Risk Factors of Asthma

Risk Factors of Asthma Table of Contents (Jump to) Introduction: Thesis/ Hypothesis: Motivation: Background information Terminology Arguments Argument 1 Gender and age Allergy and asthma Genetic and asthma Argument 2 Smoking and asthma Overweight and asthma Argument 3 Poverty and asthma Air pollution and asthma Climate and asthma Conclusion Limitations Works Cited Appendix Introduction: Asthma has been one of the common disease of today, there is about one in 15 people has asthma in the world. Asthma is a chronic condition whose symptoms are attacks of wheezing, breathlessness, chest tightness, and coughing. There is no cure for asthma, but most people can control the condition and lead normal, active lives. This report we will be investigating the factors of asthma and also will be reaching variety of data and graphs. Thesis/ Hypothesis: The probability of developing asthma is influenced by uncontrollable factors such as age, sex or having other respiratory diseases; however, living habits of patients as well as the environment around them are also important factors that affect the severity or the chance of having asthma. Motivation: The main reasons why we choose asthma as our topic is because asthma has been a common disease in our life. There are millions of asthma sufferers around the world and some of them are around us. We believe by exploring the risk factors and the ways that can cause asthma like: age and sex, personal habit and environment, we can know more about the disease and how to prevent it. Background information What causes asthma? Asthma symptoms develop when the airways become inflamed as a result of exposure to specific environmental triggers, such as dust, smoke or even exercise. However, not all individuals exposed to the same triggers develop asthma symptoms. The main reason for this is that some individuals are genetically more like Asthma becomes more and more common disease in the world. According to the Centers for Disease Control, 1 in 13 people have asthma. Also, there are no ways to heal asthma but there are only some ways that can calm it down. Terminology Asthma: a disease of the airways or branches of the lung (bronchial tubes) that carry air in and out of the lungs. Asthma causes the airways to narrow, the lining of the airways to swell and the cells that line the airways to produce more mucus. These changes make breathing difficult and cause a feeling of not getting enough air into the lungs. Common symptoms include cough, shortness of breath, wheezing, chest tightness, and excess mucus production. Asthma rate/ asthma prevalence: the percentage or number of people that have asthma. Allergy: an exaggerated response to a substance or condition produced by the release of histamine or histamine-like substances by affected cells. Air pollution: The condition in which air is contaminated by foreign substances, or the substances themselves. BMI: BMI stands for body mass index; it is used to indicate a persons fatness. BMI is calculated using the persons height and weight. Chronic disease: a disease that can be controlled, but not cured. Arguments Argument #1: Age and sex (other allergies) Age, sex are uncontrollable factors that will have an effect a persons chance of suffering from asthma, while having other respiratory disease can even increase the patients chance of developing asthma. Asthma is a chronic disease that a large part of the population suffers from it. Like many other diseases, the chance of developing Asthma differs according to the age group the person belongs to. On the other hand, the risk of having asthma for male and female are also different. These are due to the conditions of each persons airway will change according to their age and sex. Moreover, because asthma develops from airway inflammation, any other disease that is related to the respiratory system will also greatly increase the risk of developing asthma. Argument #2: PERSONAL habits (smoking, obesity) Asthma can also be acquired non-genetically due to personal habits such as smoking or being overweight. Some of the asthma patients developed it from the blood relatives, but the chance of developing asthma and the severity of the disease can be controlled by a person. For instance, smoking can do damage to the entire respiratory system and greatly reduce lung function. It can narrow the airway which will increase the risk of asthma. Also good personal habit, such as and lifestyle can keep you body in good shape and keep the airway unobstructed therefore avoiding asthma. Argument #3: ENVIRONMENT Living in a poor environment that has poor air quality or constantly exposed to allergen and dusts can also cause Asthma and even make it deteriorates. Asthma is a long term disease of a persons airway and lungs; therefore, although the direct cause of asthma is still not completely clear, breathing in dust such as wood dust or chemicals for a long period of time will affect the health of your respiratory system and then increase the chance of asthma developing. Argument 1 Gender and age Asthma is a disease that affects people from all age groups. However the chance of having asthma differs depending on which age group one is in. Figure 1.1.1 Graph of asthma prevalence and average humidity From figure1.1.1 above we are able to see that asthma actually usually happens before 30 years old, which is mainly childhood and early adulthood. Adults in their middle age will be less vulnerable to asthma, then the percentage of asthma patient slightly increase as it reaches old age. Moreover based on the data from statistic Canada, there are more male asthma sufferers than female. The average difference between female and male are 2.16, which means male have 2.16% more chance of having asthma. It can be a huge difference while dealing with the population of the entire country. Figure 1.1.2 Figure 2 based on the data from CDC and it showed asthma prevalence of age group below 12 years old. In this graph we are able to see that although very little infant have asthma, 16 to 17% of the entire population around 5 to 24 years old suffers from asthma, that means there are 3 asthma patient in every 20 person. Similar with the data from statistic Canada, the graph showed that people in their early ages are more likely to be suffered from asthma. This might be due to the incomplete development of the lung and airway so the airway is more sensitive and vulnerable and easily infected so as during old age. Figure 1.1.3 Figure1.1.3 above displayed the asthma prevalence of male and female. Among male, the asthma rate is more than 5% higher than female. It might be due to males respiratory systems slower growth. While among female, the asthma rate is higher after puberty. This can be due to males airway become much stronger after puberty. To conclude, although uncontrollable, gender and age is a risk factor that we should know in order to prepare for and preventing asthma. Allergy and asthma Another uncontrollable risk factor of asthma would be allergies and other