Accidents at Home Essay Example for Free

Accidents at Home Essay We’d all like to believe that our home is a secure, comfortable environment, but we tend not to notice that this very place holds the potential to become very dangerous. In fact, most accidents occur in and around our homes, with the consequences involving anything from minor abrasions to a fatality. Believe it or not, water one of our most valued necessities in life, can not only provide life but also take it. Young children are often the victims of this hazardous feature. All it requires is for the parents to look in the other direction and the next moment, a curious child can wander in the direction of the family swimming pool. An unsurprised toddler can easily fall into the pool and drown. Due to the alarming increase in infant deaths due to drowning, a change in council legislation now demands the presence of childproof fencing around all pools. However there is always the slightly older and more mischievous lot of children who have managed to overcome the barriers of the fencing around pools. As a result, child drowning cases have continued to occur. These numbers have led to a council initiative of childproof safety gates to be manufactured. This requires an adult to open these gates, ensuring parental supervision. See more: Old Age Problem essay In response to the broken bones and concussions that have occurred around pool areas due to older children and teenagers running and playing carelessly around the pool, there has been the further implementation of non-slip pool pavers and surrounds. Nevertheless water inside the home can also be the cause of various accidents, especially in the bathroom which often have wet floors. Wet tiles that may cause a soothing sensation under the feet on a hot day, can instantly become the source of harmful falls, for people of all ages. A slip on a wet floor can lead to bruises, a broken bone or even concussion. In order to prevent these incidents from occurring, households are being urged to make use of the vast array of non-slip mats and non-slip stick-on designs that can even add colour to assist the visually impaired elderly residents. As we age, the activity of our nervous systems tends to function at a lower rate, causing our bodies to react more slowly, so in the event of an accidental fall, the time taken for the brain to send out signals to alert the effectors is lessened as we age. When an elderly person falls, there is the potential for severe injuries because their fragile bones can easily be roken. To ensure their utmost safety, hand rails around the bath are becoming common. Furthermore as water is heated, the hot liquid and steam that results can cause severe scalding accidents that can inflict a single burn or a serious injury. This is especially true for the elderly, with their delayed sensory reaction times, because they can be under a hot shower for several minutes before realising that they’re burnt. As a result, water temperature regulators have been installed in hospitals and the homes of the elderly, in an attempt to minimise the burns caused by hot water. Children can also be subject to similar types of burns when left unsupervised for a moment in bathrooms. Being fascinated by the motion of a rotating tap, these young minds may find themselves running hot water long enough to accidently burn themselves. For this reason, there are childproof tap covers that prevent the tap from turning on, to prevent curious children from scalding injuries when handling hot water. In the kitchen, a slip of the hand is all it takes to cause severe third degree burns. Therefore community service advertisements appear from time to time on television and on the radio to inform people about the hazards present in the kitchen. Even the steam that arises from the kettle poses certain threats. Top-opening kettles posed a potential risk for steam burns on the hand, arm and face and as a result kettles have been redesigned to open and fill at the front, thereby directing steam away from the user. Microwavable food has also proved to be a problem, because when opening the packaging, steam rushes out quickly, causing steam burns. This is why, instructions on the packaging is now mandatory alerting people to delay the time before opening. By doing this, the steam is allowed to dissipate, greatly decreasing the risk of steam burns. Nevertheless, burns are not only the result of hot liquids, because household heating poses a major threat to those who reside in the home. Open fires were once a common source of heating in many households, however the alarming number of house fires caused by curtains or furniture igniting has increased public awareness and also initiated government actions. Thus pressure has been placed on manufacturers to produce burn resistant carpets and curtain material in an attempt to reduce the risk of a stray spark causing a house fire. In order to further minimise the risk of burn injuries from open fires, a ban on installing fully open fires has been passed through government, and slow combustion fires which are a safer alternative, are readily available in many retail stores. However, during cold nights, there is an urge to leave the heater on for the entire night. This action, and the increased use of nylon sleepwear, posed a major threat of house fires while the family was asleep. Consequently, several steps have been taken by the government to ensure the safety of all individuals while they sleep. For instance, sleepwear sold to customers must have the required level of flammability labelled, in order for them to make an informed decision and about avoiding unnecessary burns. The advancement of technology has also allowed for artificial intelligence to be implemented in heating appliances in the form of temperature