Relationship between Psychological Properties and Physical Properties According to Physicalism Essay

Physicalism refers to a stand by some philosophers that everything in the world is physical. Physicalism in some cases is referred to as materialism, where everything is viewed to have physical properties. With respect to philosophy, Physicalism is the ontological point of view that there is nothing above and over the physical. Physicalists view the nature or the world as one and believe that everything including mind has physical properties and thus it is physical. In the attempt to prove their view of the world, Physicalists has come up with diverse explanation to bring out the relationship that exists between different aspects of nature including psychological states and properties. To understand the relationship between physical properties and mental properties, realization, reductive and supervenience ideas have been used by the physicalists. However, critics argue that physicalism is a false view of nature. This research paper will seek to determine the relationship that exists between psychological states or properties and physical properties according to Physicalism. In addition, the paper will bring into light reasons behind this relationship. Relationship between psychological properties and physical properties according to PhysicalismIn the attempt to bring out the relationship between the physical properties and psychological properties, philosophers such as Lewis used supervenience approach. This approach is simply based on meta-ethics and indicates that physical properties and mental properties are closely related due to the fact that psychological properties are part of the physical properties (Daniel, 2010). In other words, philosophers assert that psychological properties such as thinking are enclosed by physical properties. To make the argument certain, philosophers such as Lewis give an example where he refers dots on a picture as physical properties and claims that the picture is like the global features or the world. The same way he affirms that psychological properties and other properties including biological properties are like dots on the global features. Supervenience idea of the explaining physicalism ass erts that psychological properties are nothing but simply physical properties (Kim, 2008). Psychological or mental properties such as pain are viewed as physical according to physicalists as they believe that the physical aspect of pain is casually closed by the major physical properties. According to Kim, (2008), supervenience tries to bring out the identical aspect between the physical properties and psychological properties. The fact that psychological or mental properties are part of physical properties indicates similarity according to the physicalists (Daniel, 2010). This is particularly supported by the general view of physicalism that the world is a single stuff. According to the physicalists, mental or psychological properties are dependant to physical properties and thus there can not be physical difference without psychological difference. Simply, psychological properties supervene on material properties and thus they are just but the same thing. According to Physicalism, physical properties can be reduced to mental or psychological properties. The notion of reductive by the physicalism brings out the relationship between mental properties and physical properties (Kim, 2008). Essentially, physicalists use reductive idea to ascertain their idea that the world is made of a single stuff that is physical properties only. Physicalism philosophers affirms that there is a close relationship between physical properties and psychological or mental properties particularly basing their argument that mental properties are smaller components of physical properties and thus are physical properties. Realization theory is another approach used by the physicalism to bring out possible relations between psychological or mental properties and physical properties (Daniel, 2010). Based on this theory, all psychological properties can be realized through a particular physical basis (Kim, 2008). In a philosophical perspective, physicalists argue that all physical properties or predicates can be traced or are definable in physical language. This implies that there is a close relation between the two and according to physicalism they are inseparable (Daniel, 2010). Physicalists affirms that the fact that physical properties can be reduced to mental or psychological properties implies that the two are identical and simply has a close relationship. Physicalism believes that everything inside the world has physical properties and the world itself is a physical thing in its own nature. The developed understanding from this argument is that everything considered as physical thing has its own physical properties which in reality has its own psychological properties. This claim can be explained further by application of ontological perspective which involves both methodological and epistemological corollaries. According to the Physicalists, every object in the world is composed of different material which in reality encompasses different physical properties (Kim, 2011). Therefore, physical properties exhibit different properties such as mass, shape volume, energy, temperature and volume among others. In reference to the reductive physicalism, objects with high levels of properties are more reducible hence there is a high chance that they have physical properties. Jackson (2002) affirms that physicalism is more dependent on philosoph ical position which presents a myth that everything that exists in the earth has physical properties. From this explanation the understanding developed is that physicalism is closely associated with philosophy of mind which extensively believes that mind is a physical object which can be viewed at different perspectives (Kim, 2011). In reference to physical science point of view, physicalism includes bigger notations as opposed to just matter, space energy and time. The mind being in a form of a physical world, it is closely associated with non reductive physicalism. Fodor in his own research argues that physicalism is dependent will all genuine items which can be referred to either identical or are dependent upon other physical properties (Clarke, 2003). In order to accept these believe of physicalism, it vital to understand how it is related with mind dualism rejection. According to Fodor, â€Å"mentalism† is the best alternative of the dualism. Basically, physicalism believes that the concept of the consciousness is entirely dependent of the physical properties (Clarke, 2003). The state of the mind is a functional that exists in a given system. In relation to the theory of functionalism, brain is extensively believed to be a just biological implementation in a given system. The general understanding it , that the brain has capacity to recognize any change in mental status. Dualism theory is quite different from physicalism because it argues that consciousness is not related to the physical. According to Savellos and YalcÃŒ §in, (1995), panpsychism theory explains that all items which contain aspects of reality within themselves have psychological properties in additional to their physical properties. Critics argue that hardcore physicalists are more concerned to investigate the structure of the outer world in the bid of trying to understand the build relationship between the physical properties and psychological properties. Ultimately, the physical properties and mental are two distinctive area but they are contingently connected with each other. Philosophically, mind is believed to be dependent on the physical properties. Therefore, based with the explanation of the physicalism the empirical world is composed of all properties or entities which have effects of causes. Notably, both mental facts and physical have a close relationship with physicalism in relation to mental effects and causes. According to many physicalists the world in general is a physical hence everyth ing in it have its own physical properties. When reviewing the world at a supervenience base, it helps to reflect the general thinking of the physicalists. This implies that the relationship between of fundamental physical properties and psychological properties are closely dependent on each other as per the explanation of Physicalism (Clarke, 2003). The two features have the common bond of metaphysics because they are depending on certain established physical facts. Conclusion                     From the above discussion, it is evident that Physicalism extensively refers to a developed understanding by some philosophers who believe that everything in the world is physical hence have its own physical properties. In addition, Physicalism can also be referred to as materialism, where everything is viewed to have physical properties. Psychological or mental properties such as pain are viewed as physical according to physicalists as they believe that the physical aspect of pain is casually closed by the major physical properties. Therefore, this is an indication that the state of the mind is a functional that exists in a given system. References Clarke, R. (2003). Libertarian accounts of free will. Oxford [u.a.: Oxford University Press. Daniel .S. (2010). Physicalism, New Problems of Philosophy. RoutledgeJackson, F. (2002). Mind, Method and Conditionals: Selected Papers. Routledge, 2002 Kim, J. (2008). Physicalism, or Something Near Enough. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Kim, J. (2011). Philosophy of Mind. ReadHowYouWant.com, Limited, 2011 Savellos, E. E., & YalcÃŒ §in, U. D. (1995). Supervenience: New essays. Cambridge [England: Cambridge University Press. Source document

How to Solve a Rubik Cube

How to solve a Rubik’s cube The purpose of this report is to inform the audience on how to solve a Rubik’s cube in three simple steps. Solving a Rubik’s cube can be difficult; however by solving one layer at a time, and knowing the correct algorithm to use for each desired move, makes solving a Rubik’s cube easier than it looks. Introduction Invented by mechanics in 1974. There are over 43 quintillion possible combinations for solving a Rubik’s cube. That is 43,252,003,274,489,856,000. (information-facts). I am going to teach you how to solve one side of the cube. Which then puts you in position for solving the middle layer of the cube.That lastly enables you to execute the final layer effortlessly. Body I. The first step in solving one side of a Rubik’s cube is done by making a cross with whichever color you choose to start with. Using the algorithm â€Å"F' T L' T'. † (algorithm list) A. After completing the cross, the edge pieces ar e then put into place completing the first layer. Using the algorithm R' B' R B. II. The second step is putting the middle pieces in the correct domicile in order to finalize the middle layer. A. There are two algorithms used depending on if you are moving a piece to the left or right side of the middle layer.T R T' R' T' F' T F† for moving a piece to the left side. And T' L' T L T F T' F' for the right side. III. The third and final step is solving the last layer. Starting out by executing a cross on the top of the cube by performing F R T R' T' F’. A. Then fixing the cross by orienting the pieces in their correct positions. Using R T R' T R T T R'. 1. Followed by positioning the edge pieces in their correct places by doing T R T' L' T R' T' L. a. Leaves you with the final algorithm, which simply rotates the corner pieces that are already in their correct places. By doing an easy out, out, in, in, move R' B' R B, until the cube is complete.Conclusion I went over how to solve a Rubik’s cube step by step, starting out with the first cross and layer, to the middle layer, and the final cross and layer. If anyone would like me to email them my algorithms I would be glad to do that. And I know the process seems a bit confusing so you would like help learning to solve the cube on your own using the algorithms I can also provide some assistance with that as well. I hope this presentation helped you understand how to solve a Rubik’s cube. References A Rubik’s cube has 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 possible combinations. | Information Facts. (n. d. ).Information Facts – Facts of the world, Crazy facts, What a information, Interesting facts. Retrieved February 12, 2013, from http://www. information-facts. com/shocking/a-rubiks-cube-has-43252003274489856000-possible-combinations (0), M. R. (n. d. ). Algorithm List – How to Solve a Rubik's Cube. www. personal. psu. edu. Retrieved February 12, 2013, from http://www. personal. ps u. edu/mjr5125/blogs/how_to_solve_a_rubiks_cube/algorithm-list. html Out of the Cube: Augmented Rubik's Cube. (n. d. ). Hindawi Publishing Corporation . Retrieved February 12, 2013, from http://www. hindawi. com/journals/ijcgt/201