respiratory disease. Figure 1.2.1 Figure 1.2.1 above used data collected from Unionville High School. In the sample, there are 4 people who suffer from asthma among 31 people which is near 13%. It matches the data from statistic Canada. Among these 4 people one of them own pet and two of them both own pets and have other allergies. Over half of the asthma patients have other allergies and the majority of them own pet. It shows owning pet might be a risk factor of asthma and the reason behind it might be the fur that can cause inflammation in the airway. Moreover there is a relationship between asthma and other type of allergies Figure 1.2.2 The result from another research also supported this argument. Most people that suffer from other allergies or atopic disease are also asthma sufferers therefore people with allergies are more likely to suffer from asthma. Genetic and asthma A very common way of having asthma is inheriting the disease from the family. This might be due to the genes they inherited from their parents have similar characteristic therefore asthma can be inherited. Figure 1.3.1 Looking at Figure 1.3.1 based on a sample from Unionville High School, 3 asthma sufferers out of 4 have family members that suffer from asthma. It is clear that the amount of asthma sufferers with siblings or parents that also have asthma is much higher than ones without. We can conclude that having a family member with asthma can raise the chance of developing asthma. Argument 2 Other than those uncontrollable factors that are related to a persons age, sex and other disease, ones everyday habit and activities is can also affect the asthma rate. Two of these unhealthy habits that can increase ones chance of having asthma will be smoking, overeating or lack of exercising that can cause obesity. Smoking and asthma Asthma is a common respiratory disease in the world. There are few ways that will turn this disease bad, Smoking is one of the major bad habit that turn asthma bad. Smoking is the inhalation of the smoke of burning tobacco encased in cigarettes, pipes, and cigars. According to the CDC, a research demonstrated that there is a higher rate to have asthma if you smoke. There are about 17% people in the US that smoke but there are about 21% people who smoke with asthma. Figure 2.1.1 The graph above demonstrated the people in different province in the United States and is split by with asthma who smokes and without asthma who smoke. The result shows that there are more people that smoke with asthma than without asthma. Overweight and asthma Although Asthma is a respiratory disease, ones body mass index (BMI) is also a factor of developing asthma and even an asthma attack.ÂÂ   BMI is calculated using ones height and weight; when a persons body mass index (BMI) is between 18.5 and 25, he will be considered normal, however when the persons BMI is between 25 to 30 he will be considered overweight and obese if the BMI is over 30. Graph 2.2.1 below shows the percentage of normal weight, overweight and obese adults suffering from asthma. Figure 2.2.1 The graph shows the relationship between ones BMI and asthma. For both men and women, the chance of suffering from asthma for an obese person is significantly higher than a normal weighted person. For the obese group, the asthma prevalence is almost 50% higher than the normal weight group. We can easily see that being overweight can greatly influence the prevalence of asthma, overweight people are more likely to suffer from asthma compared with others. This is because the extra weight on an overweight person will increase the pressure on his chest therefore it will be harder for the person to breath. On the other hand, inflammation, which obesity usually comes with, also contributes to increasing the risks of developing asthma. Inflammation around the wall of the airway will make it swollen and decrease the width of the airway, allowing lesser air to pass, and cause multiple asthma symptoms such as wheezing, coughing, and breathing difficulties. From the data, we are able to conclude the theory is true and being obese will greatly increase ones chance of developing asthma. Figure 2.2.2 https://nccd.cdc.gov/NPAO_DTM/IndicatorSummary.aspx?category=28indicator=30 From graph 2.2.3, we are able to see that according to CDC, more than 10% of the Americas population is obese, that means they will all be having a much higher risk of having asthma than the rest and they should be more careful about while doing strenuous exercise. Argument 3 While ones persona condition and habit changes his chance of developing asthma, like many other disease, the environment around the person can also influence the incidence of the disease. This is due to the environment can affect ones health condition slowly therefore a good environment can decrease ones chance of suffering from diseases and vice versa. Poverty and asthma One of the factors that can affect ones living environment is ones income. Typically, family that have more money will be able to afford living in cleaner area, more comfortable space and overall, a better environment; while the families with less income will not. Dust, small particles, molds, insects and many more types of allergens in these environment can trigger asthma and exposed to them will absolutely be a factor that causes asthma. Figure 3.1.2 Graph asthma prevalence by income in 2014 https://www.cdc.gov/asthma/nhis/2014/table2-1.htm The graph above shows the percent of people suffering from asthma versus their poverty level in America. Federal poverty threshold in the graph is a measure of income for every person. The standard income for an American is calculated each year and it is shown in the table below. PERSONS IN FAMILY/HOUSEHOLD POVERTY GUIDELINE 1 $11,670 2 15,730 3 19,790 4 23,850 5 27,910 6 31,970 7 36,030 8 40,090 For families/households with more than 8 persons, add $4,060 for each additional person. From graph 1 it is clear that there is a trend that shows less people suffer from asthma as their income increase. For instance for people with income lower than the poverty guideline, the prevalence of asthma reached up to 10%. Moreover, the area one lives in also matters Figure 3.1.3 Graph of amount of asthma patient versus poverty rate in 2014 http://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/tables/time-series/historical-poverty-people/hstpov9.xls Figure 3.1.3 above showed the poverty rate and asthma rate of the four regions in the United States. It also indicated that as the poverty rate of a certain region or area gets higher, so does the asthma rate. In general, families living in poverty lives in less developed areas, which means that they might know less about how to deal with asthma and asthma prevention. These data prove the relationship between poverty and asthma; therefore family that have less income is likely to have a higher risk of having asthma. Air pollution and asthma As mentioned, asthma is a type of long term respiratory disease and it mainly affects the airway and trachea, which is