regulators, causing the heater to either turn on or off in order to maintain the temperature of the room without the risk of overheating and causing a fire. There has also been the danger of accidentally knocking over a heater, especially by children or pets, and this has been responsible for severe burns or even a fatal house fire if the heater came in contact with the carpet and began to burn. However the use of cut-off switches in these portable heaters has greatly minimised the risk of burn injuries and house fires, as the heater simply stops working the moment its sensors realise that it has fallen over. Yet accidents involving electricity can involve more than just electrical heating because there are many appliances used on a daily basis in the average home. Even the simple toaster or hair dryer can cause severe injuries when not correctly handled. For instance when a wet hand decides to grab the nearby hair dryer, water can seep into the electric circuit causing various degrees of electric shock. In order to minimise the risk of this occurring, safety instructions have been attached to such appliances that highlight the dangers that can arise. The toaster is another classic example, where burns have occurred simply by sticking metal cutlery into the toaster in an attempt to remove a piece of toast. Safety instructions have therefore been stuck onto these appliances in order to make people think twice before performing harmful actions. Furthermore, community service advertisements have also been appearing, informing viewers on the dangers that household electrical appliances can pose. Because curious young children can unwillingly stick a finger or a fork into the holes of a power point, safety plugs for power points have been introduced onto the market. When inserted, they prevent easy access, reducing the risk of electrocution especially amongst the younger children. Most importantly, with vast areas of the modern home powered by electricity, the possibility can always arise for a circuit overload or shortage. However being completely engrossed in our busy lives, we tend to not notice, so circuit breakers have been introduced that instantly shut down all power to the house when a threat arises, saving people from serious injuries or even a fatal house fire. Even when electricity is not present, tools and implements also increase the chance of obtaining cuts and lacerations. The preparation of any dish requires the use of knives, peelers and sometimes graters, yet these are some of the many implements that can cause accidents. For instance, the knives when kept in a drawer can see unsuspecting fingers close over their sharp teeth, whilst searching for a particular item. The cuts that result from this incident can be severe and as a result knife boards and jackets have been designed to allow knives to be safely stored. As with knives, peelers and graters only require a slight slip or fumble to cause deep lacerations. Due to these alarming occurrences, manufacturers have improved the design of these implements to include firmer bases and safety blades, in an attempt to minimise any injuries they may inflict. Children are once again victims of the many implements in the kitchen, involving cutlery and scissors. Although they might consider such items to be enjoyable to play with, the number of cuts that have been inflicted has increased rapidly. This is why plastic cutlery and scissors have been produced to allow children to continue playing in a safer environment. Outside the house, there are a variety of tools that can inflict even worse damage. Garden tools can cause severe lacerations if carelessly touched or used, due to their sharp edges. For example, the saw with its sharp teeth can inflict severe cuts so to minimise the likelihoods of such injuries, safety packaging now accompanies these potentially dangerous products, allowing them to be stored safely. In the garden shed, specially padded gardening gloves are also found which help prevent unexpected cuts from thorns or sharp branches that are incurred while performing regular garden jobs. Besides the tools on the shed or garage shelf, there are a wide range of substances, some more dangerous than others. Apart from the cuts, bruises and burns that are inflicted from appliances and various activities around the home, the improper storage of such dangerous substances have accounted or the numerous incidents involving rushing young children to hospital. This may occur after children are attracted to the brightly, coloured tablets and consume them, thinking they are lollies. Similarly with liquids, unsupervised children can easily open and drink a colourful dishwashing liquid or shampoo, thinking it is cordial, but this can lead to serious vomiting and diarrhoea requiring medical attention. For this reason, childproof caps have been introduced on many dangerous liquids which require bo th motions of pressing down and twisting. To ensure the child’s safety when parents are busy, childproof cupboard locks have appeared in many homes, restricting children from accessing dangerous chemicals or medications. To further protect people from the dangers of overdosing or mixing pharmaceutical drugs in an unsafe manner, such as when a headache is so severe that a victim takes three different kinds of painkillers, it is now mandatory to label all substances with both safety instructions and medical advice if for example, a dangerous substance like weedkiller is absorbed, breathed or comes in contact with the skin. Bruises, broken bones, scalding and lacerations are just some of the injuries that can be inflicted on residents, in and around the home. Surely it is clear, that with the numerous cases of severe injuries, which occur in and around our homes every day, it is in fact a very dangerous place to be in.

