Insulin Pump free essay sample

Introduction:1 †¢ Type 1 Diabetes2 †¢ Type 2 Diabetes2 †¢ Gestational Diabetes2 2. Scope:3 3. The insulin pump hardware organization:3 4. Need:4 5. Requirements for the insulin pump:4 6. Risks Analysis5 6. 1 Business Impact Risks:5 6. 2 Customer related risks:5 6. 3 Technology risks:6 7. Risk table:6 7. 1 Technology will meet expectations:6 7. 2 End users resist system:7 7. 3 Changes in Requirements7 7. 4 Lack of development experience:7 7. 5 Poor quality documentation:8 8. Insulin delivery system8 . Requirement Models9 10. Interfaces For The Automatic Insulin Pump10 11. Data Flow Diagram14 12. Summary15 13. References16 Introduction: The problem of diabetes is a growing concern in the world, especially among Americans. Diabetes is a medical condition where the body does not manufacture its own insulin. Insulin is used to metabolize sugar and, if it is not available, the person suffering from diabetes will eventually be poisoned by the build-up of sugar. It is importan t to maintain blood sugar levels within a safe range as high levels of blood sugar have long-term complications such as kidney damage and eye damage. These are not however, normally dangerous in the short-term. We will write a custom essay sample on Insulin Pump or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Very low levels of blood sugar (hypoglaecemia) are potentially very dangerous in the short-term. They result in a shortage of sugar to the brain which causes confusion and ultimately a diabetic coma and death. In such circumstances, it is important for the diabetic to eat something to increase their blood sugar level. An estimated 23. 6 million people in the United States—7. 8 percent of the population—have diabetes, a serious, lifelong condition. Of those, 17. 9 million have been diagnosed, and 5. 7 million have not yet been diagnosed. In 2007, about 1. million people ages 20 or older were diagnosed with diabetes [pic] The three main types of diabetes are †¢ type 1 diabetes †¢ type 2 diabetes †¢ gestational diabetes †¢ Type 1 Diabetes Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease. An autoimmune disease results when the body’s system for fighting infection—the immune system—turns against a part of the body. In diabetes, the immune sy stem attacks and destroys the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. The pancreas then produces little or no insulin. A person who has type 1 diabetes must take insulin daily to live. †¢ Type 2 Diabetes The most common form of diabetes is type 2 diabetes. About 90 to 95 percent of people with diabetes have type 2. This form of diabetes is most often associated with older age, obesity, family history of diabetes, previous history of gestational diabetes, physical inactivity, and certain ethnicities. About 80 percent of people with type 2 diabetes are overweight. †¢ Gestational Diabetes Some women develop gestational diabetes late in pregnancy. Although this form of diabetes usually disappears after the birth of the baby, women who have had gestational diabetes have a 40 to 60 percent chance of developing type 2 diabetes within 5 to 10 years. Maintaining a reasonable body weight and being physically active may help prevent development of type 2 diabetes. The easiest way for Type 2 patients to manage their health is through a healthy diet and exercise plan. For Type 1 patients, treatment almost always involves the daily injection of insulin, which is the focus of the Automated Insulin Pump System (AIPS). Currently, there are two ways in which a patient can administer insulin. In the first method, the user must check his or her blood sugar with a glucose sensor, calculate the appropriate amount of insulin to administer, and personally inject the insulin. In the second method, the patient uses an AIPS. The AIPS detects the level of glucose in the user’s blood, calculates the amount of insulin need, then triggers a pump to administer the correct dosage to the user via a needle that inserted into the user. Both of these methods require the user to play a critical role in his or her treatment. Using the AIPS minimizes the possibility of errors occurring. To accomplish this, the AIPS integrates the blood glucose sensor and the insulin pump into one system. Integrating these two processes allows the autonomous delivery of insulin to the user. This ability of the system to remove the user from the glucose self monitoring and injection process allows diabetics to live a healthier and more enjoyable lifestyle. Scope: We are developing a that system measures the level of blood sugar every 10 minutes and if this level is above a certain value and is increasing then the dose of insulin to counteract the increase is computed and injected into the diabetic. The system can also detect abnormally low levels of blood sugar and, if these occur, an alarm is sounded to warn the diabetic that they should take some action. This report focuses on the control software for the insulin pump which is concerned with reading the blood sugar (glucose) sensor, computing the insulin requirements and controlling the micro pump which causes the insulin to be delivered. Automatic insulin delivery systems help to keep blood glucose level under control. Administering insulin with different methods aims to improve patients comfort and convenience. Automated Insulin pumps are little computerized insulin deliverers. Automatic insulin delivery systems can be used for treating type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, gestational diabetes, juvenile diabetes, diabetes mellitus and alike. But, the information about diabetes is crucial for having the perfect diabetes medication. The insulin pump hardware organization: An insulin pump is a safety-critical system which is used to deliver regular doses of insulin to diabetics. A block diagram of the insulin pump assembly is shown below. Note that the small boxes marked s indicate a sensor. [pic] Figure 2: The insulin pump hardware organization †¢ Needle assembly Connected to pump. Component used to deliver insulin into diabetic’s body. †¢ Sensor Measures the level of sugar in the patient’s blood. The input from the sensor is represented by Reading in the following specification. Pump Pumps insulin from a reservoir to the needle assembly. The value representing the number of increments of insulin to be administered is represented by dose! in the following specification. †¢ Controller Controls the entire system. This has a three position switch (off/auto/manual) plus a button to set the number o f units of insulin to be delivered (1 unit per press). Moving the switch to the manual position causes the blood sugar measurement and automated insulin delivery to be disabled