a part of the respiratory system. It is used as a tube to transfer air in and out of the lung while breathing; so, during this process, the wall of the airway frequently makes contact with the air outside that contains many pollutants. Therefore unlike skin that covers the human body, the unprotected wall can get infected and be stimulated very easily. Then the inflamed airway will cause coughing, wheezing and even asthma. Therefore if the environment isnt clean and the air quality isnt good, the chance of developing asthma increases. Figure 3.2.1 Graph of emission of sulfur oxide and asthma rate from 2010 to 2014 Figure 3.2.2 Graph of emission of nitrogen oxide and asthma rate from 2010 to 2014 http://www.ec.gc.ca/indicateurs-indicators/default.asp?lang=enn=E79F4C12-1 The two graphs above show the relationship between the emissions of several types of air pollutants as percentage of 1990 level and the percentage of people with asthma in canada from 2010 to 2014. We are able to see that there is a trend, as the emission of the two air pollutants decreases the percentage of people with asthma also decrease. For example, sulfur dioxide, a form of sulfur oxide found in lower atmosphere, is a harmful toxic chemical. The r of the trend line is about 0.703, which means there is a strong relationship between the emission the chemical and prevalence of asthma. In fact according to CDC, exposure to this type of chemical will affect ones lung health. Asthma suffers is more sensitive to even low concentration of sulfur dioxide. On the other hand, there is also correlation between emission of nitrogen oxide and asthma prevalence. The r in graph 3.2.2 is 0.9 therefore it shows that the relationship with asthma prevalence is even stronger for nitrogen oxide. A r esearch done by WHO indicates that respiratory disease is more common in area with higher nitrogen oxide concentration. Therefore, inhaling either of these chemicals in the air can do damage on ones respiratory system can is one of the factors of asthma. Figure 3.2.3 http://www.ec.gc.ca/indicateurs-indicators/default.asp?lang=enn=E79F4C12-1 Luckily, from the graph above, we can see that the emissions of these toxic chemicals are decreasing. Thus we can expect that as the average air quality get better in the future and the concentration of these chemicals decrease, the percentage of people with asthma should also slowly decrease. Climate and asthma Last but not least, the climate of each region also has an effect on the chance of developing asthma. In fact, one of the factors that can affect ones respiratory system would be humidity. Humidity is the amount of water in the air and higher humidity would mean there are more water around the atmosphere. When the humidity gets higher, it will be more difficult to breath in this kind of atmosphere, but if the atmosphere is too dry, the airway will be inflamed due to lack of water and will also be a factored that triggers asthma. Figure 3.3.1 Graph of asthma prevalence and average humidity https://www.cdc.gov/asthma/most_recent_data_states.htm https://www.currentresults.com/Weather/US/humidity-by-state-in-summer.php From this graph, we are able to see a U shaped trend. Most states in the United States have similar average humidity and asthma rate. However as the average humidity increase, more people suffer from asthma; as the average humidity decrease lower than 40% the amount of asthma patient increases again. As a matter of fact, the world health organization claimed that 50% humidity will be best to reduce the chance of developing asthma or asthma attack. State such as New Jersey and Maryland, are located at the east coast, had higher average humidity, being around 70% has more asthma patient; while states near the west coast has a lower average humidity around 60% and has less people has asthma there. On the other hand, the states in the middle region have a low average humidity near 30% to 40%; as expected the amount of asthma patients goes up. Therefore the theory a stated above is proven to be true, humidity can affect ones chance of developing asthma or an asthma attack. Conclusion Limitations Bias There is sampling bias in the result of our survey; this is because we take our sample from Unionville High School. The population in the school is mainly Asian therefore although we narrowed our report to only about North America; it cant represent the situation in North America precisely.ÂÂ   Moreover, we used snowball sampling while sending out the survey, the amount of Asians and non-Asians in the result will be more unbalanced. Not enough information When we are doing our research we found out that there are not many raw data that we can use, many of them are directly made into graphs or figures without posting the raw data and some of the data isnt able to be found on the internet. Moreover there are countries that do not make their data public. Therefore we decided to narrow our range down to only North America. And we found out that Statistic Canada and CDC have a lot of open source that we can work with Works Cited https://aspe.hhs.gov/2014-poverty-guidelines#tresholds https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2015/12/24/asthma_widea7d6c21be70cdf982718f2e7bcb6f1f5d5b3cfdc.jpg?s=1400 Appendix Table 1 Asthma, by age group and sex (Percent) 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 percent Total, 12 years and over 8.5 8.6 8.1 7.9 8.1 Males 7.1 7.4 6.8 6.9 7 Females 9.8 9.8 9.4 8.9 9.2 12 to 19 years 11.1 11.8 10.2 10.9 9 Males 11.4 11.1 10.6 11.1 8.3 Females 10.8 12.5 9.8 10.7 9.6 20 to 34 years 9.5 9.1 9.7 8 9.3 Males 8.5 7.9 8.7 7.4 8.2 Females 10.5 10.4 10.7 8.6 10.5 35 to 44 years 7.7 8 6.8 8 7.2 Males 6.3 7.2 5.7 7.3 5.5 Females 9.1 8.7 8 8.7 8.9 45 to 64 years 7.9 8.1 7.1 7.1 7.5 Males 5.5 6.6 4.7 5.6 6.4 Females 10.4 9.6 9.4 8.6 8.6 65 years and over 7 7.3 7.7 7.5 8 Males 6.2 5.6 6.4 5.8 7.1 Females 7.6 8.7 8.8 9 8.7 http://www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tableaux/sum-som/l01/cst01/health49b-eng.htm Table 2 https://www.dovepress.com/cr_data/article_fulltext/s91000/91654/img/COPD-91654-T01.png Table 3 https://www.cdc.gov/asthma/nhis/2014/table2-1.htm Table 4 https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db239_table.pdf#1 Table 5 2014: Percent of adults aged 18 years and older who are overweight Location Value 95% CI Sample Size National 35.2 (34.9-35.5) 425,875 https://nccd.cdc.gov/NPAO_DTM/IndicatorSummary.aspx?category=28indicator=30 Table 6 Ratio of Family Income to Poverty Threshold All Ages Total Children Adults 18+ 0-0.99 15.8 15.6 15.9 1.00-2.49 12.9 13.2 12.9 2.50-4.49 12.4 12.8 12.3 4.50 and above 11.8 12.3 11.7 https://www.cdc.gov/asthma/nhis/2014/table2-1.htm Region: All ages Total Children Age Adults Age 18+ Northeast 7,060

The Cult of True Womanhood and The Yellow Wallpaper :: Yellow Wallpaper essays

