Gen 105

Selected reading: Name your selected reading and page numbers here Keys to Effective Learning: p. 193 (Ch. 7) SurveyDescribe the value of surveying the reading. By surveying the reading I was able to get an understanding of what the reading would be about. I was able to identify that the main focus would be on classical conditioning and the effects that it would have. I was able to look for key bold words in the reading. QuestionWhat questions did you ask as you were reading? I asked if there were other forms of classical conditioning that I could relate to.I also asked what other variations could have been used in the experiments I asked the definitions and examples of conditioned and unconditioned responses ReadHow did surveying and questioning help you read better? Surveying and questioning helped me to grasp the main idea of the reading before reading through the article. I was able to know what I would be reading about and what key words to look for without having read the artic le multiple times. This skill will be an asset with future reading requirements. ReciteHow did you decide what parts of your reading you needed to recite?I recited the questions that I initially asked myself and went over the words that I was unfamiliar with. I learn better by writing. After answering the questions, I wrote them down along with the answers. ReviewHow often do you plan to review? I will review material immediately after reading and then come back to it periodically to prevent from forgetting. Certain topics will not need to be reviewed as often as others. Wrap-up questions: How successful was the SQ3R process in helping you grasp the concepts in the section you selected? Will you use SQ3R in the future as a way to master the content in academic readings?The SQ3R process was very successful. I am not a strong reader and using these guidelines gave me a very good baseline to use with future readings and grow from. These steps will help build a foundation for upcoming c lasses. Looking at an entire chapter or book can be overwhelming but by using these steps, it makes the tasks at hand more manageable. I look forward to strengthening my reading ability by using the SQ3R process.References Carter, C. , Bishop, J. , & Kravits, S. L. (2011). Keys to Effective Learning: Study Skills and Habits for Success (6th ed. ). : Allyn & Bacon.

On-the-Job Training

On-the-job training (OJT) is one of the best training methods because it is planned, organized, and conducted at the employee’s worksite. OJT will generally help the students to increase their productivity and skills. It also helps the students to become a young professional. This is one of the method by which students are able to apply the theories and computations that they have learned from school. It also helps the students to acquire relevant knowledge and skills by performing in actual work setting.May 28, 2013 was my first day of internship at Ayala Multi-Purpose Cooperative located at 8th floor, 111 Paseo De Roxas Building; Paseo De Roxas corner Legaspi street Makati City.During the first day of my training, I and my classmate whom also may co-trainee were first introduced to the head officers and also to the other employees of the company then we’re given some brief information on how the company runs and what are the services they offer. After that, we’ ve been oriented on the system used by the company and how they utilize it, and the accounting procedures that they use to treat for the accounts. On the proceeding time I was first tasked to do some clerical works like filing and sorting of stock certificates of a different person from the different companies.On my training days, I was first taught by Sir Mackey which is the accounting head of Ayala Coop; he taught me how to check the total shares of the members and how to separate the terminated and active members. I was also taught on how to check and encode the new balmori codes of the members of the coop and other transactions under Sir Jennifer Luyun. Although I am only an OJT Trainee I was also entrusted by Ms. Emily Montino which is the IT head supervisor, to check the amortization schedule of the members where the types of loans are included and how much their loan is.Since I am a OJT trainee, I was supposed to undergo other business job which was I have to train at the Cus tomer Service for me to learned on how to deal  with the customers as well as to be able to apply of what I’ve learned from my customer relation subject. At the Customer Service I am under the supervision of Ms. Frances Joy De Asis and Sir Arnel Balmes whom they taught me about the loans at AMPC as well as the loan process, answering telephone calls same as answering the emails and how to check for the vouchers of the clients and most especially on how to deal with the customers. I was also entrusted by Ms. Joy in checking and encoding of the Cheque of the members whom it is for their monthly payment in their loan and also I learned how to find the and check the Official Receipt of the customers.As time went by, I learned to value intimacy and close-knit relationship with my co-trainees and superiors. I learned principles of archiving. I learned to handle my responsibilities and I also observed proper time management and act with speed and urgency.I will not forget this int ernship mostly the last day, August 30, 2013. Yes, it was the day I end my internship at Ayala Multi-Purpose Cooperative, But my success couldn’t turn into reality without the help of these following persons; my superiors, co-trainees, to my loving parents for their moral and financial supports and despite of many efforts, trials and hardships exerted during my training, I would like to dedicate all my accomplishments and success to our Almighty God for his unending blessings showered upon me.This example of my success is a great chance that I will step the victory of my life.

Urban planning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Urban planning - Essay Example The meeting starts at 5.00 p.m. From my first impression, the meeting was going on smoothly although there are some changes that could be made to ensure that the meeting is more efficient. The chairman was commendable in his role and ensured that order was maintained throughout the meeting. People respected his calls and he was the final authority in regards to all the matters in regards to the meeting. The members of the public who attended the event had also been informed on the need of order during the meeting. One improvement I would recommend is that the meeting be held on Saturdays instead of during the agenda week. This is because of several factors. People might not want to go home late in the night and therefore the meeting can run late into the night and be adjourned. If the meeting is held on a Saturday afternoon, people will have ample time to go through the meeting and also further time to air their contributions. I was surprised to notice various prominent people in the town at the meeting. One that I did not expect was the mayor, John Lewis, who was also in attendance. Most of the time, he was silent and just took down notes, however, when it to the AOB segment he thanked the commission for assisting him in trying to fulfill his election agenda of a better Gilberts Town that would be the envy of the country. He requested that this cordial relationship continue into the future. His presence there was a sign of the importance of this meeting to the community. Initially, I thought that any attendee of the meeting could speak at the meeting but I realized this was not the case. Anyone who wants to speak at the meeting must fill a speaker card. An individual fills the agenda items he wants to speak on and filing it with the clerk before the actual meeting. There are several guidelines that determine the use of speaker cards: When a designated speaker is called to air their views, the speaker shall use the microphone set for public

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

Virtues - Essay Example Even though ‘pleasure’ and ‘happiness’ are sometimes used interchangeably, they are completely different in their meanings. Pleasure is something momentary that is achieved by doing something external, like having a good meal, having fun with friends or playing sports. Happiness on the other hand is internal unbound by the momentary pleasures. A person may have feel temporary pleasures but he can only achieve happiness if he feels internally satisfied and content with his daily life (Paul, 2006). Aristotle was one of the earliest person to define what virtues actually stand for. According to Aristotle, the virtues are actually a balance between two vices which could also be called as the extremes of those virtues. The balance point between the two vices is called the golden mean which may lie in the middle, or near to one of the extremes. There are eleven virtues as defined by Aristotle each of which is supposed to lie between two vices. According to Aristotle, courage is a virtue bound by the two extremes of rashness and cowardice (IEP, 2005) . For example, a person is a coward if he cannot stand up for his own rights or rash if he is too reckless with his effort to stand up against the authority. Courage is the virtue that lies between these two extremes and the person is courageous if he keeps his emotions in check and does not become too reckless in his

Leadership Competency Models Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Leadership Competency Models - Research Paper Example Greater inclination towards some traits than others reduces all-roundedness. The perfect college president has an equal spread of these traits. Thus, the closer one is to being an all-rounded person, the more they are fit for college the presidency. A scale can be used to rank different competency levels. The competency model can be divided into specific skills and knowledge areas that determine the success of a college president. The specific skills include teamwork, professionalism and leadership skills. Financial skills, management skills and a peek into psychology are knowledge areas important for leadership (Sanghi, 2007). For the specific skills, teamwork involves being able to comfortably work with others in solving the problem. A good college president should know how to work with others since their job involves representing students in the school. He or she has to work with the students, school administration and other student leaders solve school problems. Professionalism involves acting in a professional or ethical manner when working, such as solving issues amicably rather than inciting students to demonstrate. The college president should also have leadership skills. This is the ability to lead people and having them listen to you. Some people are natural leaders, having the ability to convince people to follow them without putting in much effort. Others are complete leadership failures, with no one listening to them no matter how important their message is. A good college president should be partly defined by knowledgeable areas. These are skills acquired mostly academically, or through experience and apprenticeship.†Leadership is developed through education and experience†, where a balance of both is required (Hughes, 2012). Such include financial skills, where the leader should know how to account for money spent on school leadership projects and

Political Economy of Inequality & Distribution Essay

Political Economy of Inequality & Distribution - Essay Example Social justice is achieved if the economic systems allow people to select opportunities created by performing within the constraints of the rules. This is because the resultant distributions from the rules will make the system just and fair. Hayek insists that the concept of social justice cannot still be attained through procedural fair rules because luck involved does not reflect an individual’s advantage (Miller 1997, p. 142-144). This notion implies that luck cannot precede distribution because one must receive the resources to appreciate economic policy. The outcome of the distribution method should show an individual’s effort of acquiring the resources. This can be in the benefits the society derives from such economic activities and the reasons for procedural rules. However, there are no legal systems where people do not break rules and Hayek should suggest ways of taming political economists from mistreating other players (Hayek 1978, p. 87). Market systems cann ot rely on a just society if the resources are reserved for a few individuals who want to satisfy personal missions. As a result, the results and deserts of free markets limit the attainment of social justice that remains a mirage in the society. Hayek’s argument that social justice is a mirage holds that procedural rules contribute to the erosion of individual freedoms and promote the introduction of totalitarianism. The concept highlights that an authority that exercise coercion in allocating resources to individuals is not just. This is because an ideal social justice evaluates an individual’s desert using his contribution to the welfare of the society (Hayek 1978, p. 87). The market liberation does not favor social justice because individual’s claims are not met and requires reconstruction of the economic system to address the shortcomings. Although organizations are beneficial parts of the society, trying to make serve all purposes affecting

Language Arts lesson plan analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Language Arts lesson plan analysis - Essay Example Furthermore, by allowing the students to predict what will happen, especially the ending of the story, students will be using inquiry based learning. They will be responding to questions, as well as asking themselves questions in the process of making a story. Thus, the various learning styles and strategies learned should help students gain a better grasp of what the beginning, middle, and end of something, such as a story, means. This will hopefully help them better understand analysis and storytelling in the future. As far as content specific strategies are concerned, this is a very interesting lesson plan. It does have quite a bit of promise. Students at the elementary age love storytelling, and thus incorporating a lesson plan into storytelling is a very good way to bring them into the actual lesson, and to catch and hold their attention. Asking them questions and getting them to focus on the illustrations will also help to keep their interest, since children typically love looking at the pictures in books. However, a stronger assessment could be presented in this lesson.

