Developing an Implementation Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Developing an Implementation Plan - Essay Example Such resources include funds, equipment, transport and official recommendations among many others. Obtaining approval for a new solution or project is not an easy task. The first task in this process is convincing the leadership that the solution is relevant and effective. First of all, I will request for a meeting with the relevant authorities for the purpose of presenting my solution to them. I will then prepare thoroughly before the meeting, ensuring that I am fully conversant with all matters regarding the solution so that I may be able to satisfactorily answer all questions asked and, therefore, provide a good impression. This will prevent the leadership from turning down the solution because of my failure to provide sufficient information about it, and proving to them that the solution is more effective than current solutions. During this meeting, I will confidently explain the solution to the hospital authorities while trying to keep the details as straightforward as possible. I will then provide them with an opportunity to ask questions, criticize the solution, or provide their own opinion which may help to improve it. After obtaining the approval of the healthcare authorities, the next task will be to obtain the support of fellow staff. This is necessary because fellow healthcare staff participates in the process of testing the solution to determine its effectiveness. Furthermore, they will be the ones to apply the solution if tested and accepted, to evidence-based practice. Its final application in evidence-based practice will not be fully successful if not all the staffs are convinced of its relevance to the self-management of juvenile onset diabetes. In order to obtain their support, I will approach them and explain the solution to them, and how it will benefit them in their practice, and their patients in the management of their condition. Afterwards, I will give them the opportunity to critique the solution and provide their opinion so as to impro ve it and eliminate any weaknesses that I may have overlooked. I will then modify the solution in accordance with suggestions which are relevant. Description of Current Problem Current methods of managing diabetes mellitus type 1 involve insulin replacement therapy, dietary management, and careful blood glucose monitoring using glucose monitors. Current methods of glycemic control are quite complicated and, therefore, juveniles with diabetes type 1 mellitus have to visit the hospital on a regular basis for accurate blood glucose level checks. Additionally, they have to visit a healthcare facility during cases of sudden hyperglycemia or hypoglycemia which may have adverse effects on health. Recent advancements in medical technology have considerably simplified glycemic control and reduced the need to visit a health facility for checkups. This is because these new technologies have simplified continuous glucose monitoring (CGM), making it possible for juvenile patients to manage effec tively their condition without having to visit a healthcare facility. For this new solution to be successful, patients have to be thoroughly educated on the methods of glycemic control, self-administration of insulin, and dietary management. Detailed Explanation of Proposed Solution For juvenile patients to control their type 1 diabetes effectively, they need to make independent decisions on a daily basis concerning insulin intake, diet, and exercise.