The Cult of True Womanhood and The Yellow Wallpaper Prior to the twentieth century, men assigned and defined women’s roles.   Although all women were effected by men determining women’s behavior, largely middle class women suffered.   Men perpetrated an ideological prison that subjected and silenced women.   This ideology, called the Cult of True Womanhood, legitimized the victimization of women.   The Cult of Domesticity and the Cult of Purity were the central tenets of the Cult of True Womanhood. Laboring under the seeming benevolence of the Cult of Domesticity, women were imprisoned in the home or private sphere, a servant tending to the needs of the family.   Furthermore, the Cult of Purity obliged women to remain virtuous and pure even in marriage, with their comportment continuing to be one of modesty. Religious piety and submission were beliefs that were more peripheral components of the ideology, yet both were borne of and a part of the ideology of True Womanhood. These were the means that men used to i nsure the passivity and docility of women.   Religion would pacify any desires that could cause a deviation from these set standards, while submission implied a vulnerability and dependence on the patriarchal head (Welter 373-377). The medical profession’s godlike attitude in â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† demonstrates this arrogance.   The Rest cure that Dr. Weir Mitchell prescribed, which is mentioned in Gilman’s work, reflects men’s disparaging attitudes.   His Rest cure calls for complete rest, coerced feeding and isolation.   Mitchell, a neurosurgeon specializing in women’s nervous ailments, expounded upon his belief for women’s nervous conditions when he said, American woman is, to speak plainly, too often physically unfit for her duties as woman, and is perhaps of all civilized females the least qualified to undertake those weightier tasks which tax so heavily the nervous system of man.   She is not fairly up to what nature asks from her as wife and mother. How will she sustain herself under the pressure of those yet more exacting duties which nowadays she is eager to share with the man? (Mitchell 141) On the other hand, the male sector of society enjoyed mobility.   Men reaped benefits from not only the private domain, but they were also free to leave and enter the public sphere.  Ã‚   They received nurturing from women in the private arena.   The public sphere was where men enjoyed the competition engendered in the market place through which they gained their identity.

Alice In Credit Card Land :: essays research papers

<a href="http://www.geocities.com/vaksam/">Sam Vaknin's Psychology, Philosophy, Economics and Foreign Affairs Web Sites Your credit card is stolen. You place a phone call to the number provided in your tourist guide or in the local daily press. You provide your details and you cancel your card. You block it. In a few minutes, it should be transferred to the stop-list available to the authorization centres worldwide. From that moment on, no thief will be able to fraudulently use your card. You can sigh in relief. The danger is over. But is it ? It is definitely not. To understand why, we should first review the intricate procedure involved. In principle, the best and safest thing to do is call the authorization centre of the bank that issued your card (the issuer bank). Calling the number published in the media is second best because it connects the cardholder to a â€Å"volunteer† bank, which caters for the needs of all the issuers of a given card. Some service organizations (such as IAPA – the International Air Passengers Association) provide a similar service. The â€Å"catering bank† accepts the call, notes down the details of the cardholder and prepares a fax containing the instruction to cancel the card. The cancellation fax is then sent on to the issuing bank. The details of all the issuing banks are found in special manuals published by the clearing and payments associations of all the banks that issue a specific card. All the financial institutions that issue Mastercards, Eurocards and a few other more minor cards in Europe are members of Europay International (EPI). Here lies the first snag : the catering bank often mistakes the identity of the issuer. Many banks share the same name or are branches of a network. Banks with identical names can exist in Prague, Budapest and Frankfurt, or Vienna, for instance. Should a fax cancelling the card be sent to the wrong bank – the card will simply not be cancelled until it is too late. By the time the mistake is discovered, the card is usually thoroughly abused and the financial means of the cardholder are exhausted. Additionally, going the indirect route (calling an intermediary bank instead of the issuing bank) translates into a delay which could prove monetarily crucial. By the time the fax is sent, it might be no longer necessary. If the card has been abused and fraudulent purchases or money withdrawals have been debited to the unfortunate cardholders’ bank or

Colonization

Although New England and the Chesapeake regions were settled largely by people of English origin, by 1700 the regions had evolved into two distinct societies. I have described both societies in an attempt to demonstrate their developments. Virginia Colony In 1607 a group of merchants established England s first permanent colony in North America at Jamestown, Virginia. They operated as a joint-stock company that allowed them to sell shares of stock in their company and use the pooled investment capital to outfit and supply overseas expeditions. This joint tock company operated under a charter from James I with a concern for bringing Christian religion to the native people. However, most of the settlers probably agreed with Captain John Smith that the real aim was profit rather than religion. Profits were elusive in the early years; expectations of gold and other minerals, trade with Indians for beaver and deer skins were not to be had by the colonists. Many Virginia colonists died of dysentery, malaria and malnutrition. The Virginia Company sent a diverse collection of people to Jamestown; there ere artists and glassmakers, as well as unskilled servants. Both types of people adapted poorly to the wilderness conditions. Relations between the colonists and the Indians were bitter from the beginning. John Smith dealt with the Indians by shows of force and the Indians withdrew trade with the English. Many settlers died of starvation in the first years. The discovery that tobacco would grow in the Chesapeake region was a salvation for Virginia. The planters shipped the first crop in 1617 and thereafter tobacco cultivation spread rapidly. By 1624, Virginia was xporting 200,000 pounds of tobacco; by 1638 the crop exceeded 3 million pounds. The cultivation of tobacco caused Virginia s planters to find a reliable supply of cheap labor. To fill this need, planters recruited immigrants from various countries. These immigrants were called indentured servants. They willingly sold a portion of their working lives in exchange for free passage across the Atlantic ocean. Many of the indentured servants were unemployed and held the lower class on the social ladder from their