Amazon.com Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Amazon.com - Essay Example Amazon advertises extensively on the internet to help raise awareness of their brand. Also, Amazon maintains high-speed growth introducing new products and services available online. Innovations and adaptation policies help to appeal to a particular target audience in diverse markets. The main weakness of Amazon is a negative image of online banking and financial transaction. Many customers do not buy products online afraid of fraudulent actions of companies. Undeveloped banking sector in less developed countries prevent the company from rapid international growth. The opportunities included: high potential to growth based on the technological change and increasing number of internet users. The choice of communications mix should be the most cost-effective solution for achieving the organization's communication objectives. Call centers and the Internet give online booksellers great opportunities to promote its services. Competition and possible legal changes is the major threat forAm azon (Amazon Home Page 2009). In his book "Competitive Advantage" Porter identifies five forces that drive competition within an industry (Johnson and Scholes 54). The threat of entry by new competitors is possible but they will create a real threat for Amazon. The intensity of rivalry among existing competitors has a great impact on Amazon facing with strong competition (Barnes & Noble and other small online companies). Thus, Amazon has positioned itself as a superstore. Pressure from substitute products will not have a great impact on Amazon's activity. Today, Amazon proposes a wide range of e-texts and CD-ROMs which can be regarded as substitute products. The bargaining power of buyers is crucial for Amazon. The aim of customers is to pay the lowest possible price to obtain books or other products that they require. The advantage of Amazon is that it purchase in such large quantities that its suppliers are dependent on the customers' business. The bargaining power of suppliers does not have a great impact on Amazon because most firms are highly differentiated and need an effective distribution channels for their products (Amazon Home Page 2009). For Amazon, the most successful of four growth stages was the Growth stage. This success can explained by a strong web culture and environment created by its team. In order to be effective Amazon is responsive to external environmental influences. Amazon operates within a dynamic environment and it requires a structure and culture that are sensitive and readily adaptable to change (Johnson and Scholes 55). Amazon's organizational climate influences the level of morale and attitudes which members of the organization bring to bear on their work performance and personal relationships. Also, strong web culture attracts millions of buyers to this store. Web culture is based on non-price competition and strong brand image (Amazon Home Page 2009). Amazon.com is a leading internet-based company operating on a global scale. Amazon.com becomes the first mover in the e-retailing market proposing a wide product range to diverse customer targets. E-business allows the company to connect customer service and good levels, increases customer satisfaction and decreases retention artistries. The main strategy is a virtual bookshop which helps the company to promote and sell its products to customers. Similar to traditional marketing, a virtual bookshop

Colours R Us' Case Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Colours R Us' Case Study - Essay Example Programming, on the other hand, is the actual implementation of the HR plan. Programming involves â€Å"recruitment, training, and lay-offs† (Bateman and Snell, 2007, p.332). The third stage, which is the evaluating stage, measures the effectiveness of HR plans in â€Å"producing the results needed to contribute to the organization’s business plan†. It measures such indicators as â€Å"productivity, quality, innovation, satisfaction, turn-over, absenteeism, health† (Bateman and Snell, 2007, p.322). It is assumed that the company â€Å"Colours R Us† has already undergone planning as the first stage of its HR planning process for its Magnificent Miniature lines. It has determined that it will need 30 persons for its latest product ordered by its main client, the Home Style Innovations. Probably, the company has already conducted a demand forecast, where it determined â€Å"how many and what type of people are needed† for this new product line. Before the company starts its recruitment and selection process, it must have a thorough job analysis for the positions being opened. Job analysis, as defined, is where HR managers determine what the job is all about – including the tasks involved, the duties it entailed, and the accompanying responsibility (Bateman and Snell, 2007, p. 324). This is what is usually referred to as job description. Job analysis also determines the corresponding human requirements to match the specifications in the job description, such as â€Å"skills, knowledge, abilities, and other characteristics needed to perform the job† (Bateman and Snell, 2007, p. 32). This set of characteristics which is required from a prospective applicant is referred to as job specifications. Recruitment is described by Bateman and Snell as the â€Å"development of a pool of applicants for jobs in an organization† (2007, p. 324). Accordingly, recruitment can be done either through internal or external

The impact of the Federal Reserve on the elections in 1992 Term Paper

The impact of the Federal Reserve on the elections in 1992 - Term Paper Example This led Federal Reserve board to make small reduction on short term interest rates, 1 perhaps with the confidence that such reduction was to be mild and brief. According to an News Times report, FED trimmed Federal Fund rates that banks charge one another for overnight loans from 6% to 5.75%, with the discount rate ,which Fed levies on banks for short term loans remaining constant at 5.25%.1However, the effects of interest rates are usually not realized immediately, and take time to be felt in the market.2 The delayed actions by Fed in lowering interests rates were therefore not realized immediately upon the interest cuts; recession was increasing rapidly, and as people have increasing hope in the policies of an opponent in such cases, Clinton’s economic policy in 1992 election were magnified by Fed delayed actions, with studies portraying the electorate as preferring Clinton to Bush. 3There have been discussions on the effectiveness of this intervention in the market by Fed in 1992, where many analysts have termed the intervention as too late and too little in terms of stimulating the economy; with many analysts arguing the interve ntion resulted to increasing inflationary rates in the economy as long term interest rates remained persistent.3 Despite reduced interest rates to encourage borrowing, fed interference in the economic dynamics resulted to increased inflationary rates, which were evidence after the elections. To deal with growing public spending deficit, the top marginal income tax rate was raised from 31% in 1992 to 39.6% in 1993, which was similar to a 42.55 increase when Medicare tax hikes were included. 4This was proved by the economic growth that was recorded at 4.3% annually in the last quarter of 1992, but dropped to 1.7% annual rate in first quarter of 1993. 4 This reduced growth was a result of long term interest rates that continued to haunt the economy; the high interest rates were shelved in 1992 when they were

Globalization Argumentation Essay Example for Free

Globalization Argumentation Essay (1, Premise) Globalization effects on economy, administrative, and geographical system of the nations in an effective manner. In today’s more challenging and competitive business era, globalization is one of the most important factors that have a direct or indirect effect on the economic, administrative, and geographical system of the nations in an effective and proper manner. There are rapid changes in the economics of the nations, due to globalization. In addition, different kinds of issues are developed or created by the globalization to the countries. Also, these are effecting the nations directly or indirectly. For example. High risk investment in other countries is considered a significant issue. (1, Conclusion) â€Å"After the globalization of the worldwide market, foreign investors faced the high risk to invest in the other nation due to the differences in administrative, geographic, economic, culture and demographic condition of the countries.†(Lynch Gemini, 2010) (2, Premise) Globalization contributes to the improvement of technology that helped national companies. There are various technological improvements that create effective contribution in the globalization of markets and production. It is identified that the use of computers help the companies to adopt globalization and improve its market share in the global market. In computers, the use of the internet helps companies go global and add extra features to their production and operation activities. (2, Conclusion) â€Å"Through international technology, companies are also able to achieve competitive advantages over national and international competitors in an effective way.† (Mobius, 2012) (3, Premise) Globalization provides options of companies to improve their business through enter in the new country market. One improvement in technology related to change in the transportation technology helped the companies make globalization of markets  and production. The development of commercial jet aircraft and super fighters and development of ship transportation help companies simplify the trans-shipment from one mode of transport to another. (3, Conclusion) â€Å"Globalization helps companies to improve its market presence in the global market and introduce new production plants in different countries of the world to provide the right product to the right customers at the right time with the lowest cost† (Peng, 2009). (4, Premise) Globalization provides options of the companies to improve their position to attract or reach the new market and more customers. Technology is helpful for companies to generate global opportunities through attracting global customers for products and services. Changes in the telecommunication and introduction of the World Wide Web help companies connect with the global customers in an effective way and develop the opportunities in order to improve the market. There are various global marketing trends a global company needs to fulfill. The changing demand of customers, changes in advertising media and attraction for global customers are all important. In order to reach this target, global marketers need to target global advertising in order to attract global customers in an effective way. (4, Conclusion) â€Å"Through the targeting global advertising for the products and services, companies can also increase its customer base in the international market and can achieve competitive advantages over competitors in national and international market† (Shan, 2012). The first premise is an example of inductive reasoning as it is intended only to be so strong that, if the conclusion is different with premises. First premise: globalization impacts on countries economy, administrative, and geographical system, but the conclusion states differences that after the globalization, foreign investors face the high risk of investment in other countries due to the differences in countries’ administrative, geographic, economic, culture and demographic condition (Swenson, 2005). In addition, deductive argument is thought to be completely guaranteed of the premises truth, which means the conclusion is similar to the premise. Premise 2 is the example of the deductive argument as the premises and conclusion is the same, which the globalization or internationalization contributes into the improvement of technology as international technology reached of the companies that helped companies to achieve competitive advantages. References Lynch, M. Gemini,C. (2010). Wealth: How the Worlds High-Net-Worth Grow, Sustain, and Manage Their Fortunes. USA: John Wiley Sons. Mobius, M. (2012). Passport to Profits: Why the Next Investment Windfalls Will be Found Abroad and How to Grab Your Share. USA: John Wiley Sons. Peng, M.W. (2009). Global Business 2009. USA: Cengage Learning. Shan, W. (2012). The Legal Protection of Foreign Investment: A Comparative Study. USA: Hart Publishing Limited. Swensen, D.F. (2005). Unconventional Success: A Fundamental Approach to Personal Investment. USA: Simon and Schuster.

