Tuesday, December 31, 2019

The Special Education Resource Room

Resource room  is a separate setting, either a classroom or a smaller designated room,  where a special education program can be delivered to a student with a disability, individually or in a small group. Resource rooms are used in a variety of ways ranging from instruction, homework assistance, meetings, or representing students alternative social space. Resource Room vs. Least Restrictive Environment According to IDEA (Individual with Disabilities Educational Improvement Act), children with disabilities are to be educated in the least restrictive environment, which means they are to learn alongside children without disabilities to the maximum extent possible. However, remaining in the same space as general education students may be at times difficult or less than beneficial for students with disabilities, and it is in those cases that they are brought to the resource rooms. IDEA states that this removal, which is labeled as restrictiveness, should only happen when the students education in regular classes, despite the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily. Sometimes, this form of support is called Resource and Withdrawal or a pull-out. The child getting this type of support will receive some time in the resource room—which refers to the withdrawal portion of the day—and some time in the regular classroom with modifications and/or accommodations—which represent the resource support in the regular classroom. This type of support helps ensure that the least restrictive environment or the inclusional model is still in place. Purpose of Resource Room Resource room is both for students who qualify for special education services or for general education students who need some special instruction in an individualized or small group setting for a portion of the day. Individual needs are supported in resource rooms as defined by the students  Individual Education Plan (IEP). Students come or are pulled to the resource room for a variety of reasons. Most commonly, they come there to access the educational materials in a manner that better suits their learning styles and capabilities. Sometimes, the regular classroom can be noisy and full of distractions, and the students come to the resource room to be better able to focus and take in the material, especially when new information is being introduced. At other times, the material taught in the general education classroom is above the students level and the resource room serves as a more serene place where the student can go over the material at a slower pace. The resource room has almost always a maximum ratio of five students to one teacher, and students often find themselves working with a teacher or a paraprofessional one on one. This heightened attention helps students focus better, be more engaged, and understand the material more easily. Other Uses of Resource Rooms Very often, students also come to the resource room to be assessed and tested, whether for their special needs or any other academic exams, as the resource room provides a less distracting environment and thus a better chance at success. Regarding special needs testing, to determine special education eligibility, a child is re-evaluated every three years, and in most cases, the reevaluation happens in the resource room. Many resource rooms also support the social needs of their students, as the small group setting is less threatening, and students who sometimes fall on the outskirts of the general education classes are more willing to step out of their comfort zones and make friends. The resource room also more readily provides opportunities for behavior interventions, and teachers frequently coach students on their social skills, often by helping them take on leadership responsibilities, such as helping another student learn. Very often, the resource room also serves as a meeting place for IEP evaluations. Teachers, paraprofessionals, parents, students, and any legal representatives typically spend well over 30 minutes discussing the specificities of the students IEP, reporting on how the student is currently doing in all aspects outlined in the plan, and then revise any sections as needed. How Long Is a Child in the Resource Room? Most educational jurisdictions have time increments that are allocated to the child for resource room support. This will sometimes vary based on the childs age. Often, 50% of a students academic time is a mark not frequently crossed. It is very rare for a child to spend more than 50% of their day in the resource room; however, they may indeed spend up to 50% of their time there. An example of allocated time could be a minimum of three hours a week in time increments of 45 minutes. In this way, the teacher in the resource room is able to concentrate on the specific area of need with some consistency. As children gain more maturity and self-sufficiency, the resource room support changes with them. There are resource rooms in elementary, middle, and high schools, but sometimes the support in high school, for example, may take on more of a consultative approach. Some older students feel a stigma when they go to the resource room, and teachers try to make the support as seamless for them as possible. The Teachers Role in the Resource Room Teachers in the resource room have a challenging role as they need to design all instruction to meet the specific needs of the students they serve to maximize their learning potential. The resource room teachers work closely with the childs regular classroom teacher and the parents to ensure the support is indeed helping the student reach their full potential. The teacher follows the IEP and takes part in the IEP review meetings. They also work very closely with other professionals and paraprofessionals to support the specific student. Usually, the resource room teacher works with small groups students, helping one on one when possible, even though there are frequent occasions when the special education teacher follows one or multiple students in their classes and assists them directly there. Sources â€Å"Section 1412 (a) (5).†Ã‚  Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 7 Nov. 2019.â€Å"What Is Inclusion? An Introduction from Special Education Guide.†Ã‚  Special Education Guide.

Sunday, December 22, 2019

Essay on Smoking; Who Does it Really Affect - 1128 Words

Secondhand smoke is extremely hazardous. It can cause death and dangerous health defects. Therefore, smoking is not only bad for the smoker, but for people around him or her too. However, there are only few laws that restrict public smoking. More legislation on smoking restrictions is needed because secondhand smoke causes asthma attacks in children, heart disease in adults, and sudden infant death syndrome in babies. These health problems are a result of the harmful chemicals in cigarettes. According to the National Cancer Institute, Beryllium, Butadiene, Chromium, Nickel, and Polonium are just a few of the 69 deadly chemicals that can cause cancer. The Office of the Surgeon General has proven that when inhaled, the same cancer-causing†¦show more content†¦Because of secondhand smoke, about 3,000 adults who do not smoke die of lung cancer each year. Research even proves that secondhand smoke possibly heightens the chances of breast cancer, nasal sinus cavity cancer, and nasopharyngeal cancer in grownups [National Cancer Institute]. Also, the chances of leukemia, lymphoma, and brain tumors in adolescents are heightened. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. National Toxicology Program, the U.S. Surgeon General, and the International Agency for Research on Cancer have all classifies secondhand smoke as a known human carcinogen. Carcinogens are the causes of cancer. Adolescent s subject to secondhand smoke have also have heightened chances of sudden infant death syndrome, ear infections, colds, pneumonia, bronchitis, and extreme asthma [National Institutes of Health]. Besides those health effects, another concerning matter of secondhand smoke is heart disease. The American Heart Associations prove that although most people believe that smoking only affects your lungs, being subject to secondhand smoke practically doubled the chances of a heart attack. â€Å"Short exposures to secondhand smoke can cause blood platelets to become stickier, damages the lining of blood vessels, and decrease coronary flow velocity reserves. These are all mechanisms that may increase the risk of a heart attack† [American Heart Association]. People who do not smoke and are around smoke at home or at work heightenShow MoreRelatedTeenage Smoking In Teenagers886 Words   |  4 PagesSmoking in teenagers has been a topic of conversion for years. Should it be legal, illegal? Should there be an age requirement? Teenagers do what they want, and smoking is part of that. Most teenagers have taken in the consequences of smoking and its effects. 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Saturday, December 14, 2019