but information is maintained about the amount of insulin delivered and the reservoir capacity. †¢ Alarm Sounded if there is some problem. The value sent to the alarm is represented alarm! In the following specification. Displays There are 3 displays. These displays are represented by display1, display2 and clock in the following specification. display1 displays system messages, display2 shows the last dose of insulin delivered and clock shows the current clock time. †¢ Clock Provides the controller with the current time. The system clock is initialized when the machine is installed and the start time of each 24-hour period is set at midnight each day using a hardware interface on the machine. For safety reasons, the clock cannot be altered by system users. Need: With almost 200 million with diabetes world wide and about 400,000 patients currently on insulin pumps, there is sufficient market potential to spur further development, and at least 6 companies are selling devices in the U. S. Very short clinical trials have proven the concept of a closed-loop system, but the technology must catch up for long-term implantation. By 2015 there could well be an implanted closed-loop system on the market. It will likely take several years longer before it is clear when the device is a superior alternative to other advancing technologies. Requirements for the insulin pump: This specification is a specification of the requirements for the control software for the insulin pump. It is NOT a complete system requirements specification for the pump itself or even all of the software associated with the pump. In particular, it does not include a specification of the self-testing operations or a specification of the hardware interfacing. The requirements for the insulin pump are specified in natural language and partially in the Z specification language. Z is not ideal to express all requirements but is useful when precise descriptions are required. In all cases, the Z specification should be considered as an annotation that provides detailed information which augments the natural language specification. [pic] Figure 2: Insulin pump Risks Analysis: Alarm condition Explanation: |Alarm conditions |Explanation | |Battery low |The voltage of the battery has fallen to less than 0. V | |Sensor failure |The self-test of the sugar sensor has resulted in an error | |Pump failure |The self-test of the pump has resulted in an error | |Delivery failure |It has not been possible to deliver the specified amount of insulin | |Needle assembly removed |The user has removed the needle assembly | |Insulin reservoir removed |The user has removed the insulin reservoir | |Low insulin level |The level of insulin is low (indicating that the reservoir should be changed). | Table 1: Error conditions for the insulin pump. 6. 1 Business Impact Risks: The number of the customer is fairly high. There is large number of users of insulin pump. Their need is considered consistent as all target users will be patients of diabetes. Sophistication of end users: Low, the target users are patients of diabetics. Automatic insulin pump is designed to be easy to use, and is supplied with directions to guide through all necessary steps in using the machine. 6. 2 Customer related risks: Past coordination: We are developing software because of the increased of diabetes among which children are also included. So to give them facility we are developing complete new program that will help them a lot. †¢ Customer information: Customer has the idea how to use it because of already available automatic pumps in the market but this one is more sophisticated and all directions are given with it as well. 6. 3 Technology risks: Familiarity: Automatic insulin pump is a software tool to aid diabetic patients. Development team members are familiar with software development, as well as the necessary data base implementation. Specialized user interface: The interface is completely specialized. It is not based on anything other than every other Microsoft Windows application out. The GUI is completely our design and no other application out (to our knowledge) contains exactly what is expected of our software. Risk table: |Risks |Probability |Impact | |Technology will meet expectations |25% 1 | |End user resist system |20% |1 | |Changes in requirement |20% |2 | |Lack of development experience |20% |2 | |Poor quality documentation |35% |2 | Impact Values: 1 – Catastrophic 2 – Critical 3 – Marginal 4 – Negligible 7. 1 Technology will meet expectations: †¢ Mitigation In order to prevent this from happening, meetings (formal and informal) will be held with the customer on a routine business. This in sures that the product we are producing, and the specifications of the customer are equivalent. †¢ Monitoring The meetings with the customer should ensure that the customer and our organization understand each other and the requirements for the product. Management Should the development team come to the realization that their idea of the product Specifications differs from those of the customer, the customer should be immediately notified and whatever steps necessary to rectify this problem should be done. Preferably a meeting should be held between the development team and the customer to discuss at length this issue. 7. 2 End users resist system: †¢ Mitigation In order to prevent this from happening, meetings (formal and informal) will be held with the customer on a routine business. This insures that the product we are producing, and the requirements of the customer are equivalent. †¢ Monitoring The meetings with the customer should ensure that the customer and our organization understand each other and the requirements for the product. †¢ Management Should the development team come to the realization that their idea of the product requirements differs from those of the customer, the customer should be immediately notified and whatever steps necessary to rectify this problem should be taken. Preferably a meeting should be held between the development team and the customer to discuss at length this issue. 7. 3 Changes in Requirements †¢ Mitigation In order to prevent this from happening, meetings (formal and informal) will be held with the customer on a routine business. This insures that the product we are producing, and the requirements of the customer are equivalent. †¢ Monitoring The meetings with the customer should ensure that the customer and our organization understand each other and the requirements for the product. †¢ Management Should the development team come to the realization that their idea of the product requirements differs from those of the customer, the customer should be immediately notified and whatever steps necessary to rectify this problem should be taken. Preferably a meeting should be held between the development team and the customer to discuss at length this issue. 