Importance of Feasibility Study System Analysis and Design

Importance of Feasibility Study System Analysis and Design This report analyses the importance of Feasibility Analysis to businesses when they are deciding on the viability of a proposed business venture involving the implementation or improvement of an information system. This report is split into three parts the initial part defines a feasibility analysis, the second part explains how an IT feasibility analysis should be conducted using the template of the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) and the last section in this report examines a completed feasibility study by Powerco, a utilities distribution Company in New Zealand. What is a feasibility analysis? As the words feasibility analysis suggests a feasibility analysis is carried out to decide on the viability of a proposed venture; basically it answers the essential question of is it a viable option and should the project be implemented. All stages of the analysis are carried out in order to answer this question. When researching it is clear that the majority of all large successful businesses conduct a feasibility study to ensure they embark on a viable project, for example Microsoft have a large research department situated in many different cities throughout the globe, this department collaborates with many institutions producing many feasibility analyses a year. When examining successful businesses such as Microsoft, I discovered they will not commit to a new project without first thoroughly assessing all of the variables and reviewing the probability of success through a feasibility study. The feasibility analysis process As a feasibility analysis is often time consuming and expensive (many companies pay consultants to perform the analysis), a preliminary study is undertaken to determine if it would be worthwhile to proceed to the feasibility analysis, within this preliminary study the evaluation of alternatives is made along with brief cost and benefit analysis. A feasibility study is usually conducted after the project managers have discussed all project ideas and every possible scenario, only if the results are positive the feasibility study begins. The content of feasibility Analysis Within a feasibility study it is necessary to discuss a number of areas including; details of the present system; what are the functions and objectives, who are the Stakeholders and the reasons to improve or replace the current system for example inconsistencies / inadequacies in functionality or performance, is there any possible solution alternatives and the advantages and disadvantages of the alternatives. Feasibility analysis can be split into four types; Operational factors; Operational feasibility is used to assess how well the information systems will work if implemented in the given environment. Define the urgency of the project If the project is implemented, will it be a success? Does management support the project? How do end users feel about the new system? People tend to resist change can this problem be overcome? Can management and end users adapt to the change? Has the proposed venture conflicted with organisational or government regulations? Schedule factors; It often takes time to build and implement an information system solution; will the project still be necessary on completion? The technology may exist, but are there the skills available to not only complete the project but complete it on schedule? Is the project deadline reasonable? Is the deadline desirable or mandatory? What are the results of failing to meet the project deadline? Technical; Technical feasibility is the measure of the practicality of specific technical information system solutions and the availability of technical resources. Often new technologies are solutions looking for a problem to solve: Is the technology for the information system solution practical? Does the necessary technology exist? Is the technology proven? Is the technology practical and reliable? Are the necessary skills available to design and implement the system? Is there the infrastructure to cope with ongoing maintenance (problems, upgrades) Economic; This is regularly the most important analysis made, it asks important questions; Is the project justified (i.e. will benefits outweigh costs)? Can the project be done, within given cost constraints? What is the minimal cost to attain a certain system? Which alternative offers the best return on investment? How much will it cost to maintain? The 12 Stages of an ITIL Feasibility Analysis ITIL is a global guidance document that provides worlds best practices for IT service management companies. ITIL guidelines are often used in feasibility studies and are broken down into twelve stages. These twelve stages are described in this next section and if necessary a brief example has been given; Introduction It is important that an introduction to the feasibility analysis is made; this introduction includes the content, the intent, the intended audience, the purpose, and organizational details of the feasibility analysis. Management Summary This stage summarises, what the other stages within the template will explain in more detail; this section provides a quick overview of the feasibility analysis and would include the following, an Introduction, Management Summary, Background of the Project, Objectives, Situation, Benefits, Problems and Risks, Technical Requirements, Options, Cost/Benefit Analysis, Financial/Budget Implications and Recommendations Background to the Project A project is proposed for a specific scenario and this step describes the reason the proposal exists. For example; current sales are at a low due to increased competition, the proposal is for a new company website, where customers are able to buy directly. Objectives The high level business purposes of the proposal, including the long-range management goals. For example, the proposed project is to increase sales by an estimated 15% per annum over the next ten years. Situation This step describes the present condition, without the service in place, including market conditions, it is necessary to highlight the need for the proposed system, and the consequences of the proposal not being authorized. Benefits In the benefits section, it is necessary to focus on the short term benefits of the proposal; this is different to the objective stage which focuses on the long term gains and the cost-benefit step which focuses primarily on the financial benefits. An example of this could be the increased customer satisfaction of the proposed website. Problems and Risks It is important to identify and assess possible problems and risks of the proposed project associated with it within the development, design, and deployment stages. This is done by doing a risk assessment on the proposed system; this will be used to identify problems in many different areas, including technologies, lack of user support, or resources. Technical Requirements Has the business the technological infrastructure for the proposed system? These requirements include knowledge of the hardware and software required, for example, does the business possess the database architecture, network structures, and hardware to sustain the website, will it be necessary to outsource? Options It is recommended in the ITIL framework that a feasibility analysis includes any alternatives to the proposal, including advantages and disadvantages and costs. An example of this could be advertising to increase sales and would show the estimated cost of this. Cost/Benefit In this step, the total cost of the project is calculated; this includes development, design, deployment, and maintenance of the new service. Costs include facilities, hardware, labor, and software. The project cost is compared to the financial benefits provided by the proposed system. What are benefits? These are examples of benefits, more accurate / timely information. Improved operation, increased flexibility of operation, increased output, error reductions, cost reductions; benefits can be placed into three different categories; Monetary; when money values can be calculated, Tangible; when benefits can be quantified, but monetary values cannot be calculated. Intangible; when neither of the others apply, this applies there is a benefit, but it cannot be quantified. There are different types of costs; Project related; development, purchasing, Installation, training costs, Operational costs; these costs are often ongoing costs and include; Maintenance on the hardware; maintenance, lease, materials Software; maintenance fees and contracts Personnel; operation, maintenance There are a number of tools used, which helps in the economic section of the feasibility analysis these are; Cost-benefit analysis (CBA); which estimates and totals up the equivalent money value of the benefits and costs of proposed projects to establish whether they are worthwhile. Payback Analysis; which is used to calculate how long it will take to pay the costs of the project Return on Investment Analysis; which compares the lifetime profitability of alternative solutions, Net Present Value Analysis: using current monetary values, profitability is determined of the proposed project, Return On Investment (ROI) compares the lifetime profitability of alternative solutions, (Lifetime benefits Lifetime costs) Lifetime costs and finally you can compare alternatives with the feasibility analysis matrix. Financial/Budget Implications Once the overall costs have been established, it is necessary to verify if the necessary funds are available, if so how? This may result in changes to the budget or priorities and reducing expenditure to accommodate the costs. Recommendations In this final step recommendations regarding the proposal are made including scheduling and budgeting Summary In summary these twelve steps that make up the ITIL is among the first activities a manager will undertake in preparation for a proposal for a new IT service, though it is important to remember these steps make a general guide and different information systems may require amendments. Examples of feasibility analysis Though the majority of businesses keep their own feasibility analysis private, research identified an interesting feasibility analysis conducted by Powerco. In this section I will briefly review this feasibility analysis in a case study due to the word restrictions on this essay and the extensiveness of the ITIL framework. Powerco has an estimated 410,000 consumers which makes it one of New Zealands largest utilities Companies. These customers expect a reliable service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Powerco applications are split between two platforms; Oracle RAC and Microsoft SQL Server, which has meant that the business had additional expenses of licensing, supporting, operating, and maintaining two systems. Additionally it was awkward for staff to alternate between the systems when working. As the Oracle platform of Powercos warranty cycle was approaching expiration, and the financial system was scheduled an important upgrade, it was clear to the company that it was time to reassess its options and whether it should consolidate to a single server platform or replace existing hardware. Powerco acknowledged that to consolidate the database platforms would create a more simple IT environment and would reduce the total cost of the database system significantly. The case for consolidation was simple why maintain two systems if you dont need to? explains Mr. Griffiths, Infrastructure Manager, Powerco. Powerco undertook preliminary study of the solutions and assessed the pros and c ons of Oracle versus SQL Server. This analysis pointed towards some significant advantages in choosing SQL Server over Oracle. These included reduced licensing and maintenance costs, ease of management and fewer requirements for a specialised skill set to manage and service the system. A feasibility study of migrating to SQL Server was then completed by consultants on Powercos behalf including a cost/benefit analysis, a risk assessment, analysis of the alternatives and the four factors discussed earlier in this report, this confirmed Powercos applications could be supported on SQL Server, with the remaining end of life applications being replaced with SQL Server compatible ones, the feasibility study showed that unlike other options Microsoft SQL Server, serving could be done in-house. Microsofts SQL Server was the cheapest option to license, maintain, and support, particularly because of the specialised nature of Oracle. The business would be more streamline and efficient with just the single platform. Increases security. Further Tangible and Non-tangible benefits. Due to the results of the feasibility study, Powerco changed from the two platforms to solely Microsoft SQL Server, the result of this consolidation has meant Powerco has been able to reduce costs significantly, also ensuring it was easier to maintain and manage in-house and eliminating the need for external consultants. The migration to SQL Server has cut the overall cost of ownership by $390,000 a year, also helping to streamline Powercos IT systems and have given a number of other Tangible and Non-tangible benefits. Conclusion In conclusion this report has explained what a feasibility study is and when it should be used, I have then reviewed the various stages which are recommended by the IT industry experts at the ITIL and have given an example of a successful feasibility study undertaken by Powerco. I believe to be objective this report should have explored examples of a unsuccessful feasibility study, however this was not possible due to my research not providing any suitable cases, but still the findings of this report are clear, it is advisable to do a feasibility analysis, as it is tried and tested and the vast majority of large and established companies use this method to check the viability of a proposed venture and are taking a substantial risk if a feasibility study is not carried out before embarking on new project.