Strategic Management Industry Structures And Dynamics Business Strategy Essay

Strategic Management Industry Structures And Dynamics Business Strategy Essay Introduction: Dell Company was founded in 1984 by Michael Dell. It is the worlds largest direct-sale computer vendor; Dell Inc. is now also the leading seller of computer systems in the world, capturing a global market share of more than 15 percent. Dell markets desktop personal computers, notebook computers, network servers, workstations, handheld computers, monitors, printers, high-end storage products, and a variety of computer peripherals and software. In this part I will use Porters Five Forces to analysis Dells great success in the industry. Force 1: The Degree of Rivalry. The PC industry consists of a number of companies; hence the threat from industry competitors is high. Due to the product being highly standardized and shifting costs between brands is low, there is fierce competition which leads to lower margins and profitability in the market. The PC industry can be described as a high competitive industry. For Dell the main competitors are IBM, Apple, HP, TOSHIBA, Gateway etc. Dell uses several strategies to reduce the competitive rivalry between existing players. Firstly Dell differentiated its sales from other competitors. Dell used the direct sales strategy since 1984. To sell PCs directly to consumers, by passing retail stores and system integrators and offering limited customer support but dramatically lower prices. For years, that direct, low-cost sales model worked perfectly. It allowed Dell to make high margins while selling computer gear for less than its rivals. As a result, it now holds a leading 17.9% share of the world PC market and has grown much faster than competitors Hewlett-Packard and IBM. With thousands of phone and fax orders daily, $5 million in daily Internet sales, and daily contacts between the field sales force and customers of all types, the company kept its finger on the market pulse, quickly detecting shifts in sales trends and getting prompt feedback on any problems with its products. If the company got more than a few similar complaints, the information was relayed immediately to design engineers. When design flaws or components defects were found, the factory was notified and the problem corrected within a matter of days. Management believed Dells ability to respond quickly gave it a significant advantage over rivals, particularly over PC makers in Asia, which made large production runs and sold standardized products through retail channels. Dell saw its direct sales approach as a totally customer-driven system that allowed quick transitions to new generations of components and PC models. i Secondly Dell provided good customer service to compete with its rivals. In 1986 the company began providing a guarantee of free on-site service for a year with most of its PCs after users complained about having to ship their PCs back to Austin for repairs. Dell contracted with local service providers to handle customer requests for repairs; on-site service was provided on a next-day basis. Dell also provided its customers with technical support via a toll-free number, fax, and e-mail. Dell received close to 40,000 e-mail messages monthly requesting service and support and had 25 technicians to process the requests. iiBundled service policies were a major selling point for winning corporate accounts. If a customer preferred to work with his or her own service provider, Dell gave that provider the training and spare parts needed to service the customers equipment. Force 2: The Threat of new Entry. Firstly, Dell created a brand image to reduce the threat of new entries by advertising. Dell was the first computer company to use comparative ads. Its advertisements have appeared in several types of media including television, the Internet, magazines, catalogs and newspapers. Secondly, Dell cuts its price or offering free bonus products in the effect to maintain its market share. In 2006, Dell cut its price in an effort to maintain its 19.2% market share. However, this also cut profit-margins by more than half, from 8.7 to 4.3 percent. To maintain the strategy Dell continuing to accept the online and telephone purchase. The brand loyalty and the low price built up a barrier of entry for the new companies. Force 3: The Threat of Substitutes. Other devices like PDA, handheld electronics etc. are now coming out with features similar to PCs. The mobilebility is the key factor of the competition. Dell generate a smaller size laptop called mini which only has a 10.1 inch screen and only sells at the price under  £200 which is even lower than some of the handheld electronics. With the efficiency of mobile and the same function, for example Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, Dell protects its market share against those substitutes. Force 4: Bargaining Power of Customers. Dell built up its brand loyalty to reduce the bargaining