Effect On Air Pollution Of Kathmandu Valley

Effect On Air Pollution Of Kathmandu Valley Clean air is necessary for human health. Human body needs approximately 25 kg of air per day to keep up its requirement of oxygen (CEN, 2002). It replicates signifies the importance of air to human beings and any contamination in the air will have a direct impact on our health. Pure air consists 21% of oxygen 78% of nitrogen and 1% other gases. If the air composition is altered by the increase in concentration of certain gases or by intrusion of non-gaseous components like particulate matters, then the air is understood to be polluted and the components that alter the inherent compositional property of air are termed as air pollutants. Air pollution affects almost all aspects of the environment including the biota and the physical components where they strive on. A variety of sources have been identified as the components of the air pollution and they include both the natural and anthropogenic sources of origin; however, the anthropogenic sources of air pollution are more pronounced. Anthropogenic air pollutants are more harmful and include Particulate matter (PM), Sulphur Dioxide (SO2), Nitrogen Oxides (NOx), Carbon monoxide (CO), Lead (Pb), Ozone (O3) and Hydrocarbons (HCs). (CEN, 2002) Air pollution is a big issue all over the world mainly in urban areas because of fossil fuel driven transportation system.. Besides this, the unmanaged booming of urban settlements has helped to increase the concentration of air pollutants by limiting their horizontal dispersion thereby interfering with the health of people. Mainly, children, elderly and the patients of lungs and heart are more vulnerable to the effects of air pollution. According to Asian Development Bank (2001), in the South Asian Cities, approximately 100,000 premature deaths every year is caused by the detrimental effects of air pollution. Air Pollution in Kathmandu The issue of air pollution in Kathmandu Valley is continuously drawing the attention of concerned bodies and the gravity of the problem is growing year by year. Owing to the topography of Kathmandu Valley, growing population, haphazard urbanization and increase in vehicle density imparted as an effect of affluence and need to serve the growing population, the valley has been facing worse situation of ambient air every year. However, the issue of air pollution in Kathmandu Valley doesnt bear a long history as the development of road networks and history of transportation system in the valley do not have the long history either. Many researches and the discourse held within the country on air pollution has identified the transportation system and linked with it, the poor situation of the infrastructure as the root causes of air pollution in Kathmandu Valley. Regarding the dominant air pollutant of Kathmandu, it is Particulate Matter (PM), the concentration of which is observed higher d uring night in the winter due to the creation of inversion layer which acts as the blanket to trap pollutants. The PM concentration in Kathmandu has always exceeded the World Health Organization (WHO) standard and National Ambient Air Quality Standard of Nepal. Besides particulate matters (PM10 and PM2.5) the concentration of other pollutants are not a major issue in Kathmandu Valley. Gaseous pollutants such as NO2 and SO2 are generally within standards but the concentration of NO2 is fairly high in areas with heavy traffic and this has the potential of future increase with further increase in number of vehicles operating within the valley. Another potential concern is the concentration of air toxins such as benzene and poly aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). The concentration of benzene is within national standards but the national standard of 20 µg/m3 is itself fairly high. Although Nepal does not have any standards for PAH, monitoring done in 2003 indicated fairly high levels of these pollutants in Kathmandu Valley. (ICIMOD, 2007) PM2.5 is considered to be more hazardous than PM10. Although Nepal does not have any standards for PM2.5, some monitoring has been carried out for PM2.5 in Kathmandu Valley. (ICIMOD, 2007) Statement of Problem Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal is the focus of all the major facets of the country, namely economy, tourism, culture, politics, administration and natural environment. Due to the above reasons, the population of Kathmandu valley is increasing day by day. Apart from this, the infrastructure development has never been able to keep up with the unmanaged and accelerating growth. As a result, this has led to increase in slums, inadequate and polluted drinking water supply, polluted air to breathe, haphazard manner of dumping the solid waste in the neighborhoods. Every people have right to breath clean air. Increase in population, vehicular fleet, energy consumption and industries, mainly brick industries have contributed to degrade air quality in Kathmandu valley. Overall, the bowl or the cup shaped topography of the valley also has prevented the dispersion of air pollutants to longer distances. Research questions: The research will address following issues: 1. What is the main air pollution facing by local people in Kathmandu valley? 2. What are the main institutional changes that have been made to control the air pollution? 3. What are strength and weakness of these institutional changes? 4. What further policy measures should be instituted to reduce air pollution to acceptable levels? 2. Background Kathmandu is the capital city of Nepal. The Kathmandu valley consists of three major cities i.e Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur. Kathmandu Valley is situated in 27 ° 3730 N and 27 ° 450 N latitude and 85 ° 15 ´0à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ³ E and 85 ° 22 ´30à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ³ E longitude. And the Kathmandu valley is located at an altitude of 1350meters. The Kathmandu valley is oval shaped and surrounded by high hill range. And the area of Kathmandu valley is 340 sq.km and the total population of Kathmandu valley is 1,442,271(CBS 2001). The climate of Kathmandu valley is sub tropical temperate. Along with it have four seasons pre-monsoon, monsoon, post monsoon and winter. In general, average temperature in summer is 32 °c and in winter is 5 °c. Due to economic activity and high chances of opportunities and facilities many people from all around the country has been migrated in the Kathmandu valley and is been highly dense. Air pollution in the Kathmandu Valley has been one of the major problems. It can be said that air pollution started as the invention of road networks and automobiles. High population with unplanned and unmanaged urbanization, rapid increasing of automobiles, vehicles and industries are the factors in the causes of air pollution. http://www.tsiindia.com/img/nepal_map.gif (Source: http://www.tsiindia.com/img/nepal_map.gif, date:30th November 2010) According to the presentation given by traffic police, road length per traffic police has improved since 1995 from 2.3 km to 1.6 km that is good sign for better traffic management. Nevertheless, due to enormous rise in the number of vehicles in Kathmandu, the traffic police are laden with responsibilities of higher number of vehicles than they had to be for 1995. From 2002 to 2009, the total number of vehicles in Bagmati zone increased by 1.25 times than that was before 2002 from 176415 to 396151. The statistics show that the vehicles has progressively increased from 2002 to 2009, the only exception being at 2006/07 probably due to the cause of contemporary political situation. The number of vehicles for individual traffic police has increased from 165 in 1995 to 415 in 2008 i.e. more than 2.5 times. In reality, the number of vehicles a traffic police should look for is even higher because not all the traffic police within Kathmandu are in duty at the same time during a day. In the context of road length and vehicle numbers, the nominal increase in road length has resulted in crowding of roads. The population density per kilometer road length during 1995 was 1668 that rose to 2353 in 2008 while, the number of vehicles per kilometer road length in Kathmandu was 70 in 1995 that has risen by about four times i.e. 255 in 2008. Moreover, in case of Kathmandu the traffic congestion, in practice, is observed due to the inadequate road width and lack of proper identification of the road lane for vehicles moving from the opposite directions. The proper traffic management can thus be initiated with the demarcation of lane, which can, as additional benefit, reduce the vehicle collision and traffic accident. Figure : Comparison on Transportation Attributes for 1995 and 2005 (Source: Valley Traffic Control, 2009 where Blue colour shows 1995 and red is 2005) Causes of Air pollution: If any unwanted particles mixed in the air, it is called air pollution. It can cause for both human Well as environment also. Air pollutants can be in the form of solid particles, liquid as well as gas form. They are may be either natural or artificial. Main artificial air pollutants are Sulfur Oxides, Nitrogen Oxides, Carbon monoxide, Carbon dioxide, Volatile organic compounds, Particulate matters, ground ozone, ammonia etc. (Wikipedia). Sources of artificial air pollution are as follows: i) Rapid Urbanization ii) Vehicular emission iii) Industrial growth iv) Unmanaged disposal of waste etc. 3. THEORY 3.1 Concept of Institution: An institution is any structure or mechanism of social order or it may bee said as a set of some formal rules, regulation and norms of some formal rules, regulation and norms formulated to establish the smooth running society or to govern the behavior of human being in the society. Institutions are formed to formalize the society and to show the human being to act as a social animal. It is the outcome of the society and can be said as the need in the human community to harmonize the behavior of the people. The term institution is commonly applied to customs and behavior patterns important to a society, as well as to particular formal organizations of government and public service (Stanford Encyclopedia: social institutions). Although individual, formal organizations, commonly identifies as Institution may be deliberately and intentionally created by people, the development and functioning of institutions in society in general may be regarded as an instance of emergency, that is institution arise, develop and function in a pattern of social self organizations, which goes beyond the conscious intentions of the individual human involved (http://en .wikipedia.org/wiki/institution#aspects_of_institutions, 28th nov. 2010). The institution that has been established to enhance the quality of ambient air quality in Kathmandu is the outcome of the result from the air pollution. Those are not demand of the people but the result of the problem. The banning of two stroke vehicles in Kathmandu, banning of brick kiln factories was not in favor of people. It just hit on the head of the poor people in the society, but that was the outcomes of the problems not as the intentional outcomes. 3.2 Resource Use and Resource Regimes: Those goods which consists of a natural or human made resource system whose size or characteristics makes it costly but not impossible to exclude the people from getting benefits from its use are generally known as common-pool resource (CPR) or it may be called as common-property resources. Since the common-pool resources are open access, there is the problem off congestion or over use. Unlike public goods, they are subtractable. A common pool resource for example air is a large stock but only provides the limited quantity of extractable unit and over use will create problems as we are here to discuss the air pollution in Kathmandu. A common property regime is a particular social arrangement regulating the preservation, maintenance, and consumption of a common pool resource. The use of the term Common property resource to designate a type of good has been critized, because common pool resource is not necessarily governed by common property regimes.(http://en.wikkipedia.org/wiki/commo n/pool/resource,date26th Nov.2010). Example may be taken as the air in Kathmandu which is the common pool resources. It allows certain amount of pollutants but beyond this the gets polluted. There will be various consequences as it gets polluted. Because the core resource is vulnerable, it is subjected to congestion, over use and ultimately pollution. Any system has their own certain capacity to cope with the change and beyond that the system gets disturb and in case off air in Kathmandu, situation came due to the dramatic increase in population and excessive use of vehicles that run by the fossil-fuels. The use of common pool resources can be continuously done as the loop if they are managed properly and carefully exploited because they form the positive feedback loop since they are stock variable but the haphazard use of it deteriorates the stock and disrupt the flow variable for good. 3.2.1 Resource Use in Kathmandu: Open access Market Effect of distribution No rules As shown in the above figure, the air in the Kathmandu was open access and there was no any rules concerning the use of it and the ownership for it. As the time passes, there araised several agents and market introduced. The outcome of the dramatic increase in the population in the city results in the excessive use of vehicles for the transportation system. Unfortunately those vehicles are run by fossil fuel which when used emit air pollutant in the atmosphere. So there is the pollution problem in the valley. Now government has their head towards it and they are formulating institution to enhance thee quality of it. Though the air in the valley is open access but there are some rules concerning the use of it. Thee government have introduced green tax, banning of diesel running three wheelers etc. Now the system approaches where it is still the open access but with market, shown in the figure above. There are some rules concerning the use of it and hence thee distributional have came into action in this case. 3.3 Framework for Analyzing for resource use problem Air in the Kathmandu valley is common property and is open access. At the time passes, the technology has developed as well as the population of city increase dramatically. This is partly due the centralization and civil war in Nepal. If the natural resources was vast compare to the capacity of people to use it, there could be no problem (vatn, 2005), but here the thing is just opposite to that. Technology Attributes of the resources: Outcomes -resource use -state of resource Agents and aagents choices Patterns of interaction Institutions- regimes Convention Norms Formal rules (Source: Vatn, 2005,) (Figure: Framework for analyzing resource use problems) Finally this aspect has influence has chose new institution and government of Nepal formulated some rules and regulation for the enhancement of air quality in Kathmandu valley. Along with this, different Medias, NGOs, INGOs are involved to motivate people regarding air pollution. The institution such as banning of two stock vehicles, relocation of Himal cement factory, introduction of green tax was introduced. Although there are many such many rules regulation and acts came into existence but some the institution lack third party control system. The government formulated the rules and people were not seemed to walk along with this change. Since there was lack of third party no body were there to check and control the implementation of such policies. With regards to institution we may also distinguish between operational