Stakeholder Management and Culture Management

Stakeholder Management and Culture Management The process of identifying and managing project stakeholders and culture is one of the most important processes in project implementation because not only is project success judged by stakeholder satisfaction, but because every stakeholder makes an essential contribution to the project (Verzuh 2008, p.48). Beside stakeholder identification and management, project managers are required to establish a balance between implementing global standards and responding to local needs in their efforts to effectively manage the diffusion of stakeholder principles and practices (Nicolod 2007, p.484). Despite the great importance associated with stakeholder and culture management processes, these thorny processes or areas in project implementation have received less attention especially when comparisons are done relative to other areas that depend on these processes (Sharp et al. 1999, p.1). Such areas include, but are unlimited to, scenario-based requirements and user involvement in the project development stages. It was from this perspective that this paper decided to make the following contributions on this topic: first, a study was developed based on the theoretical framework involved in the identification and management of stakeholder relationships. The project went on to review literature that helps its users to understand clearly the balance that needs to be struck between understanding of organizational culture and stakeholder management. It is from the above perspective that this case study aimed to study the role and the influence of various stakeholders in the implementation of projects. In tackling this case study, the author began by stating the aim the need for studying this topic. This was followed by a review of the literature. The literature review clearly established who the project stakeholders were. In addition, their role and their influence in the project were clearly identified. Moreover, the literature review defined organizational culture and went on to establish its link with stakeholder management. After reviewing the literature, the author, in a holistic view, explored how a reputable Saudi technology firm, Zuhair Fayze Partnership (ZFP), identified and managed its stakeholders during a multi-million project implemented by the company. This project, which was undertaken in the year 2001 involved the analysis, design, development, installation and commissioning of a Facilities Information System to the Royal Saudi Air Forces (RSAF)- a renown aviation branch that services all Saudi Arabias Airbases. Having explored on the findings from his study, the author conclude by giving a critical analysis of his experience. It should be highlighted that this case study, having been compiled after the implementation of a military IT project, presented a unique structure and experience. This was so because it involved the development of a military system and as such some of its details could not be studied openly due to security restrictions. As such, some knowledge gaps might be present in this case study thus constituting its major limitation. 2.0 Aim and rationale of this paper This papers aim was to identify who the key project stakeholders were, how they were managed and how their expectations come to influence the success of the FIS project. In addition, the author assessed how organizational or national culture shaped the expectations of key stakeholders. All these were intended to help him and the users of this paper to develop suitable and effective stakeholder management strategies in their current or future project assignments. More so, in writing this paper, it should be noted that the author was motivated by the fact that despite the many developments in techniques and development tools to effectively manage projects, several projects have still experienced difficulties that have affected their overall quality leading to time and cost overruns. Mohammed (2006) in reviewing Morris and Hough (1987) research on an estimated 3500 projects established that overruns were the norm in project implementation since they ranged between 40 to 200 percent. The figure below depicted general statistics associated with project success from this research. Parameter %-age rating Succeeded 29 Failed 18 Challenged 53 Table 1 showing the statistics of project success and failure Pie chart 1 depicting the statistics of project success and failure 3.0 Literature review 3.1Project stakeholders Singleton (2007) defined stakeholders as organizations or individuals who are actively involved in projects and whose interests may be negatively or positively affected in the courses of completion or execution of these particular projects (p.12). According to him therefore, stakeholders were made up of two categories; indirect stakeholders and direct stakeholders. Indirect stakeholders were summed up by those individuals who, despite having some level of influence or interest in the operations of the business, were not directly involved in the operations of the project. On the other hand, direct stakeholders were composed of individuals who were directly involved in the operations of any project lifecycle. As such, they were affected by the particular project, had the power to influence it or had stakes in the successful completion of the project. The following figure 1 showed the levels of stakeholder influence and interest. High Interest Manage them closely Keep informed of project operations High Influence Low Influence Keep satisfied Monitor their operations Low Interest On their part, Walker and others (2008), in trying to establish a valid description of who a stakeholder was, discovered that stakeholders were groups or individuals who possessed some right aspects or interest in the operations of a project and thus contributed to or were impacted by say, the outcome or the work of the project (p.648). To them, stakeholders could be classified into four groups namely; upstream stakeholders, downstream stakeholders supply-chain partners, project team stakeholders and external stakeholders. Figure 1 below showed these groups of project stakeholders. Walker and his group (2000) in assessing the influence of project stakeholders and their mapping by project teams, came to the conclusion that identifying stakeholders could help trigger a course of investigation that leads to a better understanding of the nature and types of power and influence that may be exerted on, within and to project management teams (p.648). Frooman (1999) expounded on this point by stating that in identifying the project stakeholders, the project managers were likely to determine whether their projects were to be awarded with the needed resources. On their part, Post and others (2002) though acknowledging Freemans popularised description of a stakeholder as the interests and entities that are either involuntarily or voluntarily involved in a firms operations, went on to develop their own stakeholder view that stressed on the need for stakeholder relationships in any project that involved creation of any organizational wealth (p.1). In addition, Sharp and others (1999) just simply defined a stakeholder as any individual or group who affected or were affected by achievement of a projects objectives (p.1). They went ahead to list various categories of stakeholders as including managers of a project, end-users, engineers involved in system analysis, design and development, customers who are going to make use of the developed system, external bodies for instance system regulators, domain experts and many more (Sharp et al.1999, p.1-2). The three scholars expounded on their definition by giving another perspective that stakeholders may be composed of three categories namely those external on the project team; but who are internal in the organization, those internal on the project team and those who are external to both the organization and the project team (Sharp et al. 1999, p.2). 3.2 Understanding organizational or national cultures Weiss (2008) defined organizational culture as the shared values and meanings as held by organizational members in common, and are articulated and practised by an organizations leaders (p. 300). To Weiss therefore, corporate culture is transmitted through: Leadership styles and values as espoused and practised by organizational leaders. The heroes and heroines that the company rewards and holds up as models (Weiss 2008, p.300). The rights or symbols valued by organizations. The way of communication that exists between project heads and their stakeholders. Weiss (2008) went ahead to highlight that though organizational cultures were both invisible and visible, informal and formal, project managers needed to study and understand organizational cultures through observation, listening and interacting with project or organizational stakeholders. Furthermore, they could study organizational culture in the following ways: studying an organizations physical setting and reading company policies to familiarise themselves with its expected norms or behaviours. On his part, Chinyio (2007) defined organizational culture as involving the level of deeper and basic beliefs and assumptions as shared by the members of organizations, that unconsciously operate and defined in the basic taken for granted fashion, as organizations view of themselves and their environment (pp.176-177). Ideally, House and his group (2002) in their GLOBE research program theoretically defined organizational culture as any shared motives, beliefs, values, interpretations and identities or meanings of important events that emerge from most common member experiences and are passed across generations of age (p.5). Furthermore, in helping us to broaden our understanding of culture, Schein (1996) highlighted that culture manifested itself at 3 levels namely the level of deep tacit assumptions, the level of espoused values that reflected on what a group wished to be and the day to day behaviour. For any project success, project implementers needed to have a clear understanding of all the identified levels. From their perspective, Osland and Bird (2000) noted that there was a tendency for observers to confuse individual with group values (p.69). As such, there was need for project expatriates to carry out keen observations to identify the variance in behavioural norms for individuals, organizational cultures, subcultures as well as changing sections of the society (p.70). More so, Schein (1996) when analyzing why innovative projects failed to proliferate and survive noted there was lack of alignment amongst the following categories of culture: the operator culture which existed amongst the subordinates of an organization, the engineering culture which existed amongst the middle level managers and the executive culture which was present amongst the company top management (p.9). 3.3 The link between stakeholders and organizational culture Studies on project management have shown that coupled with leaderships, organizational cultures are central to projects operating efficiency and overall effectiveness. Studies have generally revealed that cultures are the glue that holds other organizational dimensions (strategy, structure, people and systems) together (Weiss 2008, p.300). Project success will only be achieved if project leaders come to associate themselves with modelling, building and helping to sustain ethical and legal organizational or national cultures via comprehensive and properly defined compliance and ethics programs. 3.4 Key steps in stakeholder management Singleton (2007) identified the following as the key steps in any stakeholder management process: Identification of key stakeholder groups Determination of stakeholder influences and interests Development of management strategies for each identified groups. On his part, Gibben (2010) postulated that before going ahead to implement any project, project leaders or managers needed to take into account the following issues (p.14); Clearly identify project stakeholders; Gather key data or information of the identified stakeholders; Use the collected data to determine or identify stakeholder priorities; Establish the strengths and weaknesses of the various stakeholders; Identify the stakeholder support; Predict the stakeholder behaviours. This can be determined by studying organizational culture and finally; Prepare a stakeholder management strategy. All the above stages can be summarized under stakeholder analysis approach. Tellingly, Strong and Rath (2005) argued that the approach of stakeholder management contained three key steps namely; stakeholder identification, stakeholder analysis and stakeholder planning (p.173). Furthermore, on their part, Carayannis and his group (2005) stated the following as the key steps involved in stakeholder management (p.184). Identifying and classifying the stakeholders of the project (against, neutral, for) and analyzing their possible project impacts. This could be done using the project lifecycle. Isolating and analyzing project stakeholders with any likely negative impacts Incorporating and involving key primary project stakeholders (included and not limited to the clients, labour union, suppliers, contractors, consultants, and government agencies) in the project plan and in every subsequent phase of the project Ensuring that the required information is regularly availed to the identified stakeholders at appropriate times. This will ensure that the identified key stakeholders will clearly concur with project objectives leading to a successful completion of the particular project. 3.5 Stakeholder management strategies These are the approaches used by project managers in minimizing the influences caused by the identified project stakeholders. From his research, Karlsen (2002) found out that in most projects, systematic or formal stakeholder management strategies did not exist (p.22). From his research, stakeholders were managed on a random basis since there were no plans, processes, methods or well-functioning strategies. As a result, project managers decided on the best solutions of managing any identified stakeholder weaknesses. However, Wolper (2004) went ahead to propose the four generic strategies of managing stakeholder relationships (p.172). These were: Collaborating cautiously with the stakeholders who were found to have a mixed blessing relationship on the project. Involving and trusting the supportive stakeholders Implementing defensive strategies that are pro- active in nature for the non-supportive stakeholders; and Monitoring the stakeholders with little/marginal relationships with efficiency. 4.0 Project case study 4.1 How ZFP identified and managed its key stakeholders This being a military technology system, ZFP used a different but distinct approach of implementing the system. The process of stakeholder identification was the third in its project implementation stages after the definition of the strategic issue and the determination of underlying factors. The following is a detailed analysis of how ZFP carried out this important but mostly overlooked process of project implementation. The company project implementation committee started by identifying the key stakeholders. In doing this, the committee categorised the stakeholders into two broad categories. These were the primary and secondary stakeholders. The following were identified as belonging to the primary stakeholder category: Customers or users of the FIS system (Saudi Arabian air force soldiers) Project managers, supervisors and engineers from ZFP and RSAF. RSAF shareholders (all Saudi Arabian air force bases: Dhahran, Tabuk, Taif, Al Kharj and Khamis Mushait and the Saudi Government) Suppliers/contractors/subcontractors of hardware and any software packages Project steering committee Primary stakeholders were considered as those individuals or groups who had key interests in the FIS project. As such, they were likely to be affected by the operations in the FIS project lifecycle. On the other hand, secondary stakeholders were described as those individuals who had no or very few interest on the FIS project. They were considered vital in this project since their actions may have, in one way or another influenced the quality of the general system that was to be developed then. For instance, the steering committee had pointed out that the Saudi Arabian media constituted a key secondary stakeholder since any negative covering on this huge public and military project might have caused great damage to the successful completion of this project. This was so because negative publicity towards the project may have raised public outcry which would have resulted in the Saudi treasury suspending the financing of this complex and multi-million FIS project. Besides the media, other individuals or groups who made it to the secondary stakeholder category included and were unlimited to the following: The licensing agency (Malath Cooperative Insurance Reinsurance) Saudi Arabian environmentalists The general Saudi Public Professional organizations in the Saudi Kingdom for instance, Legalized Institutes for Project management in Saudi Arabia. Competitors (those firms who lost their bids to deliver the system) Anyone one who validly claimed to have a stake in the FIS project Having successfully identified FIS project stakeholders, the steering committee left it to the project manager to analyse their influence and create a management strategy for this project. As such, the project manager, after close consultation with project supervisors, developed the following as the stakeholder analysis and management strategy: Stakeholder(s) Interest/Issues of concern Action (s) Saudi air force soldiers, RSAF shareholders, management teams and project engineers They were to be the key users of the system and as such were to provide a supportive relationship. Were low as potential threats but high on ensuring potential co-operation. Since they had a supportive relationship, their relationship management was likely to be managed on a rare basis. ZFP was to involve these supportive stakeholders in all its relevant project issues. The licensing agencies, environmentalists, professional organizational, competitors and the general Saudi public These were to present three types of relations; mixed blessing, non-supportive and marginal stakeholder relationship. As a result of these relationships, they were to constitute high potential threats and thus needed high potential co-operation from the project managers to address their hidden and bad intentions. These categories of stakeholders were to be managed through cautious, monitoring and proactive defence strategies. Besides using these strategies, generic strategies, most appropriate to any new diagnostic category, was to be adopted. For instance, instead of ZFP defending itself against negative publicity, it was to develop a high quality system at an affordable competitive price. The quality of the FIS system would thus speak for itself leading to the non-supportive relationships losing their credibility in their efforts to dispute the project Table 2 showing how ZFP analysed and developed stakeholder management strategy 4.3 How stakeholder expectations affected the successful delivery of the project. As noted earlier, the declaration that a project was successful can only be justified if the specific project clearly answered to the needs or expectations of most, if not all, stakeholders. In this technology project, the identified primary and secondary groups of stakeholders had their own unique expectations which were clearly and appropriately addressed by the overall project manager (with the assistance of the steering committee members). 5.0 A discussion of my experience 5.1 Identification of key stakeholders As previously highlighted, the steering committee that was chosen to oversee the implementation of this huge IT project had, in liaison with the project manager, held several sessions in the initial stages upon which key FIS project stakeholders were identified. From the workshops held, it was established that two categories of stakeholders claimed ownership to this project. These were the primary and secondary stakeholders. Primary stakeholders were constituted by Saudi air force soldiers, RSAF shareholders, project management, project engineers, project suppliers, contractors and sub-contractors amongst others. Secondary stakeholders were constituted by the licensing agency (Malath Cooperative Insurance Reinsurance), environmentalists, professional organizational, competitors and the general Saudi public. 5.2 Understanding key stakeholder expectations Other than the RSAFs managing providing a detailed description of the requirements of the FIS system that was to be developed, the project manager and the steering team had to do their best to ensure that additional funds were provided to the various phases of the project on a need basis. Moreover, the management from both companies were frequently updated on the status of the FIS project amongst other stakeholder expectations. In the end, a hi-tech Facilities Information System was delivered, installed and commissioned to the delight of the many project stakeholders. 5.3 The assessment of key stakeholder influence The FIS project steering members and the overall project manager carried out a comprehensive analysis of the two categories of stakeholders. This was done with the main intention of determining their influence and the need to counter it. During this analysis stage, four stakeholder relationships were identified by the management team. It is from these relationships that the influences of these stakeholders were determined. The two types of relationships were: The supportive relationship which was constituted by all the primary stakeholders as listed above. This category of stakeholders posed a low potential threat to the success of the FIS project since they fully supported the aim and goals of the FIS project. They thus worked hard to help achieve the project aim and goals. The non-supportive relationship was made up of a few secondary stakeholders for instance the competitors. They formed a most distressing relationship and as such were high potential threats. 5.4 management of key stakeholder influence In managing the influences of key stakeholders, the steering committee members decided to use a collaborative and proactive defence to address the influence of the non-supportive stakeholders. In adopting this strategy, the management intended to turn the negative non-supportive relationship into a supportive stakeholder relationship. For example, when environmentalists tried to inquire on the suitability of the FIS system in conserving the environment, the steering committee took it upon them to organize a consultative and awareness forum where this specific stakeholder was comprehensively updated on the strengths of the FIS system in conserving and preserving the environment. At the conclusion of the forum, all stakeholders had joined the supportive stakeholder relationship. The influences of supportive stakeholders were addressed through a strategy that was dubbed as trustworthy involvement. This strategy placed little attention to the management of these stakeholders since they posed a low threat to the survival or successful completion of the FIS project. 5.5 Understanding the organisational culture Having established the above stakeholder management strategy, ZFP held meetings and reviewed organizational policies. This was carried with the main intention of understanding RSAFs organizational culture. From the reviewed reports and the observations made, it was established that most air force soldiers in the four airbases were technology gigs and as such, would comfortable interact with the high-tech FIS system that was being developed. 5.6 Understanding national culture characteristics of its team members and identified key stakeholders Being a Saudi Arabian technology firm and boasting a hundred percent Saudi workforce, ZFP did not experience difficulties in understanding cultural characteristics of the Saudi Kingdom. The steering committee had noted that most Saudis were tolerant, self-directed, efficient, logical, task-oriented, multi-tasking, collaborative, team-players and entrepreneurial. These characteristics were manifest in most stakeholders and were even identified by the project manager as the key strengths that propelled the FIS project to emerge a success. 5.7 How my observations compared with the literature The author had reviewed a lot of literature both from the class lectures and electronic sources. This literature had comprehensively covered amongst others the following objectives: To study some of the stakeholder concepts To understand the nature of stakeholder engagement in various projects To clearly define who the stakeholders were and go ahead to state their role in project implementation To understand the various stakeholder influences and how stakeholder management strategies were developed to counteract the established stakeholder influences. To define national and organizational culture and to establish their link with stakeholder management. Having participated in almost all project phases and keenly observed the various project activities, the author highlight that ZFP, as a reputable technology firm, was worth its reputation as one of the best Saudi Arabian technology firms. This is because of the systematic manner in which its employees implemented the various project phases. For instance, before identifying the key stakeholders, the steering team had clearly stated and established the strategy for this project. This had been followed by a comprehensive review of the factors influencing the project. The stakeholder management, though overlooked in most worldwide projects, received its value of attention with key stakeholders being clearly identified, their analysis being carried out and a management strategy established to counteract their influences. All this matched the concepts studied in the literature review. 5.8 Effective implementation of the project As the saying goes, it is always hard to achieve 100 percent success in any (project) endeavour. Despite the FIS project being declared a success, it should be noted that this project, if objectively analysed, had some weaknesses in its implementation stages. The following recommendation can be made on the stakeholder and culture management phases; which were the key themes of this study: The project management team should specifically identify the key stakeholder in any future project. This will help the management to carry out comprehensive analysis of the specific stakeholders. As such, they will adequately propose as many options of managing their influences. This is vital because it was noted that the management team had generalized some of their stakeholders. For example, instead of just listing competitors as secondary stakeholders, they should have gone ahead to identify who constituted these technology competitors. For instance, The Consolidated Contractors International Company had in many cases emerged as the greatest competitor to ZFP. There was thus need to establish a management strategy that could counteracted its influence in such multi-million technology projects. Conclusively, it should be emphasized that the presented case study has reviewed theoretical and highlighted the observations from a practical perspective. Through theoretical literature review, the author had the opportunity to expound on his knowledge on the categories of individuals that summed up the project stakeholders. Furthermore, the author found out that rational approach to stakeholder management involved exhaustive identification of stakeholders through mapping of their project roles. To add, the idea that the implementation of suitable communication processes to projects with multiple stakeholders reinforced my knowledge that communication was the key aspect of winning the support of project stakeholders. In the end, in identifying the limitation of this study, the author points out that the observations made in this project were restrictive in nature. This is because the author, being a learner, was not granted permission to study all project aspects due the restrictive measures that accompanied this military project. There is therefore need for further research to examine relationships between performance and corporate actions, key aspects which have been studied on a sketched outline in this case study.