power of customers. First, Dell had its own system and strategy to manage the relationship with customers. Since Dell use the direct sale strategy, customers can buy Dells products from the website or ordered by phone or fax. The customers then can personalize their computer by choosing the configuration of the computer (e.g. RAM, processors, and hard-disk capacity). On the Dells website from which people can directly choose, buy and give feedback, it divided the customers into four major groups home users, small medium business, public sector and large enterprise. Dell then treats different groups differently by offering the special service they need from different groups. For instance, Dell provides special solutions and services for higher education. Such as data consolidation and management, HPC (high performance computing environments), wireless solution, connected classroom etc. Because of its direct sale strategy, Dell can easily track the service for any individual buyers. All the buyer information will be stored in its system; dell can differentiate customers and send relevant product information and services to different customers. These special strategies in selling upgrade its brand image among customers. Second, Dell uses the advertisements to help building up its brand image. On the website, TV, newspaper, high street, people can easily find dells advertising. Those can not only increase dells market activity but also increase its brand pride. Force 5: Reducing the Bargaining Power of Suppliers. Dell has a special understanding on the SCM (supply chain management). Dells strategy is to limit the amount of supplier but pick up some outstanding supplier all over the world. Each supplier has a very close relationship with Dell in long-term. Dell uses its huge globe market to share its business with its entire suppliers. For instance, Dell built a assemble factory in Malaysia, its supplier from Ireland soon built a factory in there as well in order to gain a geographic efficiency. Dell had its assemble factories all over the world which relatively close to its suppliers. This will save a lot of transport costs. The double-win strategy makes the supply chain works well. With the double-win strategy and constant relationship, Dell will be able to ask lower price from the suppliers and reduce the bargaining power from them. Market part: Segmentation Introduction: Michael Dell emphasized the significant status of customers to the companys business by stating Finding ways to get close to your customers is critical to your success. Since different people would have different need from the computer, Dell divided its customers into several segments by discovering special needs from each segment. In the year 1994, the customer group was only divided by two primary customer and normal customer. In that year the assets of Dell is 3.5billion USD. In July 1996 Dell launched its online website www.dell.com. On the website primary client are divided into three segments which are large company, medium company and government education. Customers can easily choose and buy the products directly with advices and helps from dell.com. The assets of Dell rocketed up to 7.8 billion USD in that year. However in 1997, Dell continued differentiating its customer for more segments. Government education segment was divided to State Local Government, Federal Government and education. Small company and home users were also been created as individual segments. The net revenue of Dell was 12 billion in that year. On todays Dells website, people will be able to follow the tips and choose a suitable computer in few minutes. Whats more, customers can personalize their chosen computer by changing the configuration of the computer (e.g. color, RAM, processors, and hard-disk capacity). With this direct sale through different segments, Dell can start to assemble the computer once the transaction has been made. The inventory can then be limited as low as zero. Not like Dells competitors, Dell does not need many warehouses all over the world which will save a lot of costs for the company. Although on todays Dell.com, customers are divided into a lot segments. However, literally customers are differentiated into two segments; Relationship customers in opposing Transaction customers. Although Dell intends to build and maintain a good relationship with all customers, it also becomes clear, that the company would regard some customers more relationship worthy than others, by analyzing customer value. The relationship customers are mainly large enterprise and government etc. which occupied 40% of Dells entire customer. Transaction customers are small business and home users which have percentage of 30 among customers. The remaining 30 percentage customer is regarded as a mixed customer. The advantage for dividing customers in different segment is that the company would be able to analysis how it can encourage the customers to buy its product. For