more liberal and having in place similar laws would deliver equally acceptable laws. While Nigerian system is more realist and largely driven by religion and traditionalism, the English system is backed by authoritative knowledge obtained from scholarship, impacts of globalization and to a small extent, indigenous legal cultures. Nigerian positivist legal cultural influences are largely similar to those of the United Kingdom, most probably because the latter colonized the former and made a