1.3&1.4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

1.3
.4 - Essay Example In as much as every medical personnel has some insight on these effects, different professionals have varying levels of competence (understanding) in each field as a result of various specializations. This network of assistance is evidenced, for instance, when an occupational therapist decides that it is essential for the patient to communicate over the phone with their child, say in Melbourne. This is however difficult because the stroke suffered by the client has left them with a wanting arm’s motions range and scapulohumeral rhythm. In this case, a speech therapist is needed to ascertain whether the patient is able to use the mouth muscles in talking with the child while a physiotherapist ensures the patient utilize the arms and shoulders well by putting them through certain exercise regimes such as the range of motion exercises. In the example above, the consenting patient gets the best health care provision and therapy from the sound collaboration of these three medical professionals. Effective communication strategies between the three fields of healthcare ensure that all the relevant data and outcomes concerning the client are shared. This results in the best possible delivery of health care. Different health care workers have various beneficial views on healthcare that may stand in good stead for a particular client condition. Collaborative approach to healthcare instills confidence in the family of the patient and ensures that the families do not see the need to unnecessarily shift the patient from one doctor to another of different view or from one hospital to the next. There is thus continuity and progress in provision of care. The central theme of communication amongst medical workers became evident during the handover, in the movie, between the two nurses. In the first case between the two nurses, the

Goin’ Cholita Essay Essay Example for Free

Goin’ Cholita Essay Essay Goin’ Gangsta, Choosin’ Cholita, by Nell Bernstein, is claiming identity and describing how the youth in certain parts of the country are choosing their preferred identity rather than accepting their own. For example, in Bernsteins essay a girl named April, living in California, wants to be Mexican; therefore, she dresses like and attempts to talk in the same accent as a true Mexican, even though she is Anglo. I agree with Bernstein that people are influenced by what they see and hear. April portrays a perfect â€Å"cholita,† with her â€Å"dark lipstick,† â€Å"even darker lip liner,† and â€Å"baggy pants, blue plaid Pendleton and her bangs pulled back tight off her forehead. † I also believe, like Bernstein, that people claim only part of their ethnicity to fit in. Even though April looks and acts like a Cholita she is of â€Å"Anglo† descent. The essay also specifically talks about the state of California, where all this identity changing is happening due to the great diversity of race here. Bernstein claims that this is a positive situation when youths choose an identity other than their own identity. Whatever makes them feel better or boosts their self-esteem is okay, I guess? However, they still have to face the facts; they cannot change their identity. I do not know what dictionary Bernstein is reading, but the definition of identity does not include the word appearance. Identity is who a person is, not who they appear to be. Nell Bernstein does a very good job in describing the â€Å"glamour,† associated with race. It seems, there is always a particular culture that many people want to be associated with and hang around. In the case of Goin’ Gangsta, Choosin’ Cholita Bernstein talks about how teens choose and define their identity, what â€Å"claiming,† an ethnic identity is, and what the concept of â€Å"city† is according to these teens. Bernstein explains that as time goes by the suburbs are becoming more diverse, and people in the suburbs have become infatuated with the â€Å"city life†. The glamour of this may be media-generated. We come from a society that pushed for the concept of â€Å"white is right,† for such a long time that now there are backlashes from other cultures, races, and minorities. Many great strives have been made by various ethnic groups. Accomplished actors and actresses of these ethnic cultures make most often these strive for all to see because of the glamour and prestige that they hold in Hollywood. Actresses such as Jennifer Lopez, and Halle Berry are most often credited with moving ahead both women, and those of Latino and African descent. Men such as Denzel Washington and John Leguizamo are very well respected actors in the field as well. With the success of these role models, as well as the acceptance of diversity has become many â€Å"Caucasian† students are now being rejected. Many of the relatives and ancestors had to fight very hard for their rights and this may be why many younger generations want to be like them because they can identify with them and also because of how â€Å"glamorous† their lives seemed, and because of portrayal in the media. They â€Å"claim† these cultures to be accepted and more respected. Actually many generations of these cultures do press the importance of filial piety (respect for their elders), deep within their cultures as opposed to those of Caucasian families who viewed by other cultures, do not know â€Å"their† place. Because of the emphasis on heritage of the quickly populating cultures in their areas, many feel they do not belong. Because of this nuclear family as opposed to multi-generational, many cultures could clash. Glamorous is a life where everyone else belongs because of how he or she looks or what ancestor they have which entitles them to prestige, finally because of the long awaited freedom and hardships that they had to endure to get there. Embrace your family; you are one of us if you are in any group of people. Look at movies like The Godfather. Italian-Americans involved with the Mafia worked hard for family to be able to provide for them, but were also caught up in some bad stuff. Italians/ Italian-Americans who ran around shooting on behalf of who they were, as well as against those of the same culture that was at odds with them. It seemed like a very glamorous life even though those involved would say that it was far from it. Many cultures today or those who want to be involved in these cultures, adorn themselves with stereotypes and simply to be accepted, as Bernstein states, â€Å"they are very young but may not understand the full comprehension of all that was involved, it may be the influence of being tough, bad, and able to bounce back with a greater force that these teens look for. † They are at a very young age and are still growing. The ability to take on these preset identities (stereotypes) may feel that it helps them find out who they are because adolescence is a very unsure time. The ability to fit-in such as school, friends, and communities also play a very critical role in the development of an adolescent. Many kids who are raised in the suburbs now a days feel as if they have to choose a â€Å"crew† to hang around. Even the white kids do not feel safe in their own streets unless they are hanging with the bad crew. Kids feel the need to choose what group they belong to based