rules, rules concerning the defining of operation rules and finally external arrangement / rules. The operational rule defines the everyday regulation regimes. (Vatn, 2005). The next important factor to take into consideration is agents and agents choice. Here the structure of institution greatly helps to motivate the people. Institution in Nepal was so formed that people were motivated and aware of air pollution and its impact to some extent. But the technology did not fit the resource use. As being the developing county the people do not have any option rather than to use fissile fuels as the main source of energy for the transportation system. At the same time dramatic increase in population in the city force to consume more fuel energy and Kathmandu valley stood first in position in term of vehicle registration in Nepal. So the air being the open access was very vulnerable to risk. Eventually due interaction of technology and choice of agents the problem of air pollution came in the valley. There difficulties are mainly due to four factors. Basically regime is not able to motivate correlation action in accordance with what is demanded given resource characteristic, technology, number of agents and corruption by the government official. Corruption is so deep rooted that one can easily break up the institution formulated by the state. This can be seen as the drawback of the system or the lack of motivation. If outcomes are not in accordance what is expected or wanted agents can change institutional structures. In principal this may occur at all level, with regards to conventions, norms and formal rules (Vatn, 2005). However, changing such rules and regulation certainly need considerable time and result of such change to the institution can only be noticed after some period of time. 3.4 Air as a common pool resource in Kathmandu Goods or resources can be generally classified into two groups. They are Excludable or Non-excludable and Rivalry or Non Rivalry. When a person or a firm can set a barrier on his/her property like land to prevent the use of it by other are called excludable goods and those where the demarcation is not possible are called non-excludable goods. When the goods at one time prevent the use off same good simultaneously by other is called rivalry goods and on the other hand, just like air, the of which can never stop other to use it at the same time is called non-rivalry goods or resource. Exclusion costs (TCs) Low High I III II IV Yes Rivalry in use or consumption No (Source: Vatn, 2005, pp 263) (Fig: Characterization of resources or goods according to the cost of exclusion and rivalry in use or consumption). While goods of type I are typically labeled Private goods, type II and type IV are called goods and public goods, respectively. With regards to type III, common-pool-resourceis an often used concept. In the tradition of leaping of resource characteristics to regime implication, type I is often equated with private property and markets, II with clubs, III with standard common property or open access and IV with state/public property. (Vatn, 2005, pp 263) 3.4.1 Rivalry goods As we are discussing about the in the Kathmandu valley, it can bee seen that the resource is rivalry type. In Kathmandu valley, different types of factories, industries, vehicles are continuously meeting the air pollutant which ultimately invited the pollution problem and all the citizens are suffering from it. In the case of rival goods, the core problem is that of external effect. This is typically the case for many environmental resources where use-at least beyond the certain level-reduce its quantity and/or quality (Vatn, 2005, pp263). Therefore air in case of Kathmandu valley can be considered as rival goods. 3.4.2 Non-Excludable goods When the goods are private or owned by certain people or organization, than the demarcation is very easy that means transaction cost is very low. But when thee goods or resources are open access or common property, the exclusion cost is very high because the typical demarcation is not possible. In this case, air is common property and everybody in the city can use it undoubtly and the transaction cost is very high 3.5 Mechanism to reduce air pollution: The pollution problem in Kathmandu can be seen as the outcome of excessive energy used and technological development. This can simply be framed as follows: Production Input Output 3.5.1 Taxation input Basically the major pollution problem in the valley is due to the excessive use of the vehicles which are runes by the petroleum products. So air pollution can be reduced by introducing the tax in the fossil fuel. This is the best way because there is low transaction cost in doing so. High tax in the fule wills automatically reduce the use of private vehicles and the public vehicles uses will be increased to the considerable extent. 3.5.2 Taxation in production and technology On the other hand, this can be done by introducing the tax in the technology that means motor car, private vehicles, and factories, industries which use energy and emit the pollutants in the air and also providing the subsidy to those who use bicycle or electronic means of transportation. As the government of Nepal is doing , banning of diesel running three wheelers, two stock vehicles are also the way to enhance the air quality to some extent. This is a very simple way and there is low transaction cost in introduction such institutions but this dominantly hit the poor in the society. 3.5.3 Taxation in Output There is another way of controlling the air pollution but the transaction cost in very high in doing so. The introduction of emission tax can be very good way to enhance the air quality. Here the transaction cost will be fairly very high. 4. Methods For fulfilling the study objectives, a systematic study approach was followed. The major base for research founded with the collection of relevant secondary data and information from various national and international sources. The field-based study could not be done. The following process are done: Literature Review Secondary Data Collection Data Analysis Draft Report Preparation Final Report Dissemination 5. Analysis Increasing number of vehicles without extension of roads is diagnosed to be the major problem in Kathmandu. The growth of the vehicles in Kathmandu is a major concern to traffic police, vehicle drivers, and pedestrians. From the result, it is observed that the road length of Kathmandu is increasing very nominally while the numbers of vehicles are increasing with an exceptional growth rate and it ultimately help to increase air pollution. 5.1 Causes of Air Pollution Air pollution causes by both anthropogenic as well as natural sources. Anthropogenic source is the main cause in Kathmandu valley than that of natural source. Mainly fossil fuel combustion and other activities like brick factories, unmanaged road system, stone grinding factories are added pollution. Vehicle system is the main source to emit carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and nitrogen oxide. Approximately 67 percent of Particulate matter is supplied by vehicular emission in Kathmandu valley. 5.1.1 Sources of air pollution Sources of air pollution are of two types: Natural and artificial. Main sources of artificial air pollution are as follows: A) Rapid Urbanization: Kathmandu valley has very fertile land, but nowadays it is known as unmanaged urban area. The main cause of this is Kathmandu-centric development and migration of people due to insurgency and political conflict. It is the biggest city of the Nepal and about 20 percent urban people live here. The population increase rate here is as twice as national rate of 2.2%. (ICIMOD, 2007). B) Vehicular Emission: It is the main source for air pollution. According to the Department of Transportation and Management, Government of Nepal, the first bus service in Nepal commenced in1957 and since then the fleet has grown substantially. The cumulative vehicular number in Bagmati zone (administrative zone where the vehicles of Kathmandu Valley are registered) was 176,415 in 2001 and it reached 396,151 in 2008. Most of the vehicles registered in Bagmati zone is used in Kathmandu valley. This record shows the rapid increment of vehicles in Kathmandu valley. Vehicle number in Kathmandu has been increasing rapidly in the last five years. C) Industrial Emissions: About two-fifth industries in Nepal are located in Kathmandu valley. According to the Department of Cottage and small industries, there were 14,971 up to 2006. Out of them, 111 are brick kilns and 89 are stone crushers. They contribute 14% of the total particulate matter in Kathmandu valley. Management of solid waste is another problem which also causes air pollution and vulnerable to health. (ICIMOD,2007) 5.1.2 Effects of air pollution The effect of air pollution is high in human health. High exposure in air pollution may cause chronic bronchitis, lung cancer, asthma and other respiratory problems. It also affects cardio vascular system and nervous system (Lahiri, 2003). Particulate matter is the main problem of Kathmandu, which not only affects the health but also the tourism industry. Due to the poor health, human productivity is also loss. All these impacts finally affect the economic system of individual as well as of state. The long term study of health impact due to air pollution is yet to be conducted in Kathmandu Valley. However, Child Workers in Nepal Concerned Centre (CWIN) surveyed about 60 children who were working as staffs on three-wheelers in valley and result showed that 84% staffs were suffering from eye problem, 82% chest pains, 66% were suffering from coughs and 58% by headaches. Similarly 45% children were suffering by respiratory problem. Shakya S conducted a study incorporating questionnaires to the traffic police. He observed that out of 90 traffic police, most of them were suffering from diseases related to nervous and respiratory systems. Similarly, Clean Energy Nepal (CEN) also did a questionnaire survey for the people who live near to the brick industries and in control area. The study revealed that 54% out of surveyed people near to the brick kiln were suffering from respiratory problem and 41% people in the control area were affected by respiratory disorder. The other problems due to air pollution are as follows: Acid rain Ozone layer depletion Reduction of visibility In context of Kathmandu, the issues of acid rain and ozone layer depletion are not very significant as both of these issues are the outcomes of the heavy industrial pollution. The formation of the photochemical smog and acid droplets due to hydration of the SOx and NOx are not well defined in the pollution status of the ambient air of Kathmandu. As mentioned in the earlier sections the concentrations of both these gases are well below the standards set by the Government of Nepal and WHO. However, regarding the visibility the problem perpetuates in Kathmandu during all seasons with even more pronounced effects during the winters when temperature inversion takes place. The visibility problem is basically caused by the particulate matters and the problem subsides only during the periods of heavy rainfall. 5.2. Policies and institutional arrangements for managing emissions from motor vehicles: A number of programs have been done to fight against the air pollution in Kathmandu Valley. Some are given below. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ In 1991, government stopped to register three-wheelers. It was the first response related to air pollution of Kathmandu valley. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ In 1994, government place emission standards for in-use vehicles. Green stickers were given those vehicles which met emission values. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Ministry of Population and Environment was established in 1995. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Environmet Protection Act 2000 and Rules were enacted in 1997. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ In 1998, the government formulated NVMES in 2000; these standards, equivalent to EURO-I emission norms, went into effect from January 2000. All new means of transportation imported from abroad since then have had to meet the terms. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ In 1997 the government decided to provide financial support to battery-operated electric three-wheelers. It was given in the form of tax breaks. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ In 1999, diesel three-wheelers were banned in Kathmandu Valley. Similarly it was banned in other cities also. Vehicle owners were given tax incentive to buy new vehicles. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ In November 2000, the government decided to ban public vehicles older than 20 years. Similarly it banned all two stroke vehicle in Kathmandu Valley. The policy was followed from 16 November, 2001. Government tried to follow this rule strictly but was unable to put into practice the decision. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ In late 2000, two-stroke motorcycle registration was restricted. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The vehicle run by LPG and CPG (compressed natural gas) was improved from 2000. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ In 2001, government decided adds 10% extra tax for the vehicle having older than 15 years. This is the first case that government linked between tax and vehicle age. It helped to discourage the use of older vehicles. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ In 2001, The National Transport Policy was formulated. This policy is directly related to clean transportation system. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ In 2003, the National Ambient Air Quality System for various air pollutants was established. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Two-stroke three-wheeler vehicles were banned from 2004 in the Kathmandu Valley. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Government closed Himal Cement Factory to control the air pollution which was situated near the valley. (Source: Dahal, 2006) Government has formulated and applied many rules and regulations to address the air pollution of Kathmandu valley, but the graph below shows that the main air pollutants Total Suspended Particulates (Particulate matters) is increasing every year. (Source: MoEST Report 2006) 5.3. Strength and weakness of these institutional changes: It is found that reforms in existing institutional set up is likely to bring some positive impact on the air quality of Kathmandu valley. Removing two stroke vehicles from the valley have reduced the air pollution as well as noise pollution. It has also helped to reduce the energy consumption because the two stroke vehicles use more fuel than other. However, the rules and regulations are no implemented because of the political instability and corruptions. The economic condition of the country has also impacted on the implementation the institutions because the government has not allocated sufficient fund for environment. In Nepal there is separate ministry dealing with environment (Ministry of Environment), however, the establishment of the local authority like environment department and its associated regional and district bodies, to effectively deal with the problems related to environment has not been materialized yet, even after more than a decade has passed with the establishmen t of environment ministry. The establishment of environment department is still in the stage of planning and government has made efforts to establish it in near future, but according to the government financial constraint