Working Capital and Profitability In Indian Pharmaceutical Industry Free Essays

Introduction: The working capital management plays an important role, for success or failure of Firm in business because of its effect on firms’ profitability as well on liquidity. Working capital management is about the management of current assets and current liabilities, in such a way that a satisfactory level of working capital which maximizes the profits of the firm is maintained. The basic theme of working capital management is to provide adequate support for smooth and efficient functioning of normal day-to-day business operations, by striking a trade-off between the three proportions of working capital they are liquidity, profitability and risk. We will write a custom essay sample on Working Capital and Profitability: In Indian Pharmaceutical Industry or any similar topic only for you Order Now In the present environment of cut throat competition business does not have any other alternative, than cutting the cost of its operations in order to be competitive, as well as financially strong; it is in this connection that effective management of working capital plays a vital role. According to Mallik et al.,( 2005 , p. 51) â€Å"a great deal of controversy exists, over the issue as to whether the working capital of a firm as determined by its financing and investment decisions affects its profitability or not†. On this issue, academicians are sharply divided into two schools of thought, according to one school of thought â€Å"working capital is not a factor of improving profitability and there may be a negative relationship between them†. Where as the other school of thought argues that investment in working capital, plays a vital role to improve â€Å"corporate profitability† and unless there is a minimum level of investment of working capital â€Å"output and sales† cannot be maintained, they argue that inadequacy of working capital keeps fixed asset inoperative. Apparently a large number of considerations, play a vital role in the development of arguments and counter arguments in this regard: against the backdrop of this academic debate an attempt has been made in this study to† evaluate the interrelationship between working capital management and profitability of 10 selected pharmaceutical companies in the Indian pharmaceutical industry during the period from 2000 to 2010†. There are a lot of reasons for the importance of working capital management, for a typical manufacturing firm. The current assets account for over half of its total asset and for a distribution company they account for even more. Excessive levels of current assets can easily result in firms realizing a substandard return on investment. However Van Horne and Wachowicz (2004) points out that â€Å"excessive level of current assets, may have a negative effect of a firm’s profitability where as a low level of current assets may lead to lowers of liquidity ,and stock-outs resulting in difficulties in maintaining smooth operations†. The Indian pharmaceutical industry The Indian pharmaceutical industry is a successful high technology industry with Consistent growth over three decades. It has developed the capability to ensure National, self sufficiency in addressing health care requirements and its export ability makes it a planned trade sector, the industry exports generic drugsincluding those into the highly regulated US and European markets. The industry is characterized by a low degree of concentration, a low level of research and development (RD) intensity with a high level of brand abundance. Incentives for innovation have been damaged by, the low purchasing capability of the domestic market along with the ease of, simulation and horizontal product differentiation features representative of industries behind the technological boundary. Presently, the Indian pharmaceutical market ranks 4th in volume and 13th in value In the world, production value is estimated at around $4.5 billion with about 5 million direct and 24 million indirect workers. There are two types of firm operate. One is organized sector firms and informal sector firms, the number of pharmaceutical firms are estimated, to be between 20000 and 23000 of which about 3000 are in the organized sector. Of the latter about 90 percent are small scale firms that are with a capital of less than $1.25 million (Kale et al., 2008). On the whole the industry represents a successful case of indigenous, self contingent development aided by weak regulatory framework. Purpose of the Study The earlier segment shows that, the studies carried out in the area of relationship between â€Å"working capital and profitability† are conflicting in nature. In fact the Interrelationship between working capital and profitability is still a debatable Issue, furthermore only a few studies (Mallik et al., 2005 and Parasuraman, 2004) on pharmaceutical industry in connection with examining, the relationship between working capital and profitability have been, carried out in India in the recent past. Whereas the Indian pharmaceutical industry is playing a vital role in improving average life expectancy; The signing of GATT (known as WTO) has injected a series of changes in the industry. Against this backdrop the Indian Pharmaceutical industry has been chosen in the present study. Objectives This study has the following objectives; 1) To assess the significance of working capital on profitability by computing coefficient of correlation and also test the significance of such a correlation. 2) To Study the impact of working capital and profitability by important parameters like Profit before Interest and Tax Margin (PBITM) and Return on Capital Employed (ROCE). 3) To evaluate the joint effect of the selected ratios relating to working capital management on the profitability. 4) To study the working capital and profitability position in selected sample companies 5) Conclusions and suggestions for the better utilization of resources related to working capital and profitability. REVIEW OF LITERATURE: Since, the literature related to the relationship between working capital management and profitability is wide in nature and scope. The most important literature found in the form of, popular write ups published or unpublished research studies (both empirical and conceptual) and articles of researchers are reviewed in this section. A deeper look into the assessment indicates that there are only, a few studies available abroad and plentiful of studies in India. An Empirical Analysis of â€Å"Working Capital and Profitability† and their Relationship with Reference to Selected Companies in the Indian Pharmaceutical Industry. (Janakiramudu and Rao, 2008, p. 163) has identified a positive relationship Evaluating the association between working capital turnover and profitability in the Indian cement, sugar and fertilizer industries. Another identical study on this issue conducted by Mukherjee (1988) concluded that as a whole, the liquidity and profitability were adversely correlated. Jain (1988) in his study among 10 manufacturing, trading and service industries of Rajasthan recommended, that the companies should avoid under investment in working capital if they wanted higher profit margins. Panda and Satapathy (1988) conducted a research work regarding the effects of working capital on profitability and revealed that the positive influence of working capital on profitability of the selected companies was highly important. Vijayakumar and Venkatachalam (1995) carried out an empirical study on the interrelationship between working Capital management and profitability. The study conducted on 31 sugar companies in Tamil Nadu concluded that liquidity was negatively associated with profitability, whereas the inventory turnover and debtors’ turnover had a positive influence on profitability. Smith and Beaumont (1997) who conducted their work on the industrial firms listed, on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) indicated that a decrease in the total current liabilities, divided by gross funds flow led to an improvement in return on investment and vice versa. Mallik and Sur (1998) made an attempt to analyze the influence of working capital management on profitability in the Indian tea industry. The study on the inter-relation among the nine selected ratios in the area of working capital management and the selected profitability measure disclosed both negative and positive associations. Rao and Rao (1999) also undertook a similar type of study in which 10 ratios relating to working capital management were selected; out of the 10 indicators only in three a positive association with profitability was observed. Mallik and Sur (1999) undertook another study on working capital management of a well-known fast-moving consumer goods company and noticed a very high degree of posi tive relationship between liquidity and profitability. Another work carried out by Sivarama (1999) on working capital management in the Indian paper industry ,disclosed a close relationship between profitability and working capital efficiency. Dutta (2000) in his work on working capital management of horti-culture industry in Himachal Pradesh found out that, despite suffering huge losses the firm was holding huge idle inventories and hence miserably failed to trade off between liquidity and profitability. Harinath (personal communication) in his study on working capital management, in small-scale industries of Cuddapah district of Andhra Pradesh suggested that in order to enhance the profitability industries should adopt effective working capital management. An article published in Treasury and Risk Management (2001) revealed that establishment of proper relationship between safety and liquidity in asset management would yield high return. Sur et al. (2001) conducted a study on the Indian primary aluminum producing industry in the private sector, and observed a very significant positive association between liquidity and profitability. Ghosh and Maji (2003) made an empirical study on the relationship between utilization of current assets and operating profitability in the Indian cement and tea industry. The study concluded that â€Å"The degree of utilization of current assets was positively associated with the operating profitability of all the companies under study†. The study carried out by Parasuraman (2004) inferred that top pharmacy companies strategies, on their working capital policy to relax the credit policy to achieve greater sales and greater profits. Besides this he also observed, that leading companies have employed greater working capital for improving profitability. Narware (2004) in his study noticed that out of nine indicators representing ,working capital management selected for his study three variables were negatively associated with the selected profitability measure. Whereas the remaining six indicators of working capital management were positively associated with profitability. A study by Bardia (2004) in a Navaratna steel manufacturing public sector enterprise, reported a favorable influence of the liquidity of the company on its profitability. Mallik et al. (2005) carried out a study on the relationship between working capital and profitability with reference to selected companies in the Indian pharmaceutical industry and noticed, that the joint influence of the liquidity inventory management and credit management on the profitability were statistically very significant in nine out of 17 pharmaceutical companies selected for the study. Deloof (2003) investigated the relationship between working capital management and corporate profitability, for a sample of 1009 large Belgian non-financial firms for the 1992-1996 periods. The result from analysis showed that there was a negative between profitability that was measured by gross operating income and cash conversion cycle as well number of days accounts receivable and inventories. He recommended that, managers can increase corporate profitability by reducing the number of days accounts receivable and inventories, less profitable firms waited longer to pay their bills. Singh and Pandey (2008) had an attempt to study the working capital components and the impact of, working capital management on profitability of Hindalco Industries Limited for period from1990 to 2007. Results of the study showed that current ratio, liquid ratio, receivables turnover ratio and working capital to total assets ratio had statistically, significant impact on the profitability of Hindalco Industries Limited. Growth of Indian Pharmaceutical Industry: Pharmaceutical companies in India are growing at a very fast pace and this has made the Indian pharmaceutical industry as the second largest growing industry. Also the pharmaceutical industry in India is the third largest in the world, which will be of US$20 billion by 2015. Mergers and acquisitions are the part of this growth. The compounded annual growth rate of pharma in India is 12-15% and the global figures are 4-7% for the period of 2008-2013. With such a profound growth of pharmaceutical companies in India numerous pharmaceutical jobs can be seen. This in turn is helping biotechnology industry and booming the biotechnology jobs in India. Angel Broking has done a research on the growth of pharmaceutical industry and found that by 2015 the pharmaceutical industry in India will be in the top 10 markets. Yet another finding of FICCI-Ernst Young study reveals that the population of high income group in India is rising which will give rise to more influx of MNCs and expensive drugs. (Source: Ezine Articles.com 2nd jan 2011). Pharmaceutical companies along with native companies are also competing with the top MNCs. Such a profound growth is because of the heavy population figures and with the increasing number of middle class people and their income the access to drugs and medicines is also increasing. But still the low-priced generics are popular in Indian pharmaceutical industry. From India in year 2007-08 total of US$ 8.25 billion were exported and there was seen 29% rise in this figure in 2009. MR Anand Sharma, Union Minister of Commerce said that pharmaceutical sector in India has grown and it is the major contributor to exports from India. In 1990 the amount was meager as compare to today’s massive figures. Vital Information on Pharmaceutical Companies in India In terms of volume – India’s pharmaceutical industry is the third largest in the entire world. In terms of value – India’s pharmaceutical industry ranks fourteenth By 2015 – It will be in the list of top 10 global pharmaceutical markets and it will touch US $ 20 billion. 