individual users or small business price is the priority. Those customers are regarded as more price insensitive. So for home and small business users the price is slightly lower than its competitors e.g. HP, Toshiba and Sony. For bigger customers such as the government or enterprise, they consider more than the price but consequent services and supports. Take large enterprise for instance, Dell supports a lots of specific services and solutions for running the business. Like Infrastructure Consulting service which is basically a plan for simplifying IT infrastructure, helping reduce operating costs while freeing up resources for new business initiatives.iii Also, Dell runs a program called Dell business Creditiv. This is the same as a loan offered by Dell, but with no interest rate and anytime to pay off the balance. Business without enough cash flow would like to take that program. One of the Dells competitors is IBM, it has a clearly customer segmentation but different from Dell. IBM is more focusing on Business and Industry market. In a simply word it is even more focusing on the Big customers. Similar as Dell did for big client, but even did more specific for the segmentation. For Dell there is no segment for industries like Aerospace, Chemicals and petroleum. More segmentation on large customers also brings more services and solutions for all kinds of industries. One of IBMs famous solutions is offering the security management for Wimbledonv. It provided the security solution for players, staff, media and spectators around the world. Conclusion: Dells market share was No.2 in 2009, IBM was far behind. But since Dells customer groups is much bigger than IBMs. In 2006 IBM sold its PC department to Lenovo, Lenovo used IBMs brand to product and sell IBMs ThinkPad series. It is very difficult to compare which segmentation is better. But for the large business users, IBM is a very strong competitor against Dell, Its high performance computer and advanced technical solutions and services makes IBM the biggest company for larger business and industries. i scribd.com Dell operation ii McGraw Hill Dell Computer Corporation mhhe.com/business/management/thompson/11e/case/dell5.html iii Dell.com Large Enterprise service iv Dell.com business credit v IBM.com Wimbledon case study

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

A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift Essay -- sarcasm irony satire

A Modest Proposal A Modest Proposal is everything that a satirical story should be. It includes sarcasm and irony as Jonathan Swift takes us through a roller coaster ride to show us how the poor are treated miserably. The narrator begins by leading us down a path. He seems sincere and thinks it is a pity how everywhere you walk in the streets of Dublin you see the poor begging people for hand outs. He is seeking a solution to help the commonwealth. He appears to be a logical, educated person who makes it clear that he has been studying this subject for years. He then tells us that he has a solution to help the babies whose parents cannot afford them. We think his idea will be charitable and will actually help the poor as well as the nation. The narrator then does something that I think set the tone for the rest of the story. He referred to a baby just born as being dropped from its dam. Animals are dropped from dams, not humans. Therefore poor people in this story are nothing more than animals. We are told how the children are a burden and how instead of requiring food and clothing the rest of their lives, they will contribute to the feeding and clothing of many people. Any intelligent person would assume he intends to put them in factories or farms to work and not be on the streets begging for food. We are also told that his plan will prevent voluntary abortions and women murdering their bastard babies. The narrator shows the reader he is serious by producing calculations that appear to be well thought-out and then showing us, through examples, That these children have no future. Up to this point the narrator appears to be intelligent. He is from the upper cla... ...eir right mind would want to be eaten? Yet he tells us that the parents would have been in favor of it. The narrator commented on how he has no other motive than the public good for his country but his country does not include everybody. Only the rich and those who can take care and support themselves. I think that Jonathan Swift tried to show how terrible the poor were treated. Everyone was to busy to help them. He compared them to animals and referred to them as creatures. I think he did this to show where their society was heading. The rich simply did not care about what happened to the poor and they were literally eating them out of house and home. Jonathan Swift wrote this satirical essay so the people would at least acknowledge that they had a problem. It is to be hoped that enough people read his essay and tried to make a difference.