What an American Is Essay example -- Papers America Character Patrioti

What an American Is Webster?s Dictionary defines American as or its inhabitants. But is that all America and an American truly is? Is a person American simply because of geography? According to Identities, ?America is a confluence of cultures.? Americans are people whose lives depict men and women who are trying to be as successful and robust as possible, this quest is symbolic to citizens of many other countries. This is why America illustrates the Statue of Liberty, a structure that symbolizes freedom throughout the world. America is composed not only of these peoples, but the cultures and the ways of life of these people. The Statue of Liberty symbolizes a fearless and powerful figure. Steinbeck agrees that Americans are fearless when he writes, ?Americans seem to live and breathe and function by paradox.? Americans are fearless and risk taking, spending time and money doing things like skydiving, bungijumping, and other extreme sports. Ignoring in most cases the risk factors involved in such activities, believing that nothing is going to go wrong, that it will occur perfectly and flawlessly. This is a trait that many Americans have the refuse to believe that they are in danger. Most Americans believe that even though the limb they are on is weak, it?s strong enough for their safety needs. Americans daily routines are can also be described as fearless. Case in point for many is the commute to and from work. Most people speed and drive aggressively because they always are in a hurry. Americans have the idea of being perfect drives, for instance, and never making mistakes. The Statue of Liber ty can also be described as fearless. The Statue of Liberty is what most people think of when asked what symbolizes... ...s. If America performs a positive action in a foreign country or domestically, Americans are pleased with the government. Americans also acquire anger when the government does an action that citizens do not approve of. However, Americans are represented in their government and have a choice, because America is a nation build around the idea of freedom. The Statue of Liberty is the source of this idea of freedom. In conclusion, America is a huge nation of people who are to trying to work hard to be as successful as possible, just as the women that the Statue of Liberty exemplifies. The Statue of Liberty literally means Statue of Freedom, and that is the most precise definition an American can have. An American is a free person who is given the right to live his/her life without intervention. The Statue of Liberty symbolizes this freedom to many Americans.