7. 4 Lack of development experience: †¢ Mitigation In order to prevent this from happening, the development team will be required to learn the languages and techniques necessary to develop this software. The member of the team that is the most experienced in a particular facet of the development tools will need to instruct those who are not as well versed. †¢ Monitoring Each member of the team should watch and see areas where another team member may be weak. Also if one of the members is weak in a particular area it should be brought to the attention by that member, to the other members. †¢ Management The members who have the most experience in a particular area will be required to help those who don’t out should it come to the attention of the team that a particular member needs help. 7. 4 Poor quality documentation: †¢ Mitigation In order to prevent this to happening, members who are in charge of developing the documentation will keep in contact with witch developer on the team. Meeting will be held routinely to offer documentation suggestions and topics. Any topic deemed missing by a particular developer will be discussed and it will be decided whether or not to add that particular topic to that documentation. In addition, beta testers will be questioned about their opinion of the documentation. †¢ Monitoring Throughout development or normal in and out of house testing, the development team and or beta testers will need to keep their eyes open for any possible documentation topics that have not been included. †¢ Management Should this occur, the organization would call a meeting and discuss the addition of new topics, or removal of unnecessary topics into the documentation. Insulin delivery system [pic] Requirement Models [pic] Figure 3: Requirement Use Case Diagram [pic] Interfaces For The Automatic Insulin Pump The user interface displays all relevant system information to the user, as well as all controls needed to operate the system in â€Å"manual† mode. The GUI displays the current time, the last time a dose of insulin was administered, and the corresponding amount of that dose. If any hardware component malfunctions while the system is running, a system alarm indicator activates, prompting the user to check the system messages. This alarm is both auditory and visual. By scrolling through the system messages, the user can isolate the source of the error and take appropriate measures. Other indicators on the GUI show the level of charge in the battery and the amount of insulin remaining in the reservoir, there is also a history button which displays a table containing a history of blood sugar values and doses. [pic] Figure 5: System User Interface. [pic] Figure 6: System User Interface During Failure [pic] Figure 7: Table of history of the system. Besides displaying relevant system information, the user interface also functions as a control panel for manual operation of the insulin pump. To deliver a manual dose of insulin, the toggle switch controlling the operation mode must be set to manual. Once the system is running in manual mode, the user may press the â€Å"Inject 1 Unit† button to deliver one unit of insulin. Even in manual mode the system users decisions are checked make sure they do not exceed the maximum daily dose. Figure 7 illustrates the error message from attempting to deliver more than the maximum daily dosage. [pic] Figure 8: Visual Notification of Maximum Insulin Dose for the Day. In addition to the User Interface a hardware simulator was design and coded to run on beneath the insulin pump and provide the backend with different state levels for the various internal variables. Figure 8 displays the portion of the GUI that displays the internal variables. Data Flow Diagram [pic] Summary There may be at least 640,000 who good candidates for the insulin pump. It is an especially useful advance for many type 1 patients whose glucose control is difficult to manage and require several injections of insulin and glucose checks a day. It is still unclear whe n the pump is beneficial for type 2 patients. †¢ The technology has come a long way with an integrated system that continuously monitors glucose, a management system with algorithms providing advice on amount of insulin required and an external pump injecting insulin through a subcutaneous canula. This â€Å"advise you† open loop system dramatically increases the complexity of management. It has beneficial for those dedicated to its use, but it is unclear when it should be used. †¢ Diabetes experts feel current pumps (with or without continuous glucose monitoring) are best used by those who are knowledgeable, very meticulous in their diabetes management and accept fact that the system requires a lot of attention. These people value the benefits of the pump. Others do not desire using a pump system and get about the same satisfactory results with multiple daily injections as they would by trying to manage a pump. †¢ Controlled studies on the benefits of insulin pumps and continuous glucose monitoring are still needed to demonstrate a clear benefit over other aggressive therapeutic options. This applies to both type 1 and type 2 patients. †¢ The current integrated system is very expensive – up to $7,500 a year for the disposable sensors, canulas and insulin plus the cost of the pump. It requires insertion of new glucose sensors and insulin canulas every 3 days or more often and attention to detail in safely keeping all the components functioning properly. Focused attention is also required in adjusting and administering bolus insulin doses. †¢ Many insurers provide reimbursement for the pump. Diabetes advocacy groups (JDRF ADA) are working hard to secure insurance and Medicaid coverage for the continuous glucose monitoring component with its expensive disposable components. Within the next 2-4 years, an implanted pump will be available that will allow more freedom, but at more expense and risk. It will work like the new external pumps and can be used with the independent subcutaneous glucose monitor. It will not be a closed-loop system. †¢ With ov er 400,000 people worldwide currently using pumps and many more considering pump usage, there appear to be sufficient marketplace incentives to encourage technological advances. Our rough estimates suggest 650,000 in the US might benefit from these systems. References †¢ http://74. 125. 155. 132/search? q=cache:- valCGvPRHEJ:www. comp. lancs. ac. uk/computing/resources/IanS/SE7/CaseStudies/InsulinPump/Slides/Insulin-pumpOverview. ppt+scope+of+diabetes+in+software+enginee