on the way they dress, what music they listen to, and whom they see as a role model figure. Kids should not be forced at such a young age to claim something they are not. Children should be proud of the race they originally are. With the growing amount of races becoming more diverse in not only in the suburbs but around the world, it is important for parents to enforce the values of nationality. The author made it very important to write this article in order to show people the truth behind color. Although it may be easier for a child to join a group and feel accepted, they should also know that they would not truly be accepted until they accept themselves. Cultures are becoming more and more diverse. Although culture is constantly changing, people should not change their personal values in order to feel accepted. In conclusion, I feel the media does play a role in stereotyping these cultures and making them seem more glamorous, but the actual families of those from the actual cultures (Latino, African, etc. ) stress the importance of filial piety. This respect for ancestors joined with expectations and role models in the media can make this seem more glamorous. Adolescents that are trying to find out who they are in a very critical time in their lives often fall back onto this because identity already seems â€Å"preset,† and is easier to follow that finding out one for their self. Many Caucasian teens are being ridiculed because of what they are and history, so they often desperately pull from what they know to be able to fit in better and not be ridiculed as much, but more accepted. With cultures melting together today and many marriages creating children of various backgrounds, it can be very confusing for children of these higher populated states to find out who they are. The glamorous look may come from the comradely that these cultures have for members within. It may be looked at as glamorous because of the popularity of its members or even how it is shown in the media, but it is most glamorous for those who are not of the decent because they finally have a place to belong among those who accept them because of it.

The traditional engineering

The traditional engineering Introduction Traditional engineering relies mainly on a sequential procedure wherein the various tasks involved in the design and manufacturing of a product are performed in a pre defined and set order. This leads to certain drawbacks wherein there is a loss of flexibility in the entire process and this may also lead to severe alterations or even scrap in the later stages of the product development life cycle. Traditionally, the product design has been considered as a cycle of PDCA (plan-do-check-act). However, the advent of Concurrent engineering, which focuses on working interactively between the various processes in the product development, is relatively new. It is a relatively recent process which employs cross functional cooperation to facilitate the creation of products which are cheaper, better and have a reduced time to market. It is not an isolated concept and encompasses almost all the functions like engineering, designing, support, marketing, accounting, and others. Customer satisfaction is a key factor behind this method. The basic premise for concurrent engineering revolves around two concepts. The first is that the entire product life cycle needs to be taken into consideration in the initial stage of the cycle. This would include functionality, producitibility, assembly, testability, maintenance issues, environmental impact and finally disposal and recycling. The second concept talks about the concurrency of the various functions. This flexibility is of immense importance to the success of the process given the fact that it allows for error correction and redesigns to be incorporated in the early design phase without having an adverse effect on the costs, efforts and timelines of the project. In effect, this improves the productivity ,the product quality and offers substantial cost benefits. In a concurrent engineering process, there is no freezing of a particular task and so moving back is not a constraint. It allows design and analysis to take place at the same time and focuses on the collaboration between the teams. The teams are multidisciplinary in approach and composition and allow the employees flexibility to work collaboratively on the various aspects of the project through the life stage of the same. The need for Concurrent Engineering is especially high in todays world. Businesses must be able to react to the changing market needs rapidly, effectively and responsively. They must be able to reduce their time to market and adapt to the changing environments faster than competitors. Decisions must be made quickly and they must be done right the first time out. Corporations can no longer waste time repeating tasks, which increases the time it takes to bring new products to market. Therefore, concurrent engineering has emerged as way of bringing rapid solutions to product design and development process. Concurrent Engineering has many advantages and provides benefits such as a reduction in the product development time and the time to market, reduced design rework, reduced product development cost and improved integration in the teams through efficient and effective communications. There are many companies which employ the Concurrent Engineering techniques in the product development life cycle. These firms have shown a significant increase in overall quality, 30-40% reduction in project times and costs, and around 60-80% reductions in design changes after release. However, there also are times and situations wherein concurrent engineering is not preferred. Some of these can be as stated under: Concurrent engineering practices are not favoured in case of simple products or in cases where there is only an incremantal improvement in margin by the application of the technique. When implementing the Concurrent engineering involves major changes in the company culture and also leads to a significant administrative and/or communication overhead. These are the cases where it becomes difficult to implement the process in the teams. In such cases, unnecessarily and forciably applying these concepts may not yield advantages. Rather, it may prove to be an unsuccessful approach on the part of the management. This emphasises on the fact that it is very necessary to meet certain pre-requisite conditions in order for the concurrent engineering process to give the desired results. In absence of these, there may be confusions and inefficient product development. There are a few measures which companies may initially take in order to be successful with Concurrent Engineering, like Benchmarking: The company should keep a fair check of itself with respect to their best competitors Development of metrics: Proper metrics need to be developed to measure the various parameters to see if right course is being taken Identification of Potential Performance Improvements and Targets: This would help in the continuous improvement and reality check. Development of a clear Vision of the future environment: This would ensure that actions are taken while keeping in mind the long term goals of the organization and to figure out how does Concurrent Engineering fit