Lake Nakuru

Lake Nakuru is located in central Kenya, 140km north-west of Nairobi in Nakuru of the rift valley Province. It covers an area of 188 km2 Lake Nakuru's climate ranges from cold, hot and humid, to hot and dry. The annual rainfall is 965mm. Lake Nakuru is a very shallow strongly alkaline lake 62 km2 in extent. It is surrounded by woodland and grassland next to Nakuru town. The landscape includes areas of marsh and grassland alternating with rocky cliffs and outcrops, stretches of acacia woodland and rocky hillsides covered with Euphorbia forest on the eastern perimeter. Lake Nakuru was first known as a bird sanctuary in 1960 and upgraded to National Park status in 1968. A northern extension was added to the park in 1974 and the lake was designated as a Ramsar site in 1990. The foundation of the parks food chains is the cyanophyte spirulina platensis which can support huge numbers of lesser flamingo. Kenya is also home to all of the Big five Animals which are Lion, Rhinoceros, Leopard, Water Buffalo and the Elephant these animals are a major tourist attraction and are one of the reasons why many tourists go to Kenya. Desertification in General It has been said that forests came before human beings and deserts followed them. Desertification is becoming a major problem as more and more of the world's land surface is turned into desert. The new deserts which are being created are not necessarily hot, dry sandy places, but are instead any areas where the soil has been so mistreated by humans that it is now useless for growing crops. You may think that this doesn't affect us here in Britain; after all, it's too wet and cold for a desert to be formed here, that may be true, but that doesn't mean that desertification won't affect us. Think about it, if our soil is not conserved, then our food supply and all our lives are threatened. Soils can be ruined easily in areas where seasonal rainfall is unreliable. Cutting down forests and trees, over-cultivation of the soil and over-grazing can all contribute to desertification. In poorer countries, farmers often know what needs to be done, but they and their families live so near to starvation that they cannot even afford to buy what they need to keep their families healthy, let alone attempt to solve their problems. Tourism in Kenya Tourism is very important to Kenya because it keeps the economy stable, the local people get to interact with people from other countries, the ideal situation is that poor rural people get a fair share of their money from the produce they make and a reasonable share of the revenues are enjoyed by the local communities in Kenya. The Government link up with poor people in the rural areas so that poverty is reduced and poor people are able to participate more effectively in tourism development while earning an adequate income. I don't feel that this always happens as seventy percent of people employed by park lodges are not local's (Maasia), this shows that the locals are not getting the jobs needed for the survival of them and there families therefore they are not getting are fair share of the jobs. Local people are not consulted before new tourist developments are built making unfair as they do not get a say on what goes on in their towns. Tourism does produce a lot of money for Kenya, in 2004 they made 39.2 billion KSh (Kenyan shillings – the local currency) and in 2005 they made 48.9 billion KSh that's an increase of 9.7 KSh in just one year, so we can see that their tourist industry is growing quite quickly. There are several factors that cause social, environmental and economic problems in Kenya, such as: Problems Concerning Tourists The climate in Kenya has very low precipitation this means that they have extremely low rainfall throughout the year. Tourists expect a certain environment when on holiday like clean drinking water, swimming pools, ice in their drinks and showers on demand to keep them cool. This puts pressure on a country with low rainfall as they can not provide these luxuries on a regular basis. A possible solution to this problem would be to attract tourists to the ‘Real Kenya' by offering a true Safari Holidays camping out, using less water and experiencing local cuisine. Due to high pollution levels in the water, one of Nakuru's main attractions, the flamingos are leaving. The flamingo come to lake to breed but as the lake is becoming more and more polluted by sediment and near by factories they have decided to flee. This is bad for Nakuru's income and tourism as many tourists come to see the large amounts of flamingos that breed here but now they have gone a lot of tourists may not bother coming to Kenya. This problem could be solved by moving the factories as far away possible from the national park and lake so that flamingos don't feel the need to leave Due to the low precipitation levels in Kenya the farmers find it hard to grow their crops, which means they can not provide food for their families and cannot make a steady income. If the tourists were to use less water there would be enough for the farmers to grow their crops and feed their animals. Tourist industries feel that locals are not qualified enough to have well paid jobs. One solution to this problem is that the tourist industries could employ some local people and as part of the job the tourist industries could give them training so that they would be able to work the higher paid jobs. This would mean that the locals with the higher paid jobs would be able to supply their families with food, clean drinking water and clean clothes and ensure that their own children receive an education which would be good for the economy as a whole. Tourists often travel around on safari in land rovers for their comfort and safety, this breaks up the soil causing deforestation and sediment in the lake, the more sediment in the lake the cooler it gets, killing fish. The Hamming and other birds feed by looking into the water and seeing the fish they want to eat, this will not be possible soon as the sediment makes the water cloudy. A possible solution to this is that the tourists could take hot air balloon flights whilst on safari instead of driving Land Rovers this would prevent the soil from breaking up, therefore creating less sediment in the lake and disruption to the environment. Problems Concerning Locals and Animals Wild animals often escape from the National Park, the animals are not used to human contact. The wild animals can then spread diseases to local domestic animals, many small farms that depend on their animals for money or food are located next to the National Park. A potential solution to this is to put up thorn fences in the national park that look more natural and will not harm the animals too much, but will stop them from escaping. The Government could also provide vaccines for the domestic animals to stop them from catching the wild animal's diseases. As the population of Nakuru town increases more mouths need to be fed which means more crops need to be grown, but the soil needs to be rested to avoid soil erosion. A possible answer to this problem is to provide better education on contraception for the farmers and local people. Nakuru town has no sewage systems and the amount of waste being produced is increasing as the population is increasing, this means that they will get an overflow of sewage, very nasty smells and the sewage also carries diseases and attracts vermin into the town. The solution to this problem is the same as the last, to provide contraception and education on how to use it for the local people to help the locals reduce the amount of children they have. The Kenyan government needs to invest/raise money for the local infrastructure. Kenya is an LEDC (Lower Economically Developed Country) and needs to expand its manufacturing industry (such as factories) to become richer. Local people need jobs and the manufacturing industry needs to expand, it is also an economical problem as the manufacturing industry needs to become richer too compete with other countries. A potential answer to this problem would be to build more factories and employ local people. The Manufacturing Industry need investment from foreign companies which would provide more jobs for locals and this would enable them to provide for themselves. After all my investigations I feel that there are a few problems that are drastic and need taking care of immediately: * Over population – If this is not taken care of then the town of Nakuru will overpopulate making it hard for farmers to grow enough crops, there won't be enough drinking water and there probably won't be enough houses. A possible solution for this is to educate the town about contraception or to introduce a law where people are only allowed to have one child and if they have more then they have to pay tax on that child. * No sewage Systems – This means that due to the over population there will be an overflow of raw sewage in the town which will bring in vermin that will bring in disease to the local people. A possible solution to this is for The Kenyan government to invest/raise money for the local infrastructure. * Wild animals with diseases often escape from the National park – This need to be taken care of immediately because if all domestic animals are infected with disease by the wild animals, then all of the local's meat will deplete and the farmers won't be able to make as much money, therefore not being able to support their families. A possible solution to this is to put up thorn fences that will be cheap and practical, but will also look very natural. Conclusion From all of my research my opinion on Safari Holidays and the problems they cause is that they are disturbing the animals for example, there is a lot of sediment in the lake causing the temperature to go down which kills the fish, also the wading birds cannot see there food in the lake. This is caused by extensive use of land rovers that should be replaced with more friendly things like hot air balloons. They also disturb the animals by doing safari early in the morning when the animals are most likely mating or hunting. Although the Safari holidays do cause problems for the animals they bring in a lot of money for the government and the locals. The money goes towards things like housing, but could also be used to build new sewage systems as the waste that is produced will start to overflow into the town of Nakuru causing disease and vermin to come into the town. If I had a chance to go to Lake Nakuru on a field trip I would look for problems such as how sturdy fences were to see if animals could escape easily or not, I would see if I could find the amount of sediment in the lake. I would like to speak to the manger of the national park and ask for their annual profit from particular areas such as safari and food and drink sales, this would show an estimate of how much is made by tourism in one year. If I were to go to Nakuru in 20 years time I would expect there to be many of these problems solved, if they are not I believe that their profit will start to fall and they will not be able to stay a national park anymore.

Discrimination and Equal Employment Opportunity Essay

At a subsiding workplace, a young female employee is assisting with closing up her section of a store. Going into the stock room alone, a fellow male worker corners her into a caged section of the area. Here, the male assistant makes unwanted physical and sexual advances towards the young and scared female worker. What can any person do who is subjected under these horrible workplace conditions that clearly violate their personal rights? As early as 1965, The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (or EEOC) has ensured the protection, promise and safety of those persons exposed to discrimination in disreputable workplaces (U.S. Equal employment Opportunity Commission, 2000). This presentation will include a description of a lawsuit against an organization while giving a brief summary of the EEOC’s important functions. Further on, this report will include the role of the EEOC in relation to the lawsuit along with determining if the case promotes social change and justification. Finally, a comparison will be included between the EEOC and press related accounts describing the incidents of the case while implementing strategies to ensure future compliance with the issue in a multicultural workplace. EEOC Civil Action Case No. 3:11-cv-00920 In Franklin Tennessee, a civil issue was required because a 38-year old general manager of a Finish Line apparel store was outrageously, sexually harassing, three teenaged female employees whose ages ranged from 16-17 (U.S. Equal employment Opportunity Commission, 2000). The Finish Line is a family oriented Indianapolis based sports store that sells sporty shoes and athletic apparel. Subsequently, in Nashville Tennessee the United States jury and officials found the Franklin store general manager guilty for statutory rape and sexually harassing the three, young female assistants who worked under his supervision. On the second of January 2013, the EEOC released a National press statement that awarded the three teenaged workers 30, 000 dollars compensation which included back pay for the endangerment of the criminal acts that were placed against them in the workplace. The crime acted upon the young women was unfortunate, and no one should ever have to work under these conditions of sexual assault and harassment. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission was highly committed to ensuring reparations to their clients and victims of workplace oppression. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and its Commitment Like the story from above, everyday people are exposed to workplace discriminations and oppressions. The commitment of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is to ensure persons are not being discriminated or categorized under Title legislation VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (U.S. Equal employment Opportunity Commission, 2000). The Commissions responsibility is to justify and put into action provisions of legislation VII against criminal occupation practices. The EEOC is also in control of managing Federal legislations that make it illegal to discriminate against those because of disability, gender, race, color or ethnic background (U.S. Equal employment Opportunity Commission, 2000). Overall, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sets an example reprimanding those who illegally act on workplace discrimination and harassment. The Role of the EEOC in the Nashville Tennessee Finish Line Harassment Case The role of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission was to reinforce Title VII in the case of the three young women filling against the charges placed on the Finish Line store manager in Franklin Tennessee. The lawsuit case indicted Finish Line with endangering three teenaged female workers to unlawful sexual harassment. The EEOC implements federal laws that prohibit employment discrimination and categorization placed on defenseless employees. A statement documented from Kenneth Anderson, EEOC lead trial attorney exclaimed that, â€Å"It is unfortunate that any woman has to deal with sexual harassment in the workplace, especially teenagers. Equally reprehensible is the fact that the harassment was at the hands of their much older male supervisor. We commend these three young women for the tremendous courage they displayed in confronting egregious sexual harassment by their supervisor† (U.S. Equal employment Opportunity Commission, 2000). Press Related Comparisons between the EEOC and other News Accounts Due to the unspeakable acts placed on the three teenaged girls in Franklin Tennessee, discrepancy is requested which protects and provides little information about the entirety of the Nashville Tennessee Finish Line case. Most news accounts support the Equal Employment Opportunity Commissions case that involves the two parties present at the U.S. District Court Jury. With both news reports, there are no names provided which preserves the safety of all individuals involved.