places of origin. Life for indentured servants was often a nightmare. If diseases did not kill them, many succumbed to the brutal work routine that harsh masters imposed upon them. When the remaining servants neared the end of their contract, masters would find ways to add time to the contracts. The profitable tobacco crops created an intense demand for land. As more and more colonists settled along the rivers that flowed in Chesapeake Bay, the local Indian tribes retaliated. The murder of an Indian captain triggered a fierce Indian assault that dealt a staggering blow to Virginia. This attack led to the bankruptcy of the Virginia Company. The surviving planters felt they had justified reasons for the destruction of the Indians. As more settlers arrived, more pressure was placed on the Indians for land. Wars over land was provoked in 1644 and again in 1675. In each of these conflicts, the colonizers were victorious. The native population of Virginia was reduced to less than 1,000 by 1680. Immigrants to the Chesapeake Bay region found existence difficult. Many immigrants arrived as indentured servants and could not marry until their time was paid. Once marriage was made, diseases claimed many within about seven years. Few children growing up could expect to have both parents alive. Widows and widowers often remarried soon after the death of their spouse, creating a complex web of family life. Because of mortality, the Chesapeake settlers remained, for most of the seventeenth-century, a land of immigrants rather than a land of settled families. Social institutions such as churches and schools took root very slowly. The Chesapeake region architecture showed the fragility of life in the tobacco growing environment. Settlers at first built primitive huts and shanties. After establishing crops, planters improved their habitats but still built ramshackle one-room dwellings. Even as Virginia and Maryland matured, cheaply built and cramped houses remained the norm. Life was too uncertain and the tobacco economy was too volatile. Massachusetts Bay Colony While some English settlers scrambled for wealth on the Chesapeake, others were seized by the spirit of religion. These individuals were known as Puritans. They aimed their efforts at reforming the corrupt new land. They wanted the new land to have a special mission in the world. The people attracted to the Puritan movement were not only religious reformers but also men and women who hoped to find changes in English society. They disapproved of the growing withdrawal from traditional restraints of individual action. They worried that individualistic behavior would undermine the notion of community involvement. This community involvement was the belief that people were bound together by reciprocal rights, obligations, and responsibilities. Puritans vowed to reverse the march of disorder, wickedness and disregard for community by imposing a new discipline. Their intention was to establish communities of pure Christians who collectively swore a covenant with God to work for his ends. Civil and religious transgressors were rooted out and severely punished. Their emphasis was on homogeneous communities where the good of the group outweighed individual interests. The first winter for the Puritans was harsh, more than 200 of the first 700 settlers died and 100 others returned to the England in the next spring. But Puritans kept coming. Motivated by their work ethic and sense of mission, the Puritans thrived almost from the beginning. The early leaders were university-trained ministers, experienced members of the lesser gentry and men with a compulsion to fulfill what they knew was God s prophecy for New England. Most of the ordinary settlers came as free men in with families. Trained artisans and farmers from the mid rank of English society, they established close communities where brutal exploitation of labor had no place. The Puritans built a sound economy based on agriculture, fishing, timbering and trading for beaver furs with local Indians. They also established the first printing press and planted they seed of a university, Harvard College. The Puritan leaders also created a tax-supported school system. In 1647, the government ordered every town with 50 families to establish an elementary school and every town with 100 families a secondary school as well. Although the Puritans had made many accomplishments, there were some dissenters from the Puritan way of life. In 1633, Salem s Puritan minister, Roger Williams, began to voice disturbing opinions on church and government policies. Williams denounced mandatory worship and argued that government officials should not interfere with religious matters. In 1634, Anne Hutchinson began to discuss religion, suggesting that the holy spirit was absent in the preaching of some ministers. Hutchinson also offended the male leaders of the colony because she boldly stepped outside the subordinate position expected of women. The village was the vital center of Puritan life. These villages were small and tightly held. Many farmers established agriculture fields set outside the village. Families lived close together in compact towns built around a common meeting place. These small, communal villages kept families in close touch. Land was istributed to individuals according to the size of his family, his wealth and his usefulness to the church and town. It was believed that every family should have enough land to sustain it, and prospering men were expected to use their wealth for the community s benefit, not for themselves. Women played a vital role in this family centered society. The presence of women and a stable family life strongly affected New England s architecture. Early economic gains were transformed into substantial housing. Well constructed one-room houses with sleeping lofts quickly replaced the huts. Parlors and lean-to kitchens were added as soon as possible. Education was stressed in Puritan communities. Placing religion at the center of their lives, Puritans emphasized the ability to read catechisms, psalmbooks and especially the Bible. The 20,000 English immigrants who had come to New England by 1649 were dispersed from Maine to Long Island. It was only natural that farmers wished for better farm land. To combat the problems of dispersion, Puritan leaders established a broad intercolony political structure in 1643 called the Confederation of New England. This first attempt at federalism managed to function fitfully for a generation. Although the Puritans built stable communities, developed the economy and constructed effective government, their leaders, as early as the 1640s, complained that the founding vision of Massachusetts Bay was faltering. Material concerns seemed to outweigh religious commitments and the individual prevailed over the community. However, New England had achieved economic success and political stability by the end of the seventeenth century. Towns functioned efficiently, poverty was uncommon, public education was mandated and family life was stable.