The Simpsons Essays -- Cartoons Politics Argumentative America Essays

The Simpsons When the FOX network aired "The Simpsons" in 1989, the show brought the yellow-skinned and four-fingered cartoon characters named Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie Simpson into millions of American living rooms. This bent archetype of the American family, as well as the hundreds of zany characters that populate their all-American hometown of Springfield, fast became the targets of enormous criticism. Elementary schools banned T-shirts bearing the images of the Simpson family and their slogans. Former U.S. Secretary of Education William Bennett and even President George Bush berated the show as subversive and demeaning (McAllister 1494). However, a more careful investigation of the show reveals far more than nose-thumbing gutter humor--enveloped in sarcasm and comedy, "The Simpsons" offers a thought-provoking critique of American politics, faith, and the American family. "The Simpsons," taking prime-time television far beyond its normal scope, throws fierce political punches right and left. Caricatures of Presidents Bush and Clinton have shown up in Springfield during various episodes, Bush as a laughable political failure and Clinton as a sexual pervert. While Springfield's mayor is a corrupt, womanizing Kennedy parody, the local Republican Party plots evil schemes from a nearby cave (Cantor). Paul A. Cantor, an English professor at the University of Virginia and sometime analyst of "Simpsons" politics, argues that the universally critical political message of the series tends, like most Hollywood entertainment, to favor the left over the right. John O'Connor, a television critic for The New York Times, goes farther to say that "The Simpsons" is "the most radical show on prime time" (McAllister 1494). ... ... country is well worth laughing about. Works Cited Berman, Marshall. "Skepticism in Action: Simpsons Religion vs. Science Episode." Skeptical Inquirer March/April 1998: 19. Cantor, Paul A. "The Simpsons." Political Theory 27.6 (December 1999): 734. MasterFile FullText 1500. Palni SiteSearch. Goshen College Good Library. 19 March 2000. Doherty, Brian. "Matt Groening." Mother Jones March/April 1999: 34. Palni SiteSearch. Goshen College Good Library. 19 March 2000. McAllister, Matthew P. "The Simpsons." Encyclopedia of Television. Ed. Horace Newcomb. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1997. "Opening Notes." Ed. Barbara Wickens. Macleans's 29 April 1996: 14. Sillars, Les. "The Last Christian TV Family in America." Alberta Report/Newsmagazine 21 October 1996: 36. MasterFile FullText 1500. Palni SiteSearch. Goshen College Good Library. 19 March 2000. The Simpsons Essays -- Cartoons Politics Argumentative America Essays The Simpsons When the FOX network aired "The Simpsons" in 1989, the show brought the yellow-skinned and four-fingered cartoon characters named Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie Simpson into millions of American living rooms. This bent archetype of the American family, as well as the hundreds of zany characters that populate their all-American hometown of Springfield, fast became the targets of enormous criticism. Elementary schools banned T-shirts bearing the images of the Simpson family and their slogans. Former U.S. Secretary of Education William Bennett and even President George Bush berated the show as subversive and demeaning (McAllister 1494). However, a more careful investigation of the show reveals far more than nose-thumbing gutter humor--enveloped in sarcasm and comedy, "The Simpsons" offers a thought-provoking critique of American politics, faith, and the American family. "The Simpsons," taking prime-time television far beyond its normal scope, throws fierce political punches right and left. Caricatures of Presidents Bush and Clinton have shown up in Springfield during various episodes, Bush as a laughable political failure and Clinton as a sexual pervert. While Springfield's mayor is a corrupt, womanizing Kennedy parody, the local Republican Party plots evil schemes from a nearby cave (Cantor). Paul A. Cantor, an English professor at the University of Virginia and sometime analyst of "Simpsons" politics, argues that the universally critical political message of the series tends, like most Hollywood entertainment, to favor the left over the right. John O'Connor, a television critic for The New York Times, goes farther to say that "The Simpsons" is "the most radical show on prime time" (McAllister 1494). ... ... country is well worth laughing about. Works Cited Berman, Marshall. "Skepticism in Action: Simpsons Religion vs. Science Episode." Skeptical Inquirer March/April 1998: 19. Cantor, Paul A. "The Simpsons." Political Theory 27.6 (December 1999): 734. MasterFile FullText 1500. Palni SiteSearch. Goshen College Good Library. 19 March 2000. Doherty, Brian. "Matt Groening." Mother Jones March/April 1999: 34. Palni SiteSearch. Goshen College Good Library. 19 March 2000. McAllister, Matthew P. "The Simpsons." Encyclopedia of Television. Ed. Horace Newcomb. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1997. "Opening Notes." Ed. Barbara Wickens. Macleans's 29 April 1996: 14. Sillars, Les. "The Last Christian TV Family in America." Alberta Report/Newsmagazine 21 October 1996: 36. MasterFile FullText 1500. Palni SiteSearch. Goshen College Good Library. 19 March 2000.