The Link between Assertiveness and the Effective Leader

The Link between Assertiveness and the Effective Leader Free Online Research Papers Assertiveness training has been growing in popularity over the last few decades. Assertiveness training began primarily as a program used by counselors and psychologist, and has transition into a very popular management training course. Many employers are starting assertiveness training programs for their managers as they feel these skills make them more effective leaders. Assertive individuals are self confident, have strong communication and problem solving skills, and not afraid of confrontation. Effective Leaders are assertive individuals. To learn why effective leaders are assertive individuals we need to understand what assertiveness means. Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary (2006) defines assertiveness is as, â€Å"The quality or state of being assertive† (p.62). Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary goes on to define assertive as, â€Å"disposed or characterized by strong or confident assertion† (p.62). To clarify the meaning Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary defines assertion as, â€Å"A positive statement† (p.62). In other words assertive individuals have the ability to state clearly what they want or how they feel in any situation without coming across as aggressive or hostile. Assertiveness is a widely recognized leadership trait. Assertive individuals are self-confident and clear about what they want. Leaders with these traits communicate openly and honestly with those around them. Assertive leaders project confidence and encourage feedback when expressing their thoughts. Assertiveness is built on the understanding that each individual has the right to be open and express themselves honestly; even if they chose not too. Assertiveness helps leaders perform many tasks and achieve goals. Assertive leaders are able to comfortably confront subordinates about poor performance, set high goals, and even make demands on higher management when necessary for the group to meet its objectives. Assertive leaders recognize their own level of knowledge, ability, and authority in any situation. They are able to send this message of confidence and competence through their personal demeanor while showing respect for their group. Without this ability the communication would breakdown and the relationship between the leader and his team would quickly begin to deteriorate. Shaw and Rutledge (1976) wrote an article in the September 1976 Training and Development Journal citing an exciting new approach to train effective managers. Shaw and Rutledge went on to show the correlation between the traits of an assertive individual and an effective manager: The effective manager is clear about goals and purposes. He or she is willing and able to confront conflict, and to make tough decisions, to say â€Å"no† without guilt, embarrassment or shilly-shally. The effective manager is also capable of responding to and utilizing the resources of others. He or she is sufficiently confident and self-possessed so that defensive and abrasive behavior which inhibits the enthusiasm, creativity and motivation of others is minimized. (p.9) According to Shaw and Rutledge (1976) assertive training would gain in popularity among the business world since it would help produce the type of leadership they needed for productive organizations. One of the key characteristics of assertiveness training Shaw and Rutledge pointed out was the fact that leaders where not forced to learn new behaviors just build and strengthen the skills they already possessed. Shaw and Rutledge (1976) stated that, â€Å"Assertive training focuses on practicing goal-oriented and self-actualization behavior, and on learning how to identify and protect oneself against aggressive or manipulative behavior from others.† (p.8) This is a very important skill for a leader. Leaders must be able to clearly and effective communicate their needs without being manipulated by those around them. For the organization to thrive all resources must be used both efficiently and effectively. This means that leadership must be able to determine the best possible use for its resources at all times. Shaw and Rutledge (1976) stated Assertive leaders believe in themselves and in their own ability to succeed; in other words they trust them selves. Assertive leaders will take the time to determine what they want and how they will do it. Next Shaw and Rutledge explained the assertive leader must utilize the resources of others. To be effective a leader they must possess the ability to not only listen to one self but also those around them and then utilize that information in an effective manner. The third step Shaw and Rutledge (1976) explained the assertive leader must follow was to express your feelings. The assertive leader must express their feelings and at the same time provide a safe environment for others to express their feelings openly and honestly without fear of retaliation. Effective leaders teach these skills by example. Shaw and Rutledge described the forth step as be clear and goal oriented. Assertive leaders are open and direct; they are clear about their goals and intents. The final step according to Shaw and Rutledge (1976) in assertiveness training is to confront issues. Assertive leadership will also take care of issues immediately when they happen and keeps communication flowing. Learning how to be assertive will not prevent confrontations it simply provides managers with the skills to deal with the confrontations. Effective leaders realize that assertiveness is a skill that needs to be practiced and continually evaluated for each individual situation. There is no behavior that is a one size fits all perfect solution and a truly effective leader remembers this above all. An assertive individual has strong listening skills which are important for an effective leader. It is as important for leaders to listen as it is for them to be heard. An assertive individual will take the time to clue into the verbal cues as well as the non verbal cues of the conversations. This can often help the listener determine the central issue. The assertive individual will work on all areas of communication so that effective leadership can be maintained. The assertive leader has built a relationship with the team that encourages open and honest communication and fosters creativity. This is where synergy comes into play. Utilizing all the skills in the workplace they are able to get their team to perform at levels higher than the competition. The assertive leader will promote this productive environment. An effective Leader is an assertive individual. Research Papers on The Link between Assertiveness and the Effective LeaderThe Project Managment Office SystemBringing Democracy to AfricaAppeasement Policy Towards the Outbreak of World War 2Open Architechture a white paperThree Concepts of PsychodynamicEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into AsiaAnalysis Of A Cosmetics AdvertisementInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesQuebec and Canada

Free Essays on Post Holocaust Theory

Rabbi Rubenstein’s Post Holocaust Theology The Holocaust is one of the biggest atrocities in the history of mankind. Many people had their faith tried and tested during and after the Holocaust. Some people even lost their faith all together. In response to this horrific crime Post-Holocaust Theologies were written. One such example is Rabbi Rubenstein who wrote a theology stating that the God of Jewish history does not exist or is dead. This theology is directly opposed to Elizer Berkovits who states that God’s existence is proven because of the Holocaust. Academically Rubenstein has a stronger argument than Berkovits. According to Elizer Berkovits, the Holocaust is not historically unique; it is only unique in its magnitude. Berkovits does not believe that it is historically unique because Jews have often been persecuted throughout history and the Holocaust is just another instance of persecution. Berkovits states that the Holocaust proves the existence of God. He says that since God did not act and stop the Holocaust then the existence of God must be true. In order to understand his reasoning one must first understand the Free Will Defense. The Free Will Defense says that humans have freewill so God is exempt from blame for evil. This theodicy also states that since humans have free will, God does not interfere in the world. To understand this theodicy better one can image God as being a clockmaker, who set the world in motion and then stepped away from it to watch it run. Berkovits believes that during the Holocaust God had to hide from himself so he would not interfere with human free will. Berkovits summarizes his theology by stating that the hiding of God, proves God’s existence. One may raise the question; if God is going to hide and not interfere in the world what is the purpose of praying to him? This theology is often criticized for being considered a catch twenty-two. By not interfering with the Holocaust God p... Free Essays on Post Holocaust Theory Free Essays on Post Holocaust Theory Rabbi Rubenstein’s Post Holocaust Theology The Holocaust is one of the biggest atrocities in the history of mankind. Many people had their faith tried and tested during and after the Holocaust. Some people even lost their faith all together. In response to this horrific crime Post-Holocaust Theologies were written. One such example is Rabbi Rubenstein who wrote a theology stating that the God of Jewish history does not exist or is dead. This theology is directly opposed to Elizer Berkovits who states that God’s existence is proven because of the Holocaust. Academically Rubenstein has a stronger argument than Berkovits. According to Elizer Berkovits, the Holocaust is not historically unique; it is only unique in its magnitude. Berkovits does not believe that it is historically unique because Jews have often been persecuted throughout history and the Holocaust is just another instance of persecution. Berkovits states that the Holocaust proves the existence of God. He says that since God did not act and stop the Holocaust then the existence of God must be true. In order to understand his reasoning one must first understand the Free Will Defense. The Free Will Defense says that humans have freewill so God is exempt from blame for evil. This theodicy also states that since humans have free will, God does not interfere in the world. To understand this theodicy better one can image God as being a clockmaker, who set the world in motion and then stepped away from it to watch it run. Berkovits believes that during the Holocaust God had to hide from himself so he would not interfere with human free will. Berkovits summarizes his theology by stating that the hiding of God, proves God’s existence. One may raise the question; if God is going to hide and not interfere in the world what is the purpose of praying to him? This theology is often criticized for being considered a catch twenty-two. By not interfering with the Holocaust God p...

Verbal Behavior Analysis (VBA) Helps Children With Language Deficits

Verbal Behavior Analysis (VBA) Helps Children With Language Deficits Verbal Behavior Analysis, or VBA, is a language intervention strategy based on the work of B.F. Skinner. An American psychologist, social philosopher, and inventor, Skinner was a leading figure in the branch of psychology known as Behaviorism. This school of psychology derives from â€Å"the belief that behaviors can be measured, trained and changed,† according to Psychology Today. With this in mind, Verbal Behavior Analysis can be a powerful approach to addressing the language deficits of children on the autism spectrum. Autism is a developmental disorder that makes it difficult for children and adults who have the condition to communicate and interact with others. But Skinner posited that language is learned behavior mediated by others. He introduced the terms Mand, Tact, and Intraverbal to describe three different kinds of verbal behaviors. Defining the Terms Manding is either demanding or commanding others for desired objects or activities. Tacting is identifying and naming objects, and intraverbals are utterances (language) mediated by other language, often called pragmatics by speech and language pathologists. What Occurs During VBA Treatment? In VBA treatment, a therapist sits with an individual child and presents preferred items. The child will receive the preferred item when he or she imitates the therapist and mands or requests the item. The therapist will ask a child for a number of responses, often in quick succession, known as massed trials or discrete trial training. The therapist will build on success by having the child select from more than one preferred item, by demanding clearer or more audible approximations of the word in order receive the preferred item (called shaping) and mixing it up with other preferred activities. This first step is done once a child has exhibited success in manding, especially manding in phrases, the therapist will move ahead with tacting. When a child succeeds in learning and naming familiar objects, the therapist will build on that with intraverbals,  naming relationships. For example, the therapist will ask, Jeremy, where is the hat? The child will then respond, The hat is under the chair. The therapist will help the child generalize these verbal skills to a variety of settings, such as school, in public and at home with parents or caregivers. How VBA Differs From ABA The MyAutismClinic website states that ABA and VBA, though related, are not the same. What’s the difference between the two? â€Å"ABA is the science that uses principles of behavior like reinforcement, extinction, punishment, stimulus control, motivation to teach new behaviors, modify and/or terminate maladaptive behaviors,† the MyAutismClinic site states. â€Å"Verbal Behavior or VB  is simply the application of these scientific principles to language.† The site states  that some people believe that ABA is more efficient than VBA, but this is a misconception. â€Å"A well-trained professional should make use of the principles of ABA in all areas of the child’s development including language,† according to MyAutismClinic. VBA is simply a comprehensive ABA approach to language.

Culture and development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Culture and development - Essay Example In this case most governments in these regions of the world strive to empower cultural heritage tourism through funding the indigenous art and design industries. This is in order to encourage local communities to maintain their cultures as it can act as a form of social entrepreneurship. West Bengal in eastern India is one of the regions in the world which have embraced the notion of social entrepreneurship in building community wealth (Chaudhury 162). The region is rich in cultural and natural resources. The communities in this region are focused on creative industries which are based on art and culture2. The communities have developed Art Business Hubs which offer cultural products as well as services which basically correlate with their traditions and natural surroundings. Apart from industrial development, culture acts as a medium in the formation of social capital. Social capital helps in the development of local industries through local investment as it promotes communal reliability (Thyer 77). People tend to form communal organizations which fund and market their cultural products thus utilizing natural beauty and architectural heritage to increase revenue generation and employment3. Culture is a key entity in the fight against ethnicity. It promotes diversity thus leading to the formation of a global village which is a positive factor in business and economic development. Therefore, culture is essential in both local and international

Frederick Douglass Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Frederick Douglass - Research Paper Example Some others are of the view that his autobiographies and speeches were like his audacious attempts to publicly declare his renegade status. Regarding his personal life, one can see that he was born in a slave cabin, in February, 1818, near the town of Easton, on the Eastern Shore of Maryland (A Short Biography of Frederick Douglass). He was separated from his mother from the very tender age itself and was under the care of his grandparents. Like many other slaves during his time, he was also taken to a plantation master by his grandmother who left him to work there. Though he was betrayed, unlike the other slave children, he was lucky enough to learn the alphabet with the help of his mistress. This kindled his life that he sharpened his knowledge in every possible ways and used his words as the powerful weapon to retaliate against the forces that suppressed the black community for a long time. Reading through Douglass’ chronology, it is understood that as a slave, during his life-time, he had to undergo various kind of physical and mental torture. Those bitter experiences and certain other factors like the ‘horrifying conditions that plagued slaves during the 270 years of legalized slavery in America’ (A Short Biography of Frederick Douglass), provided him the energy to pursue his studies earnestly and secretly. He conducted classes secretly for slaves which in turn caused for the displeasure of plantation owners and were often severely punished. Some of the notable occurrences of his life include his escape to New York in 1838, publishing of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass in 1841, meeting with Lincoln to discuss the treatment of the black soldiers during civil war in 1863, becoming of U.S. Marshall in 1877 and the posting to the position of American consul-general to Haiti (Chronology). Douglass passed away on 20th February 1895 in