Assessment and Office Equipment Essay

Unit purpose and aim This unit is about using a variety of different office equipment following manufacturer’s and organisational guidelines. Learning Outcomes Assessment Criteria The Learner will: The Learner can: 1. Know about different types of office equipment and its uses 1. 1 Identify different types of equipment and their uses 1. 2 Describe the different features of different types of office equipment 1. 3 Explain why different types of equipment are chosen for tasks 2. Understand the purpose of following instructions and health and safety procedures Exemplification Learning outcomes 1 to 6 must be assessed using methods appropriate to the assessment of knowledge and understanding. A holistic approach to assessment should be adopted so that one piece of evidence covers more than one learning outcome and several assessment criteria. 2. 1 Explain the purpose of following manufacturer’s instructions when using equipment 2. 2 Explain the purpose of following organisational instructions when using equipment 2. 3 Identify health and safety procedures for using different types of equipment 2. 4 Explain the purpose of following health and safety. Procedures when using equipment 2. 5 Explain the purpose of  © OCR 2010 1 keeping equipment clean and hygienic 3. Understand how to use equipment in a way that minimises waste 3. 1 Give examples of waste when using equipment 3. 2 Give examples of ways to reduce waste 3. 3 Explain the purpose of minimising waste 4. Know about the different types of problems that may occur when using equipment and how to deal with them 4. 1 Give examples of equipment problems 4. 2 Explain the purpose of following manufacturer’s instructions and organisational procedures when dealing with problems 4. 3 Give examples of how to deal with problems 5. Understand the purpose of meeting work standards and deadlines 5. 1 Explain the purpose of meeting work standards and deadlines when using equipment 6. Understand the purpose of leaving equipment and the work area ready for the next user 6. 1 Explain the purpose of leaving equipment and the work area ready for the next user 7. Be able to use office equipment 7. 1 Locate and select equipment needed for a task 7. 2 Use equipment following manufacturer’s and organisational guidelines Assessment should be planned. To maximise the opportunities for the candidate to demonstrate their ability to use office equipment. 7. 3 Use equipment minimising waste 7. 4 Keep equipment clean and hygienic 7. 5 Deal with equipment problems following manufacturer’s and organisational procedures 7. 6 Refer problems, if required 7. 7 Make sure final work product meets agreed requirements 7. 8 Make sure that product is delivered to agreed timescale 7. 9 Make sure equipment, 2  © OCR 2010 resources and work area are ready for the next user Assessment This unit is centre assessed and externally verified. A holistic approach to assessment should be adopted so that one piece of evidence covers more than one learning outcome and several assessment criteria and where appropriate, provides evidence across several units. Your assessor will use a range of assessment methods which may include: ? observation of performance in the work environment ? examination of work products ? questioning the learner ? discussing with the learner ? use of others (witness testimony) ? looking at learner statements ? recognising prior learning Evidence requirements A range of evidence should be gathered to cover the Learning Outcomes and Assessment Criteria. Examples may include: ? Job requests/briefs from colleagues ? Copies of work produced using equipment ? Fault/problem logs indicating your response ? Records of training in use of equipment ? Minutes of team/1 to 1 meetings, relating to use of equipment ? Annotated copies of relevant sections in user manuals. The candidate must demonstrate their ability to use a range of office equipment including a computer, printer, and photocopier along with other equipment necessary to carry out their job eg telephone, franking machine,fax machine, data projector, shredder, laminator, binder, paper folder. Guidance on assessment and evidence requirements Refer to sections on Assessment and Evidence requirements above. National Occupational Standards (NOS) mapping/signposting This unit is based on the NOS BAA231 Use office equipment. Functional skills signposting This section indicates where candidates may have an opportunity to develop their functional skills.  © OCR 2010 3 Link to functional skills standards http://www. qcda. gov. uk/15565.aspx Functional Skills Standards English Mathematics ICT Speaking and Listening ? Representing ? Use ICT systems ? Reading ? Analysing ? Find and select information ? Writing ? Interpreting ? Develop, present and communicate information ? Resources Access to a wo rking environment with associated equipment and resources Additional information For further information regarding administration for this qualification, please refer to the OCR document ‘Admin Guide: Vocational Qualifications’ (A850) on the OCR website www. ocr. org. uk.