2008-2009 – Saw 29% growth in exports of pharmaceutical drugs as compared to 2007 2013 – Indian formulation market is expected to touch US$ 13.7 billion India has a strong pharmaceutical market, which results in the existence of a number of top bracket pharma companies. Despite the great recession, the sales in the Indian pharma industry went up by 18.4% in March 2009. According to the recent McKinsey report (November 30, 2009), the industry will touch $40 billion mark by 2015. Following are the top pharma companies in India: Indian top 10 pharamaceutical companies SL.NO NAMEYEAR CRORE BILLION 1 RANBAXY2009 4.198.96 41.989 2 DR.REDDY LABORATIOES LTD2009 4.162.25 41.622 3 CIPLA2009 3.763.72 37.637 4 SUN PHARMA INDUSTRIES2009 2.463.59 24.635 5 LUPINS LABS2009 2.215.52 22.155 6 AUROBINDO PHARMA2009 2.080.19 20.801 7 GLAXO SMITHKLINE PHARMA2009 1.773.41 17.734 8 CADILA HEALTH CARE2009 1.61.300 16.13 9 AVENTIES PHARMA2009 983.8 9.838 10 IPCA LABORATIES2009 980.44 9.804 Source:( docstoc.com â€Å"working capital management practiced in pharmaceutical companies† 4th jan 2011). Research Methodology This element describes the research designs and methods of data collection. The issue surrounding which methods to choose while conducting research has been debated among researchers. Introduction The method in which a research is conducted may be determined in terms of research instruments utilised to achieve the research objectives and the quest for the solution of the research question. Therefore, Research methodology can be better understood with the help of the model known as ‘The Research Onion Model’ – (Saunders et al., 2009). The model was named after onion because the model had six layers , from one to six, which represents the philosophies , research approaches, the research strategies, choice of methods, time horizons, techniques and procedures respectively. The term research philosophy relates to the development of knowledge and the nature of that knowledge (Saunders et al, 2003. p 107). The research philosophy adopted should contain important assumptions, these assumptions then underpins research strategy and the methods chosen as part of the strategy. Types of research philosophies those are available to choose from, when one comes to the question of choosing the best research philosophy for a research. Positivism, pragmatism, realism and interpretive (Saunders, 2003). Quantitative and Qualitative Quantitative techniques provide quick and clear result since they can be analysed using statistical procedure. This method is appropriate where variables can be measured quantitatively and hypotheses can be tested (Brannen, 1992). In quantitative method participants usually response to the identical closed-ended questions and the relationship between participant and researcher is often formal than in qualitative, as a result, respondents can not provide their own opinion, ideas and views. Where as qualitative method allows greater spontaneity and adaptation of the interaction between researcher and participants (Ghauri and Gronhaug, 2002). The great strength of qualitative research is validity of the data obtained. Participants are interviewed and they may give responses which are true, correct and complete, and believable based on their views and experiences (Goldman and Mc Donald, 1987). Positivism and Interpretivism: If the research philosophy reflects positivism then it will probably adopt the philosophical stance of natural scientist. The basis for this philosophy is to collect the data which are likely to use existing theory to develop hypotheses; then these hypotheses will be tested and confirmed. It is often advocated that the positivist researcher will use a highly structured methodology in order to facilitate replication. (Saunders et al., 2006), Interpretive entails that it is very important for the researcher to understand the role of human as social actors. The heritage of this strand of interpretivism comes from two intellectual traditions: phenomenology and symbolic interactions. Phenomenology means the way how humans make sense of the world; and symbolic interactions means a process of interpreting the social world around us in the sense that we interpret others’ action with whom we interact and this interpretation leads to adjustment of our own meaning (Saunders et al., 2006) . Deductive and Inductive Deduction is a dominant research approach in natural sciences, where laws are the basis of explanation, allow the anticipation of phenomena, predict their occurrence and then permit them to be controlled (Collis and Hursey, 2003 cited by Saunders et al., 2006). It is a highly structured approach which is based on the collection of quantitative data. Induction on the other hand is based on the collection of qualitative data and is a more flexible structure to permit changes. Inductive approach is a close understanding of the research context and also understanding of the meanings how humans are attached to the events (Saunders et al., 2006). Tools available for conducting a research Triangulation and Mixed method Triangulation is the mixing of data or method so that divers view point or stand points cast light upon a topic. The logic behind the application of triangulation method is that, it is a combination of both qualitative methods and quantitative methods which examine the same research problem by using different approaches and cross-checking the same problems which would result in consistent and integrated data (Greene et al, 1989). The most efficient use of both quantitative and qualitative paradigms is to combine them in a single study (Brewer, 1989). Multi-method research requires more and different kind of information to solve research problems than any single method, and therefore is likely to provide better solution (Greene et al., 1989).Mixing the use of survey data and interview is more profound form of triangulation. Mixed method is when both quantitative and qualitative methods are used in a research because it is believe that it provides more perspectives on the phenomena bei ng investigated. However, sometimes the data gotten from the different methods about the same phenomena are in direct opposition. (Easterby -Smith et al., 2002). Longitudinal and Cross-selecion Cross- sectional designs usually involve selecting different organisations or units in different context, and investigating how other factors vary across these units. A key problem here is in deciding how large the sample of organisation needs to be in order to be adequately representative. Cross-sectional designs particularly where there are questionnaires and survey techniques; it has the ability to describe economically features of large number of people or organisations (Easterby-Smith et al 2002). Longitudinal designs focuses on small number of organisations over a long period of time. It is recommended that research should focus on change processes within the broader social, economic and political context surrounding each organisation, and should gather ‘time series data’ over a period of time significantly longer than the immediate focus. In this way explanation should emerge from examining pattern in the process of change (Pettigrew, 1985 cited by Easterby-Smith et al., 2002) Selection of the research approach Due to the nature of research, which deals with people, technology and the society, Analytical surveys and experimental research design methods will be employed to carry out the research. According to Saunders et al., (2003) deductive research (emphasised) scientific principles; moving from the theory to data; the need to explain casual relationship between variables; the collection of quantitative data; a highly structure approach and the necessity to select samples of sufficient size in order to generate conclusions among others. This research targets selected companies in Indian pharmaceutical industry. A combination of both qualitative and quantitative methods will be followed for the study. This study needs a close contact with the respondents to understand their experience, ideas and insight, and for that reason qualitative research is more appropriate and for the economical and social aspect quantitative aspect is more helpful. The techniques of qualitative methods such as: observations, and in-depth interviewing helps to understand the nature of participants’ and behaviour. Selection of the study area The study will follow two stage sampling method; the Pharmaceutical institutions in the first stage and beneficiaries the next stage. Selection of the organizations Inside this study 10 recognized companies belonging to the private sector have been selected. It is considered that these institutions with acceptable coverage would be most suitable for the purpose of the study. The amount of relationship between working capital management and profitability has been assessed through correlation coefficients between the selected measures of working capital management and profitability. However, because of time and fund constraints some pharma institutions may be purposively selected for the study. Which will help in for studying the joint influence of the selected procedures relating to the indicators of working capital management on the profitability multiple correlation and multiple regression techniques, have been applied. Taking into account their magnitudes (by Pearson’s simple correlation coefficient), ranking of their magnitudes ( by Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient), and the nature of their associated changes ( by Kenda ll’s correlation coefficient). Sources of Data The data for the study will be collected both from primary and secondary data. Secondary sources The data will be collected from secondary sources consulting various documents such as annual reports, booklets, journals, periodicals and so on. Furthermore, various government reports, such as Capitaline Corporate Database and the Official Database of Capital Market Publishers (India) Ltd. Mumbai. Primary sources For the remaining objectives, data will be collected from a carefully designed sample survey. At least two sets of questionnaires will be prepared for the survey – one for the pharma institutions and another for the beneficiaries. Method of Data Analysis Simple tabulation technique will be used in the study to classify the data into meaningful categories. Simple simple correlation coefficient,, ratios and percentages in the study will be used. Moreover, multiple regression analysis will be done. In order to make an effective impact and examine whether the computed values of correlation coefficients and partial regression coefficients are, statistically significant or not t-test has been used, and the multiple correlation coefficients have been tested by F-test as well as before-after comparison will be employed in the study Vital Information on Pharmaceutical Companies in India In terms of volume – India’s pharmaceutical industry is the third largest in the entire world. In terms of value – India’s pharmaceutical industry ranks fourteenth By 2015 – It will be in the list of top 10 global pharmaceutical markets and it will touch US $ 20 billion. 2009-2010 – Saw 29% growth in exports of pharmaceutical drugs as compared to 2008 2013 – Indian formulation market is expected to touch US$ 13.7 billion India has a strong pharmaceutical market, which results in the existence of a number of top bracket pharma companies. Despite the great recession, the sales in the Indian pharma industry went up by 18.4% in March 2009. According to the recent McKinsey report (November 30, 2009), the industry will touch $40 billion mark by 2015. Following are the top pharma companies in India: Research Objectives This study has the following objectives; 6)To assess the significance of working capital on profitability by computing coefficient of correlation and also test the significance of such a correlation. 7)To Study the impact of working capital and profitability by important parameters like Profit before Interest and Tax Margin (PBITM) and Return on Capital Employed (ROCE). 8)To evaluate the joint effect of the selected ratios relating to working capital management on the profitability. 9)To study the working capital and profitability position in selected sample companies 10) Conclusions and suggestions for the better utilization of resources related to working capital and profitability. Conclusion Pharmaceutical industry in INDIA is a profitable sector. It is due to the reason that the firms in the industry are very competitive and has gained efficiency in managing its resources competently. The impact of overall working capital policy on profitability in this industry is proved to be significant and the ratios related to working capital can explain the differerences between the firms. A positive correlation has been found in the mathematical model, between current assent management and financial performance of pharmaceutical firms. Thus it is evident that for the overall performance of this industry, working capital plays a vital role. How to cite Working Capital and Profitability: In Indian Pharmaceutical Industry, Essay examples