How globalized world issues could be helped? Essay

â€Å"The people want to topple the regime† was the anti-government graffiti painted by a group of Syrian children in the Daraa city in March 2011. These children were arrested and tortured by the local security authorities (Diehl, 2012: 7). This act eventually led to an anti-governmental uprising due to the outrageous reaction of a community over children’s mistreatment after incarceration by the local security authorities. The uprising demanded the release of children, justice, freedom as well as equality for all people. At the core, these peaceful demonstrations were considered to be against the sectarian and family dictatorship because the political power was mainly held by the Alawite elite (Diehl, 2012). In response to these demonstrations, the Syrian government planned to enforce security forces for the protestors to suppress them. This gave rise to the tensions dramatically and tensions spread in the entire country. This rebellion further turned into a full-fled ged civil war between the Free Syrian army and the Syrian regime (Thompson, 2016). The main allegation that the Syrian regime associated with the protestors was that they were Islamic Al- Qaeda’s extremist terrorist gangs who were supported and funded by the various countries such as Turkey, Qatar, the kingdom of Saudi Arabia as well as the United States of America by which they try to seek peace with Israel (Sommier, 2014). Similarly, the same Syrian regime was present in the front line with Israel who was supported by Russia, Iran as well as China (?) (Fisher, 2012). Ever since this happened, the situation and complexity of the war has been deepened with different actors entering from the international, regional or Syrian side and due to which Syria was turned into a proxy battlefield (Wimmen and Asseburg, 2012) The death toll as recorded and presented by the Syrian center for policy research approximately totaled at 470,000 as a result of ongoing conflict till February 2016. Due to the intensification and spread of fighting, a dire humanitarian crisis was evident since 4.8 million people tried to take refuge abroad and 6.1 million people were internally displaced as per the records of UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. It has also been reported by the Syrian Network for Human Rights that since 2011, more than 117,000 people have been either disappeared or detained by the governmental forces. In the detention, ill-treatment and torture are two rampant things that have also resulted in the death of thousands of people in detention. In addition to all the crisis events going on, ISIS (Islamic State) made more complications by the widespread and systematic violations. This was achieved by ISIS through targeting civilians with artillery, kidnappings, executions, using childr en as soldiers, and torture (Human Rights Watch, 2016). One of the biggest challenges that the international relations could face was about how globalized world issues (?) could be helped. With the help of deep research and fascinating drawing of the international relations, the concept has been explored in the book of International Relations Theories (Where is ’ with the name of the book) by Steve Smith (Smith, Kurki and Dunne, 2016: 11) Why you delete the original statement here?. Based on this, there are various currents that can be evident in the international relations theories with a particular focus on the Syrian conflict. Constructivism and realism are two entirely different things are they take up different approaches. Compared to a normative approach, realism takes up an explanatory approach for the study of international relations. Realism is based on the following 3 core competencies: 1. States are owned by egoism and self- interests and are the unitary and rational actors 2. States are considered to be the central actors of international arena WHY you delete â€Å"statism†? (Dunne and Schmidt, 2017: 109) 3. Anarchy is visible in the international system (Ikenberry and Parsi, 2009) Anarchy can be described as a system that comprises of various independent states who do not have any particular authority over them (Mearsheimer, 2001: 30). This ultimately guarantees survival as well as security through material capabilities and self- help (Waltz, 1979: 213) A pessimistic outlook of persistent danger and threat is possessed by the realists, based on which it mentioned that all the state actors are driven by the requirement of greater power and dominance for reducing the elimination of actor’s potential and create a balance of power (Gellman, 1988). Within an anarchic system, the type of competition and insecurity inherent, such type of concentrations automatically adapt to the balancing responses by either by internal balancing where material capabilities are made up or through external balancing where capabilities are aggregated. This provides evidence that alliances are not so much appreciated in terms of realism and shared ideas and values, however, it does through raison d’etat and self- interests (Morgenthau, 1948). In realism, it should be noted that the states are not equal and are placed in a hierarchical order as per the amount of power they have. In an anarchical system, the only way to defend and survive is to use the military power (Slaughter, 2011). Some of the egoistic passions are given primary emphasis by the realists, especially that the presence of political action with an evil in it as mentioned by Donnelly in 2000 (Morgenthau, 1946: 203). Due to this condition, politics turn into such a struggle where the shadow of war WHERE IS â€Å" is something that is considered to be ever- present (Aron, 1970: 36); mainly due to the irreconcilable aspirations of the states (Carr, 1946). According to this, every state would try to obtain as much power as possible. But in case there is an imbalance of power, the likelihood of war becomes high primarily because the stronger state may attack the weaker state without any loss to itself. This idea about power not only encompasses around the military power, rather it also encompasses around the economic power. This means that states whose economies are growing help the states to gain more power; this is because power in the international system is demonstrated through economic strength. Therefore, the attention of realists is focused on economy of a state as it is related to its power (Mearsheimer, 2016). As per the realists, who consider that non- governmental organizations lack military power, they are not able to compete with the international systems. This means that the role played by United Nations is limited (Dunne and Schmidt, 2017: 106). This is deemed important because the main actors in international relations are worried about gaining higher benefits than the others have gained. Strategies like mutual mistrust, selfishness, power- seeking, recklessness, as well as survival securing, are considered to be capable for producing structures like security dilemmas, international self- help systems, political communities, unrestricted politics of national interests, the permanent potentiality of war and violence and many others. The above discussed theoretical formulation of realism can also be applied to the conflict of Syria being studied in this paper. This conflict of Syria can be regarded as a struggle of gaining power among foreign actors or states who contrasted in their interests but were involved in the conflict. For example, Russia, China, United States of America, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and others who approached Syrian war, all of them had their personal benefits as well as predicted results in mind to achieve. The power of United States of America in the international system was tried to be restricted by the support of al- Assad government by China, Russia, and Iran with the militia- cum- party of Hezbollah. This was achieved through the formation of an alliance with Syria as well as vetoing interference by United Nations Security Council. This helped them to restrict the US from gaining any sort of advantage over North Africa or Middle East (Yan, 2013). Ever since the conflict started in Syria, Assad was supported by Russia by all means including in terms of weapons, technical advisors as well as by sending military advisors. Eventually, in 2015, September 15, a direct military intervention was opted by Russia despite the fact that it aimed to fight ISIS but it was mainly meant to target opponents of Assad (Spaulding, 2015). Since the cold war ended, Russia’s identity as one of the world powers has greatly reduced and as per the framework of zero-sum competition for power provided by Dunne and Schmidt (Dunne and Schmidt, 2017: 110), the only way out for Russia is to avoid definite exclusion from the area while balancing Washington’s sway as well. Moscow’s projection of power in the Eastern Mediterranean was also dependent upon the survival of Assad so that the power could be specifically projected to geopolitical ambitions and interests of Russia (Litsas, 2017). This further poses a big question about whether Ru ssia can be sure about its position and safety of its economic interests or not (Freedman, 2010). On the other hand and on an equal basis, there was a breeze of uneasiness in between American government and Iran because the American government was able to make an influence in the region and in return was upsetting the regional power as mentioned in Sick et al. (2008: 1) WHY you change the reference and put the name of the writer out WHERE IS the original statement (â€Å"it is clear that Iran is now a centerpiece of American Policy† (Sick et al., 2008: 1) that Iran was the centerpiece of attraction for the American policy. Due to this, Iranians took greater defensive measures as they continued to internally balance and build their nuclear capabilities. Considering the military standing between Syria and Iran that is only meant to secure the borders and state to balance the potential threats that may arise from Turkey, Israel, American ally of the Sunni Gulf States and others (Laub, 2017). Iran is still considered to have a stronger strategic position due to the fact that S yria would be at their hands with the loyalty of Hezbollah in Lebanon and Palestine at one site. This is also one of the justifications that have been used by Iran to support its involvement in ideological motive because Allah has ordered all Muslims to defend and protect each other from all sort of outside threats, as per Imam Khomeini. This is another reason with which Iran supports its view of protecting and supporting Palestinians because they are not recognized by the West and are repressed by Israel (Segall, 2012).

Alexander the Great Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Alexander the Great - Essay Example From this paper it is clear that prior to conquering the entire known world, Alexander made sure that his seized all the power in Macedonia and Greece. So, having performed that, this great general led his army to Asia Minor, then Palestine and eventually Egypt. One should keep in mind that at that time Egypt was under the rule of Persians; that is why it was them who fought against Alexander, not the Egyptians. The latter, in fact, did not show any resistance to him, greeting him as a liberator rather than an oppressor. Indeed, there were several battles that Alexander won before entering Egypt. Thus, after the battle of Issus, attacking Tyre and conquering Gaza, his military supremacy was evident. In Egypt he did not introduce any significant change; quite the opposite, he claimed that he was the son of Zeus and Ammon and agreed to be treated as a divine ruler, according to the Egyptian traditions.As the discussion stresses  Persian Empire was the strongest power in the region in question. It emerged much before Alexander and was generally regarded as the dominant player. However, it could not match the military power of the Macedonian general. Battle after battle the Persian king Darius fled the battlefield, leaving his soldiers alone.  It is quite obvious that after Alexander was able to conquer the capital, the military men did not support Darius who was constantly running away from his opponent and killed him.

Lack of Money Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Lack of Money - Research Paper Example In fact, it is money that drives the world at a rate so ever increasing. Indeed, without money, one cannot buy many products and services. Many laypeople feel that money is a necessary evil, and it is indeed considering that the lack of it makes life practically unbearable. On the other hand, money is one substance that motivates most of human activities and interactions including scientific research, space exploration, technological advancements, politics and business, the list being practically inexhaustible as noted by Krugman and Wells (2009). This paper discusses the lack of money and its close association with poverty and crime. It will be assumed that generally, lack of money amounts to poverty. One major problem that the world has ever so been grappling with since time immemorial is poverty. In the modern world, the lack of money can with reasonable confidence be summed as poverty or destitution. Absolute poverty is the condition that prevails when one cannot access basic human needs including education, clothing, food, clean water and shelter. On the other hand, relative poverty refers to the state of having less than acceptable level of money or resources as compared to other members of the society, country or community. Of the United States of America, Joseph Williams states that, â€Å"Today nearly 16 million Americans live in â€Å"deep or severe poverty†Ã‚  (Williams, 2007, par 1). Traditionally, poverty has been considered part and parcel of every society considering that ancient modes of production could not offer the whole population a comfortable life (Kerbo, 2006). According to the United Nations, lack of money or poverty denies people the capacity to effectively participate in society. The organization also notes that lack of money predisposes individuals or/and communities to violence as they have to live in marginalized or fragile

Diversity Case Analysis Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Diversity Analysis - Case Study Example To deal with situations like that of Tyson's, a parent in-service program will be organized. This program will include education to parents about the children at risk where action is not taken when problems are first seen. The school will call medical specialists including several psychologists that would clearly explain the importance of treatment of these symptoms early on n the lives of the children so that they can live a normal and health life. The most important objective of this parent in-service program would be to convince the parents to allow certain actions to be taken when these problems are identified and that it is not a cause of alarm for the parents as everything will end up fine if timely action is taken. Tyson is a new second grade student at Kanner Elementary School, considered to be the best elementary school in the district. He previously attended a private school and is having problems adjusting in his new class. His teacher has informed the principal about the kinds of difficulties Tyson is facing, and has asked for proper guidance to the way he should be handled. The principal has been at her designation for the last two years and never had any administration experience before that. Kanner Elementary School contains children having a variety of ethnic backgrounds, and houses a large population of children from poor families. The community is very supportive to the school. Tyson's father thinks that there is nothing wrong with his son, although a neurologist diagnosed him as having Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. He was not cooperative with the principal of either this school or the previous one. He might come to the school with his wife for a conference, and they bot h think Tyson might again need a change of school. (Ubben; Hughes; Norris, 2001) 2) Identify the problem in a single sentence. Tyson is having difficulties adjusting in his new class but his father is not at all helpful in changing this fact, and wants to change his school a second time. 3) Select significant information and categorize it according