5 Cases of Extraneous Hyphenation

5 Cases of Extraneous Hyphenation 5 Cases of Extraneous Hyphenation 5 Cases of Extraneous Hyphenation By Mark Nichol Hyphens are used primarily to organize two or more words into phrases to aid in reading comprehension. Although errors in the use of hyphens are usually errors of omission, erroneous overuse is also common. Beware of superfluous use of hyphens in sentences such as the ones shown below. 1. The answer is to find a silver-bullet that will wean us from fossil fuels. Hyphenated compound nouns used to be common, but most have become closed compounds. Some exceptions persist or have been coined relatively recently (dry-cleaning, go-getter, light-year, well-being), but â€Å"silver bullet,† meaning â€Å"a simple solution to a complicated problem,† is not one of them: â€Å"The answer is to find a silver bullet that will wean us from fossil fuels.† 2. She found herself routinely all-but-ignoring such comments. Here, all and but modify the verb ignoring, and the phrase needs no hyphenation: â€Å"She found herself routinely all but ignoring such comments.† 3. The company reported a $10-million deficit. Hyphens are not necessary in a phrasal adjective consisting of a numeral and a term for an order of magnitude such as million: â€Å"The company reported a $10 million deficit.† (However, when a number is spelled out and combined with million or a similar term, do hyphenate the phrasal adjective: â€Å"The company reported a ten-million-dollar deficit.†) 4. Hard work must be balanced with a feeling of fun, fellowship, and esprit-de-corps. Native and adopted noun phrases (with rare exceptions such as pick-me-up and tà ªtetà ªte) do not require hyphens: â€Å"Hard work must be balanced with a feeling of fun, fellowship, and esprit de corps.† 5. Roughly two-dozen students stood up at the meeting of the school board to protest the decision. Do not link a spelled-out number with dozen to describe a multiple of twelve: â€Å"Roughly two dozen students stood up at the meeting of the school board to protest the decision.† (However, when using a spelled-out number with score to mean â€Å"a multiple of twenty,† treat the term as a closed compound, as with fourscore.) Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Punctuation category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Dialogue Dos and Don'tsThe Possessive ApostropheUses of the Past Participle

The Ring of Fire †Pacific Ocean

The Ring of Fire - Pacific Ocean The Ring of Fire is a 25,000 mile (40,000 km) horseshoe-shaped area of intense  volcanic and seismic (earthquake) activity that follows the edges of the Pacific Ocean. Receiving its fiery name from the 452 dormant and active volcanoes that lie within it, the Ring of Fire includes 75% of the worlds active volcanoes and is also responsible for 90% of the worlds earthquakes. Where Is the Ring of Fire? The Ring of Fire is an arc of mountains, volcanoes, and oceanic trenches that stretch from New Zealand northward along the eastern edge of Asia, then east across the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, and then south along the western coasts of North and South America. What Created the Ring of Fire? The Ring of Fire was created by plate tectonics.  Tectonic plates are like giant rafts on the Earths surface that often slide next to, collide with, and are forced underneath each other. The Pacific Plate is quite large and thus it borders (and interacts) with a number of large and small plates. The interactions between the Pacific Plate and its surrounding tectonic plates creates a tremendous amount of energy, which, in turn, easily melts rocks into magma. This magma then rises to the surface as lava and forms volcanoes. Major Volcanoes in the Ring of Fire With 452 volcanoes, the Ring of Fire has some that are more famous that others. The following is a listing of major volcanoes in the Ring of Fire. The Andes - Running 5,500 miles (8,900 km) north and south along the western edge of  South America, the Andes Mountains are the longest, continental mountain range in the world. The Andean Volcanic Belt is within the mountain range and is broken up into four volcanic zones that include such active volcanoes as Cotopaxi and Cerro Azul. It is also home to the highest, active volcano - Ojos del Salado.Popocatepetl - Popocatepetl is an active volcano in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt. Located near Mexico City, this volcano is considered by many to be the most dangerous in the world since a large eruption could potentially kill millions of people.Mt. Saint Helens - The Cascade Mountains in the United States Pacific Northwest hosts the 800 mile (1,300 km) Cascade Volcanic Arc. The Cascades contain 13 major volcanoes and nearly 3,000 other volcanic features. The most recent eruption in the Cascades occurred at Mt. Saint Helens in 1980.Aleutian Islands Alaskas Aleutian Islands, whic h consist of 14 large and 55 small islands, were made from volcanic activity. The Aleutians contain 52 volcanoes, with a few of the most active being Cleveland, Okmok, and Akutan.  The deep Aleutian Trench, which also sits next to the islands, has been created at the subduction zone with a maximum depth of 25,194 feet (7679 meters). Mt. Fuji - Located on the Japanese island of Honshu, Mt. Fuji, at 12,380 feet (3,776 m), is the tallest mountain in Japan and the worlds most visited mountain. However, Mt. Fuji is more than a mountain, it is an active volcano that last erupted in 1707.Krakatoa - In the Indonesia Island Arc sits Krakatoa, remembered for its massive eruption on August  27, 1883 that killed 36,000 people and was heard 2,800 miles away (it is considered the loudest sound in modern history). The Indonesian Island Arc is also home to Mt. Tambora, whose eruption on April 10, 1815 was the largest in major history, being calculated as a 7 on the Volcanic Explosion Index (VEI).Mt. Ruapehu - Rising to 9,177 feet (2797 m), Mt. Ruapehu is the tallest mountain on the North Island of New Zealand. Located in the southern section of the Taupo Volcanic Zone, Mt. Ruapehu is New Zealands most active volcano. As a place that produces most of the worlds volcanic activity and earthquakes, the Ring of Fire is a fascinating place. Understanding more about the Ring of Fire and being able to accurately predict volcanic eruptions and earthquakes may help  eventually save millions of lives.