Carp Reaction Paper

REACTION PAPER: COMPREHENSIVE AGRARIAN REFORM PROGRAM For a long period of time, Philippine land was owned by the private sectors. This started during the Spanish regime when the land was primarily owned by the large landlords and the friars. The Philippine farmers found it hard to acquire land during that time because the only basis for ownership is ancestral domain ship. Agrarian rights were established during the American occupation, but only few initiatives were given and the rich families still continue to own the Philippine land. The first comprehensive agrarian reform order was attempted in the country in 1972. A month after the martial law, President Marcos issued Presidential Decree no. 27 making the Philippines a land reform nation. This reform order states that an individual cannot own more than seven hectares of land. The remaining area will be given out in portions to individual tenants. The tenant may acquire a maximum of 3 hectares of irrigated land or 5 hectares of unused land in exchange for payments such as royalty taxes, etc. This reform program was unpopular thus making it a total failure. On June 22, 1987, President Corazon Aquino outlined the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (CARL) through Presidential Proclamation 131 and Executive Order 229. The law was enacted by the 8th Congress of the Philippines and signed by former President Aquino on June 10, 1988. The Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law is the basis of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) which was the centerpiece program of President Corazon Aquino’s Administration. The program was said to have an underlying political motivation for it formed one of the major points against Marcos during President Aquino’s Presidential campaign. The essence of CARP is asset revaluation or redistribution of wealth so that the landless farmers can have access to capital resources in order to promote their welfare. Its aim is the equitable distribution and ownership of land to the tiller and to provide opportunities for a dignified quality of life to the Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (ARBs). To accomplish these objectives, provisions were made for adequate support services for rural development and economic-size farms were established as the basis of Philippine Agriculture. The program was given a special fund of P50 billion. The sources of the Agrarian Reform Fund was proceeds of the sale of the Assets of the Asset Privatization Trust (ATP), the sale of the ill-gotten wealth recovered through the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) and other appropriate sources. The CARP has an 8. 1 million hectare scope. The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) was assigned to distribute 4. 3 million while the Department of Environment and Natural Resources was assigned with 3. 8 million hectares to distribute. As of December 2005, it was reported that The Department of Agrarian Reform had distributed 3. 5 million hectares and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, 2. 93 million hectares. Even though the DAR and the DENR distributed a large number of lands, it didn’t reach the goal set in the program. â€Å"Twenty Years later, the Government’s land reform effort has woefully short of its goals – by some 1. 3 million hectares of private farmland† (Facts not Slogan, t he Business Mirror) The distribution of land to the tiller is below the expected target. It was not accomplished during the first term of CARP which was 10 years. The government’s slowness in land transfer activities is because of the following factors: 1. lack of political will to implement agrarian reform 2. manifest in operational and legal bottlenecks 3. blockades by big land owners who have seats in Congress and posts in the Government bureaucracy But the main reason was the lack of resources to fund the program. The actual requirement estimated by the Presidential Agrarian Reform Council (PARC) in 1987 was 221. 09 billion to ensure the program’s full implementation. However, only P100 billion was given under the law. The fund provided was less than half of what is required. There were numerous issues concerning the implementation of CARP. The biggest of which is the lack of support services for the ARBs to ensure the productivity of the lands that were distributed to the farmers. â€Å"Then there is the matter of official commitment to the program—or rather, the lack of it. Frequently cited is a study in Negros Occidental, which showed that 97 percent of agrarian-reform beneficiaries (ARBs) have received no government support services, that 41 percent of ARBs have either abandoned or sold the rights to the land awarded to them under the CARP, that 98. percent of ARBs have not paid land taxes, etc. Moreover, Negros Occidental has remained a hotbed of insurgent activity. † (Facts, not Slogans. Business Mirror) â€Å"Beneficiaries of land reform also lacked sufficient support to make their farms viable. Ownership is just one step in making a decent living out of farmland. The owner needs agricultural know-how as well as technical and financi al resources to plant the right crops at the right time, and use the proper pesticides and fertilizers. At harvest time he needs access to post-harvest facilities, and then assistance in marketing his crops. Knowledge of crop rotation could maximize the use of a small farmland. † (The Promise of Agrarian Reform. The Philippine Star, 6/02/09) â€Å"There weren’t enough farm-to-market roads, processing and distribution facilities, irrigation and market support. † Because of the absence of these minimum requirements, a number of CARP Beneficiaries were prompted to sell their farms, sometimes to â€Å"buyers† hired by the original owners. Without the necessary support, ownership is useless. Another problem is landowner resistance. The poor implementation of the program is the reason why private agricultural lands remain undistributed. A common carp loophole used by landowners to escape relinquishing their lands is through the reclassification of their land into residential, commercial and industrial lands which are excluded from CARP. Just this year, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo signed the extension of the Agrarian Reform Program, Republic Act No. 9700 or the CARP Extension and Reform Law (CARPer), which allocated P150 billion for agrarian reform, to be distributed in five years. Sixty percent of the budget will go to land acquisition and forty percent to support services. â€Å"The new law, a consolidation of House Bill 4077 and Senate Bill 2666, is called CARP Extension with Reforms (CARPer) and extends the program from July 1, 2009, to June 30, 2014. It provides a P150-billion outlay for the acquisition and distribution of 1. 6 million hectares of all agricultural lands, as well as support services for 1. 2 million farmer-beneficiaries. † (Booster Shot for Agrarian Reform. Business Mirror) â€Å"The reforms in RA 9700 include provisions on the sourcing of the funds, which will allow the Department of Agrarian Reform to target the acquisition and distribution of the remaining 1 million hectares or so of agricultural lands covered by CARP at a much faster pace; the creation of a joint Congressional Oversight Committee on Agrarian Reform, or COCAR, to closely monitor the implementation of the new law; the strengthening of the ban on land-use conversion by landowners eager to avoid CARP, by extending the scope of the ban to allow no exceptions, by levying heavier penalties for illegal conversion of agricultural land into non-agricultural use and by mandating the automatic coverage of converted land if the conversion is unimplemented or its terms violated—thus legislating the lesson from the Sumilao farmers’ issue. † (CARPer, Right and Wrong. Philippine Daily Inquirer) CONCLUSION In my opinion, the government focused only on distributin g lands and not in the other objectives that were stated in the law. As pointed out in the editorials which I’ve read. It’s not enough to own land in order to become prosperous in agriculture. A farmer needs the necessary equipment to harvest his crops and also knowledge in marketing in order to sell his crops. A poor farmer even if given rights to own land won’t be able to change financial status because what is given to him is not enough. As for the loopholes in the CARP, I hope the implementation of the CARPer will resolve the problem concerning the evasion of redistribution of estates. The revised CARPer should target the weaknesses of the old program and make sure that the implementation would be better this time than the previous program. The Philippines is still far from accomplishing agrarian reform even after 50 years. If they keep it up in this rate, it’ll take a very long time to lift our Filipino farmers from poverty.