Employee relations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Employee relations - Essay Example The model they suggest is a partnership between labour and management that would result in a â€Å"high performance workplace with mutual gains for both the organisation and workers.† (Betcherman et al., 1994; Guest, 1995 and Verma, 1995 cited in Bratton et al. 1999: 334). Any changes that sweep society in the economic, social and political fields, not to speak of technological advancements will have inevitable consequences in the employer-employee relationship. Consequently, in Britain, mass unemployment of the 1980s and various legislations that curtailed union activities have had a marked effect on the bargaining power of labour because of the reduction in trade union membership and institutional protection. These developments corroborate Dunlop’s theory of industrial relations systems described below. However the trend is not unique to the United Kingdom and is attributable to increased competition at the local, regional and global levels and heightened consumer expectations. A trade union is defined as â€Å"a continuous association of wage earners for the purpose of maintaining and improving the conditions of their employment.† (Webb, Sydney & Webb, Beatrice cited in Trade Union). Does this mean that by definition, there is a conflict of interest between a trade union that represents its members and the organisation that employs those members as workers, more so if the organisation is in the public sector? The objective of this paper is to analyse the conundrum by taking recourse to theoretical bases and wherever possible their practical applications. 1.2. John Dunlop’s theory of industrial relations systems: In his 1958 classic, Industrial Relations Systems, John T. Dunlop, described the role of three principle actors in all industrial relations systems. They are, management organisations, workers (whether

Topic paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Topic paper - Essay Example Its reputation as a source of positive feelings is a motivator for people to come together to attempt a relationship as a couple. The concept of romance is inherently fascinating as it touches on various aspects of human development and psychology. Being so, numerous studies have been undertaken to demystify and understand this phenomenon. This exploratory study shall attempt to answer relatively basic and then and more complex questions pertaining to the dynamics of human romantic relationships, specifically that of heterosexual relationships – how it begins; its effects on the romantic couple; how the involved individuals perceive themselves and their partners and how romance is sustained. Scientific studies of people who are in love show that apart from the emotional responses, there are physiological effects of romance. Fisher (2004) devoted much of her career to studying the biochemical pathways of love in all its manifestations: lust, romance, attachment and the way they wax and wane. Likewise, Marazziti researched on the hormonal effects of the emotions romantic love produces. Levine, Aune & Park (2006) studied love styles, communication in romantic relationships and individuals’ preferences for romantic partners. They also researched on how romance is initiated and what people do to intensify the romantic relationship. Romance also affects one’s self-esteem, as studied by Green, Campbell & Davis (2007). These researchers indicate that when an individual is in love and knows that he is loved back by his partner, his self esteem becomes inflated. On the other hand, when the object of his affection rejects his love, then his self-esteem suffers much. Many more studies on how romance is developed and sustained are available in the literature that will be reviewed for this paper. This study will cover a wide spectrum of subject matter related to romance. It will investigate the topic holistically to

The Marketing Mix applied to a fast mocing consumer product Essay

The Marketing Mix applied to a fast mocing consumer product - Essay Example Customers tend to have built up brand loyalty due to the sentimental value that the branding has created over the years. For older customers, it may remind them of their own childhood days when their kids eat them and as for kids they will carry the memories on to their net generation. The Target customer of Cadbury associates sentimental value to it and thus Cadbury has become habitual for them. The packaging has been consistent during the last decades. The only changes have been in sies .The packaging is localized (in local language) to communicate the message of Cadbury to the customers. The packaging emphasizes on the brand color association i.e. Purple and all Cadbury dairy milk chocolates have the same solid purple color in their packaging. The packaging of Cadbury for the customers is convenient. It serves the function of keeping the chocolate fresh and crisp until consumption. It provides the health facts on its packaging for the health conscious people in their local language. The packaging of Cadbury, and the variants that are being offered, are made to suit the requirements of the customers. Thus the target customer of Cadbury dairy Milk seek: - The graphics on the Cadbury Dairy milk chocolate include the net weight, graphics showing the components i.e. milk pouring into chocolate bars, the positioning statement "more to share", barcode indicating shelf life, instructions to discard wrapper in the bin and diagrams showing it is best for consumption of vegetarians The target customer of Cadbury is: - 1. Health Conscious 2. Has positive response to the Cadbury Dairy Milk brand name 3. Likes to share the special moments in life with other people as demonstrated by the positioning statement. 4. Is conscious of the freshness of the product he is consuming 5. Best suited as an in between meals snack for vegetarians. Product support services Unsold bars that have exceeded their shelf life can be returned to the manufacturers The target customer: - 1 wants value for money and is quality conscious and can easily shift to other brands if their favorite brand does not deliver the quality it promises. Price Product mi pricing Cadbury Schweppes, the Australian Cadbury manufacturing company, has a diversified product mi and follows a market segmentation strategy focusing on different market segments some brands include Cherry Ripe, Crunchie, Freddo The target customer of Cadbury is: - Varying tastes The target customers are from different age groups Freddo is strictly for kids, Cadbury is for teenagers The target customers have different, localize tastes in different markets for example the target customers of Australia prefer the cherry flavor so for them the unique

Practice Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Practice Analysis - Essay Example ity complex to the protagonist of â€Å"I’m a Fool†, one may see that it demonstrates itself through the character’s constant lying and his looking down on other people of the same background. For example, he calls other people who are dressed well â€Å"common cattle† or â€Å"yaps†. Driven by inferiority complex, the protagonist inflates his identity by treating himself with drinking whiskey and smoking an expensive cigar in a hotel for the rich. This complex makes him push a man who wears a Windsor tie and walks with a cane. It is also the driver of his condemnation of educated people (he himself is uneducated). Besides, what he says seems to be always aimed at looking important, which is also is a clear sign of inferiority complex. To illustrate, Sometimes now I think that boys who are raised regular in houses, and never have a fine nigger like Burt for best friend, and go to high school and college, and never steal anything, or get drunk a little, or learn to swear from fellows who know how, or come walking up in front of a grand stand in their shirt sleeves and with dirty horsy pants on when the races are going on and the grand-stand is full of people all dressed up.† (Anderson 73). These views of the story’s protagonist can be described as displays of rationalization. Specifically, rationalization in psychology is known to be a defense mechanism with help of which an individual attempts to find an explanation despite the fact it may be illogical at all in order to take advantage for events that played against him. For example, the character starts rationalizing that he is superior to the man according to his own philosophy: â€Å"Things are as you think about them†. It means, in his view, people can be superior if they decide to be and other people can be inferior if only you think so. The most interesting example of rationalization is when over the years the protagonist looks back at what happened and tries to find an explanation why he lied.

Experimental economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Experimental economics - Essay Example Loss aversion states that the disadvantage in losing an object is considered greater than the advantage of acquiring an object. The research paper explores the relation between endowment affect and status quo bias with loss aversion. Findings of the Article The researchers conducted various studies to establish the endowment act. An experiment on a certain group of people involved endowment of either lottery tickets or money. It was found in the study that nobody would willingly part with the lottery ticket for money. It was believed that in a market setting, the discrepancies between the Willingness to Pay (WTP) and Willingness to Acquire (WTA) would reduce. A series of experiments were conducted to understand the endowment affect. The first experiment revealed that the market clearing price coincided with the point of intersection of induced demand and supply curves and transaction costs were low. Since the income effects are insignificant and transaction cost is low thus when mark et clearing occurs objects are owned by people who value it the most. The volume of trade was low due to the price reservation of the buyers and sellers and was attributed to the lack of willingness on the part of the owner to part with his belonging. Indifference curves are reversible and they do not intersect. In the presence of loss aversion, the reversibility concept is not applicable. The primary affect of endowment does not lie in increasing the attraction towards the goods one owns. Rather, it enhances the pain in giving up the good.