into the picture. Getting top management support: This becomes very important as a lot depends upon the level of support and confidence shown by the top management for the implementation of a process in a company. Getting cross-functional endorsement: Integrated functionalities and concurrent processing lie at the core of the Concurrent Engineering. Unless there is an acceptance from all the departments and functional units, the chances of success are faint. Developing a clear Strategy to attain the envisioned environment: Without a clear formulation of strategy, it is very difficult to achieve the goals. Developing a detailed implementation plan: Success of Concurrent Engineering would also depend upon how clearly the implementation plan is made. History Concurrent Engineering has been known by various names over the years and across locations. It is known as the iterative development method (or Integrated Product Development, IPD) as it allows for the correction and alteration in the design and other processes through iterations. Continuous feedback mechanism is employed to discover any discrepancy or fault in the model. The rationale behind it is that the sooner the errors are identified, the lesser effort, time and cost is incurred to correct them. The term Simultaneous Engineering has been used since the decade of 1990s. It was based on the idea that the life cycle of the new product must fit in with the pre-existing product program lifecycles. It was in the December 1988 report The Role of Concurrent Engineering in Weapons System Acquisition by the Institute for Defense Analysis (IDA) that the term Concurrent Engineering was defined . This was an approach which was systematic in nature and focused on the integrated, concurrent design of products and their related processes. This approach is intended to cause the developers, from the outset, to consider all elements of the product life cycle from conception through disposal, including quality, cost, schedule, and user requirements. Need for Integrating Design with Other functions: In early designs and product development, there was a division of labour among individuals who specialized in various functions. There was little opportunity for interaction between the various departmants and functionalities which often lead to confusions and certain discrepancies between the work done. This at times led to customer dissatisfaction. With an increasing level of competition, the role of new manufacturing process and the need to reduce development lead time, concurrent engineering has become more popular. These justifications are discussed below. Increased Competition: This can be quoted as one justification for the rising popularity of concurrent engineering. With the increase in competition, there is all the more a need for competitive advantages and core competencies at firm levels to ensure meeting competition. Concurrent Engineering gives the firms a cost advantage apart from ensuring quality and efficiency in processes. New Production Methods: With the advent of technology, there are various new production methods which come into service. This makes it important to transfer and share the knowledge about this new service to the various functions and departments. This is necessary because this would ultimately have an impact on the resulting product design. This knowledge sharing would ensure that the various people involved in the product development are at the same platform when information about these processes is concerned. Therefore, the situation where new production processes are used will often be an important area for ensuring that design engineers work closely with production engineers. Concurrent Engineering can contribute its bit here. Lead Time: Shorter lead time or the time to market is a competitive advantage to the firms. Reduction in the lead time would decrease the length of the development process and would help bring the product to the market sooner. This would also decrease the inventory holding time and would therefore help in cost reduction (or cost advantage). By implementing the concurrent engineering process, the organization can achieve this advantage over the firms employing the traditional methods (sequential process). Process Concurrent engineeringis a workflow that relies on parallel processing by performing multiple tasks simultaneously instead of carrying out the various tasks in sequence as has been the traditional workflow. Concurrent engineering is not just related to engineering processes but rather focuses on the integrated and concurrent design of product and the related processes. This requires the clear identification and description of all the tasks and processes associated with the design, manufacturing, support and other functions by the developers. The developers need to consider the various elements of the product life cycle end to end, varying from the first stage i.e. conception of the product to the last stage i.e. disposal of the product. The various elements which shall be considered will include almost parameters which have an impact on the development of a product and the associated processes, such as quality, cost, scheduling and user requirement. It is worth noticing that the definition encompasses more than just the manufacturing and design of a product. It does not apply only to domains of engineering but is also widely used in the pharmaceutical, paint, food or sneaker industries. Concurrent Engineering is not limited to the products or goods. Even services can employ concurrent engineering for improvement in productivity and reduction in total time to market. Although this may not lead to reduction in number of employees or the work to be done, the adoption of concurrent engineering would lead to a faster lead time. In the services sector, the concurrent engineering concept applies to insurance sector, banking sector and others. The difference between the conventional product design approach (sometimes also called the waterfall model) and the concurrent product design approach (sometimes also called the simultaneous engineering approach) has been explained below with the help of a diagram. It is this deviation from the standard and traditional waterfall model (which employs and focuses on a pre defined sequence of processes and tasks) to the iterative and integrated development method of concurrent engineering, which is responsible for the huge success of this model. In the waterfall model, first of all, all requirements are gathered so as to facilitate clear definition of the problem at hand. This is both a time consuming and effort consuming task. Unless and until the data gathering is done (which in itself is a tedious task given the level of uncertainty associated with it and the dynamic nature of the information requirement), one cant proceed to the next level. This interdependency wastes a lot of time. Followed by this is the design phase wherein based on the requirements, the design of the product is to be agreed upon. The problem here is that in the absence of an option to move back and make changes to the design phase, at times, it becomes difficult to implement the design and subsequently the design may have to be heavily altered or even scrapped. The Concurrent Engineering is better in this case as