Comparing Teens in Catcher in the Rye, Tears of a Tiger, and Whirligig :: comparison compare contrast essays

Problem Teens in Catcher in the Rye, Tears of a Tiger, and Whirligig The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger's novel set in the 1950s, told the story of sixteen-year-old Holden Caulfield. Deciding that he's had enough of Pencey, his fourth school that he'd failed, he goes to Manhattan three days before his scheduled return to home, not wanting to inform his parents that he'd been expelled and sent back. He explores the city, calls up some old friends, gets nicked by the elevator operator, and gradually becomes bitter about the world and people. He then visited his sister Phoebe. After fleeing from the house of Mr. Antolini, his former English teacher, because of mistaking his actions for a homosexual overture, Holden went to Phoebe's school and sent her a note telling her he was leaving home and to meet him at the museum. When Phoebe arrived, Holden angrily refused her request to take her with him and she ignored to speak to him. He then took her across the park to a carousel, bought her a ticket and watched her ride. Holden ended his narrat ive here, telling the reader that he was not going to tell the story of how he went home and got "sick". He planned to go to a new school in the fall and was cautiously optimistic about his future. Tears of a Tiger, Sharon M. Draper's compelling novel about the death of high school basketball star Rob Washington in an automobile accident, exposed the dangers of drinking and driving with its deadly consequences. Andy Jackson was driving the car that crashed, killing his best friend Rob, and the cost was more than he could bear. Months later, he still couldn't stop blaming himself, even after the constant comforts from his friends and sessions with a psychologist. Drowning in his guilt, he turned away from his family, his friends, his girlfriend and his future. Whirligig, Paul Fleischman's beautifully constructed novel that spun the complex story of Brent Bishop and his task to memorialize Lea, an unfortunate teen who crossed his path when he tried to kill himself in a car. To keep Lea's spirit alive, Brent was assigned to create four whirligigs that resembled Lea, and put them in the four corners of the United States.

Night Mother Essay

Night Mother is a screenplay of a mother who goes through a lot of problems before she finally ends up committing suicide. The woman in question is Jessie who is cast aside due to her poor parenting skills and her epilepsy. She was deemed an unfit parent and also a poor workforce member due to her disease. She does not meet any man and is even scared of venturing out and discovering new sights of the world. In her frustrations, Jessie ends her life. The culmination of events to the death of Jessie is explored in a chilly manner. The people surrounding her each play a different role in the ultimate outcome of her life. With a keener sense of reflection it is easy for one to know exactly why Jessie chose suicide over life. There is so much that is left hanging and in the balance by the demise of Jessie who most people would want to believe could have led life differently (The Internet Movie Database). Hope and love is a theme brought out clearly in the movie ‘Night, Mother. The conversations that Jessie had if they had been more enlightening and encouraging would have probably built her esteem towards life. Most of the talks Jessie has with her mother are redundant and insignificant hence the preference to her father’s silence while he was alive. She loved that her father was happy with the small things and was pleased by the keenness shown to his pipe. He loved his pipe cleaned and that was his biggest bother. If clean she was dotted with her father’s love and attention (Dolan 43). However, her mother acted like always wanted to manipulate Jessie. She barely loves Jessie and is more interested in sending her all over than in teaching her or caring for her. Her mother reveals to Jessie that she barely loved her father when she tells her how the love Jessie had for her father was enough for both of them. Yet Jessie yearns for love and affection and feels it would boost her thoughts about life. When her health improves, and the fear of epilepsy wanes she understands finally how her life revolved around her sickness. She feels her mother is justified in hating her as the sickness consumed all her time and her mother’s time too. She bemoans losing herself to the disease and eventually confesses to her mother that she would rather take her own life for she felt she had already lost it (Demastes 53). Another theme that is evident is role reversal of parent and child. With the use of medicine Jessie starts to feel as though the sickness is imposing too much on her mother. Each time she takes medicine her memory improves and she is able to recall the effort her mother puts into her health. It makes Jessie want to make more of the matter and she is frequently questioning if her mother is enough to take care of her. With this in mind Jessie takes it in her own hands to take care of herself whenever she can. She also cares for her father a role her mother carried out previously but stopped when Jessie started doing it. She is at her mother’s beck and call doing all that she requires yet she is the one that needs nursing and taking care of (De Fazio 72). Jessie finds more solace in helping out at home rather than trying to make friends like people her age. She is an isolated child, chained by the stigma that is her sickness. She readily sent and spends her time locked indoors for fear the epileptic attacks may occur during her walks outdoor. She doesn’t seek to venture out of the house and is spurned by neither nature nor adventure. She keeps to herself and no one questions her that way. She avoids conversation with most people and is seldom seen out of the house (The Internet Movie Database). There is no motivation from her mother to try and discover the world out there. She does not feel the need to do it either. The picture painted of Jessie is a bleak tale of separation from reality. What the mother feels as the prevention of pain and shame for her daughter is actually an ill that grows over time and goes unnoticed. She resents the world and her mother as a result (Brown 91). The family dynamics of this home are complex as they are depressing. The father is at comfort knowing his pipes are cleans and somehow derives gratification from this. It is like his measure of love for his daughter as he is seldom seen to display any form of unwarranted parent love or care. He just does what is