Comprehensive Leadership, Communications, Teamwork, Motivation Assignment - 1

Comprehensive Leadership, Communications, Teamwork, Motivation - Assignment Example The Company should operate with a high degree of communication and good cultural practice for proper operations of its activities. The company defines culture as the ability to know what one is supposed to do without referring from the manual. The team members of the Wells Fargo are expected to know the policies of the enterprise all the time. Wells Fargo’s success is based on the attitude of the workers deeply in their hearts. The company members have caring and enthusiasm characters that enable them to perform extraordinary tasks (Wells Fargo & Co., 2008). The workers serves the customers with consideration whether they were the one who are served would they be okay with the service. The Wells Fargo’s works connect emotionally with the customers all the time when they are serving them. The company does not embrace the hierarchy form of communication but a circle where the customers are at the centre. The customers are surrounded by the then members and farther out of the circle are the leaders of the Company. Wells Fargo customers expect to find the One Wells Fargo always when they visit the com pany where the works are first imagining themselves as the customers. In Wells Fargo, there are some barriers of communication that arises which affects the proper performance of the company. These obstacles include language barriers where some workers who are not proficient enough in the language of the customers pose a challenge to the functioning of the enterprise activities. There are psychological barriers that influence the message received, sent or perceived. For instance, when one of the workers is experiencing stress may tend to be preoccupied with the individual concerns and fail to get the actual meaning of the message. The other barrier to communication that affects the Wells Fargo company is the attitudinal barrier that prevents the workers from communicating freely and efficiently. There are various ways of overcoming these

The Papua Conflict Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6750 words

The Papua Conflict - Research Paper Example In spite of the linkages between two New Guinea regions, the European colonialists formally separated the two in 1895 and 1910. Even though the Dutch seized the western part and Germany and Great Britain the eastern side, it did not matter much to the indigenous people. Nevertheless, this division was to have a large-scale impact on the population in the Dutch side after the 1949 Indonesian independence. In 1828, the Netherlands demanded ownership of the West New Guinea, primarily due to its geographical closeness to their territories in the East Indies. The intention appears to have been only to thwart other colonialists, especially the British, from setting up outposts there. As argued by Meinisma, a Dutch historian, the Dutch demands for possession was driven by Sultan of Tidore’s claims for territorial rights. Because the Sultan was the Dutch’s ‘vassal’ â€Å"that portion of the island was accounted to belong to the Dutch Indies.† In truth, the power of the Sultan was confined to a number of coastal communities on the Bird’s Head Peninsula, and as mentioned in the 1884 British correspondence : There is no evidence of the Sultan’s authority having ever been recognized by the natives on any part of the Mainland, or of his people having ever visited any part of it. This is generally admitted by the Dutch writers. It was only in 1898 that a minor government was established under the Dutch Resident at Moluccas’s Ternate.... rnate was initiated only due to the insignificant presence of the Dutch in New Guinea did not merit an independent government there.9 Yet, in 1902 a fierce deliberation occurred in the Dutch congress on whether there should be an independent budget for New Guinea from the East Indies based on the fact that it belongs to Polynesia whereas East Indies was a part of Asia.10 Eventually, for governmental reasons, the connection with Ternate was sustained. Yet this agreement directed Indonesia at self-government to assert that the region was a fundamental section of the Republic. After the Dutch rejected it, it became a root of intensifying conflict between the two nations all over the 1950s and 1960s.11 In the end, under pressure from the American government and possibility of an Indonesian assault, the Netherlands accepted withdrawal from the region and give it to a provisional United Nations organization. In the New York treaty ratified by the Indonesians and the Dutch on August 1962, i t was decided that the United Nations would later on move governance of West Guinea to Indonesia.12 A UN group was to go back to help Jakarta mobilize a movement for independence.13 Its function was to find out whether the Papuans wanted to become an Indonesian province, or prefer autonomy. Roots of the Papua Conflict The roots of the Papua conflict are diverse. They involve not just continuing disagreement over independence but also hostilities rooted in the olden times and persistence of state-supported military activities, violations of human right, and a value of freedom. Moreover there is unending ethnic dispossession in the welfare, education, and health sectors brought about by a mixture of state indifference and environmentally, ethnically, and socially disruptive major development

Six Zigma methology and how the consultant can use it during Essay

Six Zigma methology and how the consultant can use it during consulting process - Essay Example The task for the consultants is extremely challenging because the oppurtunities for defects (OFD) in the automobiles is extremely high. While the original aim of Six Sigma was focused on the manufacturing processes, today marketing, billing, purchasing and invoicing functions are also advised by consultants which help to constantly minimize errors and improve efficiency. Six Sigma methodology defines, measures, analyzes, improves and controls (DMAIC) the entire improvement process and there are teams formed to oversee the improvement process (Heuring, 2004). Sigma representing standard deviation has evolved from a measurement scale to a far reaching methodology to drive business improvement. The sigma level is the benchmark for the ability of a process to accomplish the demanded requirements (Pfeifer, Reissiger & Canales, 2004). There are so many oppurtunities to apply the Six Sigma that companies find it difficult to decide which project to tackle. Consultants do not find it easy to make Six Sigma work through an organization. If the employees are discontented, then success with Six Sigma cannot be achieved. Six Sigma strategy places emphasis on achieving quantifiable and measurable financial returns to the bottom line of an organization (Antony, 2004). It also clarifies that to be successful there has to be strong and passionate leadership. Six Sigma methodology integrates the human and the process elements of improvement. The human elements include the culture change, customer focus, belt system and infrastructure while the process includes process management, statistical analysis of data, and measurement system analysis. The tools and techniques for fixing the problems are utilized in a sequential and disciplined manner. The difference in the success and failure of the Six Sigma project depends on how, where, and when the tools are applied. Six Sigma creates an

Business Plan for Great Barrier Reef Sponge Farm Case Study

Business Plan for Great Barrier Reef Sponge Farm - Case Study Example Based on feasibility studies, the business has targeted two premises, one to be used as its administrative office and the other as its factory location. Rents in the administrative block stand at $15,000 per annum while rents at the factory stand at $16,000 amounting to a total of $31,000 per annum. Initial funding for the project is expected to be $100,000. Of this amount, the principal shareholder has contributed 40%, that is, $40,000 while a bank lone of $60,000 has been secured to cover the remaining 60% of the funding requirements. The proprietor placed his three apartments flat as collateral security for the loan. Sales for the first year are expected to amount to $500,000 and are expected to grow at an annual rate of 10%. Gross profit is expected to be $100,000 against which expenses for rents, depreciation of factory equipment, wages and salaries, overhead expenses and miscellaneous expenses will be charged. Expenses during the second, third, fourth and fifth year are expected to witness increases as the company plans to increase expenditure on advertising, research and development, staff, and office and factory equipment. Constant growth is expected to come from an aggressive marketing strategy that will be adopted by the company. The company also expects to develop a good reputation through the supply of high quality products as well as good customer services. The company will also do everything necessary to protect the environment it which it operates such as improving its waste management activities as well becoming ISO1400 certified. Mission Statement. The mission of Reef Sponge Farm Cairn-Australia is to provide its customers with high quality sponges and to maintain a high reputation in the sponge industry in Cairns and Australia as a whole. Overview SWOT Analysis SWOT analysis refers to the strengths, weaknesses threats and opportunities. Strengths include such things as technical competence of proprietors, enough financial resources, good network of contacts for potential clients, suppliers and target market. Weaknesses include lack of management skills, no business track record, and no current plan for management succession in the short-term. Opportunities include rapidly growing market, poor reputation of existing businesses, large number of old yet valuable homes, availability of casual staff and tradespersons, availability of display and manufacturing premises within the area, high disposable income within the target market, potential for future expansion of the business. Threats include poor reputation of the industry, potential for economic downturn, natural disasters and catastrophes, wars, existence of competitors rising cost of raw materials, rising cost of real wages, government regulation. As far as Great Barrier Reef Sponge Farm is concerned, the main strengths of the company include the presence of scientists with experience in sponge products who have sound technical basis in solving production problems as they arise and in proposing innovative strategies for growth. The company has also has a good management with knowledge of both financial, managerial and marketing skills which makes it possible for it to overcome management problems and thus increases its ability to succeed in the industry. Some of the weaknesses of

Six Zigma methology and how the consultant can use it during Essay

Six Zigma methology and how the consultant can use it during consulting process - Essay Example The task for the consultants is extremely challenging because the oppurtunities for defects (OFD) in the automobiles is extremely high. While the original aim of Six Sigma was focused on the manufacturing processes, today marketing, billing, purchasing and invoicing functions are also advised by consultants which help to constantly minimize errors and improve efficiency. Six Sigma methodology defines, measures, analyzes, improves and controls (DMAIC) the entire improvement process and there are teams formed to oversee the improvement process (Heuring, 2004). Sigma representing standard deviation has evolved from a measurement scale to a far reaching methodology to drive business improvement. The sigma level is the benchmark for the ability of a process to accomplish the demanded requirements (Pfeifer, Reissiger & Canales, 2004). There are so many oppurtunities to apply the Six Sigma that companies find it difficult to decide which project to tackle. Consultants do not find it easy to make Six Sigma work through an organization. If the employees are discontented, then success with Six Sigma cannot be achieved. Six Sigma strategy places emphasis on achieving quantifiable and measurable financial returns to the bottom line of an organization (Antony, 2004). It also clarifies that to be successful there has to be strong and passionate leadership. Six Sigma methodology integrates the human and the process elements of improvement. The human elements include the culture change, customer focus, belt system and infrastructure while the process includes process management, statistical analysis of data, and measurement system analysis. The tools and techniques for fixing the problems are utilized in a sequential and disciplined manner. The difference in the success and failure of the Six Sigma project depends on how, where, and when the tools are applied. Six Sigma creates an

Pharmacogenetics in Cancer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Pharmacogenetics in Cancer - Essay Example Various problems have been realized during the cancer therapy using the conventional chemotherapy. This is because to attain reasonable efficacy, a considerable degree of toxicity is needed and hence severe side-effects. Most oncologists are faced with the major challenge of the variability of the treatment responses as well as narrow therapeutic index for the anticancer drugs. Therefore, there is no doubt that the developments in molecular biology and molecular genetics, and of the associated methods have had considerable effects on the comprehension of drug action. Therefore, drawing on a variety of sources the paper will discuss pharmacogenetics in cancer. Cancer is a very unusual disease because it emanates from the accumulation of several gene mutations within the cell, thus disrupting normal cellular function as well as normal checks. Therefore, cancer cells have definite genetic profiles. As result, pharmacogenetics is helpful as a cancer therapeutic since is focuses on the genetic profiles and a person’s interaction with the drug. Pharmacogenetics can be described as the interaction between the drug and individual traits, and is very helpful in cancer therapeutics. Therefore, it is based on the clinical efficacy observations as well as tolerability profile of a drug in a person (Licinio and Wong 129). The most common challenge in cancer treatment is the related to the anticancer drugs. The pharmacogenetics can assist in the discovery, development, and individualization of the anticancer drugs.