Friday, December 6, 2019

New Design Process for Managing Breast Cancer Patients

Question: Discuss about theNew Design Process for Managing Breast Cancer Patients. Answer: Introduction: Description of the Project According to Slack, Brandon-Jones, Johnstone, and Betts (2015, p. 147), managers do not take part in the designing of new processes; however, they are deeply involved in the operating specification and the requirements of the new process. Due to the major advancements in technology, the processes of a majority of organizations become obsolete very fast, and therefore, the managers are forced to design a new process for improved performance. To effectively achieve this, managers are required to possess an in-depth understanding of the processes to facilitate the designing of appropriate and effective processes. For example, a manager should possess the analytical skills to analyze the characteristics and the performance of operations and processes. In line with these aspects, this paper is put into application the broad topic of process design. It is going to do this by concentrating on the process focus as discussed in class. This report is going to concentrate on the process focus o f one of the major players in the health care sector of Qatar, the Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC). The Organisation: The Hamad Medical Corporation For completing this project, I have chosen to use the Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC). HMC is one of the major government-owned providers of health care services in the country of Qatar (Hamad Medical Corporation, 2015). The corporation aims at enabling and making a positive contribution towards ensuring a sustainable growth of Qatar as a country, as well as improving the lives of the populace in the nation. Its goals and objectives are aligned to the Qatari National Vision of the year 2030. It aims at doing this by combining excellent research in health care and education to provide effective, compassionate, and safe health care services to all the patients under the organisations care. In order to meet the incessantly increasing challenges in the health care sector of Qatar, HMC has made significant reforms. It has transformed into a successful and integrated Academic Health System, which will make critical positive changes in patient care, medical research, and medical education. Description of the Process: Admission, Screening, and Treatment of Breast Cancer Patients Despite all the reforms and improvements made by the HMC to address the various health care challenges in Qatari community, the HMC still lacks an appropriate and a well-designed process of dealing with breast cancer among women. Breast cancer refers to a disease whereby the cancerous or malignant cell multiplies and grow in the tissues making up the breast. Over the past decades, Qatar has recorded a rise in cases of Breast cancer among its female population (Donnelly, Al-Khater, Al-Kuwari, Al-Bader, Al-Meer, Abdulmalik, Sing, Chaudhry, Fung, 2015, p. 3). Therefore, breast cancer has remained persistent issues of concern among the female population and the care providers in Qatar. Therefore, the health care providers in the country implement effective healthcare strategies in the treatment of cancer patients (Al-Amoudi and Abduljabbar, 2012, p. 549). The process of handling cancer patients at the HMC hospital is as illustrated in figure 1 below: As demonstrated in figure 1 above, the process of admission, diagnosing and treating of breast cancer patient at HMC takes the general approach similar to that of handling other types of patients in the emergency department. Presently, upon admission to the hospital, breast cancer patients are taken through triage where the care providers make the decision as to who needs urgent medical assistance. The admitted patients are then divided into two categories, those with serious cases of breast cancer and those with minor cases. The patients are then assessed separately in different rooms for the appropriate treatment to be given to them. Evaluation of the Current Performance of the Process The current process is not well-designed to handle the patients of breast cancer. As already alluded in the section above, the current organizational process is designed to take care of patients in the Emergency Department. There are several limitations to the design that limits the performance of the process, and hence, preventing it from achieving the five operations performance objectives as discussed below: Currently, the process fails to meet cost-effectiveness as a performance objective. This is because of the many tests and processes that the patients go through from the admission to treatment (Donnelly and McKellin, 2008, p. 85). The process also fails to meet the performance objective of speed and flexibility, which are two key performance objectives towards the delivery of high-quality healthcare services. Timely delivery of healthcare services is critical for the delivery of high-quality health care services (Depke, Boreen, and Onitilo, 2015, p. 153); however, the current process is slow and cumbersome, and this is another major contributing factor towards the poor patient outcome among the victims of breast cancer at HMC hospitals. This has made the process of dealing with breast cancer a burgeoning challenge within the Qatari Healthcare sector. Despite the reforms, inadequacy in dealing with breast cancer among women is still evident at HMC healthcare facilities and in Qatar at large (El Hajj and Hamid, 2011, p. 75). Qatari government provide health care subsidies, but practices such as screening to manage breast cancer are still very low. Therefore, to make a positive contribution towards the management of the cancer for breast among the Qatari women, the following sections are going to provide some recommendations aimed at providing solutions to this problem. It is going to do this by recommending activities that should be implemented, so as to improve the process focus of one of the specialized hospitals of HMC in handling breast cancer. Analysis of the Process and Recommendations to Improve it Process objectives: this refers to the ability of the process to attain its goals. The current process design of HMC only meets a number of its process objectives and significantly failing to meet other important ones (Slack, Brandon-Jones, Johstone, and Betts, 2015, p. 149). The analysis of the current process design reveals that it is not dependable, for example, it does not promote a timely delivery of healthcare services. Similarly, the current process does not meet the speed requirements as a performance objective. A timely delivery of healthcare services is vital for the improving patent outcome. However, the current process is slow. In this regard, the current fails to meet high-quality, which is an important performance objective in the healthcare, and hence, it is costly because there incessant re-admission of patients, therefore, it requires major improvements. Process flow objectives: the current process design has limited throughput time, through rate and poor resource utilization (Slack, Brandon-Jones, Johstone, and Betts, 2015, p. 150). Currently, only a limited number of patients are treated at HMC in a day, and it takes a considerably longer duration to treat one patient. As a result, the time consumed in the treatment of patients is long, and this results into underutilization of resources, and hence, major wastages (Mitchell, Fisher, Hastings, Silverman, and Wallen, 2010, p. 288). Process visibility: The current process design of HMC hospital is designed in such a manner that it does not meet the requirements of a process visibility. This is because most of the parts are not designed to enhance the customers perception regarding the process, and this interferes with the satisfaction of customers (Slack, Brandon-Jones, Johstone, and Betts, 2015, p. 154). Task dependence: Despite the weaknesses above, the current process design of HMC clearly defines the procedures of the activities that should be followed in the delivery of services to the patients. This facilitates a smooth flow of operations in the involved departments (Slack, Brandon-Jones, Johstone, and Betts, 2015, p. 170). The establishment of well-layed down procedures facilitate the delivery of high-quality healthcare services to patients (Lindenau-Stockfisch, 2011, p. 55). The Recommendations The HMC needs to overcome the inn-effective patient flow by implementing changes that would increase both employee and patient satisfaction. The most appropriate solution to this problem is to re-design the production process used in this hospital (Rayman and Edwards, 2010, p. 192). In order to ensure this, the hospital will adopt the Lean approach to improving its production process. Based on the analysis above, there are several changes that should be made on the design process of this company to improve the delivery of healthcare services for patients with cancer of the breast at HMC. Firstly, there should an improvement of the process objectives to ensure that HMC meets its goals and objectives. According to evidence-based practice, the delivery of high-quality healthcare services is the major goal and objective of healthcare practitioners (Fennell, Prabhu Das, Clauser, Petrelli, and Salner, 2010, p. 75). The healthcare practitioners also aim at delivering healthcare services in a timely manner and at the lowest cost possible. To meet these goals and objectives, the design process of HMC should undergo the following changes to meet the performance objectives. Firstly, there should be appropriate positioning of the design process. The manager of HMC should design the process to ensure that it is fit for specific tasks of screening and treatment of breast cancer (Onitilo, et al., 2013, p. 1060). The current design process is too general it its design and hence, does not meet the objectives of the HMC. In this regard, introducing specific tasks that are focused on the treatment of breast cancer will help the hospital to meet its performance objective of delivering high-quality healthcare services to patents of the breast cancer (Brownson, Colditz, and Proctor, 2012, p. 147). Secondly, to improve on time and cost objective, the volume and variety scale of the process should be increased. Improving the volume and variety scale will ensure a faster access and faster flow of patients at the hospital. This will help HMC to serve more patients in a timely manner, and at a lower cost (Carvalho Stewart, 2009, p. 79). To achieve this, the job design need to be improved. One method of ensuring this is the adoption of modern and relevant technology to serve the needs of the patients. HMC will make use of various forms of technology like the healthcare staffing management technology to optimize scheduling activities of members of staff in order to reduce staffing and labor costs. It will also use infection detection technologies like the procalcitonin to increase the hospitals ability to control infections and ensure patients safety (Hook, Ware, Siler, and Packard, 2012, p. 383). Ultrasound imaging devices will be put in place to use in this hospital for screening purposes. Another important technology that will be used by HMC to improve its production process is certified EHR systems. The HER system will improve the process of record keeping and retrieval of information in the various departments (Stevens, 2012, p. 20). Another important change that should be made in the current design process of HMC hospital is to increase the number of units that are passing the process at one given time. To achieve this, the manger should effectively configure all the activities and resources within the design process to facilitate the movement of patients (Slack, Brandon-Jones, Johstone, and Betts, 2015, p. 150). The increase of the number of units will result into an increased number of breast cancer victims that are attended to by the care givers at the hospitals. This will result into an increase throughput rate at the hospital. This will come as a major solution to the delay in treatment and poor patient outcome that has been experienced at the hospital due to the current low throughput rate (Anhang, Zapka, Edwards, and Taplin, 2010, p. 45). Similarly, the improvement of throughput rate will significantly contribute to the increase in throughput time. In this regard, the capacity of the resources at every si ngle point in the project should be enhanced. To improve the visibility of the process, the current process design should be modified in such manner that it takes into consideration the emotions and the feelings of the patients who are to be served (Slack, Brandon-Jones, Johstone, and Betts, 2015, p. 156). The design should consider how the patients will relate and react to the process, and therefore, the current process should be designed so that the patients are able to relate to it in a personal way. To achieve this, the process should be designed to include communication clues that facilitate the exchange of information between the patients and the care providers. This will ensure the delivery of high-quality healthcare services that improve patient outcome. Cost The financial cost of introducing this the Kaizen method in redesigning the process of handling the breast cancer patients at the HMC is relatively cheap. According to Scott, Ruef, Mendel, and Caronna, 2000, p. 25), the cost has been termed as a major factor affecting the access and the delivery of healthcare services. High cost prevents patients from seeking healthcare services, and hence, poor-health conditions. However, the new design process of handling breast cancer patients is going to achieve one performance objective by reducing the cost of assessing health services (Katz, 2010, p. 47). Despite this, the introduction of the new machines and technologies will require huge financial investment from the hospital. They are going to be costly to the hospital. Quality This new method of the organizational process will meet another performance objective of ensuring the delivery of high-quality healthcare services to patients of breast cancer because it adopts strategies that focus on the screening and assessment of screen cancer, and hence, improved patient outcome (Rosselli Del Turco, et al., 2010, p. 2350). Speed The new process is also fast and flexible, and hence, it will ensure the delivery of healthcare services in a timely manner to the patients of breast cancer (Winchester, 2010, p. 299). This will facilitate the achievement of another performance objective of saving time and cost. The new process is flexible, and hence, the patients will undergo a thorough screening, assessment, and treatment for improved patient outcome. Conclusion In conclusion, the management of breast cancer poses a major challenge to health experts in Qatar. Therefore, appropriate measures should be taken to contain the situation. This involves reforms and innovation in the process of handling this disease. Hospitals should change their process focus to enhance its management. The above activities will enable HMC to handle breast cancer by meeting the needs of their patients within the cost and other managerial constraints. Implementing these activities and processes may prove to be an extra cost to HMC, but they will ensure that facilities are organized around particular and specific activities. This will ensure the better handling of breast cancer cases among the female population in Qatar by HMC. Bibliography List Al-Amoudi,S. M. and Abduljabbar,H. S. (2012)Men's knowledge and attitude towards breast cancer in Saudi Arabia. A cross-sectional study, Saudi Med J, 33, pp. 547550. Anhang, P. R., Zapka, J., Edwards, H., and Taplin, S. H. (2010) Organizational Factors and the Cancer Screening Process,Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Monographs,2010(40), pp. 3857. Brownson, R.C., Colditz, G.A., Proctor, E.K. (2012).Dissemination and implementation research in health: Translating science to practice. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, Inc. Carvalho, L. G., and Stewart, J. E. (2009) The everything health guide to living with breast cancer: An accessible and a comprehensive resource for women. Avon, MA: F+W Media, Inc. Depke, J. L., Boreen, A., and Onitilo, A. A. (2015) Navigating the Needs of Rural Women with Breast Cancer: A Breast Care Program,Clinical Medicine Research,13(3-4), pp. 149155. Donnelly, T. T. and McKellin,W. (2008)Vietnamese Canadian women's breast cancer andcervical cancer screening: the influence of gendered roles and expectations,Anthropol Aging Q, 29, pp. 7688. Donnelly, T. T., Al-Khater, A., Al-Kuwari, M. G., Al-Bader, S. B., Al-Meer, B., Abdulmalik, B., Sing, R., Chaudhry, S., and Fung, T. (2015). Do Socio-economic factors influence breast cancer screening practices among Arab Women of Qatar? BMJ Open, 5(1), pp. 1-9. El Hajj,M. S. and Hamid,Y. (2011)Breast cancer health promotion in Qatar: a survey of community pharmacists interests and needs,Int J Clin Pharm,33, pp. 7079. Fennell, M. L., Prabhu Das, I., Clauser, S., Petrelli, N., and Salner, A. (2010) The Organization of Multidisciplinary Care Teams: Modeling Internal and External Influences on Cancer Care Quality,Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Monographs,2010(40), pp. 7280. Hamad Medical Corporation. (2015). Hamad Medical Corporation. Retrieved from https://www.hamad.qa/en/index.aspx Hook, A., Ware, L., Siler, B., Packard, A.(2012) Breast cancer navigation and patient satisfaction: exploring a community-based patient navigation model in a rural setting,Oncol Nurs Forum, 39(4), pp. 379385. Katz, S. J. (2010) Coordinating cancer care: patient and practice management processes among surgeons who treat breast cancer, Med Care, 48(1), 45-51. Lindenau-Stockfisch, V. (2011) Lean Management in Hospitals: Principle factors for Successful Implementation. Hamburg: Verlag GmbH. Mitchell, S.A., Fisher, C.A., Hastings, C.E., Silverman, L.B., and Wallen, G.R. (2010) A thematic analysis of theoretical models for translational science in nursing: Mapping the field. Nursing Outlook, 58(6), pp. 287-300. Onitilo, A. A., Engel, J. M., Liang, H., et al. (2013)Mammography utilization: patient characteristics and breast cancer stage at diagnosis.AJR Am J Roentgeno, 201(5), pp. 10571063. Rayman, K. M. and Edwards, J. (2010)Rural primary care providers perceptions of their role in the breast cancer care continuum.J Rural Health, 26(2), pp. 189195 Rosselli Del Turco, M., Ponti, A., Bick, U., et al. (2010) Quality indicators in breast cancer care,Eur J Cancer, 46(13), pp. 23442356. Slack, N., Brandon-Jones, A., Johstone, R., and Betts, A. (2015) Operations and process management: Principles and practice for strategic impact. (4th Ed.). London: Pearson. Scott, W. R., Ruef, M., Mendel, P. J., and Caronna, C.(2000) Institutional Change and Healthcare Organizations, From Professional Dominance in Managed Care.Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. Stevens, K. R. (2012) Delivering on the promise of EBP.Nursing Management, 43(4), pp. 19-21. Winchester, D. P. (2010)Evaluating and managing breast disease in the United States: Are we properly organized? J Surg Oncol, 102(4), pp. 299300.