Calories Burned, Dollars Earned, Lessons Learned :: Personal Narrative Writing

Calories Burned, Dollars Earned, Lessons Learned "Ben, I'm going to be frank with you. You're not the strongest mudboy I've ever had. In fact, you're about the weakest." And thus my boss concisely summarized the last month of my work as his laborer. A mudboy, by definition, is a mason's bitch, whose sole purpose during the workday is to supply the masons with a constant flow of bricks and mud so they can build without slowing down. This poses a challenging task for a young, fairly weak 17 year old who must constantly (for a nine-hour day with one 15-minute break) mix mud to the right consistency, wheelbarrow the mixture over to the ladder, haul it up to the second story in buckets, heave the mud into mudpans, scale down the ladder, grab a tong of bricks (a metal clamp that holds about 11 bricks), run up and down the ladder several more times to refill the brick supply, only to climb back down to make some more mud because the mudpans are about empty. While I was doing all of this running and hauling each weekday during the August of 1999, my boss Richard and his brother Phil loudly and eagerly spewed their wisdom upon me. Their continuous verbalized insight included explanations of how evil Democrats are, how I should base my future career on money instead of personal interest, how great their last mudboy was, how I should praise U.S. foreign policy, and why I should never ever become a mason. After waking up at five each morning and driving to my job site in the next county, my first priority as a mudboy was making mud. I broke the bag of mortar mix and inhaled the stinging scent of brick mortar as the acidic powder flew into my nostrils. Nine shovelfuls of sand, five gallons of water, and one fifty-pound bag of mortar mix later, I had the day's initial batch of mud brewing in the large steel mixer. Making my very first mud mixture on the first day of work was not a pleasant experience since, as a naà ¯ve, amateur mudboy, I had not put on good gloves that morning. This foolish decision brought me the unique, intense pain created when masonry mud is combined with brick scuffs and scratches. I distinctly remember the raw burning sensation of rough Tudor bricks scraping against fingertips that had already lost sections of skin because the chemical-filled mud had burned through the upper layers of the epidermis.

The Fantasy of Womens Sports in Primetime TV Slots :: Womens Issues Essays

The Fantasy of Women's Sports in Primetime TV Slots Gail, a dark, tiny, female reporter, is given the assignment of investigating Babe, one of the most talented female athletes of the twentieth century. Suggestions have sprung up that Babe was not a woman at all. These suggestions have come from beer corporations and radical right-wing opponents of a new growing opinion that men and women's sports should equally share primetime TV slots. Gail had never heard of Babe. Gail writes movie reviews and articles in the Arts section. Gail is a chain smoker. She used to cut gym everyday to smoke under the bleachers with her friends. She hasn't owned a pair of sneakers since the third grade. In high school she used to think there were three kinds of kids: the nerds, the jocks, and the freaks. She was some combination of the first and last group. She still held that opinion and liked to sneer at joggers in the park. She was, thus, unhappy about this assignment. Gail visits her parents who live in the suburbs. They are bohemian types. They eat a lot of gorp, have matching pottery wheels in a shed in the back yard, and would have never owned a television, but Gail begged them to get one in her freshman year of high school. When she graduated, it was the first thing that was unplugged and packed into the car, ready for her dorm room. She asks them if they ever heard of Babe. They say they vaguely remember a golf player named Babe. But they sneer. Golf is for the bourgeoisie, they say. Gail goes up to her old room. When she was in elementary school all of her friends had horseback riding ribbons and trophies. She looks at her room now, imagines the walls covered in tiny ribbons, and they dissolve into a Picasso poster and the graffiti she used to write when she hadn't fallen asleep yet. She goes over to one section of the wall, runs her finger over a phrase: JOCKS ARE DUMB. Gail goes back down stairs and asks her father why she never wanted to play sports. "Well, honey," he says, "You're small. And artistic. You're not an athlete." And she thinks to herself, I didn't know what the word athletic meant until I was in the third grade. And then I threw out my tennis shoes.

Autobiography: Family and Blake Austin Summers

My name is Blake Austin Summers. I am 14 years old and in the 9th grade and go to Wayne School of Engineering. I have brown eyes with short hair. I am white and half Asian. I have a family of four, mom, dad, brother, sister, and also have two pets. My birthday is on Septet 5, 1998. I was born and raised in North Carolina in a town named Goldberg. I used to live on Seymour Johnson Air force Base. https://donemyessay.com/italian-facial-features/When my dad retired we had to move. I currently live in a two story house, and have been there since 2005. I have been to many places in the United States before. I have a lot of relatives from both sides of my parent's. They all live in different states. My favorite color is blue and my favorite type of food is Italian. I have two best friends named Vive and Katie. The things I like to do on my free time is listen to music, hang with my friends, go outside to walk, and get on my computer.I am currently in karate as a black belt in two styles. I am really good with computers and most technology. The school I'm going to offers better academics and I plan on achieving my goals there. Those goals are to graduate with a high diploma and associated degree, which will help me and have me a step forward. When I become older I want to be a psychologist because I love to help people with their problems.

Beautiful Mind Essay

Based on what I have watched from the movie of â€Å"A Beautiful Mind†, which is a biography based on the true life story of a math prodigy, John Forbes Nash Jr., is an incomparable math genius student from Princeton University who definitely amazed the minds of people he meets. For me, he is an extraordinary person having a broad and an odd imagination as well. Unfortunately, he suffers from a mental illness called schizophrenia which he doesn’t even know himself. His friends find him weird or likely a nerd, but still they try to make friends with him. Nash tried to communicate and interact with them but in the end, it’s like there’s something that bothers him, some kind of paranoia that leads him to stay away and find himself alone and unconsciously creating things that aren’t really there (hallucination) and believing things that aren’t really true (delusion). Like for example, an imaginary friend which is known to be Charles (his room mat e) and Charles’ niece. It’s odd but I strongly believe that all the things kept from his subconscious mind releases through Charles and other delusions his mind creates. I believe more than anything else, this movie focuses on perceptions of life. Perception of what is reality and what is imaginary, not only his perception but also people’s perception of him, and of the situation. Yet he was a brilliant man, although at times to people he seemed a bit unorthodox he was eventually accepted. Ironically enough I believe that it was his problems of not liking people, but wanting to be accepted and acknowledge that aided his mental state, however by the time he had become accepted his imaginary world was out of control. As years passes without knowing that he has such mental illness, Nash have invented some kind of Mathematical formula (equilibrium) which become popular and it startled me. He graduated and become a professor in Mathematics and romantically involved with his hard working student named Alicia and they even got married. But his illness turned out to be worse than I thought; his delusions become rigorous and more uncontrollable by his mind. He even believed that he’s been hired to work to the government to break codes. His other delusional product named Parcher, keeps on haunting him to work and to work which have caused him so much stress that made the symptoms worse. He keeps on believing that there’s a conspiracy, a mission by the government that will lead him to honor, but all of these are only in his mind. Nash continued his medication and deal with his delusional state. And it made me wonder, because according to my belief, â€Å"real mentally abnormal person doesn’t even know that he/she is not normal†. But in Nash’s case, how come he realized that he’s suffering from this illness and he can even stay away from his delusions? I don’t know but all I know are risks that may happen if you pay no attention to this illness. Without medication and therapy, they are unable to function in the real world. If they fall victim to severe hallucinations and delusions, they can be a danger to themselves and those around them. Schizophrenia usually develops gradually, although onset can be sudden. These were the symptoms that Nash have: Confusion, Inability to make decisions, Hallucinations, doesn’t eat regularly and lack of sleep, Delusions, Nervousness, Indifference to the opinions of others, A tendency to argue A conviction that he is better than others, or that people are out to get him. Fortunately, he was able to cop with his Paranoia and lived a simple life, he even got the Nobel Prize he ever wanted because of his genuine mind.