needed, going through life as though it were motions. His daughter, Jessie, on the other hand, makes it her point to clean all the pipes as she desires the attention and care shown to her by her father. She is constantly checking to see that her father is fine and at peace (Flora & Taylor 74). The relationship Jessie has with her mother is tumultuous and rocky. Her mother treats Jessie more like a house servant than her own daughter. Jessie does not seem to realize this and is seen to gladly go whenever she is sent. She feels the need to help her mother, out of the guilt of not being able to assist her when she is unwell. She assumes most responsibilities in the house and is constantly making plans for the family like an adult. Jessie however does not entirely like her family. She complains that family usually knows too much to which her mother says it is only normal as the family rarely chooses each other and they are meant to love each other unconditionally (Flora & Taylor 116). In the life of Jessie there is recurrence of determinism and fate. Jessie’s mother feels that she is somewhat to blame for the way her daughter behaves and also for her sickness. She constantly question whether she might have dropped Jessie as a child or if she fed her the wrong kind of food. She confesses that she did not want any more children and she smoked and drunk while carrying Jessie awaiting conception. Jessie tries to reassure her mother saying that it’s just epilepsy and that there was nothing she did that would have lessened the situation. She is categorical in her stating that it was her fate to be epileptic and to commit suicide. She tries very hard to show her mother that the mother’s decision making affects little or even nothing of her current condition. She is but a mere observer to her state; for she believes either way she will die and is only trying to hasten the process (Flora & Taylor 124). A complex morality also plays a part in the unfolding of the story. Jessie’s mother finds a way to get her daughter guilty of committing suicide. She reminds Jessie of how she hates being alone or staying alone hence she feels Jessie should stay around for her. She then tries hard to coax Jessie into shelving her plans by asking her to consider the pain incurred when talking to her friends about Jessie. It is clear that her mother felt the gap that would be left was too huge to fill. Jessie then reminds her mother that the reason she choose to confide in her about committing suicide was so that her mother would be at peace and not have to worry and question herself or blame herself for it is beyond her power to change what she feels (Dolan 105). Jessie further emphasizes the need to know for her mother was her driving force to speak. Jessie does not appreciate how her mother makes it all about her. Even after her clarification, Jessie’s mother is still adamant saying how she is the one whom society will continually shower with sympathy she doesn’t need. She tries more cheap shots at Jessie by telling her how her son will sell all the belongings and go use drugs with that money for lack of guidance. To wish Jessie replies with an equally chiding remark that she will be happy if he found good drugs not cheaply prepared drugs (Demastes 89). From greatness to fall shows how Jessie envisioned her life with her mother. She always thought she was the prized child but in her death she realizes just how estranged she was from her parents and how she is not a befitting parent to her son either. Thelma, Jessie’s mother, asks her to extend her stay by putting away her suicide attempt to which Jessie responds with an astute no. In her plea, Thelma promises to be a better parent and make a better listener than she usually is. Jessie is sure she knows enough not believe her mother. She says she wants a dramatic exit where she leaves at the top (The Internet Movie Database). Just by saying this Jessie shows the viewer how out of touch she is with her son. She does not even put his interests into consideration when taking her life. Asked about contacting her brother, Jessie is shocked that her mother talks to her brother and somewhat irritated. She is heard mumbling about how she had been neglected and set aside as though she was not a member of that family. She quickly defends her rift with her son as an unfortunate occurrence brought about by disease. The children in this family seem to have grown up not knowing parental love or care and consequently lost touch of their togetherness. The sudden announcement of committing suicide spurns Thelma into action and for a moment she is willing to spend even an extra hour with her daughter. In the frenzy she is also trying to communicate with her son Dawson and his wife Loretta (The Internet Movie Database). Even amidst the turmoil of the realization that Jessie will eventually commit suicide the two women still find time to throw humorous statements at each other. At some point Jessie while making reference to her epileptic attacks says she did not even realize when they happened and was only alert when she woke up and found herself in a different set of clothing. She says they gave no warning and sometimes all it gave off was a light buzz to the head and her lights were out. Her mother later remarks, jokingly, that she had a splendid time watching as Jessie and her father turned on and off akin to light bulbs all through the night. They laugh at this rare moment and share glimpses of what could have been done all through their lives (Brown, 94). To break silence Jessie is quick to point out how large her sister in-law’s, feet are big and her mother counters by telling her the share a similar foot size with her in-law. Humor creates closeness and aids in filling the empty void of displeasure that Jessie has carried all her life (Brown, 133). The closeness and sentimentality is also seen where Jessie tells Thelma of how she wants all the night to herself. She just wants to be with her mother and no one else should disturb them. She calls the night a private moment for two. In the sentimentality there is a lot of thought provoking conversations that open the two to learning more of the other. Jessie for the first time gets to confirm that her mother lost all form of affection for her father a long time back. She is neither pleased nor sad at finally getting to hear those words uttered vocally by her mother. She also gets a half-baked confession from her mother who denies any knowledge of the suffering Jessie was going through. Jessie feels despised and takes offence that her own mother would not notice how alone she was yet she was there most of the time (Flora & Taylor 141).