Friday, November 29, 2019

Behavior Confirmation

Introduction Social encounters can create, support or nullify a behavioral expectation about another group. If a target exhibits behavior that is consistent with his group, then a stereotype will manifest. This leads to a phenomenon known as the self-fulfilling prophecy. Numerous researches exist on why a person would confirm a certain stereotype about them. The focus of the literature review will be on theoretical and psychological models that explain how expectancy confirmation occurs.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Behavior Confirmation specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Models and theories Self fulfilling prophecies may occur prior to an interaction with a member of the stereotyped group, during and after the interaction. Prior to an interaction with a target from a biased group, a perceiver may already form opinions about the target as explained by Darley and Fazio (1980). This perception may cause t he respective perceiver to cancel any interaction with the target if he is in a position of power. As a result, the perceiver will not give the target the benefit of a doubt and will maintain the stereotype. Furthermore, a lack of interaction with the target will deny him an opportunity to change the behavior and thus negate behavior expectancies about his group. Conversely, Kiefer Sekaquaptewa (2006) believe that self fulfilling prophecies occur prior to an interaction owing to behavioral expectations in the targeted group. If a person fears that examiners will evaluate his performance on the basis of his social group, then this could create apprehensions, which undermine the subject’s performance. These implicit expectations about one’s behavior often emanate from social cues, such as television and newspaper programs or advertisements (Lee et. al., 2011). For instance, most media outlets will market engineering and math as male-oriented subjects. Therefore, a subje ct will enter the examination room with that stereotype in mind. She will worry that her examiner will also possess these biases and this will lead to negative outcomes. While Darley and Fazio (1980) blame perceivers for behavior confirmation prior to an interaction between the perceiver and the target, Kiefer Sekaquaptewa (2006) think that the targets are responsible for self fulfilling prophecies. Lee et al. (2011) bring in another dimension to this debate. They believe that stereotype threat, or the belief that others will judge one in accordance to group stereotypes, will cause a target to avoid an interaction altogether. However, this largely depends on whether the potential target is a member of the stereotype out-group or in-group. In these circumstances, a perceiver will assume that the target refrained from interacting with him or her because they possess the stereotype and this will cause them to maintain the bias. During an interaction, it is possible for the target to b ehave in a totally different manner from the concerned stereotype. However, the perceiver may still maintain the stereotype because of a series of reasons. Scholars use their theoretical backgrounds to explain why this occurs. Gurwitz and Dodge (1977) explain that contact can maintain stereotypes if the pattern and the content of evidence, in the interaction, are in line with the behavior expectations.Advertising Looking for research paper on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More These researchers carried out a study among a group of university students concerning sorority membership. They found that the pattern of dispersion, as well as the magnitude of the evidence, led many perceivers to hold stereotypes about a group even when behavior contradicted these expectations. If contrary evidence about the perceiver’s expectations is prevalent in several people as opposed to one person, then the perceiver will hold th e stereotype. The scholars believe that a person will believe in a stereotype every time a stereotype manifests regardless of the magnitude of the stereotype. On the other hand, if the degree of disconfirming evidence is quite large, then this will lead to nullification of the stereotype irrespective of the pattern of dispersion. According to Gurwitz and Dodge (1977), a perceiver will not change his mind about certain stereotypes regardless of whether the target exhibits non-stereotype behavior because the magnitude of the change is not sufficient to warrant modification. Additionally, the number of interactions that the person has with members of the stereotyped group also comes into play. Conversely, Allen et. al. (2009) as well as Darley and Fazio (1980) believe that a perceiver will still hold certain views about a target irrespective of contrary behavior because of nitpicking evidence. The individual will claim self fulfilling prophecies by interpreting the behavior of the targ et unfairly. In other words, the perceiver will rely on situational factors to explain the inconsistency. Alternatively, the person may simply choose certain patterns that are consistent with the stereotype and deliberately ignore the ones that contradict them. Allen et. al. (2009) use the regulatory focus theory to explain why some people may choose to hold the self-fulfilling conviction even when subjects act in contravention to their expectations. These authors believe that when a perceiver has a depleted mental capacity, he or she will focus on stereotype inconsistent information. However, when operating under full processing capacity, a person will only dwell on facts that are consistent with the stereotype. According to these scholars, perceivers will change their perception about targets if their mental capacity is overfull. Once they are operating at full processing capacity, they will have more time to look for stereotype confirming behavior.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Behavior Confirmation specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In certain circumstances, it may appear that a target has confirmed the behavior, if an external observer were watching over the interaction between the two parties. This scenario is objective behavior confirmation, where a neutral observer would concur with the perceiver concerning a target’s behavior. The observer would notice that the subject is supporting the stereotype. According to Darley and Fazio (1970), Lee et al. (2011), Chen and Bargh (1997) and Leander et al. (2011), a person may engage in self fulfilling behavior because he is merely responding in kind to the behavior of the perceiver. However, these scholars disagree on the reasoning behind that response. Darley and Fazio (1970) explain that if a subject believes that he should respond in kind to the perceiver’s behavior, then he will do so even if this leads to the exhi bition of a certain stereotype. For instance, if an interviewer is cold towards a woman interviewee, then this individual will respond to the disconnectedness in kind. This may cause the interviewer to presume that females are unenthusiastic job candidates even though the person caused the reaction. Leander et. al. (2011) affirm that people may create certain behaviors in others when they mimic their behavior. Mimicking another person for social lubrication causes that person to become sensitive about the opinions of others. This causes the individual to act in a way that substantiates stereotypes. Lee et. al. (2011) believe that an interaction between a person with a bias and one who is aware of the bias will lead to confirmation of the behavior because this creates a state of tension and apprehension concerning the interaction. For instance, female purchasers will be anxious about price inflation by male mechanics because they perceive females as ignorant in this field. Their anxi ety causes them to underperform or fail to show up. In essence, this confirms the behavior of the perceiver. Chen and Bargh (1997) carried out an experiment in which they wanted to establish causes of self-fulfilling prophecies. They designed a test in which perceivers saw African American faces and received implicit cues on the same. The perceivers rated the African American subjects as hostile even though the perceivers caused those reactions by their negative reactions towards the group. Therefore, self-fulfilling prophecies may simply be by-products of certain stereotypes that lead to a perpetual stereotype cycle concerning the group. The observer underestimates his role in causing the stereotype and simply attributes it to the target.Advertising Looking for research paper on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Perhaps one of the most critical aspects of the interaction between a perceiver and another person, who belongs to a disadvantaged group, is the capacity of the perceiver to alter the target’s behavior permanently. In essence, self fulfilling prophecy becomes a permanent observation in the stereotyped group because of past interactions. Keller (2007) uses his regulatory focus theory to explain why one interaction may lead to future behavior confirmations in targeted groups. He explains that when an individual holds a prevention-focused approach to behavior modification, then he will use past experiences to protect himself. Prevention-focused people dwell on security rather than gain as their primary motivator. Therefore, if a situation increases their level of security, then they will engage in it even it perpetuates a certain stereotype about them. They will use past experiences to judge how effectively an interaction protects them. Therefore, if a perceiver or the general s ituation threatened their security, then they will react in a stereotypical manner. Darley and Fazio (1980) believe that when a target has interacted with a perceiver in a way that led to the stereotype, the target will form an opinion about such interactions. In the future, this target will bring those experiences into similar situations and thus perpetuate the stereotype. For instance, an African American male may have experienced negative interactions with law-enforcement officials in the past. He or she may have responded aggressively towards the officer. It is likely that such a person will be aggressive whenever he comes in contact with other law enforcers because of experience from his past. Kiefer and Sekaquaptewa (2006) also have their own explanation on why a negative interaction between a perceiver and target can lead to perpetual self fulfilling prophecies. These scholars argue that women who believe themselves to be biased through previous experiences, will perform poor ly in tests even in the absence of stereotype cues. Therefore, the interaction between them and their assessors affected their association of task performance and membership in a disadvantaged group. These scholars thus believe that negative interactions with stereotypical groups leads to negative identity formation and self fulfilling behavior in the future. Conclusion Literature shows that stereotypes are not what they seem. Mental processes in the target or the perceiver that lead to the exhibition of the behavior cause self confirming behavior. This may sometimes lead to a permanent display of the stereotype and thus cause a reign of error. References Allen, T., Sgerman, J., Frederica, C. Stroessner, S. (2009). Stereotype strength and attentional bias: Preference for confirming versus disconfirming information depends on processing capacity. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 45(2), 1081-1087. Chen, M. Bargh, J. (1997). The self fulfilling consequences of automatic ste reotype activation. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 33(JS971329), 541=560. Darley, J. Fazio, R. (1980). Expectancy conformation processes arising in the social interaction sequence. American Psychologist, 35(10), 867-881. Gurwitz, S. Dodge, K. (1977). Effects of confirmations and disconfirmations on stereotype-based attributes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 35(7), 495-500. Keller, J. (2007). When negative stereotypic expectancies turn into challenge or threat: The moderating role of regulatory focus. Swiss Journal of Psychology, 66(3), 163-168. Kiefer, A. Sekaquaptewa, D. (2006). Implicit stereotypes and women’s math performance: How implicit gender-math stereotypes influence women’s susceptibility to stereotype threat. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 2(12)1-15. Leander, P., Chartrand, T. Wood, W. (2011). Mind your mannerisms: Behavioral mimicry elicits stereotype conformity. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 47(9), 19 5-201. Lee, K., Kim, H., Vohs, K. (2011). Stereotype threat in the marketplace: Consumer anxiety and purchase intentions. Journal of Consumer Research, 8, 1-17. This research paper on Behavior Confirmation was written and submitted by user Jaylyn B. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Monday, November 25, 2019