Neurological Features Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Health And Social Care Essay

Systemic lupus erythematosus ( SLE ) is a chronic multisystem autoimmune connective tissue upset, which has variable clinical manifestations that range from mild to life-threatening. Young adult females between their late teens and early 40s have a much higher prevalence in developing SLE, with a female to male ratio of 9:1 [ 7 ] . In the United States ( U.S. ) for illustration, Lawrence et Al. [ 8 ] reported that SLE appeared to be more common in black adult females than in other population groups. One U.S. retrospective survey of patient medical records, by McCarty et Al. [ 9 ] found that the disease was diagnosed 23 times more frequently in black adult females. Certain cultural groups besides appear to demo a higher prevalence, such as people with Afro – Caribbean [ 127 – 129 ] or African beginning [ 130 – 133 ] . The world-wide prevalence of SLE ranges between 12 and 50 per 100,000. These figures vary and are related to location and to the patient ‘s ethnicity every bit good as better acknowledgment of the disease today [ 10 ] . Factors such as sunshine, the part of infection, oestrogen endocrines, emphasis and drugs may precipitate the disease and there is besides a complex familial footing [ 11 ] . It has been reported by Deapen et Al. [ 12 ] that a familial factor in the sensitivity to the disease is reflected by 25 % harmony in indistinguishable twins. Many of the recent familial findings, [ 13, 14 ] seem sensible from a mechanistic point of view: they identify cistrons with of import functions in the immune system ; on occasion in concurrence with functional informations of the allelomorphs tested that besides fit the paradigm of loss of self-tolerance. Familial lacks of complement besides plays a function, [ 15 ] with C1q, C1r, C1s C4, and C2 being the most of import of the complement proteins, [ 16 ] nevertheless, no individual cause for SLE has been identified. Recent information, [ 17 ] besides suggested that a about omnipresent virus Epstein-Barr virus ( EBV ) might besides play a facilitating function [ 18 – 22 ] . A case-control survey, by James et Al. [ 23 ] demonstrated that EBV antibodies were present in 99 % , and EBV DNA was present in 100 % of the kids and immature grownups who had SLE, which was significantly higher than those in the control group. Despite this, the association between active EBV infection and the precipitation of SLE remains ill-defined. Neuropsychiatric manifestations are progressively recognised in patients with SLE. These include a broad assortment of neurological and psychiatric characteristics that account for considerable morbidity and mortality in these patients. They besides involve both the cardinal and peripheral nervous systems and scope from elusive abnormalcies of cognitive disfunction and anxiousness to obvious manifestations, such as shot, ictuss and psychosis. This article through systematic published literature, efforts to summarize the of import neurological characteristics of cardinal nervous system disease of SLE.Clinical PresentationThe widely recognised presentation of a immature female showing with inflammatory arthritis and a butterfly roseola on the face ( Fig 1 ) is comparatively uncommon [ 7 ] . Non-specific symptoms of unease, weariness, arthralgia, unwritten ulcers, radiosensitivity, lymphadenopathy, pleuritic thorax strivings, concerns, parathesiae, symptoms of dry eyes and oral cavity, Raynaud ‘s phenomenon and mild hair loss are the more likely presentations [ 24 ] . Fig 1. Typical â€Å" butterfly † -like roseola over the cheeks in SLE [ 24 ] . The diagnosing of SLE of single patients hence requires certain clinical and laboratory informations, [ 25 ] based on the widely accepted modified ( 1997 ) standards suggested by the American College of Rheumatology ( ACR ) ( although intended, and in fact more utile for research and curative test intents ) ( Table 1 ) [ 26 ] . The agencies to early diagnosing is in the clinical rating of patients. It should include a complete ‘systems ‘ reappraisal with scrutiny and subsequent probes, guided by the extent of organ involvement [ 7 ] . For illustration, in primary attention, a diagnosing of SLE or a related upset is often evident after clinical rating, uranalysis for blood and protein. Probes such as a full blood count ( FBC ) , which frequently shows an anemia or a cytopenia, nephritic and liver map trials and acute stage reactants: a high erythrocyte deposit rate ( ESR ) with a normal C reactive protein ( CRP ) concentration are characteristic. A simple algorithm for the diagnosing of SLE is provided as an illustration ( Fig 2 ) [ 25 – 29 ] .Central nervous system diseaseHistoryCentral nervous system ( CNS ) engagement in SLE was foremost described by Kaposi in 1872 [ 1 ] . Osler in 1903 was the first to describe a perennial focal intellectual ischemia in SLE [ 2 ] . Libman and Sacks [ 3 ] described endocarditis in SLE in 1924. The association of the lupus d ecoagulant ( LA ) and thrombosis in patients with SLE was described by Bowie et Al. [ 4 ] in 1963, and in 1968 Johnson and Richardson reported neuropathlogical findings in 24 instances of SLE [ 5 ] . In 1988, Devinsky et Al. [ 6 ] reported on an necropsy survey of 50 SLE patients ; 10 of whom had embolic intellectual infarcts, five caused by Libman-Sacks endocarditis and four from other cardiac beginnings.Neurological characteristicsCNS disease is extremely diverse and remains a challenge in footings of pathogenesis, appraisal and intervention and it is now better to see CNS disease in footings of separate syndromes. It is a serious but potentially treatable unwellness, which still presents really hard diagnostic challenges. The ACR defines 19 different syndromes in its categorization for the neurological complications of SLE ( Table 2 ) , as opposed to old uncomplete footings such as cardinal nervous system lupus, neurolupus or lupus cerebritis [ 30 ] . CNS engagement is reported to happen in 14 – 70 % of SLE patients [ 31 ] . The most common neurological manifestations of SLE are the organic brain disorders, which comprises of all the possible fluctuations of acute confusion, lassitude, or coma ; chronic dementedness ; depression, passion, or other affectional perturbations ; or psychosis.ConcernOf the more often encountered CNS complications, concerns are highly common. Fernandez-Nebro et Al. [ 32 ] and Raskin et Al. [ 33 ] stated that up to 40 % of persons experience severe disenabling concerns at least one time per twelvemonth. There are, nevertheless three controlled surveies in the literature on chronic or episodic concern [ 34 ] that can non be tracked back to other SLE syndromes [ 32, 35 ] .. The consequences are instead conflicting, nevertheless, and do non let for a unequivocal decision. For illustration, a nexus between megrim and SLE activity and ‘flare – ups ‘ has decidedly non been established [ 34, 35 ] . If future research confirms that megrim is so induced by SLE, the neurological load would still be overestimated by including megrim without limitation in the list of SLE neurological standards. Early surveies showed that concerns might react to corticosteroid intervention and this proved to be more effectual than the conventional anti-migraine therapy used in commanding concerns in SLE patients [ 36, 37 ] . A clear differentiation between CNS manifestations due to SLE and those due to antiphospholipid ( Hughes ) syndrome ( APS ) has been indicated [ 7 ] . An association of megrim concern with antiphospholipid antibodies ( APAs ) has been suggested, [ 38 ] nevertheless, more recent surveies have found no such nexus [ 35 ] .SeizuresSeizures are the following most frequent neurological complication and are known to happen in 14-25 % of patients ( compared with 0.5-1 % in the general population ) [ 39 ] . Seizures may ensue from intellectual vasculitis, cardiac intercalation, timeserving infection, drug poisoning, or associated metabolic mental unsoundnesss. They are more likely to be associated with APS than with intellectual vasculitis, which is highly rare in clinical pattern [ 40 ] . Electrolyte perturbation and medicative effects should be excluded, particularly those ensuing from antidepressants, stimulating medicines to handle weariness, or backdown from depressants or intoxicant. The primary neurological presentation of SLE is more common than originally thought ( 10/41 patients ) and included both ictuss ( 4 instances ) and motion upsets including Parkinsonism and chorea ( 4 instances ) [ 41 ] . Higher overall frequences of ictuss ( 42 % ) ; an early manifestation in 27 % , and in 10 % ictuss were the first SLE symptom seen. Epileptic ictuss are among the most common CNS manifestations in SLE. In separate surveies, Sibley et al. , [ 42 ] Steinlin et al. , [ 43 ] and Brinciotti et Al. [ 44 ] demonstrated that generalised tonic-clonic ictuss ( once known as expansive mal ictuss ) , simple and complex partial ictuss, automatic ictuss and position eliepticus all occur [ 45 ] . It is presumed that most ictuss in patients with SLE would be elicited by vascular abnormalcies in the encephalon, or would be either due to CNS infections or secondary to other marks, but this can non ever be demonstrated. In a big retrospective survey, in 18 out of 266 patients, ictuss were non attributable to any cause other than SLE [ 42 ] . Table 1. ACR Classification Criteria for SLE [ 26 ] The diagnosing of SLE requires the presence of four or more of the following 11 standards at the same time or in sequence ( besides see algorithm in Fig 2 ) .SLE standardDefinition or illustrationsSerositis Pleuritis – pleuritic hurting, Pleuralrub, pleural gush Pericarditis – Electrocardiogram alterations, pericardiac hang-up, pericardiac gush Oral ulcers Frequently painless sores Arthritis Nonerosive – two or more peripheral articulations affected Photosensitivity Skin roseola as a consequence of unusual reaction to sunlight Blood Hematologic upset Hemolytic anemia Leucopenia Lymphopenia Thrombocytopenia Nephritic upset Proteinuria ( with 3+ or more protein noted in urinalysis specimen or 0.5 g of protein/day ) Cellular dramatis personaes in piss Antinuclear antibody Antibodies to atomic components Immunological upset Anti- DNA antibodies Anti – Samarium antibodies Antiphospholipid antibodies Neurological upset Seizures Psychosis Malar roseola Fixed erythema over the malar distinctions Discoid roseola Erythematosus raised spots may mark ECG = EKG A mnemonic to retrieve the 11 symptoms is ‘SOAP BRAIN MD ‘ . Table 2. The neurological complications of SLE [ 30 ] Central nervous system Neurological Aseptic meningitis Cerebrovascular disease Multifocal subacute lesions Headache ( including megrim and idiopathic intracranial high blood pressure ) Motion upsets ( peculiarly chorea ) Myelopathy Seizure upset Psychiatric Acute confusional province Anxiety upset Cognitive map Temper upset Psychosis Peripheral nervous system Acute inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculopathy ( Guillain – Barre syndrome ) Autonomic upset Cranial neuropathy Mononeuropathy, individual or manifold Myastheia gravis Plexopathy PolyneuropathyDiagnosis of SLEPatient showing with disease manifestations affecting two or more organ systems ANA proving Titre a†°? 