Mass media in Saudi Arabia Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Mass media in Saudi Arabia - Research Paper Example Saudi Arabia achieves control of the media mainly through the Ministry of Information, which administers the national news agency and the broadcasting services, and is responsible for applying censorship regulations (Rampal, 1994). Simons (2006) states that the three main roles played by mass media are as mirror, witness, and transmitter. This refers to the necessity for media to reflect the news, events, and situations, to observe occurrences of social, political and other interest, and to convey the information, observations and analysis to the general public. Thesis Statement: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the various aspects of mass media in Saudi Arabia, including its functioning and conditions affecting Arab mass media. 2. An Authoritarian Mass Media System The standard systems of classifying mass media are as authoritarian, libertarian, social responsibility and totalitarian (Siebert, Peterson & Schramm, 1963). The Arab media do not fall specifically into any one of the above categories, but some elements of all four systems are found in the mass media system of Saudi Arabia. In most of the Arab countries the media function under different variations of the authoritarian theory; thus, of the four theories this is the one that most closely explains the Saudi Arabian mass media operations. The authoritarian governments in these Arab countries play a part in the use of authoritarian media functions. In the authoritarian system, the media â€Å"support and advance the policies of the government, which controls the media either directly or indirectly through licensing, legal action, or perhaps financial means† (Rugh, 2004, p.23). Rampal (1994) reiterates that despite political reform initiatives, Saudi Arabia remains an absolute monarchy. The authoritarian political system has resulted in a controlled press, particularly since 1958 when the government’s Publications Department was goven to censor publications. The authoritarian reg ime permits the media to discuss society and the machinery of government, but not of the people who hold the political power. This system is built on the theory that truth does not emerge from a great mass of people, but of a few wise men capable of directing and guiding their fellow human beings (Siebert et al, 1963). In the authoritarian system comment and criticism are carefully guided, and lucid goals for the community align with the objectives of the regime

Big sky Big money Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Big sky Big money - Movie Review Example Never at once have I had of politicians being financed by rogues who want something else once the politician assumes office. This information has been withheld from the media and the rest assumed to be propaganda and hence I have never paid any attention to such â€Å"rumors† before. This information is very pertinent and all people not only in the affected regions or this country but to the world in general. The message the documentary is passing in one word is vetting. It is important and necessary for the public to be vetting the aspiring politicians about their sources of finance in detail before being elected into office. The vetting should also be done by investigative officers who will follow the money trail and avoid such incidences in future as portrayed by the documentary. The IRS and other tax bodies should be very keen about which organizations are being exempted from taxation. This exemption should be carried out after thorough investigation of the organization in order to prove beyond any doubt that it is a welfare organization and deserves the

With Each Moment, Comes Great Triumph Essay Example for Free

With Each Moment, Comes Great Triumph Essay It is inherent to say that each of us refers back to memories of our childhood to reminisce in the awkward, comical and daunting experiences and discover parallelisms to our present existence. Rohinton Mistry writes of the parallel fears of water and swimming from childhood to adulthood and of overcoming, slowly but surely, a seemingly trivial act. The imagery and memory of water, specifically, is a key theme throughout the story. Mistry writes of the symbolism and meaning of water for the character in a philosophical way through self-exploring questions and recollections. The thought and discussion of taking swimming lessons as an adult gives an opening to memories of attempted swimming lessons and the importance of Chaupatty Beach. â€Å"It seemed that the dirtier it became, the more crowds it attracted†¦ (Or was it the crowds that made it dirtier? )†(260) This distant and uninviting body of water is the starting place for swimming lessons, though quick to be unenthusiastic â€Å"because of the filth†(261) and the ‘guttersnipes’ that taunted and teased the young learner. This causes the reader to remember some aspects of swimming and the experiences of struggling physically, fearing peer pressure, and the unknown of deep water. Mistry is increasingly descriptive of water imagery and moments of memory so these images move off the page and into imagination, allowing the reader to visualise the filth, the struggle and the fear. â€Å"The universal symbol of life and regeneration did nothing but frustrate me. (260) There are numerous symbolic terms and meanings for water where water is cleansing, type of renewal, or a connection between symbolic life and death. When the first adult swimming lesson is attempted, there is a feeling of hopelessness and terror. The character is weighed with emotion and burdened with dispelled expectation. â€Å"The swimming pool, like Chaupatty beach, has produced a stillbirth. †(263) The character is beyond disappointment when he realises his expectation of triumph emerges into a symbol of death. Failure to swim through filth must mean something other than failure to rebirth – failure of symbolic death? †(264) This question is posed as much for the reader as they are for the character. There is a need to answer for the character so he might come to the realisation that there is more to life than being imprisoned by the failed attempts, to press on, move forward and endeavour to reach your goal. The character eventually becomes in a way reborn through his seemingly ordinary experience in the bathtub and the human nature of anting to overcome a fear. We relate to the idea of feeling reborn when overcoming the anxiety of particular obstacles on our lives. Finally, at his own pace, he realises he must fight his panic and fear of water as he has seen â€Å"the world outside the water†¦ it is now time to see what is inside. †(270) He sees with a changed perspective, his eyes are opened to the opportunities that he is yet to face and eventually triumph.