Early Day States essays

Early Day States essays Pennsylvania and Carolina both shared and differed in cultural characteristics. One similarity shared between Pennsylvania and Carolina was religion. The two colonies exemplified religious toleration. The colonies were inhabited primarily by Protestants including Lutherans, Baptists, Methodists, and Presbyterians. Colonists in Pennsylvania were often given tests to verify they were not Roman Catholic. Meanwhile, the intruding Protestants into Carolina caused much commotion with the Catholic Spaniards of Florida. This led to many wars. The types of commerce found in Pennsylvania and Carolina were very similar. The founders of the Colonies were very smart. They built the major cities along rivers. Philadelphia was developed on what is today known as the Delaware River, and Charleston was developed on what is today known as the Ashley River and on the Cooper River. This fact enabled the two cities to become major seaports for exporting goods. The colonies exported mass amounts of grains. Timber also served as an important source of industry in the colonies. Lumber was used from building houses to shipbuilding. Often referred to as shrewd business people, the colonies got the job done as far as commerce goes. The Carolina and Pennsylvania colonies also had striking differences. The topic of military defense is a prime example. Pennsylvania was laid back. They had no means of military defense. Military defense was of no use to the passive, and peace-seeking people found in Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, in the Carolinas, military defense was essential to every day life. Carolina developed a strong, sound, and efficient military defense. The difference in military defense might have resulted from the difference the two had in Indian relations. In Pennsylvania, the people tried their best to live harmoniously and at peace with the Indians. William Penn himself bought land from the Indians. Many peace treaties ...

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Oklahoma Indian Territory on the Trail of Tears Essay

Oklahoma Indian Territory on the Trail of Tears - Essay Example Tomorrow, all the living and non-living things will be strange to me. How can I part with the rivers and trees in my locality? Will I be able to survive in a different land? My future will give an apt answer. Here, I shall share some facts about my tribe, my motherland and my feelings on the possible removal to Oklahoma Indian Territory on the Trail of Tears. Facts about my tribe The history of my tribe/community is interconnected with history of the early inhabitants of the United States of America. Earlier, we did not face any problem from others because we were self-sufficient. One can see that my tribe is the largest ethnic group within the tribal groups in America. My ancestral heritage is deeply rooted in the old Cherokee Nation or The Nation (18th and 19th Centuries). As pointed out, we were self-sufficient because we used to consider the nature as our mother. Besides, the members of the Old Cherokee Nation did not consider nature as an unending source of resources that can be exploited without any solid reason. But the people who live in large cities and towns are not able to understand the relationship between ethnic communities and nature. To be specific, our rituals, customs, and the events in day to day life are interconnected with nature. Earlier, we used to live in the Appalachia region. To be specific, the leaders of our tribal group were not aware of the importance of unity among different groups and the need of a strong central authority. On the other side, the tribal chiefs appointed by the British and the American authorities had little influence among the members of our community. Now, the government is planning to implement the Indian Removal Act of 1830 to relocate us to another part of America. In short, we are facing a number of problems related to survival because we are forced to relocate to the Trail of Tears. Burgan stated that â€Å"The U.S. government had forced them from their homes and set them on this march of about 800 miles ( 1,287 kilometers)† (4). If one is not so attached to one’s motherland, relocation is not a major problem. But my life is interconnected with my motherland. So, I do not feel confident to declare that I can survive in a different land. Now I feel so attached to my motherland because I am aware of the fact that relocation is unavoidable. About my motherland My motherland is in New Echota, within North America. One can easily identify that my motherland is rich in natural beauty and fertility because two beautiful rivers (say, Coosawattee and Conasauga) are flowing through my mother land. Besides, both the rivers join together and form another river, namely Oostanaula. All these rivers flow to another river, namely Coosa. The modern people provide less value to the importance of rivers in tribal life because they are not aware of the influence of the same in human life. These rivers helped use to realize the importance of water which nourishes the flora and fauna of this r egion. As the members of an indigenous community which ruled over the Northern Part of the American continent, we consider ourselves as the owners of the land. This is utmost important for us because the problems related to our life in this region is interconnected with autonomy and ownership of fertile land. We are totally against the exploitation natural resources to fulfill the selfish motives of human beings. But most of the human beings are not yet ready to

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

WGST 400 Assignment 4 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

WGST 400 Assignment 4 - Research Paper Example of both self-emancipation and social emancipation.1 In England, the term was first employed in the1890s during women’s campaign for individual rights and the claim to citizenship, especially the right to vote. The campaign for suffrage challenged the denial of autonomy to women as citizens and feminists of the period stood for women’s right to ‘a democratic political voice and a social right to resources.’2 However, the meanings of feminism in England extended beyond the campaign for suffrage and encompass such aspects as the segregation and stigmatization of women’s gender roles, celebration of women’s uniqueness and differences, socio-economic and cultural issues of women, equal rights for women, education disparities of women, equality of opportunities and equal wages, antimilitarism and pacific movements, women emancipation movements, and so on. It is worthwhile to analyze the historical growth and development of feminist movements in Great Britain. Organized feminist movements in England can broadly be categorised into two phases-the first wave feminism and the second wave feminism. The first wave feminism consists of feminist movements in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, covering the campaign for suffrage as well as feminist experiences during and after the First and Second World Wars. The second-wave feminism covers feminist initiatives beginning from the mid-or late 1960s and extends itself to modern radical feminism. The nineteenth-century intellectual and economic developments, specifically liberalism and the industrial revolution, paved the way for the first wave feminism.3 While liberalism triggered the growth of liberal feminism the industrial revolution offered middle class women a unique opportunity to work out of home and earn money. Similarly, the theory of relative status deprivation has been part ly responsible for the rise of feminism as women strongly felt that they are negated of adequate opportunities whereas their

Monday, November 18, 2019

Data Communication & the Cloud Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Data Communication & the Cloud - Research Paper Example The components of data communication include the message i.e. the information or data to be communicated and popular forms include text, numbers, pictures, audio and video. The sender is an important component as it is the device that sends the data message as it can be computer work station, telephone handset or a video camera as the receiver is the device on the other end receiving the information as the transmission medium is the physical path by which a message travels from the sender to receiver e.g. twisted pair wire, coaxial cable, fiber optic cable and radio waves. Data communication and other aspects such as networking are changing the way business is done and the lifestyle of people in the world today. Business decisions have to be made even more quickly and the decision makers required access to accurate information relevant to the subject at hand. Computer data communication models in the world today enable the transfer of information through long distances and the inform ation appears almost instantaneous through computer networks2. Businesses today rely on computer networks and internet works in relaying the information across varied distances in modes that enable the efficient communication of data and the development of personal computers brought about tremendous changes for business, industry, science and education as a similar revolution is occurring in data communication and networking. Technological advances are making it possible for communication links to carry more and faster signals and as a result services are evolving to allow the use of this expanded capacity. An example is the establishment of the telephone services such as conference calls, call waiting, voice mail and caller ID has been extended as research in data communication and networking too resulted in new technologies. Data communication in the form of text, audio and video from all points of the world has been made possible due to the access of internet to download and uplo ad information quickly and accurately at any time. As the information is being sent and received, there is need for the security of the message as to avoid distortion and third party interference. On the other hand the storage and speed has led to the invention and introduction of a cloud computing concept. Cloud computing is a new key discipline of high performance computing sophisticated information technologies in order to treat some of the major high performance computing challenges enabling trusted technical computing solutions for the 21st century customers. It is a technology that allows consumers and businesses – generally the users - to use applications without installation and access their personal files at any computer with internet access and also allows for much more efficient computing by centralizing storage, memory, processing and bandwidth as well as provide information techn

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Comparison of Available Psoriasis Treatments