Alaska Coffee Company Essay

Sure Powell was given input by his retail managers, employees and customers, but he wasn’t given any advice from people that new the company inside and out. All the people that offered him advice had no knowledge regarding the financials or other intricate facets of the company. If he had a board of directors he might be able to make more informed decisions that better serve the company as a whole. It is clear he also didn’t have a clear process for managers to go through to implement changes and or suggestions. The chain of command was vague and rarely used except by going directly to or through him. His attitude of â€Å"let it rip† is great because it gives employees freedom to thing outside the box and make them feel like they are a major part of the company but does not give any structure to them. His marketing background is most likely a key contributor to the company’s success in implementing new products and keeping customers coming back but with no real experience in running a company before this he lacked the human resource skills necessary for a company to thrive which is clear in his passive leadership role. External Environmental Analysis Some of the key external forces with company were in the beginning not really having any competition which let the company grow and lock down a loyal customer base. Also with the Alaskan environment suiting coffee drinkers because of the mild to colder weather. Staying confined in one city also helped the brand name grow through word of mouth and helped lock down business opportunities. Having a roaster facility in the city also cut down on expenses and helped keep the coffee fresh which was one of their staple trademarks to serve the freshest coffee possible. Internal Environmental Analysis Some of the key internal forces for ACC were the fact that the company was built on loyal workers who stayed in the company due to chances for promotion and growth. Along with that and Powell’s leadership style it let employees act somewhat freely and have input into a company that strived to stay away from a corporate feel. The quality of the products that they offered also helped them since they were considered to have the top of the line products some of which were considered to be the best in the world. Having a small chain of command is also beneficial to the employees because it allows them to get things done relatively quickly without having to wait for it to go through many different levels of management. With most customers saying that the coffee was addicting and the atmosphere was very pleasant it leads to a happy environment for customers and workers alike allowing for the business to strive. Another problem of the external environment is that the shops were not strategically located. The areas that they were placed in were researched to some extent but not fully like a major company like Starbucks would do to make sure they can get the most out of the market. Not only that but they didn’t own all the building or locations that they were in having leased some of the spaces with only year contracts. SWOT Analysis The opportunities to grow for the ACC seemed to be limitless since they had already successfully competed with local competition and it did not affect their bottom line to a level of concern for them until, world conglomerate Starbucks entered the scene. Once they came on scene it became clear that competition would become a threat and opportunities could and would shrink. This was and is the biggest threat to ACC since Starbucks is already a well known product that strives to give customers the â€Å"Starbucks Experience†. This is where the customer can feel comfortable getting the same service and products at any store in the world compared to ACC’s differently styled shops and styles of running the stores. This is probably of the greatest concern since most of their stores have different layouts and feels you can’t go to one ACC store and then go to another and feel like it is just like the one you already visited. One strength that ACC has is that it is a local company built on staying small and having a non corporate feel. They also strive to employee young workers in a state that is economically stricken and worried about their young adults leaving the state to live elsewhere. One weakness I believe that they have is that their merchandise can be over priced and even though started to compete with lower priced items there were no real studies done on how well the products would do. One of their major weaknesses is their human resources department and their lack of technical support. They switched to new major software with no one that could fix a problem if one occurred. Business-Level Strategy Their strategy was to find a way to keep their customers loyal while offering the best possible choices in specialty coffees and to help contribute to the great state of Alaska’s economy. Their potential for success I believe is still quite good. As long as Powell can overhaul is leadership strategy and his chain of command, I think they could become even more profitable than they already are. He needs to make a lot of changes but he has the right idea and now he just needs to build on it. Even though it may not be the Alaskan way of doing things he needs to come up with written ways and policies to go about key things in his business. The communication chain also must be improved for the business to continue to be successful. Cooperative Strategy ACC has some key alliances in place already with major retailers already selling their products in wholesale as well as, disturbing them as needed. Having an alliance with an already established local produce market has obviously been key to their early success and I would guess that those are the stores that continue to post the most profits. Since they do not have a written agreement in place I would recommend that he do so because if he were to lose those locations to say Starbucks, it could be detrimental to his business. Even though some of the major retailers already offer Starbucks products to the public, it is important that ACC stays on good terms with them so as not to lose their business since they are solely confined to Alaska any lose of a major retailer could have vastly negative effects. It is also key that stay in good relationships with the companies that they do their major business with for the same reasons as above. Options and Recommendation In order for ACC to stay in the specialty coffee market, they will need to do some drastic overhauling. Starting with Powell, he needs to establish a direct chain of command and follow through with it. He already gives managers leeway with projects but he has to help them make more informed decision so that he will not have to cancel projects. He also needs to bring in a financial analyst to help teach his managers how to budget and be more open with the financials of the business. After that he needs to revamp his human resource department and definitely bring in an IT specialist to help deal with any software issues. While he also needs to bring in people to train all the essential employees on how to use the software adequately enough that they will be able to teach new employees. I would say he then needs to have a clear line of vision of where he wants the company to go and how he wants it to get there. In order to do that I believe he needs a committee or a board of directors to help weigh in on decisions and help spark new ways and ideas of innovating and implementing strategies. It is also apparent that he needs to upgrade his facilities so that they can operate at full capacity which will also help get rid of some of the overhead he has. Then he needs to establish one way that all stores will look and future stores will be laid out. The one thing that he may not want to do because it may seem like they are going corporate but there are too many uncertainties from one store to the next. They do not have to be identical but the way things are done internally and as far as customer service goes that should be. Overall I think ACC can last and be the main Specialty Coffee supplier in Alaska he just needs to do a little overhauling.