being cyclic, all the aspects of the product life cycle has already been taken into consideration, thus allowing the design to take a more evolutionary approach. Then there are the implementation, verification and maintenance phases. All of these suffer from similar problems because of the inflexibility involved in the process. Concurrent Engineering overcomes many of these problems through the approach it employs. The cyclicity allows parallel processing and hence offers flexibility to the system as has been shown in the figure below. The various functions like planning, requirement gathering, analysis design, implementation, testing and evaluation are done simultaneously and hence the name simultaneous engineering. The implementation of concurrent engineering requires the combination of people, technology and business methods. It relies on cross-functional working and teamwork rather than the traditional bureaucratic and hierarchical organizations. Collaboration rather than individual effort is standard, and shared information is the key to success. The role of the leader is to supply the basic foundation and support for change, rather than to tell the other team members what to do. Training addressed at getting people to work together in teams plays an important role in the successful implementation of Concurrent Engineering. The Concurrent engineering process mainly focuses on three aspects, viz. people, process and technology. People are given a wider say, a sense of gratification and ownership of their work in the overall design process taking into account the collaborative nature of simultaneous engineering. The success of concurrent engineering depends to a vast extent on the effectiveness and the efficiency of the organizational teams formed. The three basic attributes which a CE team must have been enumerated as under: Ability to deal with inherent uncertainities associated with innovation A wide range of competencies varying from manufacturing to design to sales to financing Presence of professional knowledge worker The teams formed are Cross-functional team. The team is formed to work on a specific project, and stays together throughout the development of the product. The smaller teams comprise of 5 20 people and employ an efficient technical communication. For the implementation of larger projects, a network of teams is formed (a total of 100 to 1000 people). Larger projects are sliced into smaller projects and measures are taken to ensure the integration of separate pieces into a system solution. Presence of Liaison Personnel facilitates timely and proper transfer of information within the team. Apart from this, job rotation is also an inevitable component of the process. The team members are assigned temporarily or permanently outside of their accustomed functional specialty. This ensures the integration of various knowledge bases without making significant structural changes to the organization. There are certain product design methods in Concurrent Engineering: Design for Manufacturing (DFM): Herein, constraints are imposed by performance and functionality and consequently, the manufacturing information content of a product design is minimized. This deals with minimizing the total number of parts. Minimize the total number of parts, simplifying the design of the other parts and to promote standardization. Design for Quality: Care is taken to minimize the impact of variation i.e. tolerance is improved. Design for Cost: It is necessary to have an effective analysis of product and/or project costs based on the understanding of the various cost items involved. Design for Assembly (DFA) DFA aims at minimizing the cost incurred to assemble the product components. Design for Safety The designer must develop the habit of constantly evaluating the design for safety, considering not only the design itself but the personnel involved in fabricating the product, using the procedure, and in maintaining and repairing the product or system as well as the end user or purchaser. Developing the manufacturing processes as well as the maintenance and operating procedures early during the design process will assist in revealing safety problems at a time when corrective action can be taken at minimum cost. Design for Reliability To ensure successful performance over a given range of conditional range, specific environment. Apart from all these, the technology and tools also play an important role in the success of the Concurrent Engineering. Integrated Computer Analysis is used for modelling the steps required for the development of the manufactured product. Although the Concurrent Engineering Strategy does not necessarily reduce the amount of manpower required for a project, it does drastically reduce lead times and thus time to market. This has been illustrated in the diagram shown as under: The better the collaboration between the various phases, shorter is the time to market and higher is the efficiency. Basic Steps as identified through various studies Compare themselves to their best competitors (i.e. Benchmark) Develop metrics Identify potential performance improvements and targets Analyze the market and know your customers. Develop a clear vision of the future environment Get a strong commitment to from senior management. Get cross-functional endorsement Develop a clear strategy to attain the envisioned environment Get top management support Get cross-functional endorsement Develop a detailed implementation plan Collectively work on all parts of project. Reduce costs and time to market. Complete tasks in parallel. Advantages The practice of following concurrent engineering has numerous advantages such as: Helps in shortening the product development lead time Reducing product development costs associated with getting a product to market Improved Communication Increased efficiency and performance Higher reliability in the product development process. Reduced defect rates. Increased effectiveness in transferring technology Improved quality of resulting end products Increased positioning in a highly competitive world market Increased accuracy in predicting and meeting project plans, schedules, timelines, and budgets Employees require less time learning how to produce new or improved products Competitive Advantage and Increased Performances Lower implementation risks. Faster reaction time in responding to the rapidly changing market. Lower product and process design and development costs. Improved inventory control, scheduling and customer relations. It achieves this by various methods including but not limited to: Reducing the number of redesigns done by involving support groups from the start thus reducing the total number of iterations. Reduction is total cycle time help in reducing the overall product cost. As much work that can be done concurrently is done so instead of doing it sequentially. For this purpose teams from different functions are brought together. The use of Concurrent Engineering has resulted in savings and benefits which can be divided into three key areas: Cost Related Savings Manufacturing and Production Costs, Labor costs, Development and Construction Costs Quality Related Savings Defects and Nonconformance, Inspection, Productability and Testability Time Related Savings Development Time, Cycle