Comparison of Available Psoriasis Treatments Although there is no available cure for psoriasis at present, there are different approaches to treat psoriasis and all you need to do is choose the best method.What works for your friend might not work for you.The severity of the condition, health and fitness of the sufferer, age, and other factors affect the extent of the needed treatment. Doctors often try several methods with utmost care in order to find the best one for a particular patient. Here are some of the options you have available for Psoriasis treatment 1. Natural treatments Lifestyle Change Once you have had psoriasis expect it to occur again. If you have an unhealthy lifestyle (drinking, smoking, staying up late, and the likes) making changes that are healthier is important.You know that stress, that includes lack of proper sleep, too much alcohol, and smoking can contribute to make your psoriasis worse or make it flare up again. If you are following a treatment now but keep on doing things that trigger psoriasis, don’t be surprised if your psoriasis evolves into a more dangerous form.Wear comfortable clothing that allows your skin to breathe.Try light fabrics like cotton because it is soft against your skin and will not irritate your psoriasis. Cotton also allows moisture in. Dietary recommendations that help control Psoriasis As you monitor your food, cut down on red meats or completely eliminate them from your diet if you can. Processed foods must go because they are packed with more chemicals than actual nutrients.You should also stay away from fatty foods.Passing up vegetables such as eggplant, tomatoes, potatoes, and peppers may aid in controlling psoriasis related inflammation.Make sure to eliminate these vegetables from your diet and don’t give in to the temptation, even if the eggplant lasagna looks succulent. Try eating foods that cleanse your liver and kidneys such as celery, fish, lettuce, turkey, fiber-rich fares, and lemons.The National Psoriasis Foundation includes soy, chocolate, nuts, and cranberries in their list of foods that prevent psoriasis outbreaks, or at least keep those outbreaks at a minimum.Drinking plenty of water can flush out toxins from your body, keep it well hydrated, and make you feel fresh all day. Although there are many power drinks that claim to keep you energized and well hydrated, nothing beats pure, plain water. Nutritional Supplements you should take daily You need to consider taking the necessary nutritional supplements along with a well-balanced diet.You can include vitamins A, D, and E in your daily diet. You can choose to include fish oil, primrose oil, or milk thistle in your diet. Taking selenium, lecithin, and folic acid can also help prevent psoriasis. 2. Direct Skin Treatments There are natural remedies that you can try if you have psoriasis. These remedies might not completely make your psoriasis go away but they can help lessen the irritation and discomfort that psoriasis causes.Prepare a bath of lukewarm (not hot) water.Add mineral oil, Epsom salt, milk, German chamomile, or olive oil (choose only one).Any of these choices can soothe itching and can penetrate the plaques and scales. Apply a doctor recommended moisturizer when you finish your bath for double benefits. Apply vegetable oil or olive oil on your skin that has psoriasis plaque to help loosen them. The oil provides the needed moisture to the skin. If you have psoriasis on your scalp, try massaging it with a few tablespoons of olive oil to loosen the plaque before you take your shower. Stick with these suggested oils and don’t do any experimenting using different oils because those might make the condition worse.These natural treatments compliment other treatments. Just make sure you ask your doctor first before proceeding. 3. Over the counter and Systematic Treatments Doctors often choose topical or Over-The-Counter (OTC) treatments for psoriasis. If your skin does not respond to the current treatment, another topical treatment can be selected.Topical treatments bought over-the-counter can be applied directly on the affected area of the skin. Topical treatments usually include lotions, creams, gels, and ointments.Topical treatments are always the first option for most doctors for treating mild to moderate cases of psoriasis. Topical or OTC treatments include: Dandruff shampoos. Vitamin D analogues Cortisone in ointment or cream form. Retinoids that can be applied on the skin. Coal tar. Lactic and salicylic acids. Anthralin. It is important to consult with your doctor first to select the right topical treatment for your psoriasis. Opting for a Systematic Treatment If you have a more severe form of psoriasis, or if a topical treatment is not helping, doctors usually turn to oral or injectable drugs.If your psoriasis is due to infection, taking antibiotics for the infection might also stop, or alleviate, your psoriasis. The medicines used for systematic treatments include: Retinoids. Immunomodulator drugs. Methotrexate. Thioguanine. Cyclosporine. Hyrdroxyurea. Keep in mind that you should always seek your doctor’s advice even if you have had psoriasis before. There is the possibility that your new psoriasis outbreak (if you failed to prevent psoriasis from re-occurring) may be different from your previous one. It is always best to be safe, meaning check in with your doctor to be sure the current outbreak can be treated as before. Don’t re-start a medication from a prior outbreak without first checking with your doctor. 4. Light Treatments Some psoriasis sufferers prefer light treatments over other methods simply because they are non-pharmaceutical and famous for being effective.As always, it is best to take the recommendation of your doctor to minimize any problems. Sunlight There are reports that some psoriasis sufferers achieve favorable results via sun exposure, but take note that too much sun exposure can do more harm than good. It is still best to consult with your doctor regarding the matter. Your doctor can give the correct time of day to get a beneficial amount of sunlight and tell you how long you can stay in the sun.Be sure to follow your doctor’s instructions to the letter. Via UVB Phototherapy Phototherapy is a perfect option for most individuals with moderate to severe inverse psoriasis, although other forms of psoriasis can also benefit from this treatment.UVB rays can slow the growth of skin cells for some psoriasis sufferers.Treatment involves a light box that creates faux UVB rays that are used within a specified amount of time for each session. There is a catch when using phototherapy. Your psoriasis might get worse temporarily before you experience the good part. Tell your doctor immediately if you have developed rashes after the treatment. Don’t even think of doing it on your own by using a tanning bed because there could be other adverse complications. The Goekerman Therapy This therapy combines UVB treatment with coal tar.The combination is more effective than doing either separately. Coal tar can make the skin more accessible to UVB light. This is ideal for use with mild to moderate psoriasis. Pulsed Dye Laser If other treatments fail to deliver positive results, your doctor may suggest trying a pulsed dye laser. This treatment tears down the tiny blood vessels in the areas that surround the plaque to cut off the flow of blood, reducing cell growth in the affected area. The only trouble with laser therapy is that it cannot cover large areas and may only be useful in areas that are smaller in size. Conclusion Your doctor help you find the right treatment after making a proper evaluation of your condition. It is best to take any advanced treatment under the supervision of your doctor.You are more likely to achieve favorable results.Now you know the things you need to do, and you know the options to consider for treating your psoriasis. It is time to act and you need to act to eliminate psoriasis from your life.

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Common Sense Essay example -- essays research papers

In Common Sense, by Thomas Paine writes that America cannot recon ciliate with Great Britain. Paine gives many examples in this document of why America cannot reconsolidates with Great Britain. One of them is there is no advantages to being connected to Great Britain; only disadvantages can come out of the connection and the second idea is British government must sooner or later end.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the first point about the connection with the British, Paine states that America can benefit much more if it was not connected to the British for many reasons. One of them is trade with other European countries will decline or even go to ruins because if Europe breaks out into a war other countries will not trade with America because of the connection with the British. Second is the fact that the British does not protect us unless its in there interest or benefit to do so. Paine states that when the British fought off Spain and France, it was to protect Great Britain’s interest not Americas. He states this because if America was not benefiting Great Britain with trade and money or anything else; the British would not protect America. Paine’s third point is the fact that Britain is a monster. In this point he states that England brings tyranny to America because of the persecutions of emigrants that came to America in the first place and that Britain still pursues the descendants of the first emigrants.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Thomas ...