Yahoo Versus Survivors of the Holocaust Essay Example for Free

Yahoo Versus Survivors of the Holocaust Essay The case Yahoo versus Survivors of the Holocaust is based on a lawsuit that was made by a group of French Nazi concentration camp survivors against the website yahoo.com for the auction of Nazi materials and other hate related contents. The Holocaust survivors sued the company in a French court after the US based Yahoo Company refused to respond to the warnings block access to neo-Nazi contents on its US based servers. The case was targeted towards accusing CEO of Yahoo Timothy Koogle as responsible for the controversial auctioning of Nazi artifacts on the Yahoo website and if he is found guilty he faces potential incarceration in France. The case also provides information on the dot.com crash which had a negative impact on Yahoo’s performance which experienced serious decline alongside other companies in the advertising budget. In April 2001, Yahoo suffered a 42% decline in advertising revenue which led to mass exodus of the company’s leading staff and threatened to replace Koogle. The case also point out that Yahoo France which was established in 1996 as a subsidiary of Yahoo International shares similar organizational structure, same look, and tailored its contents according to local tastes. It is therefore, a shared system whereby information that comes up on the company’s US site also shows up on the French site. Thus, there was a challenge in creating a global brand that is able to adapt to suit local tastes. In this case, the challenge of a shared website has led to a lawsuit which was put together in April 2000. La Ligue Contre le Racisme et l’Antisemitisme (LICRA) and the French Jewish Students filed a lawsuit against the US based company Yahoo, for posting Nazi-era contents for sale on the company’s auction site. Yahoo responded to the lawsuit by countersuing LICRA with the US District court for violating of constitutional rights of free speech in the US. Analyze the opportunities and threats of Yahoo establishing subsidiaries in foreign countries which maintain majority ownership. Yahoo International has developed subsidiaries that are suitable for the company image as a major MNC working in Information Technology (IT). The company is establishing subsidiaries in foreign countries around the world so that they can maintain majority ownership. For instance, in Yahoo France, the contents are tailored to fit local culture through specific contents such as sports categories focused on Tour de France, world cup soccer and the French Decathlon; while in the UK these categories focused on rugby, cricket, and equestrian events. Yahoo subsidiaries also enjoy the opportunities of majority ownership which allows the MNC to benefit from IT advancement and ease of transportation which makes it easier for the home and host country to have an effective international business. An example of the expected experience of Yahoo subsidiaries right to maintain majority ownership is similar to MTV network International, the music channel operation that reaches 1 billion people in 18 different languages and 164 countries; MTV management assures host countries that they are not in the business of exporting American culture, they point out their policy of 70% local content (Fatehi, 2008). Like MTV Network International, Yahoo International is advance in that it has developed 24 international sites in 13 languages, in each of its international markets Yahoo built independent directories of local language websites and other contents. The company yahoo is able to benefit this way by attracting 40% users from foreign countries. Nonetheless, the threats of having Yahoo in foreign subsidiaries which maintain majority ownership is that they risk having problems of hosting contents that are not culturally acceptable such as in the case of the Nazi artifacts showing up on the company’s French website and thereby signaling dispute due to local culture. The French representatives, primarily LICRA finds Yahoo as supporting unlawful act of hosting Nazi and other hateful contents which is against the Nazi Symbols Act. The symbols associated with Hitler’s Nazis are attractive to bigots on the Web because they suggest anti-Semitism in an immediate, forceful way to the general public (Poisoning the Web, n.d.). Based on the conflict in thoughts between the US based company and their French subsidiary, there are risks that are involved in providing foreign subsidiaries or their communities’ with the authority to accuse the company’s actions. According to the claim of Yahoo their intentions appear innocent. Thus, Yahoo is able to take a stance to protect their Freedom of Speech so that they do not experience continued accusation associated with hateful contents. Yahoo calls for protection of the First  Amendment of the US Constitution which includes the most basic component of freedom of expression, the right of freedom of speech, the right to freedom of speech allows individuals to express themselves without interference or constraint by the government (First Amendment, 2010). The information on the First Amendment of the US Constitution is important for Yahoo to use in defense of the risks that they could experience from their accusers who have consider them as disobeying th e Anti-Nazi Act and French laws that prohibited the display of Nazi contents and other hateful material. Analyze Yahoo’s social responsibility from a stakeholder perspective Yahoo’s social responsibility in this case will have a negative effect on the stakeholder perspective and their capacity for prosperity due to the conflict laid out in the lawsuits by Yahoo and LICRA. Yahoo is responsible for providing social responsibility to their customers, by providing safe products at reasonable costs. However, Yahoo was accused of showing auctions of Nazi contents on the companys U.S.-based Website which was accessible by French users and thus Yahoo was condemned by French Holocaust survivors. Yahoo’s social responsibility is also negative due to its acts that are found by LICRA as disobeying local laws and customs. Yahoo made progress in a countersuit against LICRA which accused that the French’s decision was in violation of the Communication, Decency Act, and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 10 of the convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Yahoo’s countersuits provide stakeholders with confidence in the organizations ability to overcome the constraints of the lawsuit. Yahoo’s stance in taking on a countersuit is a strong defense which creates opportunity to regain respect for the company and their stakeholders without acknowledging a prejudice intent or reference to Nazi auctions. Take a position on whether Yahoo acted in a manner that was ethically and socially responsible. In the case Yahoo versus survivors of the holocaust who is particularly Jewish students, the company did not meet the high expectancy level of ethical and social responsible standards. This is due to the auction of materials that are intolerant. The web displays of Nazi contents and other  hateful materials which were found on Yahoo website are unethical and unlawful. MNCs are responsible to act in a social responsible way; this includes operating within a certain parameter. There is thus a demand for the company to react quickly toward such contents of hate so that they will protect the company’s image and mission without experiencing accusation. Neo-Nazis use the Web to market merchandise, selling items emblazoned with the instantly recognizable symbols of Hitler’s Nazi party†¦ Like the T-shirt a music fan might buy at a rock concert, one shirt reads Adolf Hitler European Tour 1939 1945(Poisoning the Web, n.d.). Based on such negative intents, Yahoo is obliged to take serious future steps to isolate neo-Nazi contents from the website to protect the company’s image and promote social responsibility and ethics by condemning those that misuse the web to spread hate. Besides excluding Nazi-era memorabilia from the company’s French-language portal, formulate two additional business strategies to address the issues faced by Yahoo as well as the risks associated with implementing those strategies. Besides excluding Nazi era memorabilia from the company’s French language portal, it is important that Yahoo applies additional business strategies to address the issues faced by the company. One strategy that could benefit the organization is the Strategic planning which is the alignment of organizational capabilities with anticipated environmental changes in the pursuit of goal attainment (Fatehi, 2008). This strategy is important because it will provide Yahoo with the understanding of their environment and the forces that are likely to determine how they secure resources and achieve goals. However, there is a downside to this strategy and it is the risks involved in planning strategy which is somehow limited to the extent of difficulties that can occur as Yahoo expands globally. The multiplicity of cultural, sociopolitical, legal, and economic environments creates quantitative and qualitative difficulties (Fatehi, 2008). The problems that are likely to arise from Yahoo’s internationalization are risky and there is a chance that the firm will experience additional complexity that is outside of their strategic planning due to new problems can be a burden to the MNC. Cultural aspects of strategy are important strategies and will be the second business strategy that will address Yahoo’s problems in their foreign  markets. This strategy is important because culture plays a vital role in controlling MNCs to better support them in achieving their goals (Fatehi, 2008). In most business situations individuals are expected to apply self control and abide by culture norms. Cultural aspect of strategy is an important influence in determining the firm’s role in globalization and controlling its foreign operations. The risks of applying culture aspects of strategy is that the cultural difference are vast and vary in concept. Thus, there is a demand for Yahoo to meet cultural differences particularly by understanding the thoughts of foreign cultures. Without understanding the mentality and beliefs of a certain culture where they operate, Yahoo is likely to reencounter difficulties similar to the Nazi artifacts auction. Thus, the risk of cultural aspects of strategy will develop difficulties due to complications from various cultural differences which should be control in order to promote the company’s international objectives. Predict the consequences had Yahoo complied with LICRA’s initial demands. There would have been limited consequences for Yahoo if they had complied with LICRA’s initial demands to remove Nazi contents from their website. Instead, Yahoo initially responded that they had complied with French law on this issue and that there website did have a display or auction of hateful contents or Nazi materials. The case was initially made by LICRA charging Yahoo with illegally hosting auctions of Nazism, thereafter, the French court gave Yahoo a warning to block French residents from viewing Nazi auction or face fines. Yahoo adhering to LICRA would have violated their constitutional rights to protect free speech in the US Constitution. Thus, Yahoo would risk having to address serious issues from their home country about freedom of press which is linked to freedom of speech in the US constitution. The right to freedom of the press guaranteed by the first amendment is not very different from the right to freedom of speech; it allows an individual to express themselves through publication and dissemination; it is part of the constitutional protection of freedom of expression; and it does not afford members of the media any special rights or privileges not afforded to citizens in general (First Amendment, 2010). Yahoo faces the possibility of running into further problems from their users who could use the First Amendment as a bargain power to use the  website without compromising their constitutional rights. It is however a limited consequence if Yahoo is able to respond early to users or law enforcers on the contents display on their websites, this will avoid expenses for lawsuits and avoid challenges in securing revenues for stakeholders. References: 1. Fatehi, K. (2008). Managing internationally: Succeeding in a culturally diverse world (1st ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications Ltd. 2. First Amendment (2010) Cornell Universitys Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 5/26/2012 from http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/First_amendment 3. Poisoning the Web: Hatred Online (n.d.) Neo-Nazis: Stormtroopers of the Web. Retrieved 5/26/2012 from http://www.adl.org/poisoning_web/neo_nazi.asp