Postnatal Depression In Asian Women Health And Social Care Essay

Postnatal Depression In Asian Women Health And Social Care Essay Postnatal Depression affects around 10-15% of mothers having their first baby. Depression during this time is seen as putting the mother at risk for the onset of a serious chronic mood disorder. Studies have indicated that women who do suffer from postnatal depression have a history of depression and psychosocial difficulties (Oates, 2004). Overall South Asians in Britain make up a total of 4% of the ethnic minority population living in the United Kingdom and 50% of the ethnic minority population (ONS 2004). Thus tackling the mental health needs of different cultures is a major public health concern for both commissioning and provider services. Overall research indicates the rates of suicide amongst South Asian women are higher than any other ethnic group (Bhugra, Desai Baldwin,1999). Furthermore this rate is said to double for those women under the age of 30 (Bhugra, Desai Baldwin 1999). Oates (2004) states that these factors are further exacerbated during the postnatal period. Th us the need to understand the causes and origins of depression amongst this cultural group is essential in order for health visitors to provide effective assessments and appropriate interventions. However research looking at prevalence rates of Depression show little evidence of this illness amongst South Asians. For example this conclusion has arisen when looking at hospital admission rates. Cochrane (1977) found there to be lower admission rates for Pakistani Females and Males. This was further made evident in a follow up study conducted between 1971 -1981, which found that Pakistanis had low admission rates for all types of illness and disorders (Cochrane et al, 1989). Similar findings have been found in G.P admission rates. Gillam et al (1989) provided more generalised findings in which he found that Asian women in general have low consultation rates for depression and various other mental disorders compared to white women. Thus it would be valid to conclude at this point that hospital admission rates suggest that Asians do not suffer from depression. However Nazroo (1997) disagrees with these findings. He points out that the instruments which are used in the study fail to accurately assess the prevalence of mental illness within Asians. Similarly Brewin (1980) found that there was no apparent difference in G.P consultation rates for Depression between Asian women and White women living in oxford. He also stated that the figures which have indicated low consultation and admission rates, do not reflect low rates of psychiatric treatments. One could therefore suggest that there are flaws in considering admission rates and identifying mental illness amongst South Asians. The consideration of prevalence rates is not the focus of the present review, however the possible causes of low admission rates amongst South Asians shall be considered throughout the review in relation to the research findings. 2.1 Role of the Health Visitor in assessing Postnatal Depression The National Midwifery Council (2007) highlights Specialist Community Public Health Practitioner Nurses to be equipped with the skills and training to identify and assess mental health needs of mothers during the postnatal period. Furthermore, the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (2007) highlights the importance of health professionals identifying mental illness during the postnatal period and state: at a womens first contact with primary care health care professionals (including midwives, obstetricians, health visitors and GPS) should ask two questions to identify possible depression: During the past month, have you been bothered by feeling down , depressed or hopeless? During the past month have you often be bothered by having little interest or pleasure in doing things? A third question should be considered if a women answered yes to both clinical questions, such as is this something that you would want help with . Thus it is evident that identifying and assessing postnatal depression is pertinent to the role of the health visitor as they are in the frontline in providing early intervention and prevention. However, assessment of Postnatal Depression is challenging when faced with different cultural groups where behavioural, social, and cultural practices differ making assessment and treatments difficult. Aim The purpose of the present literature review is to examine the evidence regarding the causes of Postnatal Depression amongst South Asian Women. Thus through collecting and reviewing the research evidence is it proposed it will further expand our knowledge and understanding of Postnatal Depression amongst South Asian women. Furthermore, the review aims to make some recommendations for practice and identify some key areas in which the health visiting practice can further develop and propose various interventions which may be effective in addressing Postnatal depression amongst South Asian women. 4 RESULTS OF THE LITERATURE REVIEW Overall the final results included a total of 11 studies (refer to appendix) . The results indicated there to be a limit in the research on Postnatal Depression amongst South Asian Women. A total of two studies were identified within the search which had specifically looked at the origins of Postnatal Depression amongst South Asian Women . Furthermore these studies were conducted in Goa India, therefore there was question the generalisability of these findings being applied to population living in Britain. Thus it was decided to incorporate studies looking at Depression amongst South Asian women as it would contribute to understanding the origins of mental illness within this community. A number of categories emerged from the studies . These categories were further combined into a further sub categoroes (refer to figure )? categories. As a result the diagram shown (refer to Figure 1, p ) represents how the data was organised and the categories that emerged. The origins of Depression within South Asian Women Assessment of Depression within South Asian Women Diagram to show the how findings were analysed ORIGINS OF POSTNATAL DEPRESSION IN SOUTH ASIAN WOMEN a) Research Question: CULTURAL VUNERABILITIESb) Core Theme: c) Higher Order: ASSESSMENT CULTURAL EXPECTATIONS d) Lower order: Extended Family Living Cultural Expression of Depression Gender of the Newborn Stigmatisation 5 Chapter 1: THE ORIGINS OF POSTNATAL DEPRESSION IN SOUTH ASIAN WOMEN This chapter will examine the evidence available regarding the causes or origins of depression in South Asian women. Overall the results have indicated that that the causes or origins of depression are, due to the what the researcher describes as Cultural Vulnerabilities which mean that they are a result of being exposed to an environment of which depression is a unavoidable response. The results are presented the following format, description of each theme along with the supporting evidence. 5.1.1 The theme of Cultural Expectations: The theme of cultural expectations refers to those expectations formulated by the culture. Such expectations include conforming to cultural traditions. For instance living with the extended family aswell as pressures and expectations to have a male child. Living with the extended family largely refers to living with the mother and father inlaw, husbands brothers and sisters, which can lead to feeling oppressed with a number of family expectations. For example of the 11 articles reviewed the issue of extended family living occurred a total ? times within the studies as a cause of depression for South Asian Women. Shah-Sonuga-barke (2000) conducted a study looking at the relationship between the family structure and maternal mental health of two generations of Muslim and Hindu Women along with the influence this had on childrens behavioural problems. A total of 44 Muslim families and 42 Hindu families agreed to take part in the study. The mental health of the women was monitored using a Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale which is 14 item self report questionnaires. The results indicated that of 46% of the mothers and 40 % of the grandmothers scored above the scale for anxiety. Furthermore 29% of the mothers and 44 % of the grandmothers scored above the cut off point for depression, thus indicating that the majority of the randomly selected sample suffered from significant mental health issues. The findings indicated that grandmothers and children benefited from living in the extended family environment however it had detrimental effects on the maternal mothers mental health status. Thus suggesting that the traditional extended family, amongst immigrant communities is not always of benefit to its members and in may in some circumstances contribute to the risk in mental health. Similarly Hicks and Bhugra (2003) conducted a focus group study investigating the possible causes of suicide within South Asian women. A total of 180 South Asian women formed part of the convenience sample from 9 G.P practices and 24 South Asian community organisations in London area. The study was conducted in two parts the subjects were sent questionnaires focussing on the perceived causes of suicide and the findings from these results were formed the focus of discussion within the focus groups. The findings indicated that 90% stated a unhappy family situation to be causal factors. Thus further highlighting the family to be central in experiencing mental illness for South Asian Women. The possible explanation for these results is that grandmothers that may have grown up in their country of origin where such traditions may have been easier to conform to as there is no exposure to the western world. Thus in some cases failure to understand this concept they may project the same values to a generations that is growing up and being exposed to different cultures. In contrast to this study, previous research which has looked at the benefits of extended family living have shown extended families to be a protective factor in alleviating depression in women. For example, Birchwood et al (1992) elaborates on how extended family living reduces the likelihood of suffering with depression and suggested that the support and practical advice offered in an extended family can moderate the risks associated with the development of mental illness. Furthermore, on, Stainbrook (1954) suggested that the family structure plays a role in mediation of depression western cultures might be responsible for low levels of depression within South Asian Community . For example he stated that the frustrations and the problems which may be faced with in early life, for example marriage and new born are cushioned by the provision of many family members, who play a part in parenting within the extended family. Tseng and Hsu (1969) identified how the extended family setting brings about low levels of depression. They conducted some research on Twianese family and found that living within the extended family creates a feeling of togetherness and stability and there is a feeling of belonging. Similarly Violtles et al (1967) stated that the role of the family is important in the sharing of loss, it reduces a sense of isolation which can result in depression. It is acknowledged from the studies above that they were conducted on different cultural groups thus explaining the contrast in findings. However the implications of this in relation to health visiting practice and assessment of PND in South Asian women is that the perception of living with the extended family can be perceived as being positive it may be observed that these women living in a extended family setting are in a supportive environment however it is this environment which can initiate depression for South Asian women. Furthermore previous research that has highlighted the benefits of the extended have been conducted in 50s, 60s and 70s which poses question on the historical validity of these findings to the present day. The question of whether the findings are applicable to todays population are brought to light. Further on, the research has been conducted on specific cultures therefore is not applicable to all cultural groups, and further highlights the complexity of identifying causal factors. The limitations of the two studies are that they both used a small random sample thus posing questions on the generalisability of the findings. Furthermore the Hicks and Bhugra (2003) recruited only a English speaking sample thus the results are representative of those who are educated only , however recruiting from a sample that spoke little English would have increased the validity of the findings. However the validity of the study is increased as it is conducted in two parts using both a qualitative and quantitative approach thus increasing the validity of the findings. In contrast Hussan and Cochrane (2002) conducted a qualitative study using the grounded theory approach to explore the perception and causes of depression in South Asian Women. The researchers interviewed 10 women in Punjabi, Urdu and English who were suffering from depression, along with their carers who were also interviewed about the causes of depression . The results of the study indicated that conflicting cultural expectations were initiators of depression. The women stated that moving from their country of origin had fragmented the family set up therefore there was a sense of loss and lack of support from the extended family. They stressed that the extended family provided them with support when carrying out daily activities however moving to England there was too many expectations placed upon the women to fulfil the role of the mother, and wife and carrying out all the duties to maintain the respect of the family. This finding contrasts to previous findings which highlight the extended families to be contributory in initiating depression for women. A possible explanation for these results are that migrating from their country of origin involves the individuals leaving behind their homes and their culture. It is a period of adjustment into a new environment which can inturn lead to experiencing a sense of loss and isolation. In some cases this sense of loss can be like a mourning process which can take place at least until the new culture begins to replace some of the old ties. These feelings of loss are expected to be a normal process but if a women for example emigrates from her country of origin and fails to find a substitute for what she has left behind then it interfers with the adaption process. Thus these feelings of loss can inturn result in psychological and distress and illness. Therefore the role of the extended family in this case is protective. 5.1.3. Gender of the new born The gender of the new born has been highlighted to further initiate Depression for South women. Overall the studies indicated that there was a general preference for a male child. Being a female was considered to be a burden on the family. Thus the expectation to produce a male child places a huge expectation on the mother adding to her pressure to conform to these cultural expectations. Jambunathan (1992) studied 30 women in Madhuri India and examined social cultural factors in the development of depression. The interviews revealed that females were believed to be a curse on the family. For example one of the participants within the study stated that: instead of being born a girl it is better to be born a free sparrow or a crowor one should die (p264) . The participants within the study believed that females produced a burden on the family in relation to their marriage prospects aswell as financial stress in giving of dowries. The male was preferred as it was believed they would sup port them in old age and more importantly carry on the family name (Jambunathan 1992). Furthermore, Patel et al (2002) examined the cultural specific factors such as the gender of the infant and the association with Postnatal Depression. Indian women were recruited who were mostly Hindu in origin (89%) from Goa India who participated within the study. The results of the study indicated that at 6-8 weeks 23 % of the women had postnatal depression. At 6 months a total of 22 % of the women were depressed. 14 % of the women were considered to be chronically depressed. The results indicated that gender of the newborn was significantly associated with the development of postnatal depression. The results also highlighted marital violence to be significantly higher if the infant was a girl but lower if the infant was a boy. The results suggested overall there is a preference for a male infant within this cultural group. The data was collated over a period of 6 months using two different measures. Firstly the General Health Questionniare was employed and the EPDS was used postp artum. The problem with using the two different scales were that they may both measure different aspects of depression this is not made clear within the study. Furthermore the Konki version of the scale was utilized. The validity of the scale was investigated using a two stage pilot study thus there was no confirmation this was only a pilot study. The sample was located from a hospital setting therefore it puts question on the reliability of these findings to be generalised to the population of Goa, even though thes study concludes it to be representative of the population in Goa. Roderugues et al (2003) conducted a study which looked at the attitudes and perceptions of mothers towards childbirth. The results indicated that the poor relationships with the mother-inlaw, and husbands caused a great deal of distress for the women within the study. Furthermore the women in the study further claimed that the birth of a daughter further caused problems within their relationships with the family and the In-laws. Furthermore the gender of the infant was recognised by the fathers as being a possible cause of nerves for their wives. These findings further suggest that the cultural factors initiate depression. This study adds further strength to the previous study as the study incorporates the fathers and their perceptions. Furthermore the results are compared with depressed and non depressed women , increasing the generalisability of the findings to the general population. In contrast to these findings Goyal et al (2005) investigated whether such cultural factors such as the gender of the infant and arranged marriages are associated with the development of Postnatal. This was a quantitative study which involved administering the PPDS a Postpartum Depression scale to 58 self selected immigrant Asian Indian women between 2 weeks and 12 months postpartum livin in the USA. The researchers attached additional 14 questions including the age ethnicity and education , occupation, marital status and whether it was arranged and the years living in the U.S. Furthermore medical information regarding the pregnancy, type and the gender of the newborn was recorded aswell as the gender of the previous children. 69 % of the women reported in having an arranged marriage. Women were well educated with at least 50% having a masters degree 43% were described as house makers. A total of 59 % gave birth to a male infant and 41% gave birth to a female infant. Previous history of depression was reported in 7% of the women. The results indicated that 24% screened positively for symptoms of depression and the results indicated that there was no statistically significant difference in the level of depression of those women that had an arranged marriage compared to those who had not had an arranged marriage. Furthermore there was no statistical significance in relation to the gender of the newborn and depression. A possible explanation for the difference in these results are that three of the studies which have indicated gender of the offspring to be a initiator of depression were conducted in the participants country of origin, where such cultural traditions and beliefs maybe more prevalent. Whereas Goyal et als (1998) study was conducted on a sample of women who were educated and living in an environment where they were exposed to western beliefs and traditions thus such cultural beliefs were perhaps difficult for the participant to hold. In relation to the practice implications of these studies suggest that if gender of the newborn is a factor then the antenatal visits perhaps should question whether there is a preference for male child and whether there are any expectations and pressures placed upon them by the extended family. 6 Chapter 2 Assessment of Postnatal Depression in South Asian Women This chapter will examine the evidence available regarding the assessment of depression in South Asian women. Overall there is possible reasons as to why depression is difficult to assess these being the stigma surrounding the illness , the communication of distress, and the tools employed to assess depression in south asian women to be factors which can make assessment of cultural factors which have been discussed in the previous chapter difficult to detect. The results are presented the following format, description of each theme along with the supporting evidence. 5.1.1 Communication of Distress Words that represent emotional status in many European languages have been found not exist within the South Asian culture. Wilson and McCarthy (1994) found that South Asians living in the UK express their depression somatically. The study screened a total of ? patients in G.P practices It was found that Asian patients reported having a physical problem alone rather that a mental problem compared to White patients. Thus this may lead to the indigenous population being correctly diagnosed as having depression that the Asian population. Similarly Odell et al (1997) suggested that Asian patients tended to focus much more on the physical symptoms, thus it therefore made it difficult for G.Ps to detect depression. Thus suggesting that if the G.P is unable to detect depression accurately in Asian women they are less likely to visit their G.P. This suggests a possible reason for low consultation rates between Asian patients and Health professionals. Rack (1979) found that in the Asian Cultur e there is no acknowledgement for the word of depression being a mental illness. It was found that in the Asian culture Asians perceived illness as being judged by the degree of social dysfunction. Therefore if a women failed in her social roles then her illness would become apparent. On the other hand if a women expresses internal distress it is not recognised. Karaz (2005) compared depressive symptoms within two cultural groups. 36 South Asian immigrants and 37 European Americans were presented with vignette describing symptoms of depression along with a semi structured interview. The results indicated there were significant differences in the representation of depression. It was identified that depression for South Asian Women was measured through a breakdown of relationships within the family; in particular reference was made to their relationship with the extended family and husbands. In contrast European Americans characterised depression in relation to their biology and hormonal imbalances. This suggests that even if the symptoms of depression are prevalent . the recognition, and understanding and treatment of the illness is different across cultures. Gausia et al (2009) investigated the prevalence of PND amongst South Asian Women within the sub district of Bangladesh. A total of 346 women were followed from late pregnancy to early postpartum period. The risk factors identified were formulated using a questionnaire and women were followed up and administered the EPDS scale which was validated using the BANGLA version . they identified that PND could be predicted by a number of variables these being depression in pregnancy , prenatal death, poor relationship with mother in-law or husband mother or wife. It is evident from the literature that there are clear differences in the way in which depression is expressed within cultures. In order to diagnose the symptoms it is essential to have an understanding of the language, culture beliefs and values as it appears that these values play a part in the attitude of the sufferer. Therefore due to this in-depth knowledge of the persons culture there is question on the western diagnostic tools when interpreting illness, it is questionable whether these western diagnostic tools can be used with non western populations? Research has indicated that there are a number of problems of interpreting depression in different cultural groups, they have all concluded that there is a need to be more culturally aware and to consider social, cultural and economic aspects of a persons life as well as their attitudes and beliefs. Furthermore it highlights why depression rates are reported to be low in this community it is because of these cultural specific fac tors that rates of depression within this community may be lower or higher than originally assumed. Communication of distress Words that represent various emotions have been found not to be present within the some languages. Another possible reason for depression within the South Asian women is the issue of stigma Attached to illness within the Asian community. The illness of the mind is perceived as being madness within the culture and believed to be incurable. Therefore those suffering from the illness will not come forward for treatment. Furthermore those suffering from depression before marriage, their chances of getting married were reduced as the community was aware of this. I f the women however married and their depression arises there is pressure placed on the husband to remarry (Cochrane and Hussain 2002). Similalry Karaz (2005) further highlighted the stigma associated with the illness as South Asian women would refer to depression as being pagal or crazy which inturn affects her status within the family. These studies suggest depression is part of the living experience for these women for exampl e migrating to a new country or family. Thus it appears that asian women have internalised these beliefs , it then acts as barrier to them seeking any treatment or making their illness known. For this reason depression is likely to be high amongst this group . For example the role of the family again was a key instigator and asell a)s expectations placed upon the female to fufill the duties of a mother, wife and daughter -inlaw. Further areas identified to initate depression for women were migration from their country of origin Thus it is evident at this point there is a issue of personal space when living in this environment. The women may feel their personal space is expected to be shared amongst this environment. Thus in moving away from such traditions she is forced into their way of living thus creating a conflict between the generations and cultures. 6 Assessment of Postnatal Depression in South Asian Women Problems of measurement of depression across cultures: It is evident from the literature that there are clear differences in the way in which depression is expressed within cultures. In order to diagnose the symptoms it is essential to have an understanding of the language, culture beliefs and values as it appears that these values play a part in the attitude of the sufferer. Therefore due to this in-depth knowledge of the persons culture, it is questionable whether these western diagnostic tools can be used with non western populations? Research has indicated that there are a number of problems of interpreting depression in different cultural groups, they have all concluded that there is a need to be more culturally aware and to consider social, cultural and economic aspects of a persons life as well as their attitudes and beliefs. Furthermore it highlights why depression rates are reported to be low in this community it is because of these cultural specific factors that rates of depression within this community may be lower or higher t han originally assumed. This Chapter will focuss on the the validity of such tools such as the EPDS in indentifying Depression amongst South Asian Women.