Time, Lead time etc. Another advantage of Concurrent Engineering is that, while knowledge is being built up about the design of the product, additional knowledge is being acquired about the other aspects of its life-cycle. As the design progresses, the manufacturing expert will learn more about how to manufacture the product, and the packaging expert will know more about how to package it, etc. This accumulation of knowledge will help in speeding the product through the development process and get it out to the customer more quickly. These are not only benefits which the company experiences, but ultimately the end users or customers also reap the benefits by having a quality product which fits their needs and in many cases, costs them less to purchase. Therefore, concurrent engineering produces a profitable corporation and a satisfied consumer. Limitations Concurrent Engineering is not a quick fix for a companys problems and its not just a way to improve performance. Its a business strategy that addresses important company resources. The major objective this business strategy aims to achieve is improved product development performance. It is a long-term strategy, and it should be considered only by organizations willing to make up front investments and then wait several years for long-term benefits as it involves major organizational and cultural change. Some limitations: unwillingness to institutionalize Concurrent Engineering maintenance of traditional functional reward systems maintenance of traditional reporting lines no training in teamwork unrealistic schedules no changes in relationships with vendors a focus on computerization rather than process improvement Examples on application of the process We have covered a number of examples on application of Concurrent Engineering. An example of the use of Concurrent Engineering can be found in General Electrics Aircraft Engines Divisions approach for the development of the engine for the new F/A-18E/F. It used several collocated, multi-functional design and development teams to merge the design and manufacturing process. The teams achieved 20% to 60% reductions in design and procurement cycle times during the full-scale component tests which preceded full engine testing. Problems surfaced earlier and were dealt with more efficiently than they would have been with the traditional development process. Cycle times in the design and fabrication of some components have dropped from an estimated 22 weeks to 3 weeks. Another example concerns Boeings Ballistic Systems Division where Concurrent Engineering was used in 1988 to develop a mobile launcher for the MX missile and was able to reduce design time by 40% and cost by 10% in building the prototype. Polaroid Corp.s Captiva instant camera is also the result of a Concurrent Engineering approach, as a result of which Polaroid was able to make literally hundreds of working prototypes. Throughout the process, development was handled by cross-functional teams. Study 1 Developing CE model for Shipping Industry: Tribon Solutions The design and construction of a ship involves a high degree of concurrent engineering. To cater to such needs companies like Tribon Solutions develops, markets and supports CAD/CAM/CIM software solutions, with the mission of increasing overall efficiency in the maritime industry. Tribon uses a Product Information Model (PIM), which is the central repository and single source of information for designers, planners, administrators of material, manufacturing personnel, and others working on design and construction. Tribon began work on its API in 1995. Two different paths were considered at this stage: Either to publish directly the libraries used by Tribon, or to create a wrapper on top of existing code. The first approach would make all our functionality available to the user, but users would have to use the same development environment as Tribon Solutions, change compiler versions when Tribon Solutions did so, and so forth. This would have been an expensive and complex solution, only usable by the largest shipyards in the world, those that had their own large IT and development departments. The second approach was preferable, as long as a tool could be found or developed that covered most of the given criteria. Tribon already had a geometry macro language that was developed in-house, but to extend it to the desired level of functionality would have been costly to implement and maintain. The remaining option was to find a 3rd party solution that fulfilled the APIs needs. During investigation of options, Python was discovered quite early when a member of the development team read about Python in a computer magazine. After some initial experimentation there were really no other contenders. Python had it all. It was a beautiful programming language that was extensible, embeddable, platform independent, and had no license cost. When it came to incorporate Python into the Tribon software, They found the integration to be quite easy and problem-free, and it was achieved with very little effort. The result of this merger between Tribon and Python was named Tribon Vitesse, and the first version of Python used was 1.2. Today Tribon Solutions has customers that have, by utilizing the power of Tribon Vitesse, been able to reduce design time of certain complex ship structures from four weeks to two days, while improving overall quality. This enormous reduction in design time has been possible by automating more of the design, calculations, information search, and result checking. Study 2 Concurrent Design Facility: European Space Agency European Space Agency (ESA) also uses Concurrent Engineering for Integrated and faster product development. The Concurrent Engineering approach used by ESA is based on the following key elements: The system engineering process A multidisciplinary, product oriented team An information distribution and control environment Supporting tools and facilities. TheConcurrent Design Facility(CDF) is theEuropean Space Agencymain assessment center for futurespace missionsand industrial review. Located atESTEC,ESAs technical center inthe Netherlands, it has been operational since early 2000. As suggested by its name, the CDF usesconcurrent engineeringmethodology to perform effective, fast and cheap space mission studies. Equipped with state of the art network of computers, multimedia devices and software tools, the CDF allow team of experts to perform design studies during working sessions. Activities: The CDF is mainly in charge of performing the assessment studies of future missions for theEuropean Space Agency. These assessment studies are phase 0 or pre-phase A studies where the needs are identified and Mission Analysis is performed. Phase 0 allows the following: Identification and characterisation of the intended mission. Expression in terms of needs, expected performance and dependability and safety goals. Assessment of operating constraints, in particular as regards the physical and operational environment. Identification of possible system concepts, with emphasis on the degree of innovation and any critical aspect. Preliminary assessment of project management data (organisation, costs, schedules). In addition, the CDF often perform reviews of industrial contracts initiated byESA. The spacecraft