1:40 Titre & lt ; 1:40 See referral to rheumatologist for full Strong statement against SLE rating, including the followers: SLE ; alternate account ACR diagnostic standards ( see Table 1 ) for organ system Lab trials: full blood count, uranalysis, manifestations should be serum creatinine degree and antiphospholipid, pursued anti-dsDNA and anti-Sm antibodies Explanation found No account Zero to three Four or more Sufficient to See referral to ACR standards ACR standards regulation out SLE rheumatologist if inquiry of SLE or uncomplete SLE remains No SLE or SLE Incomplete SLE Fig 2. An algorithm for the diagnosing of SLE. ( ANA = antinuclear antibody ; ACR = American College of Rheumatology ; anti-dsDNA = antibody to duplicate isolated DNA antigen ; antiSm = antibody to Sm atomic antigen ) . Information from mentions: [ 25 – 29 ] Stroke and perennial transient ischemic onslaughts ( TIAs ) are among the CNS diagnoses seen in 3-15 % of instances ; although these figures vary harmonizing to the literature [ 46 – 48 ] . Annual shots were calculated for illustration, utilizing informations from 91 patients with SLE observed for 599 patient-years. It was found that the shot rate dropped from 6.6 % in twelvemonth 1 to 0.6 % during old ages 6-10 [ 46 ] . The International Classification of Diseases ( ICD-9 ) codification for SLE, estimated that ‘cerebrovascular accidents ‘ were 10 times more frequent in 18 to 44 twelvemonth old females with SLE, than in those of similar age without the disease [ 49 ] . The frequence of ‘cerebrovascular accidents ‘ were about twice as frequent in in-between age ( 45-64 year ) , whereas in old age, the frequence was found to be somewhat below normal. APAs have one time once more been implicated, as shown by Provenzale et Al [ 50 ] . Neuroimaging surveies suggested no important differences in the incidence of multifocal little white affair lesions, or of big vas shots, between patients with primary or secondary APS. Harmonizing to the literature, subarachnoid bleeding in SLE is good documented [ 47, 51 – 55 ] , nevertheless, by far the most studies of this are from one state: Japan. A survey by Mimori et Al. [ 56 ] of the medical records of patients with SLE in one Nipponese Centre, covering a 20 twelvemonth period, revealed that 10 of 258 patients had at some clip experienced a ( clinically defined ) subarachnoid bleeding. Figures in the literature on TIAs in SLE indicate that the overall incidence is raised [ 46, 48, 57 ] .Aseptic meningitisAcute, chronic or recurrent sterile meningitis is a rare manifestation of SLE. The term is frequently used for a meningeal syndrome of non-infectious beginning with some grade of nuchal rigidness ( neck stiffness ) and with increased white cells ( pleocytosis ) in the cerebrospinal fluid ( CSF ) [ 26, 58 ] . Pathologically, meningeal redness is found in about fifth part of patients [ 59 ] . SLE should be considered in any patient who ab initio presents with a meningitic image and in whom beings have non been identified, particularly if the meningitis is perennial. Aseptic meningitis has been reported in patients with shot or ‘ischaemic encephalon lesions ‘ ; vasculitis was non demonstrated, but was non ruled out [ 60, 61 ] . There are studies of sterile meningitis following non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs ( even after merely a individual tablet ) in SLE and assorted connective tissue disease. Jolles et Al. [ 62 ] stated that up to 60 % of patients with SLE are estimated to hold CNS symptoms associated with redness at some clip during their unwellness, and that this could predispose them to drug-induced sterile meningitis ( DIAM ) . Maignen et Al. [ 63 ] suggested that assorted drugs ( non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents such as isobutylphenyl propionic acid and Clinoril, antibiotics such as cotrimoxazole, trimethoprim, Cipro and assorted drugs such as carbamazepine, human immune globulin and muromonab CD3 ) can be associated with development of DIAM and those patients with SLE and/or connective tissue upsets are at a higher hazard. Ibuprofen for illustration, has been reported on a figure of occasions as a cause of sterile meningitis, particularly in patients with SLE [ 64, 65 ] . The exact mechanism for the reaction to these agents is non to the full understood, but it is speculated that APAs perchance have a function. Meningeal symptoms occur a few hours after drug consumption and decide without sequelae within one or two yearss after the drug is withdrawn. Chorea, although rare, is frequently quoted as the classical neurological characteristic of SLE [ 43 ] . There are conflicting studies, as suggested by Janvas et Al. [ 66 ] and Cervera et Al. [ 67, 68 ] in respect to its incidence, runing from 1-4 % . It can develop at any clip, but is more likely to look during an ague flair, which has led some research workers to propose that it could be used as a marker of disease activity, where there is a reported return rate of up to 25 % . It has besides been associated with shot [ 69 ] and with idiopathic intracranial high blood pressure and dural fistula thrombosis in kids [ 70 ] . It is non yet clear, nevertheless, whether it is due to a vascular abuse or to antibody-induced neural disfunction [ 71, 72 ] . Psychiatric perturbations range from temper and personality upsets to psychosis, the latter being defined as a psychotic upset, harmonizing to the standards of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ( DSM-IV ) [ 73 ] . No alone clinical image is seen, but three comparatively distinguishable forms can be discerned: ‘pure ‘ behavioural or psychiatric unwellness without overcasting of consciousness, subacute encephalopathy/encephalitis, and dementedness. Affectional upsets, peculiarly anxiousness and depression are the most common ( e.g. in 103 of 414 outpatients from two surveies and 19 of 43 hospitalised patients from another survey ) , though non in similar proportions in the surveies [ 74 – 76 ] . It has, nevertheless, non been shown that these upsets occur more often in patients with SLE [ 77 ] than in those with arthritic arthritis or other chronic diseases [ 78 – 80 ] . The association with psychotic episodes – ‘lupus psychosis ‘ – is more dependable [ 81 ] , although its differentiation from corticoid induced psychosis can be hard. In a big and frequently quoted retrospective survey, 11 of 266 patients developed psychosis during a average follow-up period of at least 90 months [ 42 ] . Delusions, ocular and audile hallucinations, catatonia and transition upsets are all good recognised [ 82 ] . Dementia is a normally recognized complication, although small elaborate published information is available. Harmonizing to DSM-IV, ‘cognitive upset ‘ can be compensated for at least partly ; the diagnosing therefore requires neuropsychological appraisal [ 73 ] . The per centum of patients with SLE enduring from cognitive upset varies among surveies. For illustration, an overall incidence of cognitive alterations in SLE of 55 % has been suggested [ 83, 84 ] . In four surveies, these figures varied from 21-35 % , [ 85 – 88 ] and from 43-67 % in two other surveies [ 89, 90 ] . All these fluctuations are due in portion to different cut-offs that were chosen for normalcy by these different writers. Furthermore some writers [ 91, 92 ] contend that the grade of cognitive upset fluctuates over clip, but this is disputed by others [ 88 ] . Two possible causes of cognitive upset have been suggested: little vas vasculopathy and an antibody mediated consequence on neural operation [ 85, 93 ] . Perturbations of the cranial [ 94 – 97 ] and peripheral nervousnesss – individual and manifold [ 98 ] , rete [ 99, 100 ] , sensorimotor [ 101 – 103 ] , and autonomic lesions [ 102, 104 – 106 ] , myasthenia gravis [ 107, 108 ] , and Guillain-Barre syndrome [ 109 – 111 ] , have all been reported in SLE, albeit with limited survey.Antiphospholipid syndrome ( Hughes syndrome )The ‘antiphospholipid syndrome ‘ ( APS ) was first described in patients with SLE ( secondary APS ) , but may happen in the absence of any other upset ( primary APS ) . In other words, the branchings of this syndrome extend beyond SLE, to all subjects of medical specialty. An emerg ing impression is the differentiation between CNS manifestations due to SLE and those caused by APS [ 112 ] . Some constituents of APS have been recognised since the 1950s, but the complete syndrome was non to the full described until 1983 [ 113 ] . Since so the categorization standards have been updated to include manifestations non antecedently distinctive [ 114 ] . Categorization standards for ruinous APS have been validated, and a world-wide registry set up to enter clinical informations for these rare patients in order to analyze intervention and results [ 115 ] . A description of the clinical characteristics of 1000 patients with this syndrome remains the largest of such series [ 116 ] . It is defined as the association of antiphospholipid antibodies ( APAs ) with arterial or venous thrombosis, perennial fetal loss, thrombopenia or neurological upsets such as shot and TIAs, transverse myelopathy, chorea and migrainous concern. Primary APS, nevertheless seldom progresses to SLE. One survey carried out on 128 patients over a 9 twelvemonth period showed that merely 8 % developed SLE ; where a positive antiglobulin trial was used as a clinically important forecaster of patterned advance [ 117 ] . The spectrum of clinical characteristics of APS continues to broaden with descriptions of nephritic arteria stricture [ 118 ] , metatarsal breaks [ 119 ] , avascular mortification [ 120 ] , and abnormalcies of vascular map [ 121 ] . Accelerated atheroma has become a major focal point of research in persons that have APS, with probes demoing cross-reactivity of antiphospholipids with oxidised LDL and early marks of arterial disease in these peculiar patients [ 121, 122 ] . George and Shoenfield [ 123 ] have termed APS as the ‘crossroads of autoimmunity and coronary artery disease ‘ . The contentions of intervention of APS remain, chiefly in footings of the sum of anticoagulation required to forestall perennial thrombosis. Two prospective surveies by Crowther et Al. [ 124 ] and Finazzi et Al. [ 125 ] indicated that a high-intensity government of anticoagulation, with international normalized ratios ( INRs ) above 3.0, were no better than conventional therapy with INRs of 2.0-3.0 in the bar of perennial thrombosis. This contradicted old retrospective informations. A farther survey by Levine et Al. [ 126 ] added drift to this research by proposing that positive baseline antiphospholipids in shot patients failed to foretell future cerebro-vascular occlusive accidents. It besides stated that everyday showing for antiphospholipids was non warranted. The survey has later been criticised as flawed, in that it was non designed to turn to the issue of testing and that merely one baseline measuring was used. Most physicians hence, still see antiphospholipid proving as being indispensable, particularly in immature shot victims.DecisionSLE was one time considered a rare disease with a universally fatal result. The past 20 old ages, nevertheless have shown that this upset is more common than originally thought and that it is treatable, with the bulk of patients now holding about normal life spans. One must be cognizant, nevertheless, that a patient who is diagnosed with SLE at 20 old ages of age still has a 1 in 6 opportunity of deceasing by 35 old ages o f age, largely from the disease itself and/or related infections. Reducing the cardiovascular hazard, which still claims significant loss of life, is besides of major importance. The neurological characteristics of cardinal nervous system disease of SLE are easy get downing to be unravelled, although there are still many inquiries that need to be answered. Delay in diagnosing, particularly in patients with low-grade disease, remains debatable. The staying challenges are in bettering the quality of life for these peculiar patients by bettering the symptoms of SLE. For illustration we will necessitate to develop biomarkers and neuroimaging trials for SLE – associated neuropsychiatric disease that have the ability to place the implicit in pathological mechanism and steer curative determinations [ 134 ] , which will hopefully ensue in more effectual intervention for this potentially dangerous unwellness.