Free Color Purple Essays: Shug and Celie :: Color Purple Essays

Shug and Celie in The Color Purple  Ã‚   The relationship between Shug and Celie cuts very deep. Both of them help each other become what they really need to be. Both Celie and Shug were very oppressed people. Celie was oppressed by her lack of caring, and by her lack of self esteem. Shug is caught in other people's image of her. She is not free to become what she really wants to be, which is a loving member of a loving family, which she never really had. This is shown by the quote on page 125-6. "(Mama) never love to do nothing had to do with touching nobody, she say. I try to kiss her, she turn her mouth away. Say, Cut that out, Lillie." Celie freed Shug from the role that everybody wanted her to fit into, and Shug freed Celie from the psychological bonds that were keeping her from making of her life what she wanted it to be, by being a mixture of friend, idol, lover, and teacher. Both Celie and Shug became what they were told they would. Celie was always told that she was ugly, that she was useless, that she was worthless. Alphonso and Mr.----- never lost an opportunity to tell her so. And so Celie became and believed she was ugly, useless, and worthless. Even Shug, when she first met her, exclaimed "You sure is ugly" (pg.48). Shug was told, first by her mother and then in the "respectable people's" opinion, that she was a whore, that she was wicked, and so she became a Temptress of sorts. "Even the preacher got his mouth on Shug Avery, now she down. He take her condition for his text. He don't call no name, but he don't have to. Everybody know who he mean. He talk about a strumpet in short skirts, smoking cigarettes, drinking gin. Singing for money and taking other women mens. Talk about slut, hussy, heifer, and streetcleaner." (Pg 46). She was the woman that all the men wanted and all the women hated, because there was so much she dared to do and so little anyone could do to stop her. However, neither of them necessarily wanted to take part in those roles, and both of them felt confined in them. Shug has a certain "Venus Image" in the novel. She fits the role of the seductive woman, the temptress, the devil.

Critical Summary of When God Was a Woman Essay

In chapter nine of When God Was A Woman, Merlin Stone sought to explain the laws introduced by the Levite priests in Canaan that were put in place to prevent the worship of the Goddess. Members of the Hebrew religion were commanded to kill their own children if they worshipped any deity other than God. Stone argues that the laws put the men of the society in power, as it was not stated that the husband should be killed for worshiping the Goddess. The Levites demanded that every woman belong to a man, due to their distaste for any woman who was not a virgin or married, so they established the concept of sexual morality to restrict the females. Stone states that given the sexual freedom in the religion of the Goddess, the women had to be taught that sexual relations to multiple men was pure evil. Any sexually free women, or women who still worshipped the Goddess, were referred to as whores and harlots. Stone elaborates on the new laws of sexual morality, stating that a woman must only have sex with one man, her husband, while he could have sexual relations with numerous women. A woman could be stoned to death for losing her virginity or even for being raped, if she was already married. Stone says that only the husband could divorce his wife, and if so, she would be left with no material possessions. The divorce laws probably led to fearful women, forcing them to become submissive servants to men. I found this chapter of When God Was A Woman particularly interesting in comparison to the rest of the book. The more information I learned about the religion of the Goddess prior to this chapter, the more I wanted to know about the laws that governed women with the initial introduction of the male-dominated culture. Chapter nine kept my attention due to the fact that I was already curious about the sexual morality laws. The realization that I could have been killed back then for the beliefs I have today also kept my interest. Stone did an impeccable job with her organization of ideas. The chapter was easy to follow and to understand, and each idea seemed to flow with ease to the next. Looking back through the chapter, the only constant source I see her use is the Bible. Although this is a reliable source for the Hebrew laws placed upon women, I think that using other sources other than just the Bible would have helped in her overall objective of this chapter. Finding a source with the actual morality laws stated would have helped to further confirm the harsh reality of these laws. Other than this fact, I believe that Stone was very thorough in her description of the laws and the details she examined pertaining to the laws. I do think that Stone made reasonable assertions pertaining to the morality laws. Her use of bible verses seems to confirm her arguments about the laws. However, I can see partial bias in her writing. I can see how this can easily happen, seeing as she relates to the laws as she is a woman. I can sometimes feel the anger and disgust for the laws come through in her writing as certain tones are used. Despite her small amount of bias, I think Stone satisfactorily represents and defends all of her points about the morality laws. Most of what Stone exhibits in this chapter was new material for me. Although I learned a lot of information, what stands out to me is that fact that women could actually be stoned to death just for having sexual relations with men. This really grabbed my attention as I thought about how our society is today. Even though we still see sex and pregnancy before marriage as taboo, we have a certain level of toleration for it. It is crazy to think that years ago, many women in today’s society would be killed for their actions just because men wanted control over them.