design is based on mathematical models, which make use of custom software and linked spreadsheets. By this means, a consistent set of design parameters can be defined and exchanged throughout the study, and any changes which may have an impact on other disciplines can immediately be identified and collectively assessed. In this way, a number of design iterations can be performed, and different design options can easily be analysed and compared. CDF activities are conducted in sessions: plenary meetings in which representatives of all space engineering domains participate, from the early phases (requirement analysis) to the end of the design (costing). Even those disciplines that were traditionally involved at a later stage of the process are given the opportunity to participate from the beginning and to identify trends that might later invalidate the design. Facility: The CDF design room has been designed and equipped with all the relevant hardware and software tools, with the aim of creating an effective communication and data interchange environment among team members. The CDF facility contains: an array of design stations, each dedicated to a specific technical discipline data and application servers, providing on-line access to design data and tools a multimedia wall containing three large projector screens (One of them been aSMART Boardfor free hand drawing) video-conferencing equipment that enables concurrent engineering to be carried out in a distributed manner Concurrent Design ModelCDF-IDMwhich will be replaced in the near future by theOpen Concurrent Design Server Open Concurrent Design In the CDF and Path Ahead: ESAs Concurrent Design Facility (CDF) has successfully demonstrated the capability to use Space System Concurrent Engineering to overcome the communication gaps between the designer (who produces design information) and the user (who utilizes the design information) enhancing the in-house capability to perform feasibility studies in a very effective and interdisciplinary manner. Many candidate missions have taken advantage of the new capabilities offered by the CDF, reducing the pre-Phase A (preliminary design) study duration from several months to a few weeks while increasing design quality. This has been in part due to the use of the CDF-IDM, the integrated design model. The Open Concurrent Design Server (OCDS) is the next generation of the CDF design model. The CDF-IDM was built on an experimental basis and makes use of spreadsheet technology, both as data storage and as engineering tool. The OCDS on the other hand makes use of a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) using web services, a centralised database and many client tools such as the OCDS Study Manager (OSM) and OCDS enabled spreadsheets. The growing interest of ESA partners, Industry and Academia in the ESA CDF core IDM, standardised data representation and exchange, and common design methodologies is one of the reasons that has motivated the creation of the Open Concurrent Design Serv

Comic Books are not Trash :: miscellaneous

Comic Books are not Trash Comic books are cheap entertainment that trash the minds of our children. How often have I earned this. And I’ve disagreed with it every single time. If people were willing to go beyond that old stereotype, they would see that comic books are not that much different from other books. The thing is, as for many books, to choose wisely the ones we let our children read. Thus, you will see that comic books aren’t so bad. First, let us all remember that the authors, regardless of what type of writing they do, can always influence the minds of their young (and not so young) readers. After all, if you look at the storybooks written a few decades (and more) ago, you will find that a lot of them were sexist. For example, it was always the prince who saved Snow White, Cinderella and all the other princesses. Even if that is less true now, there are still some books that can negatively influence children. So if it is true that some comic books are sexist or violent, it is also true that some of them are, to put it simply, fine. It would be wrong to accuse all comic books of prejudice and violence, like it would be wrong to do the same with novels. In the same line of thought, one of the great things about books is that they can teach you a lot of things, whether it is about deep things or facts that you did not know; they broaden your horizon. Well, that is also true of some comic books. And it is not so surprising, when you think about it. For example, I had never heard of the country of Tanzania before I read a comic book in which that was the birth place of one of the main characters. As for more deep, philosophical things, even though it is less obvious, that can also be found. In a particular comic book title (but also in many others) the main subject in the stories is no understanding those who are born different from us. It can easily be related to racism. Thus, comic books, like books, can teach us great lessons. On a different note, it has often been said that literature is a form of art and that the writer is an artist and should be looked upon as such. Comic Books are not Trash :: miscellaneous Comic Books are not Trash Comic books are cheap entertainment that trash the minds of our children. How often have I earned this. And I’ve disagreed with it every single time. If people were willing to go beyond that old stereotype, they would see that comic books are not that much different from other books. The thing is, as for many books, to choose wisely the ones we let our children read. Thus, you will see that comic books aren’t so bad. First, let us all remember that the authors, regardless of what type of writing they do, can always influence the minds of their young (and not so young) readers. After all, if you look at the storybooks written a few decades (and more) ago, you will find that a lot of them were sexist. For example, it was always the prince who saved Snow White, Cinderella and all the other princesses. Even if that is less true now, there are still some books that can negatively influence children. So if it is true that some comic books are sexist or violent, it is also true that some of them are, to put it simply, fine. It would be wrong to accuse all comic books of prejudice and violence, like it would be wrong to do the same with novels. In the same line of thought, one of the great things about books is that they can teach you a lot of things, whether it is about deep things or facts that you did not know; they broaden your horizon. Well, that is also true of some comic books. And it is not so surprising, when you think about it. For example, I had never heard of the country of Tanzania before I read a comic book in which that was the birth place of one of the main characters. As for more deep, philosophical things, even though it is less obvious, that can also be found. In a particular comic book title (but also in many others) the main subject in the stories is no understanding those who are born different from us. It can easily be related to racism. Thus, comic books, like books, can teach us great lessons. On a different note, it has often been said that literature is a form of art and that the writer is an artist and should be looked upon as such.