Monday, November 11, 2019

Osteoarthritis Sufferers In The Uk Health And Social Care Essay

A multi-centre, experimental randomised clinical test is the survey design chosen as it is the recommended attack to obtain a valid comparing of viing intercession schemes ( Green, 1997 ) . The independent variable is the instructional method which will be manipulated to see whether it has any affect on the dependent variables, which are attachment and exercising public presentation. The group having the Digital Versatile Disc ( DVD ) will stand for the survey group. The group having illustrations will move as the control group as illustrations are supported by literature and presently used in standard physical therapy pattern. It is necessary to include a control group to forestall overestimate of intervention consequence. A true control group ( having no instructional assistance and doing the test a randomised controlled test ) has non been used as it would be unethical to keep back intervention clearly shown to be effectual ( Schneiders et al. , 1998 ) .RecruitmentThe test aims to be as representative of the UK population as possible to increase population/external cogency. The test will include 84 females and 56 males to stand for the 3:2 female/male ratio of degenerative arthritis sick persons in the United Kingdom ( ARC ) . Under-representation of cultural groups would impact the external cogency of comparative consequence estimations. The National Statistics Office provinces that the 2001 Census found that 8.3 % of the UK population belonged to other cultural groups and this figure appears to hold risen to 10.1 % harmonizing to the Labour Force study, 2006. Thirty per centum of participants will be recruited from other cultural groups so that 1 ) the strata is big plenty and 2 ) cultural minorities are reasonably represented. This figure will nevertheless be checked with the statistician prior to test beginning. Research suggests that people with a lower educational attainment are less likely to adhere to exert, it is hence of import to see where participants will be recruited from. A survey by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development ( 2005 ) showed a close correlativity between educational underachievement and countries of societal want in London. Cooper ( 2003 ) found those populating in interior London by and large achieved lower classs than those in Outer London ( appendix1 ) .Therefore to increase external cogency, 2 Inner London and 2 Outer London locations have been chosen.Inclusion StandardsInclusion/exclusion standards are used in this survey to place appropriate participants and guarantee their safety. Strict standards will guarantee 1 ) research workers can non act upon choice to favor or except certain predictive factors, therefore biasing the consequences 2 ) participants are representative of populations to whom the test ‘s findings will use, therefore k eeping external cogency. It is besides of import to see that if the standards are excessively restrictive it could restrict the size of test and the findings will miss generalization. Participants will be eligible if they are aged 50+ as 1 in 5 grownups have knee degenerative arthritis by this age and it is uncommon in people younger. By the age of 80, it increases to 1 in 2 grownups ( ARC ) . The test will hold no upper age bound so that the findings are relevant to all age groups susceptible to knee degenerative arthritis. Inclusion of older participants is peculiarly pertinent to this survey as Henry et Al ( 2000 ) found grownups aged 65+ had greater troubles retrieving exercisings which may impact attachment and exercising public presentation. Participants must hold equal hearing, vision and apprehension of written and spoken English to let equal comprehension of the exercising instructions. In pattern this may non be necessary ; nevertheless, for the interest of this test it must be controlled to forestall confusing consequences. To forestall allotment prejudice, participants will be required to hold entree to a DVD participant, irrespective of their allotment. The Office of National Statistics ( 2008 ) found that 86 % of the population owns a DVD participant. This will merely except a little figure of the population so it is considered acceptable. Radiographic grounds of degenerative arthritis, grade 2-3 on the Kellgren and Lawrence graduated table is an inclusion standard as Deyle ( 2000 ) found increased disease badness is associated with lower attachment. Guaranting all participants are mild-moderate makes the consequences comparable. Additionally, it would be unethical to supply unneeded intervention. The Nice guidelines ( 2008 ) recommend beef uping exercisings for degenerative arthritis patients ; therefore participants would be prescribed beef uping exercisings irrespective of the test. Radiographic grounds ensures patients are non given an inappropriate intervention by clinicians who may desire to increase enlisting rate.Exclusion StandardsParticipants with inflammatory arthritis will be excluded as beef uping exercisings can worsen redness in the articulatio genus articulation during a flare-up ( Luqmani et al.,2006 ) . Similarly, Sharma et Al ( 2003 ) found that in certain joint environments, such as malalignment or laxness, higher quadriceps strength was associated with a greater hazard of disease patterned advance hence such participants will besides be excluded. Participants who have antecedently been prescribed lower-limb exercisings or partaken in regular exercising categories will be excluded as they may demo increased exercising public presentation and attachment. Participants with cognitive damages may non be able to give informed consent, therefore inclusion would be unethical. They may besides hold impaired ability to retain information which could confuse the consequences. Finally, participants will be excluded if they have cardiac jobs or any serious pathology as they may hold an increased hazard of an inauspicious reaction or necessitate onward specializer referral which may detain beginning of physical therapy.ProcedureRandom allotment and allotment privacyThis test will utilize consecutive numbered, otherwise indistinguishable, opaque, certain envelopes ( SNOSE ) to randomize par ticipants and guarantee allotment privacy. Participants will be randomised as it is considered the most dependable method of making homogenous intervention groups in footings of known or unknown predictive factors ( Altman 1999 ) . It controls for unsuspected effects and increases the likeliness that any ascertained differences are caused by the experimental status, therefore increasing the internal cogency of the test. An extra protection against prejudice during randomisation is concealment of allotment. This will forestall the research worker from act uponing which intercession group each participant is assigned to, hence forestalling a choice prejudice. A choice prejudice could ensue in an overestimate of the effects of the intercession by about 40 % ( Schulz, 2002a ) . SNOSE is an economical and straightforward agencies of guaranting allotment privacy. The extra safeguards ( e.g. aluminum foil, carbon paper ) increase the trouble of uncloaking the allotment strategy. By puting the group assignment card inside a folded sheet of aluminum foil ensures the envelope is impermeable to light and run alonging the interior of the envelope with C paper allows the envelope to reassign information onto the assignment card, making an audit trail. Stratified randomization is still possible utilizing randomization envelopes by holding a set of envelopes for each combination of stratification factors.Stratific ationBaseline features such as age, gender, ethnicity and instruction will be recorded at the beginning of the test. As this is a comparatively little test, there is a greater hazard of unequal distribution of patient features between groups ( Kernan 1999 ) . Age, ethnicity and educational attainment are known to be strongly related to attachment and public presentation ( predictive ) therefore stratification is needed ( Schluz, 2002b ) . A big survey by Sluijs et Al. ( 1993 ) found attachment to place exercisings increases with age and is reciprocally relative to educational degree. Rastall et Al. ( 1999 ) and Henry et Al ( 2000 ) found grownups aged 65+ had greater trouble memory exercisings which may impact public presentation. Evidence besides suggests cultural minorities are less likely to adhere to exert ( e.g. Muse, 2005 ) . To let for 3 strata the sample size had been increased. However, as the test is to include merely 30 % of participants from other cultural groups this ma y impact stratification. Therefore, this figure will be checked with the statistician prior to the beginning of test and if found to be excessively low to adequately stratify cultural minorities, either sample size or the figure of cultural minorities included will increase further. Stratified randomisation besides helps forestall type I error ( Feinstein and Landis, 1976 ) and better power ( Lachin and Bautista, 1995 ) and is most good to tests ( such as this ) with less than 200 participants ( Schluz, 2002b ) . As the writer is unsure as to what the existent figure of participants in each stratum will be before the test commences, permuted blocks within each strata will guarantee balance between the chief intervention weaponries. Schluz ( 2002b ) suggests that it may be possible to expect the randomisation sequence in some tests that are block-randomized utilizing unvarying block sizes, hence this test will utilize two different block sizes ( 2 and 4 ) .BlindingIdeally, both participant and research worker should be blinded to avoid the comparing of interventions from being distorted ( Schluz, 2002c ) and to forestall ascertainment prejudice. This test is a single-blind survey as active capable engagement is required. The physical therapist ( who besides acts as the result assessor ) will be blinded as cognition of group assignment could make a prejudice when measuring result steps due to preconceived impressions of â€Å" expected † results. Furthermore, as the Exercise Assessment Scale has a grade of subjectiveness, blinding the result assessor will beef up their objectiveness.Strengthening exercisingsStrengthening exercisings were chosen as they have been shown to better hurting and map in degenerative arthritis patients and are portion of the NICE ( 2008 ) guidelines. Previous surveies suggest a HEP can keep betterments ( Huang et al, 2003 ; Huang et Al, 2005 ) , nevertheless long term attachment was low. This suggests a demand to set up ways to better attachment to interventions clearly shown to be effectual. The exercising strength, frequence and repeats will be tailored to the person and based on findings of recent grounds ( e.g. Richards,2004 ; Jan et al. , 2008 ) . Strengthening exercisings are besides more likely to nece ssitate specific direction than, for illustration, aerophilic exercisings and older persons in peculiar may happen exercising technique hard to retrieve.DVD directionAssorted surveies ( e.g. Grove, 1999 ) find participants utilizing exercising pictures have increased motive to exercising and are less likely to develop bad habits/techniques. It is hence hypothesised DVD ‘s will increase attachment and exercising public presentation. Additionally, if public presentation improves physiotherapist clip rectifying exercising should diminish.Result MEASURESThe Exercise Assessment Scale ( Smith et al.,2005, adapted from Rastall et al.,1999 ) was chosen as it enables elaborate appraisal of public presentation and has the highest reported dependability out of the graduated tables found. Validity of graduated table has non been officially reported, nevertheless, inter-rater dependability has been assessed ( Smith et al.,2005 ) utilizing the intra-class correlativity coefficient ( ICC ) . The ICC was 0.99 indicating first-class inter-rater dependability ( Shrout and Fleiss, 1979 ) . Prior to the test, preparation will be given to guarantee truth and consistence of measuring is increased therefore increasing statistical power. As the measuring has a grade of subjectiveness, appraisals will be recorded so that public presentation can be analyzed post-intervention to guarantee participant scaling is tantamount. Participants will utilize a self-report log to mensurate attachment to their HEP. It is a normally used step which has been found to be dependable when compared to spouse studies ( Follick et al. , 1984 ) and nonsubjective pedometer values ( Speck,2006 ) back uping the cogency of the step. The recognized benefits include the ability to roll up informations from a big figure of people at low cost and that it does non change the behavior of the person ( increasing ecological cogency ) . However, as the step is subjective, Vitolins et Al ( 2000 ) recommends more than one method should be used to measure attachment. A widely used nonsubjective step of per centum attending to physiotherapy Sessionss will besides be used. Direction clip will be assessed as rectification of exercisings utilizations valuable physiotherapy clip that could be spent on accessory interventions. It is hence of import to mensurate the effectivity of any intercession in cut downing clip allocated to exert rectification.AnalysisMeanss and standard divergences will be calculated for all variables. For parametric informations ( e.g. figure of repeats, exercising frequence ) the agency of the two groups will be compared utilizing the independent-sample t-test as the survey is experimental in design, comparing 2 groups of topics ( Hicks, 2004 ) . The Exercise Assessment Scale provides ordinal informations ( Smith et Al, 2005 ) , hence a Mann Whitney U trial ( a non-parametric trial ) will be used. P-values are used to find whether a void hypothesis formulated before the survey commenced is to be accepted or rejected. To cut down the hazard of type II mistake, the degree of significance will be set at P & lt ; 0.05. In explorative s urveies such as this, p-values enable the acknowledgment of any statistically notable findings. Assurance intervals will besides be used as they provide a scope of values for the variable of involvement ( the step of intervention consequence ) . This scope has a specified chance of including the true value of the variable, every bit good supplying information about the way and strength of the demonstrated consequence. Decisions can so be made about the clinical relevancy and the statistical plausibleness of the survey ‘s findings. Both statistical steps will be reported because they provide complementary types of information ( Prel,2009 ) . Purpose to handle analysis will be used as it retains balance in predictive factors originating from the original random intervention allotment and gives an indifferent estimation of intervention consequence. Additionally it gives a more valid representation of intervention efficaciousness as it relates to clinical pattern ( Pocock, 1983 ) .Time REQUIREDThe test is 18-months to let for a sufficient accrual period and for a long-run intercession. The writer contacted a similar sized Outpatient section, which reported about 30-40 patients present with degenerative arthritis over a 6-month period. In add-on participants will be recruited from physician ‘s surgeries and orthopedic waiting lists. It is estimated that 12-14 participants at each infirmary will come in the test during each enlisting stage. The minimal figure required is 12 so that 140 participants are recruited by the terminal of recruitment stage-3. If merely 2 participants at each infirmary are recruited each hebdoma d, it will necessitate a 6-week accrual period for each stage of the test. The clip to enroll the mark population is frequently under-estimated ( Carter,2005 ) therefore the accrual period has been increased to 8-weeks to guarantee equal Numberss are reached. The intercession period will be for 1-year as a recent reappraisal ( Jordan,2010 ) identified a demand for tests with long-run follow ups which explicitly address attachment.Forces REQUIREDFour physical therapists, one from each infirmary will be required to work 153 hours over the 18-month test. Participants will be seen 9 times by their physical therapist. The initial session will be 45minutes and the staying Sessionss will be 30minutes ( as criterion in physical therapy pattern ) . The 3 enlisting and intercession stages are staggered, hence, if the physical therapist sees 3 participants per hebdomad ( the required 12 per month ) and assignments are made for the same clip each month, the physical therapist will be required to work 0-4.5 hours per hebdomad ( see physical therapist timetable, appendix2 ) . The physical therapists will be employed on an hourly footing. The research helper will be employed on a parttime footing to randomize participants and publish the instructional A IDSs.ETHICAL ISSUESThis survey addresses ethical considerations highlighted the by the Chartered Society of Physiotherapists ( 2001 ) publication on research moralss ( Appendix3 ) . The survey aims to be of â€Å" value † and to better the wellness of patients with degenerative arthritis of the articulatio genus. It is of import that the test is published so that the participants have non been unnecessarily inconvenienced and subjected to possible hazards. Therefore this test will merely take topographic point after blessing and understanding to print by a well-thought-of diary.