Amniotic Fluid Volume In Pregnancy

Amniotic Fluid Volume In Pregnancy Objectives . To assess the relationship between the amniotic fluid volume (AFV) in low risk pregnancy and the perinatal outcome, using either AFI or SDP, and to evaluate the effects of different fetal positions and Attitudes on those measurements Methods . A prospective study was performed, in which a sample of 3000 low-risk pregnant women were studied using routine ultrasound, including fetal biometry and measurement of AFI, and SDP. Data were analysed using multiple linear regression, and constructing a curve for both the AFI, and SDP measurements, according to gestational age, the fetal positions and attitudes, in addition to the assessment of the final perinatal outcome. Results . The 50th percentile remained practically constant at approximately 150 mm between the 20th and 33rd week, after which there was a decline in volume, which became evident after the 38th week. At the 40th week, the 10th percentile was around 62 mm and the 2.5th percentile around 33 mm. Among the group with intact membranes, no significant differences in perinatal outcome could be seen in relationship to the AFI and SDP, although a 50% increase in emergency operations for fetal distress was seen in women with oligohydramnios. Fetal position had significantly affected the AFI, which was remarkably lower in breech pregnancies, but without similar effect on SDP. There was no significant difference for either SDP (P = 0.8) or AFI (P = 0.3) between fetuses lying on the right or the left side of the maternal abdomen. Conclusions . The percentiles incidence of amniotic fluid measurements in low-risk pregnant women showed significant decrease with gestational age, especially after the 33rd week pregnancy. Fetal position and laterality had affected significantly the AFI, but not the SDP. Key words: Amniotic fluid index, low-risk pregnancy, obstetric ultrasonography Abbreviations: AFI: amniotic fluid index, AFV: amniotic fluid volume, GA: gestational age, p: percentile Introduction The importance of variations in volume of amniotic fluid to fetal well-being has been particularly well-established, and are closely correlated to an increase in perinatal mortality and morbidity rates (1, 2), although some doubts have recently been raised (3). Fetal well-being is an important question that can, however, remain unanswered in many situations, but progress in diagnostic techniques has resulted in better perinatal outcomes, and has also contributed to understanding the complex physiological and pathological interaction between fetus and mother (4, 5). AFI and SDP are the sonographic parameters most commonly used to estimate amniotic fluid volume. Both use a two-dimensional measurement to estimate a three- dimensional parameter and are therefore subject to error. Amniotic fluid index (AFI), a semiquantitative ultrasound measure used to denote the volume of amniotic fluid, was first described in 1987 by Phelan et al. (6, 7). Since AFI involves measurements in four quadrants and SDP only measures the deepest pocket, it is possible that fetal position would affect these two indices differently. The relative accuracy of SDP and AFI is still controversial. Using invasive methods, some studies have shown these methods to be comparable, while others have shown that one index might be better than the other. However, none of these studies took into account the potential effect of fetal position on the amniotic fluid volume indices (8). Many studies have shown an increased risk of intrapartal fetal distress in parturient women with oligohydramnios, as identified by ultrasound examination. The exact pathophysiologic mechanism of olighydramnios has not been defined, but one likely explanation is an increased risk of umbilical cord compression during uterine contractions (7,9). However, doubts remain concerning normal values of AFI for each gestational age. The reference curves established some years ago are still in use in current obstetrical practice, but there is a need for new data, using a reliable reference low-risk pregnant women sample, to establish the limits of AFI that would indicate perinatal risk (9). Some existing curves (10 13), were based on relatively small sample sizes, and normal AFI for each gestational age was not yet definitely established. The purpose of this study was to estimate the curve for the amniotic fluid volume in low risk pregnancy, using a set of obstetric sonograms of women between the 20th and 42nd week, using two established parameters, the AFI and SDP, and to assess the effects of those measurements on the final perinatal outcome, in addition to studying the effects of different fetal positions and attitudes on those measured parameters. Material and methods A prospective study was carried out to estimate and evaluate the reference curve of AFI values in low-risk pregnant women, and to follow its effects on the final perinatal outcome. The study was performed at the Feto-maternal Unit, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at El-Minya University, Egypt. Inclusion criteria were: gestational age clearly established by last menstrual period, and confirmed by early ultrasound examination performed in first trimester of pregnancy; and gestational age between 20 and 42 weeks. Women excluded were those with pregnancy-induced hypertension, diabetes mellitus, chronic hypertension, gestational diabetes, fetal macrosomia, ruptured membranes, placental senescence, twin pregnancy, fetal growth restriction, fetal abnormalities, fetal death, fetal isoimmunisation, or other conditions, such as metabolic disorders, kidney and heart disorders, and hypo- and hyperthyroidism. Amniotic fluid volume was measured using a 3.5 MHz linear transducer linked to a ALOKA SS 280. A scanner using the 4-quadrant technique for the assessment of AFV, described by Phelan et al.(6, 7, 9), with a modification proposed by Jeng et al.(11). A total of 3000 women between the 20th and 42nd week of pregnancy were evaluated in this study, between August 2008 and December 2010. In order to avoid any possible bias due to repetition of examinations in women with some undetected problem, an independent sample was chosen. Therefore, only the first ultrasonographic examination of each woman was included in the study, and different sample populations were used for each gestational age, in a cross-sectional design. A formal consent had been taken form the women included in the study, after full explanation and counseling, and approval of the regional ethical committee. The uterus was imaginarily divided into right and left halves along the linea nigra on the surface of the maternal abdomen. Using the mid-point between the fundus uteri and the pubic symphysis, the uterus was also divided into upper and lower halves. With the transducer head perpendicular to the ground, the largest amniotic fluid pocket in each quadrant was identified. The vertical diameter of this largest pocket of each one of the four quadrants was then measured. The AFI was defined as the sum of the measurements of each quadrant in millimeters. All examinations were performed by only one professional in order to avoid inter-observer variability. The intra-observer variability of the measures performed with this technique was estimated to be high (correlation coefficient 0.92) (14-18). Both AFI and SDP were measured at the same time during the examination. SDP was obtained by measuring the depth of the single deepest vertical amniotic fluid pocket that was clear of umbilical cord or fetal parts (19,20). AFI was calculated as the sum of the depths of the deepest pockets from each of the four quadrants of the uterus. The position of the fetal trunk was characterized by three parameters. Initially, the ultrasound probe was placed transversely on the maternal abdominal wall, with the midpoint of the probe over the sagittal midline of the maternal abdomen, at the level of the fetal abdominal circumference (Figure 1). A vertical line (Line Y) was drawn downwards from the center of the ultrasound probe. A horizontal line (Line X) was drawn across the maximum diameter of the fetal abdominal circumference. Line X was thus divided by Line Y into a shorter part (S) and a longer part (L). The first parameter to be determined was the position of the fetal trunk. This was assigned as either fetal trunk left or fetal trunk right depending on whether L was on the left or the right side, respectively, of the maternal abdomen (21-24). Next, we determined by how much the fetal trunk lay to one side of the uterus, by calculating the laterality score, defined as S/(S + L). This score ranged from 0 to 0.5; a score of exactly 0.5 meant that the fetal trunk was on the sagittal midline of the maternal abdomen, and a score of 0 meant that the fetal trunk was to the side and did not cross over Line Y. The use of the laterality score has not been reported previously. Finally, we determined the orientation of the ventral part of the fetal abdomen: a line (Line Z) was drawn from the fetal hepatic vein to the fetal spine, and the angle (A) between Lines Z and Y was determined. Fetuses were classified into one of three groups: ventral anterior (A = 300.1 360- or0-60-), ventral lateral (A = 60.1 120- or 240.1 300-) and ventral posterior (A= 120.1 240-). Figure I. The study population was categorized into different groups according to the fetal position, and AFI and SDP in the different groups were compared. Pearsons correlation coefficient between laterality score and AFI was considered the primary outcome measure. For an r of 0.25, a minimum of 62 cases was needed at a Type I error of 0.05. Based on the curve of Jeng et al. (25), and adopting a mean AFI measurement of 140 mm at 40 weeks, and a standard deviation of 48 mm, a sample size of at least 120 measurements for each week of pregnancy was estimated, assuming an ÃŽ ± error of 0.05 and a maximum difference of 10 mm between population and sample measurements. The AFI was correlated to perinatal outcome based on the Apgar score, umbilical cord blood pH, birthweight, frequency of cesarean section for fetal distress, operative delivery for fetal distress, including both cesarean section, vaginal forceps, and ventous extractions, and referral to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Fishers exact test was used for statistical evaluation. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. The computer program nQuary Advisor Release 3 (Statistical Solutions Ltd, Cork, Ireland) was used to calculate the sample size needed in order to obtain significance levels at p < 0.05 and 0.01 with 90% confidence intervals (CI). Data were analysed using multiple linear regression, and by constructing a curve of the 2.5th, 10th, 50th, 90th and 97.5th percentiles of the amniotic fluid measurements according to gestational age. All statistical analyses were performed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences for Windows version 10.0 (SPSS Inc, Chicago, IL, USA). Students t- test, Pearsons correlation coefficient, linear regression and ANOVA were used as appropriate. A P-value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results The 3000 pregnant women included in the study had a mean age of 25.9 years (range 13 46), with low parity (45% were primigravida). The sample was basically from a low risk population because of the exclusion criteria used. The values of the 2.5th, 10th, 50th, 90th and 97.5th percentiles of the AFI, and SDP according to gestational age are shown in Figure II, III and IV show the data after being submitted to a smoothing process using quadratic polynomial adjustments. Analysis of the 50th percentile measurements of the AFI, and SDP curve at different gestational ages revealed that these values remained practically constant, at around 150 mm, between the 20th and 33rd week of pregnancy. At this point, values began to decrease, and this decline became particularly evident after the 38th week, reaching 130 mm at the 39th week, 120 mm at the 41st week and 116 mm at the 42nd week of gestation. Table I, and II The mean gestational age at the time of examination was 33.3 Â ± 2.8 weeks. The mean SDP and AFI were 5.5 (range, 2.8 9.3) cm and 14.5 (range, 6.7 29.3) cm, respectively. There were no significant differences in mean AFI measurements when these data were controlled for age, race, literacy, parity or previous caesarean scar (data already published elsewhere) (18). Measurements of the 10th percentile remained 100 mm until the 33rd week, when an accentuated decrease started, declining even more sharply after the 38th week of gestation, reaching values 80 mm and 40 mm at the 42nd week. According to the published normal ranges, six cases had polyhydramnios (AFI = 29.3 cm at 29 weeks gestation, SDP = 9.1 cm at 37 weeks and SDP = 9.3 cm at 33 weeks gestation) and two cases had oligohydramnios (AFI = 6.7 cm at 36 weeks gestation). Twelve hundreds and five (42%) cases were fetal trunk right and 1663 (58%) were fetal trunk left. There were no significant differences between these groups with respect to gestational age (33.1 Â ± 2.4 vs. 33.4 Â ± 2.7 weeks, P = 0.7), mean SDP (5.4 Â ± 1.3 vs. 5.5 Â ± 1.4 cm, P = 0.3) and mean AFI (15.1 Â ± 5.1 vs. 14.1 Â ± 4.0 cm, P = 0.8).Table III In fact, our results showed that fetal position had a significant effect on AFI but not on SDP; the more the fetus was positioned to one