Evolution in the United States Education System Essay -- Essays Papers

Evolution in the United States Education System In July of 1925, a Tennessee high school teacher named John Scopes sat in a court room facing a violation of state law by teaching evolution, the idea that human beings and monkeys share a similar ancestry. This was no ordinary trial, this was the â€Å"trial of the century†; it featured heavy media attention, it was a battle between two of the best attorneys in the nation, and it raised many questions about evolution and creation, the theory that human beings were put on Earth by God. Today, these questions still are not answered, with cases and debates still popping up 78 years after the famous â€Å"monkey trial,† with the same issues at hand: creation versus evolution (Futuyma 6). The evolution theory goes back to the times of the Greeks, who believed that humans went through a form of evolution. Later on in the 18th and 19th centuries, many scientists and philosophers from Europe wrote theories pertaining to evolution. Finally, in 1859 On the Origins of Species, a book on observations by Englishman Charles Darwin, was published explaining his theory, that in the long run, the fittest of all species survive, passing on different characteristics to help the next generation survive. This theory changed the aspects of biology and sparked much controversy in society. Beginning in the 1870s in the United States, about ten years after Darwin released his controversial book, Southern Christians began to fight the idea of evolution, while in the North, much was not made of the topic. It was almost completely ignored. In the early 1900s, teaching of evolution had become pretty normal in an American elementary, middle, or high school, although sometimes with some controversy. In the... ...d J. (1998). Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America's Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion. Boston: Harvard University Press. Levenson, J.C. (2004). The age of Darwin. Raritan, 23 (3). 115-149. Linder, Douglas. (2002). Tennessee vs. John Scopes Monkey Trial. Retrieved April 19, 2004, from http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/scopes/scopes.htm Morgan, Jeffrey P. (2003) Reading race into the Scopes trial. Journal of American History, 90 (3). 891. Robinson, B.A. Teaching of Evolution of U.S. schools. Retrieved: March 30, 2004, from http://religioustolerance.org/ev_school.htm Shultz, Lynne H. Summary of Evolution in Public Schools. Retrieved: April 19, 2004, from http://infidels.org/activist/state/evolution.shtml Scopes, John T. & Presley, James. (1967). Center of the Storm. New York: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston Books

Polykleitos’ Bearer and Laocoon and His Sons Essay -- Essays Papers

Polykleitos’ Bearer and Laocoon and His Sons Polykleitos’ is a Roman statue. It is made out of marble and it is 6 feet 6 inches tall. The statue is of a male who looks to be athletic someone who works out. The statue is standing in a contrapuntal position; it has its left leg slightly bent witch causes his foot not to be flat on the platform under him. That position helps the statue stay balance. It is not rigid. The statue has no facial expression. It is serious. It eyes are deep and expressionless. The statue’s head is facing to the left. His right arm is bent half way and his hands are balled up into a fist his hips are leaning towards the left side to help give him balance. His left arm is straight down by his side. It appears that the Spear Bearer is going to get ready to start walking at any moment. Looking at the statue is like looking at a black and white photograph it has no color. Both Laocoon and His Sons and Polykleitos are Roman sculptures and both are made of the same material. The sculpture is 8 feet tall. Laocoon's and His Sons have more color. This sculpture has a golden color to it. Both of these sculptures are depicting the human body. Both sculptures are depicting the male body as muscular and athletic looking. Both of these were done in the high classical period witch lasted from 400 – 450 B.C.E. With both of these sculptures the surface appears to be smooth excluding the muscles that have curves. The contrast in the Laocoon's and his Sons is light. You do see the shadows of Laocoon's and his sons and those who are trying to kill them. With Polykleitos you see Shadow of his facial features and the shadow of his legs on the platform he has under. Polykleitos has dullness to it and Laocoon has a more lively color. Where as the posture of Polykleitos seams somewhat strange as if he was caught in mid motion Laocoon's position is more a ction like. He is flexing moving around to get a way from his enemies. Both of these sculptures are copies. Menkaure and His Wife and Kosho’s Kuya Preaching This statue is of both male and female. The statue is made out of marble. The statue is 54 Â ½ tall. They are both standing on a platform. The king’s left leg is extended forward. His arms are straight on either side of him. His fists are clenched and it appears as if he is holding and objects in them. He appe... ... The statue was thought be Venus or a Goddess used as symbol for fertility. The statue is a female it has very exaggerated features. Every part of the sculptures body is disproportionate and big. You cannot really see any facial features on this woman. Her connects right into her chest area. She has no neck. Her stomach is incredibly huge and her belly button looks as if it had been stretch. Her legs are fat and pudgy. This is a very unnatural sculpture. The only part that resembles the human body is the chest area. She has no arms. Unlike Head of a King from Ife this sculpture does not in anyway shape or form resemble any part of the human body. The head of a king has human like characteristics, which means more distinct features that are identifiable right away to the human eye. The color and size of Head of a king are more lively and proportionate. The Head of a king is younger and the material used is smothering as well. Each of this sculptures and paintings have there own unique style. This is what makes them so interesting to observe. Their diverse backgrounds say a lot about the cultures and artists who created these unique irreplaceable creations of art.