Productive and Counterproductive Behavior in Organizations Essay

If the leader of an organization you were considering making an investment in was consistently tardy to meetings and procrastinated deadlines, would it make you reconsider where you were putting your money? You want to know that the person has ambition and is organized. The ideal person would be right on time, prepared, and be eager to conduct business. These are some of the differences of productive and counterproductive behaviors. And they can directly influence to the success, or failure, of the organization. I would define counterproductive behavior as having the opposite effect of the desired goal of the organization, whether it is intentional or not (The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English,2009). It would require an employee to be doing, or not doing things detrimental to the organizations goals. Things like obsessive absenteeism, harassing coworkers, or being the bully around the office are some examples of unintentional counter productivity. Now, an employee who is angry or upset with the company, or maybe has interest in moving to another organization, can be very counterproductive. This employee could sell trade secrets, intentionally supply incorrect information, or just stop caring all together in every detail of their work. And depending on the importance of that employee, that can contribute to the failure of the organization. Productive behavior is keeping in mind the goal of your organization and only doing or deciding on something if it is going to positively affect that goal. Some examples of productive behaviors are always being on time, being efficient, and effective at achieving your own personal goals as well as your organizations. These are the kinds of people that you would want motivating the rest of your employees. If that positive attitude and eagerness is spread around, that can only be even more beneficial to the organization. Simply having an employee with a productive attitude can have an amazing impact on your organization. If they start every day being proactive and honestly giving their best to the organization, other people are going to recognize this, and want to return that attitude. The employee will see it in their achievements, as well as others around them. Their job performance will be outstanding because someone with productive behaviors will always be dependable and loyal to the organization. Any employee having counterproductive behavior is going to be a liability to your organization. Their poor job performance will have a direct effect on everyone around them. Even if it is something as small as being five minutes late for work, three or four times a week, it needs to be addressed. It will create a negative environment for your employees. Those who are on time every day will be resentful of this employee, and feel he is being given special treatment. If it is a constant problem with a specific employee or department, it is crucial to find out why and solve the issue quickly before it has major negative effects on your organization as a whole. To persuade your employees to be a little more productive in their behaviors, try things like offering bonuses every month for employees who are on time every day and are clocked in for all hours scheduled. Also, try ensuring that the right tools and equipment is made available. It will help to keep operations of the organization orderly and efficient. And, in turn, makes it easier for your employees to be productive and also form those habits themselves. The best way to discourage counterproductive behaviors is to basically have a non-tolerance policy. Your organization needs to make it known that it does not tolerate tardiness, absenteeism, harassment, or any other acts that negatively affect the organization without some sort of repercussions. That, coupled with employees seeing the rewards and opportunities offered for being productive, should definitely help detur counterproductive behavior. In closing, productive and counterproductive behaviors can basically make, or break, an organization. Leaders need to do everything in their power to ensure their employees have the best tools and opportunities available. While also remembering to keep them productive and lead by example, you have the start of an extraordinary organization.