side of the uterus, the lower was the AFI. Both methods show good correlation between the measurements and the actual volume of amniotic fluid. The effect of laterality score on amniotic fluid volume indices was assessed by Pearsons correlation coefficient and linear regression. It had no significant effect on SDP (r = 0.13, ÃŽ ² = 1.1, standard error = 0.9, P = 0.23). However, it did significantly influence AFI (r = 0.31, ÃŽ ² = Transverse section of maternal trunk level of fetal abdomen8.7, standard error = 3.0, P = 0.005). The regression line is shown in Figure III. In other words, when the laterality score increased, the AFI increased proportionately. When the laterality score was 0.5 (fetal trunk positioned at the midline of the maternal abdomen), the AFI was, on average, 4.35 cm higher than it was when the laterality score was 0 (fetal trunk lay on the side and did not cross the midline of the maternal sagittal plane). Figure III, IV. There were two case of high AFI (29.3 cm) in the study population. In order to exclude the possibility that the results were influenced by this single case, we repeated the analysis quadrants of the ipsilateral side, the vertical depth of these two quadrants being be much shallower compared with those on the contralateral side. Although amniotic fluid should be displaced to the contralateral side, this may not be reflected completely in a two-dimensional measurement of the depth of the other two pockets. Therefore, it is not surprising to find that AFI measurement is lower when the fetus lies on one side of the uterus instead of centrally. The difference was statistically significant and is clinically important. When the fetus lay on one side of the uterus, the AFI was, on average, 4.35 cm lower compared with the AFI for a fetus lying centrally. On the contrary, SDP is apparently rather inert to fetal position. Since SDP only measures the deepest pocket, it is understandable that the effect of fetal position on its measurement is less. Based on the results of this study, SDP may be a better index for estimation of amniotic fluid volume than is AFI, because the association between SDP and laterality score remained non-significant (P = 0.4, ÃŽ ² = 0.8, standard error = 0.9). Further analysis was also performed with linear regression to control for the effect of gestational age. These results showed that the laterality score had a significant effect on AFI (ÃŽ ² = 9.6, standard error = 3.0, P = 0.002) that was independent of gestational age (ÃŽ ² = −0.4, standard error = 0.2, P = 0.019). AFI was significantly higher in cephalic fetal position, more than with breech ones. This result had been clearly apparent after 32 weeks gestation, and with less AFI with the ventral fetal trunk attitude with the breech position, than other. SDP had not show the same picture in different fetal positions, either breech or cephalic, so SDP as an AFV parameter had not been affected with the different fetal positions. Of the 3000 fetuses, 345 were ventral anterior, 1720 were ventral lateral and 803 were ventral posterior. The respective gestational ages of these groups were 33.5 Â ± 2.7, 32.8 Â ± 2.7 and 34.2 Â ± 2.8 weeks, the SDPs were 5.5 Â ± 1.4, 5.5 Â ± 1.3 and 5.5 Â ± 1.4 cm, and the AFIs were 14.5 Â ± 5.3, 14.4 Â ± 4.4 and 14.8 Â ± 4.4 cm. None of these was significantly different between the three groups (P = 1.0, P = 0.14 and P = 0.9, respectively). The 3000 pregnant women were divided into two subgroups according to the status of the fetal membranes. The membranes were found to be ruptured at the time of the examination in 1400 (44%) women; 750 (25%) had oligohydramnios. The membranes were intact in 1600 (55); 350 (15%) had hydramnios. Table I shows the maternal variables of the two groups. The median interval between the ultrasound examination and delivery was 4 h (range 0-24 h) in the group with ruptured membranes and 6 h (range 0-70 h) in those with intact membranes. In the group with ruptured membranes there was a significant difference in the frequency of operative delivery due to feta distress between the parturients with oligohydramnios and those with a normal volume of amniotic fluid [10.6% and 3.0%, respectively, p < 0.02, OR 3.86 (range 1.34-1.11)]. No significant differences were found regarding the other variables of perinatal outcome (Table II). In the group with intact membranes, there was a 50% increased risk of operative intervention due to fetal distress (OR 1.5), though not significant (CI 0.48-4.63) (Table III). Discussion There is a variation in AFI measurements according to gestational age. Values in the current study remain relatively constant until the 33rd week of pregnancy when a progressive decrease starts, becoming particularly evident after the 38th week of gestation. The normal lower and upper limit values of the AFI commonly used up to now, which vary between 50 and 200 mm, are similar to those found in the present study up to the 40th week of pregnancy. When adopting reference values between 80 and 180 mm for every week of pregnancy (19,20), incorrect diagnosis are likely to occur. Our findings, suggested a strong influence of fetal position on sonographic indices of amniotic fluid volume. Furthermore, we recruited women with apparently normal pregnancies and hence most likely with normal amniotic fluid volumes. Further studies should look at the relationship between fetal position and amniotic fluid volume indices in cases of oligohydramnios and polyhydramnios. Pregnant women, who are classified as having oligohydramnios by these criteria, may possibly be considered normal if a reference curve of AFI specific to gestational age were used, especially in term and post-term pregnancies. The adopted limit values indicating an alteration in the AFV are variable. For the fetal biophysical profile, the measurement of just one pocket is adopted, varying from 1 to 3 cm, and considered the lower normal limit by some authors (21,22); however, in this case, total volume would be considered decreased if the AFI were used. In fact, a RCT comparing both techniques showed an overestimation of abnormal results with AFI in post term pregnancies, increasing the number of obstetric interventions (23). These variations in classifying oligohydramnios reflect doubts regarding which percentiles best express the correlation between the decrease in AFV and poor fetal outcome. When the 50th percentile AFI was compared with that reported in a previous study (14), measurements were always higher in our study at all gestational ages by approximately 50 mm up to 28 weeks, and by 30 40 mm between 32 and 40 weeks of pregnancy. On the other hand, the current 50th percentile showed fewer variations, around 10 mm at all gestational ges, compared to the results of the indian study population (15). The importance of a curve that includes the 10th and 90th percentiles is reflected in its greater capacity to identify abnormal cases. Therefore, if the 10th percentile is used as the lower normal limit, there would be less likelihood of missing a case of real oligohydramnios. A curve that included the 2.5th and 97.5th percentiles would diagnose fewer cases of abnormal AFI, and this could result in more cases of oligohydramnios or polyhydramnios being included within the normal range. By adopting the 10th percentile of AFI as the diagnosis for oligohydramnios in our population, the values are higher than those found for the Chinese study up to 36 weeks, but similar around 40 weeks of pregnancy (14). When we compare the results of this study to previous published curves (10-17), similarities can be seen for the 50th percentile of AFT at all gestational ages. However, when comparing the 2.5th percentile, it is evident that the measurements in Moore and Cayles curve are lower up to the 35th week of pregnancy, after which they are higher than the values found in our study curve. The 97.5th percentile of the Moore and Cayle curve is slightly higher at all gestational ages except for the 41st and 42nd weeks. The lower limit of 2 standard-deviations and the mean values of the Jeng et al. (11) curve are slightly lower in relation to the present curve at corresponding gestational ages, except from the 37th to the 42nd week, when values remain higher than those in the present curve. The definition of normal AFI cannot, in itself, guarantee good perinatal outcome. For instance, a 42-week pregnancy with an AFI of 45 mm would be considered normal, but how physiological this value is and what real risk it represents are questions that still need to be fully answered. If the correlation between AFV and perinatal outcome can be established, this curve may have a broader clinical application in prenatal diagnosis and care. Moreover, the curve of the 2.5th, 10th, 50th, 90th and 97.5th percentiles of the AFI measurements shows a significant decrease according to gestational age, especially after the 32nd week. This measurement could, therefore, considered a normal reference curve for the evaluation of AFI. The results of the present study suggest that oligohydramnios after rupture of the membranes in low-risk pregnancies is associated with a nearly four-fold increased risk of operative delivery due to fetal distress. An ultrasound examination of AFI could thus identify those who may need intensified fetal surveillance during labor. The present study was performed on a selected group of women with low-risk pregnancy. As AFI is one of the parameters checked in high-risk pregnancies at our hospital, these parturients were excluded in order to make the study blind. By adding high-risk pregnancies, a much smaller sample size would be needed. The frequency of oligohydramnios in cases with intact membranes was unexpectedly high: 15% instead of 5% in the controls. Although our pregnancies were low-risk, a few showed signs of pregnancy complications on admission to the labor ward (Table I), which might explain the higher frequency of oligohydramnios in this group. Although there was a significant correlation between operative delivery due to fetal distress and oligohydramnios in cases of ruptured membrane (Table II), sensitivity was low (11%), and false-positive and negative rates were 46% and 23%, respectively. Thus the knowledge of oligohydramnios in these low-risk pregnancies did not cause any immediate action, only more intense surveillance during labor. In the present study there was a 50% increased risk of operative fetal delivery due to fetal distress in parturients with oligohydramnios and intact membranes. Teoh et al. studied 120 pregnancies as an admission study in early labor with intact membranes. The frequency of oligohydramnios (AFI < 5 cm) in their study was 22%, and operative delivery due to fetal distress frequency among these was 27%. Based on these data, a sample size of 100 would be sufficient. We chose, however, three times that size, as the low-risk status of their population was uncertain (9, 11). The pathophysiology of oligohydramnios before membrane rupture is unclear. One theory is that a reduced perfusion of the placenta causes hypovolemia in the fetus, and/or an automatic redistribution of fetal blood volume to vital organs with a resultant reduced blood supply to the kidneys. This in turn could lead to reduced production of urine, and thus reduce the volume of amniotic fluid. Bar- Hava et al. studied signs of redistribution, renal blood flow, and signs of oligohydramnios, but could find no correlation. There was no change in the renal artery pulsatility index (12, 14, 19). Oligohydramnios in labor after the rupture of membranes in a low-risk pregnancy is probably not caused by a reduced perfusion of the placenta, but is more probably caused by the loss of large amounts of amniotic fluid at the time of the rupture. One explanation for the significantly increased risk of operative delivery due to fetal distress in the group with ruptured membranes might be that there is an increased risk of the umbilical cord becoming trapped in an ad- verse position, at the time of the rupture, if a large amount of amniotic fluid is lost. Amnioinfusion may be a way to treat such cases in order to restore the volume of amniotic fluid and reduce the risk of compression of the umbilical cord, thus averting the need for operative delivery (11, 21, 23). As a conclusion of the current study, assessment of the AFV during pregnancy using the SDP appears to be more accurate than the AFI, especially the SDP evaluation has not been affected significantly with either different fetal positions or attitudes, but still we are in need for further controlled studies to compare the accuracy of the two modes of AFV assessment. Another conclusion drawn from our study is that an ultrasound examination, including measurement of AFI as an admission test for women presenting at the labor ward with ruptured membranes after an uneventful pregnancy, could help identify those with an increased risk of intrapartum fetal distress, namely those with oligohydramnios. Moreover Measuring AFI in low-risk pregnancies on admission to the labor ward might detect cases needing special surveillance. We are currently preparing a new ongoing study, as an extension to the current study, comparing the previous two parameters of AFV assessment in high risk pregnancies, and the preliminary results could confirm the previously mentioned results, but it is too early to get to a final conclusion.