Legal Aspects of Health Care Administration

In the practice of Health Care Administration, there is an organizational hierarchy that is followed. This organizational hierarchy dictates the way duties and responsibilities are spread out over the vast number of job descriptions available at the healthcare center.Since these duties and responsibilities are given to specific healthcare providers and professionals, it is important that they all understand what the scope of their practice covers. Scope of practice, as defined by Joyce Mitchell and Lee Haroun in their textbook Introduction to Healthcare refers to a healthcare professional â€Å"understanding exactly what one is legally allowed to do in one's profession.† Scope of practice defines the parameters by which a healthcare professional can perform certain procedures, actions, and details. Such duties are usually limited by the medical education and training that one receives both in the classroom and clinical experience. As such, the medical professional is expected to display a certain amount of competency as certified by the local state regulation exams and certifications.The Healthcare Professions Council also defines scope of practice in terms of a statement of tasks.   â€Å"Scope of practice statements describe in general terms what a profession does and how it does it. On the other hand, reserved acts, defined as those â€Å"tasks and services involving a significant risk of harm,† need to be restricted, and may only be performed by professions to whom they are, on a non-exclusive basis, assigned, and so long as those performing them are acting within the scope of practice of their profession.† As such, the scope of practice can vary from state to state although the general essence of the law remains constant in order for the public to understand the governing regulations pertaining to scope of practice.Due to the gravity of the responsibility attached to each medical practitioner's position in the organization, it is ver y important for organizations and healthcare managers to specifically define and develop the responsibilities of each person who is a member of the medical staff. Each member must know exactly what duties, responsibilities, and functions are expected of him and one must never over step those boundaries.It is highly important for each medical professional's role to be defined and delegated to the right medical professional because of each function spells the difference between life and death for the client. Therefore, the healthcare administrator or Nurse Manager must, according to Helen A. Schaag, MSN, MA, RN, author of the paper on The Role of the Nurse Manager in Maintaining Quality and Managing Risk: (1) hold other RN team members accountable for appropriate delegation, and (2) hold team members accountable for the implementation of their delegated actions, provide the appropriate feedback to team members. The healthcare administrators assume all responsibility for tasks delegate d to team members. Each team member must be allowed to perform his or her outlined task at any given opportunity, but within supervision of the healthcare administrator.Once the scope of a medical practitioner's practice is violated in any way, the said healthcare professional is liable for his actions. Let us not forget that the main responsibility of a healthcare professional is to â€Å"Do no harm†. This is why a healthcare professional must only function within the boundaries set by his scope of practice. The ultimate result of the act of overstepping the boundaries of one's scope of responsibilities becomes legal in some instances.Negligence is a case that stems from an incorrectly executed action, even if under supervision, by a person who is not legally allowed to perform such methods. Healthcare professionals train for years before being given a license to perform any procedures. Therefore, they are held in higher regard than someone who has not completed the same lev el of training is.This act of negligence is commonly termed within the medical field as Malpractice. This implies a failure on the part of the medical professional to perform his duties within a certain mandated skill as displayed by persons of his training status. This usually results in injury, loss, or damage to the patient and his relatives.In any organization, the employers carry command responsibility for the actions of their employees. In the medical field, this is termed as Respondent Superior. What this means according to Mitchell and Haroun, as excerpted from the book, Introduction to Healthcare is that, † (1) A physician could be held liable for the consequences of a medical assistant administering the wrong medication, and (2) A patient suffering injuries from a fall caused by incompetence of a physical therapist assistant could be awarded damages (money to compensate for injury or loss). The supervising therapist could be financially responsible. â€Å"Therefore, the scope of practice of a healthcare professional is non-transferable due to the various life threatening and legal implications that may arise from such actions.Work CitedMitchell, Joyce and Haroun, Lee. 2005. Introduction to Healthcare. Singapore. Thomson-DelmarSchaag, Helen A. 2001. The Role of the Nurse Manager in Maintaining Quality and Managing Risk. ANA Nurse Risking Management Services. Retrieved March 17, 2007 from http://nursingworld.org/mods/archive/mod311/cerm204.htmScope of Practice Review. Part I – Volume 1. July 21, 2005. Health Professions Council. Retrieved March 18, 2007 from http://www.healthservices.gov.bc.ca/leg/hpc/review/part-i/scope-review.html