Critique of the Ethical Issue Essay

Every profession is subject to different ethical considerations. In response, professions present code of conduct to their employees to guide their behavior in the organization. Formal ethical training is also held to make the employees aware of different ethical issues. Ethical decision making process enable the workforce to handle every ethical issue and prevents them from making any ethical lapses whatsoever. US healthcare system comprises many branches that offer unique health related services to clients. Furthermore the healthcare is split into a hierarchical setup which starts from nursing to the top physicians. Each individual related to the US health care has to undergo a lot of training and education before he/she is authorized to discharge any duty. A fundamental part of this coaching involves ethical training which guides the employees ways and means of dealing with different ethical problems. Conflicts faced by the healthcare are of many types. To start with, physicians fail to work as a team with nurses. Sometimes nurses do not understand their roles and discharge their duties improperly. Other kinds of conflicts involve patients. These conflicts can usually become very serious and can even become unlawful in nature. Articulating the Problem The ethical conflict that arose in my studies involved a doctor and his patient. Jimmy suffered from high fever and he decided to go to a new doctor, Dr. Bill, as his general physician was out of town on vacation. Jimmy reported all his conditions to Dr. Bill. Dr. Bill made some notes and then warned him that he might be in fear of suffering from typhoid (a severe form of fever). Jimmy was very shocked to hear this. The doctor further added that it would be better for Jimmy to remain in hospital care for at least two days before his condition improved. He also asked him to run some tests which would be needed to clearly diagnose his sickness. When Jimmy heard of the high amount they were charging him, he was highly shocked and left the clinic. Jimmy called his physician up and informed him of the entire issue. Dr. Andrew told him to get a check-up from another doctor who was his friend. Jimmy went there and after the checkup, he received another surprise upon hearing that the fever was not serious and he’d be perfect in two days. He was given some prescription which he was to take. In two days time, Jimmy perfectly recovered from his fever and, by then, realized how Dr. Bill had tried to deceive him into getting the tests and hospital care in order to make more money. The event is, by all means, shocking and unethical. Dr. Bill and those of his like are ruining the sanctity of the medical profession by converting it into any other business profession. It is certainly not unethical to offer your services and expertise to others in return for money. However, intimidating patients by telling them of symptoms which, in fact, they do not possess is certainly very unethical. This trend is quickly spreading everywhere, especially online. After doing some research, the author found that there are many health care services which are presently being offered online. Though some of these setups are highly professional in nature and offer very effective services online, the rest are merely scammers. What’s more problematic is that individuals do not know how expert the physician is in his/her respective field. Looked at it this way, we’re all in a big risk whenever we decide to get ourselves checked up from a new doctor. As far as the scammers are concerned, their deceptive marketing campaigns allure the sick and the injured into asking for help. They make false claims that their products will change their lives or make them better. By the time the poor people find out that they’ve been deceived, it is too late to do anything because such institutions and individuals protect themselves through different legislations of the law. Gathering Data After thorough research and data collection, the author has come up with following important ways of checking the credentials as well as ratings of a physician along with ways of preventing health care frauds. 1. Information about doctor’s experience and training is obtained from his office or local medical society in which the doctor is a member. 2. There are some state licensing boards that also issue information about disciplinary actions taken against a particular physician. However, it is not very easy to get information from there. 3. American Medical Association’s AMA Physicians Select offers information on training and certification of all the medical and osteopathic physicians who are currently holding a license in the US. However, disciplinary actions are not included with them. 4. American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) Certified Doctor Verification Service can also be utilized to check whether the physician is certified by one or the 24 recognized specialty boards. The service is free of charge. 5. Googling out for more info is also not a bad idea. You will find several options wherein to check the report/credibility of a physician. 6. There are several government sources which may be used to obtain information relating to disciplinary action. Of these, the two most important sources are the National Practitioner Data Bank and the Healthcare Integrity and Protection Data Bank. 7. Many clinics and hospitals also offer options to check their doctors’ credentials. However, this is not a good idea because hospitals would never reveal that any one of their doctors is of low quality. Exploring Strategies It is, indeed, very difficult to carve a strategy that would clearly identify and tackle the above situation. Practical issues of these kinds are indeed very different from theoretical knowledge that is offered in books. However, following procedures may help prevent such situations in future. From Profession’s perspective 1. Establishing a federal committee on healthcare fraud prevention, and having it carry out a detailed wipe-out of all such fraudulent institutions and individuals 2. Exercise rigorous ethical training program, stressing the consequences of deceiving and holding the truth in the medical profession 3. Conducting regular external audits on different health care facilities, with an aim to identify the scammers 4. Publicizing and penalizing doctors who conduct such activities From Patient’s Perspective 1. Organizing a wide marketing campaign instructing the individuals to be wary of such scammers 2. Avoiding new doctors 3. Fixing the medical charges offered at various institutions, so the competition is not price-based but quality based. 4. Having another review with another physician if instructed to undergo very expensive treatment. Implementing the Strategy In order to implement the above discussed strategy, the following needs to be done: 1. Give the event a wide coverage on popular media 2. Create mass-awareness through the media 3. Instruct masses to avoid online health care facilities as much as possible unless they know the physician personally. 4. Write to the American Medical Association and other medical authorities, asking them to address the issue on federal level. 5. Increasing word-of-mouth, and making all such frauds public 6. Conducting nation-wide survey of physicians’ credentials Evaluating the Outcomes Implementing the above strategy would have the following pros and cons: Pros 1. Efficient and appropriate health care only by physicians who have sound credentials and ratings 2. Lesser frauds and scams in the health care 3. Better opportunities for physicians who’ve worked their way up 4. An overall better impact on the health of US nationals 5. Better medical infrastructure Cons 1. High investment is required to create the mass-awareness 2. It is not possible to identify every physician who is conducting fraud 3. It is difficult to decide whether a physician is diagnosing a patient sincerely or not as different physicians come up with different diagnosis measures REFERENCES Percival, Thomas. Medical ethics. (pp. 49–57) from http://books. google. com/books? id=yVUEAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=medical+ethics&as_brr=1&ie=ISO-8859-1#PPA52,M1. Walter, Klein (ed). The Story of Bioethics: From seminal works to contemporary explorations Jordan, M. C. (1998). Ethics manual. Fourth edition. American College of Physicians (pp. 23-30) Beauchamp, Tom L. , Childress, James F. (2001). Principles of Biomedical Ethics. New York: Oxford University Press. Margaret A. Burkhardt, Alvita Nathaniel (2007) Ethics and Issues in Contemporary Nursing

How does Robert Louis Stevenson in Jekyll and Hyde negotiate the leap between mystery and paranormal Essay Example