The most important talent of a manager

The most important talent of a manager In 2008, a survey by Robery Half International found that 53 % of managers questioned considered leadership and motivational skills the most important talent a manager should have [1]. This figure truly shows the importance of leadership in the approach to management. According to Mary Parker Follett, management is the art of getting things done through people. In this report, I will first analyse this statement before demonstrating to what extend I agree with it. In fact, managing is truly living the experience of the human being through interpersonal relationships that include understanding the employees and developing their competences. In a second part, I will describe the skills needed for managers regarding to Folletts definition, emphasizing on the importance of leadership. Finally, I will list some of the limitations that can represent barriers to management. They include the informal organization, the change of the economy and the development of high technologies. Management is the art of getting things done through people. Once, Warren Bennis(1995) [2] wrote: Just about everything written today about leadership and organization comes from Mary Parker Folletts writings and lectures. According to her, management is the art of getting things doing through people. This definition has become one of the most continuously popular, being considered like the most significant way to describe the term, which finds itself a number of distinctive meanings. First, it is interesting to know why management can be defined as an art. From the encyclopedia of Management, it is the knowledge that there is no specific way to teach or understand management, and that it is skill borne of personality and ability [3]. It is saying that certain people might be more predisposed to be effective managers than are others, and that some people cannot be taught to be effective managers. Then, if I now focus on the second part of the statement, the function of the manager itself is the best manner to illustrate what getting things done through people means. Management is primarily about overseeing people: the manager sets goals for others to achieve, directing work rather than performing it. This is highlighted by the studies of what managers do. Rosemary Stewarts studies (1976) [4] have shown that most managers spend three-quarters or more of their time talking with and listening to other people. One reason for the large majority of their time in conversations is highlighted by Kotters studies (1982) which show that managers are dependent upon a network of useful contacts that include hundreds or thousands of people within and outside the company [5]. As a result of this, it is important to deeply consider the dependence of managers towards their subordinates and all the other people that work around them. Management is linked to human factor and cannot achieve any of its aims without human beings knowledge and skills which can be considered as the material of work. Moreover, Lawrence Appley (1956) [6] starts his book titled by Folletts definition: Working with, for, and through people is the way in which a manager accomplishes his job which emphasizes the main role of the manager. Providing human satisfactions from work output and relationships is a managers obligation. From his point of view, there is a vital spot in management which is the point of contact between the worker and the boss when the conditions of confidence and respect exist between the two. Overall, it is possible to make a distinction in the managers functions between deciding what to do and getting it done. Then the first task implies decision making and setting goals, and the second consists of motivation, communication, and the development of people. I truly believe that this second task is all about the art of getting things done through people because we all know that giving orders to subordinates who content themselves with applying them without the slightest protest is not real management. The manager has to handle the difficulty of working with human beings personalities, reactions and own choices, which is an art, a talent. My own personal experience of management during the French Open made me realized how hard it was to achieve the daily financial objectives, result of the efforts I had to make in motivating my sales teams to show their enthusiasm and to do some animations for the customers. The hardest times where rainy and cold daysà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ In fact, since the essential part of the managers job is getting things done through people, it is vital for him to understand peoples motivation. The problems of securing willing cooperation sets a challenge to management: a challenge to provide the conditions in which people will want to work and therefore, to cooperate. This reaches to an understanding with the fact that management attains its objectives by increasing knowledge, changing the habits, and influencing the attitudes of people towards a common goal, the goal of the organization. Effective management requires a different set of skills from leadership As we now know that managers are dependent upon achieving results through other people, it is possible to analyze what management skills they must develop in order to be effective. A skill is defined as being the ability either to perform some specific behavioral task or the ability to perform some specific cognitive process that is functionally related to some particular task [7]. First, if I refer to Katzs studies (1955) [8], we understand that managerial skills are developed by managers by providing them with a set of managerial knowledge bases and methods for accessing this information. Then, based on these assumptions, Katz proposed a three-category typology of skills: technical, human, and conceptual [9]. The technical skills are concerned with the understanding of specific activities that require the use of specialized tools, methods, processes, procedures, techniques, or knowledge. Human skills are defined as the ability to work cooperatively with others, to communicate effectively and to resolve conflicts. And finally, for Katz, the cognitive skills represent the ability to see the organization as a whole and to have a vision, a systemic viewpoint. So, like any other profession, that management requires the exercise of specific and various skills. But there are other studies showing that unlike any other profession, management expects its members to be proficient in the use of its skills without training or practice. In reality, the basic skill of management is personal power and the impact of individual leadership upon the thoughts and actions of other individuals [10]. This skill expresses itself through the ability to write and speak to individuals and groups, to conduct and lead meetingsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Considering these two points of view, I think it is fair to say that either managers have inborn management skills or develop them through their experience and practice, they must have competences peculiar to be able to face difficult situations and achieve his goals. Leader or manager skills are not exclusive in nature [7]. Indeed, if a leader only displays leadership skills he might not be efficient in the usual tasks asked by employers to their managers: simply completing paperwork and reading reports for example. Reciprocally, a manager can have difficulties with his staff because he lacks in developing a relationship, something that require leadership skills. A manager that combines both skills is the most effective. Overall, the main important attributes needed to get things done through people are: first, communication and second, motivation and development of people. Communication is the means whereby management gets its job done. It is so true that without it, an executive is as ineffectual as a violinist without his instrument. It is a skill of management, it is, however essential to every other management skill. The process of communication involves making his ideas and feelings known by another. This requires the ability to get other people to understand us, but also to help others make themselves understood by us. The process of communication requires time and experience of many different situations with various human characters. Then, communication is successful when it is understood in the fullest meaning, both in verbal sense and in intention. Then, if managing is getting things done through people, a manager who thinks about what can be done only in terms of what he can do cannot be effective. Managers must learn to accept their dependence upon other people and manage it thanks to their ability to cooperate with their peers. They have to obtain commitment which means providing the conditions in which people will want to work. In doing this, they need to be skilful in influencing people to do what they want. Stewart (1991) [11] indicates that managers must make assumptions about how people will behave, and hence, how to influence them. Here is where motivation becomes a significant tool. In fact, it is one aspect of maximizing work performance and represents a prime task for managers. Motivation of people implies many ways of action, including the development of people which is achieved by careful, planned and motivational delegation of responsibility and duty. It implies trust and a close relationship between the manager and his staff as Drucker (2005) says Organizations are no longer built on force. They are built on trust [13]. Rather than relying on powers, the manager uses the powers within people. What are the limitations of getting things done through people? As the managers success hinges on influencing people toward the goal of the organization, this is where we can find his main limitations. The most important one seems to be the informal organization, based on who knows what, who gets things done, who has influence and power, who must agree before an idea can be effectively implemented [15]. The problem here is that the informal organization cant be managed at all because  it is a self-organizing process. Even when managers are carrying out their formal roles, they are unavoidably participating in this process. They are not objective observers and controllers of other peoples actions. The leadership challenge, therefore, is not to try to manage the informal. Instead, it is to engage purposefully in the dynamic network of conversations and interactions through which outcomes emerge. The globalization of the economy has some strong influences on the organizations. The two main consequences of this are limitations for the managers. First, there are the linguistic and cultural problems, concerned by the employees being more and more transnational which implies difficulties on communication. Also the cooperation involves making more efforts of comprehension and mutual respect, which seems difficult to do spontaneously. And second, the worldwide explosion of the working teams, which is why some managers become  «Ã‚  telemanagers  Ã‚ ». In fact, technological solutions (emails, phone, videoconferenceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦) allow monitoring the work through the distance, it sees the relationship transformed. In a more sociological point of view, it is possible to see that nowadays, the authority is living a crisis. Executives are not considered as chiefs anymore but as coordinators as well as members of the teams are not called subordinates anymore but colleagues. These working teams are not shaking or impressed anymore facing the upper hierarchy: the chief is desecrated. The legitimacy of the manager is damaged by the individualism and the autonomy of the staff which tends to make the managerial relationships more complex as the use of authority is less possible. Then management practice conditions are modified by the evolutions of the environment and managers cannot content themselves to manage via objectives. Thats why we can see the rising important of the value and the competence based management. CONCLUSION The art of getting things done through people is linked to the need to influence people toward the goal of the organisation and this requires definitely leadership skills. However a manager-leader cannot be perfect as there are limitations in getting things done through people: the informal organization and the economical and social evolutions.

Androgyny in the Characters of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth Essay -- GCSE

Androgyny in the Characters of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚   In her book, Woman and Gender in Renaissance Tragedy, Dympna Callaghan addresses the presentation of women in Elizabethan England, stating that "women were clearly socially subordinate, and the preponderance of discourse on the gender hierarchy was misogynistic" (Callaghan 12). According to Marianne L. Novy in Love's Argument: Gender Relations in Shakespeare: "'Woman' seems to be associated with qualities - emotions, fears, - one has against one's will, and 'man' with a preferable mode of existence. Men are exhorted to be men, and women, playfully or seriously, often attempt to imitate men" (Novy 198). While men and women were born different, it was society's treatment of their distinguishing sexual traits that defined them either as masculine, and thus in a position of power, or as feminine and unable to challenge male authority. Much of the literature composed in Elizabethan England reflects, whether deliberately or inadvertently, the gender inequities cited by Callaghan, Novy, and others. In William Shakespeare's Macbeth, the dynamics of the marriage between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth involve a mutual striving towards manhood as a result of misplaced gender traits in each. Shakespeare develops the androgyny of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, and this becomes the basis for the offenses they commit in the play. Both characters achieve a position of power and authority through the use of their masculine characteristics, but their feminine characteristics make their gains tenuous and ultimataly cause their downfall. Throughout the play Shakespeare presents the feminine traits within Macbeth as the characteristics that mark him as a flawed man. When Macbeth says... ...speare. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1984 5. Ussher, Jane. Women's Madness: Misogyny or Mental Illness?. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1991 6. Williams, Juanita. Psychology of Women. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1987    WORKS REFERENCED 1. Belsey, Catherine. The Subject of Tragedy. London: Methuen, 1985 2. Biggins, Dennis. "Sexuality, Witchcraft, and Violence in Macbeth." Shakespeare Studies VII (1975) 3. Gilligan, Carol. In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women's Development. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1982 4. Hogrefe, Pearl. Tudor Women: Commoners and Queens. Ames: Iowa State University Press, 1975 5. Howells, John, ed. World History of Psychiatry. New York: Brunner/Mazel, 1975 6. Millett, Kate. Sexual Politics. New York: Ballantine Books, 1987   

Theory of Graviton Fields Essay -- Atomic Structures

The Source, Nature, and Generation of the Graviton Field Summary The paper examines the possibility that atomic structures exists as complete self sustaining entities in identical form throughout the Universe, without any form of external input. The paper examines the energy budget of an atomic structure and concludes that gravitational attraction forms an inherent function of the structure in the form of low level quanta ejected from the structure as the final spent particle. It is postulated that all so far identified sub atomic particles are sourced from a single particle, in the central, heavy core, giving up energy in a Bohr/quanta manner as they perform particular functions within the structure. These various energy demands are consistent with the often quoted atomic half life of 1032 years. A mechanism by which a self sustaining structure generates an attraction field is described, together with the mechanism by which multiple structures interact. The process relating to interaction within a single structure is also described. The paper examines the nature of the gravitational field. It follows from the prognosis that the atomic particles identified so far from accelerators, are formed by a quanta/energy degradation which takes place. The core exists as a single entity in an electron, this same particle forming an assembly in all the structures identified in the periodic table. Key Index Phrases The nature of the graviton field. Introduction In the theory now presented by the author, the long sought graviton particle is viewed as the 'Spent' or residual, low energy particle arising from the proton/neutron/electron exponential decay process. This decay represents the energy required to support th... ....dï  ¦,dï  ±,G.M] . dR Since d(E) = R.dF d (E) = ï  ²,. G.M. R2 dï  ¦,.dï  ±, Over the whole surface ïÆ' ¥,E = 2ï  ², ï  ¦,ï  ±,G.M.R2 Substituting figures, E = 56.7x1024 kJ A.2.6 Energy requirement per atom dE = 56.7x1024 kJ 0.71x1050 = 7.98x10-23 kJ Converting to eV d (eV) = 0.0253 eV for Vanadium.

Cultural Awareness in Counselling Practices Essay

I have chosen to focus this assignment on the Aboriginal and Vietnamese cultures. I hope to be working in an area which will have these two cultures as the dominant groups. The reason I have focussed on Vietnamese refugees instead of the culture of Vietnam as a whole is that the facility I hope to work in has refugees as its main client group. I will give an overview of my research into how best to work in a counselling relationship with people from Aboriginal and Vietnamese cultures, ensuring that I am as culturally sensitive and aware as possible. Aboriginal culture and counselling: Most research indicates that cultural barriers are the major reason why Aboriginal people are discouraged or dissuaded from using the mental health service. As practitioners, counsellors have often failed to identify, acknowledge and recognise the central role of Indigenous culture. Historically, there has been a long period of mistrust among the Aboriginal people and white Australians. Federal governments for much of the twentieth century developed paternalistic policies and practices that regarded the removal of children from Aboriginal families as essential for their welfare. Continuing statutory responsibilities for the protection of children have made many Aboriginal women fear approaching the Department of Family and Community Services for assistance, especially in domestic violence and child abuse issues. It is a fact that Aboriginal people have and continue to experience being discriminated against by white Australians. A large socio-economic gap exists between white Australians and Aboriginal people. Despite there having been recorded experiences of both Aboriginal counsellors and non-Aboriginal counsellors attempting to keep Aboriginal clients engaged in the mental health service, it is evident that some Aboriginal clients may only turn up for one or two sessions but drop out of the system. The possible factors behind their lack of motivation to keep engaging in counselling service may lie in the means of assistance they are looking for. The problems of engaging Aboriginal clients in mental health services exist mainly because mainstream services have not provided relevant responses to their crisis situation. Aboriginal clients would first seek practical assistance such as refugee accommodation and food, and they would also seek assistance from their families, extended families or their own communities. Aboriginal people have retained strong kinship ties and extended family commitments. As in traditional times, Aboriginal people feel a great obligation to their kinship ties. The extended family will always be first in helping if there is a crisis or even a slight problem. Only when they cannot get enough or suitable help from their extended family or their own community, will they turn to outside help or support. There are particular issues to be aware of when working in a counselling role with Aboriginal clients. For example, it is not suitable to refer to a dead person by name and Aboriginal people view hallucination or delusion as spiritual experience not necessarily as symptoms of mental illness. Eye contact is considered offensive to Aboriginal people. Making eye contact (particularly with some one of the opposite sex) is shaming. Gender rules within Aboriginal cultures are important and must be respected whenever possible regarding intervention. Ideally, women staff should work with women and male staff should work with men. Women may feel embarrassed talking to male staff and men may feel shame if helped by female staff. In building a trust with Aboriginal people, most Aboriginal people would prefer to work with an Aboriginal worker regarding their problems. However situations may arise where clients may know or be related to an Aboriginal worker. They may feel shame or be restricted through kinship rules in discussing personal problems with them. Fear that the worker will breach confidentiality with the local community may be another concern. Where possible, clients should be given the choice of both Aboriginal and non- Aboriginal workers. Aboriginal clients will usually take the initiative in seeking assistance when a crisis emerges, such as domestic violence or services being disconnected, or having no money to buy food and other essentials for their children. Aboriginal people would first consider practical forms of assistance, such crisis care, financial assistance, medical services, accommodation, food when a domestic problem arises. This sort of assistance is what they really need and want, not just â€Å"talk therapy†. Before they can sort out their basic living problems, they may not have the capacity or attention to deal with other psychological issues. Once Aboriginal clients have settled down and can take a calmer approach to their predicament, it still does not guarantee they will stay with the mental health service. It is not uncommon that once they have solved a problem, they will feel it not necessary to remain a part of the service but may come back a few months later for help when another issue arises. If mental health service workers, for example, have patiently developed a good relationship or rapport with them, counsellors can take advantage of this by reminding their clients of the good they can do when relationships or domestic situations are at risk. The ability of counsellors to invite clients to talk about their problems may make it possible to explore other problems. Aboriginal clients’ particular issues or crises may be linked to other problems, such as child abuse, alcoholism, mental health, unemployment and parenting problems. It is crucial for counsellors to build a trusting relationship with the Aboriginal community. A relationship that is simply based on â€Å"talk therapy† will not work for Aboriginal clients. Counsellors need to know where to get practical assistance for Aboriginal clients. Otherwise, Aboriginal clients may only turn to those services that they feel can really assist them. A counselling service that provides support and practical assistance can become a meaningful referral point within the Aboriginal community. Vietnamese refugees and counselling: My research found that there are three recommended points of entry for developing trust and rapport with Vietnamese refugees. These are: Self- presentation of the Counsellor; Approaching the problem and Working through an Issue. Self Presentation of the Counsellor: The style and presentation of the counsellor could be described as ‘being a friend’ to the traumatised client. ‘Being a friend’ does not at all mean shedding the professional counselling role with boundaries and ethics, but rather means that counsellors dealing with these clients should be caring, sharing and acting as a true friend would normally be. Communicating caring to Vietnamese clients is being friendly, warm, interested in family, attentive to concerns raised, being an empathic listener, trying to understand and respond to non-verbal communications, and being ready to assist with practical matters. Presenting ‘as a friend’ also means that counsellors may initially have to share, or disclose, a little more about themselves than usual. This is often necessary to put Vietnamese clients at ease and win their trust. Another dimension of being a ‘friendly’ counsellor is being a ‘friend in need’. Many counsellors of Indochinese refugee clients have found it vital to assume multiple helping roles and to be actively involved in providing them with practical assistance or concrete services that provide immediate results, before engaging them in dealing with past trauma or in making important self-disclosures. Approaching a problem: The success of establishing trust and rapport with Vietnamese clients is not only dependent upon the way that counsellors present themselves as described above, but also upon the way they approach a problem. Within Vietnamese culture there are distinct ways of dealing with problems. Prominent features of the Vietnamese style include indirect expression of feelings, reluctance to confront conflictual situations, preference for allowing time to work out seemingly insoluble problems, and reliance on personal inner strength in facing difficulties. Given the quite different ways of dealing with problems in Vietnamese culture, we would like to suggest that non-Vietnamese counsellors have to move slowly and gently and approach with the right timing. Following a respectful, slow pace suitable to the client is important, especially during the rapport building stage, to avoid jarring or offending the client. The timing of approaching the problem is important for maintaining the relationship and for resolving the problem. If the counsellor takes the initiative to bring up an issue, it is important to do this gently, keeping in mind the cultural norm of ‘saving face’ and the risk of confrontation. Working through an Issue: As issues begin to be worked through, there are three suggested ways of continuing to build rapport and trust with Vietnamese clients: working with somatisation, working from here and now and working through the family. A great number of Vietnamese refugees express their experience of emotional distress under the guise of physical symptoms such as headache, fatigue, insomnia. As somatisation is a culturally acceptable way of presenting mental problems, counsellors can work with these problems first, before moving onto deeper levels. Most Vietnamese refugees are concerned with day-to-day survival. Offering them practical assistance is seen as offering much needed help and assisting to set up a trusting relationship and also an external environment in which emotional issues can be more safely worked through. For Vietnamese, the family plays an important role, in a resettlement country as well as in their country of origin. It appears to be present and influential in many issues, which the Vietnamese client discusses in the session. The family can support or sabotage the relationship between the therapist and the patient. Therefore, in post-trauma counselling with Vietnamese clients, dealing with the family dimension is crucial for the building of trust and understanding and for the success of the intervention. As in all counselling interventions, it is essential to build trust between Vietnamese-born clients and their counsellors. Points of entry rather than barriers have been referred to in the three aspects of counselling refugees. Credibility and giving are seen as being crucial in this process. Counselling can be of great benefit to helping Vietnamese refugees on the road to recovery from trauma. Vietnamese refugees have a great need for company, because they have suffered multiple losses, including faith in the goodness of humanity. Through a counsellor establishing a trusting relationship with them, they could regain this faith, so as to enable them to live the life that they have made huge sacrifices for. Prior to undertaking this assignment I had felt that my cultural awareness of both the Aboriginal and Vietnamese communities was very high. I have travelled extensively in Vietnam and had the opportunity to teach English there. My research into trauma and Vietnamese refugee status in Australia has certainly changed a lot of my views. I could almost say that with my basic Vietnamese language and extensive travels I had been feeling almost complacency about dealing with Vietnamese clients. I have learned that there are many parallels between the Aboriginal and Vietnamese refugee cultures. Both are in trauma; both need to have their immediate needs met before effective counselling can take place. My research into Maslow’s hierarchy of Needs has certainly given the actual practice of counselling clients in trauma an effective framework to work within. As does Erikson’s Stages of Development. Traumatised clients will have interrupted stages of development. These will need to be addressed after the initial and immediate needs are met. I had also felt that I had a particularly good understanding of the Aboriginal culture, having worked in Indigenous education. My research for this assignment highlighted that there are many gaps to my understanding. I had not taken into account that many Aboriginal people are actually in severe crisis when they do seek help. Similar to the Vietnamese people in trauma, they would first try to find support within their kin, tribe or immediate family. When a breakdown of this occurs, outside help is sought but this is fraught with fear, shame and often misunderstanding. This has been a vital assignment for me to undertake and I will continue to seek current research and counselling developments in the areas of Aboriginal mental health and refugee trauma counselling. References Armstrong, T. (2002). Counselling Interventions and Indigenous mental health. Medicine Australia,http://www.medicineau.net.au/clinical/abhealth/abhealt1345.html. Blagg, H. (2000). Crisis Intervention in Aboriginal Family Violence, Summary report. Crime Research Centre, University of Western Australia. Chambers, A. (1990). Responding to Domestic Violence: Spouse Abuse. Guidelines to Practice. Department for Community Services, Western Australia, September 1990. Nguyen & Robin Bowles authors, published in the Journal of Australian Social Work, June 1998.