How does Robert Louis Stevenson in Jekyll and Hyde negotiate the leap between mystery and paranormal Essay Example How does Robert Louis Stevenson in Jekyll and Hyde negotiate the leap between mystery and paranormal Paper How does Robert Louis Stevenson in Jekyll and Hyde negotiate the leap between mystery and paranormal Paper they might think. If the novel were set in a far away area, like Dracula is, the reader would feel safe and calm. Being in London the reader feels in danger and cautious. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was first published in 1886, a time at when people were judged by their looks. In The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde there is constant reference to the way Hyde looks, and every description talk of how awful and strange he looks. For example on pg 15, there is description of Hydes appearance according to Mr Enfield. The description is fairly long, but it uses words like something wrong with his appearance displeasing deformed downright detestable In other descriptions words like this or of that nature are used to describe Hydes looks, and it is repeated often. Due to the repeats, it is engraved in the readers brains, and so they remember how he looks whenever they read his name and therefore it makes the descriptions seem more realistic. Throughout the novel, Stevenson just adds little bits of realism into the descriptions of objects. For example, at the start of The last Night chapter, Poole wipes himself with a red handkerchief. Why do we need to know its red? Thats irrelevant, you might think. But knowing the colour of it gives us a sense of knowledge of what is happening and makes the novel more realistic. Also, red is associated with blood. It is little things like that, and other bigger uses of realism, that allow Stevenson to negotiate the jump between mystery and paranormal.

Food wine and culture of California Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Food wine and culture of California - Essay Example In laymans terms, a sustainable food ought to be reasonably priced and also include all the necessary nutrients required by the body. In other words, a sustainable food must be balanced. On the other hand, an unsustainable diet does not include all the nutrients that make a food balanced. Therefore, a sustainable diet helps uphold the well being of individuals. Over the recent past, most Americans have engaged themselves in consuming foods high in fats and sugars. As a result, a large proportion of individuals in the western world are either overweight or obese. According to Parvanta et-al (2011), "Approximately two-thirds of American adults are obese or overweight. Overall, approximately 23 million children are obese or overweight, and rates of obesity have nearly tripled since 1980" (n.p). This shows that instead of upholding individual well-being, the western diet is contributing to ill health. The westernised diet lacks the necessary nutrients such as vitamins, proteins, and carb ohydrates, and is high in sugars, fats, and other industrially manufactured substances. Based on this aspect, the western diet is unsustainable. In essence, a sustainable food is a food with the ability to be available for a very long time no matter the conditions available. Sustainable foods are also affordable. It is important to consider the fact that a sustainable food has to be enough for the local inhabitants (Carrera-Bastos, Fontes-Villalba and OKeefe, 2011). People cannot depend on imports as some foods are seasonal. According to Simopoulos (2011), the western diet contains some imported food stuffs such as vegetables and fruits. Fresh food products are able to reach the intended consumers faster and cheaply as compared to imported food stuffs. Studies conducted in the past elucidated the fact that the more the food delays before reaching the intended consumers, the more nutrients it loses. Therefore, such food may not meet the

Reactive extrusion of TPE-E nanocomposites Case Study

Reactive extrusion of TPE-E nanocomposites - Case Study Example It is very difficult to do extrusion blending with TPEE because it has a low melt viscosity and tension. Its melt viscosity and tension can be increased by adding branching agent during polymerization. Even with this increase, it is not sufficient to perform extrusion blowing. There are several attempts, which have been made to increase melt viscosity and tension during extrusion by use of a chain extender during melt polymerization. Reduction of crystallization time through reactive extrusion of PBT with the use of diepoxy group as a chain extender provides a simpler method of getting high molecular weight of PBT than the conventional method of poly-condensation. Researchers acknowledge that multifunctional polymers such as TMP, TME and trimesic acid can be used to produce high molecular weight of PET. There is an effect of the modified m-MDI in the blending process of PET since the increase of m-MDI increases the molecular weight of PET. However the reaction should not be abled to continue for a long time and m-MDI should not be added because there will be crosslinking of the product because of the excessive reaction of isocyanate. This will later affect the ductility of the blend. In a situation where the correct amount of m-MDI is used then the molecular weight of PET is reduced with increasing time of blending. This is because of degradation hydrolytic and isocyanate group. It is very important to complete the process within a short time to avoid degradation. If the time is not enough to complete the process of forming urethane then there will be production of carbon dioxide by unreacted isocyanate groups at the stage of post extrusion. fluoromica pristine clay modified with alkyl-ammoniums (ODTMA) Moreover, the unreacted group of isocyanate might result into undesirable side reaction at the post processing stage (Brown & Alder, Pp 35). Hence, it is very important to ensure that the process is completed and the physical properties are maintained. The best processing parameters for blending m-MDI and TPEE must be found. The current thermoplastic polyester elastomer (TPE) is characterized by qualities such as excellent heat resistance, resistant to light, heat-aging resistance, and good in block order retaining ability and low temperature traits. The TPE is made up of hard section, which consists of polyester, which comprises of aromatic dicarboxylic acid and aliphatic or alicyclic diol, and a soft section, which consists of aliphatic polycarbonate as the main ingredient. Through which where the hard and soft section becomes connected, and the melting points of the TPE are arrived at by taking their measurements using a differential scanning calorimeter in three stages. First temperature is raised from room temperature to 3000 C, at a 200 C/min heating rate, then for three minutes maintain temperatures at 3000 C after which lower it to room temperature at a cooling rate of 1000 C/min. (Tm1 – Tm3) obtains the melting point differ ence (Brown, Alder, 65). Materials pTMEG, 1,4-BD, Irganox 1010 and modifies m-MDI, MM103C. In addition, poly (butylene terephthalate) was also used. In addition phenol, together with 1, 1, 2, 2-tetrachloroethane, CF3COOD and TBT were used without any purification. The inner viscosity of the polymer was determined by use ubbelohde viscometer at 35 degrees (Chang, Pp 54). Usually IV is